mmr november 2009
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Report: Tuners Roundtable: Artist Series Drumsticks November 2009 NEW, DIGITAL VERSION www.mmrmagazine.com w w w. m m r m a g a z i n e . c o m Track. Skype. Chat. Podcast. Anywhere… The perfect portable recording solution, Go Mic improves your sound in every application. Clip it to your laptop, or rest it on a table and monitor with no latency. Go Mic is ready to go when you are. © 2009 Samson | samsontech.comTRANSCRIPT
w w w . m m r m a g a z i n e . c o m N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 9
ElectronicDrums
Tapping into an Expanding
Marketplace
NEW, DIGITAL VERSION
www.mmrmagazine.com
Report: Tuners
Roundtable:Artist Series Drumsticks
MMR_COV1 COV1 10/27/09 9:37:19 AM
Go baby, go!
© 2009 Samson | samsontech.com
Track. Skype. Chat. Podcast. Anywhere…The perfect portable recording solution, Go Mic improves your sound in every application. Clip it to your laptop, or rest it on a table and monitor with no latency. Go Mic is ready to go when you are.
MMR_1 1 10/22/09 9:38:43 AM
2 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Features
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 Musical 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 ©2009 by Symphony Publishing, LLC, all rights reserved. Printed in USA.
NOVEMBER 2009 VOL.168 NO. 11 Contents18 Sabian – Tradition & Innovation
MMR travels up to Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada to visit with the team from Sabian.
24 Spotlight: Electronic Drums Tap Into an Expanding Marketplace
While many segments of the MI world struggle sales-wise, the electronic drum market is growing. Improved technology, lower price-points, and greater functionality have made these kits a more viable option for many musicians – and a greater potential earner for music retailers.
36 Roundtable: Artist Series Drumsticks
44 Percussion Products
50 Survey: B&O Buying TrendsWe poll over 1,500 band directors and music instructors to learn what factors fi gure most prominently when choosing where and how to make instrument and music product purchases.
54 Report: In Tune with a Changing MarketAn ever-expanding variety of features, function, and price points have made today’s instrument tuner offerings a far more complex world than in the days of the pitch pipe and tuning fork…
64 Mapes Piano String CompanyMMR visits with Andy Wilson, head of piano strings at Mapes Piano String Co. – the fi rst piano wire company in America and one of the foremost pro-ducers of piano wire and guitar string wire, today.
66 Anniversary: Batchelder’s Plummer Piano & Organ Co.
4 Editorial 6 Upfront 12 People 14 Letters
68 Holiday Buying Guide 78 Supplier Scene 82 Classifi eds 88 Advertisers’ Index
Departments
www.MMRmagazine.com
44
36
18Cover design by Laurie Chesna
MMR_2 2 10/23/09 10:31:41 AM
It’s your music… Perform it on a Bedell
Experience a Bedell at your local dealer.
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TB-28-GAlaska Sitka Spruce/Indian
Rosewood Dreadnought
MMR_3 3 10/22/09 9:38:50 AM
Editorial
4 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
PUBLISHERSidney L. Davis
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERRick Kessel
EDITORChristian Wissmuller
ASSOCIATE EDITOREliahu Sussman
ASSOCIATE EDITORDenyce Neilson
ADVERTISING SALES Iris Fox
CLASSIFIED AD SALESMaureen Johan
PRODUCTION MANAGERLaurie Guptill
GRAPHIC DESIGNERSAndrew P. Ross
Laurie [email protected]
CIRCULATION MANAGERMelanie A. Prescott
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTPopi Galileos
WEBMASTERSanford Kearns
SYMPHONY PUBLISHING, LLCXen Zapis • Chairman
Lee Zapis • [email protected]
Rich Bongorno • Chief Financial Offi [email protected]
Corporate Headquarters26202 Detroit Road, Suite 300, Westlake, Ohio 44145
440-871-1300www.symphonypublishing.com
PUBLISHING, SALES & EDITORIAL OFFICE: 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494
(781) 453-9310 Fax: (781) 453-9389www.mmrmagazine.com
Volume 168, Number 11, November 2009
®
One More Good Idea
sdavis@ symphonypublishing.com
Our publishing mantra has always been, “one good idea,” which has not always been an easy goal to achieve, considering our readership interests range from merchandising fog machines to grand pianos. Under the harsh light of present economic conditions,
“one good Idea” has evolved from opening a second unit to investing in energy effi cient light bulbs. Using a premise of, “how to get more from less,” we have, in recent issues, focused on the “practical sale,” as represented within this issue by tuners, electronic drum kits, and sig-nature sticks. In past months, we have applied the same format to cases (June), iPod-related music gear (September), and ukulele products (October).
Citing the case issue as an example, Access Bags’ Marty Harrison pointed out, “You can’t sell them if you don’t have them.” Frank Grund, Grundorf, pointed out, “The case is an afterthought – you can’t take it home and play it. It’s hard to explain to people, but if it’s available, they will buy it.” One further thought on the “case for cases” from Irwin Berg, Humes & Berg: “ Dealers often don’t realize this add-on sale can produce as much margin or more to selling the instrument… salespeople should be motivated to think, ‘You’re not leaving without a new bag or case to protect this instrument.’”
iPod/iPhone Applications were covered extensively in our September issue, includ-ing within this editorial page, however, in the belief that good ideas are worth repeat-ing and following the old chestnut that, “new products are the lifeblood of the indus-try,” we repeat the words of two industry veterans: Jim D’Addario noted, “You can’t stop change, the iPhone and the Internet are paradigm shifts;” while Jim Dunlop said, “Many applications are musician-focused, such as guitar tuners, music-identifi cation, music-making and even turning the iPod or iPhone into a musical instrument.”
After examining the basic case and the cutting-edge iPod, we took a fresh look at an old product, the ukulele. In recent days, there has been a resurgence of interest in the instrument, fueled by prominence on YouTube, downloadable applications, and na-tional media attention. All that needs to be said on the topic was perhaps best summed up by ukulele guru, Jim Beloff, of Flea Market Music: “Keep ukes in the store tuned up. They sell themselves… one of the easiest instruments to learn and play… many chords require only one or two fi ngers…the learning curve is especially short and because of its size [it is] a great fi rst instrument for children.”
In a similar vein, we invite our readership to explore this month’s reports in the area of tuners, electronic drum kits, and signature drumsticks. All you need is one good idea…
And on a fi nal note we call your attention to our newly launched digital edition. Simultaneous with our print product you (if we have your e-mail address) will receive our digital version. You can scan the pages, enlarge the type, reprint the page, and click on an advertiser Web site. Equally important, when an out of the country D’Addario executive requested a subscription, he received the issue in real time, as we communi-cated. To receive the digital version, just send along your e-mail address to [email protected]. Please indicate which of the three Internet offerings we feature - digital version only, digital version and weekly e-newsletter only, or digital version, e-newsletter, and industry trade offers – you’d like to receive. Be assured we will honor your request.
MMR_4 4 10/23/09 10:32:13 AM
Solid Cedar. Solid Sound.
AfricanMahogany
Handcrafted to express the music in you. Trust your music to the majesty and wonder of solid Canadian red cedar. Experience the bountiful and balanced music. Marvel at the full projection of sound. Savor the rich, natural beauty of the grain.
To purchase a Great Divide Solid Cedar guitar, visit your local Great Divide dealer or call 1.877.264.3356.
Canadian Red Cedar
Indian Rosewood greatdivideguitars.com
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A DIVISION OF TWO OLD HIPPIES, LLC, P.O. BOX 557, SPIRIT LAKE, IOWA 51360.
Nine models to choose from, available in Dread-nought, Orchestra, and Parlor bodies with mahoga-ny or rosewood back and sides.
MMR_5 5 10/22/09 9:39:00 AM
Upfront
Former Baldwin CEO Awaits Court Verdict Karen Hendricks, former CEO of Bald-win Piano and Organ Company is awaiting a verdict from Dayton, Ohio Judge Thomas Rose in a case brought by a group of unsecured creditors and shareholders who allege Ms. Hendricks did irreparable harm to the 147 year old company by placing her interests above those of the fi rm and failing to advise the Board of an offer to pur-chase the company by a business con-sultant, Randy Marks. Ms. Hendricks was recruited to Baldwin in 1994 from her previous position as general man-ager for the Dial Soap division of Proc-tor and Gamble. She resigned under pressure in 2001 and subsequently the company fi led for bankruptcy after sustaining $17 million in losses for the prior two years. Gibson Guitar Com-pany purchased Baldwin from its ma-jor creditor, GE Capital in the Fall of 2001.
American Music & Sound to Distribute Kurzweil, FostexKurzweil has teamed up with American Music & Sound for exclusive distribution in the US effective Oct 1, 2009.
“We are so pleased to be offering Kurz-weil Pro products,” says Lynn Martin, pres-ident of American Music & Sound. “With their breadth of product offering and po-sition in the market, we look forward to spearheading their growth in the US.”
“American Music & Sound is a great partner for us,” states Kurzweil’s manag-ing director of Kurzweil Global Opera-tions, YT Kwon. “Their strength in the market will be the perfect platform for our products.”
American Music & Sound has also an-nounced that Fostex recording products
will be distributed in the USA through the AM&S distribution network. “Fostex has a long his-
tory of manufacturing top professional audio products and affordable recording gear for project studios, fi eld recording, and broadcast applications,” states Lynn Martin. “We couldn’t be more excited to be the exclusive distributor for Fostex recording products in the USA. We are looking forward to growing market share and continuing to strengthen the Fostex brand.”
T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G Fender Ltd. Edition T-Mobile has announced that they’ll be releasing a myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition cellular phone that will feature a 3.5mm headphone jack, as well as pre-loaded songs on a 16gb microSD card. Additionally,
the Fender myTouch 3G will sport a wood fi nish evocative of those made famous by Fender guitars. The lim-ited edition version of T-Mobile’s myTouch Android smartphone is expected to ship later this year.
iZotope Assumes Distribution of Its ProductsiZotope, Inc. has announced that its distribution relationship with M-Audio came to a close on October 1st, 2009. iZotope will now handle distribution re-sponsibilities of its Ozone 4, iZotope RX, Spectron and Trash products. iZotope is also transitioning to an eco-friendly digital serial number delivery system to their dealer and distributor network.
eMedia Music will continue to handle iZotope’s worldwide consumer channel in order to distribute products such as iDrum
and other upcoming releases. iZotope will handle responsibility for the direct distri-bution of their worldwide Music Industry (MI) and Pro Audio channels. The iZotope MI line includes products such as Ozone 4, iZotope RX, Spectron, Trash, Radius for Logic Pro and Soundtrack Pro, and the newly released Alloy. The iZotope Pro Au-dio line includes the ANR-B adaptive noise reduction hardware unit, RX Advanced, and an upcoming line of professional hard-ware and software processors.
6 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
MMR_6 6 10/23/09 10:32:39 AM
Sonaré Winds to Continue as Keilwerth and York DistributorsUpon the request of Schreiber-Keilw-erth, Sonaré Winds, a division of Verne Q. Powell Flutes, has announced that they will remain the North American distributor for Keilwerth Saxo-phones and York Brass instruments.
The anticipated change in distribution from Sonaré Winds to Gemstone Mu-
sical Instruments has been put on hold. It is expected that Sonaré Winds will retain the distribution through
the end of 2009.
UpfrontGibson’s Hendrix Guitar Baffl es ManyThere was considerable buzz on the Web in anticipation of the announcement of Gibson’s “Jimi Hendrix Guitar” pack-age in late September. As even the most casual Hendrix fans know, his main axe was a Fender Stratocaster. Especially de-voted followers are likely aware that Jimi occasionally played a Gibson Flying V. Gibson’s Custom Shop already offered a high-end tribute model Flying V of just 300 copies with a list of $12,300 in 2007, so many expected this new model to be some variation on that theme.
What was instead unveiled surprised many: a Strat copy.
Gibson was clearly excited about the project. At the time of the product’s in-troduction, Gibson.com featured a Hen-drix image on the main page, top of the fold, with a long tribute to Hendrix with pictures of the iconic guitarist, including one with his Fender Strat.
According to the press release at the time, the new product will be an entry-level guitar package that includes the gui-tar, a Hendrix signature Voodoo Child amplifi er, and a Foxey Fuzz pedal. Hen-drix’s face is on the pick guard. The pack also includes an instructional DVD and a USB drive containing exclusive Hendrix media content and a “Hendrix inspired tie-dyed tee-shirt and bandana.” It is re-ported to retail at $199.
When asked for a comment in late September, Fender’s media department replied: “I understand you’re interested
in a comment regarding the recent prod-uct announcement from Gibson. As it is not an FMIC product, it would be inap-propriate for us to comment on it.”
Gibson’s media department did not respond to several initial requests for a comment of any kind, including how they thought the product would do, or whether or not they are concerned with possible patent infringement. President/CEO Henry Juszkiewicz’s offi ce was con-tacted directly but calls and e-mails were not returned at press time.
Out in the blogosphere, virtual tongues were wagging. Musicradar.com, one of the fi rst to break the news, commented on the irony: “Gibson sued Paul Reed Smith in the early 1990s over the latter’s Singlecut design, claiming it breached design copyright. In that drawn-out case, Gibson fi nally conceded in 2006 that only ‘an idiot’ could confuse PRS Singlecut with a Gibson.”
Guitarist.co.uk featured an interview with Hendrix’s daughter, Janie, his sister and head of Authentic Hendrix, the es-tate. In it she points out that it’s not “Gib-son branded” but “Jimi Hendrix brand-ed.” Also she says: “It was Gibson who saw a vision from the beginning and was willing to work with us. We don’t have anything against Fender, we have no bad blood, but it’s just that we built a better relationship with Gibson over the years.” She stressed that with Gibson they hope to bring music making to a new genera-
8 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
tion, something her brother would cer-tainly approve of.
When asked if this might be seen as exploiting her brother’s name, she states: “Jimi was our family member and we’ll just make sure that we take care of him the best way we can. We are committed to keeping Jimi’s legacy alive and intact and bring it to you in the most authentic form.”
In reporting this, the U.K. music trade magazine, MI Pro, wrote: “The bewilder-ing move by Gibson to create, essentially, a copy of a guitar it has been in direct competition with for over 50 years seems at best ill-advised, at worst arrogant bravado, particularly when considering Gibson’s continual recourse to the law courts, suing those that encroach upon what it sees as trademark design.”
Some retailers, upon hearing the news, were surprised. “Is this for real?” responded Bob Moggio of Mojo’s Music, Edwardsville, Ill.
“I guess April Fool’s Day is early this year,” sighed Gary Gand, of Gand Music and Sound, Chicago. “One more low-cost toy to try to tap into the babies of the baby boomer market. Dad will buy it for him-self but give it to the kids... what was that old saw about one born every minute?”
“As an independent retailer nothing seems to amaze me more than stunts like this,” says Gordy Wilcher of Owensboro Music, Owensboro, Ky. “The lines from the major guitar players are more blurred than ever. There is no loyalty. Even more surprising, these manufacturers have completely lost site of working to main-tain the integrity and value of their prod-ucts. This newest “Jimipaulcaster” is just the latest in any attempt to ‘move’ some wood. Guess what? Most new consumers don’t have the emotional investment and love for the logo. Our customers want something unique and of value. Sorry guys, I just ain’t buying it!”
As MMR went to press, we noted that all images and reference to the Hendrix guitar package had been removed from Gibson.com. Word is that the launch of the Hendrix package has been post-poned, but will be coming soon.
MMR_8 8 10/23/09 10:32:44 AM
Upfront
10 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Hal Leonard to Distribute Premier Guitar & Guitar EdgeHal Leonard Corporation will now distribute two leading guitar magazines to music stores: Premier Guitar and Guitar Edge. Under an exclusive, long-term deal with the magazines’ parent company, Premier Media Holdings, Hal Leonard will begin distribution immediately to its more than 10,000 MI re-tailers worldwide.
Acclaimed fi ngerstyle guitarist, Jacques Stotzem, with Fishman’s Chris DiMaria. Fishman hosted a brief performance by Stotzem, and offered a tour of their new facilities in Andover, Mass. on Thursday, October 22nd.
Milab Microphones has announced that FDW-Worldwide is now the exclusive distributor for Milab Mi-crophones in North America.
The collaboration was launched formally at the 127th AES conven-tion in New York City, October
9-12, where FDW-Worldwide had the full Milab product line on display.
Milab Microphones and FDW-Worldwide
Upfront.indd 10 10/26/09 3:21:50 PM
12 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
PeopleGrayson Zeagler, of Mon-roe, Louisiana-based Zeagler Music has been elected pres-ident of the National As-sociation of School Music Dealers. The association, celebrating 47 years in 2009, represents over 200 band and orchestra retailers and manufacturers throughout North America.
Zeagler has previously served on a number of music industry and business-focused boards of directors, the Twin City Concert Band, Monroe (La.) Sym-phony Orchestra, and the NFIB Louisi-ana Leadership council. He grew up in the family business, and has spent the last 26 years as vice president and CEO of Zeagler Music in Monroe, Louisiana.
As president of the National Association of School Music Dealers, Zeagler will serve a two-year term through 2011, and take an active role in programming the association’s annual convention. The next event, which provides three days of professional develop-ment for band and orchestra retail industry professionals, is slated for March 24-27, 2010 in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Behringer has introduced Dave Hooper as its new artist relations manager. Dave has been a studio drummer since the age of 17 and has acquired, “a wealth of industry con-nections and relationships.” Dave will be re-sponsible for creating and maintaining new endorsement programs for Behringer and Bugera, assembling a list of top talent.
US Music Corp has announced that GilSoucy has joined the company as vice president of sales and marketing. Soucy has spent his business career in the mu-sic industry ranging from operating large retail stores, representing manufactur-ers selling into the MI segment and most recently for the last four years as the na-tional sales manager at Behringer USA.
Tycoon Percussion USAhas appointed John Cathellas national sales manager. This newly created posi-tion will allow Cathell to focus on continuing the development of Tycoon’s independent dealer net-work while managing key regional and national accounts. In addition, Cathell will oversee Tycoon’s in-house sales team and outside sales representatives working directly with vice president, David Kelley.
