Winter NAMM 2023 in Anaheim, CA
Coverage by Alex Matthews
The 2023 NAMM Show produced by the National Association of Music Merchants was held again this year at the Anaheim Convention Center from April 13th-15th. This year’s show was another massive gathering of all things musical instrument related and featured thousands of new products and innovative designs from all over the world. At its peak in 2020 the convention drew over 115,000 attendees, however due to COVID the show was held virtually in 2021 and has run in a smaller stripped down form for the last several years. Despite the smaller size the show is still packed full of musicians of all ages and genres, a who’s who of rock stars, tons of buyers and sellers, and many eager weekend warriors waiting to try out the latest and greatest in musical gear. Fans of nearly any music genre can also get their fix with tons of concerts, clinics, and special events scheduled throughout the convention center and surrounding areas.
Some highlights from this year's show included a unique visual LED based guitar learning system from Italian startup Visual Note. Promising users to help them learn guitar quickly while having fun, the Visual Note device consists of an LED array that can be applied to a guitar neck, or a bundle including a guitar with an LED device already integrated. It all connects to an intuitive and easy app full of fun educational content that helps beginners learn to play, but can also add some visual flair to anyone's onstage appearance. Fans of Guitar Hero and other similar rhythm games can quickly learn chords and songs with this awesome system.
Another show highlight was some amazing cast metal snare drums and drum hoops on display from Turkish company Guven Bronz Metal. Several solid metal snare drums in various configurations were being displayed from bronze to bell brass. These snares were extremely loud and powerful while being remarkably sensitive at the same time. The models on the show floor called to mind some of the vintage classic cast metal snare drums on the market from other manufactures that now demand a very premium price. These Guven snares could be a fantastic alternative and offer beautiful custom engraving and many other options.
Last but not least was a booth by Embodme which featured customizable midi polyphonic expressive controllers. Embodme is a company that develops 3D touch and vision sensors for the future of human computer interaction. Think of the super cool custom digital displays you may have seen being used by artists like Daft Punk and other amazing DJ's on stage. These same types of interactive LED panels are now accessible to general users and can be used to trigger almost any sound or instrument while offering an amazing intuitive and customizable visual interface. The best part was that the Embodme system was a blast to play with even as a novice user.
This year’s NAMM show was another amazingly fun and educational experience. It’s absolutely impossible to take in all of the wonderful demos and products that are on display. Rubbing elbows and talking shop with some of the biggest musical artists in the industry is an added bonus. Next year's NAMM show should be an even larger return to form as it shifts back to its normal January timing. Next year's show is already scheduled for January 25th-28th, 2024.
