mmr-march-2011
DESCRIPTION
MMR March 2011TRANSCRIPT
M a r c h 2 0 1 1w w w . m m r m a g a z i n e . c o m
NAMMShow2011
SummaryProduct IntroductionsPress ConferencesAwards PresentationsBest & Worst
★
★
★
★
★
NEW, DIGITAL VERSION: www.mmrmagazine.com
Review
MMR_COV1 COV1 2/22/11 2:42:45 PM
2 MMR MARCH 2011
www.mmrmagazine.com
MMR Musical Merchandise Review® (ISSN 0027-4615) founded in 1879, is published monthly by Symphony Publishing, LLC, 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494 (781)453-9310, publisher of School Band and Orchestra, Choral Director, Music Parents America and JazzEd. All titles are federally registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Symphony Publishing, LLC. Subscription Rates: U.S.A., US possessions, one year $32; two years $40. Canada one year $80; all other countries one year $159. Single issues $5 each. May Supplier Directory $35. Periodical-Rate Postage Paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offi ces. POSTMASTER/SUBSCRIBERS: Send address change to Musi-cal Merchandise Review, P.O. Box 8548, Lowell, MA 01853. Periodicals circulation is directed to music dealers and retailers, wholesalers and distributors, importers and exporters and manufacturers of all types of musical instruments and their accessories, related electronic sound equipment, general musical accessories, musical publications and teaching aides. The publishers of this magazine do not accept responsibility for statements made by their advertisers in business competion. No portion of this issue may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Copyright ©2011 by Symphony Publishing, LLC, all rights reserved. Printed in USA.
In every issue:
22 Spotlight: The Untold Story of Greg BillingsMMR profi les Greg Billings, who’s been involved in music and MI since he was a toddler. Prior to heading Naples, Florida’s Steinway Piano Gallery, Billings learned at the foot of his father, industry icon Zeb Billings, and has played, sold, and marketed more musical instruments than most can imagine…
32 Product Spread: Piano & Keyboard Products
36 Survey: Piano & Keyboard Market
We got feedback from over 100 retailers to fi nd out about trends in the piano & keyboard market and to learn what dealers expect in the coming year…
40 Show Report: Winter NAMM 2011
Numbers were up, sponsored events and parties made a rebound, and overall mood was markedly improved at this January’s get-together in Anaheim. MMR summarizes the activities in California this winter…
68 MMR Dealers’ Choice Awards Presentations
72 Best & Worst of Show AwardsMMR highlights the ups and downs at the NAMM gathering…
76 SBO Best Tools for SchoolsMMR’s sister publication, School Band & Orchestra, present-ed the second annual Best Tools for Schools awards at the 2011 Winter NAMM Show.
88 Fresh Faces: BT’s Guitar Shop
4 Editorial6 Upfront18 People92 New Products100 Supplier Scene105 Classifieds112 Advertisers’ Index
Cover design: Laurie Chesna
ContentsMARCH 2011 VOL.170 NO. 3
MMR_2 2 2/22/11 2:44:25 PM
Break on through.
© 2011 Samson | samsontech.com
Meteor Mic takes your recordings to another world.Make an impact with our most advanced USB studio mic.Hitting stores everywhere April 15th.
MMR_3 3 2/22/11 3:41:16 PM
EditorialSidney Davis
sdavis@ symphonypublishing.com
®
4 MMR MARCH 2011
There has been a long-held belief that Einstein fi rst declared the defi nition of insanity as, “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” The jury is out as to whether the good doctor was truly the originator of the concept, however taking some editorial license in hand, here are some random thoughts on the subject:
Insanity is: creating another guitar line… believing you can sell a musical instru-ment at list price… paying $52.40 for a stool from the NAMM show decorator in Nashville and $68.40 for the same item in Anaheim… trying to use your airline frequent fl yer points… comparing mattress prices… contemplating a reverse mortgage… sell-ing your company and thinking you are still in charge… developing a music chain and calling it “MARS, the Musician’s Planet”… going to a restaurant that does not have menu prices on its Web site (Morton’s)… charging four separate hotel room taxes (Orange County) and hoping to attract more tourists and convention business…
…Traveling during the winter season (veteran piano man Dave Skidmore re-ports three cancelled fl ights within the past month)… believing your auto dealer is selling at less than invoice… not updating your Web site… purchasing News-week… canceling your daily newspaper… waiting for the Cubs to win the pen-nant… not collecting customer e-mails… believing that either political party will adequately fund music and the arts… trying to hold a conversation at the Ana-heim Marriott or Hilton hotel lobby after show hours… thinking Krispy Kreme doughnuts are good for you… opening your store on Thanksgiving or at 5 am on black Friday!... paying extra for “fast” Internet service…. waiting on the phone for a customer service representative… purchasing a warranty on a television set or a service policy on a refrigerator… not adding new instrument lines every year, or, when adding a new line, failing to promote the product…
…Buying a booth at a trade show and then checking your e-mails as potential customers walk by… going to a show and only visiting half the booths wearing Sunday’s fi nest lawn-cleansing or poolside attire… believing that hotel parking is a nominal cost… trying to buy anything made in America… having a computer without a spam fi lter…. corresponding with a Nigerian Princess who needs your help in locating her father’s money… believing your Verizon/ Comcast (name your supplier) bill will not increase every year… passing through customs at the Toronto airport… paying extra for an airline ticket when ordering on the telephone… taking a taxi ride on the Autobahn… adding typewriter ribbons and fi lm to your accessory department… holding a holiday party at the Olive Garden…
…Displaying your guitars at the height of a basketball rim… believing your unsold band and orchestral inventory will increase in value… not supporting in-dustry associations (take your pick: NAMM, RPMDA, PASIC, AES)… listening to your stock broker… buying a book at an airport… not calling home every night when on the road…. taking a customer check without verifi cation… loaning mon-ey to a relative… wearing a Zegna suit when presenting your music program to new students and their parents… believing someone when they are negotiating a purchase and he or she tells you, “It’s not about the money”… trying to teach a student who shows up wearing a baseball uniform or cheerleader outfi t… not giv-ing your store manager some buying autonomy… failing to use display materials… and fi nally, insanity is writing a column housebound with two feet of snow in the driveway and icicles blocking the entrance to the front door…
It’s time to turn on Turner Classic Movies – next up, “The Gene Krupa Story” with Sal Mineo followed by Steve Allen and the “Benny Goodman Story”…. luckily the groundhog saw his shadow, spring cannot come soon enough!
Definition of Insanity
Volume 170 Number 3March 2011
PUBLISHER Sidney L. [email protected]
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Rick [email protected]
EDITOR Christian [email protected]
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Eliahu [email protected]
CONTRIBUTING WRITERSChaim Burstein, Dennis Carver, Kevin Mitchell, Dick Weissman
ADVERTISING MANAGER Iris [email protected]
SALES & MARKETING MANAGER Jason [email protected]
CLASSIFIED & DISPLAY AD SALESMaureen [email protected]
PRODUCTION MANAGER Laurie [email protected]
GRAPHIC DESIGNERSLaurie [email protected]
Andrew P. [email protected]
CIRCULATION MANAGERMelanie A. [email protected]
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTPopi [email protected]
SYMPHONY PUBLISHING, LLCChairman Xen Zapis
President Lee Zapis [email protected]
Chief Financial Offi cer Rich [email protected]
Corporate Headquarters26202 Detroit Road, Suite 300, Westlake, Ohio 44145440-871-1300www.symphonypublishing.com
PUBLISHING, SALES & EDITORIAL OFFICE: 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494 (781) 453-9310 Fax: (781) 453-9389www.mmrmagazine.com
MMR_4 4 2/22/11 2:45:53 PM
2 HOT NEWSNARKS!$19!2 HOT NEW
SNARKS!$19!
From your favorite distributor.
Hot on the heels of the huge success of the Snarkclip-ons, Snark launches new “no frills” versions forGuitar, Bass & Violin…and Ukulele. Priced to move!
DO TUNERS FLY? SNARKS DO!DO TUNERS FLY? SNARKS DO!
FEATURES:• Fast and Ultra
Accurate Tuning• Full Color Display• Fully Chromatic• Display Rotates 360
Degrees for EasyViewing
• Clip Stays WhereYou Put It
List $19(each model)
© Snark 2011
FREE GOODS!1 FREE on any 20 pc mix of Snark models (EXTRA 5%)5 FREE on any 50 pc mix of Snark models (EXTRA 10%)
snarktuners.com
SNARK GUITAR, BASS& VIOLIN TUNER
SNARKUKULELE TUNER
T H E # 1 T U N E R I N A M E R I C A !
$6.79Net/10 pc
MMR_5 5 2/22/11 3:41:24 PM
6 MMR MARCH 2011
Upfront
Trade Regrets: Charles H. KamanCharles H. Kaman, founder of Kaman Corporation, passed away on January 31 at the age of 91.
A distinctly unique gure in the pan-theon of American business innovators, Kaman rst made his mark in the mid-1940s in the decidedly un-musical eld of aerospace engineering. In 1945, 26-year old Charles Kaman built upon an already impressive resume in aerodynamics by forming his own helicopter company, Kaman Aircraft. The company’s designs proved successful and such models as the HH-43B “Huskie” played a signi cant role in U.S. military operations.
Kaman’s later musical instrument innovations – in particular the iconic round-backed berglass guitar design that would make Ovation Instruments a key player in the MI eld – set the stage for the next chapter of Charles’ profes-sional career. After the initial success of the Ovation guitar in the ‘60s, Kaman went on to acquire a number of signi -cant musical instrument distribution or-ganizations, including Coast Wholesale Music in 1968 and C. Bruno and Sons,
Inc. on 1971. Kaman Music grew to be a powerhouse in the world of MI, with Ovation, alone, at one point command-ing roughly 60 percent of the Ameri-can acoustic market. The acquisition of Hamer Guitars in the late ‘80s only strengthened the overall company offer-ings and Kaman Music eventually be-came the largest independent distributor of musical instruments in the US.
A statement from KMC Music reads, in part:
It is hard to have worked in any of the Ka-man companies without having been personally touched, inspired and motivated by Charlie Ka-man. Known throughout the United States as an aviation innovator, Charlie is better known in our industry as a musical pioneer. It was Charlie’s continuing quest for a superior sound that led him in 1965 to develop the Ovation® Roundback guitar. Throughout, Charlie con-tinued to drive guitar innovation. He dared to bring modern technolog y and processes to guitar manufacturing. He applied composite materi-als, such as the Adamas® carbon graphite top, to guitar construction. He was the rst to incor-porate pickups and preampli ers in the acoustic
guitar, creating the category of acoustic/electric guitar and allowing the acoustic guitarist to plug in when playing live.
A visionary leader, a pioneer and an entrepre-neur, above all, Charlie believed in the people at Ka-man. He both challenged and encouraged his team while paying them the respect that they deserved. His goal throughout was to innovate and stretch boundaries. The success of his companies was a mere byproduct of these efforts. Though KMC Music is no longer a part of Kaman Corporation, we continue to take great pride in the heritage that Charlie provided. He will be sorely missed.
New Board Members Elected at NAMM’s 2011 Meeting of MembersNAMM held its Annual Meeting of Members on January 15, during the 2011 NAMM Show. After introducing past presidents in attendance, reviewing the new annual report, and recapping high-lights of the year, chairman Tom Schmitt called for the nomination of the new slate of the NAMM Board of Directors. The
following NAMM Members were elected for service from 2011 to 2014:
Jake Connolly is the president of Con-nolly Music Company, Inc., a North-port, N.Y.-based marketer and distrib-utor of music products with a specialty in orchestral instruments and acces-
•
sories. He is a member of the Music Distributors Association, the National Association of School Music Deal-ers, the National Association for Mu-sic Education, the American String Teachers Association, the String Industry Council and the Suzuki As-sociation. Connolly holds a bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University.
Sharon Hennessey is the vice presi-dent/owner of The Music People! Inc./On Stage Stands based in Ber-lin, Conn. The company manufac-tures On-Stage Stands, a full line of stand and accessory products, and distributes a full line of pro audio for 140 brands. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Saint Joseph College.
John Riley is the president/owner of Fletcher Music Centers, Inc., a 20-store keyboard retail chain based in
•
•
MMR_6 6 2/22/11 2:54:54 PM
8 MMR MARCH 2011
Upfront
D’Addario AustraliaD’Addario & Company, Inc. has an-nounced its intention to form D’Addario Australia. D’Addario Australia will be the exclusive importer of the D’Addario brands D’Addario, Planet Waves, Rico, Evans, PureSound, and Pro-Mark.
Once established, D’Addario Aus-tralia will continue to work with the
D’Addario & Company, Inc.’s present wholesale representatives during the
expected transition period. To be locat-ed in the Melbourne area, D’Addario
Australia will also direct all marketing activities within Australia on behalf of the various D’Addario & Company brands.
D’Addario Australia will be nation-ally advertising for personnel positions, and plans to conduct business by mid-to-late summer 2011.
Compared to last month, sales are now...
Pulse of the MI Nation
Compiled from replies to MMR’s ongoing online survey of MI retailers. Visit www.mmrmagazine.com to participate...
Up 38%
Level 23% Down
39%
Clearwater, Fla. He is a member of the Keyboard Insights Group. Riley holds a bachelor’s degree in business admin-istration from Boston University.
Michael Skinner is the president of DANSR, Inc., a distributor and im-porter of band and orchestra accesso-ries, based in Chicago, Ill. He is a board member for MakeMusic, Inc. Skinner holds a bachelor’s degree in music edu-cation from Berklee College of Music and a master’s degree in composition from the University of Miami.
Kenny Stanton is the president/CEO of Ken Stanton Music, Inc.,
•
•
a six-store full-line retailer based in Marietta, Ga. He is a member of the Alliance of Independent Music Mer-chants and Omega.
Scott Summerhays is the president of Summerhays Music Center, a full-line retailer based in Murray, Utah. He is the past president and a current mem-ber of the National Association of School Music Dealers. Summerhays holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from the University of Utah.
Lori Supinie is the president of Senseney Music, Inc., a full-line re-tailer based in Wichita, Kan. She is
•
•
the current past president of the Retail Print Music Dealers Association and a member of the National Association for School Music Dealers. Supinie holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary educa-tion from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree from Southern Illi-nois University at Edwardsville, and is a former Certi ed Public Accountant.
Thomas Veerkamp is the market-ing manager of Casa Veerkamp, SA de CV, a full-line distributor based in Mexico City, Mexico. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business/market-ing and a master’s degree with a focus on management information systems.
•
MMR_8 8 2/22/11 2:54:59 PM
Give us some floor space and we’ll give you new profit centers!Choose a program of print, DVDs, books, software, or accessories
Make Money with Hal Leonard
It’s as Easy as 1–2–3!
Software Accessories BooksPrint DVDs
1 – Call us at 1-800-554-0626…2 – Tell us about your store…3 – Receive your custom mix Rack n Roll Rack!
1-800-554-0626www.halleonard.com/dealers
MMR_9 9 2/22/11 3:41:42 PM
10 MMR MARCH 2011
Upfront
Kloc Named Buffet Crampon USA VPGroupe Buffet Crampon president, An-toine Beaussant has announced the ap-pointment of Francois Kloc as vice presi-dent of Buffet Crampon USA, Inc. Kloc
will oversee the overall operation of Buf-fet Crampon USA, serving the United States and Canada.
Francois started his career in 1984 in France as an instrument maker, work-ing for Mignot, Rigoutat and Loree. He joined Buffet Crampon in 1995 and moved to the United States in 1997 to work as the woodwind product specialist for Boosey & Hawkes. In 2005, Kloc was appointed director of marketing of Buf-fet Crampon USA and became director of sales and marketing in 2007. Francois studied oboe and bassoon at the Conser-vatory in France. He was also appointed Honorary French Consul for Jackson-ville, Florida in 2010.
The new vice president of Buffet Crampon USA, Francois Kloc with Antoine Beaussant, president of Buffet Crampon Group.
Shure Incorporated has announced that it has acquired Informationsteknik of Co-penhagen, Denmark, one of the world’s leading providers of dis-cussion systems and cre-ative audio/video com-munication solutions.
Under a de nitive agreement, Shure now owns Informationsteknik and its three divisions: The Danish Interpreta-tion Systems (DIS) Division, which is responsible for the design, research and development, manufacturing, and global distribution of DIS products; The Project Division, which is responsible for highly specialized AV system integration and installation; and, The Rental and Stag-
ing Division, which is responsible for pro-viding creative solutions in sound and vi-sual productions for events like corporate
annual meetings, conferences, trade shows, and world summits.
“We are very pleased to have the op-portunity to work with one of the world’s leading professional audio companies,” said Finn Halken, managing director of Informationsteknik. “There are several reasons this acquisition makes sense for us, especially the fact that both compa-nies place a high value on our employees, and we both have a very customer-fo-cused approach to doing business.”
Halken will report to Christine Schyvinck, executive vice president of Global Marketing and Sales for Shure, and Informationsteknik will be operated as one of Shure’s Business Units.
Odyssey Wins Infringement LawsuitOdyssey Innovative Designs (Od-yssey), a designer and manufac-turer of cases and accessories for the audio market, has won an
infringement lawsuit brought against another accessories manufacturer, Rack in the
Cases Limited, its af liates and distributors.
The trademark lawsuit involves the defendant’s usage of the Odys-sey brand and the identical pro-duction of its product concepts. As a result, the United States District Court / Central District of Cali-fornia (case no. CV10-3411DSF) ruled in favor of Odyssey, order-ing Rack in the Cases, its af liates and distributors, to pay Odyssey $2,000,000 in statutory damages and be enjoined from using Od-yssey’s trademark. The defendant must also immediately cease all us-age of the Odyssey brand, includ-ing but not limited to the termina-tion of its online sales.
Shure Acquires Informationsteknik
SLM Signs Licensing Deal with LOUD for Alvarez GuitarsThe Alvarez Guitar Line is now under the comprehensive stewardship of St. Louis Music (SLM).
A worldwide exclusive licensing agree-ment has been reached enabling SLM to assume complete responsibility for domes-tic and international sales and marketing, product development, manufacturing, artist relations, and warranty and customer ser-vice. The licensing agreement follows a suc-
cessful year of SLM managing the exclusive U.S. distribution of Alvarez, and will now allow the St. Louis team to build on that suc-cess on an international level as once again, SLM will assume all product development and management of production.
For more information on placing an order or becoming an Alvarez dealer, please email [email protected] or call (800) 727-4512.
GC’s New Louisville LocationOn January 27th Guitar Center opened its newest retail location at 4600 Shelbyville Road in Loiusville, Ky.
The 17,500-square-foot facility features “GC Studios,” the retailer’s rst embedded lesson and rehearsal facility.
MMR_10 10 2/22/11 2:55:03 PM
12 MMR MARCH 2011
‘Karl T. Bruhn Memorial Research Fund’The Yamaha Music and Wellness In-stitute (YMWI) has created the Karl T. Bruhn Memorial Research Fund to hon-or and continue the work of its late found-er. Bruhn is widely acknowledged as the “Father of Music Making and Wellness” and a tireless advocate of recreational music making.
“At the time of his passing, there was still so much that Karl wanted to accom-plish for the bene t of the musical prod-ucts industry and for society at large,” says Terry Lewis, former executive VP of Yamaha Corporation of America and the recently appointed new chair-man of YMWI. “During Karl’s tenure at YMWI, he and Barry produced convinc-ing and persuasive research to prove the strong connection between wellness and music making. The Karl T. Bruhn Me-morial Research Fund will ensure that this vital research continues and that
Karl’s vision will be ful lled.”All contributions to the Fund will be
used exclusively for research and may not be allocated for operational expenses. For IRS purposes, YMWI, Inc. has applied for recognition as a 501 (c) (3) organization with a Tax ID # (20-3873790).Donations to YMWI are tax deductible as a chari-table contribution to the extent permitted by law.
Contributions may be made via mail or online; further information about the YMWI is available at:
Karl T. Bruhn Memorial Research FundYamaha Music and Wellness Institute (YMWI), Inc.18201 Conneaut Lake RoadMeadville, PA 16335Telephone: (814) 333-5061E-mail: [email protected] site: www.yamahainstitute.org
Upfront
Korg Distributing BlackstarKorg USA, exclusive U.S. dis-tributor of Korg, Lâg and VOX products, is now handling exclu-sive U.S. distribution for Black-star Ampli cation. With global headquarters and engineering based in the U.K., Blackstar has developed a range of products that appeal to a diverse range of players, from high gain shred-ders, to those seeking boutique-like cleans. The full line of Black-star products will be on display at the Winter NAMM 2011 trade show.
Korg USA president Joe Cas-tronovo noted, “Korg USA has a long and rich history of success-fully marketing and distribut-ing guitar products, and we are thrilled to partner with Blackstar at this point in the brand’s evo-lution. Blackstar is a world-class product line which is positioned to be the future of British high gain ampli cation, offering a full range of product that speaks to players of all genres of music.”
Ian Robinson, Blackstar managing director, comment-ed, “We believe that Korg USA has the right infrastructure, market knowledge and market-ing know-how to take Blackstar to the next level. The chemistry between the two companies is great and we anticipate that this will be a long-term partnership based on integrity and a pas-sion for delivering outstanding M.I. innovation.”
Korg USA will begin offering the Blackstar line of guitar am-pli cation products in the U.S. starting January 2011.
MMR_12 12 2/22/11 2:55:08 PM
Brilliant stereo recording, now with 1080p HD video.
Flips are for kids.
© 2010 Zoom | photo: Neil Zlozower | satriani.com | zztop.com | zoomfx.com
Joe Satriani of Chickenfoot and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.
MMR_13 13 2/22/11 3:42:11 PM
14 MMR MARCH 2011
An early January MMR e-newsletter sum-marized, among other things, the reports of the resolution in the recent WowWee/Gibson case. Shortly after the weekly re-port was sent out, Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz got in touch to clarify and provide further detail on the settlement. His message, in part, follows:
Your announcement on the WowWee settlement is misleading. It infers that Gibson “lost” the case.
Gibson settled the dispute with Wow-Wee paying a license fee for use of Gibson’s intellectual property. Due to WowWee’s acknowledgement of our intellectual property rights and payment for the use of the property rights the legal case became mute,
and Gibson asked the court to dismiss it.Henry JuszkiewiczCEOGibson
Gibson Clarifies WowWee Case Dismissal A message to Skip Maggiora from the Johnson Family:
Congratulations to Skip Mag-giora on receiving the 2011 Don Johnson Service Award.
Through his unassuming and affable nature, Skip has selfl essly succeeded in a business that he truly loves, while sharing his in-spiration and gene ros i t y, which is the true meaning of success.
The John-son family is proud to have him so honored because Don shared those vir-tues too, as well as a passion for the music industry. We wish him continued success changing lives through music.
Charlene, Hilary, and Rosamund Johnson
Upfront
After four months and four rounds, John-Joe Michael Roarty is the 2010 Sam Ash “Best In Shred” champion, winning $20,000 in music, sound and recording gear from Ibanez, Line 6, EV, Zoom, Jim Dunlop, Samson and Morley, plus the grand prize: the opportunity to perform live, onstage with legendary guitarist Steve Vai. Sammy Ash, COO of the music store chain person-ally awarded John-Joe the coveted Ibanez RG9670Z guitar, a custom model own in from Japan for the event.
The celebrity panel of judges for the -nal round featured: John 5, guitarist for Rob Zombie; Kiko Loureiro, guitarist for Angra;
George Lynch, legendary guitarist for Dok-ken and Lynch Mob; and Frank Bello, bassist for Anthrax. The contest’s nal round took place January 12th at the Sam Ash Music superstore in Cerritos, California.
Sam Ash Music launched the ‘Best in Shred’ contest in October to nd Ameri-ca’s best unsigned guitar player. Over six hundred guitarists entered. At the Cham-pionship, the remaining six nalists so-loed live onstage to their choice of a Steve Vai backing track. The judges scored the players on their technical skills, original-ity, accuracy, and showmanship to deter-mine the winner.
Sam Ash’s ‘Best in Shred’ Winner Named
Trade Regrets:James (Jimmy) Johnson, found-er and of Mississippi Music, passed away on February 1.
Johnson served as president of NAMM, president of AMC, and as a member of the American Band-masters As-s o c i a t i o n . Jimmy was also a founding member of the Omega group, which has played a vital role in the pro-gression of the industry beginning in the 1960s.
Gunter Manchen passed away on Sunday, January 30, 2011 in Toronto, Canada at the age of 75.
Born in Halle/Saale, Germany, Manchen eventually became a cabi-net-maker and church organ builder. Upon immigrating to Toronto in 1965, Gunter founded Manchen Pianos and began to sell pianos and estab-lish a reputation as a concert piano technician. In 1994, Manchen and his business partner, Wayne Chen co-founded Piano & Keyboard Centre in Toronto.
