The NAMM Show, which formerly stood for the National Association of Music Merchants, is a trade show that has been bringing together music retailers and companies making music products since around 1900. Fortunately for the rest of us, we get to see all the new products that will help define the upcoming year in audio.
The 2013 conference, held in Anaheim in January, attracted around 100,000 music industry folks and music fans. Here are just a few of the many highlights from the show.
Vintage Instruments Everywhere
At Sage Audio mastering, we love vintage like most everyone in the industry does, and this year saw a slew of “new vintage” lines.
Fender typically comes up with a new reissue of classic Teles and Strats every few years or so, and this year is no different, as the company introduced its new “Vintage” line. The line includes re-creations of classic years of both models, and was among the many interesting products introduced at the show
Another interesting reissue comes from the legendary Magnatone Amps.
The brand hasn’t been manufactured since 1969, but the amps have been used by everyone from Buddy Holly to Neil Young to David Gilmour. The new versions are point-to-point wired tube amps built in the U.S., and are already being used by Z.Z. Top’s Billy Gibbons. The manufacturer points out that the amps include the original pitched-based vibrato, which the company points out is different from the volume based tremolo that is sometimes labeled as vibrato on amps.
Telefunken M82
It seems the microphone getting the most notice at the show is the new Telefunken M82 dynamic mic. The unit is marketed as both a kick drum mic and a vocal mic, which is part of the special attention it received. Though its powers as a kick drum mic were not displayed, reports say the mic’s quality on vocals are quite impressive.
Waves IR-Live
Live engineers were all pretty excited about the introduction of Waves IR-Live convolution reverb designed for live performance. Like the highly touted Waves IR1 for recording studios, the IR-Live is an impulse response-based convolution ‘verb with presets from some of the most famous venues in the world, ready to be applied to live shows in real time.
JBL M2 Master Reference Monitor
What kind of audio mastering engineers would we be if we didn’t at least mention a studio monitor? The JBL M2 Master Reference monitor has been in development for some time now and comes with multiple new patents. The company describes the new monitors as a “game changer.”
We’ll see if that proves true when the monitors are released this spring.
An Optimistic NAMM
Finally, I want to include a note about the overall mood of the conference, which was much more optimistic than in the last few years. Part of this was probably due to the fact that sales in the music industry were up 1 percent at $6.8 billion in 2012. That 1 percent may not seem like a lot, but after a few years of decline, it’s definitely something to get excited about.
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 7 unique value-points included in your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
- SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets of mixing and matches the needs of the new music industry.
- SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video in-depth modern mastering course that dives into every nuance of making professional-sounding masters.
- SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for mastering.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from budding mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout each course.
- Each SAU course includes Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website and social channels.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
2. Private 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
- Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
- Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
- Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
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3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve your skills and create professional mixes.
- Mixing feedback is invaluable, and the Sage Audio membership gives you continual direct access to us for real-world feedback so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
4. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
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5. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
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6. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
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7. 800+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your skills at your own pace.
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