mmr october 2008
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MMr October 2008TRANSCRIPT
w w w . m m r m a g a z i n e . c o m O c t o b e r 2 0 0 8
UpFront Q&A: Fred Gretsch III
Show Report: MIAC
Industry
Fad?orBoon
MMR_COV1 COV1 9/26/08 12:31:06 PM
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MMR_COV2 COV2 9/25/08 5:03:16 PM
2 MMR OCTOBER 2008
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 ©2008 by Symphony Publishing, LLC, all rights reserved. Printed in USA.
OCTOBER 2008 VOL.167 NO. 10 Contents34 Upfront Q&A: Fred Gretsch III
MMR chats with The Gretsch Company’s president and CEO about the brand’s 125th anniversary.
40 Guest Editorial: Simulated Instrument Playing Video Games
Gary Gand of Northfi eld, Illinois’ Gand Music and Sound chimes in on the ef-fects of Guitar Hero and Rock Band on the MI trade.
44 Best of the Blog: Filling a VoidMMR publisher Sidney Davis offers his thoughts on the benefi ts of creative retailing.
46 Spotlight: Guitar Hero & Rock Band – MI Boon or Irrelevant Fad?
One of today’s most signifi cant cultural phenomena, Guitar Hero and Rock Band have created a subculture populated by millions upon millions of “fake” musicians. Is it possible to transform these gamers into actual, instrument/gear-purchasing music makers? We speak with MI retailers and suppliers to get their thoughts on the potential benefi t of music simulating video games.
62 So You Wanna Be a Rock n Roll StarMMR talks with Daniel Sussman of Harmonix Music Systems, developers of the fi rst Guitar Hero games and the group behind the current Rock Band series.
64 Survey: Guitar Hero/Rock Band – An Industry Divided
74 Show Report: MIACMMR summarizes the events at the recent MIAC/PAL show in Toronto.
86 K&M Stands: German Quality, Earth Friendly
90 Fretted: DBZ Guitars
92 Retail: Anthem MusicAnthem Music Group is offering retailers an opportunity to access high margin China-made instruments.
www.MMRmagazine.com
Cover design by Laurie Chesna
34
62
4 Editorial 6 Upfront 26 People 30 Letters
96 Supplier Scene 105 Classifi eds 112 Advertisers’ Index
Departments
MMR_2 2 9/26/08 2:11:41 PM
StudioDock™
©2008 Samson. iPod not included with StudioDock. StudioDock requires iPod with dock connector. StudioDock is a registered trademark of Samson Technologies. iPod is a trademark of Apple Inc.
samsontech.com/studiodock
Samson’s New USB Monitors.With StudioDock’s USB capability, you’ll hear incredibly clear digital audio from your computer. And the onboard iPod dock let’s you sync, charge and play your music.
StudioDock. The ultimate in convenience and performance.
StudioDock makes the perfect holiday gift for every musician on your list.
MMR_3 3 9/25/08 5:03:49 PM
Editorial
4 MMR OCTOBER 2008
PUBLISHERSidney L. Davis
EDITORChristian Wissmuller
MANAGING EDITORKevin M. Mitchell
ASSOCIATE EDITORDenyce Neilson
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERRick Kessel
STAFF WRITEREliahu Sussman
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 167, Number 10, October 2008
®
Well, not really. Not at all, in fact, but we (The Acro-brats) have sold a bunch of CDs down there and each fi scal quarter the ‘Brats earn a couple hundred bucks via digital downloads in Brazil, Columbia, Peru, et cetera – never having played
a single South American show and having received minimal (if, indeed, any) radio or television airplay.
I don’t mention all of this purely as a self-indulgent exercise in ego stroking (though I’m enjoying that element of it). Why would The Acro-brats – one of… forty or so other rock/punk/garage bands in Boston who play to roughly the same size crowds, in the same urine-soaked dive bars – be getting any attention outside of the area? In addition to the ‘Brats, I’m in three of the aforementioned “other” similar local bands and nobody from Ecuador sends me e-mails asking about those groups, so it seems to have little to do with me. Nope, it’s not the stellar songcraft, my nimble fretwork, the band’s unfl inching com-mitment to bold fashion choices, or our impeccable personal hygiene. The Acro-brats have songs featured in the fi rst two Guitar Hero games and Rock Band. That’s all.
This whole pretending-to-be-playing-an-instrument-while-actually-standing-around-in-front-of-a-television-with-a-ridiculous-tiny-plastic-guitar-strapped-across-your-neck thing may’ve initially struck me as kind of stupid, but as chance would have it, I was (peripherally. Very peripherally) “involved” with the projects responsible for launching the current music simulating games phenomenon. In addition to landing some of The Acro-brats’ songs in three of these astoundingly successful games, Daniel Sussman of Harmonix Music Systems (see interview on page 62) also asked me to do some copywriting for the fi rst two Guitar Heroreleases.
I should fess up that my connection to these games doesn’t speak to any particular skill or positive character trait of mine: Daniel and I have been friends and frequent bandmates (and, for a long time, roommates) since high school. Additionally, he’s the older brother of Symphony Publishing’s very own Eliahu Sussman – who, himself, is also in The Acro-brats (drums) with Daniel (guitar) and myself (guitar, vocals). There’s also a bassist, but he doesn’t work at either Symphony Publishing or Harmonix. Oh, but he did used to work at Harmonix. Confusing? A little, yes.
ANYway… The same passion for these games which drives kids in Venezuela (and all over the world
– no joke!) to hop on iTunes and purchase a ‘Brats mp3 could maybe serve as a catalyst for more motion in the MI trade. If a Guitar Hero enthusiast enjoys “playing” a fake guitar or if a Rock Band fan digs sitting behind that game’s not-entirely-fake drumkit peripheral, maybe those same folks might consider dragging themselves into a music store to try out the real things. That’s the thinking of some, anyway – and the topic of industry-wide debate. As you’ll see in this month’s survey (see page 64), almost as many retailers view these games as being non-factors, or even negative infl uences, as there are those who view Rock Band and Guitar Hero as tools for increasing sales and creating more music makers.
I can’t pretend to know “the answer” as to what role, if any, music simulating video games could or should play in actual MI retailing or music education. I do know that Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and the subculture they’ve created have powerful infl uence over the purchasing habits of vast numbers of consumers.
For now, the only downside of this whole music videogame mania for me is that The Acro-brats didn’t fi nish our new CD in time to be included in Rock Band 2…
My Band is Huge in South America…
MMR_4 4 9/25/08 4:40:07 PM
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MMR_5 5 9/25/08 5:03:59 PM
UpfrontRetailers, Pro-Mark Recover from Hurricane IkeTexas is now beginning the recovery pro-cess from Hurricane Ike, the devastating storm which has left 50 people dead and interrupted services across the region. As we went to press, MMR checked in with as many MI retailers as we could to see how they were doing. Only retailers in Houston could be reached – as one Houston store-owner put it, “Galveston is buried. People lost everything and they are only allowed back into Galveston for a couple of hours a day to assess the damage to their prop-erty. To make matters worse, there is only one road in.” Houston sustained less dam-age than Galveston, but the effects of this monster of a storm were far-reaching.
Despite the massive size and strength of this hurricane, all Pro-Mark employ-ees are safe and the company was able to open its doors for business on Wednes-day, September 17th.
“We were fortunate in that the offi ce sustained no damage at all,” reports Pro-Mark’s Pat Brown. “We were down for two and a half days only because we had not phones or power. Most of the staff suffered various degrees of personal property dam-age, but none too serious, and no physical injuries. But 1.2 million people are still without power and some of our people are among them, so that remains a challenge. Compared to the folks in Galveston, how-ever, we were incredibly lucky.
“Thanks to all of our friends who have been calling and e-mailing to express their concern and extend a helping hand. It means a lot to all of us here!”
To ask for hurricane-related updates from NAMM, contact Melanie Ripley at [email protected] or call (800) 767-6266.
For the MI retailers we did reach, it seems the damage could have been worse.
Jimmy Duncan, owner of Southpaw Gui-tars says, “The electricity is out. The store suffered no physical damage, but our sign, a 40’ x 10’ which is 40’ off the ground, was spinning like a 78 rpm record. Lehman Bros. and AIG are down, but not South-paw. We will get back on our feet.”
“Our store was closed for seven days and we re-opened yesterday,” says Texas Music Emporium owner, Jim Cappiello. “We did okay here at the store, with all of our stock being secured. It was pretty bad though – the worst storm I’ve ever seen.”
The Argos Soditic group has signed an agreement with the Steinway group for the purchase of the factory where Leblanc clarinet were formerly made. The factory is located in La Couture Boussey, in the Department of Eure region of France. This factory will now produce wind instruments for students under the brand name Buffet Crampon. This factory will now produce wind instruments for students under the brand name Buffet Crampon. The chairman of the company is Antoine Beaussant, chairman of the board of directors of Buffet Crampon.
The factory currently employs 35, and additional personnel will likely be added in the near future to meet new produc-tion needs. A considerable investment plan is also on the horizon.
The Buffet Crampon Group contin-ues to pursue its strategy of development through acquisitions. In 2006, the pur-chase of Besson and Antoine Courtois al-lowed it to expand its activity to include
brass instruments, and to extend its range by launching over 30 new instru-ments. The purchase of this production unit, manufacturing student clarinets, bolstered the company’s strategy of au-tonomy three years ago.