Yamaha Corporation of America has announced the hiring of seasoned drum marketer Robert Terry as marketing man-ager of the new Electronic Drum Department, a new branch of Yamaha Drums, which oversees drum sets and accesso-ries within the Pro Audio & Combo Di-vision. He will report to Athan Billias, director of marketing for the PAC Divi-sion regarding the sales and marketing of Yamaha’s extensive line of electronic drum kits and accessories.
Marketing executive Richard K. Breske has been named vice president of marketing for KHS America, which in-cludes such brands as Jupiter wind instruments, Mapex percussion and drums, Ma-jestic percussion and Altus fl utes.
Much of Breske’s nearly 30-year mar-keting tenure in the music business has been dedicated to music products in the educational and professional markets. He has worked closely with musicians and retail music stores, and established partnerships with music educators and arts organizations.
Zeagler Cathell
Terry
Find it in the Hot News section ofMMR’s Web site, www.MMRmagazine.com
Breaking News
BreskeA Keyboard Player’s Dream
MMR_12 12 10/26/09 10:40:08 AM
14 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
LettersI just read with interest the online version of MMR’s October issue, including the ar-ticle on the Environmental Consequences of Guitar Making, in which I was inter-viewed and wanted to advise of the fol-lowing corrections: First of all, during my time at Fishman we were involved in the early development of Parker Guitars. Although I became good friends with Ken Parker, I was never an employee of Parker Guitars.
Second of all, I stated that most guitarists’ tastes are very conservative, thus anything as radical as the revolutionary Parker Fly was considered outside of their comfort zones. My comment about the appeal of the Parker Fly was in no way meant to be perceived as negative in any way whatsoever. I consider Ken Parker’s unique guitar designs to be among the most signifi cant advancements in guitar making in the last 100 years.
Thirdly, regarding the material which Flaxwood guitars are manufactured, it is indeed Spruce fi ber (Picea Abies) com-bined with an acoustically sensitive resin – although in the very early days fl ax seed was originally used in experiments. In fact the neck (one piece – no fi ngerboard), gui-tar body and back plate are all made from the same spruce fi ber material, which is injection-molded at extremely high pres-sure. No hardwoods whatsoever are used in Flaxwood’s manufacturing process.
And, fi nally, the company was formed by a small group of individuals whose backgrounds included industrial design, plastics injection molding and luthiery – all of whom saw the need to develop and work with materials that not only came from a sustainable resource but also were environmentally friendly. The rest is his-tory in the making... Thanks for the op-portunity to correct the record.
Best regards,Rick Nelson
Flaxwood USA, Inc.
MMR_14 14 10/23/09 10:33:45 AM
So why stock anything else?What other cymbal brand gets this sort of following year after year? From New Beat HiHats to K Custom Hybrids, Zildjian is the proven gold standard of cymbals. No other cymbal line truly defines your store or excites your customers as much. You know that your Zildjian stock will quickly turn time and time again. And for 2009, we have put together an aggressive schedule of promotions that you will not want to miss. Now more than ever, Zildjian is the only serious choice.
THEY KNOW WHAT THEY WANT...
zildjian.com
©2009 Avedis Zildjian Com
pany
Full Ads_nov.indd 15 10/23/09 10:20:01 AM
Promoting the Industry,Promoting Music MakingWhy would someone buy a musical instrument for themselves or their family? I think it’s an important question, especially during this holiday shopping season, when consumers are still reeling from the toughest economy in memory.
The good news is we are blessed with a passionate segment of the population that will choose to make music despite virtually any barrier. Many of us fit this description. My desire to be a drummer continues to this day, and I will be a good industry customer until I go to that big drummer’s reunion in the sky. We should continue to nurture this core base of life-long music makers and continue to come up with new and innovative programs and products that keep them coming back into NAMM Member stores.
Perhaps even more critical to future industry growth is the much larger group of potential music makers: the greater general public. Their fascination with the concept of music making is evidenced by advertisers who continually use musical instruments to market their own, less glamorous products, Gallup Polls showing that the vast majority of those
who don’t play wish they did, and most recently, the sale of over 35 million copies of Guitar Hero and Rock Band games.
This large group of music lovers and potential customers obviously has the desire to play, if only given the right reason and the right opportunity. They are a diverse group and one message won’t fit all, which is why NAMM has created campaigns and programs for every segment, providing you with tools to target and grow your market. NAMM’s Wanna Play? campaign is aimed squarely at these folks: people who have the means and desire to play a musical instrument but just haven’t tried it yet, or those who want to return to music making after many years.
So far, in 2009, NAMM has generated more than 2 billion media impressions, worth an estimated $39 million, according to leading independent media measurement firm Burrelles/Luce. Additionally, NAMM’s public service announcements communicating the value of music making, through the Wanna Play? and Americans for the Arts campaigns, have generated nearly $10 million in donated TV, radio, print and online media value. These powerful messages are aimed at converting those with a desire to play into active players—and customers!
Promoting the industry, promoting music making. This is one of the most important functions of your trade association and a key part of our mission. Please check out NAMM’s www.wannaplaymusic.com to find out how you and your business can increase sales and tap into the Wanna Play? national campaign.
News ADVERTORIAL • NOVEMBER 2009
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 November 2009
Notefrom Joe
Music making has been scientifically proven to...
visit us online at www.namm.org
Member QuoteQuoteemb
“We’re a family-oriented retailer and we use allof the Wanna Play? materials in our store.We have the posters in our window and keep the brochures and buttons at the
point of purchase. They’re great conversationstarters and help to encourage people on the fringe to start making music
just for the fun of it!”
MO PALMATEERMO’S FULLERTON MUSIC CENTER
FULLERTON, CALIF. Who wouldn’t want to play a musical instrument! These facts and many more are available at www.wannaplaymusic.com.
Use this information to grow your customer base and create more music makers.
$39 millionin promotional
ad value generatedthis year!
Advo MMR Nov09 indd 2 10/6/09 3:42:41 PM
MMR_16 16 10/22/09 9:40:01 AM
BUILD YOUR BRAND CONNECT WITH YOUR BUYERS
INVEST IN YOUR COMPANY’S SUCCESS BE A PART OF THE MUSIC PRODUCTS INDUSTRY’S MOST IMPORTANT EVENT
GET READY TO GO GLOBAL START A BUZZ ABOUT YOUR PRODUCTS MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
After that, they’re $25 each!www.namm.org/thenammshow
MMR_17 17 10/22/09 9:40:44 AM
18 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
CYMBALS
Additionally, the quaint village of just over 150 hearty Ca-
nucks is home to the world headquarters and production facilities of
Sabian. The manufacturer prides itself on pioneering
cutting-edge design and manu-facturing techniques, while retaining
the traditions born of a rich history and legacy.
Resulting from Robert Zildjian’s split from the Avedis Zildjian Co. in 1980 and named after his three children (Sally, Billy, and Andy), Sabian has since become one of the leaders in cymbal design and production, worldwide. “Because Sound Matters,” is the company’s mantra and, judging from the endless list of high pro-fi le endorsing artists, it’s clear Sabian’s philosophy has resulted in product that strikes a chord (or, I suppose, a “ping”?) with like-minded players.
Oh, Canada…“We started the Azco factory up here,
making Zilco cymbals, because I felt the pricing was getting so bad that a young-
Sabian –Tradition & Innovation
Andy, Willi, and Bob Zildjian of Sabian.
Atrip to remote Meductic, in New Brunswick,
Canada affords an opportunity to visit local
landmarks (The world’s longest covered bridge.
It’s actually in neighboring Somerville, but still)
and get close to nature – sighted on MMR’s recent jaunt: two
large deer (alive), one huge moose (quite dead, in the back of a
truck), and lots of scenic… um… scenery.
MMR_18 18 10/26/09 10:48:23 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 19
ster couldn’t get started on drums with quality cymbals,” says founder and CEO Bob Zildjian of the genesis of the Meduc-tic facility. “We also started boxing cym-bals together up here, so that a youngster could get a full set at a manageable price.” Additionally, the Great White North af-forded some tangible monetary benefi ts when it came to importing product out-side of North America. “Canada is part of the British Commonwealth, so being up here, we’re clear of any export tariffs to the UK, Ireland, Australia, and so on,” explains Bob.
“We started production up in Cana-da in ’68, and began making K. Zildjian cymbals in ’69.
“We took Kerope Zildjian and his two sons up here from Turkey and taught ev-eryone how to hand-hammer cymbals. All those K.s made in Canada during that time period are becoming collectors’ items these days.”
Looking to the Future, Drawing Upon the Past
While few companies can lay claim to a legacy as rich as Sabian’s, the company has also made its mark through an eagerness
to innovate and shape the future of cym-bals, from concept to production. Such forward thinking is evident in the radical O-Zone Crash cymbals, Xplosion Crashes, X-Celerator hi-hats, and many others.
“AAX and HHX cymbals best exemplify modern sound,” explains Bob’s son, and Sa-bian president, Andy Zildjian. “It’s a propri-etary technique that’s done to the cymbal, but at the same time they still start off with the same traditional hammering, heat pro-cessing, and all that. At the very end they get a different treatment which helps the sound travel through the cymbal, so that you get more clarity and more dynamics – what we like to call ‘focused dynamics.’ With the HHX it tends to give not only that, but also much better amplifi cation.”
A focus on innovation and product development has been a key component of the Sabian philosophy since day one.
“The willingness to spend the nec-essary time to properly create cymbals – including those ‘diffi cult ones,’ such as splash cymbals, thin crash cymbals, Chi-nese, pangs, and gongs – is what got us into this experimental mode. That’s what this company represents. We developed that into what makes us unique vis-à-vis
our competition: we are experimental and progressive, et cetera.”
Give the People What They Want“At the same time, it wasn’t just they
cymbals that we were changing,” notes Andy. “It was also the way that the company deals with consumers and with our retailers. Just for an example, up until the point that we started doing clinics, it was the kind of thing where you had to jump through hoops to make it happen. When we started doing clinics, it was simply a matter of, ‘I bought this amount of cymbals, I’d like this artist on one of these four dates’ and we’d make it happen – it’s paid for, it’s done.”
“That started back in ’83 or ’84,” re-calls Bob. “We fi gured that, at that time, we couldn’t afford the heavy marketing expenses that some of our competitors was using and so forth, so we fi gured we’d go at it in a grassroots way. What could be more grassroots than some kid in Kankakee, Illinois getting to see his big hero at the local store? It had a hell of an effect.”
Also having an effect was Sabian cymbals’ relative value. “Our pricing is based on production cost values and
Loading the trucks for the 2009 Vault Tour.
“Too much value is assigned to brand names, regardless of quality. That’s just not the case with Sabian.”
MMR_19 19 10/26/09 10:48:28 AM
20 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
I think that’s very important because that means that we give greater value for price,” says Wayne Blanchard, senior marketing manager. “Too much value is assigned to brand names, regardless
of quality. That’s just not the case with Sabian.”
Active outreach to retailers and end-users continues with a streamlined, highly interactive Web site, www.sa-
bian.com (“One of the three most vis-ited sites for drums in the world,” says Andy), and such initiatives as The Vault Tour, which in the fall of 2009 offered consumers in select cities throughout the U.S. and Canada the opportunity to personally witness hand-hammering and lathing, as well as have one-of-a-kind cymbals made on-site. The Vault Tour became even more interactive this year, as the company leveraged so-cial media platforms to reach a global audience. “We gave drummers at each event the opportunity to upload pho-tos, videos and blog accounts to allow musicians throughout the world to ex-perience the unique events ‘firsthand,’” notes Sabian’s VP of marketing, Stacey Montgomery-Clark.
Fostering and maintaining close rela-tionships with retailers remains a key com-ponent of Sabian’s overall agenda, as well. As Nort Hargrove, vice president of manu-facturing, states: “When a dealer calls here, he or she will talk to an actual person, right away. If you call looking for me and I’m at my desk, we’ll be having a phone conversa-tion. That’s just how we do things.”
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24 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
SPOTL IGHT
Electronic DrumsTap Into an
ExpandingMarketplace
Technology Meets Demand for More Sales Opportunities
MMR_24 24 10/23/09 10:36:23 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 25
After an up-and-down market segment fl ux since electronic drums fi rst exploded onto the scene in 1982, could these “per-cussion products with plugs” be on the rise, and for good? There’s a case to be made that technological advancements coupled with a younger generation that is more open to them is indeed adding up to sales growth.
Jim Norman at Alesis points to the analogy of digital pianos, which while they became more prevalent in the 1980s, “everyone still thought they sounded bad and weren’t real,” he says. “Today they are more accepted and you see and hear great sounding digital pianos on stage.”
But drums require a little more at-tention then that digital piano. Roland’s Steve Fisher points out that the goal is for everyone, especially potential hobbyists, have a good experience every time they sit behind any electronic drum kit. “If they have a bad experience, maybe they pick up an electric guitar… or maybe they go buy something like a radio con-trolled airplane instead, taking them out of the music-making pool completely.”
Never before have there been so many choices for that fi rst experience, either.
New Sounds, New Looks, New Possibilities
“We just introduced a new high end drum kit, the TD-20SX,” says Fisher, who is Roland’s drum/percussion mar-ket development manager. “Our focus has been enhancing the aesthetic aspect of our electronic drums for a much bet-ter stage presence. This new kit is more heavy duty, with silver painted cymbals, and a larger kick drum. But we never do anything just for looks. There’s always a functional aspect.” The new 14” kick drum, for example, offers a more solid feel and better sound.
Just launched, the new kit features a chrome rack mount that allows the cables to
run inside them, addressing concerns over all those “messy cables,” which have long been a turnoff for many drummers. But this particular kit comes with a $6,999 MSRP price tag. “This is for the professional who really needs the instrument or the hobbyist who has a lot of money,” he says, adding that the worship market will also be drawn to it.
“We’ve been answering customer de-mands, and most recently this includes creating a shell wrap that the average drummer can switch out,” Fisher con-tinues. “It’s a free-fl oating shell design that allows you to take out the head and counter hoop to put in a new shell.” This is going to be popular because many drummers want to customize their kit. Another benefi t is if there are pieces be-ing used in a hybrid kit, they can rewrap to make it match their acoustic kit.
Also new is a lower-priced V Drum kit that has all mesh heads. “We’re pushing the mesh head advantage,” he says. The new TD-4SX has a MSRP of $1,599, and “it’s affordable, and is a great sounding and feeling product.”
“While the acoustic drum market is struggling, the electronic
drum market is growing,” declares Yamaha’s Bob Terry. Others
agree: Traps Drums, who are relatively new on the scene, report
that in 2008 electronic percussion amounted to 20 percent of their sales and,
this year, despite the economy, that number has risen to 24 percent.
“Generally, electronic drums offer a wide variety of applications – live playing, worship services, sequences, project studios, and it’s all growing,”
Bob Terry, Yamaha
MMR_25 25 10/23/09 10:36:34 AM
Among the many new developments at Yamaha is Bob Terry, who now helms the new electronic drum marketing de-partment. A longstanding professional drummer with many recording and performing credits (he drummed for Wang Chung in the mid 1980s), Terry previously worked at Notion Music, Inc. and with Line 6. While only in the posi-tion for six months, Terry is ushering in some new product (which he reluctantly couldn’t talk in detail about at press time because it was to be unveiled at the PA-SIC show).
“Yamaha decided a while back to devote more resourc-es and time to the electronic drum line, and has ramped up the staff both in Japan and here,” he explains. “They wanted to split the electronic division off and give it more focus.” This will involve some rebranding, as in their products will be called DTX Drum by Yamaha. Along these lines, Yamaha’s new series of drums will go with
“model numbers like Mer-cedes” doing away with the old “xtreme/xpress/xplorer” names.
Alesis released its DM10 Pro Kit at the Summer NAMM show, and is having great success with it already, reports product manager Jim Norman. Designed around a new module that features more modern sounds, more polyphony, a new sound set, and a variable control high
hat, it’s positioned as the “more for less money” kit. “The new module has built-in sequences that allow you to play along and make your sounds. And what’s really unique is you can update the sound set.” It has a USB jack that allows players to go to third party companies and download the sound sets they want. These are pur-chased separately and tend to be in the $20 price range.
As for the sounds that come with this module, “we focus mostly on clas-sic drum sounds – like the Ludwig Black Beauty, or some more boutique vintage sounding drums,” Norman says. “We re-ally try to get realistic drums and acous-tic percussion sounds, but also add some hip hop type sounds.”
Also new is the feel: “The cymbals used with the kit are real cymbals, but dampened underneath. Combined with heads made of Mylar, it really has play-ability.” The kit MAPS at $1,499.
Traps is the newest kid on the electron-ic drum block. Joe Cappello, president of Cappello Music, contacted Traps’ found-ers Nigel Robinson and Bob Henrit in 2005. Based in England, they had created a portable, shell-less drum kit. “It sounds awesome,” he says. “Gigging drummers love it for the small footprint and porta-bility factor, and moms and dads love how
26 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Explorer Drums: A Retailer’s Perspective“Electronic drums were so big in the early 1980s, and peaked about 1986,” says Wes Faulconer, owner of Kansas City’s Explorer Percussion. “The peo-ple at Simmons were taking orders by the swimming pool, and then going to the airport and getting them shipped in. Then about 1985 Ro-land came out with some, then Pearl … everyone was trying to jump on the bandwagon.” But general-ly, drummers who wanted gigs needed to get a Sim-mons set.
It’s almost laughable in hindsight as he recalls at the time the people at Simmons and many others thought that their drums were going to replace acoustic kits entirely. But then almost as fast as they had exploded in the market, they died down. There were several factors involved in this decline, including the high cost and maintenance necessary on those drums, plus the unavailability of replacement parts played a role. A change in music styles didn’t help as well.
For Faulconer, who stocks Yamaha and Roland kits, the ones in the $950 to $1,500 price point do the best. While at one point they had a dedicated sales person handling it, now the entire staff tries to stay up on the technology and
is able to help educate customers on them.
For him it’s the younger play-ers drawn to the set. “I would say high school to early 20s are the pri-
mary customers,” he says. “Sometimes it’s a family thing. And churches.” He personally hasn’t seen any up tick in sales, but they have been steady sellers. “Maybe for some other retailers sales might be bigger, especially the big box stores which have their own brands.”
