15 October 2008 - Audio Community Converges at 125th AES Convention

Audio is #1 As Attendees Focus on New Technologies and Making Connections

SAN FRANCISCO: As the 407 exhibits were dismantled and the 17,892 attendees began returning home, a palpable upbeat vibe accompanied virtually everyone involved with the 125th AES Convention held in the Moscone Center Oct. 2 - 5, 2008.

"All our Committee Chairs noted the professionalism and enthusiasm evidenced by event participants and attendees alike," remarked Convention Co-Chair John Strawn. "From an SRO audience for Opening Day Ceremonies and Chris Stone's Keynote Address to packed houses for most of our Broadcast, Platinum, Educational and Special Events (including Geoff Emerick's 40th Anniversary Sgt. Pepper's presentation), the 125th Convention will stand as a water mark against which future conventions will be measured."

"The AES is a powerful brand that continues to attract a high quality visitor," says Dan Duffell, Head of Marketing, Solid State Logic. "We've enjoyed three days of productive interactions with decision makers in the industry."

"We were happy to see the strong turn out at this year's AES Convention," remarked Paul Foschino, senior manager for professional audio in Sony Electronics' Broadcast and Production Systems Division. "The show seemed busy from Day 1 right on through to the end. Our booth was crowded with interested customers, dealers and press non-stop. We came to introduce our new Digital Wireless Systems, and were extremely pleased with the quality of the attendees that this show draws. The AES attracts a well-qualified, professional audience. It’s the best show to introduce a new technology or high end product to the market."

Paul Gallo, Executive Director of the Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) points to the AES Convention as "a rallying point for our international community. We gather together to discuss the issues that impact on our individual business concerns and on the industry as a whole. The AES represents the full diversity of the pro audio community. Manufacturers, engineers and end users all interface in the familial atmosphere. From recording to broadcast to video games and sports coverage, audio permeates our society. We are extremely fortunate to share an annual event of this depth and scale."

Exhibitors recognized the unique audience and environment of an AES show. Harman Professional Executive Vice President of Marketing & Sales, Michael MacDonald opened their AES press conference by paraphrasing Spinal Tap. Questioned by a reporter about Spinal Tap's shift from stadium venues to clubs and whether this was an indication of the band's declining relevance, a band member remarked, "it’s not that we’re becoming less popular it's that our audience is becoming more selective!" MacDonald drew the analogy to AES, pointing out that "While numbers may be a little down, the relevance of the convention remained strong."

AES incoming President Jim Anderson echoes those sentiments. "Certainly everyone is concerned about the economy, but equipment was being bought; people were taking advantage of Master Classes, Tutorials and other educational opportunities to improve their skills, and networking was on overdrive. This was an extremely positive event."

AES Executive Director Roger Furness concludes, "The 125th Convention reflects the overall optimism of our industry. Despite economic concern, we filled the North Hall of the Moscone Center with exuberant and highly motivated crowds."

"A huge vote of thanks or, if you will, a 'shout out,' must be shared by our dedicated Convention Co-Chairs Valerie Tyler and John Strawn, and by of each member of our volunteer Committee," he adds: "Broadcast Session Chair, David Bialik; Education Events Co-Chairs, Dottie Kreps, Mark Swiderski and Teri Grossheim; Facilities Chair, Bob Megantz; Historical Events Chair, Tamara Horacek; Live Sound Events Co-Chairs, Bob Lee and Jonathan Novick; Tutorials and Master Class Co-Chairs, Jim McTigue and Conrad Cooke; Papers Co-Chairs, Veronique Larcher and Rob Maher; Platinum Panels Chair, Paul Verna; Special Events Chair, Chandra Lynn and Vice Chair, Larry The O; Tech Tours Chair, David v. R. Bowles; Volunteer Co-Chairs, Tim Duncan and Evan Peebles and Workshops Co-Chairs, Dave Harris and Joe Carter. This brilliant team has done the AES and the pro audio industry proud," Furness concludes.

The 127th AES Convention will be held at NYC's Jacob Javits Center, Oct. 9-12, 2009

S!
Jason

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15 September 2008 - CLASP is now available for purchase!!