The Manufacture d’Instruments de la Couture allows the Buffet Crampon Group to pursue its industrial indepen-dence while increasing its production capacity for students’ instruments. The primary factory in Mantes will continue to produce professional level instruments, notably clarinets and oboes. “This new in-vestment in the musical instruments sec-tor refl ects our commitment to building solid companies in this sector, companies which combine centuries-old know-how and growth,” says Louis Godron, prin-ciple shareholder of Argos-Soditic.
Created in 1989, Argos Soditic is an inde-pendent European capital investment group established in Paris, Geneva and Milan.
6 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Best Buy Net Drops 19 PercentOn September 16th Best Buy said that its second-quarter profi t fell a worse-than-expected 19 percent, hurt by increased spending and sales of less profi table items such as note-book computers and video game consoles. The company affi rmed its full-year profi t forecast but said sec-ond-half sales growth is expected to slow from the fi rst half with the end of the stimulus checks and macro economic concerns.
Best Buy shares fell 4.6 percent in the wake of the news.
The main reason is the recent purchase of Napster, the digital mu-sic provider, for $54 million. This will allow Best Buy access to 700,000 subscribers allowing them to expand their online music distribution. Other reasons include expanding into music instruments; preparing the organiza-tion’s fi rst stores in Mexico and Tur-key; adding in-store shops for Apple Inc.; and expanding its Best Buy Mo-bile, which sells cell phones and other wireless services to Canada.
“We have some work to do in terms of managing our expenses amid a challenging macro economic envi-ronment,” says Brad Anderson, chief executive of Best Buy.
Buffet Crampon Purchases Old LeBlanc Clarinet Factory
MMR_6 6 9/25/08 4:41:15 PM
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MMR_7 7 9/25/08 5:04:08 PM
UpfrontHartke HyDrive on the Road with Nate Watts and Stevie WonderThe release of HyDrive perfectly coin-cided with bassist Nate Watts tour with Stevie Wonder.
Nate Watts’ has spent over three de-cades as the foundation of Stevie Won-der’s rhythm section. In fact, for the last 12 years Nate has acted as Stevie’s music director, a role that puts him in charge of picking the band’s musicians and organizing the rehearsal schedule. As a Hartke artist for many years, Nate was involved in the development of Hy-Drive products and was excited to give them one of their first legitimate road tests.
On Stevie Wonder’s “A Time 2 Love” tour, Nate uses a HyDrive HX410 and
HX115 cabinet with a Hartke LH1000 bass amplifi er. Because HyDrive fuses paper and aluminum cones to provide both the warm tone of traditional pa-per and the punchy attack of aluminum,
Watt’s rig provides the best of both worlds: incredible power and excep-tional tone.
“Nate Watts is one-of-a-kind in so many ways,” says Scott Goodman, president of Samson Technologies. “His unique style of playing has been a big part of Stevie Wonder’s sound for over 30 years. He’s a very important person to our artist program and to me personally. Our friendship is a blessing.”
From L to R: Ian Goodman, Nate Watts, Adrienne and Mark Menghi, Scott Goodman
Parker Teams with Ntl. Guitar Workshop
From L to R: Ian Goodman, Stevie Wonder, Scott Goodman
This summer, Parker teamed up with the National Guitar Workshop at their annual Rock Summits. Parker donated an assortment of import and USA made guitars for the Rock Summit Shred-Off Competitions. Some models included the Parker Fly Classic and the Parker P42.
The Rock Summit’s Shred-Off Competi-tion had expanded to the Los Angeles, New Milford, Seattle, and McLean campuses with the help of Parker. The winner of the Shred-Off Competition received a brand new Parker. Rock Summit students were judged on technique, originality, tone, and
stage performance. The winner was present-ed by Parker endorsers, Dave Martone and James Hogan with a Parker guitar.
The Parker Fly Classic is a one-piece mahogany body with reinforced basswood neck delivers extra power for a fabulous mid-range and incredible low-end re-sponse. Combined with Parker engineer-ing and our custom electronics, it’s a favor-ite for creamy crunch and warmer tones. The Parker P42 is a solid mahogany body and maple bolt-on neck, the P-42 screams with lightening fast response and a sweet, full mid-range and singing upper register.
Custom wound Parker Stinger Pickups de-liver plenty of sustain and grind while the coil tap gives you single-coil tones.
For more information on Randall Amplifi ers and Washburn Guitars visit www.usmusiccorp.com
8 MMR OCTOBER 2008
After 26 years in business, Durham, N.C.’s Music Loft shut its doors permanently in late August, reported the Herald Sun. The MI store carried guitars, percussion, and sound systems. The 6,000-square-foot outlet was once part of a regional chain, and there are still three other Music Loft stores, each independently owned and unaffected by this store’s closing.
“I’m just shocked,” local musician Tim Fluet told the paper. He had stopped
by the store on Wednesday only to fi nd it locked, with a note on the door. “You just miss the hometown music store. Can’t believe it, man.”
The Music Loft was opened by Jay Miller in the early 1980s as a tiny, 250-square-foot store. Miller sold the business to Tony Wrenn in 2000 but retained ownership of the build-ing. “For musicians, this was like the general store 100 years ago, like sit-
ting around the pickle barrel,” Miller said.
Miller said the Music Loft probably was hurt by a proliferation of Internet sales sites and market encroachment by the Guitar Center that has gone up near-by. One local patron said that one of the problems was that the Music Loft never established an online store to increase its business, and the store never found a niche market.
Durham’s Music Loft Closes
MMR_8 8 9/25/08 4:41:19 PM
UpfrontNAMM will now prohibit visitors un-der the age of 16 from attending the shows. Any visitors from the trade/in-dustry under the age of 16 may only attend NAMM trade shows if they are employees or endorsed artists as veri-fied by an active NAMM Member com-pany. According to NAMM’s recent annual surveys, decreasing the number of visitors on the show f loor is a top Member concern due to the congestion and additional noise level on the show f loor.
NAMM Foundation also announced that its 2009 Request for Grant Pro-posals initiative is now open at www.nammfoundation.org. The Foundation
NAMM Announces Trade Show Policy Change, Grants
On September 16, Kaman hosted an event introducing the new Ovation iDea guitar – “the fi rst and only guitar of its kind,” featuring a built-in MP3 record-er/player. The digital recorder is part of the on-board Ovation preamp. The pat-ented technology makes possible a list of features never before available on any guitar – acoustic or electric.
With the iDea, players who write on guitar will have an instantly accessible high-quality digital recorder with them wherever they go. The simple and di-rect recording control makes it easy to record entire songs or fragments, even vocals and commentary.
The iDea can record from the gui-tar alone, simultaneously from the guitar and built-in microphone, and from an auxiliary input. Any audio signal fed into the auxiliary input is converted to an MP3 file and stored in the iDea memory. The iDea is also a learning tool, with audio lessons pre-installed in the memory. Addi-tional lessons from iDea educational partner, WorkshopLive.com, will be available via download. Guitarists who enjoy jamming will appreciate that several “Jam Tracks” are pre-in-stalled in the instrument, and others are available online.
Downloading fi les from a computer or the Internet is easy via USB. Files in the iDea can be moved, renamed, de-leted and rearranged right on the com-puter desktop. Mixes from recording software, rhythm tracks, even songs the player wants to learn can be download-ed and played either through the guitar output or headphones.
The iDea ships the fi rst week of No-vember.
For more information, visit www.ovationidea.com or www.ovationguitars.com.
10 MMR OCTOBER 2008
seeks to fund proposals for projects that further the music products industry’s mission of creating more active music makers of all ages and expanding access to music making.
Through program grants, the Foun-dation seeks to motivate and inspire in-novative music-learning programs for people of all ages and to support new knowledge about active participation in music making. Last year’s program grants were awarded to 21 organizations for a total of $627,400 in grant funds. The Foundation also seeks proposals for research that expands knowledge about
the effects of music making across the lifespan through three programs. Since its commitment to research funding a decade ago, NAMM has provided more than $3 million in music research fund-ing that has expanded knowledge about the benefi ts of learning and making mu-sic.
For more detailed information about the programs that the NAMM Founda-tion’s initiatives support, and for funding guidelines and details about submitting a grant request, visit www.nammfounda-tion.org/Grants/guidelines.html or e-mail [email protected].
iDea from OvationChesbro Distributing Elueke Solid-body Electric UkulelesRelieving unmet demand, Chesbro Music Co. began supplying U.S. music dealers
with Eleuke solid-body electric uku-
leles earlier this year. “We jumped at the chance to distribute Eleuke products. Their unique approach has generated in-terest in all types of musicians, ukulele players or not,” says Ben Parker, director of Product Development at Chesbro Mu-sic.
The Eleuke features an under-saddle piezo pickup, a ¼” jack for a PA or an amp, volume and tone knobs, and a headphone jack for private playing. When unplugged it is whisper-quiet, but with the help of an amp and your choice of effects pedals it is capable of screaming in volumes and tones associ-ated with the infamous electric guitar.
Eleukes are available in Soprano, Concert, and Tenor sizes. Models available in Mahog-any, Sonokelin, Tiger Maple, Birdseye, and Rosewood. Each Eleuke includes a gig bag and headphones. Pricing starts at $199. For more information contact Chesbro Music Co. representatives at (800) 243-7276.
