It didn’t come as a surprisethat this year’s SummerNAMM show opened topacked halls and upbeat talk.Music product retailers and

suppliers alike had been antici-pating the convention’s returnto Nashville, Tenn., some sinceit left the city four years ago.

But what few expected was

that same pitch continuing asthe convention center closed upat 4 p.m. on Sunday — the lastday of the show.

“This is unheard of on aSunday in Nashville,” said DonLace, president of Lace Music,on Sunday afternoon about thestill-bustling show traffic. “It’sprobably unheard of on a

Sunday at winter NAMM.”This year’s convention drew

in 17,473 total registrants, a 36-percent rise in attendance from2007’s summer show in Austin,Texas. Those numbers stilllooked a little meek comparedto 23,198 at Summer NAMM’slast convention in Nashville in2004. If the show stays in Music

InsideSHOWS

AUGUST 2008 I MUSIC INC. I 47

SummerNAMM’s return

to Nashvilleproves location

can beeverything

1. From left: Steve’s Music’s Michael Kirman, PeterAndruchow and David Gantz; 2. C&M Music’s Chris Nail(left) and Melvin Volz; 3. From left: Ashdown’s MarkGooday with EMD’s Daniel Barker and Bill Filek; 4. CasterTray’s Joel Baldevarona; 5. From left: NAMM’s MelanieRipley, Joe Lamond, Ken Wilson, Danny Rocks and LibbyHellmann; 6. Sparrow Guitars’ Billy Bones; 7. Pro-Active’s Bill Walzak; 8. Progressive Music’s Kyle Long(left) and Billy Cuthrell; 9. Skip’s Music’s Skip Maggiora(left) and Music Inc.’s Frank Alkyer; 10. Guitarist JohnJorgenson performs at the Saga and Shubb party; 11.Singer-songwriter Steve Earle (left) and Martin’s DickBoak; 12. Ernie Ball’s Sterling Ball (left) and West Music’sSteve West; 13. West Music’s Ryan West

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SUMMER NAMM 2008 I BY ZACH PHILLIPS, JENNY DOMINE & FRANK ALKYER

SUMMER HOMECOMING

The 2008 Summer NAMMshow attracted 17,473 total

registrants. That’s a 36-percentrise from last year’s conventionin Austin, Texas, which brought in12,845.

The convention featuredmore than 150 first-time

exhibitors.

Summer NAMM also fea-tured a 45-percent rise in

international registrants.

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City, though, many anticipate itwill reclaim its former glorywithin the next few years.

“I think that if NAMMkeeps it in Nashville, it willbuild, and we will get back tothe old days of Nashville,” saidIrwin Berg, president ofHumes and Berg. “I think itwas a wise move coming back.”

Held at the NashvilleConvention Center from June20–22, Summer NAMM hadthe theme “Celebrating theLocal Community Music Store.”It featured a historical exhibithonoring indie retailers andeducational sessions tailored tothose trying to take advantageof the newest technologies andbusiness opportunities.

And while a visible upsurgeof community retailers traversedthe show floor, the conventionalso boasted more than 150 first-time exhibitors. Booths weresmaller, but space was filled.

“This is the first time wehave exhibited at NAMM, butwe have had distribution since2000,” said Paul Weissmeyer,the U.S. distributor for Clement

48 I MUSIC INC. I AUGUST 2008

1. From left: Remo’s Brock Kaericher,Musician’s Friend’s Rob Eastman andHarris/Teller’s Jon Harris; 2. From left:Medley Music’s Gerson Rosenbloom andConnie Humphries with Port Huron Music’sBarb and Dave Teeple; 3. Mighty Moe’sPeter Bellak; 4. Boss’ Paul Youngblood; 5.Burriss Amps’ Robert Burriss; 6. From left:Elixir’s Craig Theorin, Brendan Bombardand Michael Lille; 7. From left: NAMM’s AlfiSchulidoff-Grube and Carolyn Grant,Gretsch’s David Bird, Fred Gretsch and FredGretsch Jr., consultant John Stiernberg andNAMM’s Pat Martin; 8. Levy’s Harvey Levy;9. From left: Saga’s David Gartland, MichaelGannon and Dan Jostedt; 10. Yamaha’sDennis Webster; 11. Kala’s Michael Upton;12. Lock-It & Rock-It’s Doug Fairweather;13. Kyser’s Randall Williams (left) and NickPalmer; 14. Hohner’s Scott Emmerman; 15.The Music Link’s Levi Oliphant (left) andScott Thompson; 16. JazzKat’s VincentGiardina; 17. George’s Music’s GeorgeHines (left) and Hoshino’s Jon Romanowski;18. Taylor’s Dave Hager; 19. Lace Music’sDon Lace; 20. Pantheon Guitars’ DanaBourgeois (left) and Baden Guitars’ TJBaden; 21. Collings’ Steve McCreary; 22.Reverend’s Ken Haas; 23. D’Addario’s BrianVance; 24. Moog’s Chris Stack (left) andJason Daniello; 25. Daisy Rock’s RonManus (left) and Tish Ciravolo

