NWC NAMM Canadian Reception Toque onstage at the NWC NAMM Canadian Reception
After Thursday ’ s action and with a few evening events coming up on Saturday , we took it easy on Friday night and enjoyed a good meal at the Garden Walk before an early bedtime .
My Saturday morning started at the Ernie Ball booth , checking out some new offerings like an expanded accessory line , cool tremolo pedal , and of course , some new Music Man models . I particularly love the roasted maple necks they were highlighting across the guitars and basses .
D ’ Addario had a particularly cool booth this year , in line with the sharp branding they ’ ve been rolling out in recent years . There were quite a few interesting things on display , including Promark ’ s FireGrain drumsticks , which I think are the coolest-looking sticks out there right now , plus some new high-end guitar accessories . Maybe my favourite of the lot that I know will appeal to a lot of gear heads are the company ’ s custom pedalboard solutions . Basically , the idea is to provide a strand of guitar or power cable with the appropriate connectors and all the tools necessary to make
either custom power or patch cable solutions for your effects .
After that was a trip to InMusic ’ s upperlevel space to meet with InMusic Canada ’ s Paul McRonald . It was cool to hear about the parent company ’ s approach to product development considering , for example , they have several different DJ brands with some overlapping product categories . It looks like the Headrush guitar effects line is doing well since being rolled out a year ago , and I had a great time playing around on the Alesis Strike Pro kit – probably my favourite digital drum set-up from the show .
We ended the day chatting with HHB Canada ’ s Dave Misener about some of the new offerings from Universal Audio , Blue Microphones , and Rupert Neve Designs . We also got to talk music , as Dave ’ s a member of a pretty cool rock band called The Sends alongside his colleague Tracy Carbert and Yamaha Canada Music ’ s Dave Miner . Check them out .
Immediately following the show was Yamaha Canada Music ’ s annual Canadian dealer reception – always a treat with some delicious food and a room full of familiar faces , including retailers and performers . Following President Kenichi Matsushiro ’ s beloved annual bilingual speech , the company recognized some of its dealers who are marking milestone anniversaries in 2018 , including Edmonton ’ s Giovanni Music , Richmond Hill , ON ’ s Cosmo Music , and Twigg Musique , which has locations in both Montreal and Quebec City . Congratulations to all and thanks to Yamaha for another stellar party .
Mike and I once again had the good fortune to join the HHB Canada team , as well as some of their buyers and reps from distributed brands , at a restaurant called Park Ave . in Stanton , a short trek from the Anaheim Resort Area . It was a truly phenomenal meal with a great bunch of people and a perfect way to cap off what ’ s usually the busiest day of the show .
year ’ s edition of NAMM . I ’ d be remiss not to mention the Aeris Protective Packaging booth . They ’ ve got some very cool and efficient solutions for packaging instruments and accessories for both supplier and retailers . Worth checking out if you ship delicate items as part of your operations .
A few general observations and opinions on this year ’ s show :
• Still loving the food trucks all over the place
• There was some great entertainment on the various outdoor and indoor stages . I know that ’ s a constant from year to year , but it was something I noticed and enjoyed more than usual in 2018 .
• There seemed to be a lot more women at the show , both exhibitors and attendees , than I ’ ve seen in previous years , which is very encouraging
• Initiatives like the Boutique Guitar Showcase and international pavilions are welcome additions to the show
• It ’ d be great to have access to fast and dependable WiFi throughout the exhibits . It ’ d benefit the exhibitors greatly for media to easily be able to post and stream content in real time from the show floor .
Attending The NAMM Show every year is a great reminder of many of the best parts of working in the music and musical products industry – and , I suppose this year , the pro technologies industries , too .
Congratulations to everyone at NAMM for yet another standout event . Looking forward to next year ’ s edition !
Yamaha Canada ’ s Dealer Reception
As I always try to do , I kept Sunday wide open to visit each and every one of the Canadian exhibitors . Between Mike and I , we caught everybody , and generally speaking , people were fond of this
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Music Trade .
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