The NAMM show is Mecca for musicians—acres upon acres of sparkling new instruments, pro audio gear, and music software, most of it not even released yet. But the show, America's largest, is open only to dealers and press, not the public. We spent four days last week combing the halls and prodding the prototypes to round up this audiovisual gallery of the cool stuff you'll be playing this year.

But NAMM isn't just a massive music wholesaler; it's an experience. With literally thousands of product introductions and tens of thousands of colorful (and loud) attendees, the 104th show had surprises galore. Rather than attempt a comprehensive list of new gear, we chose to document the feel of the show along with the goods. Digicams and voice recorders in hand, Randy (a guitarist) and David (a keyboardist) had one of the most enjoyable tours in years.

Over the next few weeks, we'll delve deeper into the gear and trends unveiled at NAMM, mostly through David's blog. We're also lining up product reviews, so please leave a comment at the end of this article if you have any requests.

To get you in the mood, here's a fun demo we heard in the DigiTech booth. Anthrax guitarist Paul Crook, standing inches away, was soloing through a variety of DigiTech pedals, accompanied by prerecorded drums. David grabbed about 45 seconds with his Olympus WS-200S stereo voice recorder, then enhanced the sound with iZotope Ozone. (You may want to turn down your speakers at first!)

• Shred It (608KB MP3)

NOTE: Clicking the thumbnail images below will open pop-up windows with a larger photo or a movie, as well as a caption. Clicking the text link below each thumbnail will take you to the manufacturer's site.

Roland	Bil-Lite	Taylor Guitars (MP3)
Telex	Boss	Buchla
But What?	Yamaha	Dean Markley
Analogue Haven	Analogue Haven	Pearl
Grandmixer DXT	StudioLogic	Seikaku
NAMM	Ableton	Cycling '74
Laser Metronome (movie)	Looperlative	M-Audio/Mackie
Marshall	Musicpole	Native Instruments
NYPD Marching Band	(Movie)	Porchboard
(Movie)	Roland	Anvil Cases
Yamaha	Yamaha	Z.Vex

Want more? Check out Barry Wood's NAMM Oddities site, our inspiration for this gallery. And be sure to leave a review request below.

Randy Alberts is an author, musician, and photographer who lives on Lummi Island, Washington.

David Battino is the audio editor for O’Reilly’s Digital Media site, the co-author of The Art of Digital Music, and on the steering committee for the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group (IASIG). He also writes, publishes, and performs Japanese kamishibai storycards.

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