Do you have a 24, 16, or even 8 track professional analog tape machine collecting dust that you paid thousands or maybe even tens of thousands of dollars for? Do you wish you could experience the rich and expressive tone of real analog tape but don't want to deal with SMPTE and time consuming overdub and transfer sessions? Has the sound of straight digital recording been wearing on your ears and got you down?

Endless Analog is proud to present CLASP (closed loop analog signal processor).
CLASP simplifies the analog recording process making it easy to record using your analog tape machine. Imagine having your tape machine synchronized with your favorite digital audio workstation without using any SMPTE time code or sacrificing any analog tape tracks.

Sounds too good to be true? It's not!
Visit our website and download the video tutorials and see CLASP in action, or, if you'd like to see CLASP in person call us to schedule a live demonstration.

Who would have thought analog tape recording could finally be this cost-effective and easy.

DEMONSTRATIONS

If you are in the Nashville area and would like to see CLASP in person, call us to schedule a live demonstration today!

S!
Jason

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24 June 2008 - Summer NAMM Nashville, TN

2008 Summer NAMM Draws Strong Numbers of Buyers to Nashville

The Summer Event's Return to Nashville Attracts Old and New Exhibitors Preparing for Fall and Holiday Business

Nashville, TN., June 22, 2008 - NAMM, the trade association of the international music products industry, today announced final registration and exhibitor numbers for 2008 Summer NAMM. At show close, NAMM reported a 36 percent increase in registration from last year's event in Austin, with 17,473 total registrants for the three-day event, including a 45 percent increase in international registrants.

Exhibitor numbers were also up at the Nashville Convention Center, with 483 companies displaying and demonstrating products. Exhibitors had additional options this year—they could opt for smaller tabletop booth spaces on the show floor or even set up shop in "The Club" area, bringing some products and literature, and hosting meetings—without the cost of a full exhibit space.

"The Club has been really nice because it's a quiet place where you can find a table, some chairs, people can sit down and get a load off their feet and you can have some good meaningful business and a great meeting of the minds, so it's really worthwhile," said Bob Jesperson, Kaman Music, Bloomfield, Conn. "We have a smaller booth at this show, so obviously we're not able to show a lot of our products, but it’s not really a big product show, it's more of a planning show for the holidays and fall business, so for sitting down and planning, the quiet atmosphere of The Club is more conducive. It's been good steady business."

Each day featured professional development opportunities from start to finish, including the popular “State of the Industry” and “Best in Show” Breakfast session and several retailer-focused sessions until show close in the NAMM Idea Center.

"We came together to celebrate the importance of local community music stores in this country, and the feedback tells us that many dealers found the business and education they were looking for," said Joe Lamond, president and CEO, NAMM. "NAMM is grateful for the opportunity to provide the venue for both manufacturers and retailers who are ready to do business for a successful fall and holiday sales season."

There were more than 150 first-time exhibitors who created connections with dealers.

"This was the first time anyone has seen or heard of our product before," said Mike Krumholz, Dave Chiappetta Enterprises, LLC, Brooklyn, N.Y. "We've been sitting on it for five years. The show was unbelievable—we showed the product on Friday, and by Saturday we were distributing it internationally."

"The show has actually surpassed my wildest dreams," said Jim Normandy, Normandy Guitars, Salem, Ore. "I had no idea the stuff that would happen, especially all the press interest I've had. I got two endorsement deals that I worked out with stars. I just launched the company this year. It was great timing on all cylinders. I love Nashville—the folks here are awesome."

The show's host city of Nashville was happy to see the industry return, with many proactive dealers who left their local communities in search of new products, ideas and a glimpse at upcoming industry trends.

"I came here to prepare for Christmas," said Ken Covington of Ken'z Guitars & Accessories, Georgetown, Texas. "I think Summer NAMM is more important because you come here to prepare for the holidays."

"It's been extraordinarily fun," said Jon White, a buyer for Gorilla Guitars, Columbus, Ga. "I've seen a lot of stuff I hadn't seen before. I'm getting to play of stuff I'd only seen in catalogs but never got my hands on, so that's helping us out with placing orders. That part's been really great. Nobody's rushed me—everybody's had plenty of time to talk."

Several exhibitors also shared positive feedback about the traffic at the show.

"Despite the challenging economic environment leading up to the show, we were pleased to see healthier attendance," said Douglas Hanson, Roland U.S., Los Angeles, Calif. "Dealers seemed upbeat and enthusiastic about our new products. We're happy to be back in Nashville, and looking forward to the continuing success of the Summer NAMM Show."