The Euro Grand Piano Gallery in Naples, Florida, was established in the Fall of 2001.
To express condolences please write to:
Gisela Manchenc/o Ermel, 202 Bay Thorn DrThornhill, ON L3T 3V5 CanadaE-mail: [email protected]
George PhelpsWe recently received the following sad news from Jodi Ann Parker of Players Music:
I wanted to contact you gentle-man in regards to some very sad news that I received today upon re-turning back from the NAMM show.
A very great man who touched my life in many ways, as a mentor,
MMR_14 14 2/22/11 2:55:15 PM
U-320
Saga Musical Instruments • P.O. Box 2841 • South San Francisco, CA 94080 • [800] [email protected] • www.sagamusic.com • DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED!
A Sure Cure for Island FeverA Sure Cure for Island Fever
When you’ve been in the Islands too long, a Mahalo Ukulele isjust the thing to snap you out of the doldrums. Fifteen modelsand a full palette of color choices will suit your every mood.
It is so easy to get started and Mahalo Ukes won’t pile yourbudget onto a reef either. Just follow Miss Hawaii into your localmusic store …surf’s up!
Mahalo UkulelesPriced from $29.95 Retail
Nicole FoxMiss Hawaii 2008
MMR_15 15 2/22/11 3:42:35 PM
Upfront
Trade Regrets:
a friend and a great co-worker has come to pass on Sunday January 16th at 4:30am. George had recently returned back to his home town of Milwaukee, Wisconsin to be with his family in his fi nal days.
I clearly remember getting the news three years ago when we re-turned from the NAMM show in 2008. George was having back prob-lems after the show and thought he strained his back riding in the back of my suburban at the show after we had dinner with friends. “Leave it to George to climb in the back with me instead of grabbing a seat up front, but that was the way he was”. It was in February of 2008 that George found out he had stage 4 Prostate Cancer. He stayed in the Valley here in Arizona with his daughter Patty and his wife Mon-da until August of this year. When George, Monda and Daughter Patty returned home to Milwaukee, where they would be close to the rest of the family and all of his grandchil-dren. George has so many friends and colleagues in the business who are always asking about him and I would love if you all could share with the industry about his pass-ing, some of you knew George per-sonally and know how long he has been in the industry, before joining our industry George served in the Air Force and traveled the world where he was in the Air Force band, he had some great stories that he shared with me of places he went
and people he played for, George’s love for music lead him to the indus-try where he worked for companies such as Leblanc, Rico, Conn-Selmer and Players Music Accessories. George had so much knowledge and I looked to him for support in my du-ties of running our family business. I will miss him dearly and have for the past three years.
Richard (Dick) James Rich-ardson passed away on Dec. 31, 2010, with his family at his side. He was born to Harry and Helen Rich-ardson on Sept. 18, 1928, in Brook-fi eld, Ill.
Dick attended Brookfi eld High School and DePaul University in the Chicago, Ill., area. While still in high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and the unit was stationed in China for three years. Following mili-tary service, Richardson returned to Illinois. He was the longtime owner of Musser Instruments in La Grange, Ill. His company merged with Ludwig Industries, and he remained with Ludwig as vice president. Later, he took a position as president of Sling-erland Drum Company.
In lieu of fl owers, donations may be made to: Davis Oklahoma Animal Volunteers, c/o Audrey Ridlehoover, 317 E. Main, Davis, OK 73030; or PAWS, c/o Carolyn Williams, P.O. Box 147, Pauls Valley, Okla. 73075.
Marvin Clarence Zoschke died at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, Texas, on Thursday, January 20, 2011, at the age of 89. Marvin was born December 13, 1921, in Junction City, Kansas. He was co-owner of Baldwin Piano Cen-ter in Beaumont.
In lieu of fl owers, memorial contributions in his memory may be made to the Music Department at Lamar University.
MMR_16 16 2/22/11 2:55:19 PM
18 MMR MARCH 2011
People
LOUD Technologies Inc. recently appointed Jeff Rocha, vice president and general manager, EAW and Anthony Taylor, vice presi-dent and managing direc-tor, Martin Audio.
In these newly expanded roles, Rocha and Taylor will assume P&L respon-sibility for their respective brand, as well as manage all engineering, product development, marketing, manufacturing and sales efforts.
In addition, Rocha will lead the EAW design and manufacturing facility in Whitinsville, USA, while Taylor will lead the Martin Audio design and manufac-turing facility in High Wycombe, UK.
Harman Professional has named Mark Posgay as sales director for the United States.
A 17-year sales leader with deep experience in professional audio, Posgay
will be based out of Harman Profession-al’s Elkhart, Indiana Sales & Support Center and will report to Scott Robbins, vice president Of Sales.
In a series of appointments to improve its organization and its end-product, Crown Audio recently announced decisive steps to reinforce its senior management team.
John Fitzgerald, vice president of program man-agement at Harman Pro-fessional, will take the additional position of gen-eral manager for Harman’s Elkhart, Ind. based Ampli- er Business Unit and will be responsible for all aspects of Crown Audio’s business.
John Batliner, vice pres-ident of sales for Harman’s High Performance Audio Video group, will assume additional responsibilities as vice president of sales for Crown Audio and Matt Bush, previously director of
sales for Crown Audio is appointed senior director of operations for Crown Audio.
West Music has announced the appointment of Doug Ducey to the newly created position of community out-reach coordinator.
In his new role, Doug will work with area schools, churches, youth groups, and events and festivals to promote music education and music making programs throughout Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. Doug will also facilitate existing West Music programs such as Weekend Warriors and group lessons.
In conjunction with National Asso-ciation of Music Merchants (NAMM), Doug will work with schools and school districts to establish new secondary mu-sic programs such as Guitar in the Class-room and Little Kids Rock.
C.F. Martin & Co. Inc., has announced the appointment of 16-year industry veteran Amani Duncan to the new position of director of promo-tional marketing. Effective immediately, she will report to company president Keith Lombardi.
Samson recently an-nounced Mark Menghi as the company’s new director of marketing. Menghi has been a member of Samson’s marketing department for over ve years, previously serving as the company’s art director, as well as its artist relations director.
Pro-Active Websites has announced the promotion of David Hall to vice presi-dent, sales and marketing.
Hall joined the company in 2007 and according to CIO Arley Canterbury, “has excelled in account management and mar-ket development. He has done an outstand-ing job in not only sales to new accounts, but has also proven to be very effective in open-ing new market segments within the Music Products Industry and beyond.”
Rocha
Taylor
Posgay
Fitzgerald
Batliner
Ducey
Duncan
Bush
MenghiCelebrating our 1st placewin for best woodwind instrument 2010.
•Student Flutes
•Intermediate Flutes
•Alto and Bass Flutes
Contact us to learn moreabout joining our dealer network!
WINNER OF
THE 2010
UK MUSIC
INDUSTRY
ASSOCIATION
AWARD!
www.tjflutes.com
Hall
MMR_18 18 2/22/11 2:55:55 PM
©2011 Avedis Zildjian C
ompany
zildjian.com
They
to your customer,speakdirectly
but they say a lot
aboutyou.
MMR_19 19 2/22/11 3:43:00 PM
More Than 5,600 NAMM Show Media Stories Highlighting Our Members. This Exposure Has Resulted in Media Coverage Valued at More Than $40 Million
Increased Media Attention = More Product Exposure and More Customers In Your Stores!
NAMM News is published by NAMM. To keep up-to-date on the
latest breaking industry news, sign up for our PLAYback Digital e-newsletter
NAMM News March 2011
6 Takeaways from This Year’s NAMM Show
On behalf of the NAMM Board of Directors and staff, I’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all who supported the NAMM Show this year. It was an important gathering as our industry slowly emerges from the past few years of recession.
We are lucky to be involved in a special industry; one made up of lifelong friends committed to something that really makes a difference in our world. I was reminded of the importance of these relationships when I personally spoke with many of you in Anaheim. Based on your comments and feedback, I’ve compiled a few thoughts from this year’s show:
Music is more popular than ever.Despite all the bad economic news recently, the NAMM Show clearly demonstrated that music is more important than ever. More than 1,100 media outlets covered the show with a pro-music making message, and positive coverage of our products and technology. As a result, our industry has gotten media valued in excess of $40 million—exposure that would be impossible to get elsewhere. NAMM’s programs also received national and international coverage, which will help create more music makers (and customers) in the year ahead.
It’s all about the people—it’s always been about the people Virtually every music industry pioneer was at the show. We even brought in Mr. Kakehashi, founder of Roland, via satellite from Japan for the Breakfast of Champions. We know our icons by first names: Hartley, Skip, Remo, Vic, Sammy, Henry
and Sterling. We know the company names: D’Addario, PRS, Zildjian, Calato, Marshall, Martin and Taylor. Having our industry visionaries all under one roof only happens at the NAMM Show. They inspire us and help create the next generation of leaders.
New product innovation drives the industry.We go to shows to see new products! Our customers go into music stores and onto websites to do the same. Show me an industry without innovation and new products, and I’ll show you an industry in decline. The NAMM Show featured some real breakthrough products, many from unexpected companies!
Technology is the growth area.When technology makes learning, playing, recording, mixing and enjoying music easier, we will likely grow the market. This segment was evident at this year’s event. New technology was all over the show floor. To grow our business, it will become increasingly important to connect technology with our industry.
There is a new generation of attendees.With 270+ new exhibitors and hundreds of new music retailers in attendance, we saw a new generation joining our industry. They are unburdened by the lament for the “good old days” and will create the solutions to today’s—and tomorrow’s—challenges. We need to nurture and support these folks; they’re our future.
Tribes (industry categories) matter—and their coming together is critical to industry growth and development.The NAMM Show attracts different industry categories: pro-audio, combo, full-line, piano and organs, school music, recording, sheet music and publishing, software, DJ and lighting. And we welcome different parts of the distribution chain: those that make, sell and use the products, manufacturers, retailers, distributors, contractors and installers, touring and live sound, house of worship, music educators, music business students, corporate buyers, studio engineers. This is a true global gathering of the music tribes, and it will only get better in the future!
News ADVERTORIAL • MARCH 2011
visit us online at www.namm.org
Notefrom Joe
MMR_20 20 2/22/11 3:43:04 PM
Mark your calendar now and we’ll see you in Nashville, July 21-23, 2011!
Recognizing and honoring the best ideas and the leading dealers—educating the industry and promoting greater success!
Continuing the industry’s work to introduce more people to the benefits and fun of playing music.
New Show DAYS To Maximize
Your Business
Top 100 Dealer Awards
WANNA PLAY PUBLIC DAY
SaTurday, july 23
MMR_21 21 2/22/11 3:43:41 PM
22 MMR MARCH 2011
Spotlight
Whether he was visiting a store, setting up for a gig, or hanging out in a record-ing studio, the young boy was exposed to what would be his life’s calling at barely beyond toddler stage. “Dad was my best friend, and everyday I was ‘taught’ through osmosis,” he says. This was tak-en up a notch when Zeb opened Billings Pianos in 1956, restoring old uprights and gluing mirrors on them. There, at the rip old age of six, Greg went to work hauling in 25 cents for every piano bench he put together.
By 10, Greg wanted to wear a sport coat like the rest of the salespeople. (Though the self-proclaimed unrepen-tant child of the ’60s would be suspicious of their methods – more on that later...) And, while he instinctively appreciated his father’s business sense at the time, Greg would grow older deeply appreciat-ing it and expanding on lessons learned. First lesson: Chutzpa rules.
“With no money or popular lines, dad convinced a local television station to let him produce a show,” Billings says. Zeb got 4:30 on Saturdays, and in the days before the networks gured out to run sports on that day, it was the worst spot
on the schedule. Yet it became a popular show. It was a boon to Billings’ market-ing skills and his operation.
“I was raised to believe anything was possible. My dad was sitting in with Mel Tormé one moment, opening a store the next, and getting a television show after that. A certain fearlessness was instilled that would propel him the rest of his life. Mantra: Just because one might fail at something is not a reason to keep one from doing it.”
Zeb passed away last year at the age of 80, but his in uence on many continues, most certainly on Greg.
Milwaukee’s Favorite MusicianGreg Billings grew up in a home lled
with music and the business of it. His grand-father, Roy “Red” Billings, was a drummer who became a successful inventor (his pat-ents lead to the rst hydraulic crane). Red’s son Zeb was born in 1930, and was too young to ght in World War II, so he formed a big band instead. By the time he was 16 he was a highly sought after sax player able to carve out a decent living on the bandstand. In 1950, he and his wife gave birth to Greg.
Young Billings would grow up in a
The Untold Story ofGreg BillingsNaples’ Steinway dealer refl ects on his history, the Industry, and why he’s optimistic about the future
At the age of three, Greg Billings was a tag along – not with the older
kids in the neighborhood, but with his dad, Zeb Billings.
“A lot of people assume my dad
gave me that store, but it had been someone else’s for 18 years, and I had to buy it back!”
MMR_22 22 2/22/11 2:56:56 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 23
house where his parents sported hipster names like Zeb and Dodo instead of their way-too-pedestrian birth names, Gary and Delores. The sofa-matching sea-scapes from J.C. Penney’s of the time were spurned for original art painted by friends, and his mom often participated in local theater productions. As the family grew (followed by Deborah, Joe, and Dana), Zeb would open a music store, eventually getting the Thomas Organ line.
When the Beatles shook the Ameri-cas in 1964 via the “Ed Sullivan Show,” the austere organ organization had the smarts to take on the Vox guitar and amp lines, and overnight those Thomas retail-ers opened MI departments.
As for Billings’ own musical adven-ture, it started appropriately on the or-gan, switched to piano, then drums, and by the age of 14 he found himself play-ing tuba in the school band. But what re-ally made an impression was when one of the store’s guitar teachers taught him a scale on the bass guitar. That was the only bass lesson Greg needed and he was playing professionally in his teens (he still plays for his church in Naples and owns 10 basses).
Greg acknowledges that in addition to having “the best dad ever,” being the son of Milwaukee’s favorite musician and respected store owner allowed him some
opportunities that he might not other-wise have. Just growing up with future industry leaders who worked with his dad including Hal Leonard’s Keith Mardak; Bob Jones, formerly of Samick and cur-rently consultant with Story & Clark; and Dennis Houlihan of Roland made an im-pression. “At the of 14 I’d be standing in the showroom with these future industry titans… I learned much from them.”
Mardak tells a funny story about this period: “Greg is ten years younger then me, and when he was 16, he and Zeb
were experiencing the typical father-son con icts. Zeb would come to me and say, ‘You have to talk to Greg! Tell him to cut his hair! Tell him he has to stay in school! You’re closer to his age and maybe he’ll listen to you.” Mardak reluctantly did so, though young Greg blew him off. “But he was always inherently smart.”
Any teenage angst-driven disagree-ment has long faded.
“When I’m asked to prove that my dad was the greatest salesman ever, I tell people of the time he brought home a Thomas organ rep and sold him to his mother-in-law,” Billings laughs. This would be the tale of another legend, Dick Sappe’, whose real name was Von Hum-mel, but was inspired to change it to a less Germanic moniker while standing in line to sign up for the Air Force in World War II. When Billings was 12, Sappe’ met his habitually divorced grandmother and became husband number ve. For years after that, he would spend a week or two during the summer on the road with “Grandpa Dick” calling on dealers.
Sappe’ would get transferred to Nash-ville in 1967. Billings’ mother, Dodo, now divorced from Zeb, followed her mother and her new “dad”-in-law. At 17, Billings spent a summer in Music City, where he discovered the charm of southern girls, and chose to spend his last year of high school in
Greg Billings, far-out right, with his band The General Store, circa 1969, the year Grant Billings was born.
MMR_23 23 2/22/11 2:57:01 PM
24 MMR MARCH 2011
Nashville: “Because rock bass players were in short supply there, I got a gig right away playing with a good band called The Gen-eral Store. I was still in high school when the band started touring.” Meanwhile, his mother decided to return to Milwaukee, leaving Billings to his own devices, which included staying too long in a band cursed with a shyster manager who left the mem-bers penniless. “I learned an important les-son: I didn’t want to be a musician.”
He would marry one of those south-ern gals, father Grant, and return to Wisconsin with his new family. There he attended the University of Wiscon-sin – Milwaukee and studied economics and mass communications. Meanwhile, Zeb sold the piano and organ store to his employees and the guitar department to Bob Zenoni (that became Uncle Bob’s Music).
Zeb then focused on print music full time – a career move that would be ex-tremely pro table, in addition to launch-ing the career of one Keith Mardak [see sidebar]. First it was bench packs of music for beginning organ players, and then the rst Of cial Organ Blue book. But most famously his Sight & Sound publishing company created cassette-based lesson methods. When automatic chord features appeared, Sight & Sound pioneered E-Z Play notation and was among the rst to create music software for home computers. Later, he invented the Golden Sound Story Book which sold over 26 million copies worldwide, in ad-dition to many other “talking” toys and books licensed by Disney, Time Warner, and Sesame Street.
At 23, Greg took on more responsi-bility in the publishing business. He was
ying to places like London and Sydney negotiating deals for the publishing com-pany. The print business continued to do well, publishing methods for all the major organ manufacturers. Lowrey Organs would send a young intern named Dennis Houlihan to edit the books, and “a geeky nerdy organ guy and the long-haired bass player became great friends.”
But Billings became bored. “Whole-sale isn’t the same as retail, and I really missed the music store,” he says. “If it’s in your blood, you have to do it.”
Return to RetailMeanwhile, the original Billings Mu-
sic Piano & Organ was going strong. While it had been 10 years since a Bill-ings had had anything to do with the store, the new owners were pretty per-turbed when in 1978 Greg Billings Piano and Organs opened. “Now, I’d known these guys all my life,” Greg says. “But I told them they bought Dad’s name, they didn’t buy mine” He took the Thomas line away from them, hired a young Steve Datz (who owns and still runs that store to this day.), and despite being the 17th piano and organ store in Milwaukee, business ourished – for a while. Then came high interest rates and just two
Grant and Greg Billings.
Zeb Billings Quartet circa 1952. Zeb is front and center.
MMR_24 24 2/22/11 2:57:06 PM
26 MMR MARCH 2011
years later he sold the business to Verne Netzow and went to work for him.
At Netzow’s Pianos, Billings managed three stores. A bright spot was that they carried the Yamaha line. There Greg met a young Terry Lewis [future executive VP of Yamaha] and “it wouldn’t be fair to say we hit it off – we were re and ice!” he says. “But over the years we developed a deep mutual respect.”
In 1987, Billings was looking to buy a store, and turned to the one that had his name on it. “A lot of people assume my dad gave me that store, but it had been some-one else’s for 18 years, and I had to buy it back!” With partner Myron Brandt he did. Meanwhile, Netzow passed on a new product line from Yamaha, the Clavinova, which Billings gobbled up. While Billings saw its potential, even he didn’t see that these instruments would prove to be one of the most lucrative lines in the history of the industry.
In 1995, Brandt retired. Billings, bored, closed the store and signed on
with Samick working for his old friend, Bob Jones. He covered territory that was familiar to him, because as a young teen he would spend a week or two every sum-mer riding around with Sappe’ as he vis-ited dealers. Meanwhile, Zeb cashed in the publishing business for a $20 million payout, and retired to Naples, Florida.
“People like to ask me how the heck I ever got a Steinway dealership, but the truth is it was easy. While visiting Dad in Naples I wondered how come that town didn’t have a Steinway dealer. I picked up the phone, and called [Stein-
way president] Bruce Stevens, and said I’d like to open a store in Naples. He said ‘Great, but you have to talk to Frank Ma-zurko.’ Frank called me on Monday and said, ‘Great! When can you open?’”
So in 1996, the Steinway Piano Gal-lery in Naples opened. A year later Grant, now married and starting his family, joined his dad. A few years later, the de-mise of the Steinway dealer in Madison, Wis. created the opportunity to open the Steinway Piano Gallery – Madison, and Grant returned to run that store.
Billings & SteinwayMMR: What’s your relationship with Steinway like?
GB: It’s an amazing company. It’s like that amazing Hawaiian vacation brochure where you think, it can’t be this good, but then you go and it’s all true. Steinway is the
story of America. German immigrants be-coming entrepreneurs… they are the real deal. I’ve had many say, ‘Oh it must be tough dealing with those guys.’ But nobody from Steinway has ever told me to do any-thing. They have things on paper, goals, and all of that, but then I sit down with someone from that company we just decide what to do together. Steinway has been the great joy of my career.
MMR: What else will we fi nd in your store?
GB: Just Steinway, QRS/Story &
Clark, and Roland. I can’t be all things to all people and I don’t think anybody can be the low-cost provider any more. Steinway, Bos-ton, and Essex is a great package, and dealers
who execute that plan do well. In electron-ics, Roland – what else can you say?
MMR: And Bob Jones is now with Story & Clark...
GB: Bob! Dennis [Houlihan]! Keith [Mardak]! I’ve never been able to escape those guys! [Laughs] Who is lucky enough to say that?
MMR: Are player piano sys-tems doing well for you?
GB: We got focused on player pianos and have sold almost 800 to date. We’ve re-ally re ned the selling techniques of player pianos. It’s been weak the last two years of course, but it’s coming back. The QRS Pi-anomation system and the PNOscan USB key sensor are amazing products. I have great respect for the other guys, but QRS is my choice. There’s a real elegance and a consumer value in that product.
MMR: Tell us about your Stein-way Piano Society.
GB: Thirteen years ago we formed the Steinway Piano Society. It’s a non-pro t 501(c) 3 that anyone can make donations to. Our mission is to encourage young peo-ple to play and perform. As the world has changed in regards to advertising, about seven years ago we determined to make the Steinway Piano Society the cutting edge of our marketing efforts focusing more on free PR and less on paid advertising.
Out of that grew the Florida Gulf Course University/Steinway Piano Com-petition, which we do in a partnership with [Florida Gulf Coast University’s] Barrow School of Music. We’ve awarded more than $100,000 to these kids.
MMR: Sounds great but what do you get out of it?
GB: In addition to the good PR, it nurtures relationships with teachers, stu-dents and of course FGCU.
MMR: And what is the Piano Bank?
GB: We realized that the kids who are competing tended to be upper mid-
“I was raised to believe
anything was possible.”
Billings Piano & Organs in 1973.
MMR_26 26 2/22/11 2:57:11 PM
Hal Leonard’s chairman and CEO Keith Mardak is an industry icon; his infl uence on print music is as substan-tial as it is historic. Yet he will look you in the eye and, without hesitating, tell you he’s in the business because of one man: Zeb Billings.
“After being in the service, I was a draftsman by day working for an area company that made nuclear reactors. But I was a musician at heart and taught accordion at night.” He would fi gure out that teaching organ would bring him a few more dollars, so he ended up teaching at Zeb Billings Music. There he would witness – and then become part of – Zeb’s “accidental” foray into the print music business.
“Zeb had his television show, and was a great musician, so he was quite a celebrity,” Mardak says. He was also quite an innovator too: he came up with an idea for a bench kit for new organ buyers. He bought $76 of music from Hal Leonard, and eight free lessons valued at $3 each, for a total package of $100. It was an in-stant hit. “But soon every dealer in town was doing the same thing, and he lost his competitive advantage.”
So one evening he got all his teachers together, include Mardak and his older brother Don who was also teaching there. “He had us all make easy arrangements of public domain songs just for the organ, and we ended up with 112 songs and we used a converted typewriter [to “engrave”]. We put price values on each sheet from 40 cents to $1, and put it in a bag, “thus creating a new $100 package. No one else could duplicate that.” The 100 pieces of sheet music were displayed in the store and were used in demonstrating the organ, showing the customer how easy it was to play. The lure of all that music helped move organs.
“It was a hit and at a Thomas Organ group meeting, Zeb got up and showed it to other dealers who immediately want-ed it. While it cost him $10 in print costs, he charged $20, and came back with a bunch of orders, eventually selling 5,000 units. Zeb made a pot full of money.”
Reluctant to be in the publishing business, he approached Thomas to take the idea over and give him a royalty. They passed. Next he went to Wurlitzer Organs. They passed. So did Hal Leonard. “Then later he went to a Wurlitzer meeting in Chicago where, to his surprise, they showed off his book and said they were going to share a great idea that came from one of their dealers – they had ripped him off and that’s when he decided to go into the publishing business. He returned to Milwaukee and asked my brother Don and me to put the song sheets in an educational sequence and write instruction manuals that would tie the songs together.” Then he printed it on appealing color sheets and boxed it instead of putting it in
a bag. At the 1965 NAMM show, he introduced it as the “Per-sonalized Organ Course.” “Personalized” in that each dealer’s name would be placed on every sheet as well as the box, “and thus it was sold on a franchise basis, one dealer in one trading area.”