But as a drummer him-self, he notices the improve-ments. “There’s no doubt that the newer electronic drum products are getting better,” he says. In fact, sometimes a new lower-end set actually sounds better and has more features then its slightly older higher-end cousin. Yet the subtle nu-ances of a real drum set will possibly be something that is never achieved. In his house he has both an electronic and an acoustic set, and he’ll go back and forth between them. “When
you play an electronic kit, everything is perfect and really clean. Then you go back to an acoustic kit and you get the squeaks, the rattles, the nuances … you can’t recreate that with an electronic in-strument.”
Joe Cappello, Traps
“There’s no doubt that the newer electronic
drumproducts
are getting better.”
MMR_26 26 10/23/09 10:36:41 AM
28 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
you can fold the kit up and put it under the bed after practicing.”
But right after Cappello secured the North American distribution rights, Rob-inson and Henrit developed an electronic
mesh head kit, that while popular in Eu-rope, couldn’t be brought over here because of patents held by other companies. “So what we did was develop a new concept to for our electronic kits, the power pad,” he says. “These pads are placed on top of the Traps acoustic heads. What’s great about this is it opens up the market to the many who have already bought Traps.”
Up next for Traps is a patent-pending power pad designed in different sizes to fi t non-Traps drums. “You’ll be able to convert that Lud-wig, Rodgers, DW – most any of them into your own set of electronic drums,” Cappello says. “It’s exciting. They’ll be whole packages that come with the pads, a set of cymbals, and a mod-ule.” The module is being manufactured for them
overseas, and the cost for the pads will be about $499. The cost for a Traps drum kit with these is around $999.
Pintech is a smaller player determined to get larger. Lorrie Landry, manager, says
the company was founded in 1994 and pur-chased by Dan and Linda Gilbert in 2002. They create electric drums and triggers, and accessories. “We focus on making our drums as compatible with as much acous-tic hardware as possible, so it makes it easy for drummers to incorporate electronic el-ements into their kit,” she says. “Our focus is giving the drummer as many options as possible as well as providing good quality American-made products.”
Most recently they’ve created a new electronic high hat cymbal controller, the VisuLite. “It’s the fi rst and only elec-tronic high hat cymbal that can utilize a drop clutch and an integrated controller between the cymbals.” The cymbals also come in a wide variety of colors.
Also turning heads is the PinTech E-Road Pro drum kit, which includes VisuLite cymbals. It has a MAP price of $4,000. A double bass custom metal kit made with Tama Shells featuring their triggers and mesh heads plus nine Vi-suLite Cymbals and hi-hat comes in at $9,000. They offer some lower-end entry-level products as well.
“We consider our customer service the best, and people respond to that,” she
Lorrie Landry, Pintech
MMR_28 28 10/23/09 10:36:46 AM
says, adding that they make available inexpensive repair kits and a warranty program that allows those who want to upgrade their PinTech gear can do so easily and at a signifi cant discount. “Like the new high hat system – a drummer can send us their old high hat system, and we can convert it for only $50, saving them considerable money on a brand new one.”
Who’s Buying, and WhyThe lower end products are becoming
increasingly popular for the lack of noise they create. Using headphones they can be played in any room including apartments, at any time of the day, with only the mild pitter-patter from the pads being heard.
Electronic drum sales are also tied to the growth of home studios, both pro and hobbyist. Speaking from his day as a pro, Terry points out that $100,000 could be spent getting acoustic drums to sound just right by the time you tune the room, deal with preamps and mics, etc. “But with the DTX, you can load in perfectly acoustic
sounds into your kit and run it directly into the board. You don’t need the peripherals.” Making this more attractive is that Yamaha continues to partner with other companies who are creating a variety of drum samples that allows for more fl exibility. Plus, “home and portable studios are also using them as controllers.”
Yamaha’s low end products are primarily appealing to up and coming drummers and
students. “Johnny is wanting to be a drum-mer and taking his parents to the local music store, and once there, his parents are saying, ‘Fine, but we live in an apartment – maybe we should look at an electronic kit.’”
Another buyer? Guitar players, says Norman. “A lot of those guys are buy-ing Alesis DM5s for their own demos or simply to fi nd grooves to jam with. Obviously they aren’t going to buy a full acoustic kit, and they can’t justify spend-ing $2,000 on an electronic kit, but can spend $1,000 on one.”
Otherwise, he fi nds the demograph-ics for these products are “all over the
30 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Steve Fisher, Roland
“A lot of churches are fi nding it
cheaper to have an electronic
drum set than installing
a $50,000 sound system
to quiet the drummer down.
When I fi rst started we’d do
maybe one church a month, now I do a couple
a week.”
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map.” Customers in their 40s and 50s are wanting to play again, but don’t have room for an acoustic set or can’t deal with the noise head-aches they can cause. “Also kids want these. Our lower priced Ion brand is selling inexpensive kits to get them started. Even our Rock Bandcontroller is doing well, and that has spurred interest into kids getting an actual kit.”
The people at PinTech also see “across the board” interest in these products, including houses of worship. “A lot of churches are fi nding it cheaper to have an electronic drum set than install-ing a $50,000 sound system to quiet the drummer down. When I fi rst started we’d do maybe one church a month, now I do a couple a week.”
“And older guys want to convert their acoustic kits to electronic to protect their hearing!” she laughs.
But Cappello’s experience is different, and he says that the vast majority of those buying Traps drums with the electronic
pads are younger players. “And these players are edu-cated, meaning they’ve been on all the Web sites, read all the reviews, and know more about your product than you do!” Otherwise, “some older drummers wouldn’t be caught dead” with an elec-tronic kit. Some see the value of say, a single power pad that they can use to make special sounds like a gong or cow-bell, but universally it’s the
younger drummers that’s going for these products. “And thank goodness, because we need younger drummers playing and buying these products.”
With the “what” and “why” fi gured out … how about the “where?”
Yamaha’s market research shows that once these kits are bought, they largely aren’t moved around. They are stationed in a home, studio, or church. “They generally aren’t being played live and that’s true for all of them in all price points,” Terry says.
But it’s vastly different for those using electronic components. For drummers
creating hybrid kits, “we get calls every day from pro drummers using them in hybrid situations,” he says. “That’s very popular because they are able to expand their percussion sound and voices and come up with new sounds. DTX recogniz-es this and will be introducing products that fi ll that bill.”
Norman, who is based in L.A., reports he’s seeing more electronic kits being played live. “One guy in an orchestra pit has one because it’s easier to haul and he doesn’t have to worry about it being too loud,” he says. “Plus he can adjust the kit sound to fi t what he’s playing to.”
Terry thinks in the future more of these drums will be played live. “If you’re in a wedding or lounge band playing lots of different styles of music, at the touch of a button you can dial up the exact per-fect-sounding kit.”
On the Retail Level: What Works
“Where we see the most success is when retailers display the electronic drums in a way people can test them out,” Terry says. “It’s hard to sell them when they aren’t out on the fl oor. That said, it’s perplexing that we have great sales with our online dealers. That could be a geographical issue.”
“Having it all set up correctly and working on the retail fl oor is absolutely critical,” says Fisher. But it doesn’t just stop there: he points out that an electronic kit on a fl oor is probably the most played instrument in the store, but the fact that players listen to it through headphones means personnel can’t assume that it’s always ready to play. If somebody sits on it and hits some buttons, goes into an ed-iting function or starts a sequencing pro-
Jim Norman, Alesis
Personal Perspectives on Electronic DrumsYamaha’s Bob Terry provides his per-spective as a professional drummer on the history of the electronic drum: “When they initially came out, they didn’t sound good,” he says. “They sounded very synthesized.” That they were often used in conjunction with drum machines resulted in being a big turn-off for traditional drummers. “So it was a trend, then it died out and people went back to their acoustic drums.”
In the past few decades, acoustic drummers have been more open to it as technology improved. “A lot of acoustic drummers are using hybrid kits,” he says. This can be just a trig-ger on one of their acoustic drums, or adding a pad with a module.
For Roland’s Steve Fisher, true electronic drums have actually not been around that long. Yes, the early 1980s saw the explosion of Simmons, but “that was just pads and a module. People think electronic drums have been around a long time, but really it’s only been since about 2000 that an
electronic drum with acoustic/weight-ed action has existed.” (Simmons was contacted for this story, but citing a company policy that prohibit them from talking to any music instrument trade magazines, declined.)
Fisher adds that electronic drums are becoming to drummers what the electric guitar was to guitarists in the 1960s. When he does public demon-strations, he always asks how many in the audience started on electronic drums, and more and more people are raising their hands. “And how many people buy an electric guitar as their fi rst guitar?” he asks. “Plenty!”
“I think whether or not to play elec-tronic drums is a personal choice,” Joe Cappello of Traps says. “There’s a place for it in today’s music, and I see music has evolved toward it. You look at music from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s compared to today – today’s has a more electronic feel in general. It’s going to be with us for a long time. It’s the future.”
32 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
MMR_32 32 10/23/09 10:36:59 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 33
gram, then walks away, the next person sitting down will have a bad experience. So the retailer needs a diligent champion who can maintain it. “Those that do this, do exceedingly well,” he says. “Per square foot, electronic drums can be the most revenue-generating part of your store.”
After-the-sale service is important – and can lead to more sales, as drum-mers are educated in the art of pro au-dio, says Fisher. For example, if a house of worship gets an electronic kit, retailers should make sure they have it set up right and have the proper sound system. “Some drummers have trouble playing it if they don’t have a good sound system,” he says. “You need a full range of speakers, includ-ing a 15-inch or an 18-inch – and actually,
I prefer a subwoofer. If it’s less than that, you’re not moving air and thus not really feeling it.”
Cappello too refers to basic retailing tips on how to succeed with these prod-ucts: “Whether it’s any drum, a violin, or anything else, the retailer who is suc-cessful is the one that is educated about the product. They have to have enough product knowledge to feel comfortable enough that they are comfortable selling to the customer.”
Landry agrees: “The more they know the product, the better the sales, plain and simple. Clients buy more from those who know what they are talking about.”
Following the trends and knowing the possibilities is important, as well.
“Johnny is wanting to be
a drummer and taking his parents to the local music
store, and once there, his parents are saying, ‘Fine, but we live in an
apartment – maybe we should
look at an electronic kit.’”
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34 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
“Generally, electronic drums offer a wide variety of applications – live playing, worship services, sequences, project studios, and it’s all growing,” says Fisher. “From our stand-point, there’s a lot more awareness about these products then ever before. I think elec-tronic percussion has a huge potential, and it’s just getting going. It’s one of the fastest growing segments in our business.”
“What drummers are looking for more than anything else is versatility,” says Landry. “They want to come up with their own sound. They want to custom-ize.” She adds that many want to add electronic aspects to their acoustic sets. “They want hybrids.”
Fisher feels their latest foray into the high-end market will lead to more live playing of electronic drums. Making this a reality is a goal of their new line of drums, which have a better stage presence.
Prior to working for Alesis, Norman had worked at Roland and was there when the TD7 came out in 1993. “It was great because it was the fi rst time some-one had put together an entire kit,” he says. “But Alesis has always been about getting more bang for the buck. We know people don’t have $5,000 for an electron-ic drum kit. We’re able to take existing product and build kits around them, and we’ve had good luck with that.”
Terry points out that so much of the new music coming out is at least tainted with electronics. Those playing clubs who want to replicate that will need to at least have hybrid kits.
Challenges & CompromisesDespite the progress, all readily ad-
mit challenges remain – some which may never be as elusive as the Holy Grail. First and foremost is the feel of electronic drums. Terry points out that Roland’s V Drum with mesh pad head is an attempt to answer the call, but “it still falls short of feeling like an actual drum.” The new DTX technology will get closer to it, he says, “bridging that gap.”
Cappello says of Traps’ pad system it has a good bounce but admits “it’s all up to the feel the drummer [experiences]. Some like pads, some like mesh … some like neither!” he laughs.
Alesis’ new DM10 has cymbals that are … well, real cymbals. This is to address the fact that some drummers don’t like hitting rubber. But if they are real, isn’t there a noise factor, even if it’s dampened with a rubber undercoating? “It’s a little louder then a rubber pad but not as loud as a regular cymbal,” he says.
“Cymbals have always been the tougher challenge in electronic drum production,” Terry admits. “We have come far with cymbal sounds in general as far as being able to sample and repro-duce them.” Explaining this leads to a lot of computer and technological jargo and Terry stops himself, laughs, and says: “Drummers – speaking for myself – we don’t care! We just want it to sound like a real cymbals!”
“These days, almost everyone who plays acoustic drums plays a little elec-tronic,” says Norman. “And the complaint is always the feel, the expressiveness isn’t quite there and I totally understand that. It’s up to us as manufacturers to push the envelope.”
But it’s clear that electronic drums aren’t going away, are going to become more ubiquitous, and the quality and technology will entice more players.
“The early resistance to electronic drums is mostly gone,” Norman says. “The industry has a whole has made more sturdy products which is what the mar-ket has come back and said they wanted. Musicians in turn are fi guring it out.”
Bottom line: “Gotta feel good, gotta be real,” Terry says. “That’s the goal.”
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ROUNDTABLE
36 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
SticksClick: that
Artist Signature Series Products Remain Strong Sellers
It’s been over 30 years since the fi rst artist signature
drumsticks came out and, by the proliferation of new
ones that continue to this day, they must be successful.
Drum retailers continue to make room for more of them
because they sell. Manufacturers continue to partner with
drum artists, from the stars to the niche and nearly obscure,
because players – and let’s face it, fans – love to have them.
But they are no novelty items. In our roundtable discussion, all interviewed for this article work closely with the artist to cre-
ate something unique that will help players come closer to captur-ing their favorite player’s drum sound. Manufacturers are un-derstandably proud of the joint efforts made; yet all admit for long-term popularity and sales, not every stick is a sure-fi re hit.
But it’s a vital part of the percussion accessory business that’s successful to all who indulge their customers’ thirst for the latest newly minted pair.
Here’s what’s new, what works, and the best sellers.
MMR_36 36 10/23/09 10:37:44 AM
NEW STICK BAGS
ON-LINE VIDEO RESOURCES
WEB FEATURES
New Educational Feature launched—Band Director’s Percussion Survival Guide. FREE on-line video resource center for your answers to common percussion questions and which products to use. Learn from the experts at: www.vicrth.com/education/bdpsg
New VF products are selling VERY well. Need additional merchandising displays to increase your VF product selection? What VALUE PACKS are currently available? Visit: www.vicrth.com/pop.html
Check out the recent photos/video of Vic Firth artists at Drummer Live ‘09 in London, the Meinl Drum Festival in Russia and the New England Metal Festival in Boston. Now that is some global coverage! www.vicrth.com/features/drummerlive09.htmlwww.vicrth.com/features/meinldrumfest.htmlwww.vicrth.com/features/NEMHF09.html
Many make claims, Vic Firth makes sticks. See how the best sticks are made during your factory tour. Get a factory tour DVD for your store’s customers! www.vicrth.com/features/factorytour.html
PROMOTIONAL SUPPORT
New educational poster introduced for your teachers and customers: Groove Essentials 2, 52 new grooves with Tommy Igoe at: www.vicrth.com/education/drumset/GrooveEssentials2.html
Have a question on a specic stick size? Which mallet should you recommend for the Marimba? Environmentally friendly, instant catalog access 24/7 at: www.vicrth.com/catalog2009/index.html
DCI 2009
Vic Firth products continue to be the top choice for the serious Drum Corps. See all the DCI 2009 coverage at: www.vicrth.com/features/DCI2009.html
NEW PRODUCTS
What do Aaron Spears, Marky Ramone and Christoph Schneider have in common? Each has a new signature stick from VF: www.vicrth.com/products/newproducts.html
Special limited time offers—Holiday gift packs and new stick bags can be seen at: www.vicrth.com/promo.html
Vic Firth’s Sales Support Helps You Earn More Money
VIC FIRTH DEALER NEWS
Vic Firth, Inc. remains committed to providing multiple layers of support designed to increase your sales at the margins you require. We know how important stock replacement is to satisfy all customer demand—all orders are shipped within 24 hours of receipt to distribution partners with a 99% line item ll. We invest in VF marketing programs, educational programs and web activities to increase customer pull through for the #1 selling brand in the world. Read on to see which activities customers and artists are viewing today.
3rd Edition
MMR_37 37 10/22/09 9:43:15 AM
38 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Pro-MarkPat Brown
What’s new: The TX515W Joey Jordi-son model is the newest of the Au-tograph models. In
addition, we have just signed another high profi le, well known, and respected drummer. We’ll be introducing his new autograph model, and a couple of others, at Winter NAMM. (I don’t want to dis-close his identity yet!)
What works: Autograph models in the “modern rock” genre outsell any other genre by far. The “most popular at the moment” drummer can sometimes translate into increased sales, though that’s not always the case.
Who’s buying: If we’re talking about the demographic most infl uenced by what their latest drum hero uses, I think most stick companies would tell you it’s mostly male, from age 15 or so to mid 20s.
Working with the artist: For the most part, we work very closely with the artist
in developing the stick to his or her speci-fi cations. Sometimes the artist will come to our factory, other times it’s done long distance. Gotta love FedEx!
Best sellers: The PW747W Neil Peart mod-el wins that contest. We also do exceptionally well with the TX420N Mike Portnoy model and the TX5ABW Carter Beau-ford model. The TX515W Joey Jordison model, one of our newest Autograph
Series stick, was the most successful product launch in Pro-Mark’s history
and reorders remain very strong. I’ve no doubt it will make our Top 10 list of best sellers when we tally it up at the end of the year. Other strong sellers are the SD330W Todd Sucher-man model, the TX5BGW Benny Greb model, the SD531W Jason Bonham model, the TX2BXN Dave Lombardo model, and the TX916W Abe Cunning-ham (Deftones) model.
VaterChad Brandolini
What’s new: In 2009, we introduced the Derek Roddy, Mike Wengren, and Brian Frasier-Moore models. These were the top three requested artists for Player’s Design models in our “new model sur-vey” at vater.com.
We also branched out a bit into more jazzy models with three of our iconic jazz artists: Jimmy Cobb, Chico Hamilton, and Charli Persip. These models have been very well received.
