The Many Faces of NAMM 2024

The NAMM Show is one of those events that is so much fun, educational, hip, and cool, that it’s hard to argue that attending it is work. Back from COVID stoppages and delays, the ever-so-popular NAMM Show returned to what had been its normal January slot from January 25 to 28, 2024 at California’s Anaheim Convention Center for the first time since 2020, with over 1,600 booths representing more than 3,500 brands and hosting over 62,000 attendees. Copper’s B. Jan Montana wrote about the show in Issue 204, with photos by Jayvee Volanski. I’m adding my take, and including photos of mostly people rather than gear here.

Because I grew up in Anaheim, NAMM was always something I wanted to attend, but didn’t have the right connections or credentials. Fortunately, that has changed, and I arrived armed with a press credential along with two first-time assistants, Benny Bergman and Daryl Sanservo. Both Benny and Daryl had long lusted after being able to attend, and I was able to make it happen. Because it was their first time, they had a great experience, rubbing elbows with music royalty, carrying this reporter’s gear, enjoying food and drink at open bars, and they provided valuable insights to the event as enthusiastic first-timers. We knew we were in for a good time when we immediately met up with Emiko Carlin, who was there as a musician, label owner, president of high-end audio show T.H.E. Show, and ready to enjoy the conference.

What is NAMM? It began in 1901 as the National Association of Music Merchants, as a way to connect musical instrument makers with customers. It’s grown to become the largest musical instrument trade show and the largest conference of the year at the Anaheim Convention Center, which is saying something. You’ll encounter halls with tubas, clarinets, old-school patch-cord synthesizers, drums, mixing consoles, guitars, fog machines, music publishing software, copyright attorneys, pedal and effects manufacturers, headphones, in-ear-monitors, and giant speaker and amp stacks suitable for the biggest music festivals. It’s a who’s who of manufacturers, rock stars, and industry people.

There are classes (NAMM University), the enthusiastic support of AES (Audio Engineering Society) and its legions of producers, engineers, mixing and remastering experts, industry people and yes, rock stars, all grooving to a beat that everyone at the conference embraces. The entire Anaheim Convention Center is filled, and off-site parties and concerts are a given. I attended the Roni Lee Rooftop NAMM Jam party on the roof of a nearby hotel, with the Disneyland fireworks across the street. There were many more.

Progressive rock keyboard legend and composer Patrick Moraz (Yes, Moody Blues) takes a Moog synthesizer for a spin.

Grammy-winning producer/engineer Jimmy Jam hangs out with Paul Peterson (Electro-Voice), and Paul Sidoti (Avid Technology).

In the courtyard of the center, flanked by two hotels, the Marriott and Hilton, a large stage sponsored by Yamaha offered an extraordinary set of free concerts that lasted from midday to evening. We were given a tour of the stage by the fine folks of DPA microphones, and were able to see everything from the stage (between acts) to the backstage trailers where engineers prepared the mixes for YouTube live broadcasts.

Some of the most anticipated events are the awards ceremonies. The legendary TEC Awards, given for technical achievements, are NAMM’s equivalent of the Oscars. My friends at Audeze were nominated for their new MM-100 planar magnetic headphones designed by recording engineer Manny Marroquin, but didn’t bring home the award unfortunately, as the award went to the admittedly amazing Sony MDR-MV1 Open Back Reference Monitor Headphones (which impressed editor Frank Doris and others at last year’s AES convention in New York). I didn’t have a chance to hear the Sony headphones yet. The Audeze MM-100 are superb, and represent one of the best values in audio.

The Parnelli Awards are named for the late Rick “Parnelli” O’Brien, who had a multifaceted career doing sound reinforcement, large touring shows, and even as production manager for a groundbreaking exhibit of Peter Max in Russia in 1991. These awards honor the people and companies who make live music possible. This year the awards went to Jim Brammer of live music titan Special Event Services, video pioneer Carol Dodds, and front of house engineer Buford Jones.