Mardak visited the room Zeb was in and it was jammed with dealers. “Zeb asked me to stay and talk to them and hold them while he, my brother Don and John Skiba, could get to the dealers. I stayed overnight and helped the next day. The fi rst dealer to pur-chase a personalized organ course was Dennis Awe, whose store was located in Garden City, NY.” Today, Awe is a concert organist
for Lowrey.Mardak, still working his day
job, asked to be an organ salesman. Zeb didn’t see it, but said he need-ed someone “very inexpensive” to help with the publishing business. “I told him I was making $550 a month as a draftsman, and he said, ‘I’ll give you $450 a month!’ and I said, ‘I’ll take it!’” Mardak laughs, adding: “So on August 20, 1965, I joined the publishing business.”
The young Mardak knew little of the business and was next handed the tasks of getting copyrighted mu-sic. Phone calls went unanswered so he went to New York and met with the publishers of hit tunes of the day and negotiated 12 popular songs each from three publishers for a total of 36 pop songs. These were mixed in with the public domain ones they had already, and from that mix more books were sold. “By 1968 the busi-ness was going so well he sold his
store.”Mardak admits that the mentor and the student “batted
heads a little,” and since he was ambitious, he eventually real-ized that to go further in this business he would have to strike out on his own. “By mid-1970, Zeb’s company’s sales were around $3.5 million with approximately 35 employees. I left that year to join Hal Leonard.”
They became competitors, and naturally Billings was hurt. But in 1978, Mardak received a phone call with Billings saying he wanted to get together and “get something off my chest.” “We had breakfast, he yelled at me, and we made peace.” They stayed in contact and toward the end of Billings’ life, he told his son Greg that he was thinking of Mardak. Greg let Mardak know and they got to speak one last time 10 days before Billings passed. “He was the most positive fellow ever and to hear him talk, you would never have thought he was in ill health. He told me he was writ-ing arrangements for a vocal group he was forming and hoped to perform with them soon. Unfortunately, we’ll never hear that per-formance.”
Mardak adds: “If it wasn’t for Zeb, I wouldn’t be in this business, and Hal Leonard would likely be very different. I owe it all to Zeb.”
“If it wasn’t for Zeb, I wouldn’t be in
this business, and Hal Leonard would
likely be very different. I owe it all to Zeb.”
Hal Leonard’s Keith Mardak and Billings
MARCH 2011 MMR 27
MMR_27 27 2/22/11 2:57:15 PM
28 MMR MARCH 2011
dle class kids whose parents could afford pianos and lessons. Now that’s great, but it’s not addressing the larger need. So we came up with the Piano Bank program for economically disadvantaged kids. These are kids who can’t take piano be-cause they can’t afford one. At the same time, I’m taking a 15 to 25-year-old con-sole piano in trade that I don’t want.
MMR: Why not?GB: I don’t want to be in the $1,500
used piano market. So we came up with this Piano Bank idea: When a customer
buying a piano tells us they have an older console or grand piano they want to trade in, I look them straight in the eye and tell them its not worth very much – however, if they donate it, they can take a tax de-duction, and I will make sure it gets used by some aspiring disadvantaged kid.
MMR: How has that worked out for you?
GB: Everyone says yes. And when you come by my store, you won’t nd any crappy old pianos in the back. I don’t have any. We do the same thing in Madison.
MMR: In addition to that, what is your marketing approach?
GB: Everything that worked in the past is not going to work today. We don’t know what is going to work, but it won’t be the newspaper or Yellow Pages, and we do know it needs to be on a [comput-er] screen in front of their face.
MMR: What about big sales?GB: I haven’t used the word “sale”
in four years. If I have to discount some-thing, I have no business selling it. I was the low price guy when I was younger, but I’m not interested in it now.
MMR: How is the rental market?GB: It ebbs and ows. Right now Craig-
slist is driving the price down – hard to rent a piano for $50 a month when you can get a used one online for $300. But when I do have a rental, I convert them. At any mo-ment I have 20 or so pianos out in rentals most convert to a sale in six months.
MMR: How is the worship market?
GB: Churches buy a ton of musical instruments. I don’t think [Roland] V Drums would have gotten off the ground without them. I play in a band at church, have for 20 years, and it’s the highlight of my week. But it’s tough to market to churches. How do you do it? You can’t ad-vertise to them, you can’t mail to them.
But we get them by having an out-standing tech department. We service al-
Greg Billings at NAMM.
“I see a huge fl ood of business coming our way.”
MMR_28 28 2/22/11 2:57:19 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 29
most all the churches in town, and when you have that relationship, when it comes time to buy, they buy from us.
Also, the Steinway Piano Society does a Pastor’s talent show that helps stimu-late that market, just like our Physician’s Talent Show helps stimulate the doctor market. But speci cally with pastors, you go through the re of putting on a talent show to raise money for a worthy cause, and you’re connected. You’re connected emotionally, on a real authentic level. Now I have 25 pastors that when they see me they give me a big hug. And every one of them has 10 pastor buddies, so I get calls.
MMR: Tell us a little bit about the Madison store.
GB: We opened up Madison three years ago. After working with me here, Grant and his family wanted to return to Wisconsin, so we talked with Steinway and it worked out. We liked Madison be-cause it was similar to Naples – larger, up-per middle-class demographic, et cetera.
Grant runs it well – he’s up 40 percent this year. I go up once a year for about three hours, wander through the store
and pat people on the back and tell them they are doing a good job! [Laughs]
MMR: You like to write on the topic of sales…
GB: If you’re thinking of buying something from me, you can go online and see all that I’ve written on the topic. I’ve written 1,500 words on every aspect
of sales and it’s available to anybody who wants to look it up. I’m the most trans-parent salesperson in the world! [Laughs.]
MMR: Hmmm… so you’re not exactly a poker face…
GB: I’m a child of the 1960s. When I got into the 1970s, I heard all the [B.S.] about how we’re suppose to [sell]. It was
Rod “Red” Billings on drums with his band circa 1930 – the year Zeb was born.
MMR_29 29 2/22/11 2:57:30 PM
30 MMR MARCH 2011
all about how you have to manipulate your customer to make a sale. We were told you have “convince,” “persuade,” and “close” the deal. I hated it.
Growing up in my dad’s store, I saw how he took care of people. There I also saw a lot of ash-in-the-pan guys who could make good money for one year, but then burned out.
MMR: How has your sales tech-nique changed since you fi rst started in the business?
GB: I’ve been authentic Greg Billings because that’s all I can do. Make friends. Figure out what they need.
Then I read Cesar Millan Dog Whisper. It’s about how canine culture and primate cultures are different. You can’t expect a dog to understand you as a human, be-cause they only respond to the pack lead-er. Now, not all dogs want to be a leader; in fact, most are happy to be part of the pack. But somebody has to lead. This is why I’m about guiding customers through the decision making process. A customer has to decide they want it, and then they have to decide to buy it. So I put them at ease and I let them know I will be their leader. Somebody has to lead, and if it’s the customer, no business will result.
MMR: So what exactly is you approach?
GB: The rst thing I say is, ‘You have come to the right place and I’m glad you’re here.’ Then – my employees laugh when they hear this – I tell them about being seven years old putting piano benches together for 25 cents each. Then they are with me right there.
MMR: And the future of the piano market?
GB: I’m optimistic. You know that 7,000 baby boomers a day turn 65. In the ve years, it’ll be 12,000 a day. They are retiring at a time when they don’t need the money, and a lot of them are heading to Florida. People’s fundamental decision to play a musical instrumental has not changed. It hasn’t changed in 5,000 years and won’t change in our lifetime. I see a huge ood of business coming our way.
MMR: You sound like you still enjoy it.
GB: I can’t wait to get to work in the morning. It’s the beginning of a new friendship.
Wi AudioLink Pocket Portable Stereo Digital Wireless
Music Instruments & Audio Monitoring System
TM
All-in-one stereo digital wireless audio system for every instrument in the band!
• Electric Guitars • Keyboards & Digital Pianos • Electronic Drums • DJ Gear • In-Ear Monitors
Wi DIGITAL WIRELESS SYSTEMS
Simple, elegant, ultra-light design for ear-worn MIC, lavalier miking, video camera/ instrument miking, in-ear audio monitoring
and other line-level applications.
Wi AudioStream ELPocket Portable Stereo Digital Wireless
Microphone & Audio Monitoring System
TM
Digital Versatility In The Palm Of Your Hand!
The Smallest, Most Advanced Stereo Digital Wireless Systems!
MMR_30 30 2/22/11 2:57:34 PM
32 MMR MARCH 2011
Product Spread
Piano & Keyboard ProductsKorg’s new KRONOS Music Worksta-tion unites nine distinct sound engines including SGX-1 Premium Piano: VMT (Virtual Memory Technology) Piano, EP-1 MDS Electric Piano: Multi-Di-mensional Synthesis Electric piano, CX-3 Tonewheel Organ: Tonewheel organ modeling, HD-1 High De nition Syn-thesizer: Flagship PCM, sampling and Wave Sequencing,AL-1 Analog Syn-thesizer: High- delity analog modeling sound engine,MS-20EX Legacy Analog Collection: Analog modeling, Polysix-EX Legacy Analog Collection: Analog modeling,MOD-7 Waveshaping VPM Synthesizer: VPM, Waveshaping, and PCM processing,STR-1 Plucked String Synthesizer: Physical modeling plus new supporting technologies to provide a ver-satile, yet fully integrated instrument.
New technologies added to support these engines include Korg’s VMT (Vir-
tual Memory Technology), allowing KRONOS to take advantage of huge piano, drum, and tape-based keyboard libraries. These long, unlooped samples play back directly from the internal SSD (Solid State Drive), without needing to be loaded into RAM. The clean, intuitive front panel is highlighted by: An eight-inch color TouchView™ display, A four-way joystick, ribbon controller, and two assignable switches, with an additional Vector joystick nearby, Nine sliders, eight knobs and a number of illuminated switches for real-time interaction
Enhanced production features include a sequencer featuring 16 MIDI tracks and 16 audio tracks, along with KARMA® phrase generating technology, Drum Tracks, and RPPR to greatly speed up
the creative process. The effects suite offers 12 Insert Effects, 2 Master Effects, and 2 Total Effects – and over 150 effect types to choose from.
Versatile inputs and outputs include analog, S/PDIF optical, and USB to pro-vide MIDI/Audio connectivity between KRONOS and a computer.
KRONOS is available with 61, 73 or 88 keys. The 73 and 88 key models fea-ture Korg’s nest RH3 Graded Hammer Action. www.korg.com
KRONOS Workstation from Korg
Included with Kurzweil’s PC3 OS are many new features and over 200 new pre-
sets. One major improvement is the new Intuitive Info feature, which enables the PC3 to provide visual feedback in the dis-play whenever a controller (slider, button, wheel, etc.) is used, letting the player know which parameter is being affected and by how much in real-time. This interactive user interface has been designed to make you feel like you’re using a musical instru-ment, not just a piece of hardware.
The PC3’s synthesis engine has un-dergone a few notable enhancements.
Several new V.A.S.T. DSP oscillators have been added along with the ability to edit both keymaps and samples in ROM, opening up even more sonic possibilities than ever before.
New presets include acoustic pianos, synths, pads, FM electric pianos, over 100 new drum kits and a comprehensive collec-tion of pipe organ stop settings. Both the KB3 tone-wheel organ simulator and ro-tary effects have also been improved.www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com
Kurzweil PC3 OS V2.0
MMR_32 32 2/22/11 2:58:01 PM
34 MMR MARCH 2011
New Casio KeyboardsCasio has launched four new models – the CTK-6000, WK-6500, CTK-7000 and WK-7500.
From music composition to stage perfor-mance, these keyboards are fully equipped for live and studio musicians alike.
The WK-6500 and CTK-6000 are replacements for the WK-500 and CTK-5000 models. The new ad-ditions offer new tones and rhythms, a larger backlit LCD display, and a new 17-track sequencer with editing tools for creat-ing new sounds and music composition. Equipped with over 200 different styles of mu-sic from around the world, 670 instrument tones, 100 DSP effects and a registration mode for live performance, the new WK-6500 and CTK-6000 have all the tools to edit, create and perform music.
Combined with a 17-track sequencer, the CTK-7000 and WK-7500 have the ability to record audio. Compositions cre-ated on the CTK-7000 and WK-7500 can be recorded as an audio le on a SDHC
storage card. Even sounds from external instruments can be mixed and recorded. Users can plug-in a microphone, guitar, bass or other
instrument and play along with in-strument tracks from within the keyboard. All of the sounds get mixed and saved as a stereo audio le which can be shared with friends and family via computer or put on an audio CD for label executives. The WK-7500 and CTK-7000 models also feature large LCD display screens, nine physical sliders for mixing capabili-ties and an organ drawbar mode.
The new series will be available at music channels with MSRP’s ranging from $299.99 to $599.99.www.Casio.com.
Pearl River Piano Group America, which has developed into American PR Musical Instruments, is now offering the Pearl River EU122 Vertical Piano. The 48” tall EU122 features a soundboard area comparable to smaller scale grands. The piano offers stag-gered back posts, German felt hammers, leg toe blocks, and large casters.www.pearlriverusa.com
Pearl River’s Vertical Piano
Breaking News!Find it in the
Hot News section of MMR’s Web site,
www.mmrmagazine.com
Delta Series
AVAILABLE IN A VARIETY OF FINISHES & STYLESSend $4 US for COLOR CATALOG 13027 Brittmoore Park Drive, Houston, Texas 77041
by GOTOH1:21 ratio
America’s Premier Guitar & Bass Parts Supplier
MMR_34 34 2/22/11 2:58:05 PM
&The Intelligent Player System
www.pianodisc.com
Smart & Pretty
(916) 567-9999
Elida DakoliPianoDisc/Mason & Hamlin artist
MMR_35 35 2/22/11 3:44:32 PM
36 MMR MARCH 2011
Survey: Piano & Keyboard Market
Piano & Keyboard Survey
‘If You Expect Things Won’t Get Better,
They Probably Won’t’
MMR recently polled over 100 piano & keyboard dealers to get their input on the state of the market. While
some of the data would suggest a “more of the same” status, across the board (the difference between those
reporting up, down, and static sales was a whopping seven percent), most we heard from shared positive
expectations for the coming quarter, though with a keen awareness of changes to the retail landscape and
the mindset of the end-user. Perhaps Jo Beth Dellinger of East Syracuse, New York’s Artist Pianos, Ltd. said
it best we she outlined her own philosophy:
“Expectations can get you into trou-ble. My motto has always been: hope for the best and be prepared for the worst. We move forward following our plan for
2011, and hope that it works to hold us steady. I nd that if you expect things won’t get better, they probably won’t. If you blunder along believing that it will
improve, and make decisions based on that belief, you can be in trouble. We make a plan, and modify that plan de-pending on how the year progresses.”
MMR_36 36 2/22/11 2:59:19 PM
WINNERS
PLAY
YAMAHA
Yulianna Avdeeva – First Place, International Chopin Competition
Claire Huangci – First Place, National Chopin Competition
Cho Seung-jin – First Place, Hamamatsu International Piano Competition
Edward Kunz – Gold Medal, Paderewski Competition
In the first four competitions since its introduction in
early 2010, the Yamaha CFX was the piano of choice for
each winner. Learn more about the CFX – the pinnacle of
Yamaha craftsmanship and expertise – at www.4wrd.it/cfxmmr
MMR_37 37 2/22/11 3:44:42 PM
38 MMR MARCH 2011
Have you noticed any trends in the piano & keyboard market?
Grands for the home market are DEAD, while churches are buying a few. Last month over 90 percent of our sales were digital. Not just cheap stuff - expensive digital grands, Avant Grands, but digi-tal nonetheless. I can’t remember the last time I sold a console piano or a grand over 6’ and we stock all sizes in four markets.
Bill JonesBill Jones MusicKnoxville, Tenn.
The interior design market has dried up signi cantly. Most interest in piano is coming from Europeans, Asians, and La-tino families. While economic/ nancial issues still prevail, declining sales mostly stem from another change in attitude/lifestyle and interest in learning/play-ing the piano. Most Americans view the time and patience required as being ir-relevant. The Institutional piano market has also been dif cult, but has continued to produce sales. Also very relevant is the severely reduced margins generated on the small number of sales.
Bob LuptakSteinway Piano Gallery
Boca Raton, Fla.
We are seeing more activity in the higher priced point instruments than we had been seeing last summer and early fall.
How are sales, compared to this time last year?
Up
33%
Down
37%
TheSame
30%
That has been the case for both digital and acoustic pianos.
Bruce BannisterSamuel MusicEf ngham, Ill.
We’re seeing a shift towards acoustic pianos, as we see more and more immigrants.
The Orientals and Indians, and Mid-dle Easterners are very traditional and very willing to follow the piano teacher’s preference, which is the acoustic over the digital piano.
Tom BuglioTaylors Music Store
West Chester, Pa.
What are your expectations for piano sales in the coming months?
I think that as the economy continues to improve, sales in the piano market will also improve, however... I have noticed that consumers are doing what they can to save money.
David ShibleyNapa Music Supply
Napa, Calif.
Hopefully a slight trend upwards, if em-ployment continues to rise, and discre-
What are “hot” price-points for sales right now?
Entry-level
68%
Midrange/Semi-pro
24%
Professional/High-end
8%
tionary spending by consumers increase. Our businesses will welcome the change.
Mike RothShirk Piano & Organ Company Inc.
Mishawaka, Ind.
Up. When the stock market is up, sales are up.
Jo WoodsWoods and Son Piano Co
Brighton, Colo.
Additional thoughts on the piano & keyboard market?
In our market only two of nine piano stores remain. The message about piano study and brain development goes un-heard by most because now there are too few to get it out. We’re left to concentrate on the teachers, churches, schools, colleg-es, and others who already use and need pianos and will want the better instru-ments we focus on. We still sell the piano study=brain development message hard, but will often lose out to the free acous-tic pianos and the brand name digitals at box store margins. Our concentration has to be spent on the other end of the real world piano market that needs us.
Jim FosterFoster Family Music Center LLC
Bettendorf, Iowa
Building value in a piano is more dif -cult; low priced keyboards and old used pianos continue to undermine the mar-ket. Customers believe they can give their family a musical education for a few hundred dollars
Bob AulettaThe Piano Outlet
Oxnard, Calif.
Piano manufactures & retailers must move acoustic pianos away from being a con-sumer piece of household furniture back to it’s original intent... pianos are sold because someone wants to learn to play one.
George BensonPerzina Acoustic Pianos/Omega
Digital PianosFranklin Square, N.Y.
MMR_38 38 2/22/11 2:59:23 PM
40 MMR MARCH 201140 MMR MARCH 2011
NAMMShowThe 2011
Over 1,400 Visitors, NAMM reports greater than 90,000 in Attendance...
Numbers Up (Despite Ill-Timed Winter Onslaught in Eastern U.S…), More Events than in Recent Years, Positive Vibe in Orange County
MMR_40 40 2/22/11 2:59:56 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 41
A minimal uptick in attendance (a reported three percent gain, compared to 2010) at this January’s gath-
ering in Anaheim doesn’t do justice to what most experienced at the recent NAMM Show: an obvious
increase in supplier-sponsored parties, product introductions, and concerts; increased (according to many)
dealer presence, compared to the dreaded “Yellow badge crowd”; and – as reported by essentially all we
spoke with – a de nite upswing in overall mood. While the tone of the 2010 Anaheim convention could
be fairly summarized as “cautiously optimistic,” this year’s meeting might be more fairly characterized as
downright optimistic, without proviso.
One sign of things changing for the better that was more signi cant, perhaps, than the increased number of visitors to the show (90,114 – up from 87,569 last January) was the 1,417 exhibitors at this
year’s gathering, including 247 rst-time exhibiting companies.
“There was a palpable sense in the NAMM Show aisles that our industry is poised for recovery,” said Joe Lamond,
president and CEO, NAMM. “And we hope that a robust show will serve as a springboard for our members’ success in the year ahead.”
Many, including Casio’s Stephen
1. NAMM president/CEO Joe Lamond congratulates Music for Life Award winner Kara DioGuardi.2. Victor Wooten performs at the Music Edu-cation Days seminar.3. Anaheim Police patrol on horseback.4. The Plain White T’s perform at the Taylor Guitars booth.
1
2 3
4
MMR_41 41 2/22/11 3:00:01 PM
1
2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9
1. The Levy’s Leathers Family: (f) Amy Hanford, Amy Brennan, Danica Levy, Cor-rinne Hunt and Garth Giesbrecht. (r) Larry Greene, Brett Marcus, Ben Myron, Ray Ver-rall, Piers Munro, Harvey and DJ Levy, Jeff Bard. 2. George L’s: Kimberly and Leesa Lewis. 3. The new vice president of Buffet Crampon USA, Francois Kloc with Antoine Beaussant, President of Buffet Crampon Group. 4. Sculpturra Piano’s Tom Van Rijn, Marian Petrescu, and Mark Stevens. 5. Rob Turner, EMG Pickups with MMR Special Appreciation Award marking the fi rm’s 35th year. 6. Ohana Music: Louis Wu. 7. Acesonic: Mario Bermudez. 8. Remo Inc’s Brock Kaericher. 9. Gi-annini: Flavio Giannini. 10. Ampeg – Jess Oliver, the inventor of the B-15 Bass Amp, is presented with the Godfather of Bass Amplifi cation Award. John Boudreau, Pyotr Belov, Jess Olvier, Zane Williams, Dino Monoxelos, and Chrys Johnson. 11. GHS Strings: Donna Waller, Chris Walters, and Elizabeth Randall. 12. NEMC’s Lorne Graham and Gene Garb.
10
11
12
42 MMR MARCH 2011
Schmidt, shared the upbeat sentiment: “We were very pleased, overall, with this year’s Winter NAMM. As has been re-ported by NAMM, ‘attendance’ was up, but the actual dealer traf c, as opposed to the ‘visitor’ traf c, was noticeably improved. I think that most manufac-turers will agree that the vibe was mostly upbeat with the dealers, with some saying the holidays were good or OK, not bad. I think that this was a positive sign for the upcoming selling season. Of course we must still be cautious due to the uncertain economy, but we remain optimistic.”
It’s also worth noting that all this posi-tivity and the increase (albeit small) in atten-dance numbers happened amidst one of the rst in a long line of crippling winter storms affecting the Eastern U.S. “Weather issues all along the East Coast may have played a part [in overall attendance], but I don’t think that’s the entire story,” offered Tech 21’s Dale Krevins. “Reps have reported a declining dealer attendance, in general, over the past few years. I’m sure the state of the economy and expense to travel would be the main reason for not coming to NAMM. Why else would you not go?”
Like Lamond, many walked away from the convention with high expectations for the coming year. “The 2011 NAMM Show was overwhelmingly positive, based on our overall experience, as well as the feedback we received from our dealers, artists and business partners,” said Jason Padgitt, senior vice president, marketing and communications for Fender Musical Instruments Corp. “We are encouraged by the start of 2011 and are well positioned for a strong year at FMIC.”
“I believe the market will mirror the growth rate of the economy’s, but I also believe that musicians are a bit more positive than traditional business and that could re ect in a growth rate slightly better than other industry rates. Music is needed for the soul in good times as well as bad times and I think that is a pretty solid assumption moving forward,” noted LM Products’ Troy Parker.
Julie Nickel of MesseFrankfurt had a similarly encouraging outlook, saying: “The aisles seemed more crowded than I remember them being last year. People were genuinely upbeat and you could sense more optimism than in 2010... I really feel like we’ve rounded a corner... from my perspective, the musical instru-ments industry is rebounding.”
MMR_42 42 2/22/11 3:00:06 PM
www.staggmusic.com
Stagg’s Vintage Bronze and Classic series were created with the discerning player in mind.
Someone who, whether into rock or jazz, demands a true, traditional sound coupled with a genuine feel.
Someone just like you.
Vintage tones.Classic sounds.Authentic you.
Distributed by EMD Music. • For further information, please contact EMD Music, Inc. - [email protected] • 866 871 5800 Toll Free • 877 231 6653 Toll Free Fax
MMR_43 43 2/22/11 3:50:01 PM
1
2 3
4
5 6
9 10
11
MARCH 2011 MMR 45
Sabian introduces AAX Omni, New B8 Pro line, and the Holy ChinaAt a press brie ng on Thursday, January 12, 2011, Sabian unveiled its new AAX Omni cymbal, a revamped B8 Pro entry level line, and Chad Smith’s “Holy China” crash cymbal. Company president Andy Zildjian reiterated that Sabian’s focus was on introducing products with relevancy, that are consumer-oriented and fun. “It is the music industry, after all,” he said with a smile to the crowd in attendance.
The AAX Omni features a thin outer edge that functions as a crash and an unlathed, hand hammered center section that works as a ride. “It’s re-ally two cymbals in one,” noted acclaimed Swiss drummer Jojo Mayer, who was on hand to demonstrate the versatility of the cymbal.
A redesigned B8 Pro line provides sonic upgrades to Sabian’s entry market offerings, with a new hammering pattern and other subtle design changes intended to enhance the complexity and richness of the B8 Pro tone.