MMR_10 10 9/25/08 4:41:24 PM
Upfront
Music & Arts ExpandsMusic & Arts has expanded its presence in Texas by opening fi ve new stores in the past 12 months and moving into a new 17,000 square foot distribution facility in Dallas County.
The new stores in Allen, Arlington, Frisco and Hurst in suburban Dallas and Webster, in suburban Houston bring the company’s total store count in Texas to 11. In addition to its stores,
Music & Arts serves the educational community with 12 Ed Reps calling on Texas schools and extends its rental reach with a network of 32 affiliates statewide.
The new Dallas warehouse, which opened in July 2008, can hold up to 20,000 instruments at a time and also serves as a refurbishment location for instruments returned in Texas and
other markets in the Music & Arts chain including Arizona, Nevada and Colorado.
Music & Arts has also expanded its operations in the Boston area. In March 2008, its distribution facility was moved from the former Coffey Music location to a new 8,750 square foot facility to Wal-pole, Mass., which is 45 minutes outside of Boston.
Hal Leonard Corporation has signed a distribution deal with Glen Allen, Vir-ginia-based Hohner USA Inc. Under the terms of the agreement – negotiated by Hal Leonard Senior VP of Sales Doug Lady and Hohner USA president Clay Edwards – Hal Leonard will distribute Hohner harmonicas in unique packaging to its customer base.
Comments Lady, “Hohner is the gold standard for harmonicas, and we are proud to add this venerable line to our
offerings. We know our retailers will ap-preciate the convenient new packaging, and being able to include these outstand-ing instruments in their regular Hal Leonard orders.”
The Hohner family of brands and in-struments also includes highly regarded accordions, acoustic and electric guitars, banjos, mandolins, Lanikai brand ukule-les, Sonor Drums, and Hohner Kids.
For more information or to place an order for Hohner harmonicas from Hal
Leonard Corporation, please call the E-Z Order Line at (800) 554-0626, send a message to [email protected], or visit www.halleonard.com/dealers.
12 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Zildjian Armand Series Sweepstakes Winners
In August, Armand Series Sweepstakes winners Mark Garrett, Jeremy Goen, and Ryan Lease traveled to the Zildjian factory in Norwell, Mass. to select a set of cym-bals from the Zildjian cymbal vault. They were assisted and advised by drumming legend and Zildjian artist, Simon Phillips.
From Left to Right: Gabriel Goen, Jeremy Goen, Craigie Zildjian, Kerry Grasso, Mark Garrett, Hannah Lease, Carol Lease, Ryan Lease, Dan Dumas, and Simon and Debbie Phillips.
Hal Leonard to Distribute Hohner Harmonicas
The gentleman on the far right of the photo that appeared on page 86 of the September issue of MMR is Arnold Habig, the found-er of Kimball International and former owner of Bösendorfer.
CORRECTION
MMR_12 12 9/25/08 4:41:29 PM
UpfrontHohner & Bob Dylan Announce Historic Collaboration
14 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Hohner has manufactured and distrib-uted musical instruments since 1857, making it one of the world’s oldest musi-cal instrument makers. From their com-pany headquarters in Glen Allen, Va., Hohner Inc. has been a key player in the US market in harmonicas and accordions throughout the past century. “Since the beginning of 2007, Hohner has enjoyed a marketing resurgence and a return to solid profi table growth” says Scott Em-merman, Hohner’s director of Marketing and Sales. Scott, who has been a sales, marketing, and purchasing executive over the past 25 plus years for industry leaders like Roland, EMU/Ensoniq, and Sweetwater Sound, joined Hohner right before NAMM 2007
“I feel that there is great potential in all the Hohner brands, including our fretted instruments, our wholly owned Sonor Drums and percussion brand, and our Lanikai Ukulele brand. My fi rst challenge was, how to wake up the sleeping giant? The fi rst ‘wake-up call’ to the MI mar-ketplace was Hohner’s introduction of the Steven Tyler Signature Harmonica. I jumped on the opportunity to collabo-rate with Steven, who as the lead singer for Aerosmith, and a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, could put a new face on the Hohner harmonica brand.” In October 2007, Hohner released the Ste-ven Tyler Signature harmonica retailing for $100, which is a replica of the custom harp that Steven plays on stage.
“While Steven Tyler is not primarily known for his harmonica playing, his very specifi c requirements for a harp that would bear his name, combined with the work of Hohner master-craftsman has resulted in a fabulous instrument. This harp delivers easy bending, a consis-tent, full tone. and lots of volume which is perfect for rock and roll.” In January at Winter NAMM, Hohner released a less expensive version, The Steven Tyler Artist harmonica, which at $39 retail should please Aerosmith fans and hob-byists alike. Along with this NAMM re-
lease, Hohner introduced two other ground-breaking products, the Hoodoo Box harmon-ica tube amp and Hoodoo Hand harmonica wireless sys-tem, both of which have enjoyed strong sales. After these successful ex-periences, Scott began exploring options for a new artist collaboration and his fi rst thought was to contact Bob Dylan.
During his career, Bob Dylan has won awards for his songwriting, performing, and recording, earning him eleven Gram-mys (including a Lifetime Achievement Award), Kennedy Center Honors and an Academy Award. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2008, Bob Dylan was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation for his “profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” But Mr. Dylan, known to not endorse many products, has never endorsed any musi-cal product, so would he even consider this project?
“It took me almost six months of chas-ing Bob Dylan’s manager from coast to coast to get him to take me seriously and fi nally agree to put together the deal,” recalls Emmerman. “We assembled the contract but I had my doubts that it would ever get signed. Then, it happened and we were off to the races.” Bob Dylan agreed to supply several sets of hand-signed, harmonicas that he has played in performance, as well as work with Hohner to create a next gen-eration harmonica based on the classic Ma-rine Band harp, which he has been associ-ated with throughout his iconic career. A striking ebony presentation box was cre-ated for the hand-signed product and these products include a certifi cate of authentic-ity signed by Hohner’s president, Clayman
Edwards. “Hohner is extremely proud
to celebrate the art-istry of Bob Dylan,
one of America’s musical treasures,” comments Clay.
“Throughout his iconic career, Bob Dylan has maintained a
special relationship with the Hohner Com-pany and has showcased our harmonicas in his music. At this time, Hohner is honoring that association by offering this collection of limited edition, hand-signed Marine Band harmonicas to the public. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Bob Dylan fans and we hope that those who are able to own these items will treasure them as a refl ection of his musical genius.”
The actual sale of these limited edi-tion pieces will take place online at www.samashmusic.com at midnight, October 29, 2008.
“For the Bob Dylan Signature har-monica we produced a really special harp that has enhanced sonic versatility, pro-ducing both uncharacteristically warm tones and also achieving a brilliance or ‘brightness’ that allows musicians to more freely express themselves,” says Emmerman. “It was not easy to achieve the standard that Bob Dylan represents and among other things, we gold-plated the reed plate, and used a special wood comb in order to achieve the specifi c sonic requirements.” This new product is available individually in the key of C, as well as in a set of seven natural keys of A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The harmonica features custom cover-plates bearing Bob Dylan’s signature, a carrying case embossed with Bob Dylan’s “Eye” logo, and an outer gift box featuring an exclu-sive picture of Bob Dylan in the inside cover.
Additional information may be found at www.hohnerusa.com/bobdylan.html.
MMR_14 14 9/25/08 4:41:36 PM
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MMR_15 15 9/25/08 5:05:05 PM
UpfrontThe Board of Directors of the Guitar and Accessories Marketing Association agreed to expand the Teaching Guitar Workshop Program to include twelve workshops, up from ten in previous years. The expansion means that 600 school music teachers will receive guitar training through 2009 and 2010. The increase is equivalent to a 20 percent expansion over previous years.
The decision to broaden the scope of the workshops was brought about by Guitar Center’s pledge of $100,000 to the program. It is estimated that the ad-ditional 100 school music teachers will introduce guitar to 10,000 children in their fi rst year of teaching guitar. The 12 site locations for 2009 are still being re-searched.
The Teaching Guitar Workshops were founded in 1995 by members of GAMA and MENC, with major support from NAMM, in an effort to bring guitar instruction to school music. Today, having trained more than 2000 school music educators, GAMA estimates that it has brought guitar in-struction to over half a million children. www.discoverguitar.com
16 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Tornavoz Is Exclusive US Distributor Of Schertler Mics & AmpsTornavoz Music, will handle the US product sales for Schertler, the Swiss company at the forefront of contact-microphone and acous-tic-amplifi cation technology. Currently the exclusive importer and distributor of a port-
folio of acoustic guitar brands, including Ramirez, Conde Hermanos and Córdoba, Tornavoz will now distribute Schertler’s am-plifi ers, DYN contact mics and BLUESTiCK under-saddle condenser mics.
For more information on Schertler’s products, contact Tornavoz Music Co. at [email protected] or (310) 586-1180. Learn more about Schertler at www.schertler.com.
Teaching Guitar Workshops Expand
MMR_16 16 9/25/08 4:41:40 PM
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MMR_17 17 9/25/08 5:05:12 PM
Upfront2008 Music Industry Award from Texas Bandmasters Association The 61st annual convention of the Texas Bandmasters Association (TBA) was held July 27-30 in San Antonio. At a spirited awards cer-emony to conclude the show, Paul Lavender, vice president of instrumental publications for Hal Leonard Corporation, received the organization’s 2008 Music Industry Award.