With the loss of the amazing TEC Awards house band due to COVID-related budget cuts (the band used to be a mainstay of the event and featured heavyweights like Jeff “Skunk” Baxter of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers), the She Rocks Awards is now the most fun at the show. The 2024 She Rocks Awards, formerly held off-site, honored Debbie Gibson, Lindsey Stirling (violinist/songwriter/dancer), Bonnie McIntosh (musician), Britt Lightning (Vixen), Kelsy Karter, Holly G (comics artist and writer), Sylvia Massy (producer/engineer), Lindsay Love-Bivens (Taylor Guitars), Melinda Newman (Billboard), Laura Karpman (composer), and Jamie Deering (Deering Banjos).

The show ended with a performance by Debbie Gibson which had the crowd on their feet. For me, it was even more fun to meet Bangles front woman and solo artist Susanna Hoffs, and hear her performance. I was able to finally ask her a long-sought question. Why did the Bangles’ version of Simon and Garfunkel’s, “Hazy Shade of Winter” remove the critical lines from the song;

“Funny how my memory skips
Looking over manuscripts
Of unpublished rhyme
Drinking my vodka and lime”

She said it wasn’t planned, but just sort of happened. They loved and respected Paul Simon, so they attempted to sing the song with the lines added back, but it confused audiences, who had never heard the original and loved singing along with the Bangles’ version. She joked that when they tried performing it with the original lines added back in, they could hear the audience kind of stop, trying to figure out what was wrong, and then try to sing them, thoroughly befuddled. So, they regretfully stopped singing those lines. I suggested it was time to restore them to the rightful place. Hoffs served as one of She Rocks Awards MCs and was warm, sincere, and gracious. It was clear she was held in high-esteem by other musicians.

The ballroom was packed, and everyone had a great time. Many of the acceptance speeches stressed how far women have come in the industry, but how many hurdles there still were to overcome. It was invigorating to see the industry come out to support the organization.

A number of high-end audio companies exhibited at NAMM 2024. Here Andrew Jones of MoFi Electronics flies the audiophile flag for British electronics maker Chord.

Sennheiser is a mainstay at both professional and consumer audio shows. Here they showcase the new HD 490 Pro open-back headphones.

Roni Lee, former lead guitarist for Venus And The Razorblades and gold record co-writer of the Runaways' hit, "I Want To Be Where The Boys Are," hosted her annual Roni Lee Rooftop All Star Jam, with many of Southern California’s big rock names. It’s a fun event, with a great view of the Disneyland fireworks. The stage featured a rolling group of performers including bassist Lynn Sorensen (Bad Company, Paul Rodgers), guitarist extraordinaire Larry Mitchell, Doug Doppler, Koko Powell (Edgar Winter), Marco Mendoza (Thin Lizzy, Dokken, Journey and others) and many others, performing a classic rock playlist.

AES also holds a party every year; this year former AES president John Krivit threw it honor of Leslie Gaston-Bird, the newly elected President. Leslie is the owner of Mix Messiah Productions and the author of the book Women in Audio. A variety of industry heavyweights, students, and guests had a great time, and we joked that it was rare to see that so many denizens of the studio were out in the sunlight! [There’s a reason for the expression, “Studio Tan,” among studio musicians – Ed.] Krivit runs the popular “Hey Audio Student” Facebook group, which includes a diverse a membership of more than 81,000 members, with an international reach. AES has always been heavily invested in education and helping students, from a variety of mentoring programs to arranging for studio and manufacturer tours. Copper always covers the New York AES conferences, and we’ll be there for AES New York 2024, to be held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center from October 8 – 10, 2024.

At the AES party: Leslie Gaston-Bird (AES president), Marty Cooper (Boy Detective Enterprise) and Robin “Drace” Pantalion (Kitty Trigger band).

These and other NAMM events are a testament to the power of music in our lives. Pick a floor in a hotel, chances are you wander into a party. Mostly with great music, like the semi-underground Gritty in Pink party, held in a Hilton Hotel room, stocked with donated tequila, beer, pizza, energy, and live music. As a Philadelphian, I swore that next year I’d attend dressed as Gritty, who I know would dig the energy.