With bombastic air, Chad Smith, of Red Hot Chili Pep-pers fame, helped introduce Sabian’s “Holy China,” a china
crash cymbal said to be perhaps the loudest cymbal Sa-bian has ever produced. Dressed in priest’s robes, “Fa-ther” Chad emerged with the Holy China held high on the end of a cymbal boom arm, clanging it mercilessly into the ears of unsuspecting attendees. The Holy Chi-na is the result of Chad’s request that Sabian create the loudest, most durable china crash cymbal possible.
MMR Don Johnson Music Industry Service AwardSkip Maggiora, Skip’s Music, Sacramento, Calif., re-ceived the third annual Don Johnson Music Industry Ser-vice Award from MMR publisher Sid Davis. Skip opened his rst music store in 1973 and has been a leader in the MI industry and an advocate for music education with the in-novative Weekend Warrior and Stairway to the Stars pro-grams. “A personal highlight [of the NAMM Show] for me was seeing one of my mentors, Skip Maggiora, receive the third MMR Don Johnson Service Award. He is truly deserving of this great honor,” said Joe Lamond, president and CEO, NAMM.
Sabian’s Andy Zildjian.
Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers promotes the new Sabian “Holy China” cymbal.
Skip Maggiora and Sidney Davis.
1. Kala Brand: Phil Slight, Michael Upton, Rick Carlson. 2. E-Z Key: Scott Vallery. 3. Sonor’s Karl-Heinz Menzel 4. Brett Getzen, Tom Getzen, and Dave Surber of The Getzen Company. 5. Voyage Air Guitar: Michael Ferrucci. 6. Iain Wilson, G7th. 7. Olympia’s James Bang, Mark Walker, Knagui Giddins, and John Kim. 8. At the Cannonball Music booth – Tevis Laukat, Pete Christlieb, Rose Menza, Sheryl Laukat and Don Menza. 9. Tim Caton, Conn-Selmer, Inc. 10. Musikmesse: Julie Nickel. 11. Industry veterans Pete LaPlaca, PJLA Sales and David Benedetto, F.E. Olds, fl ank Pete’s grandson, Cole Deloye.
7 8
MMR_45 45 2/22/11 3:00:12 PM
1
2 3 4
6 7 8 9 10
1. EMG Pickups’ Stephanie Baughan, James Kearney, Hap Kuffner, Andrew Gravelle, Rob Turner, Alex Ostroumov and Scott Wunschel. 2. SKB Cases: Dave Sanderson, Kathy Galbraith with the 31 lineup of waterproof injection molded cases, customized for various products. 3. Pat O’Denius and Troy Parker of LM Products, Inc. 4. B.R.Wexler with Andy Herf, Blitz Mfg. 5. Guy Petty and Grant Deaton of SHS International. 6. Barry Pease of Burkart Flutes & Piccolos. 7. Andres Cynkin of Peace Musical Instruments. 8. DW’s Jim DeStefano. 9. Kiwaya Ukeleles’ Hitomi Kato. 10. Supernaturals’ Shawn McCain. 11. Sabian’s Dr. Nick Patrella demonstrates his company’s new orchestral cymbals. 12. Jason Dumont and Charles Dumont Jr. of Charles Dumont & Son, Inc. 13. Dana Bourgeois, Bourgeois Gui-tars, Bob Page, Buffalo Brothers. 14. Ricky Moon and Pekka Rintala of B-Band, Inc. 15. Dale Krevins, Andrew Barta, and John Bednar of Tech 21. 16. Beamz Interactive, Inc.: DJ Sandia and Cody Myer. 17. Fishman’s Dan Cohen, Corey Congilio, and Chris DeMaria.
15
11 12 13
16 17
46 MMR MARCH 2011
Zildjian debuts Gen16Zildjian had a second booth at the NAMM Show for the launch of Gen16, a series of modi ed acoustic cymbals that come packaged with dedicated pickups and a sound module for electronic or re-cording use.
Designed to, “bridge the gap from practice kit to performance kit,” the cymbals feature a mesh-like appearance due to many tiny perforations and are said to be 70-to-80 percent quieter than most other Zildjian cymbals. Yet, they retain the standard sound characteristics and feel of acoustic cymbals. The Gen16 cymbals are also reportedly more dura-ble than a standard cymbal due to their exibility. The dedicated pickups are small microphones that t directly on the cup of a cymbal stand, underneath the cymbal, and are designed to pick up the full sonic range of the entire cymbal sur-face. Gen16 cymbal packs are expected to be available in May of 2011.
New Heads, Percussion from RemoRemo introduced several new offerings at the 2011 Winter NAMM show, includ-ing a Powerstroke Pro bass drum head, Corey Miller Tattoo Skyn batter heads, Controlled Sound X drum heads, and a number of other percussion items.
The Powerstroke Pro has a built-in, inverted dampening ring that is sonic -welded to the head, as well as cross-linked acoustic foam designed to provide maxi-mum volume and projection while produc-ing controlled highs, accentuated mid and
Craigie and Debbie Zildjian show off Avedis Zildjian’s new Gen16 cymbals.
5
14
MMR_46 46 2/22/11 3:00:19 PM
There are not enough hours in your days. Your customers need you. Your employees need you. Everyone is pulling at you and you just want to make your work load easier.
Dana B. Goods is here to help! With one simple call you can order a wide variety of instruments and accessories. Our sales team are known for their low-pressure, fun attitude which makes ordering a pleasant experience.
By working with Dana B. Goods you get:
A wide variety of profitable, quality productsExcellent customer supportA painless, low-stress ordering processTons of product training materialsAggressive product marketingA heck of a good time!
Dana B. Goods is the exclusive US distributors for:
Call Dana B. Goods at (800) 741-0109 today and start having a good time all of the time!
Dana B. Goods 4054 Transport Street, Unit A, Ventura CA 93003 danabgoods.com [email protected]
Guitars, Bass and Accessories
Michael Tobias Design
Analog Effect Pedals
Switchers
Ukuleles, Gig Bags and Stands
Microphones
Guitars
800) 741
We get it.
MMR_47 47 2/23/11 8:53:56 AM
1. DR Handmade Strings’ Kimberly Klukosky, Edmond Gilmore, Mark Dronge, Bootsy Collins, Patti Collins, Ron Bremry, Rosa Daza, and Chuck Green. 2. Reunion Blues’ Dave Andrus and Tony Sartoni stand in front of new Bentley ($268,000) automobile. 3. NAMM’s Dominique Agnew with George Gruhn, Gruhn Guitars. 4. Hunter Musical Instru-ments’ Paul Chu with Joe Cardinale. 4. Betty Vandenbosch and Phil Betette of Yorkville Sound. 6. Anthony Perri of Perri’s Leathers. 7. Gary Kilday of GRK Mfg. 8. Timber Tones’ Rob Wooller. 9. AMV: Will Cornell. 10. Neotech: Terry Jackson. 11. Jim Bickley, Tom Shelley, and Carmen Speziale of Universal Percussion, Inc. 12. Steve Rorie and Steven Wasser of E.K. Blessing & Powell Flutes. 13. Bill and Sue Mooers, Dusty Strings. 14. Godlyke Distributing: Kevin Bolembach, Patsy Zitarosa. 15. Terry and Sue Lewis, Yamaha Corp. of America. 16. Gold Tone: Amanda & Wayne Rogers. 17. Husband and wife team of Grace & Paul Rivera of Rivera Amplifi cation. 18. Julie Nickel and Judy Cheung of Musik Messe Frankfurt. 19. Diril Cymbals USA: Ibraham Diril, Sutton Rigg. 20. Stentor Music Company’s Michael and Bridget Doughty.
1
2 3 4
6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13
14 15 16
maximum low range frequencies. noted tattoo artist Corey Miller’s drumhead designs are now available in color in the Tattoo Skyn line, with off a design
hand-colored by the artist himself. The Controlled Sound X snare batter head is constructed of 12mm lm and has a 5mm reverse dot for increased du-rability and tone control.
Remo also continues to push beyond the tradi-tional MI market with new offerings in percussion designed for music ther-apy, world music, and their new NSL
(Not So Loud) line of instru-ments, which have all of the attributes of hand per-cussion with-out all of the noise. Says Remo Belli, “All of the research out there suggests,
scienti cally, that drumming is good for you. And the NSL market is about 100 times larger than the market for people who can make as much noise as they want.”
MARCH 2011 MMR 49
Bob Yerby presents Remo’s new Powerstroke Pro bass drum head.
Remo Belli of Remo.
5
17 18 19 20
MMR_49 49 2/22/11 3:00:27 PM
Alfred Music Publishing Premier Dealer AwardsRon Manus, CEO Alfred Publishing, and Bryan Bradley, COO Alfred Publishing, honored three com-panies with their Premier Dealer Awards at NAMM. Dealer achievements were judged on product display, creative marketing and promotions, knowledgeable sales staff and best Web site.
Gist Piano Center, a family-owned, full-service piano house in Kentucky, was nominated for Premier Dealer Award, but was not present to accept their award. Gist recently added print music to their lo-cation last fall and now prominently feature print on their site and promote it through piano teacher out-reach programs. Robert M. Sides Family Music and Lafayette Music Co. accepted their Premier Dealer Awards at the Alfred Publishing booth at NAMM.
Ron Manus and Bryan Bradley welcome guests to the Alfred Publishing Premier Dealer Awards and Happy Hour.
1
2 3
4
5 6
50 MMR MARCH 2011
Ron Manus, Mark Malone, Alfred Publishing, Mark and Janet Benassi, Lafayette Music, and Bryan Bradley.
Ron Manus and Danny Smolenski of Alfred Publishing, with Peter and Alysha Sides, Robert M. Sides Family Music, and Bryan Bradley.
PMC Looks to ExpandThe Percussion Marketing Council met on Saturday, January 15 to discuss the council’s various initiatives to increase the number of young percussionists across the country. In 2010, the PMC set up a booth at ve different stops along the Vans Warped Tour. Each booth featured a drum set and free ve-minute lessons, as well as some light swag. This effort was met with great enthusiasm ad excitment among the young people attending the Vans Warped Tour and, consequently, the PMC is now hoping to expand its atten-dance to 10-15 stops along the tour.
“The challenge is growing the market, and this is an effective tool for achieving that end,” noted Yamaha’s Dave Jewell. Agreed Karl Dustman, the goal is to “make players out of the wannabes.”
1. Ben Blumgart and Sam Finlay of David Gage String Instruments fl ank Brant Ver Meer of the RPDMA. 2. Lairat Guitars & Basses’ Paul Lairat. 3. Sabian’s Bob Zildjian. 4. Tim and Lynda Elvy with Mark Kortschot, Legere Reeds. 5. Hall Crystal Flutes’ James Hall. 6. Rob-ert King, Mighty Bright. 7. Galaxy Audio: Brock Jabara. 8. Don Deniston of Littlelite. 9. Ted Kuehnert and Devin Chen of Suite Mu-sical Instruments. 10. John Morrison and Nick Bogden, Claude Lakey Mouth-pieces. 11. Dave Gartland and Richard Keldsen, Saga Musical Instruments. 12. Kevin Geier and Steve Wark, Allparts. 13. Tom and Carol Concorde, FBT USA, Inc.
9
1211
7 8 10
13
MMR_50 50 2/22/11 3:00:41 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 51
In other ventures, the PMC’s Percussion in the Schools initiative has complet-ed 32 events reaching approx-imately 20,000 students to date. This includes the “Win Chad Smith” promotion that brought the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer into a high school auditorium for a clinic with the entire student body, as well as a separate master class for the school’s percus-sion students. The PMC is hoping to build off of the suc-cess of that event by making it an annual occurrence.
In 2010, the PMC again declared November to be “In-ternational Drum Month,” offering a free pair of drum-sticks at participating retailers via redeemable coupons in percussion-oriented retail magazines and electronic media. While this promotion generated a small amount of buzz, the PMC is looking to expand its scope and impact considerably through in-creased outreach and awareness over a number of media channels. The PMC is also looking to continue its advancement into new media through online videos, social net-works, and increased partnerships with other organizations in the percussion eld.
Pat Brown, Paul Damiano, Billy Cuthrell, Brad Smith, Karl Dustman, and Dr. Craig Woodson of the Percussion Marketing Council.
MMR_51 51 2/22/11 3:00:52 PM
52 MMR MARCH 2011
On Wednesday, January 12, six guitarists competed for 20,000 dollars worth of merchan-dise and prizes, along with the chance to play on stage with Steve Vai, at Sam Ash’s Best in Shred nals, which took place in the Sam Ash store in Cerritos, California. The con-testants were each winners of an in-store competitions at one of the 45 Sam Ash locations, as well as the six regional nals competitions. The panel of celebrity judges in attendance, Herman Li, Frankie Bello, George Lynch, John 5, Andy Timmons, and Kiko Loureiro, scored each contestant on originality, precision, stage presence, technical skill.
In advance of the event, the Cerritos Sam Ash store was completely remodeled, with extensive work put into a new acoustic guitar room, an amp and speaker section that featured speakers and speaker cabinets suspended from truss rigging, a home audio and dj room, and a new Sam Ash Stage, which houses seating and a stage for in-store performances and events.
Sam Ash Best in Shred Finals
The celebrity judging panel.
3
2
1
MDA Annual Meeting1. MDA’s Madeleine Crouch. 2. Tony Blair of Kay Guitar. 3. Harris-Teller, Inc.’s Jon Harris. 4. Martin Guitar up for auction at the MDA Reception.
4
MMR_52 52 2/22/11 3:01:01 PM
For over 55 years Keystone has been supplyingBattery Clips and Contacts to all industries, includingthe music industry.
We pride ourselves in designing and manufacturingquality products that you can depend on.
Some applications include: Guitars, Basses, AcousticPickups, Microphones, Amplifiers and Effects Pedals.
Play with the best. Get the Keystone connection.
Call or Click for Catalog M55
Available from our global distributor network
RoHS Compliant ~ ISO 9001 Certified
(718) 956-8900 • (800) 221-5510 • FAX (718) 956-9040e-mail: [email protected] • Website: keyelco.com
®Battery Clips & Contacts
MMR_53 53 2/22/11 3:56:20 PM
1 2
1
2 3
4
5 6
7 8
9
1. D’Addario announces the acquisition of Pro-Mark drumsticks. 2. Brian Chung of Kawai Musical Instru-ments 3. Heil Sound: Sarah Heil. 4. Gemein-hardt’s Jennifer Crowell, Jennifer Mumaw, and Sharon Knepp. 5. Holloway Harp Guitars: Scott Holloway Burwell. 6. Tabor Stamper of Jupiter Musical Instru-ments. 6. Scott Emerman, Hohner, Inc. 8. Plutarco Toloza, Sonora Strings. 9. Albion Amps’ Chris Beyer and Richie Onori.
Yamaha Presents Rare Club Custom kit Dave Jewell of Yamaha introduced a limited edition Club Custom drum kit. This ex-tremely short run series is hand made of 6-ply kapur wood and hand painted in one of three different nishes, creating a drum set that is unique both visually and sonically. Designed for vintage tone and look, the versatile Club Custom drum kits displayed a deep, round sound when demoed by Yamaha artists Steve Hass, Sean Paddock, and Kirk Covington.
At Vandoren’s Vandojam
Eric Marienthal.
Jerry Vivino-Eric Marienthal-Tia Fuller.
Jerry Vivino.Tia Fuller and Brian Bromberg.
54 MMR MARCH 2011
Artist Steve Hass demos Yamaha’s Custom Club drumset. Yamaha’s Dave Jewell.
MMR_54 54 2/22/11 3:01:09 PM
1
2 3
4
5 6
7 8
9
1. RS Berkeley: Les Silver, Tim Ries, John Albano. 2. Andy Papiccio, Floyd Rose. 3. Peavey’s Jim Beaugez. 4. Bob Archigian, Eric and Richard Cocco, E & O Mari. 5. Dave Bedrosian, Super Drum. 6. Tom Bedell, Bedell Guitars. 7. The Mu-sic Link’s Jim LaPlaca with the American made Badwater SRO. 8. Travis Perry, Chord Buddy. 9. Art Harvey and Rusty Membrano of OnBoard Research with Capo Tuner and Rechargeable Tuner.
56 MMR MARCH 2011
Best Tools for Schools Awards
Associate publisher of MMR and SBO Rick Kessel moderates the Best Tools for Schools Awards at the NAMM U Idea Center. Left to right: Karen Childress-Evans, Theresa Chen, Linda Christensen, Rick Kessel.
Linda Christensen talks about Artist’s Works, an online tool to upload video to a Web site.
Theresa Chen gets a response from the audience for the Yamaha Disklavier. The Disklavier was also chosen for the MMR Dealer’s Choice Product of the Year.
Karen Childress-Evans presents Guitar Hands, a cleansing lotion for string players.
Kawai Awards Dinner
Brian Chung, senior vice president of Kawai America Corporation, welcomes guests to the annual Kawai Awards reception.
Dealers of the Year, Kawai America CorporationMcBain/Carnes Piano CompanyEvola Music CenterKim’s Piano
Dealer of the Year, Kawai Canada MusicMerriam Music
Dealer of the Year, Shigeru Kawai Piano CompanyMcBain/Carnes Piano Company
Top Sales Performance, Small/Medium MarketSolich Piano & Music Company
Top Digital Piano Market PerformanceLacefi eld Music (Large Market)Pritchard’s Piano & Organ (Small/Medium Market)
Dealer of the Year, Professional ProductsKraft Music
Regional Sales Manager of the YearJerry Porter
2011 Pinnacle Award Winners:
MMR_56 56 2/22/11 3:01:27 PM
Kawai Congratulates Our2010 Pinnacle Award Winners
Kawai Congratulates Our2010 Pinnacle Award Winners
Kawai America Corporation • 2055 E. University Drive • Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220 • www.kawaius.com
DEALER OF THE YEAREvola Music - Bloomfield Hills, MI
Jim Evola
DEALER OF THE YEARKim’s Piano - Garden Grove, CA
Benjamin Kim
DEALER OF THE YEARKawai Canada Music
Merriam Music - Oakville, ONAlan Merriam, Daniel Merriam
TOP DIGITAL PIANO MARKET PERFORMANCE(Large Market)
Lacefield Music - St. Louis, MOCathy Krubsack, Steve LacefieldDwayne Hilton, Larry Lacefield
DEALER OF THE YEARProfessional Products
Kraft Music - Franklin, WI
DEALER OF THE YEARA. McBain/Carnes Piano - San Jose, CA
Scott McBain
TOP SALES PERFORMANCE(Small/Medium Market)
Solich Piano - Boardman, OHThomas Solich, Linda Rein
TOP DIGITAL PIANO MARKET PERFORMANCE(Small/Medium Market)
Pritchard’s Piano & Organ - Sarasota, FLDave Pritchard (left)
REGIONAL SALES MANAGEROF THE YEAR
Jerry Porter
MMR_57 57 2/22/11 3:56:31 PM
SKB Cases Open House
SKB Cases hosted an Open House at its Orange, Calif. factory, four miles away from the Anaheim Convention Cen-ter. SKB has recently invested in new machinery to produce variety of injec-tion-molded cases for the music, sports and industrial/military industries. Jerry Andreas led a tour through the facility, demonstrating how the new M8000 In-jection molding machine has the shot ca-pacity of 16 lbs of plastic and over 9000 tons of clamp pressure, expanding SKB’s manufacturing capabilities and produc-tion capacity here in the USA.
Jerry Andreas, SKB sr. vice president of music sales, explains how the molds are formed in four minute cycles.
Justin Toebe, SKB’s national sales manager, demonstrates 2-up injection molding cases. The base and the lid are produced together.
Janes Gast, Fazio Music, Justin Toebe, SKB, Mike Fazio and Bryan Rankin, Fazio Music.
58 MMR MARCH 2011
1
2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9
1. Connolly’s Marc DeGeorge, Eliza Aldrich, Jake Connolly, Chris Rohrecker, Grace Newman, and Thomastik-Infeld’s Heinz Kovacs. 2. At the Powell Flutes/Sonaré Winds booth, Markus Neger of Thomann Musikhaus with Stephanie Stathos and Steven Wasser. 3. Pigtronix’s Brian Bethke and David Koltai. 4. Jason Kennedy of Jupiter Musical Instruments and Jeff Ivester of Mapex USA. 5. Houseband Gear: Dick Starnes. 6. John Strand of Cherub Technology Company. 7. Ben Whatsley, Orange Amps. 8. Playmate Kassie Logdson at the Steve Clayton booth. 9. Phyllis Webb, The Magic Fluke. 10. Taurino Quezada, Celina Hernandez, Real del los Reyes. 11. Gabe Whyel of American Music & Sound fl anked by other NAMMers at the Saturday night Decompress party hosted by PMC Speakers, Prism Sound, and Mixsensei.com. 12. Audio 2000’s: Sonia DeSantiago, Paula McNamee, Haw-Renn Chen, and Rafael Gutierrez.
10
1211
MMR_58 58 2/22/11 3:01:35 PM
Improve your margins and simplify your life by taking advantageof GHS Music Products one-stop shopping for all of your guitaraccessory needs! Choose from hundreds of high quality products from GHS Strings and Rocktron, and our USA distribution of Rockbag, Rockcase, RockStand and RockCable products.
SHOW SPECIALS!Ask your Rep orDistributor about ourNEW Nickel Rockersseries, and extendedShow Specials onGHS Electric, Acousticand Bass strings.
ghsstrings.com
GHS Corporation 2813 Wilber Ave., Battle Creek, MI 49037 tel. 269/968-3351 fax 269/968-6913
Everything at the other end of your guitar cable.
rocktron.com
Distributedexclusively in the.USA by GHS Music Products.
warwick.de/catalog
MMR_59 59 2/22/11 3:56:36 PM
Dweezil Zappa holds his Limited Edition Dweezil Zappa model Private Stock PRS with a highly fi gured maple top and unique mandolin shaped body.
Paul Reed Smith Press Conference
At the PRS Press Conference, Paul Reed Smith gathered an impressive lineup of famous guitarists including: Orianthi, Ricky Skaggs, Dweezil Zappa, Myles Kennedy, Tom Johnston, Tony McManus, Warren Haynes, Howard Leese, Martin Simpson, Zack Myers , Tim Mahoney , Bernie Marsden, Cody Kilby, David Grissom, Davy Knowles, Mikael Akerfeldt, Fredrik Akesson, Gary Grainger, Greg Grainger, Michael Ault, Nick Moroch, Rich Eckhardt and Paul “TFO” Allen to announce the addition of six new guitar models since the 25th anniversary, including two new Santana models.
Howard Leese, Paul “TFO” Allen, Orianthi , Zach Myers and Warren Hayes.
Howard Leese waits to speak at the PRS press conference.
David Grissom and his PRS DGT signature model guitar. “The guitar came out better than I dreamed. I feel like they hit a grand slam with it.”
Martin Simpson holds his signature model PRS Private Stock acoustic guitars. Tony McManus (left) also worked with the PRS team to develop a signature model Private stock acoustic.
Warren Hayes, Allman Brothers and Grateful Dead, discusses working with PRS to develop the PRS Super Dallas amp and what its been like playing the new PRS 30s.
Bluegrass and country artist Ricky Skaggs has played electric and acoustic for more than forty years and supports PRS as both an acoustic and electric guitar endorser.
60 MMR MARCH 2011
1. Fitness Audio: Robert Holombo. 2. Wristies: KK Gregory. 3. Blackstar Amplifi cation: Craig Costigan. 4. Mike Dorfman, Trick Percussion Products. 5. Pearl Corp.’s Terry West. 6. String Swing: Travis Thieman. 7. Get M Gear: Virginia Castro, Rania Olayan. 8. Kyser Musical Products, Inc.: Nicholes Palmer and Randall Williams. 9. Fred and Dinah Gretsch at the announcement of the Gretsch Custom Shop George Harrison “Tribute” Duo Jet Guitar.
1 2 3 4
7 8
5 6
9
MMR_60 60 2/22/11 3:01:44 PM
Left to right: Joe Lamond, president/CEO NAMM, Vic Firth, Vic Firth Company, Susan Lipp, president, Full Compass Systems, moderator Carole “Kickie” Britt, executive director of The Crane Institute for Music Business and coordinator of music business at SUNY Potsdam, Andy Zildjian, president, Sabian, Ltd.; Jay Wanamaker, senior vice president of Percussion, KMC Music; Larry Thomas, CEO, Fender Musical Instruments.
The Crane Institute for Music Business Sandy Feldstein Industry RoundtableAs part of the “Music Education Days” program for college students with mu-sic business or music education majors, Crane Institute for Music Business at SUNY Potsdam hosted the Sandy
Feldstein Industry Roundtable at the NAMM Foundation Learning Lounge. Sandy Feldstein was a SUNY Potsdam alumnus and long-time music industry leader. NAMM president and CEO Joe
Lamond and industry leaders discussed the challenging times of music educa-tion and music manufacturing and how the two can co-exist and prosper together.