At Hal Leonard Corporation, Laven-der directs the product development and marketing of performance publications for orchestra, concert band, marching band and jazz ensemble, as well as instru-
mental books, collections, and methods. He supervises the creative work of the industry’s most respected composers and arrangers, overseeing more than 600 new publications a year.
Lavender is also one of the most widely played writers today. He has con-tributed more than 1,000 arrangements and compositions to the educational and concert repertoire. He co-authored and edited Hal Leonard’s highly success-ful Essential Elements 2000 method for
beginning bands. His association with renowned fi lm composer John Williams has produced the prestigious John Wil-liams Signature Series, featuring Wil-liams’ authentic fi lm scores and concert music for professional orchestras.
The Texas Bandmasters Association Music Industry Award has been bestowed since 2000. Past recipients recognized for their commitment and dedication to music education include Remo Belli, Bill Ludwig, Fred Fruhauf, Vito Pascucci and others.
18 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Winners of Next Gretsch Greats Unsigned Artist Competition AnnouncedThe Next Gretsch Greats competition began in May when 879 musical acts from the U.S., U.K., Japan, Canada, Germany, France and Spain entered their original songs at www.gretsch125th.com . Then, music lovers from around the world listened and cast more
than 55,000 votes from June 15 through July 16 to select the top 10 fi nalists.
Next, a celebrity panel of judges – Chuck Leavell, touring keyboardist for The Rolling Stones; Steve Ferrone, drum-mer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreak-
ers; Keith Scott, guitarist for Bryan Ad-ams; and Fred W. Gretsch, president of The Gretsch Company and great-grand-son of the company’s founder – reviewed the fi nalists’ entry songs, media kits and videos of their live performances. They
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MMR_18 18 9/25/08 4:41:46 PM
the hubof all things yamahaThe Hub is the new online multimedia experience from Yamaha. Building on the award-winning YamahaPodcasts concept, The Hub is a truly unique resource to serve all of your musical needs.
With content to complement the diverse lineup of Yamaha products such as synthesizers, recording and mixinghardware, trumpets, Steinberg software, drumsets, digital pianos and guitars, The Hub brings the depth andbreadth of the Yamaha family of products into one easy online interface available any time you like.
Subscribe to product-specific podcasts and RSS news feeds, download content for your iPhone or iPod, tagvideos to your favorite social networking site, grab product brochures in PDF format and reference materialsfor future use. Access ʻYamaha Online Universityʼ for product and sales training and certification. The Hubalso features exclusive performances, clinics and backstage interviews from world-renowned Yamaha artists.
We invite you to explore The Hub of all things Yamaha. Itʼs all free and easily accessible.
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MMR_19 19 9/25/08 5:05:42 PM
20 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Through a special arrangement with Ka-man Music Corporation, exclusive US distributor for Sabian Cymbals, Univer-sal Percussion is proud to offer Sabian cast, sheet, and box-set cymbals for im-mediate delivery. Universal is able to of-
fer these high-quality cymbals at attrac-tive dealer-direct prices, exclusively to retailers. Please contact Universal for more information on prices and ordering. (800) 282-0110 fax (800) 979-DRUM or [email protected].
Upfront
IBCT Develops New OEM factory in ChinaIBCT Trading Ltd. continues to expand its Chinese operation, with the addi-tion of an OEM high-end guitar factory in southern China. Headed up by Dave Ingham, former production manager of Lowden and Avalon Guitars in Ireland, the new facility will offer clients design, technology, quality, and product man-agement. IBCT will display a number of the new solid top and all solid acoustics at Music China show. These will be fi tted with the latest Fishman OEM pick-ups, including the new Ion and Aero systems.
www.ibctrading.com
named the three scoring criteria: stage presence, performance/sound quality and press kit quality.
The grand prize winner, Colourslide of Gainesville, Fla., will perform live at Gretsch’s 125th Anniversary Concert in New York City on Nov. 18 at The High-line Ballroom and take home $15,000 in Gretsch drums and guitars.
Lansdowne, the fi rst prize winner from Boston, Mass., wins more than $5,000 in Gretsch instruments, and the second prize winner, London Egg of New
York City, N.Y., walks away with $1,250 in Gretsch gift certifi cates.
“Chuck, Steve, Keith and I were truly im-pressed by the talent from our top 10 fi nal-ists,” said Fred Gretsch, president and CEO of The Gretsch Company. “Thanks to the entire Gretsch community — especially the winning Next Gretsch Greats — for help-ing to continue the tradition of ‘That Great Gretsch Sound’ for the next 125 years.”
The Next Gretsch Greats competition is the centerpiece of Gretsch’s 125th an-niversary celebration. More information
about the competition and The Gretsch Company’s 125th Anniversary can be found at www.gretsch125th.com and www.myspace.com/gretsch125th.
Sabian Cymbals Available at Universal Percussion
Huge innovation in a new package.The new Vandoren Flow Pack packaging.Every reed we make is now wrapped inhumidity balanced packaging resulting inreeds that are factory fresh. The mostremarkable part of this innovation is you don’thave to do anything to benefit from it. Nospecial storage, no little bags...nothing. Just putthem in the store and watch your customersmarvel at the consistency and quality youprovide...at no extra cost. Now there’s a new pointof purchase display availble! Contact your salesrepresentative for details.
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MMR_20 20 9/25/08 4:41:52 PM
22 MMR OCTOBER 2008
John William “Bill” Davis, retired presi-dent of Kaman Marketing International, passed away on August 18, 2008. He was 78 years old.
Bill’s interests resided in his family, his profession in the music industry, world history, and in maintaining a beauti-ful yard. Always active in his church, he served on numerous boards in churches in Europe and the U.S., and also served as choir director in a Mission Church. He graduated with a degree in Applied Music from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War with the 82nd Airborne Division and while stationed in North Carolina, met his future wife, Bet-ty, on a blind date at Queens College in Charlotte, N.C. In 1954, they were mar-ried and began a life of adventure as Bill pursued his career in music, and together raised a family, living in six states, as well
as France, Belgium, and England. Early in his career, Bill served as sales promo-tion manager for the H. & A. Selmer Company. For two years he was president of Buffet Crampon, Paris, France and the family enjoyed living in France and trav-eling throughout Europe.
Upon return to the United States in 1976, the family moved to Connecticut where he served as vice president of Sales for Ovation Instruments, a division of Ka-man Corporation. He started the Interna-tional Division of Kaman Music where he served as president until his retirement in 1998. He was a mentor to many in the music fi eld, with deep knowledge of major orchestras and their musicians, as well as performers in jazz and the entertainment industries. A highlight was working with jazz great, Louis Armstrong.
Always by his side was his wife of 54 years, Betty – his helpmate and greatest
supporter. Bill encouraged their children to value education, to appreciate differ-ent cultures and be citizens of the world. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather.
Ed Miller, president of Kaman Music Corporation adds, “Bill Davis’ contribu-tions to Kaman Music over the years have been substantial and greatly appreciated. In addition to his dynamic leadership of the Ovation sales team in his early days with our company, Bill developed our international business into an impor-tant contributor to our overall growth and served as a mentor to many people throughout our organization. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.”
Donations in Davis’ name can be made to: West Avon Congregational Church, 280 Country Club Road, Avon, Conn. 06001. To offer condolences, please visit www.carmonfuneralhome.com.
Trade Regrets: John William “Bill” Davis
Upfront
MMR_22 22 9/25/08 4:41:56 PM
Upfront
24 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Trade Regrets: Henry Z. Steinway Henry Ziegler Steinway, 93, passed away at his home in Manhattan on September 18th. He was the great-grandson of Heinrich Engelhard Steinway, the German immigrant who founded the company in 1853, and the last Steinway family member to run the company.
Born on August 23, 1915, in an apartment on Manhattan’s Park Av-enue, he grew up in a family that would dominate the industry during the pinnacle of the piano’s popularity. He offi cially joined the family busi-ness after graduating from Harvard in 1937, building pianos just as his father and uncles had. By the 1940s, he was overseeing three factories in Queens, and he became president of the com-pany in 1955.
By then the golden era of a piano-in-every-living-room was over, but Henry’s marketing ingenuity and business savvy led the company to great success. In 1972, he sold the business to CBS and continued as president until 1977, when he was named chairman. He would offi cially retire in 1980 but not stop working, tirelessly promoting the instruments that bore his namesake. In 1985, CBS sold the company to a group of inves-tors, and Henry continued on as the company’s most visible booster. Up until just a few months ago, he was still showing up at New York’s Stein-way Hall on most days and signing autographs at the factory. Last year President Bush presented him with the National Medal of the Arts.
Henry Steinway is survived by his wife, Polly; daughter Susan Steinway; and seven grandchildren. A portion of his oral history is available for view-ing at www.namm.org.
MI industry veterans who wish to say a few words of remem-brance can e-mail comments to [email protected]. They will be passed on to his family.
MMR_24 24 9/25/08 4:42:01 PM
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26 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Korg USA, exclusive US dis-tributor for Korg, Marshall and VOX, announces the retirement of Joe Bredau,vice president Sales and Marketing. Bredau joined the company in 1989 and distinguished himself over the next 19
years by helping facilitate steady growth for Korg USA and its brands. In that time, he became both a key executive and a be-loved company fi gure. Korg USA wishes him well and salutes his many years of dedicated service and innovation.