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& Wiese stringed instruments fromGermany. “On Friday, I was ecstatic. I amimpressed. We have no representation inthe South, so we signed up dealers.”

“The show was a good one,” said MenziePittman, owner of Contemporary MusicCenter. “It felt homey. The booths that themanufacturers had were much smaller, butit seemed like a very busy show.”

More than anything, the show’s suc-cesses demonstrated the continued needfor a mid-year meeting, a proposition somehad started questioning due to droppingattendance in Indianapolis and Austin.

“We came together to celebrate theimportance of local community musicstores in this country, and the feedback tellsus that many dealers found the businessand education they were looking for,” saidJoe Lamond, president and CEO of NAMM.

LOW-END BACKLASH

P lenty of guitar exhibitors showed inex-pensive, entry-level instruments at

Summer NAMM, but demand remainsstronger than ever at the high-end — a sur-prising development in a sluggish economy.

Taylor Guitars embodied this guitar-mar-ket pendulum swing. In January, the com-pany began requiring its dealers to upholdminimum stocking requirements. Thisincluded carrying a number of high-end gui-tars in addition to mid-level and lower-endmodels. While the program may have raisedsome eyebrows among Taylor dealers, thosethat stuck with it have since noticed a sell-through of high-end models, according toDave Hager, Taylor’s national sales manager.

“The opinion is the consumers wantedto see more high-end guitars, and as a result,they’re buying more high-end guitars,”Hager said. “I heard the term ‘backlash,’ interms of all the low-end product out there.

“The economy isn’t in a situation whereit would seem like you’d sell more [high-

AUGUST 2008 I MUSIC INC. I 49

1. Fishman’s Larry Fishman; 2. Humes & Berg’s Irwin Berg(left) and RhythmTech’s David McAllister; 3. From left:Essential Sound’s William Taborn, Michael Griffin andVuyani Wakaba; 4. PMI/Joemeek’s Brent Casey; 5.ProSing’s Dale Miller (left) and Charles Heath; 6. Audio-Technica’s Gary Boss; 7. From left: Notion’s Jim Jeffrey,Marc DeGeorge, Patrick Henry and Javier Sanchez; 8. Fromleft: Yamaha’s Dave Miner with Steinberg’s Greg Ondo, AlanMacpherson and Brian McGovern; 9.From left: Vox’sMichael Bradley, Mitch Colby and Ken Fuente; 10. Audio2000’s Keith Ringled (left) and Haw-Renn Chen

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end guitars]. But I think the people whowant nice guitars are always going to wantnice guitars.”

On the high-end level, Taylor showedthe SolidBody Classic SC electric guitarwith the Style III noiseless single-coil

pickup, the Liberty Tree T5 acoustic-elec-tric and the 2008 Fall Limited Editionacoustics, which feature Hawaiian koaand Mexican cocobolo tonewoods, as wellas Adirondack spruce bracing.

The Music Link, once an importer ofentry-level instruments, has moved intohigher-end wares over the past few years.At Summer NAMM, it displayed the Loarhand-carved archtop guitar, which listedat $1,195.

Dick Boak, Martin’s director of artistand public relations, has noticed the trendtoward the high-end at his company overthe past five years. “In an otherwise crappymarketplace, we’re doing great,” he said.“And we’re doing really great on the upper-end. [We’re] up significantly from last year.”

Martin introduced the M-21 SteveEarle Custom Edition guitar at the show.The roots-rocker himself came out todemo the guitar at Martin’s booth.

