Day 4 – January 22, 2017
The last day. Bitter sweet is the feeling of the last day of NAMM. With sore feet and sometimes no voice from chatting with everyone for hours on end, one feels happy that it is finally coming to an end. But finding new music, new gadgets for your studio or live stage show, meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends, one realizes that the last day is also sad.
I started my day in the Yamaha Blogger Lounge again with fresh hot coffee and a breakfast sweet, then headed over to check out everything I missed. Well, not EVERYTHING. NAMM is huge and it is not hard to miss a lot!
NAMM offers not just workshops but also panels of various music industry professionals that speak about everything from the difficulties of getting into the business to songwriters and how that industry is changing so much with the invention of streaming and online music. Here are a couple of the Sunday morning into afternoon NAMM U events. They have interactive panels where you can ask even the most basic question without feeling stupid. Gloria Loring appeared at this songwriter’s panel, which was a thrill not only to songwriters, but also to Days of Our Lives fans! This is such a great offering from NAMM and the pros who run the events are all full of great and pertinent information.
In the center of the main hall there was a section that was like an art gallery, with special guitars and other interesting instruments that were designed and fashioned by more of an artist than a luthier or other instrument maker. This Boutique Guitar Showcase was so fascinating, with designs like the Teuffel Guitars’ BGS-25 and the Sauvage Guitars model that was cut from a single piece of wood. These handcrafted guitars were displayed like fine art in the Louvre, so we do not know what they sound like, but they sure are gorgeous and very expensive.
We can’t forget drummers! Here was a random jam that I came across while walking the hall.
Next, I headed to Zerberus Guitars where all of these beauties are made from precious gemstone! This German luthier designs guitars with details such as the placement of the volume and tone controls so as to match the lines in the gems. Here’s another of their fine designs: The Amethyst model. These sound great too!
I even tried out my favorite!
Then I heard some jazz music. I headed over to the Synthogy booth where I heard an amazing pianist and realized that it was my favorite piano player of all time, Mike Garson! This guy played with Bowie! The tinkling of his ivories can be heard all over Bowie’s Aladdin Sane album, and I have loved this guy ever since. Watch a little bit of his magic. https://youtu.be/d1-B7RxxnHE
This trio just grabbed people walking by with the great old standards and musicianship. This made my day and was a great wrap up of my entire weekend!
NAMM is always an adventure, from finding new music on some random stage as you walk by, to seeing friends like multi-instrumentalist Andon Hiltner checking out a new keyboard. Thanks NAMM for a great winter show in Anaheim!