Bredau began his tenure at Korg USA as National Sales manager. He was promoted
to VP of Sales in 1990, then VP Sales and Marketing in 1994. Bredau proudly ex-plains that the sales team he helped build during that time had the reputation of being one of the strongest in the industry and consistently exceeded sales forecasts.
Prior to joining Korg USA, Bredau spent many years as a musician and M.I. industry sales professional.
Sennheiser announces the addition of Daniel Shawgoand Eric Reese to its south-central U.S. sales team. As regional sales representa-tives, Daniel is respon-sible for all accounts in the northern Florida area while Reese covers the northern Illinois and eastern Wis-consin territories. Both report to Region-al Sales manager, Rick Renner.
Daniel brings over 25 years of experience with sound and lighting, sales, and related industry ex-perience to Sennheiser. Previously he worked as a manufacturers’ sales rep-
resentative for Sales Force and Associa-tions, Inc.
In his new role, Eric draws on a ten-year career focusing heavily on installed sound and music industry products. Eric came to Sennheiser from an engineering position at SPL Integrated Solutions, and owns and operates a PA company called Loud and Clear Productions. His career also includes engineering roles at Ford Audio-Video and Peavey Electronics.
Additionally, Sennheiser Electronic Corporation announces the promotion of Christopher Currier to associate prod-uct manager for Neumann and Klein + Hummel studio systems products.
Currier joined Sennheiser in late 2004 as an accounts receivable associate and quickly rose to credit manager in just six months. He now reports to Robb Blu-menreder, industry team manager for music industry products.
In his new role, Currier supports Neumann and Klein + Hummel prod-ucts by planning and monitoring inven-tory levels, assisting with product-related inquiries and collaborating on market-
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MMR_26 26 9/26/08 2:12:28 PM
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28 MMR OCTOBER 2008
ing activities. The Neumann and Klein + Hummel brands are proud members of the Sennheiser Group.
A former composition major at the HARTT School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, Currier is also fully aware of how kind Neumann microphones and Klein + Hummel speakers are to musical masterpieces. Currier himself has con-ducted two a cappella choirs and is an ac-complished singer and pianist.
Innovox Audio, Inc. announced that it has appointed Scott Berdell to the post
of vice president of Market-ing/Sales. In this new posi-tion, Berdell will oversee the development of marketing strategies and support ma-terials, as well as expanding the company’s sales and dis-tribution networks. Scott will be working out of the St. Paul offi ce of Innovox.
Scott Berdell comes to Innovox with many years of experience, having established marketing and sales organizations that built some of the most high profi le brand names in the commercial audio/video industry,
sound reinforcement, custom installer market, and various contractor segments of commercial A/V markets. In the past, he was instrumental in building such brands as dbx, Genelec, and Drawmer. In addition he recently worked at OmniMount Systems, where he more than doubled the company’s Commercial sales during his tenure as gen-eral manager of Professional Products.
Pearl River Piano Group America has ap-pointed Chuck Clynes to the post of Dis-trict sales manager for their northeast territory. Chuck has a background in the piano in-dustry with in-depth experi-ence in retail sales and man-agement. He has represented several major manufacturers including Wurlitzer, Kawai and Samick, and most recently, was a Re-gional Account Executive with Allegro Ac-ceptance.
Ken Ambrose, chief executive offi cer of Bechstein America, LLC announced the appoint-ment of David Skidmore as the new general manager for the Bechstein Piano Centre in New York City. Said Ambrose about the appointment, “We selected David because of our supreme confi dence that his extensive experience in our industry will be a valuable asset to furthering the presence of the Bechstein brand, and the Bechstein Piano Centre, in New York and nationally. Bringing him on board is essentially another key element of our business plan now fi nally put into place.”
Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, announces the expansion of its Nashville facility with three new personnel. Adam Hudson now serves as Account manager and Artist Relations representative, Allison Thompson serves as Logistics coordinator and Greg Glaser is now a GC Pro Sales rep.
Berdell
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Pictured L-R: Guitar Center Professional Artist Relations/Account Manger Adam Hudson, Logistics Coordinator Allison Thompson, GC Pro Sales representative Greg Glaser and Account Manager Chad Evans.
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MMR_28 28 9/25/08 4:42:51 PM
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MMR_29 29 9/25/08 5:06:25 PM
30 MMR OCTOBER 2008
LettersCongratulations on your excellent ar-ticle, “The Greening of an Industry” in the August, 2008 edition of MMR. It was very, very well done and informative.
I’d like to share some of Roland Cor-poration’s initiatives as our company becomes “greener.” In a recent speech to our employees at Roland Corporation U.S., Mr. Hidekazu Tanaka, president of Roland Corporation said:
“For the past several years, Roland has made sure that all of its manufacturing plants are compliant with RoHS and WEEE requirements. This has meant discontinu-ing some models and dramatically alter-ing the design and components in others. Roland has been striving to make all of our products free of hazardous substances - for example, with no lead or cadmium.
“In 2006, Roland Corporation’s Ho-soe factory, near Hamamatsu, Japan, in-stalled a solar energy generation system. We estimate that this has resulted in a re-
duction of 44 tons of CO2 in 2007. Where practical or feasible, Roland Corporation is adding more solar energy generation systems to its facilities.
“Much of the wood for our digital piano cabinets comes from Indonesia. Roland Corporation is committed to the preserva-tion of the forests in Indonesia. Therefore, we started a dedicated reforestation pro-gram in January, 2008. We’re actively re-planting trees for future wood production as well as additional fruit trees and bio-fuel plants which contribute to the local Indo-nesian society. Our goal is to replant over 140,000 trees in 3 years. We estimate that this will result in a reduction of over 10,000 tons of CO2 for over 20 years to come.
“Roland Europe (our manufacturing plant in Italy) has re-designed the packag-ing for the products it builds. The amount of Styrofoam has been reduced or eliminated and other more environmentally friendly packaging materials are now being used.”
So Roland Corporation is not only thinking but also acting “green” and consciously trying to not only bring great musical products to the world, but to re-spect the earth’s fragile environment at the same time.
And thanks again for MMR’s great article!
Best regards, Dennis Houlihan President & CEO
Roland Corporation U.S.
When I fi rst heard about Best Buy open-ing musical instrument departments in their stores I was quite skeptical. While they have some very knowledgeable sales-people, many are little more than clerks. In my experience selling better quality musical instruments requires a knowl-edgeable, skilled salesperson.
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MMR_30 30 9/25/08 4:43:18 PM
Petrof U.S.A., LLC. 5400 Lawrenceville Hwy Suite B1 & 2 Lilburn, GA 30047O) 770-564-4974 F) 770-564-4978 www.petrofpianosusa.com
An Open Letter from the President of Petrof Pianos
As a representative of the fth generation of the PETROF family, I am honored that the PETROFbrand of grand and upright pianos
have been a source of delight not only for top-class piano players, composers, students and their teachers, but that they with their romantic and sophisticated tone, have also been touching the hearts of millions of music lovers all over the world for more than 140 years.
The awards, honors, medals and certi cates we have been awarded are proof that the quality of our instruments is appreciated by both amateurs and professionals.
We have always been and will be here for you and I believe that when you purchase a PETROF piano, you will have a life-long friend and an instrument of traditional European quality.
The instruments produced by PETROF company are quality con rmed by ISO certi cates and comply with the demands of a very broad spectrum of customers. They provide support to starting players, they are reliable for experienced piano players and give inspiration to piano virtuosos.
Yours faithfully,
Mgr. Zuzana Ceralová PetrofováPresident Petrof, spol. s r. o.
MMR_31 31 9/25/08 5:06:31 PM
32 MMR OCTOBER 2008
LettersAs I’ve considered this move by Best
Buy I’m beginning to think they may have at least two advantages over Guitar Cen-ter. One of those advantages is salaried salespeople. The other is price integrity. Years ago when Best Buy was just a small regional chain in the upper Midwest, they negotiated sales like others in the consum-
er electronics business. As the company looked at how best to grow management decided that going to a fi xed price policy was the only way to grow the business and develop strong customer relationships. This approach has obviously worked for the company. It may also work as they get into the musical instrument business.
I have long felt that Guitar Center’s ne-gotiated sales approach is antiquated and a poor way to develop long-term customer relationships. Coupled with commissions for sales associates it also may be one of the causes associated with the company’s high employee turnover rate. While the automobile business and a few other busi-ness segments continue to negotiate sales, most retail businesses, particularly those with a national presence have found this practice to be detrimental to profi ts and a poor way to grow and sustain a business.
Unlike some others, I have a perspective on the Guitar Center’s long-term success and growth. I managed the original Sunset Bou-levard store from the mid 1960s until the mid 1970s. No one can deny their impres-sive growth. But as we saw while they were a publicly held company they struggled with profi tability. Now that a venture capital fi rm owns them my guess is management will be expected to fi nd ways to be more consistent-ly profi table. That may mean re-evaluating their sales and commission policies. What-ever happens it will be interesting to watch as Best Buy moves into what has long been a diffi cult business to sustain long-term suc-cess. I have long enjoyed your publication and your editorial comments.
Best regards, George Whalin
president and CEORetail Management Consultants
It was with much sadness that I learned of the death of Bill Davis.
During his many years with Kaman Corporation, he traveled the world and was a wonderful ambassador for his Company and the USA musical instru-ment industry.
He was shrewd, had integrity and honesty, and was a kind and friendly man with good humour.