Vater was the last drumstick company to offer artist models as a part of their line. We’re very careful with the models that we introduce because we want to of-fer something unique. We don’t offer any artist a Player’s Design model as a way to bring an artist on board.
What works: For Vater, the more rock style models sell best. Guys like Chad Smith, Josh Freese, Mike Wengren, and Stewart Copeland are huge drumming names and, in turn, their models sell
well. Popularity of the artist defi nitely adds to the marketability of the model.
Who’s buying: We’ve found that it really varies from kids to professional players. It depends on the model size and what art-ist it is. Kids are generally into the bigger, more “aggressive” models.
Working with the artist: We work very closely with each artist when designing a Vater Player’s Design model. The art-ist usually has a clear idea as far as what kind of feel and sound they are looking for in the model. They’ll give me rough dimensions and their ideas, and I’ll work closely with our production manager to come up with two or three different pro-totype versions. Most of the time, we nail it in those fi rst few samples.
When considering a new artist mod-el, both the artist we’re working with and
Vater really want something that is a bit different from any other stick in our line and not just a very slightly modifi ed ver-sion of an existing model. It has to be a good playing stick that has some market-ability.
Best sellers: Historically, Vater’s top selling artist models have been Chad Smith, Stewart Copeland, and Virgil Donati – all huge names in drumming. The new Mike Wengren model has been the best-selling artist model in 2009. Mike is the drummer from Disturbed, one of the best selling metal bands out there today, and his model has been sell-ing like crazy. Again, he came up with a unique model and is also the only Vater Players Design model that is fi nished in a color.
MMR_38 38 10/23/09 10:37:49 AM
TX5BGW Benny Greb Autograph stick
PW747W Neil Peart Autograph stick
TX420N Mike Portnoy Autograph stick
TX515W Joey Jordison Autograph stick
TX916W Abe Cunningham Autograph stick
TX5ABW Carter Beauford Autograph stick
The Original Hot Rods
SMXX – Smax
SD531W Jason Bonham Autograph stick
SD330W Todd Sucherman Autograph stick
DK1-6 wearable drum keys
DSB4 stick bag*
SD200 stick depot
TX5BGW Benny Greb Autograph stickTX5BGW B G b A t h ti k
PW747W Neil Peart Autograph stick
TX420N Mike Portnoy Autograph stick
TX515W Joey Jordison Autograph stick
TX916W Abe Cunningham Autograph stick
TX5ABW Carter Beauford Autograph stick
The Original Hot Rods
SD531W Jason Bonham Autograph stick
SD330W Todd Sucherman Autograph stick
DK1-6earable drum
DSB4 stick bag
* St* Sticksicks, ma, malletllets ans and CDd CD not not inc includeluded d © Pr© o-Maark CCorpoorporatirationon
SD200 stick depot
Check out the new and improved promark.com
we
DSB4 stick bag*
PMZ snare practice pad
PB10 pad bag
R22 rattler
X-Mutes
SMXX – Smax
keys
X-Mutes
MMR_39 39 10/22/09 9:43:24 AM
40 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Vic FirthMarco Soccoli
What’s new: Marky Ramone (Ramones), Aaron Spears (Usher/American Idol Tour), and Christoph Sch-
neider (Rammstein). Others coming soon include Cindy Blackman (Lenny Kravitz) and Ahmir Thompson (The Roots).
What works: We have all styles – jazz, heavy metal, gospel – and a good selec-tion of sticks for each. Jazz sticks tend to be thinner, which heavy metal or punk players won’t use. Pantera, Tool — those drummers need thicker sticks because they hit harder.
Working with the artist: Today we have about 300 models of different sticks and about 40 signature models. Working from about fi ve basic models, all these are mutations off these. The artist will take a 5A and want it an inch longer, ta-pered a certain way, a different kind of tip [et cetera]. We listen to that artist. If we call it a signature stick, it is specifi c to that artist’s needs. It’s not just a regular model with a signature printed on it.
My analogy [of the end result] is Big Mac versus Caviar. Some want a stick that designed specifi cally for them and while it’s perfect for their hands, the av-erage drummer may think it’s a weird stick. “Caviar” is great but not always for the public. Drummers who are hot at the moment and can create excitement will mean initially his or her sticks will sell once, but that doesn’t mean they will keep selling. For that to happen, the stick has to have a “Big Mac” element.
Photo
graph
by G
.J. R
oone
y.
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For a full list of our products and for details about becoming a SwirlyGig retailer, visit us online at www.swirlygig.com
612 721 5012or email [email protected]
Find Breaking News in the Hot News section of
MMR’s Web site, www.mmrmagazine.com
MMR_40 40 10/23/09 10:38:00 AM
Hornets Drumsticks Combines Art with ErgonomicsIn times like these, is there really a market for high-end drumsticks that cost nearly twice as much as traditional ones? Aaron Wilhelm believes so – at least for one that combines art with ergonomics.
With his father, Robert, they started Hornets Drumsticks in 2006 with no drumstick or music industry experience (both do play a little drums). The elder Wilhelm has a background designing prod-ucts for other industries, including the home décor business. Work-ing with Kingfi eld Wood Products, they produced a unique stick that has already met with a positive re-sponse, Wilhelm says.
“The fi rst three years have been a lot of fun,” says a buoyant Wil-helm. “When we took our sticks to the NAMM show to gauge interest, the response was huge.” Today the company is still relatively small with a lack of capitol for advertis-ing, and so is reliant on word of mouth and drumming fans who sing its praises in the blogosphere. “The company is growing organi-cally.”
The father/son team brings a de-signer’s eye to percussion product. Wilhelm says they thought there was a market for a more quality, higher end stick that looks differ-
ent. “You look at guitars, and they all look totally different. There’s a wide range of looks and they have a visual sense.” That’s what they wanted in a stick.
Hornets are spotted from afar by their contoured painted han-dles, yellow ends (like the bee-like creature), the tapered butt end, and their three rubber O-rings. The rings aren’t just for looks – they reduce vibration and shock, which decrease the risk of long-term injuries. That end can also be used on a cymbal for a mallet effect.
The sticks are made in the U.S. from fi rst quality hickory wood. Currently they come in four models, plus they offer “Swarm Sticks,” their version of the multi-rods sticks. Each model is avail-able in six different colors, and has an MSRP of $24.95.
“We were nervous at fi rst about the price, but given the additional benefi ts it brings and the way it looks, people are happy to pay it.” Impressively they are sold at over 400 stores.
“Everybody likes them,” he says. “We get emails from older jazz musicians who love the feel, and death metal bangers who love how well they hold up.”
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 41
MMR_41 41 10/23/09 10:38:16 AM
42 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Quick example: Tool’s drummer Dan-ny Carey wanted to do a stick with us that had a bubble in a certain spot. But he’s 6’5” and has huge hands. For the average drummer, the bubble would be in a weird spot. He would have sold one pair per fan, and that’s it. We went back and forth and came up with creating a “scoop” that would work for him and others. He loves it, and it sells great.
Best sellers: The very fi rst signature in history was with Steve Gadd, 30 years ago, and his sells very well. Our Dave Weckl sells well too. These are both big drummers who create excitement.
ZildjianRon Allman
What’s new: Artist Series sticks have al-ways been a big focus of Zildjian’s drum-stick product line. Because of our cymbal business, Zildjian likely has the best artist roster in the industry. This has afforded Zildjian’s drumstick business great ac-cess to some of the best drummers and educators in percussion. Because of all these factors, we’ve had some of the most accomplished, popular, and legendary drummers and teachers helping us de-sign our Artist Series drumsticks.
New to the Zildjian portfolio include models by John Blackwell (Prince), Ronnie Vannucci (The Killers), Brooks Wackerman (Bad Religion), and Ronald Bruner Jr. (George Duke and others). Blink 182’s Travis Barker has recently done a second model with us.
What works: They all work, but in dif-ferent ways. Like all artists, we drummers go through a phase of exploration to fi nd our own sound. During this phase, our favorite drummers infl uence us, and we explore their sound and technique. One of the best ways to get our head around their sound is to try the sticks and cymbals that they use.
We drummers are also always learn-ing, practicing, and trying new music and new sounds. With sticks we also have to explore what’s right for us in the areas of feel, weight, length, and balance.
Who’s buying: All types. Sure, there are young drummers buying their favorite
drummer’s artist model, but there are also many seasoned professionals that have found just the right artist model for their playing. Remember that Zild-jian’s Artist Series drumstick portfolio consists of models designed by some of today’s most accomplished drummers from all musical genres. These guys are great drummers and at the top of their craft. You can be sure that their personal drumstick model is a design that will also work for many other drummers.
Working with the Artist: We work with the artist very closely. Zildjian’s artists are accomplished and serious about their drumming. Their sticks have to work for them and in all their various musical situations. All our Artist Series drum-mers play their sticks, and are particular about their designs. During the develop-ment process, we work closely with these drummers to design, prototype, refi ne, and test the model until the sticks are completely optimized in all areas for the artist. It’s a detailed, but rewarding pro-cess, especially at the end when we “nail” the design!
Best Seller: Our best selling model is the Travis Barker Artist Series drumstick. Travis is a tremendously accomplished and talented drummer. Because of his drumming, he has a great following among drummers of all ages. His stick is very comfortable to play, looks stylish, and feels great!
www.tycoonpercussion.comtel: 909-393-5555
Log on to learn more about Tycoon’s full line of top-quality percussion instruments.
MMR_42 42 10/23/09 10:38:21 AM
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Special price incentives and details availablethrough your favorite Vater distributor:
Ampco (800)732-6726 | Chesbro (800)243-7276 | Dynamic (800)343-3003European Crafts (800)851-0750 | Harris Teller (800)252-4004
HHI Hanser (800)999-5558 | Kaman (877)526-2668 | Loud Technologies (800)258-6883St Fishys (901)383-6597 | Universal (800)282-0110
save you money!
cash fl ow and large profi ts!
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square foot space!
MMR_43 43 10/22/09 9:44:19 AM
Percussion ProductsRoland’s TD-20SX V-Pro Series Roland’s TD-20SX, the new addition to their V-Pro Series, fea-tures brushed-metal V-Pads and V-Kick shells, a more substan-tial V-Kick for a solid, natural feel, silver colored V-Cymbals, and a solid chrome drum rack with new metal clamps and internal cable management. In addition, the newly designed V-Pads allow drummers to easily change shell wraps for their V-Pads and V-Kick to customize the look of their kit.
The new TD-20X Percussion Sound Module combines the features of Ro-land’s TD-20 and TDW-20 expansion board, with 920 drum instruments, 100 drum kits, new sound layering and enhanced editing features, new compression algorithms, and new ambience choices for a wide variety of live environments.
The new MDS-25 Drum Stand, designed for professional stage use, provides solid stability with its advanced weight-balanced design. The newly designed metal mounts for cymbals and toms pro-vide a fl exible setup. The rubber protective sleeve shields the cables from damage.www.rolandus.com
44 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Battlefi eld Spike Snares Battlefi eld’s Spike Series Snare drums will be limited to only 26 snares, each one unique and handmade in the U.S.A. These are avail-
able in three different sizes: 14 x 7, 14 x 6, and 13 x 6. They are 10
ply maple shells with dif-ferent wraps which include sparkles, glass glitters, pearls, and oyster fi nishes. They come standard with chrome hardware com-
posed of spike styled tube lugs, 2.3 mm hoops, and Remo
heads. These snares retail at $805, but Battlefi eld will be offering them at $375 each with shipping included. www.battlefi elddrums.com
Carl Fischer’s Creating and Performing Drum LoopsCarl Fischer Music is distributing Creating and Performing Drum LoopsDVD by clinician and educator Donny Gruendler. Gruendler walks the view-er through the entire process of track programming, equipment wiring, and performance to prepare for any com-mercial gig. Through step-by-step ex-planations, including performance les-sons, demo software, and companion session fi les, Gruendler presents the viewer with four songs, each featur-ing a different programming method, equipment setup, and performance strategy. The DVD retails for $19.95.www.carlfi scher.com
ROUNDUP
MMR_44 44 10/23/09 10:38:47 AM
46 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Symphonic Repertoire for Percussion Accessoriesfrom Meredith MusicMeredith Music has released Symphonic Repertoire for Percus-sion Accessories by Tim Genis, principal tim-panist of the Boston Symphony and head of the percussion department at Boston Uni-versity. The book provides a comprehensive performance analysis of percussion acces-sory parts for the major symphonic reper-toire. His easy-to-understand explanations are based on countless performances under many of the world’s fi nest conductors.www.meredithmusic.com
SKB’s Cymbal SafeSKB’s new cymbal case, the 1SKB-CS22 Cymbal Safe is designed for transport of either cymbals in a gig bag or marching band cymbals that cannot be mounted on a spindle. The SKB Cymbal Safe is rotationally molded from Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE), offer-ing high durability and strength.
The 1SKB-CS22 is a roto-molded D-shaped case design with molded in feet for upright positioning and sta-bility. The case includes a patented Roto-X pattern for added strength, durability, and reliable stacking. Sure
grip handles with a 90 degree stop are designed for easy lifting
and transporting. The new Cymbal Safe also includes a padded inte-rior for added protec-tion. The retail price is $139.99. www.skbcases.com
MMR_46 46 10/23/09 10:38:52 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 47
Peace Drums DNA SeriesPeace Drums’ has added an Atomic Sparkle Lacquer fi nishes as well as natural lacquer fi nishes to its DNA Series. Peace offers the choice of Atomic Sparkle or natural lacquer fi nishes, plus chrome or black Raven Plate lugs and hoops with the addition of Arena 700 and 800 Series hardware. www.peace-drums.com
Rogers Drums’ Trailblazer and Prospector KitsThe Trailblazer kits come in three confi gurations and include a double bass drum pedal and a two-legged hi-hat stand. Three wrap fi nishes complement the birch and poplar shells. The steel snare drum is nickel-plated, the fl oor tom hardware has been upgraded, and the tom and snare drum basket mount includes Yamaha’s ball joint for positioning.
Available in two confi gurations, the Prospector kits offer double-braced stands, an improved tom mount and a new bass drum pedal. Consisting of poplar shells, the kits include a newly designed throne, an infi nite adjustable snare stand and four fi nishes. The Prospector retails for $499.99 and the Trail-blazer for $699.99.www.yamahadrums.com
remo.com
The Vintage Emperor® drumhead is the re-creationof the original two ply head that changed rock drummingforever. The sound that started it all, combined withRemo’s cutting edge technology, gives you the ultimatein tone and durability needed for today’s Rock n’ Roll.
VINTAGEREINVENTED.Ronnie Vannucci
MMR_47 47 10/23/09 10:39:00 AM
48 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Evans SST to EC2 Heads Evans’ new EC2 heads with SST (Sound Shaping Technology) feature a new damping technique that is said to optimize perfor-
mance for each individually sized drum-head.
The EC2 SST heads provide the ability to control the ring thickness and density in addition to its width. Controlling the placement and mass of the ring allows the player to target select frequencies for removal in order to fully optimize the attack, tone, length of sustain, and ease of tuning for each size head. Evans’ EC2 heads with SST are available in 6”-18”, clear and coated. They retail for $26 - $50.www.evansdrumheads.com
TRX Grille CymbalsThe Grilles effects cymbals from the TRX utilize a combination of design elements and venting to create a new range of cymbals with a unique ap-pearance and sound. Recommended for a variety of contempo-rary musical styles, Grilles have a trashy sound that stands out from other cymbals without overpower-ing them.
TRX Grilles are MDM (Medium) Se-ries crashes with a brilliant fi nish that have the T, R and X of the company’s name cut in the face of the cymbal. Although the letter shapes were originally intended to produce both a visual and a tonal effect, the irregular shapes proved to have a greater impact on the cymbal’s sound than standard circular and oval holes, creating a shorter, more complex tone than other venting methods. TRX Grilles are available in 16, 18 and 20˝ sizes and retail for $350, $400, and $450. www.trxcymbals.com
Torry: 262.893.9840Ofce: 262.593.8005
Web: xceldrumsticks.comN6367 County Rd. E • Oconomowoc, WI 53066
XCEL DRUMSTICKS-NOT JUST A DRUMSTICK!
When only the best will do, choose XCEL Drumsticks!
Contact:[email protected]
XCELDRUMSTICKS
XCELPOWERSTICKS
XCELSPEEDSTICKS(COMING SOON)
Order yours now!
Find it in the Hot News section ofMMR’s Web site, www.MMRmagazine.com
Breaking News
MMR_48 48 10/23/09 10:39:08 AM
sell drum stuff?
We’re Building Your Market, But You Need To Get Involved. Visit www.playdrums.com for complete program information on:
ROOTS OF RHYTHM
An in-school teacher’s curriculum for students that connects drums and drumming with academic subjects like math, science, geography, and world cultures. www.rootsofrhythm.net
PERCUSSION IN THE SCHOOLS
An all-school percussion concert assembly program that gets kids playing drums for the first time.
The Percussion Marketing Council wants to create new drummers. So, this holiday season, we’re giving drummers an incentive to visit your store by offering them a Beginner’s Pack containing a pair of drumsticks and bonus book or DVD absolutely FREE.
Coupons for the free Beginner’s Pack will appear in various publications or may be downloaded from playdrums.com andredeemed directly through the PMC.
But, there’s only one small catch. Your store must validate the PMC coupon, which allows you the opportunity to meet, greet, and create a brand new customer sent to you by the PMC.
Each PMC member is your store’s partner in creating and growing
your percussion business. How? Visit the PMC’s website to learn
more about the programs and campaigns to create more interest in drums and drumming that bringnew customers into your store.
How about five International Drum Month retail idea tips that can set you apart as a drum dealer? Our members have created all kindsof programs to help you expand your percussion sales.Visit playdrums.com/idm for more info.
Learn how these programs benefit you or how to get involved at www.playdrums.com or email [email protected]
2009 NAMM Foundation Grant Recipient.Copyright 2009 Percussion Marketing Council; P.O. Box 33252; Cleveland, OH 44133
Then get ready for a lot of new customers!
Ready for your free drum gift?
Beginner’s Pack contains one pair
of drumsticks and one of two
books or a DVD courtesy of Alfred
Publishing, Hal Leonard Publishing,
and Hudson Music.