MARCH 2011 MMR 61
Vertex Series
E-Cajon Series
Tycoon Percussion’s new Cajons offer a wide selection of models—from the exotic wood Legacy and uniquely-shaped Vertex to the advanced E-Cajon and innovative Acrylic series— all with one grade of craftsmanship, sound and performance that can only be summed up by one word: choice.
Contact your Tycoon Percussion sales representative todayor go online to TycoonPercussion.com.
Choice.NEW CAJONS FROM TYCOON PERCUSSION
Vertex SeriesZebrano/White Ash
Hear what the world is talking about.
Legacy Series
Acrylic Series
MMR_61 61 2/22/11 3:01:51 PM
62 MMR MARCH 2011
NAMM Breakfasts – Starting the Days off Right…On Thursday, NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond welcomed a capacity crowd to the opening day of NAMM and the Breakfast of Champions.
Joe’s rst guests for the panel discus-sions were industry veterans Vic Firth and Bob Zildjian. The two discussed their long friendship and changes in the percussion business over the past ve de-cades. They agreed that the percussion trend continues to be in acoustic instru-ments and their advice to retailers is to expand your horizons and chase new business.
Bob Zildjian, Vic Firth, Joe Lamond.
Ikutaro Kakehashi, Roland, appeared via video with his advice: establish good relations between the retailer and the customer. Joe called Mr. Kakahashi live via Skype to answer additional questions from the audience and to wish him a happy birthday.
Jon Haber, Alto Music, transitioned from musician to retailer and opened his rst store in 1989. Jon’s appearance in the American Express Open print and television campaign puts a national spot-light on the music retail business.
Sam Ash, chief operations of cer of Sam Ash Music Stores, recalled the family business surviving a depression and two recessions. He recently invested
Mike Huckabee, TV commenta-tor and former Governor of Arkansas, stressed the importance of music educa-tion. The gift of a guitar at age eleven was a life changing experience for him, add-ing that music education is a pathway to
Jon Haber and Joe Lamond.
academic excellence. Music programs in schools are not expendable, but es-sential. Mike also is promoting the I Wanna Play! CD. Proceeds from the sales of the album goes towards pur-chasing musical instruments for school children. Producer Bobby Roberts joined Mike to comment on the many talented artists who recorded tracks for the I Wanna Play! CD.
The nal guest was former New York Yankee Bernie Williams, who be-gan playing baseball and guitar at age eight. Bernie learned discipline from both sports and music, and continues to play guitar today.
Mike Huckabee, Joe Lamond.
in remodeling and major renovations during the current recession, adding additional space for lesson programs.
Sam Ash
MMR_62 62 2/22/11 3:01:58 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 63
Left: NAMM President/CEO Joe Lamond and NAMM Chairman Tom Schmitt stand to either side of the Breakfast of Champions guests Sam Ash, Bob Zildjian, Jon Haber, Vic Firth, Bernie Williams and Mike Huckabee.
Left: On Friday, Danny Rocks, The Company Rocks, moderated a panel of experienced retailers at the NAMM Breakfast titled “Lessons Learned: How Doing Business Now Has Changed for the Better.”
Below: George Hines, Hines Music; Alan Rosen, Bananas at Large; Mark Goff, Paige’s Music; and Gayle Beacock, Beacock Music shared their successful business tactics of anticipating and staying ahead of change and learning to take advantage of the opportunities that change presents. Each panelist discussed their formula for managing change: e + r = o (event plus the response/reaction equals the outcome). The most common events not in their control were the economy, shopping trends, mall foreclosures and credit issues. Their responses for a positive outcome were store events, store relocation and renovation, rental and lessons options.
The Magic Fluke Company, LLC292 S. Main Street, Sheffield MA 01257
413-229-8536 • Magicfluke.comToll-free in the U.S.: 800-459-5558
Introducinga whole new ukefromThe MagicFluke Company
NAMM.indd 63 2/22/11 3:08:05 PM
Dealer BreakfastYamahaAt NAMM, there was lots of talk about “embracing change” – so much so the phrase is in peril of being a hollow cliché. But at the annual Yamaha dealer breakfast on Friday morning, the Pi-ano/Keyboard management team was determined to prove exactly how they are indeed doing just that.
It began when songstress Roberta Flack opened the event by playing the Yamaha DCFX Mark IV Disklavier PRO on the stage. But it was not just hav-ing a star in the room that dazzled – mostly because she wasn’t in the room. She was “playing” the grand from a New York Studio. Showing off advanced tech-nology that Yamaha began promoting a few years ago, they proved they are now able to connect pianos via the Internet so when a note is played on one, it’s reproduced on another in a different location. Called “Remote Live,” it’s a revolutionary advancement that will make the next year for the Disklavier as historic and unprecedented as any since the launch of the groundbreaking instrument. “We’re moving things forward,” Yamaha’s Jim Levesque announced.
MMR Reader’s Honor Disklavier AgainLevesque, marketing manager of Disklavier,
kicked off the meeting announcing that for the 10th year in a row, readers of MMR had awarded the Disklavier with best digital piano of the year.
Speaking of the Flack presentation he pointed that today consumers would not think of buying a com-puter that couldn’t network with another computer, and as Yamaha sees it, they want to offer pianos that can network as well. “Years ago, we connected two Disklaviers that allowed for two-way lessons, remov-ing geographic barriers,” he said. The next step is to add video and create unique experiences where say,
Elton John performing in Lincoln Center and his piano playing is recreated elsewhere. “These perfor-mances could also be received in your store, or better yet, your customer’s living room.” Busy that night? Tivo-like technology will be available as well.
“This can be used for competitive performances, or you could broadcast your own recitals so that the grandparents who live miles away could experience them.” The company’s future includes video, audio, plus MIDI and the ability to broadcast to multiple locations on any Internet browsing device – iPad, laptops, etc. While not ready for a full-scale launch, Levesque called out to dealers interested in the beta experience, and no doubt he had quite a few takers.
Next “host” Bob Heller, national sales director, took stage right, which was set up in talk show format, and introduced Takuya “Tak” Nakata, president. “In 2012 we will have achieved the 125th anniversary,” he said. “To stay in business for that length of time, a company must adapt to the changing market, and Yamaha is no exception. Continued growth and success is largely de-pendent on listening to you, our dealers.”
GM Paul Calvin followed, and was pleased to an-nounce because they were listening to their dealers, Yamaha Keyboard Division was in fact experiencing growth in all product divisions. “I want to thank you for this achievement,” he said. “And I want to reiterate that this continued success hinges on our relationship, and that includes us speaking candidly to each other. It’s to the bene t of our mutual success to react to changing market conditions, and today you’ve seen an example of this [Fleck’s performance of Remote Live]. As we trav-eled the country visiting progressive dealers willing to embrace, we realize its imperative that no one in the company takes that for granite. Fortunately many of
you are taking steps in the positive direc-tion, and our hope is that you take these ideas home, put them in action, and ne new pro ts and success.”
Other Programs, Markets, Prod-ucts
Mark Anderson, director of market-ing, spoke of the 20 percent growth in Yamaha education programs due to their new Quick Play program. “It’s seen good growth, though we know it’s probably a program that can be improved on.” He then launched into some of the new products, including the M1 upright. An-
Company Fires Up Dealers with Technology, New Products, Programs
64 MMR MARCH 2011
Tak Nakata
MMR_64 64 2/22/11 3:02:12 PM
derson got a big laugh when he said: “The M1 is well targeted for institutions – those who like to say they tune their pianos all the time, but none of them do.”
Heller then took over again and in a departure from format, brought up several Yamaha dealers to discuss their success. Jack and Melody Melvin of Melody Con-nection of Jacksonville, Fla., took to the couch rst to discuss their success with the Quick Play program. “Too often someone runs into the store to just get a quick price on a piano, practically leaving the car running,” he said, eliciting another big laugh. “But with this program so far, we’ve sold an addition 15 Clavinovas.” He raised eyebrows when he said that hiring a teacher is a “big mistake” and that the program should be taught by a sales rep – or, say, the storeowner. Acknowledging that it’s sometimes hard to get “buy in” by the sales staff when a new program is brought out, the rst thing he did was to teach the program himself.
As to the program in general, new things need to be tried on “an ongoing basis, because different revenue stream that used to work don’t work as well, and so we need to be innovative. You can’t always do things the same way, and we need to get in there and roll up our sleeves.”
Dan and Theresa Shykind of Downtown Piano Works, Frederick, Md., discussed their enviable success in turning their intimate 75 person concert hall into a “warm up” performance space for those great musicians about to play the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.
Dan Shykind explained that it started as nearly a uke, but the as artists who performed their spread the word and the concert series grew, and music critics start-ed coming to review the program, it’s become a success beyond their wildest imagination.
But Heller put them on the spot, pointing out that while it sounds like the retailer has enjoyed a lot of “feel good moments, the last time I went down to the bank to cash in a feel-good check, it didn’t end well.” The Shykind were prepared, pointing out that the amount of press they’ve received would cost well over $100,000, allowing them to lower their print advertising expenses to zero dollars. And in addition to that: “We’re up 108 percent in sales from last year.”
Jeff Hawley was the next guest on the couch, where he discussed the company’s Customer Experience Group he works for, outlining Yamaha’s aggressive foray into the world of social media.
Leng Tshua of Seattle-based Luxury Marketing, who is a consultant to Yama-ha in marketing to the Asian community, made a brief but resonating presenting on the importance of that demographic and the subtle nuances needed to be under-stood in order to serve that community effectively. With a map outlining the top 24 U.S. Asian Markets, he discussed how
“miscommunication equals missed opportunity.” For those dealers who are able to adapt to serving a group who place a high regard on music education in general and piano in particularly, the effort is rewarded with “very high return rates. And if they are very happy, they will typically bring two or three more referrals.”
Sandy Boyce of Piano Distributor, which boasts 14 lo-cations in Missouri, Illinois, Georgia, N.C., and Florida, shared their experiences of setting up events in Costcos. “The main reason I went out initially was to learn,” she says. “What you’ll nd is the Costco customers are pretty loyal, and they return to the same store often so you see the same people. We try to get a little more mileage out of them by being prepared,” and that includes working with the store managers who can alert customers in advance that the event is going to take place.
“The term we hear often is ‘treasure hunter’ – if the Costco customer sees something they are excited about,
they will often move on it because they know [the prod-uct] may not be there next week.”
According to Calvin and senior VP Rick Young, tak-ing a different approach this annual meeting paid off. ““The new mixed format - particularly the talk show-style segment - was extremely well received and served as a compelling way for us to present Yamaha’s strategy and share best sales and marketing practices with our deal-ers that attended,” Calvin said after the meeting.
Added Young: “From Roberta Flack’s sensational performance via Yamaha ‘Live Remote’ to the artistry of young Renata Vallecillo, the NAMM 2011 Keyboard Dealer Breakfast combined top-notch entertainment, along with useful information from industry peers, to support our dealers’ success immediately upon return to their stores.”
“Different revenue stream that used to work don’t work as well, and so we need to be innovative.”
MARCH 2011 MMR 65
Paul Calvin
MMR_65 65 2/22/11 3:02:17 PM
1
4 5
12 13 14
1. The GCI Team. 2. Leticia Cedeno of Marshall Electronics. 3. Joe Zon, Zon Guitars. 4. JT Ribbiloff, Glenn Derringer, Steve Kim and Joe Cutroni, Samick Music Corp. 5. John Pearse Strings: Charlene Post, Mary Faith Rhoads-Lewis, Mitch Greenhill, and Karl Broderix. 6. Father and daughter team of Jerry and Crystal Freed of Gator Cases. 7. Barry Heid and Randy White of Manhassett Stands. 8. Brett Getzen, Dave Surber and Tom Getzen of Getzen Musical Instruments. 9. Rebecca Ashe and Cathy Miller of Trevor James Flutes. 10. The Music Link’s Richard Haile and Teryy Buddingh. 11. TC Electronics’ Laura Clapp Davidson and Marc Bertrand with the new Blacksmith Bass Amp. 12. Sonomax Technologies’ Jocelyn Rowcliffe and Katrin Braun. 13. Epilog Laser: Sydney Neyland, Jon Stone. 14. Amedia: Tommy Maras, Dominick Gagliano, Robert Rodriguez.
2
3
9 10 11
6 7 8
MMR_66 66 2/22/11 3:02:23 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 67
1 2
3
4 5
6
7 8
9
1. Pat Brown, Don Click, Maury Brochstein, Jen-nifer Tooke, Mark Petrocelli of Pro-Mark. 2. Aaron Matthews, Tommy McCoy, Jodi Ann Parker, and Tony LaLonde of Players Music Accessories. 3. Veritas: Robert Troke, Dan Parker, Dawson Flinch-baugh. 4. Collings Guitar: Steve McCreary with the mahogany C10. 5. Randy White of Manhasset Specialty Company. 6. Shubb Capos’ Rick Shubb and Richard Gilewitz. 7. Bill Carpenter of Hamilton Stands. 8. Dan Barker of EMD Music. 9. Tim Elvy and Mark Kortshott of Legere Reeds with Jody Espina of Jody Jazz Mouthpieces.
MMR_67 67 2/22/11 3:02:29 PM
68 MMR MARCH 201168 MMR MARCH 2011
Dealers’ Choice AwardsYamaha DisklavierProduct of the Year
Band & Orchestral Line of the YearAbove: Yamaha’s B&O team accepts the Dealers’ Choice Award for Band and Orchestral Line of the Year: Brian Petterson, winds product specialist; Gary Winder, director, national sales, B&O Division; Jay Schreiber, general manager, B&O Division; Makoto Tani, product manager; Roger Eaton, director of marketing, B&O Division.
Pro Digital Piano Line of the YearBelow: MMR editor Christian Wissmuller presents the Dealers’ Choice Award for the Tyros 4 as Pro Digital Piano of the Year to Yamaha’s Nate Tschetter and Dane Madsen.
Electric Guitar Line of the YearFender’s Justin Norvell with the Dealers’ Choice Award for Electric Guitar Line of the Year, 2010 (the Fender Stratocaster).
Acoustic Guitar Line of the YearTaylor Guitars president Bob Taylor accepting the MMR Dealers’ Choice Award for Acoustic Guitar Line of the Year.
Amplifi er & Sound Reinforcement Lines of the YearPeavey’s Hartley Peavey with the 2010 Dealers’ Choice Awards for Amplifi er Line of the Year and Sound Reinforcement Line of the Year.
Recording Equipment Line of the YearSamson’s Mark Wilder holds the MMR Dealers’ Choice Award for the Zoom R24, Recording Equipment Line of the Year.
Jim Levesque, Disklavier and MODUS marketing manager for Yamaha receives the 2010 Dealers’ Choice Award for Product of the Year from MMR’s Sidney Davis.
MMR_68 68 2/22/11 3:09:05 PM
Microphone Line of the YearShure’s Terri Hartman accepting the MMR Dealers’ Choice Award for the SM58 as Microphone Line of the Year.
Acoustic Piano Line of the YearHirotaka Kawai accepts the MMR Dealers Choice Award for the Kawai K-3 Acoustic Piano Line of the Year from MMR’s associate publisher Rick Kessel.
Home Digital Keyboard Line of the Year Stephen Schmidt and Mike Martin of Casio with the 2010 Dealers’ Choice Award for Home Digital Keyboard Line of the Year.
Percussion Line of the YearPearl Corporation’s Masakatsu Yanagisawa, Steve Armstrong, and Gene Okamoto receiving the 2010 MMR Dealers’ Choice Award for Percussion Line of the Year.
Lighting Line of the YearMMR Dealers’ Choice Award presented to: Dirk Kast, Scott Davies, Toby Velazquez, and Alfred Gonzales of American DJ for Lighting Line of the Year.
DJ Line of the YearHidesto Shiino, Vestax, holds the Dealer Choice Award for the DJ Line of the Year.
Print Music Publisher of the YearDoug Lady, Larry Morton, Keith Mardak and Doug Jahnke of Hal Leonard with the company’s tenth consecutive Dealers’ Choice Award for Print Music Publisher of the Year.
Software Line of the YearRoland’s Robin Kelly with Cakewalk’s Dealers’ Choice Award for Software Line of the Year.
Accessory Line of the YearMMR Dealers’ Choice Award for Accessory Line of the Year: Steve Ridinger of Evets/Danelectro and Ernesto Roca of Inversioned DBO, Venezuela.
Electric Bass Line of the YearIbanez Dealers’ Choice Award presented to Jim Gallagher, Yoshitada Hoshino and Kiyotaka Yamada for the Electric Bass Line of the Year.
Web Site of the YearAlfred Music Publishing receiving the Dealers’ Choice Award for Web site of the Year: Andrew Surmani, senior vice president, managing director of School and Church Publishing; Ron Manus, CEO; Bryan Bradley, COO.
MARCH 2011 MMR 69
MMR_69 69 2/22/11 3:09:11 PM
70 MMR MARCH 2011
1. The Nady Team. 2. Andy Papiccio and Kevin Brubaker of AP International 3. Cascio: Christopher Houser, Michael Houser. 4. Paiste’s Andrew Shreve with a new Dark Dry Ride from the new Twenty Masters Collection. 5. Ford Drums: Joslyn Gaylen. 6. Eminence: Cobi Stein. 7. Dean Daubs, Concord International Group. 8. Tony Ko of Vocopro. 9. Larry Thomas, CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. 10. Mark Ragin and Chris Meikle of St. Louis Music. 11. Morley: Randy Wright, Bill Wenzloff. 12. M & M Merchandisers: Randall Padilla, Mark Jabben, Josh Franklin. 13. Guitar Hands: Randy Jacobs MD, Sonia Jacobs (front), Natasha Jacobs (back).
1
2
3
4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13
St. Louis Music is a division of U.S. Band & Orchestra Supplies Inc.
Supplying 10,000 products from 150 of the world’s leading brands to music stores across the Nation.
www.stlouismusic.comTo request a dealer catalog or to arrange a visit from one of oursales representatives call us now on 1 - 800 - 727 - [email protected]
MMR_70 70 2/22/11 3:02:37 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 71
1. Tri Tech: Pat Murphy, Brett Stoffel, Bill Steppan, Dave Cox, Ron Koppes. 2. Eleca: Michael Lee. 3. Jim Beaugez, Peavey Electronics with company’s new line of Composite Acoustics. 4. Alfred Music Publishing’s Rich Lackowski, Marina Terteryan, and Jordan Bell with MMR’s Jason LaChapelle. 5. Worldwide Music Services: Jeff Hansel, Phil Smith, Hayden Connor, Steve DeVaney. 6. American Recorder: Brandon Moats, Alan Adelstein. 7. NS Designs’ Gary Byers and Ned Steinberger. 8. Jim and Jenny Hall, Hall Crystal Flutes. 9. Marshall Johns, Peterson Electro Tuners. 10. Randy Robertson of Littlite. 11. CAD Audio: Tony O’Keefe. 12. Electro-Voice: Guy Low. 13. Traveler Guitar: Jeff Garvin. 14. Artist Jojo Mayer and Sabian’s Mark Love demonstrate the new “Omni” cymbal. 15. Judy Bechler Roan and Mark Costner of Remle Musical Products Inc with artist Tony Christlieb. 16. Anthem Musical Instruments’ David Kilkenny and Brent Beech.
6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16
1
4 5
2
3
MMR_71 71 2/22/11 3:03:33 PM
72 MMR MARCH 2011
Best & Worst of ShowAwards
Best… Really Tall Elvis(?) Not entirely sure what the point was, but the “Elvis on stilts” dude who was meander-ing (Well, mostly standing. Not that anyone could blame him – you try navigating the crowded NAMM aisles on stilts!) about the show fl oor on Saturday was certainly eye-catching.
Best Creative Use of ColorDR Strings’ Neon offering and the color-coordinated guitar & strings setup on display at the Aurora Strings booth put a Technicolor spin on traditional fretted accessories…
Worst Byproduct of a Full Day Walking the Aisles… My room’s balcony at the Marriott boasted a view and breeze worthy of a “Best in Show,” but… choosing to sit down outside and read a few chap-ters of Keith Richards’ autobiography (Not bad. Check it out!) before going to bed on Friday night ranks amongst the worst choices of this year’s get-together in Anaheim… Not only does the sun come up altogether too soon (there’s a 5 o’clock in the morning now?), but there’s no getting around the fact that sleeping outside on the fl oor of a hotel balcony just isn’t all that comfortable.
Best “If I Sneak Into The Conven-tion Center After-Hours, Can I take this for a spin?” TemptationSurely the good folks at ACE Prod-ucts weren’t trying to make me feel badly about my (recently snowplow-as-saulted) Honda, or encourage covet-ous thoughts, but that 12-Cylinder Bentley Convertible which took center-stage at their booth this year sure was a beauty…
Best Opportunity to Hang with the Heavy Metal Heroes of My Youth14-year old me is bursting with pride that I got to chat with Anthrax’s Frank Bello and Slayer’s Kerry King – courtesy of Fender and EMG, respectively.
Worst Three-peatIt’s getting to be a (very) unwelcome tradition. As in the past two years, MMR’s staff again returned from California to over a foot of snow, delayed fl ights, slow rides home, and horrifi c street park-ing. Sure, it’s fair to say, “Hey, it’s Boston… in January – stop whining!” but at press time we’re already wrestling with 35” more snowfall than the total seasonal average, with at least two months of winter weather to go…
➤
➤
➤
➤
➤
MMR_72 72 2/22/11 3:09:57 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 73
Best Hendrix Impersonation – Adult and Youth DivisionWhile the gentleman performing outside the Convention Hall more accurately captured the over-all look of the late James Marshall Hendrix, the young shredder who MMR associate editor Eliahu Sussman ran into at the Tornovoz booth had the whole playing-a-right-handed-guitar-lefty thing going on nicely. A good start!
Best Time of DayEveryone’s favorite time – especially after going nonstop from 7:30 AM onwards – is “Beer O’Clock” and Alfred Publishing delivered by transforming their booth into a convivial, standing-room-only pub. Thanks fellas!
Best Joy of Sax (Yes, the joke’s been made before. You come up with something better…) This year, three impressive saxophone events showed of virtuoso displays of reed talent: the Vando Jam spon-sored by Vandoren, the Red Hot Sax Night by Yamaha, and Lege-re Reeds with their saxophone jam session (shown in photo).
Best… um… Hat(?)For those who question the merit of the yellow-badge crowd, we bring you NAMM guest Norma White and her sky blue Santa-cap-crossed-with-Portuguese-Man-of-War headgear. Nice job, Norma – our hats are off to you! (get it?)
Best “Make Yourself Comfortable” BoothMuch of the time in Anaheim is spent dodging fellow attendees on the show fl oor, racing from one meeting to the
next, and generally going full-tilt in all respects. Seymour Dun-can’s booth offered a welcome respite from the NAMM insanity, with a decor and ambiance more evocative of a lush 5-star hotel suite than a busy convention display.Best “Wait – Is That a Plane?”
MomentIndeed, it was a single-seat race plane parked smack-dab in the middle of the Aviom booth. Cars, buses – been there, done that. Thanks for providing an effective double-take moment, Aviom folks!
Worst Time of DayRoughly 3:15 PST on Sunday, when it was beginning to become more and more clear that the Jets were going to best the Patri-ots. Small consolation that NY got knocked out of contention in the AFC Championship and Brady took home the MVP for the 2010 season. A bummer of a way to wrap up an otherwise positive week in Anaheim. (J-E-T-S: Jets, Jets, Jets fans – di-rect your hatemail to: [email protected]).
Worst Cab RideMMR head honcho Sidney Davis
was treated to the “scenic tour” of LAX when his navi-gationally challenged taxi driver required not one, not two, but three cir-cuits of the airport to fi nally work his way to the Jet Blue terminal.
➤
➤
➤
➤
➤
➤
Best Dressed Dessert: The formally attired “tuxedo” chocolate covered strawber-ries at the SKB Open House party.