He will be sadly missed by all of us that knew him.
Yours sincerely,John H. Skewes
ChairmanJohn Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd.
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34 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Fred Gretsch Discusses the Company’s 125th Anniversary
MMR: Can you discuss some of the company’s plans to mark the 125th Anniversary?
Fred Gretsch: We’re celebrating in a number of areas. We’ve released some great anniversary products in drums, guitars, and guitar amplifi ers. We were able to look back at some of the things Gretsch did in ’58 [for the 75th anni-versary] and in many cases we just did a 125th edition of the same thing. We also launched a search for the world’s hot-test unsigned band: The Next Gretsch Greats Unsigned Artists Competition. From seven countries internationally, we had almost 900 bands upload their mu-sic since May. Starting the 15th of July we had online voting to give us the 10 fi -nalists based on popular vote. The fi nal decision was made by a panel of judges – Chuck Leavell, touring keyboardist with The Rolling Stones; Keith Scott, guitarist with Bryan Adams; and myself – with the grand prize being an opportunity to play at our 125th Anniversary Concert November 18th in New York City. [see UpFront item on page 18]
Really the things we’re doing to celebrate – it’s a worldwide celebration. We did things in Anaheim last January, in Germany we
had a celebration in the big tent in the mid-dle of Messe. On the 11th of August we had “Gretsch Day” at Berklee College. That date was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jimmy Webster, who was a legendary Gretsch marketing guy – he signed Chet Atkins. We established a scholarship in his honor to ben-efi t a deserving student majoring in Music Business/Management. A lot of this is about the Gretsch past, but it’s very much a present thing. We view this 125th anniversary as the fi rst year of our next 125th
MMR: Tell me a little bit about your own history with the company.
FG: I came into the business full time in 1965. Right after the Beatles it was really boom times in the business. In the ‘50s it was about accordions and band instruments. When I fi rst was exposed to the business, we had a bunch of accordion repairmen – its like ancient history at this point.
In ‘67 my uncle sold the company to the Baldwin Company. He was 62 years old at that point and he felt that was the right thing to do. Baldwin was a power-house in the business, much like Steinway is today. I was certainly disappointed, but Baldwin had the money and I was a young man. Every year I talked to them
at the trade shows and said that I wanted to buy back the Gretsch name, but the an-swer was always “no.” In 1984, Baldwin United went bankrupt – They were sort of the Enron of the time. That was a good thing for the Gretsch people because the piano people bought back that portion of the business and wanted to sell everything else. In 1984 we signed a contract to buy back the Gretsch Company and in January of ‘85 we announced the purchase to the world. Since around ‘78 there had been no Gretsch guitars; just drums. Guitars really were out of production for a good many years and it took about four or fi ve years [after the repurchase] to get it started again. We were fortunate enough to have some of the old management team, some of the old tooling. By the January NAMM show in 1990 we were back in the guitar business again.
MMR: Can you talk about the relationship with both Fender and Kaman?
FG: Well fi rst we struck up an alliance partnership with Kaman. They took over the worldwide marketing and distribution for the Gretsch drums. Through the exper-tise of Kaman they were able to vastly ex-
The Gretsch Company has been marking its 125th anniversary all year long
with a series of events, contests, and special commemorative products. MMR
recently sat down with president Fred Gretsch III, who’s been at the helm for
the past 23 years, and asked for his thoughts on the current state of the MI
market, and his family business’ legacy and future.
UpfrontQ&A
MMR_34 34 9/25/08 4:44:10 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 35
pand the product line to introduce Gretsch products at other points in the price spec-trum to where it’s eight or 10 times larger than before we partnered with Kaman.
Six years ago we struck and alliance partnership with Fender, who took over manufacturing, marketing, and distribu-tion. We license them and basically they had access to our brand, our designs, and our successful history our 50- and 60-year old recipes for the instruments. They’ve gone a very good job of expand-ing the business.
MMR: Looking back, what do you consider to be the most iconic of Gretsch’s offerings?
FG: On the “drum side” of things, I’d say the Broadkaster drums of the 1930s. They really established a tradition. Anyone having those from the ‘30s and beyond… It’s like a fi ne aged wine or violin – truly an instrument to be treasured. We took those recipes forward and perfected them after World War II and continue to this day.
The collaboration with Chet Atkins, which dates to 1954 and which resulted in the Nashville guitar and Country Gentle-man guitar and the Tennessean Guitar, would be the most signifi cant develop-ment on the “guitar side.” Those three are, again, original recipe Gretsch instru-ments from the foundation years of rock n roll and popularized by George Harrison, Steven Stills, Graham Nash, Neil Young, Brian Setzer, and so many others.
MMR: Do you have any expectations or hopes for any or all of your grandchildren to eventually enter the family business?
FG: We now have six children and fourteen grandchildren, the two oldest of which graduated from high school this year. One’s a drummer, one’s a guitarist, and they’re really interested in the busi-ness. Actually, I was recently in the Sam Ash store in Atlanta for a grand reopen-ing and I was there representing four generations with our oldest son, three grandchildren, and myself.
MMR: Your wife is very involved in the company. Can you discuss Dinah’s role?
FG: In business, quite often women do most of the work and get very little of the credit. In the Gretsch family, my great
grandfather, who started the business and had seven children, died tragically on a business trip at a young age. His oldest son, my grandfather, came into the busi-ness at 15 and certainly his mother must have been very heavily involved, though
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36 MMR OCTOBER 2008
UpfrontQ&Ait’s not well documented. In Dinah’s case, she’s a great organizer and good on the computer and accounting and has a wonderful grasp of the business, hav-ing been involved from the get go. She knows it as well as I do, if not a whole lot
better. She doesn’t get the kind of credit that goes to the company president.
MMR: As an industry veteran, what is your take on the state of the MI trade
FG: I see a strong and continuing core demand for our products. That impresses me. Weak demand scares the heck out of me, but I don’t see that at all. I see people dedicated to continuing school programs. As far as the Gretsch family is concerned, the music business has been good to us and now we can give back. Through the Gretsch Foundation, we sponsor the Gretsch In-stitute, a music, art and dance camp for elemen-
tary and middle school youth and Guita-rArt (www.guitarart.org) an art program where non-profi t organizations receive used guitars and turn them into works of art that are then sold at auction. We’ve had a chance to encourage more people to be involved with music playing. I look at Rock Band and the incredible popularity of assimilated music playing experiences and believe that bodes well for increasing the number of music makers in the near future. [See Spotlight on page 46 – Ed]
MMR: Any fi nal thoughts you’d like to share?
FG: One thing that I’d like to be re-membered for is as steward for the Gretsch business. Whenever anyone thinks of a high quality instrument we want him or her thinking of the Gretsch brand. Mrs. Gretsch and I plan to be at the 150th an-niversary, though with others running things, and hope to see you covering it!
Berklee College of Music joined with the Gretsch company to celebrate the fi rm’s 125th Anniversary. Participating in the all-day event were: John Palmer; Fred Gretsch, a direct fourth-generation descendant of the founder Freidrich Gretsch; grandson Will Gretsch; Joe Carducci, Gretsch guitar Marketing manager; and Bob Sabelicco, Gretsch clinician.
MMR_36 36 9/25/08 4:44:19 PM
40 MMR OCTOBER 2008
GUEST ED ITOR IAL : GAMING
There has been a lot of
talk – and a lot of hype
– surrounding the latest
video game fad where kids
pretend to be rock stars. Many MI
retailers want to incorporate some
aspect of this into their business. But
it causes me to ask some questions
based on what the “big guys” are not
doing …
Should auto parts store sell Grand Theft Auto?
Should the business schools sell The Sims in the campus bookstore?
And how many kids play Halo, and then decide to enlist in the military?
In other words, does all this game playing really lead kids to actually fol-low the fantasy into a real life career? That is the question everyone in the music industry should be asking, in-stead of rationalizing why a simulation of the real thing is good news for the industry. The ques-tion is, in fact: does it go anywhere or are games like Guitar Hero and Rock Bandjust a substitute for developing real tal-ent?
Then the ugly question: are kids who have potential talent playing the games instead of participating in the real thing and, therefore, never fi nding themselves in the future pool of sports, business,
and (in our case) playing in a rock ‘n’ roll band?
It’s hard to get excited about the mu-sic-playing game craze, as I suspect that the kid potato sitting on the couch will remain there. It is the path of least re-sistance. I think that music dealers that
embrace video games may be deluding them-selves by thinking it will lead to real instru-ment sales. Where’s the proof? I don’t have a problem with music dealers trying to stay in
business by selling video games, t-shirts, posters, concert DVDs , or anything else – but don’t tell me that it leads to more instrument sales unless you can prove it with real numbers.
One Retailer Asks Some Tough Questions
By Gary Gand
“Does it go anywhere or are games like Guitar Hero
and Rock Band just a substitute for developing real talent?”
Opportunityor Hype?
Attack of the Simulated Instrument Playing Video Games:
MMR_40 40 9/25/08 4:44:47 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 41
Ask the sporting goods industry. Have they fi gured out if these games are the enemy to live participation in sports? They are a much larger industry than we and must have some stats. They probably know a lot more than we in the music in-dustry know. Perhaps they have discov-ered that it keeps kids in the house instead of on the fi eld and that is bad for business (not that it is stopping them from selling video games, pinball machines, and even jukeboxes – hey that’s a music product!).
