What was the hot new gear was unveiled at the 2002 Summer NAMM? You can find out in Sweetwater’s exclusive NAMM Report, now complete and online. The NAMM Report is a sizeable run-down of the latest and greatest at NAMM, a sneak preview of gear destined to be on your wish list this year.
Yamaha had a whole mess of things to show us, from sound expansion cards for your synth to great new keyboards. The LG150-DR expansion board is an ear-ringing collection of stereo sampled drum sounds, more than 80 kits worth of percussion, all with natural sustain and room ambience for that extra dose of real deal feel. Also in the expansion board category was the PLG150-PC Latin groove percussion expansion board, 80 more kits with a distinctive Latin flavor. Both these boards offer 32 notes of polyphony expansion and their own effects.
For the guitarists, Yamaha unleashed their UD Stomp, an awesome stomp box with a huge range of modulation based effects, and all the essential control options you need to get really creative with your sound.
Another big debut from Yamaha was the AW16G recording workstation. Yamaha’s AW recording workstations have been a big hit; the AW16 is a lower-priced model with 16-tracks and the ability to record on up to 8 tracks at a time. It has plenty of I/O with 4-band fully parametric EQ and dynamics on all inputs, a loop sampler, and an optional CD-RW drive. Also, its data is compatible with the AW2816 and the AW4416. All this and much more for under $1300.
Finally, keyboards, keyboards, keyboards. The S08 synthesizer is with us at last, and it’s amazing! A versatile and reasonably priced 88-key programmable synthesizer, the S08 boasts over 749 voices and 31 drum kits within its sleek, lightweight, and portable design. The full list of features is too lengthy to go into here, but we do have room to tell you that at under $1500 retail, the S08 is quite a value.
Their other synth, the S90, had a more advanced features and soundset. Perhaps the most impressive features was the fact that the sounds are the same as those used in Yamaha’s monstrous Motif synth/workstation. In addition to the Motif sound collection, the S90 also features full 64-note polyphony, 88 keys with balanced hammer action, plus a new three-velocity S700 grand piano sample. The S90 will be with us VERY soon, so keep an eye out!
M-Audio/midiman’s Uno looks a lot like a mouse (a computer mouse) but it’s actually a 1×1 MIDI interface that’s hot-swappable and powered completely by USB. Drivers support all Windows operating systems 98SE and higher, as well as Macintosh OS 9 and Mac OS X. It’s very affordable, too.
Read more about all the cool stuff stuff from Summer NAMM in the Online NAMM Report!