Just visit your local music store
and have a store employee sign
this form. Then mail it to the
PMC. Your free Beginner’s Pack
will arrive in 6-8 weeks.
Name: ________________________
Address: _______________________
City/ST/Zip: ____________________
Phone: ________________________
Email: __________________________
Store Name: ____________________
Store Phone: ____________________
Employee Signature: _______________
Mail this form to:
Percussion Marketing Council
P.O. Box 33252
Cleveland, OH 44133
Offer expires 12/31/09
Offer valid in Continental US only.
Form can be downloaded at Playdrums.com
MMR_49 49 10/22/09 9:44:37 AM
SURVEY
50 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
School B&O Buying Habits 2009
For many MI dealers, student band and orchestra instrument
sales have become an ever-larger segment of their business.
If a dealer and a school develop a good working relationship,
both parties benefi t: For the dealer, the school can become a
consistent, frequent customer; for a school or an idividual
music teacher, the dynamic of trust and dependability in such
an association is often important. To fi nd out more about MI
buying patterns when it comes to student band and orchestra
instruments, MMR sent out a survey to over 1,500 music
educators across the country. We found out, not surprisingly,
that behind every decision is a budget. For most schools, that’s
the bottom line.
“In the current economy, it is getting more and more
diffi cult to purchase new instruments.”
MMR_50 50 10/23/09 10:39:31 AM
For the current school year, did you (or are you planning to) purchase more, less, or the same dollar amount of musical instruments as last year?
Same: 41%Less: 37%More: 22%
“Last year we bought about $4,000 in instruments. This year we are putting our money into repairs for older instruments. We have seen an uptick in the number of students who need to rent an instrument from the school as opposed to rent-to-own from a music store.”
John Mueller Incline Middle School
Incline Village, Nev.
What types of instruments are you purchasing this year?
Strings: 13%Woodwinds: 31%
Brass: 25%Percussion: 31%
Which factors are most important when selecting a music store to work with?
Location/proximityto school: 13%
Relationship with staff and/or ownership: 26%
Cost: 27%Ability to
offer repairs: 20%Selection/Inventory: 14%
“Not that cost isn’t important, but if you want good repairs and reliable service, the cost sometimes comes later in the priorities.”
David Hiett Regina Dominican High School
Wilmette, Ill.
When do you plan your budget?
Spring: 36%Summer: 24%
Winter: 22%Fall: 28%
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 51
When do you make the bulk of your instrument purchases?
Summer: 48%Fall: 32%
Winter: 11%Spring: 9%
What is the ratio of school-owned instruments to student-owned instruments in your program?
1-4: 36%
4-1: 19%
1-1: 8%2-3: 8%
2-1: 6%
1-2: 4%
3-2: 2%
Other: 17%
MMR_51 51 10/23/09 10:39:37 AM
52 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
“We only provide large instruments for students - baritones, tubas, French horns, and trombones. Even then, some stu-dents make the choice to rent/purchase their own instruments. We also provide second instruments, such as tenor saxes, bass clarinets, bari saxes.”
Rick WorleyCentral York Middle School
York, Penn.
“The only school-owned instruments in my program are color instruments: bass
clarinets; tenor saxophones; baritone saxophones; French horns; fl ugelhorns; euphoniums; tubas/sousaphones; and percussion.”
Richard Stichler Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe High School
Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga.
Additional thoughts on buying musical instruments?
“In the current economy, it is getting more and more diffi cult to purchase
new instruments. Our elementary band director started a used instrument pro-gram last year which has greatly ben-efi tted our program. Many families have donated older instruments to the elementary band program, and we have been able to have those instruments repaired or even reconditioned/over-hauled. Through some fundraising ef-forts and a couple of benefi t concerts, we have been able to raise money to pur-chase used instruments through sources such as eBay. This has been a very viable option, especially for students who are economically disadvantaged and might not be able to afford to rent or purchase an instrument.”
Rick WorleyCentral York Middle School
York, Penn.
“Purchasing new instruments is not typi-cally the biggest budget issue. Maintain-ing the inventory that we own is often the bigger expenditure.”
David Hiett Regina Dominican High School
Wilmette, Ill.
“I see the number of students who own (or are renting to own) their instruments dropping. There has been a big increase in the number of students who need to rent an instrument from the school. Some of them cannot even pay the $40 per year school rental cost, and so we try to fi nd sponsors for those students. There has also been an increase in people buy-ing cheap (under $200 new) instruments on the Internet. Most of these have ar-rived in non-playing condition and have to be repaired (if they can be repaired), and the savings in buying on the cheap is lost.”
John Mueller Incline Middle School
Incline Village, Nev.
Find it in the Hot News section of MMR’s Web site,
BreakingNews
www.MMRmagazine.com
MMR_52 52 10/23/09 10:39:41 AM
These principles are the foundation of every Yamaha B&O product and
service. They are the reasons you can DEPEND ON YAMAHA.
QUALITY SUPPORT PROFESSIONALISM VALUE
Band & Orchestral©2009 Yamaha Corporation of America. All rights reserved.
www.yamaha.com/band
MMR_53 53 10/22/09 9:44:57 AM
54 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
REPORT
Paying for what you get…Many tuners are impulse items, so
price point is often key. “Right now there are a lot of companies that are in a race to see who can make the least expensive product,” says Mark Wilson from Intel-litouch. Nearly every manufacturer we spoke with shared this sentiment. “There are a huge number of tuners on the mar-ket at all price ranges, but particularly at the low end,” says Peter Swaidon. Ryan Rhodes of Korg agrees: “Price point, es-pecially on the low end of the scale, has
been a major trend.” Several manufac-tures noted that the “race towards the bottom” is hurting not only dealer mar-gins, but quality as well. “With some of the ones that are geared totally toward price point, you’re going to fi nd issues with price per quality,” notes Grant Dea-ton of SHS audio.
What’s HotClip-on tuners seem to be quite popu-
lar this year. The biggest trend in tuners themselves is the clip-on vibration tun-
ers. There’s just a ton of them out there,” says Mark Wilson. Even if it’s not their fl agship product, most major players in the market are producing clip-on tun-ers. “There are a lot of clip tuners on the market,” says Neil Lilien of Meisel Mu-sic “The only major trend I’ve noticed is that there’s a lot of competition.” Pocket Tones’ Mike Farley concurs, “The ones that clip to a guitar or violin or an instru-ment that needs to be tuned seem to be the most popular. I wouldn’t want to be competing in that market.”
Tuners may have started as simple devices, but today features, function and price points have created a complex
market that can be a little daunting to consider. In fact, the word “tuner” has become so synonymous with
advanced features and functions like “auto-tune” that the old-school tuning fork didn’t even make the cut for
this article. “The competition for the tuner customer is incredible,” says Peter Swaidon of BOSS. From clip-
on tuners to pedals, handheld devices to dedicated hardware units, there are innumerable items available to suit the
needs of today’s consumer. With gear available at prices ranging from $5 to $,5000, the question becomes: how much
are you willing to pay?
In TuneChanging
Marketwith a
MMR_54 54 10/23/09 10:40:12 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 55
Roundtable
BOSS is all about innovation, and this is particularly true in the tuner market. We developed the very fi rst automatic chro-matic tuner in 1983-the TU-12, which soon became the industry standard. The TU-2 is was the fi rst tuner to come in a compact pedal, and is our best-selling pedal to date. Our tuners are known for their ruggedness and quality. Many of our tuners have the ability to tune to non-standard tunings such as Open G, Drop D, and more recent-ly, to drop tunings down to six fl ats.
This year we announced a whole new line of tuners. We recently launched the TU-1000 Stage tuner, which has the big-gest, brightest display of any tuner ever made. It is designed for stage use, where extreme accuracy and visibility are criti-cal. We replaced the TU-12 with the TU-12EX, taking the best of a legacy prod-uct and combining it with new features such as Accu-Pitch. We also entered a new market this year with the TU-12BW, which is a tuner designed specifi cally for brass and woodwind instruments. Along with the standard internal microphone, the TU-12BW comes with an external clip-on contact microphone. The TU-88
has been a hit with guitarists on the go. Not only is it a tuner and metronome, but it also has a built-in headphone amp. Now you can connect ped-als and jam, or practice with the metronome through headphones.
TrendsLike other markets, the tuner market
is feeling some effect from the economic situation. There are a huge number of tuners on the market at all price ranges, but particularly at the low end. The com-petition for the tuner customer is incred-ible. Customers can buy usable brand name tuners for as low as $15, and no-name ones for as low as $10. Today, there are tuners in other products, like multi-effects, amps, on board acoustic guitar preamps, and even cell phones.
We’ve noticed quite a bit of confusion about tuner technology, particularly what really is a strobe tuner, and how strobe tuners compare to other kinds. Addition-ally, customers are often confused about how tuners work with new tuning modes, like the Buzz Feiten system. These mis-
conceptions could be due to marketing and confl icting in-
formation on the Internet.Driven by the huge success of the TU-2
pedal tuner, there are now many compact-pedal type tuners on the market. Clip-on contact tuners are a new trend and have become a new category, and BOSS has en-tered this category for the fi rst time with the TU-12BW, a chromatic tuner made specifi cally for brass and woodwinds.
Looking Towards the FutureWe will probably continue to see more
tuners built into other products, such as electric guitars, as well as products that digitally manipulate pitch so the instru-ments can be in tune without mechani-cally turning the keys. Roland had such a feature in the original modeling device: the VG-8. We will probably also continue to see higher accuracy (some current tun-ers are accurate to within +/- one cent), better displays, and better battery life.
Roland/BOSSPeter Swaidon
We’re specializing in tuners and pro-prietary accessories; things that not ev-erybody is carry-
ing. In the tuner market, we’ve been very successful with clip-on tuners. We just came out with a second clip-on to add to the one that we’ve had in the past several years, and they still seem very popular. We’ve got models that are calibrated for ukulele and banjo, which is a relatively
new thing. We’re also doing a tuner/metronome/tone gen-erator that is proving popular as well.
We have mix and match pricing that we feel is very af-fordable to the dealers. All of the tuners that we carry retail for $34.95 – the discounting is the same and the net price is the same. What we have noticed is that even though the tuners themselves
are relatively inexpensive items, it goes in cycles. We’ll have a great week and then a dead week. We’ve found that a lot of dealers are just letting their stock run down, which I don’t understand because these are impulse items.
TrendsQuite honestly the clip-
on tuner being an electronic product, I always though it
Meisel MusicNeil Lilien
MMR_55 55 10/23/09 10:40:16 AM
56 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
would have a short life, but I’ve been do-ing clip tuners since 2003 and if anything the sales are getting better. They’re getting smaller, they’re getting smarter, they’re get-ting quicker, and that’s it. The only trend I’ve noticed is that there’s a lot of compe-tition. There are a lot clip tuners on the market and we’re trying to stay a little bit of head of the market.
It seems that still we’re doing ok – not as well as in the past and I think that’s be-cause a lot of dealers are letting their small goods inventories run down until there’s nothing. And that is understand-able, but I think it’s a mistake. I’m
hoping we’re going to have a good holiday season coming up and that should start relatively soon but I have to think that the store traffi c is off, and dealers are nervous. They don’t want to have to spend money on anything unless they know they can turn it. This is my opinion or theory of course. However, in good times, tuners
are a great impulse item.
Looking Towards the Future
In the future I think that [tuners] might get a little smaller and a little bit smarter, maybe quicker.
We’re looking at tuners with MP3 input and maybe
even MP5 capabilities. You could con-ceivably watch a movie on your tuner. We’ve started working on new clips that will make it easier to clip the tuner onto a wind or brass instrument -- fl utes and things like that. I’ve got a new product coming out that I’d rather not discuss but hopefully, if everybody agrees with my idea, we’ll have something within the next 60 to 90 days.
PocketTonesMichael Farley
The tuner Farleys Musical Essentials promotes is called PocketTones. We’ve had it on the mar-
ket since 2002. We’re excited to primarily push the chromatic C and the chromatic F. In the past we’ve had them for guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin, cello and tenor banjo. They were handy devices for those instruments; but so often actual tuners could boast the same capabilities. So, we’ve opted to go with the chromatic ver-sions and push those strongly due to the fact that there are so many singers out there that do not have an instrument. They can have this on their key chain or on their person or on their case, and it produces any tone of the C or F chromat-ic scales for a singer. They’re tuned at or around middle C, the F is just below mid-dle C for that particular skew and they range from street price 14.95 to 16.99. They’ve become so popular that they’re sold worldwide — the American Idol vo-cal coaches called and requested them. In fact, Deborah Bird, the vocal coach for American Idol — we’ve branded one with her name on it!
TrendsI’ve seen a glut of different varieties
of tuners coming forth. The ones that
clip to a guitar or violin or an instru-ment that needs to be tuned seem to be the most popular. I wouldn’t want to be competing in that market because of the many and varied variety of tuners that are available at such a low price point. Although we consider the PocketTones a tuner of sorts, it’s more of an electronic pitch pipe because it produces tones that you can tune to, whether it’s any instru-ment or your voice. So, yeah, I’ve seen a trend; I’ve seen a trend towards anybody that knows anything about electronics coming out with his or her own variety and style of tuner. A lot of copies have come forth and the thing that’s a little discouraging is that it’s a race towards the bottom as far as price point is con-cerned. You can proba-bly get a fairly decent tuner for about $9.99 these days. It’s a dif-fi cult market. Unless you have something that’s very unique, it’s hard to stay afl oat.
Looking Towards the Future
I think musicians are always going to need a tuning device and those who can come up with the most creative ideas and concepts are going to sustain
their business. With the PocketTone, it’s just a raw electronic tone that nobody can deny. If you don’t have another in-strument nearby for your vocals as a starting pitch or for tuning your gui-tar, it’s just a basic essential that’s just never going to go away. To ensure that it’s more available and readily available, this month we’ll probably have a ver-sion of PocketTones coming out for the iPhone. I know there are about 30 mil-lion iPhones in circulation. Certainly there are a good number of those who are singers and who want to access their phone for a tone, no pun intended. It’s going to be that easy and that quick. You can go to the iPhone and pick up a tone right from the device that you have in
your pocket all the time.
MMR_56 56 10/23/09 10:40:20 AM
Stomp Box Tuners – Made for guitar-ists by guitarists. These compact and rugged pedals have almost complete-ly replaced the rack tuners of the 80’s as guitar players have moved towards a stomp box heaven. Today’s guitar-ist can fi nd a variety of tuners to suite their needs from classic needle tun-ers, to strobe tuners and even tuners with the capability to comply with alternate tunings, modern intonation systems and a variety of tempera-ments.
Clip-On Tuners – These little guys are everywhere! Equipped with piezo tech-nology, these tuners work on vibrations and have become increasingly popular over the past decade. From $10 to $100 retail, these guys vary in both price and quality. These compact solutions for musicians who need to tune in a vari-ety of situations offer all of the features of the classic handheld tuners. Have no fear of dropped tunings, or strange in-struments, if it vibrates, there’s a tuner out there for you
Tone Generators – What ever hap-pened to the tuning fork? If you’re old school, you might still have one.
Maybe you have a pitch pipe or bet-ter yet, an iPhone. For the singer, choral director or musician on the go, tone generators are far from dead. In fact, the recent iPhone revolution has brought the tone generator back. Today’s musician might have a tone generator on his key chain and if not can fi nd an app to tune to A-439.59 if needed. For those of us who miss the tuning fork, there’s an app for that too.
Handheld Devices – Like the Clip-Ons, these wallet-sized devices range in price and quality. As with all tuners, they’re great impulse items and aren’t going away anytime soon. From stringed in-struments to orchestral, these tuners come with a range of features from the good old-fashioned bouncing needle to stroboscopic tuning capabilities. If you need to tune up, there’s a handheld tuner out there for you.
Dedicated Hardware Units – Dedi-cated hardware units have come a long way since the old tube operated strobe tuner in the band room. Today’s units come in all shapes and sizes, from rackable needle tuners to large strobo-
scopic units. Dedicated hardware units represent the tip-top in terms of both price point and features. If you’re will-ing to shell out the dough and need a tuner for any number of hertz sensitive applications, these guys are tough to beat.
Software – It might seem like a dirty word to dealers, but software tuners are here to stay. Although these ap-plications might be newer, they boast a range of features and are limited only by the power of your PC. Will they replace the handheld devices? Probably not, but applications are now supported on virtually every plat-form available to modern consumers. Proof positive: try typing in ‘tuner’ at the apps store.
Instruments, Amps & Effects – Wheth-er electric or acoustic, today tuners can be found right on your instrument. Am-plifi ers and multi-effects have jumped on the bandwagon as well. While the price and quality do vary, many end users fi nd the convenience appeal-ing. Added bonus, no more searching through the gig bag for your needle tuner.
Peterson Tuners has existed since 1948. Prior to that we had a brand called the Conn Strobotuner that started in 1936, so we’re the oldest tuner manufacture in the world. Our products are known for their superior accuracy and their stroboscopic displays as well as the creation of dedicat-ed temperaments for certain instruments, which are not available from anyone else. Our tuners are regularly used by the big name bands, pro bands, schools, and the armed forces; those kinds of customers. Our customers or more of the long-range type of customer; they are Peterson users for most of their careers. Most of them have gone to school and learned using a Peterson and when they become teachers or musicians themselves they tend to keep using our stuff.
TrendsWe’re kind of unique in that we’re not
competing with a lot of other high-end tuners. There aren’t that many, if there are any at all, in our sector. There are a lot in the lower and mid priced areas of the market but we’re pretty much alone at the top.
There’s a lot of small, clip-on type of tuners that don’t cost very much. It’s been that way now for a while but the lack of accuracy is the most notable thing. These are general indicators. Most people want-ed some kind of general indicator but they’re not aware of the fact that some of these tuners are not as good as their ears by far. That’s really the latest trend.
Prior to that, we pioneered the true bypass pedal tuner. There was no such
Tuner Types
PetersonJohn Norris
58 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
MMR_58 58 10/23/09 10:40:25 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 59
thing before we came out with the Strobostomp. Since the guitar market is now very pedal-centric, rather than rack-centric like it was in the 80’s, we’ve noticed a lot more pedal type tuners.