In electrics, Godin showed the newRichmond guitar line. Made up of theBelmont and Dorchester models, theseguitars feature a vintage vibe, a chromeroller bridge with a fixed tailpiece andchrome Kluson tuning machines. They listaround $1,200.

Ibanez reissued its RG770DX electricwith Ruby Red and Laser Blue versions.They feature a basswood body, Edgetremolo, DiMarzio/IBZ pickups and theoriginal Wizard neck, which now has afive-piece maple and walnut constructionfor stability. They list at $1,733.32 each.

HARDWARE EVERYWHERE

Audio and recording software was inshort supply at the convention.

Vendors in this market segment optedinstead to show MI-style hardware.

Fishman displayed its new SoloAmp,an all-in-one P.A. solution for singer-song-writers and guitarists. The unit takesadvantage of line array technology, so itcan achieve deep, horizontal sound disper-sion from a single unit. “This is reallydesigned to spread out and cover a room,”said Chris DeMaria, Fishman’s director ofmarketing. Each of SoloAmp’s twomic/instrument channels also featurethree-band EQ, notch filter, phase control,reverb and effects. It has a street price of$999.95, according to DeMaria.

“The best part is the entire system,including the bag and stand, is under 35pounds,” he said. “It makes this systemultra-portable.”

Yamaha also displayed two new offer-ings in the portable P.A. realm, Stagepas150M and 250M. These single-speaker sys-tems, which can be expanded by adding asecond speaker, can function as P.A.s or

50 I MUSIC INC. I AUGUST 2008

1. Cruztools’ Dan Parks (left) and Bryon Walker; 2. Evans’Brian Vance (left) and Mike Robinson; 3. Remo’s Bob Yerby(left) and Brian LeVan; 4. From left: Sabian’s Peter Stairs,Stacey Montgomery-Clark, Andy Zildjian and Robert Mason;5. Aquarian’s Roy Burns; 6. Kaman’s Jim Rockwell; 7.Kaman’s Victor Filonovich; 8. From left: Tama’s JonRomanowski, Masaki Mizuno and Jason Ranck; 9. Mapex’sJoe Vasko (left) and Jeff Ivester; 10. From left: Meinl’sJeremy Page, Juan Berrios and Adam Dennis; 11. From left:RoboKey’s Phoebe Cole, Bob Deutsch and Alan Oxenhandler

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keyboard amps. They come with an eight-channel, detachable powered mixer.

Steinberg, which set up shop inYamaha’s exhibit room, further under-scored the show’s lack of software prod-uct: The Cubase maker displayed newhardware pieces. The MR816 Firewireaudio interfaces integrate with Cubase,and boast a range of audio I/O optionsand on-board DSP. The CC121 AdvancedIntegration Controller offers precise con-trol for Cubase 4.

Handheld digital recorders showed up atmultiple booths. Sony displayed its high-end PCM-D1 (MSRP: $1,999.95) and moreinexpensive PCM-D50 (MSRP: $599.99).At a slightly lower price, Edirol by Rolandhighlighted the new R-09HR .WAV/MP3portable recorder. It lists for $450, features24-bit, 96-kHz sound quality, and recordsto SD or SDHC memory cards.

Alesis even debuted ProTrack, a con-traption that turns an iPod or iPod nanointo a mini recorder. The unit, which

lists around $199, includes two XY,stereo-configured condenser micro-phones and records 16-bit, 44.1 kHz or22 kHz stereo.

Ironically, for a show that was scant oncomputer-based wares, longtime guitaramp maker Vox debuted its first softwareproduct: JamVox. This piece lets guitaristsimport songs and, using Korg’s new GXTGuitar XTraction technology, extract thesolo parts, so players can jam to a prere-corded track. JamVox also boasts 19 mod-els of major guitar amps, time stretchingand pitch shifting, and a USB-poweredamp/speaker hardware interface.

DRUMS FOR DEEP POCKETS

D rum manufacturers, such as Tama,Mapex and Ludwig, focused on high-

end, pro drum sets at Summer NAMM.Exotic wood kits made of bubinga, wal-nut, cherry and rosewood in limited-edi-tion runs catered to collectors withdeeper pockets.

