Annual January NAMM Roundup: Virtual Mode 2022

One can hear it in the streets from Atlanta to L.A.: We miss NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants’ annual event held every January in Anaheim. 

Fret not guitar freaks, Lugwig lovers, jamming DJs, audiophiles, technos, and recording rascals, for Shure due to an abundance of caution,the NAMM show moved to June 2022, with tickets available now.

In lieu, NAMM held a virtual two-day event on January 20 and 21, highlighting digital tech and artist issues that rapidly progressed due to lockdown, such as 4D Fun’s volumetric performance recording direct to NFTs managed by the artist; MLC’s info on digital music royalties; SoundExchange on equitable pay and support of artists; FarPlay’s fast and safe ultra-low-latency real-time internet audio software; music engineering advice with Grammy winner Emily Lazar; new gear from Martin Guitars, Shure, Donner, Pioneer DJ, Mackie, Casio, and a few artist interviews.

For our town’s musicians, producers and retailers, here are the top notes with links:

4D Fun COO Jenni Ogden and CEO Paul Vowell presented their company’s tech and NFT platform for artists, in an interview with NAMM presenter and producer-engineer-musician Brian Hardgroove (Public Enemy), who also was recorded by them. Vowell explained they provide a doorway to the virtual future that allows artists to pass through without risk and be able to control their outcome. 

How it works: After capturing the artist performance live in 3D in their studio, they mint the performance as an NFT with a smart contract via blockchain, a non-amendable agreement written in code where the artist knows what is sold and when. The sale or auction of the NFT goes immediately to the artist’s wallet. NFT resale percentages are set up by the artist, similar to splitting the door fee at a venue, such as investors selling tickets to view the NFTs as concerts globally. The contract is on the blockchain and fully transparent, there is no opportunity to amend it, and eliminates the auditing process by artists to find money. They suggest buyers of such NFTs are early cryptocurrency owners interested to have their crypto buy things, instead of just being investments. Ogden compared that to a record label contract where the artist gets paid after all the recoupable expenses are taken out of their percentage. 

4D Fun say they are a disruptive technology company, using a state-of-the-art A.I. driven volumetric capture stage with 32 cameras recording a live 3D artist performance against a green screen. To secure the performance assets they mint it as an NFT. They are launching their platform to view these performances, called SCENEZ, to be released on Steam. The first show will be free to view and has over 100 performers. https://4d fun.io

SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe presented similar sentiments regarding equitable royalties, and the importance of musicians to manage and monetize their value, versus relying on outdated systems where money does not make it to the right person. He cited the Broadcast Radio industry, which “…takes in hundreds of billions of dollars in advertising by playing music it does not pay for. If a band has members that are citizens of both the U.K. and other countries, only the U.K. musicians will get paid when their songs get played on the radio there, in the U.S. none get paid.”

Serona Elton, a professor at the University of Miami and Head of Educational Partnerships with theMLC(The Mechanical Licensing Collective),gave a full-on presentation outlining the complexities of copyright, rights management, and an example of the flow of revenue and copyright for streamed and downloaded music. 

Free resources are at https://themlc.com/digital-music-royalties-landscape.

Forbes columnist Steve Baltin interviewed Grammy winner Emily Lazar about music recording. She made history with three Grammy nominations in the 2021 Album of the Year category, the most ever received, for her work with Coldplay, Haim, and Jacob Collier. Her recording studio, The Lodge, is open to all musicians from ten listeners on Spotify to major bands.

Lazar’s advice: “If I can say anything to the music makers and creators out there, both behind the scenes and the artists themselves, which during the pandemic crossed over, I understand the idea of just throwing it on your phone. However, let me just say your production value deserves tape, it deserves analog equipment it, and it deserves the best possible treatment you can have. It’s worth it to buy a great mic, record on a real console, to make an actual effort to get the quality to happen, to understand the importance of sound, analog, and quality. Artists are undoing themselves by putting things out before they’re finished. As an artist, it’s really important how you say it, and what you say, it’s the only thing you have actually.”

She has a nonprofit called We Are Moving the Needle to help women in the recording industry with scholarships, mentorships, equipment, and a youth program. www.wearemovingtheneedle.org and www.thelodge.com

Farplay,a new software for real-time internet audio, is free along with a Beta version of its Premium software – visit https://farplay.io to download. The software features a simple-to-use interface, unlimited sessions, a visual latency monitor, real-time adjustments, separate broadcast outputs from live monitoring, peer to peer audio sent directly between participants, and uncompressed audio on a multi-platform of MAC, Windows, and Linux. Premium features are professional grade recording with multi-channel options and persistent sessions. We were most impressed with the live demo of individual musicians playing together seamlessly over 400 miles apart. 

Shurehas budget podcast microphones, the MC7X and the MV7 with both USB and XLR outputs for use with computers and professional interfaces. For budget home studio recording there is the MV88+ Stereo UDB Microphone, a digital stereo condenser mic for recording of multiple instruments and vocals in both mono and stereo. Use it with the ShurePlus MOTIV™ Desktop App. https://www.shure.com/en-US

Fred Greene, vice president of Martin Guitars,continues acoustic models introduced in 2020 with a new SC-10E, SC-13E Special and SC-13E Special Burst for 2022. The SCs have a linear dovetail neck joint which allows for access all the way up the neck, and intonation can be adjusted from the inside, in addition to a truss rod. https://www.martinguitar.com/body-sc.html

Pioneer DJ just launched the DDJ-Rev7, 2-channel professional DJ controller for Serato DJ Pro, their first motorized platter controller; and its smaller version, the DDJ-Rev1, with scratch bank, for use by professional DJs as a back-up and for beginners. 

They also showed the XDJ-RX3, a stand-alone all in one DJ system for mobile DJs, home DJs to build skills, and venues needing to power DJs, with a high-resolution, ten-inch touch screen to browse collections and preview songs, multiple pad loads, gate cue, fx modes, and two mic input ports. www.pioneerdj.com

Mackieannounced seven products: the CR Stealth Bar, a desktop PC soundbar with Bluetooth; the Onyx Go wireless clip-on microphone for smartphones with CR-Buds earphones, paired with a mobile content app for sound recording; the EM-Wave, an ultra-compact wireless microphone system that utilizes encrypted transmission with 7-hour battery time for content, video, and podcasting; the ThumpGo, a portable battery powered loudspeaker with Bluetooth streaming and wireless control; the Thrash 1300W loudspeakers (PA system) with Titanium compression drivers and high performance woofers; the Element EM-91C condenser microphone and the MC-40BTwireless over-ear headphones, with built in microphone and 30 hours use per charge.  https://mackie.com

Joanne is a professional international photographer and journalist. Contact her at: artraks@yahoo.com