➤
MMR_73 73 2/22/11 3:10:02 PM
74 MMR MARCH 2011
3 4 5
6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13
15 16
1. M&M Merchandisers’ Michael Sten-zler, Gina Jourard, Josh Franklin, Shana Golden, and March Jabben. 2. The Ernie Ball crew dressed as infl uential fi gures in history. 3. Tim Pfouts and Eddie Speedy of SIT Strings. 4. Oasis: Steve and David Hepple. 5. Schecter Guitar Research’s Michael Ciravolo with Daisy Rock Gui-tars’ Tish Ciravolo. 6. Jonathan Tai, Pamela Liu, and Gloria Yu at the Peak Stands booth. 7. Rachelle Gayer, Diana Macedonio, and Anne Sobel, Carl Fischer. 8. Petrof Piano: Al Rich, Veronika Holisova, Joe Bednar. 9. Bob Yerby presents a new model Tattoo Skyn drumhead by Remo. 10. John Sorensen of Avedis Zildjian Co., Inc. 11. Dave Dunwoodie of Graph Tech Guitar Labs. 12. Richard Berger of Grover Musical Products. 13. The Music Link’s Eric Schoenberg, designer of the Recording King guitars. 14. Roland president and CEO, Chris Bristol, speaks at the BOSS Loop Station World Championship fi nals held at the House of Blues in Anaheim. 15. Nine year old Megan Chang playing one of her original compositions at the Yamaha display. 16. Roger Kao and Chris Liao Sunlite. 17. Flaxwood: Harry Orlove, Rick Nelson, Petr Vykydal. 18. Antigua Winds’ Kerry Klingborg, Pat Emmett, and Randy Huey. 19. Tom Lagomarsino, Elid Dakoli piano art-ist, and Kirk Burgett of Mason & Hamlin/
Pianodisc. 20. The ZT Amps Team. 21. Grover’s Chuck Kirschling nattily attired with pink shirt and shoes.
1 2
18 19
20 21
MMR Anniversary Awards22. Vanetta Wilson with Cory Kerr receiving their 100th Anniversary Plaque. 23. Artist Jens Kruger with Greg and Janet Deering, Deering Banjos shown with MMR Special Appreciation Award marking their 35th anniversary. 24. Burkhard Stein of Grotrian Pianos receiving the MMR Anniversary Award for 175 years in business.
14
17
22
23 24
MMR_74 74 2/22/11 3:03:43 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 75
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15
1. NAMM’s Mary Luehrsen and Joe Lamond with Don Chapman, sr. advisor on Native American Affairs, US Department of Commerce at the NAMM Chairman’s Reception in Anaheim. 2. Artists Eldar and David Haynes at Korg’s event unveiling the new Kronos console. 3. MMR’s Sidney Davis with Willie and Bob Zildjian of Sabian. 4. At the Chairman’s reception, Steve West of West Music, with Jim D’Addario of D’Addario Co. 5. Rocky Giglio and Jim Green of J.J. Babbitt. 6. Andrew Naumann and Phil Baughman of Schilke Musical Instruments. 7. At the Casio Dealer & Press Evening: Josh Charles.8. McNally Instruments/Strumstick: Kim Davis. 9. Century Guitars: Jack Rogers. 10. Peterson Electro-Musical Products’ Chris Labriola. 11. Jeff Van Fossen, Codabow International. 12. Jim Wischmeyer, Bag End Loud-speakers. 13. Ron Marquez and Roy Burns of Aquarian. 14. Lianghong Liu, George Li, and Xufeng Han, Merano Mu-sical Instruments. 15. Andreas Stelling, managing director for Steinberg Media Technologies, introduces the Cubase 6 audio workstation software for recording music with multi track editing tools.
P. Mauriat brass and woodwind instruments, available exclusivley f rom St. Louis Music
For more information on becoming a P. Mauriat Dealer please call now on 1 - 800 - 727 - 4512 or email [email protected] - St. Louis Music is a division of U.S. Band and Orchestra Supplies Inc.
DOES NOT BELONGTO ONE RACE OR CULTURE
THAT AMERICA HAS GIVEN THE WORLDBUT IS A GIFT
JAZZTHIS IS OUR GIFT BACK
MMR_75 75 2/22/11 3:03:55 PM
76 MMR MARCH 201176 MMR MARCH 2011
“Best Tools for Schools”Awards
Presents
the 2011
MMR sister publication, SBO, presented the second annual Best Tools for Schools awards at
the 2011 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, highlighting a new batch of excit-
ing and creative games, programs, instruments, servicess and accessories suitable for music
educators in a wide range of settings. Expert educators and administrators mining the mas-
sive musical industry convention oor in search of the best items for classroom use found a
number of intriguing tools that are sure to be a hit with teachers and students alike.
MMR_76 76 2/22/11 3:11:27 PM
Best Elementary ToolJoyTunes (www.joytunes.com)
This interactive game appropriate for young learners features animated characters that are controlled by musical instruments. By blowing a fl ute or re-corder into a microphone, student musicians can propel a colorful character through a series of levels.
Best Intermediate ToolMidi Player 2.0 (www.interactiveblueprints.com)
This app for iPhone and iPad enables MIDI playback on those devices, with many customizable functions suitable for music educators.
Best Innovative ToolMusic Creed (www.musicreed.com)
This colorful medallion features a dial that can be set to the musical scales of different cultures, includ-ing Western and many types of Arabic and Eastern music.
Best Beginning ToolArtistWorks (www.artistworks.com)
ArtistWorks is a Web site that offers customized critiques by master-teachers through video sharing. Send in a video using a web cam and their online tools, and teachers will respond with personalized instruction on relevant technical skills.
Best Advanced ToolDiskLavier (usa.yamaha.com)
This acoustic piano by Yamaha uses electromechanical con-trols and optical sensors to play independently of a human operator. It can be pre-pro-grammed, played remotely, or played live, creating a plethora of opportunities for school and classroom use.
Best Ear Training ToolHarmony Director HD-200 (www.yamaha.com)
The Harmony Director is a keyboard tuner that demonstrates how individual notes fi t into complete chords, bringing har-mony training, rhythm training and ensemble timing together. Students learn how to tune individual notes within chords and understand how each part fi ts into the complete harmony of the ensemble.
MARCH 2011 MMR 77
MMR_77 77 2/22/11 3:11:31 PM
Best Tool for Marching BandWristies (www.wristies.com)
Wristies are fi ngerless polortec (100 percent polyester) gloves for musical instrument practice and performance. Their unique design allows for complete fi nger dexterity and circulation. Wristies are machine washable and available in a wide variety of colors.
Best Tool for StringsPenguin PST-30C (www.paratuss.com)
This versatile motorized string winder and bridge pin puller reportedly makes changing guitar, mandolin, uku-lele and double bass strings 80 percent faster. It recharges with an iPod, iPad, or iPhone charger or through a computer using a USB cable.
Best Tool for Teacher TrainingsMac Pro Video (www.macprovideo.com)
Mac Pro Video offers custom online training videos. The same company also has a pro-gram that can be used to make custom apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, the AppOmator. These tools and services can be used to create and make apps out of educational vid-eos on specifi c points and steps of a process or training.
Best Music GameKnowledge of Music Playing Cards (www.knowledgeofmusic.com)
These music-oriented playing cards offer the familiar concept of playing card games to learn the structures of scales and chords.
Best Rehearsal TooliKnob (wwwKharmaDesignusa.com)
The iKnob is an analog volume control device designed for use with the iPod or any other audio device. In addition to controlling volume levels, it also has channel cut-off toggle switches so teachers can fl ip between rehearsal and performance modes for method books with CDs.
Honorable Mentions:AppOmator (www.appomator.com)
Guitar Hands (www.guitarhands.com)
Microphome (www.microphome.com)
Travelite stands (www.herculesstands.com)
Ear Filters (www.earfi lters.net)
78 MMR MARCH 2011
MMR_78 78 2/22/11 3:11:37 PM
The Yamaha Disklavier just won the music industry’s top award, MMR “Product of the Year,” for the 10th straight year. It accomplished
this unbelievable feat by perfectly reproducing dazzling musical performances and by accompanying some of the best albums of all time
with its premier digital features and beautiful acoustic piano. Just as importantly,
it has benefited from the support of exceptional piano dealers. Thank you all.©2011 Yamaha Corporation of America. All rights reserved.
MMR_79 79 2/22/11 3:56:43 PM
80 MMR MARCH 2011
2 3
4 5 6
GAMA Annual Membership Meeting 1. The GAMA Board: David Luster-man, Acoustic Guitar Magazine; Peter D’Addario, D’Addario; Jonathan Forstot, Taylor Guitars; Dennis Tenges, C.F. Mar-tin Guitars; Paul Damiano, KMC Music; David Bergstrom, Yamaha USA; Harvey Levy, Levy’s Leathers; Robert Sulkow, GAMA executive director. 2. The Panel Dis-cussion: Phil Raposo of Stone Music, Brazil; Joseph Gomes of Furtados Music, India; An-drew Pak of Ivan Music, China; Arthur Bulatov of A&T Trade, Russia. 3. Outgoing chairman Harvey Levy addresses members at the Gui-tar and Accessories Marketing Association’s (GAMA) Annual Membership Meeting, held on Wednesday morning in Anaheim.
1
7
4. Desiree Gregg and Cliff Castle of Audix USA. 5. John Fullerton and Carey Short of AIM. 6. Christoph Taguchi and Lars Heuseler of Forestone Reeds. 6. Timber Tones: Rob Wooller,Michael Harris.
MMR_80 80 2/22/11 3:04:04 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 81
1. Jam Hub: Marci Skillings, Steve Skillings. 2. Civilized World Inc.: Chris Campbell, David Morris. 3. The Musical Distributors Group team: Joe Penola, Jeff Sherman, Steve Gehnke, Jack Thomp-son, Rich Nichols, wally Rando, Dwayne Randdo, and Steven Savvides. 4. A – De-sign: Peter Montessi, Carl Johnson. 5. Kingstar: Mike Wong. 6. Bridgecraft: Jason Guo. 7. Pete Milbery, president of Neutrik USA Inc., toasts the new 25,000 sq. ft. Charlotte, NC facility. The new location has additional space to stock more product and provides close proximity to the Charlotte airport. 8. Wyman Piano: Tim Laskey. 9. At the EMG booth: Victor Wooten, Stuart Hamm. 10. George & Lynn Reeder of Rovner Products. 11. Wendal Jones and Bill Hargrove of Jones Double Reeds. 12. LPD’s Kelsey Collins, Tom Vallis and David Roof.
1
2 3
4 5 6 7 8
10 11 129
MusiCreed, debuted at NAMM 2011 was instantly recognized as a “need to have” toolfor the novice to the professional. MusiCreed is a small 4-inch eye catching jewel with asimple mechanism that is used with scale cards as a musical calculator to teach hundredsof scales and modes from both western and eastern music. With one turn of the dial,MusiCreed takes the user on a journey around the musical globe, teaching theminternational scales and modes in an unmatched level of detail. Designed by internationalrecording artist Yariv Goldman, this device unleashes theory that will prove invaluable tomusicians, composers, teachers and students world over. MusiCreed’s design is not onlyan invaluable tool but also an artistic fashion accessory, easily worn or attached to amusical instrument, symbolic of our creed to unite musicians worldwide. Music is an international language; master it with MusiCreed.www.MusiCreed.com
Winner of a 2010 Best Tools for Schools award
NAMM’s first ever three-time Best In Show winner!
Grow your music program sales by selling rock band studios that allows kids to rock while teachers teach.Learn how by watching the videos at: www.JamHub.com/teach
MMR_81 81 2/22/11 3:04:11 PM
82 MMR MARCH 2011
1. Calzone Case Co.: Richard Johnson, Jerry Jerry Landrin, Joe Calzone, Don Sessions. 2. Tycoon Percussion: Left to right: Jonathan Guillen, Ivy Wu, Tony La-pansky, Quincy Yu. 3. D’Addario: Mike Alessi, Peter D’Addario, Steve Mucciolo, and Rob Cunningham. 4. Dave Snyder, Cindy Overton, “Slick Machine”(artist), and Chris Pelletier at the Aurora Strings booth. 5. Ron Van Ostenbridge, John Cavanaugh, El-len Cavanaugh, and Jim Cavanagh of Super-Sensitive Musical Strings Co. 6. Iris Cecilio Musical Instruments: Sami Tang, Nora Hwany, Kristie Au, Steven Zhad. 7. Ron Koppes, Bill Steppan, and Brett Stoffel of Tri-Technical Systems. 8. Godin Gui-tars’ Kat Calder, richard Bunze and Norm Arduini. 9. Steve and Andy MacIntosh with Chuck Greene of Roc-N-Soc. 10. Jessica Anne Baron of Guitars in the Classroom.11. House of Troy: Betsy Levin. 12. John Musselman with Janice and Jim Klingler of American Way Marketing LLC.
3
6
10 11
12
5
6
9
7
8
1 2 3
4 65
MMR_82 82 2/22/11 3:04:24 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 83
1 2
3
4 5
6
7
8
1. TKL: Everett Porter, Daneen Holcomb, Tommy Dougherty, Tom Dougherty, Donna Dougherty. 2. Jim and Sharon Hennessey of The Music People, Inc. with Richard Ash, Barry Horowitz, and Howie Henderson of Sam Ash Music. 3. Sam Whittaker and Jim Camp, Morgan Hill Music. 4. Mike and Irwin Berg of Humes & Berg. 5. Richie Onori, Albion Amps. 6. AJ Reitz, Evan O’Brien, and Mike Bradley, Korg USA. 7. Dave Trout of Connolly/K&M Michael Wamser of K&M Germany, and Herman Civils of Millar Electronics. 8. John Norris and Pat Bovenizer (spelling?) of Peterson Tuners.
Cremona bowed instruments have set the pacefor the vibrant student and rental markets for over30 years. Strict adherence to international sizingrequirements, domestic educational set-up standardsand continuous quality improvement have madeCremona Violins, Violas, Basses and Cellos provensales leaders.
Our best-selling, ebony fitted SV-175 CremonaPremier Violin Outfit has recently been upgradedto include the J.LaSalle LB-13 Octagonal Bow andthe TL-33 deluxe rectangular Travelite case.
Meeting the Needs of Studentsfor More Than 30 Years ...
Our Best-Selling SV-175 Cremona Violin!
SV-175
[800] BUY-SAGAwww.sagamusic.comDealer inquiries invited.
•All-solid carved, graduated construction
•Seven sizes from 4⁄4 to 1⁄16
•Long lasting ebony fittings
•Finetuner tailpiece for precise, easytuning
•Rugged TL-33 Travelite case
•Well-balanced J.LaSalle LB-13 bow with ebony frog
Cremona SV-175 Violin Outfit:
$249Suggested Retail
MMR_83 83 2/22/11 3:04:39 PM
1 2 3
4 5 6
Dealer Excellence Awards1. Allen’s Music Centre (Great Yarmouth U.K.): Jim Wieda of Lowrey presents the award to Lucy and Cornelius Curtin, and Lowrey’s Sei-jiro Imamura. 2. Critchett’s Lowrey Organ Center (Urbandale, Iowa): Jim Wieda of Lowrey, Dave Brown, and Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura. 3. Falcetti Music (Springfi eld, Mass.): Bob Ashworth of Lowrey, Sam Falcetti, and Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura. 4. Festival Music (Boynton Beach, Fla.): Brad Bryan of Lowrey, Scott Kaapke, and Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura. 5. Lambert’s Organ Center (Anderson, Ind.): Andy Cerone of Lowrey, Judy and Phil Lambert, and Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura. 6. Piano Gallery (South Jordan, Utah): Bob Ashwor of Lowrey with Stan Beagley and Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura. 7. Fletcher Music Centers (Clearwater, Fla.): Joanie Manero of Lowrey, John Riley, and Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura. 8. Evola Music (Bloomfi eld Hills, Mich.): Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura and Andy Cerone present the award to Jim Evola, Tony Trupiano, and Joe Davidson. 9. Lacefi eld Music (St. Louis, Mo.): Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura, Larry Lacefi eld, Cathy Krubsack, Howard Kessler, Carol Fanetti, and Mike Kanka, with Andy Cerone of Lowrey. 10. Dealer Excellence Award to Schmitt Music (Minneapolis, Minn.): Bruce Mihalek, Joanie Manero, Ryan Gulbransen, and Wayne Reinhardt, with Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura.
7
8 9 10
Lowrey Dinner
84 MMR MARCH 2011
Dealer Growth Award11. Dunkley Music (Boise, Idaho): Jim Wieda of Lowrey, Mark Dunkley, Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura, and Marion Sundwall. 12. Kirby Music (Las Vegas, Nev.) Bob Ashworth of Lowrey, Brian & Richelle Kirby, and Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura. 13. Central Music (Louisville, Ky.): Andy Cerone of Lowrey, Tiffany, Eunice, and Alan Cronin, with Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura.
11 12
13
Frederick C. Lowrey Award14. Joanie Manero of Lowrey, John Riley of Fletcher Music Centers (Clearwater, Fla.) and Lowrey’s Seijiro Imamura. 15. Lowrey’s Andy Cerone, Jim Hutchins of Lowrey Fun Center (Kalamazoo, Mich.) and Seijiro Imamura of Lowrey.
14 15
Hirotaka Kawai, president, Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing, Inc.
Top Sales PerformerTop Lowrey Sales Performer: Brad Bryan and Seijiro Imamura (R) present the award to Joanie Manero.
MMR_84 84 2/22/11 3:05:05 PM
1
2
3
1. Zildjian’s bash introducing the new Gen16 line. 2. Lothar Kiesche and Hannes Schimmel of Schimmel Pianofortefab-rik. 3. Mono Cases: Daniel Kushner, Pat Chen. 4. Dhani Harrison discussing the process behind the Gretsch Custom Shop George Harrison “Tribute” Duo Jet Guitar. 5. Dream Theatre’s Jordan Rudess performs on Korg’s new Kronos. 6. To-negear: Dave Chiappetta, Adam Pockross. 7. Dream Cymbals and Gongs: Ste-phen Eelhart, Craig Snowden. 8. The DBZ Guitars Girls 9. Bill Wenzloff and Randy Wright of Morley/Ebtech. 10. Stevie Wonder walked the show fl oor on Saturday afternoon. 11. MMR Editor Christian Wissmuller with Peavey Electronics guitars licensed from Marvel Comics. 12. Recording artist, Darren Rahn with Alex Hsieh of P. Mauriat Saxophones. 13. Zildjian’s Chris Ryan debuts the new Gen16 acoustic cymbal with electronic pickup. 14. Mike Summers and Donez McNeely, Musicorp. 15. Artist Sean Paddock demos Yamaha’s Custom Club drumset. 16. Charles Sturgeon and Patrick Stevenson, Hanser Music Group. 17. Christopher Walker and Nick El-lingsworth, US Music Corp. 18. Charles Lusso and Fred di Tomasso, D’Andrea Inc.19. Retro fashion at the Two Old Hippies booth.
MARCH 2011 MMR 85
4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11
12 13 14
1816 17
EMG’s 35th Anniversary Reception20. EMG’s Hap Kuffner with MMR editor Christian Wissmuller. 21. MMR’s Melanie Prescott, Laurie Guptill, and Sidney Davis.
15
19
20
21
MMR_85 85 2/22/11 3:05:19 PM
86 MMR MARCH 2011
2
1. New England Conservatory Abreu Fellows speak about El Sistema USA at the Learning Lounge on Sunday, January 16th. 2. HWP: Angela Koregelos, Liz Schaefer. 3. Clarinetists demoing the new instruments at the Backun Musical booth. 4. Audix: Cliff Castle, Lee Oskar, Lee Oskar Harmonicas, Desiree McCormick, Marc Wilson, Cindy Bigeh, Lofty Whitaker. 5. Keith McMillen Instruments: Jon Short, Diane Douglas, Keith McMillen, Danny Piccione.
3
1
4
5
MMR_86 86 2/22/11 3:05:30 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 87
1 2
3
4 5
1. Erik Lind, Claudine Lascelle, Jeff Sazant, and John Kelley, Musiquip, Inc. 2. At the NAMM Uni-versity Idea Center: Danny Rocks, The Company Rocks, moderates Best in Show: What’s New in My Store and My Plan to Sell It with panelists Mike Guillot, Gayle Beacock, Myrna Sisten and Pete Gambler. 3. The Tora Bora Boys performing at the Saga Musical Instruments booth. 4. At the Graphtech press conference- Dave Dunwoodie introduces the ghost modular pickup system. Cus-tom crystals allow the system to retain the guitar’s original tone. 5. Kelly Shu: Jeffery Kelly, Kathleen Kelly. 6. Jack Westheimer, Cort, with the Gene Simmons GS AXE-2 and the GS Punisher-2 bass.
6
MMR_87 87 2/22/11 3:05:37 PM
88 MMR MARCH 2011
Fresh Faces:BT’s Guitar ShopA Dream Comes to Fruition with a Little Help from Craigslist…
Those who grew up in the pre-Internet age remember that, while it was perhaps more challenging to connect with others or track down data, relationships formed through face-to-face conversation hold a value that can’t be replaced by high-speed DSL connections or text messages.
BT’s Guitar Shop in South Lyons, Mich. represents a synergy between old and new: the store is a traditional, brick-and-mortar storefront with an approach-able, friendly staff with whom clients can easily have those types of meaningful, in-person connections – but it was a post-ing on Craigslist that served as the initial catalyst for owners Terry Trajkovski and Bill Welsh to start the business.
BT’s Guitar Shop specializes in new and used instruments, ampli ers and ac-
cessories as well offering lessons catering to all ages. Recently Terry and Bill took the time to tell me about the store and what the future may hold for them.
MMR: So tell us about the gen-esis of the store?
Bill Welsh: Our initial contact actu-ally occurred from a Craigslist Ad. Terry Trajkovski owned the building that had previously housed another music store. That owner had to leave and vacated the shop, leaving really everything needed to run a music store, except merchandise. Terry was looking for someone who could run the store day to day, because he al-ready owns and operates a local family res-taurant in town called Alexander’s. I just happened to be looking thru the Craigslist
ads and stumbled upon one, looking for someone to teach and possibly co-own the store. We contacted each other and we’re both residents of South Lyons – we both felt it was very important for the town to have a music store and the deal was struck; and BT’s Guitar Shop was born.
MMR: How has the response been to the shop so far?
Terry Trajkovski: The response so far has been great. We held an open house and over 70 people attended. In fact at one
“ There are opportunities out there and you have to make the most of any situation.”
In this day and age it’s almost
impossible to not be familiar
with everything that goes on in
our cities, suburbs, and small
towns. Information is at our
ngertips (literally) via the Web
and, with the advent of Face-
book, MySpace, Craigslist, et
cetera, there’s no escaping even
the minor details of the lives of
people we know – or even only
vaguely know.
MMR_88 88 2/22/11 3:30:06 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 89
point there was no room for anyone to move. The Welsh family really helped get the store into shape by giving it a complete face-lift. It is turning into a family business. Also the local paper has already done a fea-ture story on us. That really helped us to have more customers and students.
MMR: What kind of Guitar and amp lines are you currently carrying?
Terry and Bill: Right now we are mostly consignment. We are looking into guitar lines, but have yet to pull the trig-ger. We have our eyes on a couple of lines with small buy ins and yet offer great quality. Our main amp attraction is Guytron amps. Made in our home state of Michigan these amps are “boutique” with a capital B. The tone is amazing, the features are unreal. We are very happy to stock them. Also we have an actual amp build coming up where people can come in and build their very own, high qual-ity tube amp. This is done in conjunction with GDS/Guytron Amp owner Gray-don Stuckey. Graydon will actually be there to actually run the amp build. Also we carry V-Picks, which have been our most popular item.
MMR: How big is your store currently?
BW: We are around seven hundred square feet, with plenty of room for ex-
pansion. We wanted to start out small and build from there. We actually plan on adding another lesson room within the month.
MMR: How many employees currently work at the store?
TT: We have ve instructors on staff for lessons. And for our sales oor the Welsh family is helping out. Linda runs the books, Kenny oversees and controls the website, and they both along with Bill Sr. help run the sales oor.
MMR: How do total sales break down, new vs. old?
TT: Our strings, straps, picks are all new. So from an instrument perspective it has been 100 percent used right now.
But we have only been open for a month. So we expect that number to change as we build our lines.
MMR: Could you talk about the lessons you offer?
TT: Primarily we are a lesson studio that has retail. Bill is our main instructor and we have four more on staff (for when we open the second and third room). We are currently instructing 26 students. We feel that we will be able to teach 70-80 students, per week, as we continue to grow. Also we will have a Rock Star Day Camp this summer, and we also house two jam sessions per month for our stu-dents. We also have a password protected site for our students to get more informa-tion and lesson material via our Web site.
Terry Trajkovsky and Bill Welsh.
MMR_89 89 2/22/11 3:30:10 PM
90 MMR MARCH 2011
Our student population is composed of two groups of 8-14 year olds who are just starting out, and adults over 40. For the adults they fall into one of two groups, complete beginners and people who played 20 years ago and want to start again. We actually have three students in their 60s and they are doing great!
MMR: So what are your ulti-mate goals for the store?
Terry and Bill: Our ultimate goal is to teach the joy and fun that music can bring. I nd that learning the guitar is so much more meaningful than just learn-ing an instrument. We are able to teach our students the importance of goal-set-ting and that what they put in is what they get out. That lessons can be taken into everyday life for any situation. We really would like to teach at least 70 stu-dents per week, have our Rock Star Day Camp lled in the summer, open up a small recording studio that the students can use, and build our retail space into two areas: one for total beginners, hous-ing very affordable quality instruments; and the other being for boutique amps and effects to attract the more seasoned players.