“The state of percussion today is veryhealthy,” said Daniel Barker, president ofEMD Music. “Things like the PASIC[Percussive Arts Society InternationalConvention] show, consumer shows andvintage drum shows are really taking off.”

And while expensive kits have sufferedin the economic downturn, Tama has con-tinued to see success with its limited-runStarclassic Bubinga Reserve Smoky SatinWalnut set, according to Jason Ranck, thecompany’s drum merchandiser.

Gretsch took a similar approach withthe Renown Purewood series, made of100-percent rosewood shells.

“When you get into a speciality line,it’s not something you’re going to want tokeep pushing for extended periods,” saidJim Rockwell, director of marketing forKaman Music. “You want to make some-thing exciting with a limited supply ofwood. It makes sense for us to do some-thing really special.”

While the special-edition Mapex Zebra

AUGUST 2008 I MUSIC INC. I 51

Wood Pro M turned heads, it was the MyPro M online custom order service that thecompany’s director of marketing, JeffIvester, touted as a mid-range maple

option with high-end looks.On the newest frontier of electronic

drumming, Roland, has carried over its V-Drum technology from kits to marching

52 I MUSIC INC. I AUGUST 2008

percussion with the RMP-12 electronicmarching snare. The unit had its officialdebut at Summer NAMM.

“We’re trying to push the envelope,”said Roland Product Specialist DavidGarza, as he demonstrated the RMP-12’srange of applications, which include bothprivate headset practice and use in largemarching competitions.

EXPANDING INTO NEW MARKETS

E lectronic keyboard suppliers are usingthe latest technology to break open

new markets. For some, that means smallgets big. For others, that means big getsreally, really small.

Take, for example, Korg’s new Nanoseries, which is geared for the desktopmusic-making market. It includes the 25-key Nano Key, the Nano Pad and theNano Controller. The instruments are 13-inches wide and extremely thin, ideal foranyone using a laptop to create music,according to James Sajeva, a Korg productmanager. He said he expects these to carrya street price of about $69 each.

On the flip side, M-Audio, a companythat has focused on inexpensive portablekeyboards for the home recording market,has scaled up with a new home digitalpiano line. With five models that range inminimum advertised price (MAP) from$499 to $1,759, the company has devel-oped high-quality cabinetry and plans touse the strengths of its sister companies,Sibelius and Digidesign, to provide cut-ting-edge technology for the new division.

Kurzweil, too, plans to take advantage ofits technology. The company displayed itsnew Mark Pro digital home pianos, whichuse its Mara computer chip technology.

“It’s an amazing chip that is the basisof the SB2X that we introduced last year,”said Todd Brown, Kurzweil’s nationalsales manager. “Now, we’ve got that Marachip available in all of our home products,too.”

1. Antigua’s Randy Huey (left) and Brendan Topolewski; 2.Rico’s Jess Gonzales; 3. RS Berkeley’s Bob Saccente (left)and Gina Fragner; 4. Saga’s Richard Keldsen (left) and DonMose; 5. Yamaha’s Jeff Hawley; 6. JZ Music’s Jian Lu; 7.Roland artist Ed Diaz (center) with Railroad Bizaar Music’sGabriel Williams (left) and Sam Mosley; 8. Kurzweil’s ToddBrown (left) and Jeff Dunmire; 9. Samick’s Greg Smith; 10.From left: M-Audio’s TJ Martin and Ernie Cataldo withSweetwater Music’s Daniel Fisher; 11. Hailun Distribution’sLauren Wallace (left) and Larry Wiese; 12. Korg’s JamesSajeva; 13. SKB’s Jerry Andreas1.

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While some are developing productsfor new new markets, PianoDisc has builta bridge between emerging technologiesand its player piano systems. DavidHoneywell, PianoDisc design engineer,said the company’s new iQ Player PianoSystem “bridges our core competency,which is playing the piano well throughtechnology, with consumer electronicsthat are on the market today.” He addedthat the iQ system is built to work with avariety of technologies, including iPods,MP3 players, Blue Ray DVD systems,computers and more.

At Samick, new technology means creat-ing its own play-along radio stations.“We’re showing our KD-7 digital grandpiano here,” said Samick Regional SalesManager Greg Smith. “It’s got a full-featureplayer system. It can be hooked up to anInternet wireless, FM-streaming stationthat broadcasts piano software 24 hours aday, seven days a week. We’ve got two sta-tions up and running. We’re going to havemore. So you don’t have to stick CDs in.”