Looking towards the FutureWe have quite a few new products,
and we have a belief that no matter what, you’ve always got to have some-thing really new. So recently we brought
out the first affordable guitar to midi converter for $99 in the stores and that’s gone down hugely. We have kind of pioneered a little bit of the future
in that we have an app for the iPhone and iPod touch. We are also the only tuner company to provide both hard-ware and software solutions. We have hardware tuners and software tuners for any kind of range of applications – for manufacturing, for musicians, or just for casual use. We have a tuner for $5,000 dollars for factory use in mass-producing instruments and there’s also a Peterson for $9.99 that you can put on your iPhone.
Tune Tech (SHS)Grant Deaton
Tune Tech is a division of SHS interna-tional. Currently we have fi ve models of tuners. From $24.95 retail to $39.95 and all of those are clip-on vibration tuners. Two of our models are produced in Korea and the other three are produced in Chi-na. If you were to poll our dealers, they would probably tell you that consistency and accuracy of the clip-on vibration tuners that have the readout display that follows the digital needle, is very high.
The Korean tuners that we produce are just extremely accurate, very steady and really easy to tune with. What we do is we constantly shop tuner manufacturers and basically cherry-pick the best that we can fi nd and then add them to our line.
TrendsThere are so many tuners in the market
that all work on essentially the same thing, you could describe them all the same. That
includes our lower price point tuners. However, when you went to use them you would see a noticeable difference between the Chinese made ones and the Korean made ones. The clip-on vibration tuners themselves are a huge trend over the last four or fi ve years. If you were to rewind, just a few years ago, there weren’t that many people actually doing clip-on vibra-tion tuners and the market is fl ooded with them now. So I would say that the biggest
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MMR_59 59 10/23/09 10:40:29 AM
60 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
KorgRyan Rhodes
Korg invented the world’s fi rst handheld electronic tuner in 1975 and has contin-ued to pioneer the market ever since. We present new products to the market every year and are proud to say that we’ve sold over 20 million tuners worldwide. Our tuner line spans the entire range of guitar-ists: most professionals use our DTR rack tuners on stage, while guitarists of all ages enjoy the various pocket-sized tuners and metronomes that we bring to the market.
Recent TrendsPrice point, es-
pecially on the low end of the scale has been a major trend. It would appear that consumers are more focused than ever on ‘value purchasing’, and this tends to benefi t the Korg line, where feature set, quality and affordability all converge. Despite some newer entrants from es-tablished suppliers and OEM offerings,
the end user has consistently chosen our products over others, and we never take that for granted. A new crop of young guitar players are on their way up, as evidenced by robust lesson programs at many of the dealers we sell to. These up
trend in tuners themselves is the clip-on vibration tuners. There’s just a ton of them out there ranging from $5 up to $150 dollars. With some of the ones that are geared totally toward price point are you’re going to fi nd issues with price per quality. However, we fi nd that the best tun-ers are the ones that we’re fi nding from the Korean manufactures.
Looking Towards the Future
I see an expansion in models of tuners. We have four new models that we will be adding
over the next few months. Again we’re constantly fi nd-
ing and testing new factories and their capabilities. As we fi nd items that are competitive at their
price points with the features that we
offer, or if they have anything special to add, we fi nd a place for them in our line. We’ll be signifi cantly growing the amount of models. I would say that our tuner division itself has grown despite the economy. Our overall company has been affected but the tuner division has been the one area where there has been actual growth and that’s from our ex-pansion into international markets and adding additional products at new price points.
MMR_60 60 10/23/09 10:40:36 AM
Zero CrossingSam Sudore
We produce the N-tune onboard elec-tric guitar and bass tuner and our prod-uct is really the only
product on the market that allows you to put a tuner right inside the electric guitar or bass. It’s a really simple install that only requires about 15 or 20 minutes. You’re basically just replacing your volume or tone control with our product. It uses a push-pull potentiometer to activate the tuner so you pull the vol-ume knob or the tone knob out and it will mute the output of the instrument allowing you to tune up silently anywhere anytime without any cables or ped-als. It’s really nice because a lot of the professional mu-sicians who have been us-ing our product have been telling us that they love the thing on stage because
it frees up space on their effects board. It’s fully chromatic so it allows you to do alternate or drop tunings and the other thing that’s really nice about our tuner is that the battery lasts an incredibly long time. If you were to tune twice a day ev-eryday you’d get around two years worth of tuning out of a single battery.
One of the biggest things that we hear from players in the fi eld is that gigging musicians always lose or have their tuners stolen and that really clears up that prob-
lem because it’s part of your instrument so you can’t really lose it. I don’t think that there’s another tuner on the market that offers that type of feature set. It’s super ac-curate; it’s +/- two cents which is actually more accurate than most of the handheld or pedal tuners so that’s also very impor-tant when you’re looking at tuning.
TrendsSales seem to be going up quite a bit
for us and I think that’s because of the uniqueness of the product and the fea-tures that it offers above and beyond
“What is a strobe tuner? How accurate is this needle? My tuner has a ‘temper-ament?’” These might be a few of the questions your customers are asking. Here’s how to talk tuner.
Needle Tuner – This is probably the most common type of tuner found today. Actual needles are now rare, digital needles from LCD’s and LED’s have dominated the market for some time now.
Stroboscopic tuner – More commonly called a strobe tuner, these guys are the ultimate in accuracy. Don’t be fooled by fancy displays. A true strobe tuner is a mechanical device made from a series of discs and lights that appear to stop when the correct tone is reached.
Guitar/Bass/Violin/Cello/Ukulele/Ban-jo… – These tuners are designed to tune a specifi c instrument. Cheap and handy if all you need is standard tunings.
Chromatic Tuner – These tuners will tune to any pitch in the chromatic scale.
Virtual Strobe Tuner – While similar in appearance to traditional stroboscopic tuners, these tuners do not have the abil-ity to pick up harmonic partials like a tra-ditional stroboscopic tuner.
Temperament – This refers to the sys-tem with which your tuner assigns fre-quencies to each note. Although most musicians now use equal temperament, for piano tuners and academics with pe-riod specifi c instruments, the availabil-ity of a variety of temperament settings can be a useful tool.
Cents – Cents matter! The difference between A440 and A441 is about 4 cents. While most humans can’t tell the difference, the accuracy of your tuner is gauged by it’s ability to calculate + or – X number of cents.
Hertz – Abbreviated Hz, this represents the number of cycles per second. A is typically 440hz, but today, multiple As are available.
Calibration – While the standard is A-440, many modern tuners allow for users to se-lect a number of different pitches, usually in 1Hz steps. However, as the technology improves, smaller units of measurement are now possible.
How to talk tuner!and comers, combined with the installed base of instrumentalists, bode well for the future of our industry, as well as that of our tuners.
Looking Toward the FutureSince tuners are less expensive than
an amplifier or guitar, and they’re a product that all musicians need, we’ve been fortunate that our products have remained strong in this economy. Hav-
ing the leading position in the market has helped us weather times like this in the past, and this recent downturn is no different. One thing is certain – de-mand for accurate, reliable, feature rich tuners will continue into the future. By definition, non-electronic instruments need to be tuned, and it is our inten-tion to stay ahead of the market and anticipate the needs and desires of our customers.
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 61
MMR_61 61 10/23/09 10:40:42 AM
62 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
what other tuners on the market can give musicians. Consumers today are looking for a few key things as far as tuners are concerned. One, they want a tuner that’s going to last and be durable, and two they want accuracy. It’s been one of the most resounding things that we hear back for any tuner really is, ‘How accurate is it and will it stand up against xyz’. Today’s consumer wants to make sure that the
money that they’re putting out for the tuner will give them the best quality and the best tuning accuracy.
Looking Towards the FutureFor us and where we’re going, the
future that I see is pretty simple. If you look at the acoustic market [acous-tic/electric guitars], it was about seven years ago that those guys started to ship
with onboard tuners. Today you’d be hard pressed to fi nd a guitar an acous-tic/electric without a tuner built in. It just makes sense to have the tuner part of the instrument. I don’t see a reason why the future doesn’t hold the same for every electric guitar or bass that’s sold. That’s where I see the future of tuning going. It just makes sense for both the consumer and manufactures.
Intellitouch was the fi rst clip-on tuner that worked on vibrations. It used no microphones, no wires and can be used in loud situations so you don’t need to go to a quite place to tune. It works on both acoustic and electric instruments and it doesn’t need to be plugged in. Prior to the Intellitouch, no LCD tuners had backlights and most of the tuners used LEDs, so we pushed the market in that respect as well. After a while, other com-panies saw the value in that approach, and now we’ve got a lot of people com-
ing in and trying to do what Intel-litouch did. We are innovators and we try to push the enve-lope by making products more user friendly, easier to oper-ate, and longer lasting. We’re the only tuner company in the world that puts a lifetime warrantee on it’s products and
that’s because we’re musicians, we buy equipment ourselves and we want it to last. We have high expectations for our-selves. Now with our new PT-10 mini
tuner we’ve pushed the envelope a little farther in terms of re-
sponse time, accuracy, and most importantly it’s size.
TrendsElectronic products
come down in price as technology becomes
IntellitouchMark Wilson
TM
The Musician’s BatteryTester
Keith McMillenI N S T R U M E N T S
MMR_62 62 10/23/09 10:40:48 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 63
faster and less expensive. That is a trend with all electronics across all in-dustries; the music industry is no dif-ferent. We as chip designers utilize all of this new technology to reduce the size and the power consumption of our products. So, we still seek to push the envelope and develop new things.
Also, the Internet has made inter-national communications easier. As a result, the ability of small independent companies buying generic branded tun-ers directly from China has increased. When those products come into the market a couple things happen. One, it makes people think ‘Well, that’s what tuners should cost’. The other thing that happens is that as musicians become better musicians, they hear the differ-ence in quality between a tuner that’s really in tune and the tuner that’s just put out there to capture some market share based upon its low price. So we see those two things. We’ve seen a trend to-wards lower price and greater function-ality and we’ve seen an infl ux of generi-cally branded tuners from China. Right now there are a lot of companies that are in a race to see who can make the least expensive product. When you do that there is a cost in the quality and reliabil-ity of the product. The less you pay, the less you get – there’s truth to that. The construction and attention to detail is sacrifi ced for price and that’s not what we’re interested in.
Looking Toward the FutureWe’re not going to seek the lowest
prices. We are not going to join the race to the bottom in terms of price because that’s also a race to the bottom in terms of both quality and margin. We’re in-terested in new ideas and pushing the technology. We’re musicians here so we have high expectations for our products so we’re going to buck the trend of low quality cheap tuners and we are focused on pushing the functionality by adding functions and delivering things that mu-sicians didn’t know they needed because they haven’t seen them yet. That’s what happened with the clip-on tuner. Now there are people out there that can’t live without a clip-on tuner. They didn’t know they needed one until they saw one. In the future, our job is to do the same thing with other functions, features and benefi ts.
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MMR_63 63 10/23/09 10:40:56 AM
64 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
STR INGS
Mapes Piano String
Company got its start
in 1912 when the Schaff
family bought the name from Steven
Mapes, a prominent piano string
manufacture in New York City.
Recently, MMR sat down with Andy
Wilson, the head of piano strings at
Mapes to talk about the evolution of
the company.
“We’ve been here almost 100 years. Our reputation of being able to produce good musical strings is out into the mar-ket and that helps us greatly,” says Wil-son. “You can buy your musical instru-ments from anywhere in the world, but I think American made products are still number one. The Schaff family has re-ally been very good here at Mapes to keep their company in the location that it is, and employ local people.”
“After making piano strings for some time Mr. Schaff decided that he wanted to fi nd a better source of piano core wire, because what was on the market wasn’t very good,” Wilson says, commenting on
the company’s early days. “They originated in New York, where most pianos were being built at that time. But, around 1950, the Schaff family decided to start producing piano core wire in Tennessee.” Wilson explains that the company became so well known for their strings that, “around 1972 they permanently moved the operation from New York to Tennessee to have it all in one place.”
Not only does Mapes produce piano strings and piano wire, but it’s also one of the major manufactur-ers of guitar strings. Mapes sources such major brands as Martin, Er-nie Ball, DR, D’Adarrio, and D’Aquisto, to name a few. “When we started mak-ing piano wire and got very good at it, we had extra capacity in our wire drawing,” says Wilson. That led us to start produc-ing guitar string core. We thought, ‘Well, we make our copper wraps for piano strings – why can’t we make the different wraps for guitar strings?’ So we acquired
a company that had the capability to do that and we moved it here to Ten-nessee. It just made sense for us to make the gui-tar strings,” says Wilson. “Once we started getting into and buying the wire drawing equipment, we also started getting into spring wire in the music wire grade,” says Wilson. “They call it music spring wire and it’s a high end wire for springs,” explains Wilson. Although Mapes doesn’t manufacture the springs themselves, they do sell quite a bit to indi-vidual spring makers in all
sorts of industries from automotive to defense.
“Mapes is a family owned business, has been since it originated, and I believe that Mapes will continue to be that way,” says Andy. Mapes has been approached “sev-eral times” by investors who have tried to convince the company to move the busi-ness outside of the U.S. to seek cheaper labor and less restrictive manufacturing
Mapes Piano String CompanyFour Generations and Going Strong
“The biggest thing that sets Mapes apart from our competitors
is our quality.”
Andy Wilson
MMR_64 64 10/23/09 10:41:19 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 65
laws, but to no avail. “The Schaff family is very dedicated to the American market and the American people and to the people in our little town here – to keep the doors open and to continue making a product here,” says Wilson. “With that being said, we’ve had to be a lot smarter in how we do things. We have to be a lot more effi cient. We’re competing in a global economy and quite honestly its not a level playing fi eld, they’ve got us playing uphill a lot of times,” says Wilson. “The taxes and duties to ship into some of these foreign countries is un-believable,” explains Wilson. “It can get up as high as 40 percent on our product, and when they make musical instruments to send into the US it’s as low as 4 percent for that fi nished product to come back into the United States.”
Running UphillThe current economic climate has
greatly impacted the piano industry, which is one of Mapes’ primary markets. “The pi-ano builders are not able to sell their prod-ucts out on the market,” says Wilson. “If they can’t sell pianos, it’s hard for me to sell strings to them to put in those pianos.” He explains that a great amount of the cost of strings lies in the raw materials needed. “A set of guitar strings is going to weigh a few grams, but a set of piano strings is going to weigh about 8 pounds,” Andy says. “So you can see that there’s a lot of difference in how much material is used.” When asked about the price of raw material, Wilson is quick to respond. “There you’ve hit on a very good point,” says Wilson, who keeps a close eye on the price of metal. “All metals went up drastically. The cost of every mu-sical string that’s produced has gone up. Of course that’s hard to pass on [to consum-ers] in a bad economic time, but neverthe-less, raw materials like copper, steel, nickel, and brass have gone up in price. I’m talk-ing about a 100 to 150 percent increase in some cases. It has defi nitely made us a lot more mindful of how we use what material we get, and we take very good care of it,” he laughs.
Taking Care of BusinessThroughout the four generations of
string makers, Mapes has seen a great deal
of change with respect to the manufactur-ing of strings. “Through modern technol-ogy, we’ve been able to upgrade our string winding equipment to be better, and more effi cient,” says Wilson, who notes that the biggest technological advances lie in the manufacturing of guitar strings. “Because they’re so much smaller, the speed and tension that you wind guitar strings to be effi cient in the market today required us to upgrade our machinery and we’ve been able to do that as a result of a lot of up-dates in technology,” he says. While tech-nological advances in string winding have resulted in a more effi cient manufactur-ing process, Andy is proud to say that the art of making piano strings is still a craft of skilled labors. “We have machines that will make loops and cut strings to length and do all that for us automatically and they’re good,” he says. “But some of it is a hand craft and we wanted to keep that way. Strings that we make for Steinway are handmade piano strings. We make the loops by hand and we wind the copper on by hand. We have a machine that turns the core, but we’re winding it on by hand.
“The biggest thing that sets Mapes apart from our competitors is our qual-ity. We’re an ISO certifi ed company – we’re very proud of that, and we moni-tor that very closely,” says Wilson. He explains that ISO certifi cation is just one part of the quality controls system Mapes has implemented. Employee training and maintaining oversight throughout the manufacturing process are also vi-tal to maintaining a quality product. “Everyone at Mapes is quality oriented – it’s something we do when we bring a new employee in. It’s about being able to make an outstanding product,” says Wilson. “We make all of our own wire, and we control all of our processes here, throughout. Being able to do it all in-house, instead of outsourcing, helps you maintain that quality. You can’t start with something bad and make it into some-thing good. If you order good steel, you can make a good wire out of it. If you get high quality copper, you can make good wrap out of it, if you get good nickel for guitar strings you can make good guitar strings, and so on.”
MMR_65 65 10/23/09 10:41:23 AM
66 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
ANN IVERSARY
Plummer Piano and Organ Co.
in Rapid City, South Dakota
has been in operation since
1959, and its third – and current –
owner, Matt Batchelder, is celebrating
the store’s 50th anniversary.
Batchelder has owned this four-story, 50,000 square-foot store for 10 years now. Due to the store’s location in a rural com-munity, Batchelder says that the key to his business has been traveling road shows.
“We travel around a fi ve state area, doing road shows every weekend,” he notes. “We go to convention cen-ters, malls, furniture stores, and parking lots. We wouldn’t be able to do half of the volume that we do if we didn’t travel. We are in a small town, and if I just relied on business from peo-ple walking through the door, we’d never make it. Walk in traffi c is only about 30 percent of our business.”
Obviously pianos aren’t the easiest instruments to travel with. But, Batchel-
der’s is equipped with trailers, trucks, and even a semi, which Matt sleeps in dur-ing his travels. They will also deliver to any state; Batchel-der recently made a delivery to North Carolina, Chicago,
and Pennsylvania. He also offers piano moving services and repairs. Matt often
“You can’t expect to increase sales if you’re
sitting behind a desk, waiting for customers
to come in.”
Batchelder’s Plummer Piano & Organ Co. Celebrates 50th
Matt Batchelder
MMR_66 66 10/23/09 10:41:45 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 67
makes these trips on his own, while his 11-member staff keeps things running smoothly back at the store.