MMR: Any fi nal thoughts?BW: This has been a dream of both of
ours for many years. And as the economy is suffering, especially here in Michigan, it’s just interesting to see how that has led us to nally do this. The economy had us both wondering what was next. There are opportunities out there and you have to make the most of any situation. We are looking forward to the future of BT’s Guitar Shop.
MMR: Thank you for your time guys and best of luck.
Fresh Faces
MMR_90 90 2/22/11 3:30:14 PM
92 MMR MARCH 2011
New Products
Jangus Music’s Wi AudioStream EL Jangus Music’s Wi AudioStream™ EL Pocket Portable Stereo Digital Wire-less Microphone & Audio Monitoring System is described by the company as being the rst stereo digital wireless system ever to combine all the features required for mini mic and in-ear moni-toring in a small, rugged, lightweight design.
Weighing in at 1.08 Oz, this plug-and-play system quickly interchanges from an Ear-worn microphone to lavalier mic or audio monitoring system with a press of a button and swap of accessories, giving you the versatility and value of an all-in-one wireless solution for all types of sound system and computer applications. This fast-to-setup 2.4GHz stereo digital wireless system provides up to 100 feet of secure, uncompressed 16bit, 48kHz CD quality wireless audio connectivity and operates without radio frequency (RF) interference, signal loss, or crackle inher-ent in UHF/VHF systems.www.jangusmusic.com
Levy’s Christian Guitar Straps Levy’s expands its line of Christian de-sign guitar straps with a 2” heavy cotton webbing, covered with a gold-colored
foil, printed with a Cross or Fish design, and nished with leather ends. Pictured
is model MT8MC available in six differ-ent design variations.www.levysleathers.com
Gator Cases Gator’s new G-Club Controller bag is de-signed to t today’s most popular MIDI controllers including the American Au-dio VMS4 and the Vestax Typhoon.
Designed to securely transport a laptop based midi controller, laptop, and DJ style headphones, this sleek messenger style bag is made of a lightweight durable nylon exterior. The controller bags also features the G-Club’s signature orange interior lining for easy visibility in low lighting and dark clubs. The controller section features thick padding on the front and back as well as an EVA rubber foam bottom for added protection. The large zippered laptop pocket is heavily padded and can hold laptops up to a 17” screen size. www.gatorcases.com
VOX Night Train 50 Tube Am-plifi er and V212NT Speaker CabinetThe powerful, all-tube Night Train 50 offers two channels for a diverse range of sounds. The V212NT extension cabinet is the perfect complement to the Night Train 50 both aesthetically and sonical-ly. The Night Train 50 features an EL34 based, Class AB ampli er design deliver-ing 50 Watts of power through 2 chan-nels. The preamp stage is equipped with four 12AX7 vacuum tubes.
The Night Train 50 is a two-channel design. The BRIGHT channel borrows its design from the Night Train NT15H, while the GIRTH channel utilizes an ex-tra pre-amp tube for added crunch. Each channel offers Bass, Middle, Treble and Gain controls. The BRIGHT channel pro-
vides a foot-switchable THICK mode that bypasses the EQ to boost the gain. The Master sec-tion includes the traditional Mas-ter Volume and the VOX Tone Cut control, plus a new TIGHT switch, for use with either channel. The TIGHT mode attenuates the low-frequency range, adding more focus to the low end, provid-ing even more sonic possibilities.
The V212NT birch-ply speaker cabi-net is speci cally designed to match the Night Train 50 head. The two Celestion 12-inch G12’s are a natural choice for de-livering the NT50’s distinct tones. The cabinet’s retro look and rounded corner design make it the perfect companion for the Night Train 50, exuding a powerful presence on stage.
VOX’s Night Train 50 Tube Ampli- er and V212NT Speaker Cabinet will be available March 2011 with pricing as follows: NT50H Night Train 50 Tube Ampli er – $1,000; V212NT Speaker Cabinet – $700.www.voxamps.com/us/
Dream’s Dark Matter Flat Earth RidesThe Dark Matter Flat Earth Ride 20” and 22” Ride Cymbals bring a totally unique sound palette not found in any of our ride cymbals. They are warm and emotive, with rich overtones and a com-plex wash. Dream Dark Matter cymbals are created from a proprietary process where the cymbals are red more than once during their birth cycle. The ex-treme stresses and heat from this process create a cymbal that is so dramatically changed on a molecular level that they take months or aging to mature.
MMR_92 92 2/22/11 3:30:47 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 93
DMFE20 List $369 DMFE22 List $449www.dreamcymbals.com
Travler Guitar Escape EG-2The Traveler Guitar Escape EG-2 is a full 25 ½”-scale electric guitar featuring a compact double-cutaway body shape, 3-ply pick guard, maple neck & fretboard and a rich, lusty 2-tone sunburst nish which provide vintage looks and modern comfort to the traveling guitarist. At just 29 ½” long, the EG-2 stows easily in air-line overhead compartments and weighs less than 5 pounds. Two precision-placed single-coil pickups feed into the EG-2’s built-in Pocket RockIt headphone am-pli er, which is custom-designed to pro-duce classic clean and distortion sounds through headphones or when plugged into an ampli er. Players can also go pas-sive into their amp of choice. The EG-2’s onboard electronics include a 1/8” AUX IN jack so players can jam with tracks from an external device such as an mp3 or CD player. Additional controls include Tone & Volume knobs and a 3-way pick-up selector. The Traveler Guitar Escape EG-2 also boasts more traditional guitar features such as an alder body, standard strap pins and a fully adjustable truss rod. Includes Deluxe Gig Bag and comes stan-dard with D’Addario EXL-110 strings.www.travelerguitar.com
Keystone’s New Coin Cell Holders The new vertical entry, polarized lithium coin cell holders from Keystone are ap-propriate for 16mm, 20mm, and 24mm cell sizes.Features include:
Manufactured from UL rated 94V-0 materials.Secure mounting for wave soldering.Reliable spring tension as-sures low con-tact resistance.Secured bat-tery retention withstands shock and vi-bration.Operating temperatures: -60°F to 293°F
•
••
•
•
(-50°C - +145°C).Ask for Cat. No’s 1069, 1065 & 1068
www.keyelco.com
KharmaDesign LLC Unveils iKnob KharmaDesign LLC debuts the iKnob, a simple yet effective device for adjusting the output volume of any audio output
device, such as the iPod. The iKnob is a passive
volume control designed with solo instrumental-ists in mind. It provides a quick and easy way to increase or de-crease the volume of the tracks to maintain
MMR_93 93 2/22/11 3:30:52 PM
94 MMR MARCH 2011
a consistent volume level. The iKnob has stereo RCA and 3.5mm inputs and outputs, and a ¼ inch switched stereo to mono output jack to connect with any guitar amp.
Also available is a small platform, The Kharma Zone, which clamps onto a microphone stand to hold the iKnob and iPod while in use. The iKnob recently
won the NAMM 2011 Best Tools for Schools award for Best Rehearsal Tool category.www.kharmadesignusa.com
AER’s Pocket ToolsAER’s Pocket Tools -- editing tools for acoustic instruments – is a collection of three stomp box-sized units and includes two pre-
amps and one EQ. Designed for sound optimization, these tools feature signal-to-noise ratio and boast the dynamic headroom found in all AER products.
The collection includes: the Co-lourizer two-chan-nel preamp/DI-box for mic or line signals with volume, gain, and DI level controls, plus three sound-shaping control sec-tions; Dual Mix, a two-channel preamp/DI-box for mic or line signals, with four digital effect presets (short & long reverb, chorus, and anger); and Dual Para EQ a dual-band parametric EQ with switch-able frequency ranges. Each Pocket Tool includes a 24V DC power supply and convenient carrying case. www.musiquip.com
T-Rex PedalsT-Rex Engineering’s has added new pedals of its growing line of boutique effects pedals. The new pedals include: Reptile 2, Twister 2, and Tonebug Sustainer.www.t-rex-effects.com
Jensen Jet Falcon 10”Jensen Speaker’s latest addition to the Jet series, the 10” Falcon features 40 watts of power, a ceramic magnet, and a seamed green cone made from all natural materials.
The Falcon 10” tone is said to be warm and straightforward with a pronounced low end. Its mid fre-quencies are slightly en-hanced over the Falcon 12”, and it has a sweet, yet cutting, high end. www.jensentone.com
Acesonic’s Multimedia PlayerAcesonic has released the Blu-Ray Mul-timedia Karaoke Player, the Acesonic BDK-2000.
New Products
fax: 802-888-2942e-mail: [email protected]
www.houseoftroy.com
1-866-431-6983
Li ghting Up the Ballroomat NAMM Booth 469
Come See Us!
LED Piano Lamps from
New!
More Light Less Energy!
1-866-431-6983fax: 802-888-2942
email: [email protected]
Full Range Dimmer 50 Watt Halogen Bulb California Title 20 Compliant Four Distinctive Styles
Call us Today!
MMR11
MMR_94 94 2/22/11 3:30:58 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 95
Acesonic’s BDK-2000 Blu-Ray Multi-media Karaoke Player is a multi-function-al, high-de nition, networked, multime-dia player. It can play all media from discs, USB drives, local network or Internet in HD quality up to 1080P. The Acesonic Blu-Ray Multimedia Karaoke Player in-cludes an HDMI port and it is compatible with the latest audio, video, picture and karaoke formats including MP3, WAV, WMA, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI/VOB), MPEG-4 (AVI), DivX, MKV, RMVB, JPEG, and MP3+G les.
The built-in Blu-Ray multi-format player supports all types of discs such as Blu-Ray discs, DVDs, VCDs, CD+Gs, CDs, and data discs.
A built-in Ethernet port enables stream-ing content online via BD-Live or local net-work media les on a network PC or net-work storage. A built-in USB port allows for the user to play music, view pictures or videos stored on a USB drive.
The BDK-2000 includes the most com-monly used buttons on the front panel for easy navigation. An optional rack-mount kit enables users to lock their player in any standard 19” rack. The Player also features a headphone output jack, two microphone inputs and a built-in digital audio recording function. The player also includes adjustment for microphone bass, microphone treble, microphone volume, microphone echo, and a music equalizer to ne tune performance. www.acesonic.com
Music Bible Series from Book SalesThe Music Bible series of music instruc-tion books for guitar, keyboard, drum, and saxophone players is now available to music stores. With collective sales in excess of 500,000 units, other types of retailers have been selling the series suc-cessfully for the past ve years. The pack-aging for these full color books is hard-cover with internal wire binding and each comes with a CD. Some of the titles include: Learn to Play Guitar;
Guitar Chord Bible; Learn to Play Key-boards; and How to Record Your Own Music and Get On the Internet. A new display is available with all qualifying orders. The retail price is $14.99.www.booksalesusa.com
SKB Launches New Soft CasesSKB’s keyboard soft case series includes ve different sizes: 61-note keyboards (1SKB-SC61KW); arranger workstations (1SKB-SC61AKW); 76-note keyboards (1SKB-SC76KW); 88-note narrow key-boards (1SKB-SC88NKW); and 88-note keyboards (1SKB-SC88KW). All cases are constructed of wood framed walls and
an outer 600-Denier nylon covering with a completely padded interior. Two large, padded straps provide additional protec-tion and security. All cases include in-line skate wheels and legs with expanding sta-bilizer for standing the case on end. The back of the case features stair rails while the side includes additional trunk rails to protect the case when loading and unload-
Three Brands, One Focus...
MMR_95 95 2/22/11 3:31:03 PM
96 MMR MARCH 2011
ing. Two large pouches are included on the lid for storage of cables, pedals, and other accessories. Straps are provided for hands free carry and for connection of other bags. All cases will be available in May 2011 and will have estimated retail prices of: $129.99 - $179.99.
SKB’s case to transport the Numark NS7FX Performance DJ controller is
a soft case that ts the NS7FX performance software controller, NSFX effects control-ler, laptop, and laptop stand. The interior of the 1SKB-SCNS7FX is fully lined EPS foam that has a separate compartment for the
performance controller and the effects controller. The lid interior includes convoluted foam to ensure that all of the top surface controls are protected in
transport. The exterior is a Denier nylon cover with two exter-
nal zippered pouches for laptop storage and computer arm storage. The 1SKB-SCNS7FX case includes two dual wheels and pull handle for easy trans-portation. The 1SKB-SCNS7FX retails for $139.99.
SKB’s line of custom 3i Injection molded hard shell cases for the Zoom H4N, Zoom H2, Zoom Q3 (and HD), Edirol, and Sony PCM record-ers feature custom foam inte-riors.
Each recorder is housed in a 3i-0907-4B injection molded watertight case that is constructed of ultra high-strength polypropylene co-polymer resin. The case shells are de-signed and manufactured to US Military speci cation standards (MIL-STD) for tactical applications. The molded unibody is a waterproof, airtight, and submersible design (IP67) that is re-sistant to corrosion and impact damage. The case includes two (2) SKB patented trigger latches, snap-down rubber over-molded cushion grip handles and an au-tomatic ambient pressure equalization valve (MIL-STD-648C). The interior is custom cut ELE foam that includes pock-ets for the recorder, power supply, wind screens, memory cards and other acces-sories. The 3i custom cases are priced at $64.99.www.skbcases.com
St. Louis Music’s Regent Series from AlvarezAlvarez’s new Regent Series is made up of 23 models in a range of price points, colors, and body shapes. Each guitar fea-tures an electrostatic nish, spruce top, and a choice of mahogany or rosewood back and sides. Other appointments in-clude a rosewood, bi-level bridge, rose-wood ngerboard, and premium tuners.
New Products
MMR_96 96 2/22/11 3:31:08 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 97
The Regent Series comes in dreadnought, folk, and classical body shapes, with elec-tric/acoustic versions of each body style also available. The guitars retail for $169.99.www.stlouismusic.com
Porter Case’s Cart SeriesPorter Case’s injection molded travel case with Cart series combines the features of the original Porter Case with years of customer feedback and suggested en-hancements.The PCi cases feature a TSA combination lock. It has four-inch ball bearing wheels, single button extension handle controls, a water/dust resistant gasket, side and end spring loaded carry-ing handles, tough PP construction, and a built-in Cart to carry up to 150 pounds of baggage on top. The PCi comes with a choice of six different interiors. Prices start at $194.www.portercase.com
Hybrid Cajons from TycoonTycoon Percussion’s line of Hybrid Ca-jons includes the Djembe Cajon, Ashi-ko Cajon, and Bongo Cajon. The hy-
brid cajons are unique crosses between the cajon and a traditional drum. Built from “the nest sustainably harvested Siam Oak Wood,” these drums are individually hand-made and tested to ensure superior sound quality and du-rability.
The Hybrid Cajon is built to be light-weight, portable, and durable while maintaining the highest quality of sound and playability, making it just one of the many exclusive and innovative product lines offered at Tycoon Percussion.www.tycoonpercussion.com
Kala Brand Music Co. Stand Out Music Stand.Stand Out™ instrument stands designed with one step easy-slide assembly. The rst to be intro-duced is the US-MHG-FOAM which ts all sizes of ukuleles and mandolins. The Stand Out con-sists of two pieces of laminate
mahogany wood with cushion foam that slide easily together or apart in one step. When apart the two pieces stack conveniently at making the stand very compact for transporting and storage. The stand is attractively packaged in a 4 color box and retails for $29.99. www.kalaukulele.com
MMR_97 97 2/22/11 3:31:12 PM
98 MMR MARCH 2011
Provide your customers with the highest quality instruments and the best possible price points. Hunter
offers a full line of instruments that are made to the best standards.
Call us today to find out how you can profit from Hunter Musical
Instruments. Fast shipping available from our New York warehouse.
3300 Northern Blvd. Long Island City, NY 11101
(718)706-0828 ■ FAX (718)706-0128www.huntermusical.com
QUALITY BAND INSTRUMENTS FROM HUNTER
HUNTERNEW YORK
FULL LINE QUALITYINSTRUMENTS FOR BAND
& ORCHESTRA
HUNTERMUSICAL
INSTRUMENTSGlobal truss Digital D.J. StandIn this age of digital music, it’s no longer necessary for mobile DJ’s to carry records and turntables to events; just about all that is needed today is a laptop computer and a media controller
Global Truss doesn’t think this makes much sense, which is why the company has come out with a sleek digital DJ stand, designed to hold laptops, digital workstations and the other high tech gear used by many DJs today. The new Global Truss GT-Digital DJ Stand projects a sleek, modern and professional look that re ects positively upon the DJ and allows him or her to step out from behind the console and get closer to audiences.
Mobile entertainment is all about in-teracting with the crowd, and the new Global Truss GT Digital DJ Stand helps DJs do just that by making them more visible. The compact stand is easy to set up and take down. All DJs, even those not technically inclined, will nd it fast and simple to create their own digital stand using a Global Truss SQ-4127H and SQ-4110-875 trussing and a BASE-PLATE 30X30A
The heavy-duty Digital DJ Stand is sturdy and secure enough for mixers, work-stations and laptops, yet is lightweight and compact, allowing it to be easily trans-ported between events. And because of the Digital DJ Stand’s compact size, the DJ can be an active participant in the festivities, rather than separated from the crowd by a booth or heavy console.
MRSP of $699.00www.globaltruss.com/Default.aspx
Tri-Technical Systems Store-Floor Price Checker Inte-gration with V9.0 AIMsiOn the store oor retailers can place one or multiple price checker devices. These units simply connect with your existing
PC network. On the PC workstation, us-ers need to con gure each price checker unit to link with a V9.0 AIMsi location via the Price Checker Software. Then activate the connections. That is it! Customers can bring an item up to the price checker and they will quickly learn the price of the product and if it is currently on sale. Sales staff can also use the unit to verify pric-ing. Connect multiple devices throughout a store to 1 software application.Product Features:
Displays current pricing by linking di-rectly to V9.0 AIMsi Displays sales prices if applicableConnect multiple devices to 1 software moduleGenerate reports of “Not Found” items to help in updating product listsPrint or Export report dataDisplays SKU info on the PC screen as the items are scanned on the store oorAIMsi is a complete point of sale
(POS), inventory management, ac-
•
••
•
••
New Products
MMR_98 98 2/22/11 3:31:17 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 99
counting and business software applica-tion. V9 has been PA-DSS certi ed and uses tokenization for credit card and auto pay processing. The software offers retailers not only a way to control inven-tory, manage customers and track sales, but also offers fully integrated custom add-on modules such as Repair & Ser-vice tracking, Lesson Scheduling, Short Term Rentals, Rent and Sales Con-tracts, Contact Management, Emailing capabilities, Tee Scheduler and a Time Scheduler. AIMsi allows users to build their own custom retail software solu-tion by adding on the modules that are needed.www.technology4retailers.com
Gemini CTRL—47 MIDI ControllerGEMINI DJ, a division of GCI TECH-NOLOGIES, recently announced the all-new CTRL-47, 4-channel MIDI con-troller.
The CTRL-47 is a powerful and uid professional Digital DJ system featuring a premium-quality 4-channel DJ mixer; an intuitive DJ controller with familiar feel and two touch-sensitive jog wheels as well as a built-in 24-bit/192 kHz soundcard, latency-free ASIO drivers. It provides maximum control over DJ soft-ware with a litany of controls for loops, effects, EQ controls, samples, hot cues, and pitch.
The included inputs and outputs on the CTRL-47 offer powerful connectiv-ity options with balanced XLR outputs and 3 sets of stereo RCA outputs: Master, Booth, and Record as well as a S/PDIF digital out to feed your mix to any source. The CTRL-47 also makes it easy to hook up other gear - including headphones for cueing and a microphone, while its streamlined and compact pro le makes it a pleasure to transport from gig to gig.
A version of the popular VirtualDJ 7 software is included with the CTRL-47. VirtualDJ is AUDIO and VIDEO
mixing software, targeting DJs from the bedroom, mobile, and professional su-perstars. With VirtualDJ’s breakthrough Beat Lock engine, songs will always stay in beat, allowing DJs to work their mixes faster than ever before. The automatic seamless loop engine and synchronized sampler lets the DJ perform astounding remixes live, with no preparation at all.
The visual representation and the cues allow a DJ to clearly see the song struc-ture, and never be surprised by a break.
The CTRL-47 is the newest addition to the Gemini CTRL series DJ control-lers, has an MSRP TBD, and will be shipping to retailers around the globe rst half 2011.www.gci-technologies.com
MMR_99 99 2/22/11 3:31:23 PM
100 MMR MARCH 2011
MusiCreedMusiCreed, debuted at NAMM 2011, is a small, four-inch, eye catching jewel with a simple mechanism that is used with scale
cards as a musical calculator to teach hundreds of scales and modes from both western and eastern music. With one turn of the dial, MusiCreed takes the user on a journey around the musical globe, teach-ing them international scales and modes in an unmatched level of detail.
Designed by international recording artist Yariv Goldman, this device un-leashes theory that will prove invaluable to musicians, composers, teachers and students world over. MusiCreed’s design is not only an invaluable tool but also an artistic fashion accessory, easily worn or attached to a musical instrument, sym-bolic of our creed to unite musicians worldwide. “Music is an international language; master it with MusiCreed.”www.musicreed.com
Daisy Rock Welcomes Jacklyn Partida to Artist RosterDaisy Rock Girl Guitars, the original girl-guitar company, is proud to welcome Jacklyn Partida of the Jackie Rocks band and Clone to their artist roster. Jackie is a very talented young player, and also a great role model. Her music is often compared to Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, The
Donnas, Poison, and early My Chemical Romance, and her song’s hooks remain determined to get into your head.
Partida discov-ered Daisy Rock gui-tars when searching for the perfect guitar
for her upcoming shows. When she found Daisy Rock, she immediately contacted the company. Soon after learning of Partida’s interest and listening to her songs, president and founder of Daisy Rock, Tish Ciravolo offered Jackie an endorsement.
At just 16 years old, Jackie and her band have pursued every performing opportunity to get their music heard. Not only do they rock local venues and bene t concerts for various charities, they are branching out into the Greater Bay area and beyond. They are a professional working band with over 300 live performances under their belt. Par-tida also gives guitar lessons to children of all ages and is regularly asked to play at local schools. Jackie Rocks were also winners of Seventeen Magazine & Converse Shoe’s “She’s A Star” contest as next potential Breakout artist in 2008.
For tour dates and locations please visit www.jackierocks.comwww.daisyrock.com/artists
Eastern Kentucky Music De-partment selects Petrof PianosPetrof USA. LLC and the Music Depart-ment of Eastern Kentucky University announce the acquisition of seven Petrof Grand Pianos. Petrof USA, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the world re-nowned Petrof Piano Company, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic.
Having achieved national repute, Eastern Kentucky University Music De-partment provides the very best musical instruments to students and faculty alike. Rob James, Chair of the EKU Music De-partment, stated that a search of many months culminated in the selection of the Petrof product.
As Europe’s largest piano builder, Petrof enjoys 147 years of tradition in the produc-tion of their ne instruments. “The highly regarded EKU music program will be the perfect venue for our pianos”, said Zuzana Petrof, 5th generation Petrof CEO, “and I am so pleased at the establishment of this wonderful relationship.” Al Rich, Petrof USA President, agreed and stated, “The EKU Music Department is one of the best and we are proud that our pianos will be a part of the education and performance experience of their talented students and faculty.”
Professor James indicated that the Petrof instruments will be utilized in con-cert, practice and teaching events. “The entire faculty of the Music Department is quite delighted with the addition of these ne pianos and we look forward to their contribution to our performance program”, added James. Details of the installation were managed by the Earl Brooks Music Company of Somerset, Kentucky.
PRS Guitars and GRAND-AM Road Racing Announce Continued PartnershipPaul Reed Smith Guitars and GRAND-AM Road Racing announced they will continue their partnership during the 2011 Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 season. PRS President Jack Higginbotham will award the overall winner of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on January 30 with the rst in a series of customized PRS guitars to kick off the 2011 season.
PRS’s custom-painted PRS SE “GRAND-AM” 2010 trophy guitars were
presented on the podium to each winning team starting with the 2010 season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida and concluding with the championship race at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. PRS will again present a guitar to each of the 12 DP-winning driver pairings in 2011 but will add an additional guitar for the GT-winning driver pairing. PRS decals will also adorn some cars in both the DP and GT classes, and the PRS theme will continue with “race winner” stickers for each event.www.prsguitars.com www.grand-am.com
The Conga Room at LA Live In-stalls JBL Loudspeaker SystemThe Conga Room, described as “Los Angeles’ number one Latin music venue, hosting top performers from around the
Supplier Scene
MMR_100 100 2/22/11 3:31:28 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 101
world and offering a diverse range of Latin, world beat, urban, jazz, rock en Español and pop/rock,” recently upgraded its audio system with the installation of a complete JBL loudspeaker system comprised of VP (Venue Performance), VerTecâ and VRX Series loudspeakers.
