New Electronics Lead Performance – NAMM 2011

 January 15, 2011, Anaheim, CA – At the NAMM show the instruments and hardware lead the way for new performance equipment. One of the areas of innovation was in microphones.

A major announcement for studio microphones was from Telefunken. They were able to recreate and manufacture the stainless steel dual vacuum VF-14k that is the core the m7 module in the U-47 microphone. This newly manufactured tube provides the same sound and response of the early 1930’s tubes in the original U-47 microphones. This vacuum tube was co-developed with partners from several countries, including Canada, that have shown interest in the tube.

Also on the microphone front, Shure released a new wireless microphone system called the Axient system. This is their first system with automatic interference detection and avoidance. The new system will detect when the spectrum has destructive interference and switch within milliseconds. The new system also features a real time battery monitor that displays in minutes and seconds rather than the non-descript “bar” indicators. There is also control software , Wireless workbench V6, for the units to be able to enable and disable them remotely. This allows the people managing the mixers and microphones, to know the status and where interference may be occurring, This also works in conjunction with their dual transmitter microphone. For high reliability situations, the dual transmitter microphone can connect to two body packs. One will be in transmit mode, and the other searching for clear channels. In the event of interference, the switching between the units can be controlled remotely to insure uninterrupted sound. 

Shure Axient Wireless

 

Shure also introduced a pair of over the ear headphones. One is targeted at DJ use (SRH550DJ) with a 90 degree rotating earpiece and the other is targeted for monitor use (SRH940)in either live performance mixing, studio recording and audio enthusiasts. These headphones feature full over the ear cushions and dual quarter inch threaded connectors with replaceable cables for connection. 

 

Shure SRH550DJ headphones

 

Following the line of playback and performance, a new company Albion Amplifiers launched at the show. Albion is a new company formed by Steve Grindrod and Richie Onori and located in China. Steve Grindrod is best knows for holding the positions of Chief Engineer & Dir of R and D at Marshall Amps and also served Managing Dir & Chief Designer at Vox prior to Albion. . Richie Onori is internationally known as a member of the multi-platinum group “The Sweet” and has decades of experience in the music product area. They have three new lines of amps – the TCT and AG series guitar amps,and the ABH series bass amps. These are available as a 2×12 and 4×12 cabinets with separate heads and as combo units. Some of the unique features include custom designed speakers built in thier own factory and a “loudness” switch that cuts the master volume down by over 50% with a single control to help people practice indoors in smaller rooms without having to adjust the dial locations for standard performances. 

 

Albion TCT50C Combo Guitar Amp

 

 

Albion ABH300H Bass Head

Shifting gears towards sampled and modeled instruments, Roland Corporation introduced their newest V instrument the FR-18 diatonic V-Accordion®, the world’s first digital diatonic accordion. Traditional accordions are set in a fixed musical key and have a limited note range. By utilizing a digital sound engine, the V-Accordion can be transposed to a different key through the digital control on the unit. This feature allows folk accordionists to perform with just a single instrument instead of needing to take multiple instruments to a performance. The FR-18 features 12 authentic built-in sound sets that include Cajun, Organetto, Tex Mex, and Alpine, plus eight orchestral voices, and four virtual tone wheel organs. There are also USB connections for both data transfer from the accordion to a computer and for loading sample libraries into the instrument.

 

 

Roland FR-18 V-Accordion

 

 

 

FR-18 Connectivity

 

Roland also introduced a new heavy duty construction bass amp line called the CUBE-XL. These new amps are available in 20, 60 and 120W models and feature plywood construction and full length edge and corner guards. The amps are solid state and have full DSP control for amp modeling and effects. The speakers range from 8″, 10″ and 12″ respectively based on the power. The 60W and 120W models also include and integrated 80 second looper in their control circuitry. 

 

Roland Cube-XL 120W Bass Amp

 

One of the top ranking new instruments at the show was the GEN 16 AE Cymbal from Zildjian. This is a new low sound volume metal cymbal with an acoustic electric pickup that allows for realistic cymbal and stick response, while supporting playback with different sound packs and cymbal types in a standard Vdrum kit. They cymbals were shown with the Yamaha drums and the new Roland drum rig with the integrated wiring channel. These cymbals can use the same GEN 16 digital vault samples as standard Vdrum rubber cymbals. The AE pickup for these new cymbals have a full circular response patterns and can support programmable damping times to support effects. The cymbals themselves are a silver color rather than a traditional bronze, and the pickup features a distinctive blue LED ring. 

 

Zildjain AE Ride Cymbal

 

Yamaha had a number of new instruments this year. After last year’s major introduction of the new Vdrum line, not much change there other than the integration of the Zildjian AE product into the kits. On the keyboard side, they had a new entry level line that supports large memory loads and USB drives for the VST samples and built in speakers for “wide sound” – the PSR-E233 and PSR-E333. The product incorporates the Yamaha Education Suite which are built-in lessons that let users each themselves to play, and support 61 full-sized keys. There are also over 100 built-in accompaniment Styles so you can play along with a band, or one can use the dedicated Portable Grand button to instantly call-up a great sounding grand piano. 

 

Yamaha PSR-E333 Keyboard

On the stage performance side, a large number of the lighting vendors have now shifted to HBLED based stage lighting. These units still support the DMX interface, and are connected using the same XLR cables. The new LED products consume up to 80% less power and can swich on and off much faster than the traditional lights. This allows for a lower cost of operation, longer life and can produce new stage effects than were previously possible. Following the LED spot style lighting, there were full LED image curtains and panelized display sections for background and outdoor “stage signage”. These all use red, green, blue and white LEDs to create the patterns. For some of the spotlights, alternate color LEDs (e.g. yellow) were also available.

 

Finally to support live performance, Samson showed off their new Zoom R8 music production recorder. Adding to the R-16 and R-24 family, the unit is a single piece, portable, battery operation production studio. It features 8 recording channels and two built in microphones all supporting 24bit/96Khz sampling. There is mixer functions on the channels and like the R-24, the R8 contains a full rhythm machine and metronome for supporting the tracks. The data is stored on SDHC cards and with new batteries, can support a full 3 hours of recording and multichannel control and mixing.

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