Ten years ago, many who opened a music instrument store wished he or she had instead opened a Starbucks. Now those same people probably all wish they had opened a Gamestop. But I say if we keep allowing ourselves to get dis-tracted, if we keep trying to be some-thing we are not, the manufacturers will give up on us, like Apple did with computer retailers, and open their own stores. Then we’ll all be thinking back about the good old days when we had all
those great brand name musical instru-ments and products to sell… instead of organic biodegradable shoes or whatever the next fad is.
Here is a facsimile of a conversation I had with a kid at a local Best Buy re-cently. This kid was at the Guitar Herodisplay and he was just wailing away on the controller at master level.
“Hey, do you play real guitar?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah,” he re-plied without skipping a beat.
I fi red back: “Then what are you doing here?”
“It’s free.”“Do you have your own Hero rig at
home?”“No way,” he replied. “This is for [dip-
sticks].”So there was a kid who really plays gui-
tar telling me that kids that play Guitar Hero are dorks whose butts he could kick, outscoring every one of them. Maybe this industry of ours could convince kids that if they learned to play a real instrument,
their Hero and Rock Band scores would improve!
Now there’s a good reason to buy a real guitar and take lessons ....
Gary Gand owns Gand Music and Sound in the Chicago suburb of Northfi eld. He and his wife Joan host a regular blues jam at local clubs regularly where only people playing real instruments need apply.
“I suspect that the kid potato sitting on the couch
will remain there.”
MMR_41 41 9/25/08 4:44:52 PM
NAMM and its Members recently had
the opportunity to “inuence the
inuencers” at the Democratic and
Republican National Conventions.
This is a historic election season and
the perfect chance for us to advocate
on behalf of music education in our
public schools.
Our message is not a partisan one—it’s an important call-to-
action to help ensure that every child in the United States is
given a complete, quality education that includes music and the
other arts.
As our industry association, NAMM is the springboard from
which we can get this message to our representatives, so we
can advance key legislative initiatives and gain increased
funding and support for the arts. NAMM and the NAMM
Foundation have funded a variety of scientic studies
validating the benets of making music, thus giving politicians
tools with which they can ght for arts funding for our public
schools.
As we all know, music education advocacy is a never-ending
task. As fellow members of NAMM and the music products
community, I invite each and every one of you to join us in our
advocacy efforts or to create your own grassroots alliances
with the inuencers in your communities. After all, it’s an
election year and the candidates—Republicans and Democrats
alike—need to be informed on the importance of music in
education and let us know where they stand.Fred Bramante
Daddy’s Junky Music
Proud NAMM Member Since 1978
Note from Joe Fred(NAMM Member)
NewsOCTOBER 2008
ADVERTORIAL
NAMM Advocates at the Democratic and Republican National Conventionson Behalf of Music Education
NAMM Puts Music in the Spotlight
John Rich of the country group “Big and Rich” at NAMM RNC event
Former Arkansas Governor
Mike Huckabee plays with
his band “Capitol Offense”
GRAMMY Award-winning musician John
Legend, President of the U.S. Conference of
Mayors Sheila C. Johnson and
Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz
NAMM Members Liane and Tobin Rockley of Rockley Music in Denver at DNC event
MMR_42 42 9/25/08 5:10:14 PM
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 at [email protected].
NAMM News October 2008Anaheim, California January 15-18, 2009www.namm.org
ADVERTORIAL
Roll Up toMake a Reservation
While it’s fun to GO GO GO during the NAMM Show in Anaheim, it’s also nice to have a quiet place all your own to return to each day. From luxurious
high-rise hotels to small, inexpensive inns, NAMM and the Anaheim Housing and Visitors Bureau have arranged for you to get the lowest rates possible on your stay. Visit namm.org to reserve
your rooms now.
Let Your Voice Be Heard!Every opinion counts—and as a business owner and leader, you have one of the strongest voices in the crowd.
NAMM Members are encouraged to meet with local political leaders, school board members, city and county leaders, and the local offices of your member of Congress to encourage formal support for music education. You can also ‘let your voice be heard’ with an e-mail, letter or phone call directly to your leaders in Congress via the NAMM Web site public affairs link at www.namm.org. To make your case, you can find lots of music advocacy support materials at www.supportmusic.com.
NAMM Vice Chairman Tom Schmitt, Laura Schmitt and Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
Secretary of Education Richard Riley leading a
panel discussion on the arts at the DNC event
MMR_43 43 9/25/08 5:10:57 PM
44 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Bestof theblog
If one were to choose the merchant who made the greatest impact on the retail scene during the 20th Century many names would come to mind ranging from Frank
Woolworth to James Cash Penney and Sam Walton. My vote would go to the West Coast supermarket manager who, tired of seeing his vegetables wilt and profi ts drain, decided to take the aging but still salable merchandise and sell it by the piece, thus was born the present day salad bar, saviour to many a supermarket and restaurant. As the old axiom goes, Necessity is the mother of invention...
Just as the salad bar was designed to fi ll a void and preserve a profi t, other retail op-erations have responded in similiar fashion. Garden shops and swimming pool supply houses fi lled their vacant space during the Fall months with holiday offerings and the billion dollar trim-a-tree category became a retail staple. McDonalds extended their hours and the Egg McMuffi n is as well known as the Big Mac, and in more recent times Starbucks decided to take advantage of the compact space afforded by the CD, and de-spite a recent pattern of declining interest in the album format, have brought to market several exclusive recordings, yielding a higher than average psf sales for the upscale coffee chain.
A little more than one year ago Fred Bernardo, owner of the 35 year-old Fred’s Music Shop in Shilllington, Pa. decided to fi ll a space in the story, pursue a lifelong passion, and serve a need in the community by changing the name and direction of his business and thus Fred’s Music Shop added “And BBQ Supply.” The store has not lost its cus-tomer base, and it still sells its share of music products ranging from Fender and Shure to Hal Leonard Publishing and Seymour Duncan pickups. However …
Continue to read this blog and others at www.mmrmagazine.com
Filling A Void
Every Wednesday an MMR staffer blogs about the industry. Here’s an excerpt by group publisher Sid Davis that was posted on August 28th. To read the entire blog, and to comment yourself, go to www.mmrmagazine.com.
MMR Blogs about the MI industry every Wednesday. Go to www.mmrmagazine.com to see what is “Off the Record” today.
MMR_44 44 9/25/08 4:45:26 PM
In January, Harmonix, owned by Viacom, reported Rock Band broke platinum, selling one million units. By May they had shipped a total of three million copies of the game.
Also in January, Activision, maker of Guitar Hero, reported to have generated one billion dollars in sales in North America within 26 months. At the end of last year, that game had sold 7.5 million units. That number has moved over the 10 million mark. And counting – fast.
Both these franchises are set to launch new versions of their games: Guitar Hero World
Tour and Rock Band II are being released this month and, as the games are still smoldering hot, it’s safe to say that millions of these units are going to fl y out of stores as well.
Of course these numbers are just unitssold. Many more people are playing the games – the kids, their friends, brothers, sisters, and even parents are drawn to it.
So why do we care?Some of us don’t.“We want nothing to do with them,”
says MI retailer Stephanie Wilds, of Acoustic Corner, Black Mountain N.C. “They run counter to everything we’re trying to do.” [For more retailer comments, see page 64.]
Some are very bullish on it, particularly MI manufacturers who have partnered with these games and either placed their product within the virtual world or are involved on a deeper level.
“It goes back to the renewed interest in guitar-based rock,” says Clay Lyons, Fender’sbusiness affairs manager. “The players have
There’s no shortage of opinions, and no hard data, but several ask:“How can this be bad?”
SPOTL IGHT
Mindless, Distracting
Boon, orMI Industry
Fad?
The numbers are mind numbing.
46 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Guitar Hero/Rock Band Video Games:
MMR_46 46 9/25/08 4:56:31 PM
to be inspired to walk into a MI store and what has been inspiring to them lately? Not a lot! But these games are getting the music out. It’s a fantastic opportunity.”
It’s permeating all aspects of the business, as many look for ways to make the most of the prospect. For example, in an industry that’s always placed a premium on artist endorsements or creating artist special edition models, how about Chris Chike? Haven’t heard of him?No, he has no albums out and plays with no band, but he’s the Guitar Player III world record holder and Peavey is coming out with a guitar controller that will have his name on it.
He’s reached rock star status without ever really rocking.
MI Manufactures Got GameMI manufacturers have jumped in
with both feet. The lineup of companies that gamers will be able to grab in-game sponsorship and gear from includes the following: Ampeg, Audio-Technica, EMG Pickups, Ernie Ball, Evans Drumheads, Guitar Center, Krank Amplifi cation, Mackie, Marshall, Orange County Drum & Percussion, Pork Pie Percussion, Regal Tip, Sabian, Vox, and Zildjian, among others.
Many are fans of the games on a personal level.
“Oh yes, I’ve played both!” says Clay Lyons, Fender’s business affairs manager. “They are great fun. Both have a pretty quick learning curve, so anyone can plug in and play immediately. A lot of other games you have to play for hours to build up characters and speed … of course it’s worse if you actually know the song in the game on guitar!” he laughs. “When we set it up around here, it was perplexing to the true guitarists at fi rst.”
In Rock Band, Lyons says that the drumming aspect is the closest to actual music making, and that the bass guitar “is pretty close” to reality. But the guitar playing aspect suffers a bit. “I’ve seen plenty of people who are good guitarists and terrible at the game because it’s a right brain/left brain kind of thing.” Fender is exclusive to Rock Band.