Even though the road shows have proven to be fruitful, with the decline of piano sales over the years, Matt has had to diversify inventory. The store has ex-panded their piano lesson program and has also added band and orchestra in-struments for both sale and rent, as well as offering corresponding B&O instruc-tion. Batchelder recently acquired an ad-jacent building and opened an internet café and grocery store, which has become a convenient waiting area and hang-out for the parents of students taking music lessons at Batchelder’s. The café, as Matt explains, has helped to increase the store’s profi le: “The café draws more people to us and creates a bigger picture. Parents have the convenience to shop, go on the Internet, or just have a coffee while their kids are taking lessons.”
For Batchelder, customer service is cru-cial. “Communicating and staying in touch with customers is the key. It doesn’t mat-ter who you are or how long you’ve been in business – if you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind. We do mailers, television commer-cials, and customer appreciation events, both in the store and out on the road. We’ve
also been using the theatre across the street to host concerts and have different artist come and play. Rapid City is a small com-munity and we support one another, which really helps. It’s a lot of work and none of this is easy, but you can’t expect to increase sales if you’re sitting behind a desk, waiting for customers to come in.”
Now you’ve heard everything.
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MMR_67 67 10/23/09 10:41:50 AM
68 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
HolidaybuyingguideSonaré Adds Special “K” Flute HeadjointAll Sonaré fl utes come standard with a hand-made, Powell Signature headjoint made of sterling silver. Effective immediately, all Sonaré models from the SF501 through the
SF705 will be available with the same Signa-ture headjoint, but with a rose gold plated lip plate and crown. This headjoint with gold plated lip plate and crown was previously available only on the Sonaré 707 model. The rose gold alloy used to plate this lip plate and crown is approximately 16K. Price for this option on all models is $100. www.sonarewinds.com
Lowrey’s A200 EncoreLowrey’s A200 Encore is the latest addition to it’s a Series of recreational music making instruments. Like its A-Series predecessors, the Encore is designed for the recreational
player. With hundreds of easy-to-use pre-sets and sounds, the Encore offers an array of styles and player-friendly features. This new model fi ts into the middle of the Low-rey product line up and is integrated with the Lowrey Magic class program. [email protected]
Hamilton Releases Grabbit Guitar StandThe Grabbit stand features a patent pend-ing grabbing mechanism at the top of the
stand that holds the neck of the guitar se-curely until the owner gently pushes the guitar neck back and instantly releases the guitar from the stand. The auto lock mechanism on a cradle stand enables the player to click and lock their instrument using only one hand.
The Grabbit stand has a retail price of [email protected]
The Forestone Clarinet ReedThe new Forestone clarinet reed was designed by Japanese musician Ittoku Kawai.
The reed is man-made and contains bamboo, and is said to produce an authentic sound, response, look, and feel. Ittoku Kawai claims the Forestone reed has the functional properties of cane and is consistent, does not degrade with use, and can withstand extreme tempera-tures, humidity, or altitude changes. All Forestone reeds are made with a mixture of polypropylene resin and cellulose wood fi ber, more than 50 percent of which is bamboo. www.forestone-japan.com
Omnibus Press’ Trust: Photographs of Jim MarshallOmnibus Press has released the new pho-to book from rock and roll photographer, Jim Marshall, entitled Trust: Photographs of Jim Marshall. In Trust, Marshall has documented the world’s greatest musi-cians since the late 50s. His style and approach gained him unlimited access to everyone from Miles Davis to Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin and The Who right up to recent sessions with Velvet Revolver. www.omnibuspress.com
Genz Benz’s Shuttle 9.0Developed from the Genz Benz’s Shuttle 6.0 platform, the new Shuttle 9.0 is a four pound amplifi er that offers the same sim-ple tube preamp features and layout, along
with headroom and responsive feel. The Shuttle 9.0 features a Class D amplifi er and SMPS module, enhanced with patent pend-ing P.H.A.T. (Proprietary Heat Abatement Technology) topology. The addition of the Shuttle 9.0 makes the entire Shuttle series a comprehensive, lightweight, amplifi er line available, offering a variety of power levels and preamp platforms for all applications. www.genzbenz.com
Red Brand’s Copper Bronze Acoustic StringsRed Brand Guitar Strings launches the fi rst brand of cop-per bronze acous-tic strings on the market. This new brand of acous-tic guitar strings promises more warmth and projection from the higher copper content material than phosphor bronze or 80/20 bronze materials.
Gauges and availability range from the custom light, light, and medium. Red Brand plans on expanding their gauges with 12 string and acoustic bass variants. The strings retail for $17.www.redguitarstrings.com
Batt-O-MeterBatt-O-Meter tellins musicians the re-maining hours of life in their batter-ies without removing them from their gear. Simply plug the Power Probe into a ¼“jack and the voltage and remain-ing hours fl ash on the LED screen. This tool also checks external 1.5V and 9V
batteries and can easily switch between alkaline, carbon-zinc, and rechargeable chemistries. The retail price is $34.95.www.batt-o-meter.com
MMR_68 68 10/23/09 10:42:14 AM
Over the last 20 years we have sought
to build the best pianos possible.
Today, Hailun Pianos are recognized among
the finest sounding, best engineered, and best
crafted instruments from the Far
East. With the help of leading
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ers, Frank Emerson
(U.S.A), Peter Veletzky (Austria),
Emma Shigeru (Japan), Stephen
Paulello (France), we are offering
you pianos that are truly amazing.
Hailun Piano Company is family run.Mrs. Hailun heads the HailunPiano operations and quality
control. Mr. Hailun leadsthe company internation-
ally, ensures constant tech-nological improvementsand close technologicalcooperation with leadingEuropean manufactur-ers. The Hailuns are bothgraduates of the PianoTechnology School in
Bejing. Hailun insists on the highestlevel of quality, integrity in product, andexcellence in service.
Mrs. Hailun Mr. Hailun
Hailun USAP. O. Box 1130Richland, WA 99352
877•946•8078www.hailun-pianos.com
Merchant Inquiries Welcome
I N T E G R I T Y –S E R V I C E – Q U A L I T Y
Full Ads_nov.indd 69 10/22/09 9:48:21 AM
70 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
HolidaybuyingguideLevy’s Jimi Hendrix Guitar StrapsUnder authorized license from Authentic Hendrix, Levy’s has printed and embroi-dered its soft leather guitar straps with the signature, image, and colorful style of legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. The
Hendrix strap designs are screen-printed on suede and sublimation-printed on polyester.www.levysleathers.com
A Complete History of Gibson Les Paul from Backbeat BooksBackbeat Books has released Tony Ba-con’s third edition of The Les Paul Gui-tar Book: A Complete History of Gibson Les Paul Guitars. This updated edition includes hundreds of full-color photos of nearly every make and model, from the fi rst prototypes to the models used by rock stars. Additionally there is a full reference section with detailed in-formation on variations and signature editions, every fi nish available, as well as a detailed chronology from the early 1950s through the present with dating and serial number information, neck, body, and fretboard specs, complete with detailed photos.www.halleaonard.comwww.musicdispatch.com
Acoustic & Digital Piano BuyerAcoustic & Digital Piano Buyer by Lar-ry Fine is now available for free on the Internet and as a print publication in bookstores and on the Web site. This advertising-sponsored guide will be published twice a year as a color-illus-trated hybrid consisting of a book and a magazine.
The book aspect consists of brief, but informative articles and tips on ba-sic piano-buying issues, such as what to look for when buying a new, used, or restored acoustic, digital, or player piano. The magazine aspect will feature rotating content consisting of manufac-turer profi les, spotlights on particular technologies and rebuild-ers, product reviews, and pricing infor-mation, which is updated each issue to adapt to mar-ket changes.
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To learn how you can make better margins on your brass products,contact a DANSR representative at 888-707-4455 or email us [email protected].
MMR_70 70 10/23/09 10:42:20 AM
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72 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
The pricing information is also available on the Web site in a free, searchable da-tabase, allowing dealers and consumers to compare acoustic piano brands and models. The book retails for $24.95.www.pianobuyer.com
GrooveTech String Cutters from CruzTOOLSCruzTOOLS have designed the GrooveTech String Cutters using a spe-cial induction heat treatment process, featuring blades that will slice through
guitar and bass strings without damaging cutting edges. A high-leverage handle design allows cut-ting with minimal effort, and vinyl grips provide a comfortable feel. At less than six inches long, GrooveTech String Cutters are compact enough to fi t into stor-age compartments of cases and gig bags. The retail price is $13.95.www.cruztools.com
ChopSaver Lip Care’s New Counter DisplayThe ChopSaver line of lip care products is now available in a new countertop POP dispenser. Easy to ship, store, and dis-
play, each box contains 24 individually bar coded units. The item numbers for the new 24-pack boxes are CHPR-24 for the Original ChopSaver, and CHPS-24 for ChopSaver Gold with SPF 15.www.chopsaver.com
Eastwood’s Limited Edition ’59 Custom AIRLINE Eastwood Guitars has released 24 copies of the AIRLINE ’59 Custom 3P DLX Lim-ited Edition guitar. Each of these collector editions come in the Electric Indigo color, has a unique serial number, and is loaded with features. The two Vintage Voiced Single Coil pickups frame an Alnico HOT-10 humbucker in the middle position.
The ’59 Custom series all have the distinctive white body binding, striped
Holidaybuyingguide
Cremona bowed instruments have set the pacefor the vibrant student and rental markets for over25 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 again been upgraded toinclude the new LaSalle LB-13 Octagonal Bow andthe TL-33 deluxe rectangular Travelite case.
Meeting the Needs of Studentsfor More Than 25 Years ...
Our Best-Selling SV-175 Cremona Violin!
SV-175
[800] BUY-SAGAwww.sagamusic.comDealer inquiries invited.
•Six sizes from 4⁄4 to 1⁄16
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•Rugged TL-33 Travelite case
•All-solid carved, graduated construction
•Well-balanced LaSalle LB-13 bow with ebony frog
Cremona SV-175 Violin Outfit:
$249Suggested Retail
MMR_72 72 10/23/09 10:42:26 AM
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74 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
pick guards, and include the AIR-LINE hard shell case and a certifi cate of authenticity. This new Limited Edi-
tion model is the fourth in a series sponsored by My Rare Guitars and are released periodically on their Web site and through their mailing list. www.myrareguitars.comwww.eastwoodguitars.com
SKB Expands Rolling Roto-RacksSKB’s Rolling Roto-Rack 8U model joins the 4U and 6U versions and is made to transport heavy remote recording and sound reinforcement equipment. The 1SKB-R8W offers secure protection with sturdy built-in wheels and pull-handle. The 8U features industrial grade steel threaded rack rails in front and back and full access rear lids. It is rotationally molded of high impact LLDPE Polyeth-ylene with heavy-duty in-line wheels for supporting heavy loads, and features a low-profi le injection molded telescoping cushion grip rubber over-molded pull-handle and cushioned carrying handle. Each lid has four SKB patented trigger latches, featuring TSA locks for air travel. Additionally, the SKB-R8W is stackable with the 4U and 6U as well as the 1SKB19-RSF4U Studio Flyer. The 1SKB-R8W Roll-
ing Roto-Rack is covered by SKB’s Million Mile Guaranty and retails for $229.99.www.skbcases.com
NXT Series Double Bass The NXT Series Double Bass was crafted in the Czech Republic by the makers of the CR Series and features a solid maple body and neck and graduated ebony fi n-
Holidaybuyingguide
HUNTER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS3300 Northern Blvd. Long Island City, NY 11101
(718)706-0828 FAX (718)706-0128www.huntermusical.com
QUALITY BAND INSTRUMENTSFROM HUNTER
Provide your customers with the highest quality instruments and the best possible price points. Hunter offers a full line
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MMR_74 74 10/23/09 10:42:31 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 75
gerboard. The adjustable bridge and truss rod are said to allow for low, fast action, or for higher string settings. The Bass is equipped with the Polar Pickup System. A switch allows selec-tion of the traditional arco mode for percus-sive and dynamic bowed response, or pizzicato mode. thinkns.com/instruments/nxtbass.php
Keystone Lithium Battery HoldersKeystone Electtronics’ 1/3N Lithium bat-tery holders for surface or through-hole mounting, are supplied with durable, heat resitant, UL 94V-0 rated Nylon housings for all soldering and refl ow op-
erations. The SMT version features gold-plated phosphor bronze contacts. The THM version incorporates tin-plated phosphor bronze contacts and the heat resistant Nylon housing. Both holders accept 1/3N 3-volt cell lithium batteries from major manufacturers.www.keyeleco.com
Hughes & Kettner’s COREBLADE AmpHughes & Kettner’s COREBLADE, a programmable all-tube guitar amp, delivers a 100 watts and features ex-clusive TSC tube management and the all-new IDB noise gate. COREBLADE is equipped with four channels, two of them voiced to offer completely differ-ent high-gain alternatives. Beyond that,
the amp sports a drive channel and a clean channel with plenty of headroom. COREBLADE features three effect mod-ules, covering a wide range of standards from authentic spring reverb to chorus and delay. As all effects are added using
our unique “Inversed Parallel Modula-tion“, the guitar signal always stays in the analog domain. The IDB (Intelligent Dual Breakpoint) noise gate simultane-ously measures the gain at the input jack and after the preamp, thus being able to
MMR_75 75 10/23/09 10:42:39 AM
76 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
react in any giv-en situation, be it as a tool for sound design on stage or as a noise suppres-sor in the stu-dio.The MC-412CL is a new 4x12“cabinet, es-pecially crafted
for COREBLADE. Oversized and made of even stronger wood, it is loaded with Celestion Classic Leads and handles 320 watts at 8 ohms.www.hughes-and-kettner.com
K&M Oboe StandK&M’s new Oboe stand features solid, zinc die-cast legs. The detachable legs retract into the peg for ease of transport with the instrument. Pricing is as fol-lows: dealer $17.08, list $37.95, and MAP $28.95.www.connollymusic.com
Taylor’s 35th Anniversary GuitarsTaylor Guitars 35th anniversary mod-els, the 12-fret XXXV-TF, and the parlor XXXV-P have been constructed in lim-ited quantities.
The XXXV-TF, a guitar named so for its 12 frets from the nut to the edge of the body, features a back and sides of AA-grade koa, an Engelmann spruce top, and a slotted headstock crowned with
ebony. The geometry of the neck, body, and bridge design in relation to each other translates into modern yet vintage tones. Other appointments include a bone nut and saddle, green heart abalone top trim, a single abalone rosette and a koa peghead backstrap.
The compact sized XXXV-P features a parlor body shape designed by Taylor’s Larry Breedlove, with a back and sides of Madagascar rosewood and a top of wide grain Sitka spruce. Like the XXXV-TF, the mahogany neck joins the body at the 12-fret, while an ebony-topped slotted peghead is complemented by a bone nut and saddle. Also featured are a three-ring green heart abalone rosette and abalone dotted ebony bridge pins along with parlor bracing and Taylor’s proprietary Expression System pickup. The XXXV-TF retails for $6,998 and the XXXV-P $5,998. www.taylorguitars.com
Meisel COM-80 TunerMeisel Accessories’ new clip-on instru-ment tuner features a large backlit LCD display and broad calibration range. The Meisel COM-80 chromatic tuner can tune any instrument, but has selectable calibration for guitar, bass, violin, and even ukulele. The calibration range ex-tends to A=410Hz.
While small in overall size, the COM-80 features a large and bright display that shows the target note and the calibration
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MMR_76 76 10/23/09 10:42:43 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 77
setting. When the note is in perfect tune, the dis-play changes from red to green, speeding up the
tuning process. The tuner has a swivel mount and a gel-padded clip that won’t
mar an instrument’s fi nish.
The COM-80 is light (1 oz., 27 g) and compact (2” x 1” x ¾”).
It is powered by one CR2032 3V coin-type battery (supplied). The retail price for the Meisel COM-80 is $34.95.www.meiselaccessories.com
Avid’s Oxygen Series KeyboardsAvid’s M-Audio Oxygen series is the fi rst USB MIDI keyboard controller to feature DirectLink, a control mode that instantly maps the Oxygen’s controls to a digital audio workstation (DAW), giving mu-sicians intuitive hands-on control over a session right from the keyboard. Re-designed with a fresh look for stage and studio use and available in 25-, 49- and 61-key models, the Oxygen keyboards can be used for laptop production, live performance, and professional studio applications.
The Oxygen series controllers feature full-size velocity-sensitive keys along with a complement of sliders, knobs, and buttons for tweaking and perform-ing with software instruments. With Di-rectLink, these same controls instantly map to a DAW’s mixer, pan, and trans-port functions, providing real time con-trol with a variety of DAWs including Pro Tools, Cubase, Reason, Logic, and Garageband. The Oxygen 25, 49, and 61 retail for $149.95, $189.95, and $249.95 respectively. www.avid.com
Acesonic’s DGX-210 Karaoke PlayerAcesonic’s DGX-210 is a full-function, multi-format karaoke player with the ability to record and convert CD+G for-mat to MP3+G without using a PC. The DGX-210 can play MP3+G format from a variety of mediums, including discs, fl ash drives, external hard drives, and SD cards. The MP3+G format is MP3 audio plus a graphics track to visually display the lyrics.
The DGX-210 is compatible with MP3, CD, VCD, CDG, MP3G, DVD fi les. Other features include professional karaoke mix-
er with echo volume adjustment, a singing scoring function, and two microphone in-puts. The DGX-210 is rack mountable and comes with a remote control, power control and RCA cable. The retail price is $109. www.acesonic.com
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Find it in the Hot News section of MMR’s Web site,
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MMR_77 77 10/23/09 10:42:49 AM
78 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
MACCAFERRI REEDSOur precision diamond cut reeds are made in the USA
from the nest imported cane.