For gigging musicians, expect more

power, more portability at a lower price.Yamaha, for instance, introduced theMM8 synthesizer. It’s a full-size versionof the company’s MM6 synth, with theGraded Hammer Standard keyboard. Theunit weighs 35 pounds and has a MAP of$999.

Roland, too, brought portability to theshow, with a Latin flavor. “The RolandGW8 has a Latin focus,” said AmandaWhiting, Roland public relations specialist.“There are a lot of sounds here, but there’s afocus on Latin music — Mariacchi, Latinjazz and more — but you also have plenty ofother styles.” The GW8 weighs 13 poundsand has a MAP of $999.

1. From left: Alfred’s Ron Manus, Lee Leftridge, AntonioFerranti and Daniel Frohnen; 2. Wyman’s Timothy Laskey(left) and George Benson; 3. From left: PianoDisc’s StephenHeuer, David Honeywell, Gary Burgett and TomLagomarsino; 4. Music Sales’ Steven Wilson; 5. From left:Hal Leonard’s Brad Smith and Larry Morton, RockleyMusic’s Liane Rockley and Hal Leonard’s David Jahnke; 6.Roland artist Larry Houston; 7. J. Jennings’ Jerry Jennings;8. Charles Dumont & Sons’ Michele Parker (left) and AgnesWiddman; 9. From left: Mel Bay’s Denise Kantola, ChuckPhillips and Beverly Hoeft; 10. TalkingTabs’ Jason Diana(left) and Danny Coward

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B&O SAFETY NET?

While other industry seg-ments have felt the pinch

of a slow economy, band andorchestra exhibitors at SummerNAMM enjoyed overall stabilitydue to enduring school musicprograms across the country.

“We’re a little insulated,”said Yamaha District SalesManager Scott Slocum. “We doso much business with schools,and the kids’ parents reallywant them to be in band.They’re saying more and morethat music is good for them,which is wonderful.”

D’Addario’s North AmericanSales Manager Jess Gonzalessaid he saw a similar patternwith the success of Rico’sReserve reeds, which introduceda soprano sax line at the show.

“It’s pretty much a steadypart of the business,” Gonzales

said. “It’s been tough times outthere right now. The B&O mar-ket seems to be holding its own.”

Still, Randy Huey, director ofsales and operations for AntiguaWinds, questioned that stability.“Some areas are saying they’velost 130 music teachers in thelast two years, but then youhave areas where money hasbecome available,” he said.

For importers, such asAmerican Longxing, economicconditions coupled with greaterquality give their instruments aneven stronger edge. “The resist-ance of the band directors, inregards to imported instruments,has broken down a great deal,”said Bob Seidman, an AmericanLongxing rep. “Band directorsdon’t have the money they usedto have, and suddenly, they havediscovered that they can do bet-ter with the imports with high

quality, such as we have.”

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOOK

Despite the range of new booktitles at NAMM, print music

publishers and distributorsplaced emphasis on productsthat went beyond songbooks.

“One of the things we’refocusing on here at the summershow is a trend in gift-typeitems,” said David Jahnke, HalLeonard’s vice president ofnational sales. He said the com-pany been successful with itsdistribution of Art StringPublishing’s musically-themedmugs, cards and mouse pads.

Steven Wilson, executive vicepresident of business develop-ment for Music Sales, also noteda greater opportunity in gifts.“Our guitar decks are one of ourbest-selling items in musicstores,” he said of the company’s

flashcard learning products.Video products were also a

highlighted educational tool atAlfred’s booth. The company isnow the exclusive distributorof Interactive Music Videofrom Mayer Enterprises.

“The actual artist takes youthrough the album,” saidAntonio Ferranti, director ofsales, national accounts forAlfred. “They teach you note-for-note, pedal-for-pedal howthey produce their sound onthe album. It has the GuitarHero stream-style video, but it’sfor a real instrument.”

Charles Dumont & Son hasgone a step further by addingTalkingTabs to its distribution.TalkingTabs’ latest product,Play-It-Now Tunes, is a CDmethod that teaches guitariststo play songs without any addi-tional reading materials. MI