"The show was fantastic—it exceeded our expectation," said David Kay, Taylor Guitars, El Cajon, Calif. "Traffic was up, our dealers were buying - positive, positive, positive for us, so it's been really a fantastic show. I think Nashville has a really musical vibe, I think that's what the show needs, it needs some kind of a musical connection. This is a home for music. It's a home for the show."

"It was great—Friday and Saturday were incredibly busy," said Athan Billlias, Yamaha, Buena Park, Calif. "We had great dealer turnout; lots of local dealers, but also many dealers from around the country. Our expectations coming into the show, to be honest, we didn’t know what to expect—we looked at it positively. We were thrilled with the turnout."

"It was great—great show, great people, and we had the opportunity to show some new product," said Brent Eschew, Stage Ninja, Indianapolis, Ind. "The products were well-received. I'm excited to be back here once again and excited to get back to work."

"The show's gone well," said David Andris, Music Marketing, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. "Yesterday was a lot busier than we thought it would be; Friday we had a lot of heavy [business]. This show gives us more face time with the buyers. You get to know them personally and have the time, so if a VIP comes by, you can really talk to them seriously."

The 2009 NAMM Show will take place January 15-18, 2009 in Anaheim, Calif.

For more information about 2008 Summer NAMM, interested parties can log on to www.namm.org.

About NAMM

The International Music Products Association, commonly called NAMM in reference to the organization's popular NAMM trade shows, is the not-for-profit association that unifies, leads and strengthens the $16 billion global musical instruments and products industry. NAMM's activities and programs are designed to promote music making to people of all ages. NAMM is comprised of approximately 9,000 Member companies. For more information about NAMM, interested parties can visit www.namm.org or call 800-767-NAMM (6266).

S!
Jason

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7 April 2008 - We're Moving! - Update 16 April

We are moved. The old store is down while we work on a new one. Not a big deal. If anyone wants to order our DAW1, you can call the number at the bottom of every page, or the number on the DAW1 sales flyer. The map is working, but the forums are buggy, we are working on that now. The resources database works and we have A LOT more storage space so now we can get some more resources up here without worrying about storage or bandwidth.

S!
Jason

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4 April 2008 - Recording Junkie DAWs

We have spent some time designing and testing several DAWs in recent weeks. I have put together a new article on building your very own DAW, as well as put together a tested and powerful DAW, that is not only economical, but easily expandable to fit anything you might want to throw at it.

I you are a do it your self kind of engineer, you can read through the Build your own DAW article posted in our forums. The article covers the basics to think about when developing an idea of what kind of DAW to build, sourcing the parts, and putting it all together. Feel free to comment in the thread if you have suggestions or questions, we will update it to cover anything that comes up. Call us at (615)809-4574 and we can help source the parts for you.

Alternatively, we have for sale one of the DAWs that we designed and tested. It features the new Intel E8400 3.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, 250GB SATA 3.0Gbps HD, XP Pro OS, 512MB Nvidia video card, Asus Motherboard with RAID 0/1/0+1/5 capability, a wireless KB/mouse combo, 19" widescreen monitor, 2.1 stereo speaker setup. All of this will be optimized for audio work. We also offer free setup of an audio interface, for those customers that are here locally in middle TN.

S!
Jason

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1 January 2008 - New Year is Tracking

Happy New Year!! 2008 is here and Recording Junkie has some cool tools planned for the Audio Engineering and Studio community. Whether we get to all of it will depend on how busy we are with other things, but rest assured the items will remain on the tracklist until they are reality.

You will notice we have added a translator to the site, if not it is in the right hand column. We were getting quite a few hits from places like Germany, and Denmark and while we would love to make this site absolutely accessible to everyone, we have too many other projects to keep this site in too many languages. Hopefully the translator will be helpful to some users however.

The audio pro map seems to be performing well. If you would like your studio or services listed, you can send your information through the contact us link, or register on your own (read the instructions though, there is one spot that most miss). More features will be added to the map in the future. We will likely also require a once per year login to verify your studio is still open for business. This will keep the search results relevant and keep your studio from having to compete with closed businesses for customer attention. This is a problem on most of the studio listings we have seen.

Good luck in the New Year!
Jason

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