Dave Malekpour represents Augspurger. If the name doesn’t ring a bell for you, it’s because most of their loudspeakers are used in studios. In 1999, New York’s Unique Recording Studios contacted Malekpour, looking for a new speaker system that could handle the extreme playback levels desired by urban artists, while also providing an accurate sound field. This led to the first Augspurger system, built and installed by Malekpour and designed by George Augspurger, who had designed some world-renowned studios in the 1970s and 1980s and was known for his custom professional monitors. If you’ve attended consumer audio shows like T.H.E. Show, you might have met Dave in the TAD Laboratories room.

J. Rose (Augspurger), Daryl Sanservo (T.H.E. Show), and Dave Malekpour in front of a wall of Augspurger loudspeakers.

Augspurger hosts an annual NAMM event to bring together musicians, engineers, producers, techs, and others, and for 2024 they held it at Love and Laughter Music Group in Anaheim. This was a surprise to me, since even though I grew up in Anaheim, I’d never heard of it. Located in a residential neighborhood, the facility had a mix of state-of-the-art recording technology and vintage analog gear. Malekpour and his team are known for great parties, music and events, so if you get an invite, don’t miss them.

The Anaheim Convention Center has three main parts. There’s the original venue, which us Anaheim kids nicknamed the Flying Sub. Feeding off of it are the later additions that stretch all the way to back of the property, two floors with large halls, and two more floors above with meeting rooms large and small. Then there’s the new addition with two large halls across from the Flying Sub, where the pro audio, microphones, headphones, electronics, consoles, software, and other folks exhibit.

Was there audiophile equipment? Absolutely. Folks like Teac, Shure, Chord, Audeze, Augspurger/TAD, Genelec, Dekoni, Audio-Technica, Sony, Austrian Audio, Electro-Voice, Sennheiser, and so many more exhibited. Most audiophiles aren't necessarily aware of this crossover, where the professional world showcases and intersects with many of the technologies and products that exist in the consumer sector, but they’re there. Of course, the gear featured at NAMM is where music begins, from vintage tube amps with new old-stock-fabric covering to drop-dead-gorgeous award-winning guitars, to mics, signal processors, instruments of every variety, musicians, engineers, producers, retailers and so much more. It’s a complicated, messy, passionate, confusing, vibrating mess of a convention. And no one would have it any other way.

As always, here are photos of the people on and behind the scenes who make the show happen.

Artist and immersive audio engineer Dennis "ROC.am" gets on the mic with Dave Malekpour taking it in.

American record producer and DJ ArrabMusik lays down a groove. 

A few of the revelers at the Augspurger party.

Here are Monica Evans-Lombe and Holly Klarman, both of AES.

Past AES president John Krivit of Hey Audio Student hangs out with current AES president Leslie Gaston-Bird, and Case Newcomb of Hyde Street Studios.

Rachel Ludeman (Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences) enjoys a good time with broadcast producer/engineer Josh Rogosin of NPR's Tiny Desk Concert fame.

Student AES members, Jasmine Mills, Samuel Slape and Aiyanna Riley are with legendary engineer, producer and educator Lenise Bent. She is the first woman to receive an RIAA Platinum album for engineering, for Blondie's AutoAmerican.

Here are Kenya Autie (El Cerrito Records), Karen Kroboth and Boris Milan (Boris Milan Studios), and Oscar Autie (El Cerrito Records).

These guys have spent some time behind a mixing console: Colby Gustafson (Rupert Neve Designs, LLC), Michael Graves (Osiris Studio), and Dave Gardner (Rupert Neve Designs).

Musical minds meet: Seyed (musician), Martha Moke (Grammy-winning violist; Yamaha/Eventide artist and performer with David Bowie, Barbra Streisand, Philip Glass and others) and George Nicholson (Case Western Reserve University).

Samuel Friend (D&B Audiotechnik), Jordan Andreen, and Case Newcomb enjoy the show.

Header image: Roni Lee, host of the Roni Lee Rooftop All Star Jam. All photos by Harris Fogel.