2009 Winter NAMM

As usual, the Southern California weather was sunny and warm for NAMM week, and following a near-disastrous CES show, where this year’s attendance plummeted by some 30 percent, NAMM looked pretty good by comparison. True, the guest and visitor badges seemed to outnumber the coveted blue “buyer” badges by about 10 to 1, but those who did attend were serious about business and NAMM officials seemed genuinely relieved by the respectable turnout. As in past years, there was no single “gotta see it hit,” but there were plenty of updates to existing products, such as Cubase 5; lots of other gear that is finally shipping, such as Hagstrom’s 8-string bass reissues; and lots of almost-dones, i.e., N.A.M.M.s (Not Available — Maybe Musikmesse). Visit emusician.com/ms/namm for full product debuts and more than 50 product videos.