FRENCH AMERICAN REEDS, INC.80 Mill Masters Drive Jackson, TN 38305
Phone: 731-664-5545 Fax: 731-664-8684www.frenchamericanreeds.comonline ordering: www.reedstore.com
— Hand Selected —
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For nearly eight years, the focus of Roger Greenberg and Alex Hsieh has been to cre-ate a saxophone with a vintage sound, modern intonation and key work, all at a reasonable price. P. Mauriat Saxophones are the product
of great passion for music and dedication to raising the bar in instrument manu-
facturing. Alex Hsieh, owner and CEO of
P. Mauriat Musical Instruments, has amassed a ne collection of vintage sax-
ophones and mouthpieces and a large library of saxophone liter-ature, all of which continue to grow. Roger Greenberg, owner
and CEO of MonteVerde Music,
North American Distributor of P. Mauriat, has been a pillar in the classical saxophone world through his extensive international performanc-es and leadership in saxophone education. A disciple of the late Joe Allard, Roger taught at the University of Northern Colorado for twen-ty-four years where he aided in the success of hundreds of saxophonists, many of which now hold prestigious positions all over the world. Alex and Roger met for the rst time in 2002 as student and teacher, and the product of this rela-tionship is a powerful new brand that has found success combining the best of the old with the best of the new.
After more than two years of setting up the P. Mauriat factory and re ning the rst P.
P. Mauriat Finds Success by Re-inventing “Vintage”
MMR_78 78 10/23/09 10:45:20 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 79
Mauriat prototype, Alex took a trip to Colorado in the summer of 2002 for a month of private saxophone study with Roger. This was the rst time Roger had seen a P. Mauriat saxo-phone. At rst, he was a bit skeptical of a Taiwanese brand, but nonetheless Roger recognized that it had potential. Roger’s lessons would often include discussions on what makes a good saxophone and his conclusion was, “Start with SOUND.” Alex was deter-mined to re ne his prototype with a focus on sound, all the while taking advantage of the modern innovations in ergonomics and intonation.
Fall 2002 marked Roger’s rst trip to Taiwan when he was invited by Alex to see the P. Mauriat facilities and meet the staff. Of course, sound was the dominating topic. According to Roger, P. Mauriat saxophones were to be hand crafted of the nest material with a priority on a sound reminiscent of the great vintage horns. He relayed to the P. Mauriat engineers that professional players have always favored older vin-tage instruments because of their rich and complex tones. Again, the P. Mau-riat factory worked tirelessly to pro-duce a revised prototype that included Roger’s suggestions, and just months after Roger’s return to Colorado it was ready for testing.
Alex orchestrated an airport handoff of this prototype in Taipei as Roger was en-route to Bangkok for a residence at the Mahidol University. Roger was so pleased with this saxophone that he used it on the nal recital of his 2-week residency. At this point he knew that these horns, with a little TLC, were go-ing to be a force on the market and after 30+ years of endorsing a major brand, he became the rst of cial P. Mauriat artist.
Since then, P. Mauriat has aimed to bridge the gap between modern in-novations in saxophone technology, and the rich, full sounds previously only found in the best vintage horns. In P. Mauriat saxophones, improved ergonomics and precise intonation have met vibrant sound and colorful tone. P. Mauriat and MonteVerde real-ize that the pursuit for the best instru-ment will never be over, so they sur-round themselves with the industry’s best players, technicians, engineers
and educators to achieve a constant forward motion in the development of their products.
The core of the P. Mauriat line in-cludes the Rolled Tone Hole Series and the System 76 Series.
Rolled Tone Hole SeriesUnlike other saxophone manufac-
turers, P. Mauriat genuine rolled tone hole saxophones have tone holes that are drawn and rolled from the body, not soldered. P. Mauriat is the only
P. Mauriat CEO Alex Hsieh and MonteVerde Music president Roger Greenberg
MMR_79 79 10/23/09 10:45:26 AM
80 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Half the weightof the original Shubb Capo!
707-843-4068
company in the world currently creat-ing saxophones using this very dif cult process. These horns are free-blow-ing across the entire range, and of-fer a huge, fat sound with a balanced mixture of overtones. Alto and tenor models are available in a standard gold lacquer, vintage dark lacquer and in unlacquered bare brass.
System 76The P. Mauriat System 76 horns are
created with straight tone holes and offer a slightly more focused sound than the rolled tone hole saxophones. They have a complex blend of over-tones creating a rich sound with great projection. They are available in so-prano, alto and tenor models and come
in standard gold lacquer or vintage dark lacquer.
New AdditionsP. Mauriat’s latest release, the PMT-
600G and PMT-600Y trumpets, were in the development stage for over three years. After a number of prototypes and improvements made at the sugges-tions of professional players and trum-pet professors around the globe, the line made its much anticipated and ex-tremely well received debut at the 2009 Winter NAMM show. These trumpets have a medium-large bore and produce the big, rich sound that is part of the P. Mauriat identity.
MonteVerde Music is very excited about the upcoming release of the “MonteVerde MV 180”, the rst in a new line of high quality student saxo-phones by P. Mauriat designed with many of the features of P. Mauriat’s professional models. The rich sound, precise intonation, and solid construc-tion of this saxophone will enable and encourage any student to push the lim-its of their musicality.
MMR_80 80 10/23/09 10:45:34 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 81
Audix Appoints New Distributor for Canada Audix Corporation has recently ap-pointed Mitek Canada to exclusively distribute the complete line of Audix microphones and powered speakers in Canada for the professional music, pro sound, broadcast, recording, and instal-lation markets.
Mitek Canada provides a wide range of products to all retailers across the country, from national chains to single store specialists to integrators.
For more information, visit www.audixusa.com.
Korg Promotion for nanoSERIES ControllersKorg USA has announced a new promo-tion for their nanoSERIES slim-line USB controllers. From October 1st through December 31st, 2009, anyone who pur-chases one each of the new nanoKEY, nanoPAD, and nanoKONTROL mod-els (available in black or white) from an
authorized Korg dealer in the USA can receive a free Korg nanoHUB and a free nanoBAG.
The nanoHUB is a 1 x 4 USB hub that al-lows multiple nanoSERIES controllers to be connected to a laptop or desktop computer simultaneously. The attractive, zippered nanoBAG with individual product slots pro-vides reliable protection and convenience when transporting multiple nanoKON-TROL, nanoKEY or nanoPAD controllers.
Additional details and a download-able rebate coupon can be found at www.korg.com/promo.
Fishman Teams with Sam Ash for NYC ClinicFishman and Sam Ash hosted “Sam Ash Music Presents an Evening with Legendary Acoustic Amplification
Guru Larry Fishman” on October 2nd at the music retailers storefront on West 48th Street in Manhattan. This clinic/raff le featured the Fish-man founder sharing a lifetime of knowledge about amplifying acoustic instruments, and presenting the new Fishman Aura Spectrum DI.
To fi nd out more, visit www.fi shman.com.
NAMM’s SupportMusic Commendation at IMC’s Musical Rights AwardsNAMM recently received a special com-mendation for the efforts of its Support-Music Coalition at the inaugural Inter-national Music Council’s (IMC) Musical Rights Awards held during IMC’s World Forum on Music.
Accepting the award on behalf of the Coalition was Gary Ingle, CEO of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), an affi liate of the Support-Music Coalition and long-time music education and music-making advocate.The SupportMusic Coalition is a pub-
lic service led by U.S.-based NAMM and MENC: The National Associa-tion for Music Education, that seeks to strengthen community commitment and support for quality music education in schools.
For more information, visit www.namm.org.
The Professional Drum Shop & Mitchell Peters PublicationsThe Professional Drum Shop, celebrat-ing its 50 years in business,has acquired Mitchell Peters Publications. Percussion-ist Mitchell Peters has over 65 publica-tions in his library and is known for his mallet pieces and method books. Mitch-ell Peters, formally principle timpanist and percussionist with the Los Ange-les Philharmonic since 1969 retiring in 2006, is currently Professor of Percussion at UCLA.
For more information, visit www.pro-drumshop.com.
Martin Verdonk Joins Tycoon PercussionTycoon Percussion has added world per-cussionist Martin Verdonk to its ros-ter of artists/endorsers. Beyond developing new concepts and techniques, Martin has also collaborated with Tycoon to develop several new instru-ments that have recently been added to Ty-coon’s world per-cussion collec-tion. Among the Martin Verdonk Signature Series of personal percus-sion instruments are the Easy-Shake and Swing-Shake shakers as well as the studio-style Las Vegas tam-bourines.
For complete information about Mar-tin Verdonk and these new additions, visit www.tycoonpercussion.com.
Larry Fishman & Corey Congilio
Supplierscene
MMR_81 81 10/23/09 10:45:41 AM
82 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Business Opportunities
Classifi eds
Classifi ed AdvertisingTo place an ad, please call Maureen
at 800-964-5150 x34or email
Payment by:Visa, MC, Amex or Check
Classifi eds must be paid in advance.
Symphony Publishing21 Highland Circle, Suite 1
Needham, MA 02494 Fax: (781) 453-9389
• 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
800-964-5150 ext. [email protected]
For Classifi ed Sales Call Maureen
For Classified Sales Call Maureen • 800-964-5150 ext. 34 • [email protected]
Business Opportunities
We Help People Make MusicMusic Store Wanted
If you have a successful single or multi-location music store you would
like to sell please contact us. Flexible terms offered.
Send inquires [email protected]
or by phone at 510-584-6839
MMR_82 82 10/23/09 10:44:17 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 83
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Business Opportunities
Dealers Wanted For Sale
Music Store Owner RetiringHigh traf c area, very successful.
We are a full line music store,10,000 sq. ft. free standing building,
Band instrument rental program14 lesson rooms with over 400 students
major lines guitars, drums and accessories,Established 21 years, includes
tuning business, piano moving withtruck and band and instrument repair dept.
Can be subdivided: 4,000 sq. ft. and 6,000 sq. ft.
Call 631 495-3223New Yorkwww.mmrmagazine.com
MMR_83 83 10/23/09 10:44:24 AM
84 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
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Help WantedFor Sale
For Classified Sales Call Maureen 800-964-5150 ext. 34 • [email protected]
Merchandise
MUSIC SCHOOL/STORE for SALE(in operation since 1986)
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operation can be sold separately
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE 2009Recognized as HOUSTON’S BEST by the US Commerce Association
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HARD SHELL PLASTIC CASESFlute $9.00, Piccolo $6.00
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MMR_84 84 10/23/09 10:44:29 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 85
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Find it in the Hot News section of MMR’s Web site,
BreakingNews
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Merchandise
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Oboes & BassoonsWe create the fi nest hand-crafted Oboes
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MMR_85 85 10/23/09 10:44:36 AM
86 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
MiscellaneousBAND INSTRUMENT REPAIR VIDEO
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brass and woodwind instruments. For information write to:
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check www.mmrmagazine.com for daily updates!
BOW REHAIRING
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IRA B. KRAEMER & Co.Wholesale Services Division
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Tel: 908-322-4469 Fax: 908 322-8613 e mail: [email protected]
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Position WantedFretted Instrument Specialist
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MMR_86 86 10/23/09 10:44:41 AM
NOVEMBER 2009 MMR 87
800-964-5150 ext. [email protected]
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Vintage Instruments
SHIPPING YOUR PIANOwith Lone Wolf Trucking
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www.mmrmagazine.com
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Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.comPUBLISHER’S STATEMENT1. Publication Title: Musical Merchandise Review. 2. Publication No.: 0027-4615. 3. Filing Date 10/5/09. 4. Issue Frequency: Monthly. 5. No. of Issues Published Annually: 12. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $32. 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Offi ce of Publication: Musical Merchandise Review, 21 Highland Circle Ste. One, Needham, Norfolk, MA 02494. 8. Complete Mailing Address of the Headquarters or General Business Offi ce of the Publisher: (Same as #7). 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher: Sidney L. Davis, 21 Highland Circle Ste. One, Needham, Norfolk, MA 02494; Editor: Christian Wissmuller, 21 Highland Circle Ste. One, Needham, Norfolk, MA 02494; Managing Editor: None. 10. Owner (If owned by a corpo-ration, its name and address must be stated and also immediately thereafter the names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of stock): Zapis Capital Group, LLC; Leon Zapis, 26202 Detroit Rd. Ste. 300, Westlake, OH 44145; Xenophon Zapis, 26202 Detroit Rd. Ste. 300, Westlake, OH 44145; Richard Bongorno, 26202 Detroit Rd. Ste. 300, Westlake, OH 44145; Maria Wymer, 26202 Detroit Rd. Ste. 300, Westlake, OH 44145; Donna Thomas, 26202 Detroit Rd. Ste. 300, Westlake, OH 44145; Renee Seybert, 26202 Detroit Rd. Ste. 300, Westlake, OH 44145.: 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgages, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None. 12. (For Nonprofi t Organizations - Does Not Apply) 13. Publication Name: Musical Merchandise Review. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: October 2009 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation. Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months/Actual No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date:a. Total No. Copies : 11,295/10,918b. Legitimate paid and/or requested distribution:(1) Paid/ Requested Outside-County Mail Subscriptions:. 6,746/6,691(2) Paid/Requested In-County Subscriptions:.0/0(3) Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, and counter sales:.0/0(4) Requested copies distributed by other USPS mail classes:.0/0c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation:. 6,746/6,691d. Nonrequested distribution:(1). Outside county nonrequested copies:.3,846/3,902(2) In County nonrequested copies:. 0/0(3) Nonrequested copies distributed through other USPS mail classes:0/0(4). Nonrequested copies distributed outside the mail: 536/170e. Total nonrequested distribution:. 4,382/4,072f. Total Distribution:11,128/10,763g. Copies not distributed:167/155h. Total: 11,295/10,918i: Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 61%/62%16. This Statement of Ownership will be printed in the November 2009 issue of this publication.17. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions and/or civil sanctions. Sidney L. Davis, Publisher
MMR_87 87 10/23/09 10:44:47 AM
Adindex
88 MMR NOVEMBER 2009
COMPANY NAME E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS PAGE COMPANY NAME E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS PAGE
AA.I.M. Gifts/Albert Elovitz In www.aimgifts.com 28Ace Karaoke/Acesonic USA www.acekaraoke.com 11Acoustics First Corp. www.acousticsfi rst.com 33Al Cass 80Alfred Music Publishing www.alfred.com/dealer 71Alfred Music Publishing www.alfred.com/dealer 35Allparts www.allparts.com 76Amedia Cymbals USA www.amediacymbals.com 48America Longxing Inc. www.huntermusical.com 74American Way Marketing LLC [email protected] 20Anderson Silver Plating 63Antigua Winds, Inc. www.antiguawinds.com 34
B/CBattlefi eld Drums www.battlefi elddrums.com 47Bedell Guitars www.bedellguitars.com 3Connolly & Co. www.thomastik-infeld.com 52Creative Bags and Cases Ltd www.madarozzo.com; 22-23
www.hoyerguitars.com
DDirect Sound Headphones www.extremeheadphones.com 33Dunlop Manufacturing Inc. www.jimdunlop.com 14
E/FEastwood Guitars www.eastwoodguitars.com 78Eleca International www.eleca.com 74Fishman Transducers, Inc. www.fi shman.com 67French American Reed Mfg. Co. www.frenchamericanreeds.com 78
G/HGood for the Goose Products www.chopsaver.com 12Great Divide Guitars www.greatdivideguitars.com 5Hailun USA www.hailun-pianos.com 69Holz LTD www.holzinyourhead.com 76
J/KJack Rabbit Music www.JackrabbitMusic.com 63Keith McMillen Instruments www.keithmcmillen.com 62Kyser Musical Products Inc. www.kysermusical.com 75
M/NMonteVerde Music www.monteverdemusic.com 79The Music People www.musicpeopleinc.com 13NAMM www.namm.com 16-17National Educational Music Co. www.nemc.com 73
OOhana Music www.ohana-music.com 80OnBoard Research Corp. www.tuners.com 59
Optek Music Systems www.fretlight.com 31
PP & D Wholesale www.PDWholesale.net 76Palmerino Music www.palmerinomusic.com 29Paul Shelden Global Productions [email protected] 63Pedal Stop www.pedalstop.com 12Percusion Marketing Council www.playdrums.com 49Peterson Strobe Tuners www.petersontuners.com 57Pro-Mark Corp. www.promark.com 39
Q/RQMP Sales www.qmpsales.com 40Real de los Reyes www.realdelosreyes.com 14Remo www.remo.com 47Reunion Blues www.reunionblues.com 21Roland Corp. U.S. www.rolandUS.com 7
SSabian Ltd. www.sabian.com 27Saga Musical Instruments www.sagamusic.com 72Samson Technologies Corp. www.samsontech.com 1Schilke Music Products www.schilkemusic.com 60SHS International www.shsint.net 59Shubb Capos www.shubb.com 80SKB Corp. www.skbcases.com 29Super-Sensitive Musical String Co. www.cavanaughcompany.com 65Supernatural Percussion Inc www.supernaturalcymbals.com 46Swirly Gig Industries www.swirlygig.com 40
T/UTKL Products Corp. www.tkl.com cov 2ToneGear www.theStringCleaner.com 62Tycoon Percussion www.tycoonpercussion.com 42U.S. Band & Orchestra Supplies www.usbandsupplies.com 9
V/WVandoren www.dansr.com 70Vandoren www.dansr.com 30Vandoren www.dansr.com 10Vater Percussion www.vater.com 43Vic Firth, Inc. www.VicFirth.com 37Vic Firth, Inc. www.VicFirth.com 41Visual Sound LLC www.visualsound.net cov 4Wyman Piano Company www.wymanpiano.com 77
X/Y/ZXcel Drumsticks www.xceldrumsticks.com 48Yamaha Corp. of America www.yamaha.com 53Avedis Zildjian Co. www.zildjian.com 15
Ad Index November.indd 88 10/26/09 3:22:39 PM
JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK
www.JazzEdNet.org For complete membership information/benefits please visit us at: www.JazzEdNet.org
Who we are: students, teachers, directors, musicians, composers, authors, fans, media, industry...WE are YOU!
lead the transformation of the jazz education culture
TheJazz Education Networkis dedicated to building the jazz arts community by advancing education,
promoting performance, and developing new audiences.
The Jazz Education Network was founded in the spirit of collaboration and excellence.
Our goal is to be a vital resource for a constantly evolving art form that lives globally.
Full IndividualMembership(18 and up) - $50
eJENMembership Levels:
(18 and up) - ($35/25)
Partner Membership Levels:
Festival/Event- $100Institutional - $300 • Corporate - $500
Affiliate - $25 Annual Fee + $10 per person/member
17 and under categories to be launched soon!
Please check the web site for updates.
MMR_COV3 COV3 10/22/09 9:38:33 AM