Owned by celebrities including Jimmy Smits, Jennifer Lopez, Paul Rodriguez, will.i.am and others, The Conga Room combines musical excitement with style, sophistication and ne dining. When
the owners decided to upgrade the au-dio system, they turned to Sound Image of Escondido, California for the audio system design and installation, in col-laboration with AVS Production Group of the Bronx, NY. Both companies have 60 years combined experience in provid-ing sound for stadiums, clubs, museums, houses of worship and other large ven-ues.
Sound Image and AVS Production Group provided six JBL VerTec VT4887 compact line array elements (three per side) for the main left and right line arrays, along with 12 VP7212 powered loudspeakers and two VP7215 powered loudspeakers as monitors and two VP7210/95DP speakers for the delay channels. Rounding out the system are JBL VRX918S Constant Cur-vature arrayable subwoofers.
Ernie Ball to Send Fifteen to Experience ClaptonErnie Ball Inc. announced on January 25th Ernie Ball Presents Experience Clapton
and the Ernie Ball Eric Clapton Golden Pick, giving Ernie Ball customers nation-wide a rare opportunity to meet Eric Clap-ton in London or win one of thousands of exciting prizes instantly. Fifteen grand prize winners will get unparalleled access to Eric Clapton’s private rehearsal, an ex-clusive meet and greet and a ticket to see Clapton live at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The London show is the climax of Clapton’s UK tour in support of his 19th studio album, Clapton.
Each and every pack of Ernie Ball electric and acoustic guitar strings pur-chased at Guitar Center between Febru-ary 1st and April 30th will give a gui-tarist the chance to win one of the 15 grand prizes to Experience Clapton in London, simply by visiting www.ernie-ball.com/ericclapton and entering the unique code provided inside the pack-age. Select packs will also include one of 5 color-coded, instant-winning Eric Clapton guitar picks. Each pick is re-deemable for one of thousands of exclu-
MMR_101 101 2/23/11 2:43:03 PM
102 MMR MARCH 2011
sive prizes including free Music Man guitars, VIP trips to the 2012 winter NAMM show and Guitar Center gift cards, depending on the pick’s color.www.musiciansfriend.comwww.guitarcenter.comwww.ernieball.com/ericclapton
Fishman on tour with Pink Floyd’s Roger WatersFishman Acoustic Ampli cation, dis-tributed exclusively in the UK and Eire by John Horn-by Skewes & Co. Ltd., reached a gi-ant live audience in recent weeks as part of Roger Waters’ The Wall Live Tour. Wrapping up the US leg of the sold-out world tour on the West Coast, The Wall Live features the very latest in stagecraft, live sound, lighting technology - and a number of Fishman products. The Wall was progressive rock group Pink Floyd’s 11th studio album and later a lm. Huge-ly successful upon its release in 1979, it went on to become one of the top selling albums of all time, with 30 million copies sold to date.
Fishman Acoustic Ampli cation has been well represented on the tour, with Waters using an Aura Im-aging Blender through his acoustic guitar, which is equipped with a Fishman Matrix In n-ity active pickup and end-pin mounted preamp, on the song “Mother”.
Guitarists Dave Kilminster and GE Smith are both using the incredibly ver-satile acoustic imaging tones of the Fish-man Aura Spectrum DI on a few of the show’s numbers, including “Goodbye Blue Sky” and “Is There Anybody Out There?”. The Wall Tour, which grossed nearly $90 million in the US, is set to hit Europe in early 2011, with UK dates scheduled for London, Manchester and Birmingham.www. shman.comwww.jhs.co.uk
Guitarist Tommy “O” Using Zaolla SilverlineTujunga, CA-based guitarist Tommy O, whose credits include tours for performers such as En Vogue, R&B/Pop icons Janet
5.995.99$$
FACT:Make More Profit With The Tune Tech Orb!
Box of 20
each
800.475.7686 shsint.net
Breaking News! Find it in the Hot News section of MMR’s Web site,
www.mmrmagazine.com
MMR_102 102 2/22/11 3:31:48 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 103
Jackson and Michael Jackson, as well as high pro le studio sessions with the likes of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, has been using Zaolla Silverline Artist 500 Series guitar cables for both his instrument and
his effects pedal board. While he has em-ployed the services of guitar technicians to wire his effects in the past, he prefers a more hands-on approach and enjoys tweaking his gear until every last path in the signal chain is fully optimized. He discussed those factors that most directly impact a good pedal board setup.
In the few months since he switched to Zaolla Silverline’s Artist 500 Series cables,
Tommy O reports his sound is better than ever and he loves the cable’s build quality. “Since switching to Zaolla Silverline cable, I’ve experienced a very noticeable impact on my sound,” he says. “It broadens my sound and gives it considerably more pres-ence than many other cables—without col-oring it. My signal is also cleaner and it’s got more bite when I need it.”
“As for the way the cable wraps and lies on the oor,” he continued, “this too, is very impressive. A lot of cables remain pretty wrinkled up when you rst un-wrap them and lay them across the oor. By contrast, the Zaolla Silverline cables atten out and lie nicely in just a few mo-ments after unwrapping them. You have a lot less concern about tripping over them or having the cables getting caught on something by accident. It all adds up to a more con dent performance.”www.zaolla.com
DBZ Acoustic Guitars Using TUSQ ExclusivelyGraph Tech Guitar Labs has announced that DBZ Guitars exclusively uses TUSQ nuts and saddles on their entire line of acoustic guitars. Founded in 1983 by
President Dave Dunwoodie, Graph Tech Guitar Labs manufactures more guitar nuts and saddles than any other compa-ny in the world. Focused on innovations to improve guitar tone and vibration for optimal performance, Graph Tech is the maker of TUSQ® and Black TUSQ® XL man-made ivory, String Saver™ sad-dles, String Saver™ Classics steel saddles, ResoMax™ Harmonic Bridge System, and ghost® Modular Pickup System.
DBZ Guitars is the new creation of mas-ter guitar builder Dean Zelinsky and Jeff Diamant, President and CEO of Diamond Ampli cation. DBZ Guitars is taking guitar building to the next level by embracing mod-ern technology, new design concepts and 30 plus years of Zelinsky’s experience as an in-novator and guitar designer to the stars. The company has a USA facility in the Chicago, IL suburbs, offshore manufacturing and worldwide distribution. DBZ Guitars offers an extensive line of electric and acoustic gui-tars ranging from $ 299 to $6,000.
You can nd TUSQ on all DBZ acoustic guitars, as well as their Premier Series electric guitars.www.dbzguitars.comwww.graphtech.com
MMR_103 103 2/23/11 2:59:26 PM
104 MMR MARCH 2011
Train Chooses Audio-TechnicaOnce again topping the charts and packing venues after a three year hiatus beginning in 2009, Train’s onstage sound is more im-portant than ever, and the band continues to turn to Audio-Technica (booth 6740) for wired and wireless microphone solutions. Train have been loyal A-T endorsers for a de-cade, and this relationship continues as
the band rolls through North America and Europe this fall.
Train’s current mic setup includes the following mod-els: Audio-Technica’s Artist Elite® 5000 Serieswireless systems with AEW-T5400 transmitter for lead vocals, AE6100 Hypercardioid Dy-namic Handheld Micro-phone for lead and backing
vocals, ATM650 Hypercardioid Dy-namic Instrument Microphone for snare,
AE5100 Cardioid Condenser Instrument Microphone for hi-hat, ATM450 Cardi-oid Condenser Instrument Microphone for overheads, and ATM250DE Dual-Element Instrument Microphone and AT4050 Multi-Pattern Condenser Mi-crophone for guitars.www.audio-technica.com
SharkTooth Crossover Pick Endorsed by Steve Priest. Sweet Band bassist Steve Priest has select-ed the SharkTooth® Crossover Pick™ as his primary picking gear, noting that, “The SharkTooth Crossover Pick has helped the way I play bass.”
Developed and manufactured by Strum-N-Comfort Picking Systems, the SharkTooth “Traditional model” design uses a sturdy Neoprene strap and a re-placeable pick/strap assembly. The pick can be easily adjusted for thumb size and for overall plectrum exibility. The pick tip protrudes through a lateral hole in the
Neoprene strap. The pick tip can also be adjusted in and out relative to the thumb line. The Traditional model also has a balanced up and down tension or play-ing feel. Using the Velcro strap for adjust-ment around the thumb, the player can control all of the pick ex attributes. In addition, the Traditional model makes it easy to substitute your favorite at pick for use with the system.
The SharkTooth Crossover Pick V3.0 has quickly established itself as an indispensable tool by a diverse group of prominent, internationally known music teachers and professional players.www.strum-n-comfort.com
Supplier Scene
Over 900 organizationsswitched to Jackrabbit
Tired of Paper?Allow your customers to sign up and pay online!
Worried about switching systems?Free import of your current customer data.
View Online Training Videos & User Guide
Super Easy web-based Music School Management Software
“Jackrabbit web-based software is the most comprehensive, user-friendly program available; it's completed by constant enhancements, tireless support, and cutting edge technology.”
- Matt Coker – www.CokerMusic.com
Request a FREE trial at: JackrabbitMusic.com
Find Breaking Newsin the Hot News section of MMR’s Web site,
www.mmrmagazine.com
MMR_104 104 2/23/11 1:40:07 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 105
Classifieds
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.mmrmagazine.com
www.mmrmagazine.com
Business Opportunities
RATES: Classifi ed Display: $30 per column inch for text only. $40 per column inch, 1 color, logo, graphics. $50 per column inch 4 color.PAYMENTS: ALL ADS ARE PREPAID. Charge on Mastercard, Visa or American Express.SEND YOUR ADVERTISEMENT TO: 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494 • [email protected]? Call Maureen Johan at 800-964-5150 x 34 • [email protected].
☛
☛
☛
☛
• Band and Orchestra Rentals• New and Like New Educator-Approved Brand Name Instruments• Personalized Rent-To-Own Program• No Franchise Fee or Inventory Investment• No Shipping Costs• High Commissions Paid the 1st of Every Month• Exceptional Service
OWNER RETIRING
MUSIC SCHOOL for SALE
(in operation since 1986) Housed on its own
PRIME REAL ESTATE property in a beautiful, affl uent suburb
of Houston, TX Call Owner at 832 445-5668
Real Estate and Music Schooloperation can be sold separately
www.kingwoodmusicschool.com
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE 2009 & 2010
Recognized as HOUSTON’S BEST by the US Commerce Association
Merchandise
Merchandise
MARCH 2011 MMR 105
MMR_105 105 2/23/11 2:33:18 PM
106 MMR MARCH 2011
www.mmrmagazine.com
Business Opportunities
Merchandise
FINANCINGAVAILABLE YA
MA
HA
–KA
WA
I
Japanese High Quality
GUARANTEED You get what you pay for!
1-800-782-2694North American Music
11 Holt DriveStony Point, NY 10980Fax: (845) 429-6920
CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED
PIANOS
ACCORDIONS, CONCERTINAS, & BUTTON BOXES new, used, buy, sell, trade, repair, tune,
CASTIGLIONE DISTRIBUTING CO.13300 E 11 MILE WARREN, MI 48089
PH # 1-586-755-6050 WWW.CASTIGLIONEACCORDIONS.COM
MMR_106 106 2/22/11 3:34:06 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 107
Merchandise
Business Opportunities
The UCL-S Porch-Board Bass of-fers analog, clean bass rhythm with the tap of a foot. Durable passive magnetic sensor system and 3-way frequency response switch eliminates low-end feedback and delay. Features both 1/4 inch and XLR outputs. No batteries, wall worts or external power supply required. Includes carry bag. $299.95. www.porchboard.com (608) 752-2229
PORCHBOARD BASSOver SIX MILLION Unique VisitorsThat’s right, Piano World received over six million unique piano loving visitors last year.
And that is just one of the reasons you should be advertising on Piano World. You really should take a minute to see the other reasons.
Visit www.PianoWorld.com/advertising ... Today!PianoWorld.comThe World’s Most Popular Piano Web SiteHome of the world famous Piano Forums
www.mmrmagazine.com
MMR_107 107 2/22/11 3:34:12 PM
108 MMR MARCH 2011
For Classifi ed Sales Call Maureen
800-964-5150 ext. [email protected]
Business Opportunities Merchandise
Oboes & BassoonsWe create the fi nest hand-crafted Oboes
& Bassoons. Also replacement 5K Bassoon Bocals.
Linton Woodwinds Corporation, Jack Linton
1013 Alma St. Elkhart, IN 46514 U.S.A.PH: 1-866-220-2909 Fax: 574-266-7658
E-Mail: [email protected] www.LintonWoodwinds.com
Merchandise
From button accordion to Piano accordion, from Kid’s to adult, from entry level to professional, from solid color to combo, we have a wide selection for the accordion player.
Hunter Music Instrument Inc adds in an accordion line.
www.huntermusical.com718-706-0828
MMR_108 108 2/22/11 3:34:18 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 109
Merchandise
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web:
www.mmrmagazine.com
National Sales ProfessionalExclusive US Distributor of
Brazilian made Giannini Guitars and Instruments is looking for a Sales
Professional to expand retail sales base. Unique opportunity
to be part of the business. Contact: Georges (954) 746-2777
Help Wanted
Music Man is a family owned and operated Band and Orchestra dealer located in West Palm Beach, FL with over 30 years’ experience serving the music education community of South Florida.Seeking:Educational Sales Representatives who are friendly, knowledgeable, professional, creative and dynamic to build and maintain long-term relation-ships with existing customer base through the use weekly sales visits. 2+ years of sales experience or instrumental music related degree desired.Repair Technicians w/ 5+ years of repair experience or degree from an accredited Band Instrument Repair program desired.Salary: Negotiable based on experienceAll inquiries will be kept con dential.Send resumes to:John JarvisMusic Man2309 N. Dixie HwyWest Palm Beach, FL 33407or via email [email protected] www.mmrmagazine.com
Manufacturing
USED PIANOS at WHOLESALE PRICES
consoles, studios, uprights,grands. DISCOUNT PIANO WHOLESALERS
(323) 377-3644
Help Wanted
Seeking Independant Sales RepEMD Music Inc. are looking for
a focused, energetic, Sales Professional to represent Stagg, Ashdown Bass Amps,
Remo, Benz Reeds & Nomad Cases in the Rocky Mountain States.Territory
covers CO, UT, NM, WY & El Paso TX.Good commission rates paid.
Huge growth potential.Submit Resume to Tony Graham -
Guitar Show OperatorsPromote your
show dates and reach every guitar
dealer in the US through the
classifi ed pages of MMR.
Call Maureen 800-964-5150 ext 34
MMR_109 109 2/22/11 3:34:23 PM
110 MMR MARCH 2011
FAST TURN-AROUND ON STOCK REPAIRS NATIONWIDE
NAPBIRT member, 28 Years Experience
Contact: Dan Rieck, [email protected]
BOW REHAIRING
Expert Bow ServiceOrder forms,Pricing and Shipping label at:
www.bowrehairing.com
Violin bows as low as $10.00 per bow in quantity incl. shipping (see website fordetails.) Large inventory of replacement parts both new and vintage.
IRA B. KRAEMER & Co.Wholesale Services Division
“An industry leader since 1967”467 Grant Avenue, Scotch Plains, N.J. 07076
Tel: 908-322-4469 Fax: 908 322-8613 e mail: [email protected]
Repair Tools
For Classifi ed Sales Call Maureen
800-964-5150 ext. [email protected]
Repair Tools
Percussion Business Unit Manager
D’Addario & Co., the world’s largest musical accessories supplier,
headquartered in Farmingdale, NY, seeks a professional to lead the
company’s percussion business unit, specifi cally the Evans drumheads, Pro-Mark, and Puresound brands, as well as other percussion-related accessories. The winning candidate will possess 5-10 years of related
experience in product development, marketing and business management.
Key responsibilities will include development of business unit strategy,
lead cross functional teams in new product development, marketing, and general management, oversight of
all business unit spending with GM accountability, serve as key voice in
operational and engineering direction, and work closely with international and domestic sales team to achieve brand
penetration in global marketplace. Candidate must have strong leadership
skills, a proven track record in percussion fi eld and relevant degree. Position reports
directly to the Director of Product Management and the
VP – Sales and Marketing.
We offer a comprehensive and competitive compensation package.
Please send resume and salary history to [email protected].
Publications
HaMaRPERCUSSION PUBLICATIONS
www.hamarpercussion.com
SHIPPING YOUR PIANOwith Lone Wolf Trucking
is a “grand” idea! An independent, long-distance Mover
specializing in coast-to-coast residential Relocation.
1-800-982-9505www.lonewolftrucking.com
Alamogordo, New Mexico. 88310ICC MC-256289
Services
Help Wanted
Sales Reps Wanted
Independent SalesReps Needed
Contact Mike Shellhammer atMorgan Hill Music 408-779-3845
www.morganhillmusic.com
(Riptide Ukuleles, Wedgie Picks and accessories, Boulder Creek Acoustic Amplifi ers, Aroma and HST Tuners.)
Territories/States Available:AZ, CO, DE, MD, NJ, PA, UT, VA, NH,PA, D.C., MS, AL, GA, FL, SC, NC, TN
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web:
www.mmrmagazine.com
MMR_110 110 2/22/11 3:34:28 PM
MARCH 2011 MMR 111
Vintage Instruments
www.mmrmagazine.com
MOVING?Don’t miss a single issue
of MMR...Let us know 6-8 weeks before your move so we can continue to send your magazine
without interruption.
PAST
E OL
D LA
BEL
HERE
!
NEW ADDRESS HERE! Name ___________________________
Address _________________________
_______________________________
City ____________________________
State ____________Zip ____________
21 Highland Circle, Suite 1Needham, MA 02494
(781) 453-9310
Wanted USED TUBASANY CONDITION-CASH PAID
THE TUBA EXCHANGE1825 CHAPEL HILL RD.
DURHAM, NC 277071-800-869-8822
WWW.TUBAEXCHANGE.COM
WE, BUY, SELL, TRADE and ship worldwide.
Written APPRAISALS available.GRUHN GUITARS,
400 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 256-2033fax (615) 255-2021 www.gruhn.com
Wanted To Buy
Please charge my: Mastercard Visa AMEXCredit Card #: _________________________________________________________ Expires_____/_____
Authorized Signature: _____________________________________________________________________
Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________
Company: _______________________________________________________________________________
Street: ___________________________________________________________________________________
City:_____________________________________________State:__________ Zip Code: _______________
Telephone #:________________________________Fax # _______________________________________
Email Address: ___________________________________________________________________________
Classifi ed AdvertisingTo Advertise Call Toll Free 1-800-964-5150Deadline: Fourth Friday of every month
Attention: Classifi ed AdsMMR21 Highland Circle Ste. 1 Needham, MA 02494FAX your ad copy to (781) 453-9389
PAYMENT MUST BE RECEIVED IN ADVANCE
MasterCard, Visa, American Ex-press accepted
PLACE YOUR AD BY MAIL OR FAX:
AD RATES $20.00 per inch (1 inch minimum). 1 inch = 7 lines, 36 characters per line .$30.00 per inch if one color, logo or graphic added. Add $1.00 per bold face line, $5.00 for use of a box number. Dis-play classifi ed: $45 per inch. PAYMENT MUST BE RECEIVED IN ADVANCE.
PLEASE PLACE MY AD UNDERTHE FOLLOWING HEADING
__ Books __ Business Opportunities__ Distributors__ For Sale__ Help Wanted__ Instruction__ Lines Wanted __ Schools __ Luthiers
__ Merchandise__ Miscellaneous__ Repairs__ Services__ Sales Rep Source__ Schools__ Software__ Vintage__ Wanted to Buy__ Other ( )
Sales Reps Wanted
Otto Musica Corp. is seeking motivated and experiencedRegional Sales Reps in U.S. Otto Musica Corp.manufactures high quality string instruments and accessories under “ARTINO”, “MUCO” & “OTTO” brands and looks for multiple US regional sales reps to represent the products to music dealers.Email cover letter and resume [email protected] call 1-267-684-6565
MMR_111 111 2/22/11 3:34:33 PM
112 MMR MARCH 2011
Ad IndexCOMPANY NAME E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS PAGE COMPANY NAME E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS PAGE
A/BAce Karaoke/Acesonic USA www.acekaraoke.com 101
Al Cass 104
Allparts Music Corp www.allparts.com 34
Amati’s Fine Instruments www.Amatis.us 93
American Way Marketing LLC [email protected] 55
Bechstein America LLC www.bechstein-america.com 33
C/DCasio America, Inc www.casiousa.com 25
Dana B. Goods www.danabgoods.com 47
Direct Import Assistance
Corporation www.DirectImportAssistance.com 90
Dream Cymbals And Gongs www.dreamcymbals.com 16
EEMD Music Inc. www.staggmusic.com 48
EMD Music Inc. www.staggmusic.com 43
EMG Inc. www.emgpickups.com cov2
Evets Corporation www.danelectro.com 5
Evets Corporation www.danelectro.com 1
F/GFitness Audio LLCc. www.fi taud.comls.com 101
Floyd Rose Marketing www.fl oydrose.com 87
GCI Technologies www.gci-technologies.com 51
Geaorge L’s www.georgels.com 34
GHS Strings www.ghsstrings.com 59
H/IHailun USA www.hailun-pianos.com 31
Hal Leonard Corp. www.halleonard.com 9
House of Troy www.houseoftroy.com 94
Hunter Music Instrument Inc. www.huntermusical.com 98
IBC Trading Ltd. www.ibctrading.com 90
JJack Rabbit Music www.jackrabbitmusic.com 104
JamHub LLC www.JamHub.com 81
Jangus MusicC www.jangusmusic.com 30
KKawai America Corp. www.kawiausl.com 57
Keystone Electronics www.keyelco.com 53
Kharma Design www.kharmadesignusa.com 82
KMC Music, Inc www.kmcmusic.com; www.kmconline.com 95
Knowledge of Music, Inc www.knowledgeofmusic.com 80
Kyser Musical Products Inc. www.kysermusical.com 97
LLevy’s Leathers Ltd. www.levysleathers.com 39
LM Products www.LMProducts.com 30
Lowrey www.lowrey.com 96
M
Meisel Accesories LLC www.meiselaccessories.com 71
Miami Audio Music Corp. www.miamiaudiomusic.com 8
MusiCreed www.MusiCreed.com 81
N/ONAMM www.namm.com 20-21
National Educational Music Co. www.nemc.com 91
OnBoard Research Corp. www.tuners.com 86
P/RPeterson Strobe Tuners www.petersontuners.com 44
Piano Disc www.pianodisc.com 35
Roc-N-Soc Inc. www.rocNsoc.com 34
SSaga Musical Instruments www.sagamusic.com 15
Saga Musical Instruments www.sagamusic.com 83
Samson Technologies Corp. www.samsontech.com 13
Samson Technologies Corp. www.samsontech.com 3
Sculpturra Pianos www.sculpturra.com 28
SHS International www.shsint.net 11
SHS International www.shsint.net 102
Shubb Capos www.shubb.com 98
SKB Corp. www.skbcases.com 17
Strum-N-Comfort Picking Systems www.sharktoothpicks.com 103
Supernatural Percussion Inc www.supernaturalcymbals.com 52
TThe Magic Fluke Co., LLC www.Magicfl uke.com 63
TKL Products Corp. www.tkl.com 7
ToneGear www.theStringCleaner.com 99
Tycoon Percussion www.tycoonpercussion.com 61
U/VU.S. Band & Orchestra Supplies www.usbandsupplies.com 70
U.S. Band & Orchestra Supplies www.usbandsupplies.com 75
Vic Firth, Inc. www.VicFirth.com 66
Vic Firth, Inc. www.VicFirth.com 67
Visual Sound www.visualsound.net cov4
WWD Music Products www.wdmusic.com 102
West Music Products Inc. www.tjfl utes.com 18
Wittner GmbH & Co. KG www.wittner-gmbh.de 29
Wristies, Inc. www.wristies.com 80
Y/ZYamaha Corp. of America www.yamaha.com 37
Yamaha Corp. of America www.yamaha.com 79
Avedis Zildjian Co. www.zildjian.com 19
MMR_112 112 2/22/11 4:10:25 PM
The Jazz Education Networkis dedicated to building the jazz arts community by advancing
education, promoting performance, and developing new audiences.
JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK
Call it what you want, but by chance, through karma, serendipity, destiny, fate, providence, or luck…we are proud to announce the Third Annual JEN Conference in yet another city with LOUIS in the title... LOUISville, Kentucky… We think Three’s a CHARM! Come experience all Louisville has to offer, as we will be collectively…
Developing Tomorrow’s Jazz Audiences Today!Louisville, KentuckyJanuary 4-7, 2012
Save The Date!In the immortal words of one of jazz’ most notable innovators, LOUIS Satchmo Armstrong…
To Jazz or not to Jazz… There is no question!
For complete membership information/benefits please visit us at: www.JazzEdNet.org
MMR_COV3 COV3 2/22/11 3:40:58 PM