Zildjian is involved in both Guitar Heroand Rock Band. “We were in on the ground
“We’re talking about 10 million people buying the games. That’s ten million at least curious about the guitar. How can that be a bad thing?”–Brian Ball
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 47
fl oor of these games when they originally launched and our presence continues with the new releases,” says Brad Baker, vice president/chief marketing offi cer. He says they are looking forward to getting additional brand exposure for those that might move “from playing the game to real music making.”
“Ludwig’s involvement in the game was very organic,” says Grant Henry, general manager of Ludwig. “Certainly the Ludwig name appealed to Harmonix associates early on. Their need for a tremendous number of drum sticks was one reason.No other supplier could provide the quantities needed and we were glad for the opportunity to help them.”
It’s all about a mutual benefi cial relationship to Henry. For Ludwig, it was important that Rock Band have a level of sophistication that appeals to both gamers and drummers. (That’s why they have showcased the game in their booth at trade shows, which is always a popular draw.)
Grant also points out that the drumming aspect of these games is unique. “If you play the game, you know that one controller is really a ‘GSO’ or ‘guitar-shaped-object.’While the drum controller is not a drum, the patterns and hand coordination are exactly the same.” And the drumsticks are real sticks. “From our perspective, there is no other real option.”
According to Mike Robinson, Evans and Percussion brand manager at D’Addario, Inc., they were proactive in reaching out to all the video game manufacturers and “while this was happening we were contacted by a company representing Guitar Hero,” he says.A complimentary deal was struck.
“Evans products will be featured on all drums in Guitar Hero World Tour,” Robinson says. “You will see the Evans logo on all snare, tom, and bass drum heads as you play your way through the game. In addition, players can choose to put the Evans logo on their shirt. We are also working with Guitar Hero on promotions at PASIC and other areas including their Guitar Hero World Tour Bus Tour taking
MMR_47 47 9/25/08 4:56:44 PM
48 MMR OCTOBER 2008
MMR: When did GC decide to stock the game in their store, and why?
Normal Hajjar: Guitar Center has been integrated into the actual game itself since Guitar Hero II launched. So it was only natural for us to take the product into the store, which we started last holiday season. And we did a brisk business last holiday. We sold everything we had.
MMR: And now there’s virtual GC storefront in the latest version …
NH: Our goal was to create some-thing true to life. Guitar Center, as the offi cial music store of GuitarHero IV, we will be the destination for all gamers who seek to purchase new in-game instruments, custom-ize their guitars, and upgrade exist-ing gear.
MMR: Who contacted whom about this?
NH: The developer, Red Octane, contacted us during the develop-ment of Guitar Hero II.
MMR: Has GC done any cross promotions between buying the game and getting involved with real instruments?
NH: Last year we offered a discount on an actual guitar when you pur-chased the game. We are looking at
repeating this kind of activity.And we are developing specifi c
tactics designed to get a real guitar in the hands of gamers. We want them to trade their game controllers to become rock and rollers this holi-day season.
MMR: What kind of in-store promotions have you done involving the game?
NH: Not really Guitar Hero specifi c. We have an in-depth promo program that is all about helping musicians fi nd their way forward, deepen their passions, and achieve their musical dreams. We commit millions to the effort.
A couple quick examples: We have an incredible contest going now that gives a winning band a slot opening for Motley Crue for their 2009 tour plus a record and manage-ment deal. We are also celebrating the 20th year of our Drum-Off, which is the world’s largest drum competi-tion.
MMR: Do you have any proof that we’re converting gamers into music makers?
NH: We are developing survey re-search right now to test our strong instinct that the Guitar Hero is help-ing develop our “future franchise” of guitar players. The anecdotal evi-dence we’ve seen is overwhelming.
Guitar Center sells dreams, the dream of stepping out of the shad-ows of obscurity and into the light before thousands of screaming fans. The dream of making music that people sing along with on the radio on their way to work. The dream of expressing yourself musically in a way that emotionally reaches other people. That dream is the fuel that drives the purchase of the gear in our stores.
MMR: What is so special in your mind, about these games?
NH: Most video games sell fantasy. Killing mythical beasts, conquer-ing armies, fl ying spaceships, etc. These are fantasies that can’t realis-tically ever be achieved. But Guitar Hero, on the other hand, is selling a dream, not a fantasy — essentially the exact same dream we sell. It is a dream that can be realized. That’s how Guitar Hero drives our busi-ness: it plants an achievable goal in the heart of the player.
We held an event at our North-ridge, Calif. store last week with leg-endary rock guitarist, Slash. Slash has, like Guitar Center, been fea-tured heavily in past games. He fully believes it is breeding a new genera-tion of players.
Here’s a fi nal quote on the sub-ject: “It’s a natural progression to want to do it for real.”
Guitar Center is “Selling Dreams”Guitar Center has had no qualms embracing the gaming phenomena. They’ve long stocked Guitar Hero, and it’s usually the fi rst thing you see when you walk into one of their locations. Also gamers in the latest version “go inside” one of their stores – at least a virtual version. Clearly they believe in the power of it to create music makers.
Executive vice president/chief marketing offi cer Norman Hajjar sat down with us recently to discuss the rea-sons, and the hopes, of such a partnership.
“Most video games sell fantasy. These are fantasies that can’t realistically ever be achieved. But Guitar Hero, on the other hand, is selling a dream, not a fantasy.”–Norman Hajjar
MMR_48 48 9/25/08 4:56:49 PM
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uitars Photo by Marc Q
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MMR_49 49 9/25/08 5:11:42 PM
50 MMR OCTOBER 2008
place this fall at college campuses around the country.”
An electronic drum kit, by ION and built by Alesis, is featured in Rock Band 2.Featuring four pads, three cymbals and a pedal, the press release on it declares it is “designed to take a proper [Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer] Chad Smith-style beating.” The kit is not bundled with the game itself, and at $299.99, it’s either an inexpensive electronic drum kit or a fairly pricey game controller, depending on how one wants to look at it.
“Anything that exposes music lovers to the act of being a part of an ensemble has the potential to make them more interested in learning a real instrument,” says
Kurt Heiden, marketing communications manager for the brand. “With Drum Rocker, nothing is faked. Players are playing a real electronic percussion kit that can be plugged into an Alesis DM5 drum module or Trigger I/O and they can play it just like a real drum kit.”
He adds that in regards to drumming, the game does require musicianship on at least the level of playing rhythmically, and that’s an advantage the drums have over the other instruments in the game. “The lack of strings on the guitar puts many musicians off, but the drums and cymbals are no different musically than playing a real kit.”
Minding the (Virtual) StoreIn Guitar Hero, there’s a
virtual Guitar Center store where gamers will fi nd some products also found in their real-life counterparts [see sidebar Guitar Center interview].
“We are thrilled to a partner with Guitar Hero and Rock Band,” says Ernie Ball’s marketing director, Brian Ball. Ball is actually a long time player, and as an accomplished musician himself sums it up when he says: “It provides is the same feeling you get as you’re in a cover band.”
Ernie Ball has a history with Guitar Hero. But now for the latest installment, they have a much higher profi le. “As the gamer gets better, he or she will have the opportunity to be ‘sponsored’ by Ernie Ball,” Ball says, adding with a smile: “Ernie thinks if you shred, you should have a full sponsorship. Rock on!”
Also, the products will be in the virtual
Guitar Center store where
players can pick out what type of Ernie Ball strings they want. “It’s cool – there’s a huge variety of selection in the [virtual] store.” While the choice they make won’t affect on the sound, but Ball points out it’s a powerful form of product placement: “When you consider the millions of units the franchise has sold, it’s a lot of impressions.”
But he knows that alone won’t turn players into customers. “If a consumer perceives a product is placed in a game solely for the sake of marketing, I don’t think it’s effective. Today we have intelligent consumers. If you’re pedaling burgers in a boxing game, it’s not going to feel authentic. This feels authentic to us.” Helping is Slash’s association with the Guitar Hero and Ernie Ball’s association with Slash – he’s been an endorser of theirs for 25 years.
“We were extremely excited when we started talking with Activision about increasing our presence in Guitar Hero 4 with EMG pickups being an upgradeable option within the game,” says Scott Wunschel, EMG, Inc.’s National Sales manager. “Our relationship goes back to Guitar Hero II and it made sense for EMG to be the offi cial guitar pickup for Guitar Hero 4. This brings with it a global branding opportunity that will only bring EMG closer to our current and future customer base. As an industry we need to reach out to new customers through various mediums and bring them into the musical instrument world. Guitar Hero 4 gives EMG and other manufacturers this opportunity. In addition, we are working with Activision to develop promotions that will bring customers into our dealer stores based around the Guitar Hero 4 game. Simply by playing the game, gamers will have the opportunity to fi nd out what EMG pickups are all about. This is exactly the type of partnership that fi ts in with our direction in branding and marketing.”
Controllers with Real Deal FeelPeavey was one of the fi rst to jump
“Anything that exposes music lovers to the act of being a part of an ensemble has the potential to make them more interested in learning a real instrument.”–Kurt Heiden
MMR_50 50 9/25/08 4:56:53 PM
Artwork by Robert F. Goetzl. All rights reserved. Used by permission. ©2007 C.F. Martin & Co. martinguitar.com
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MMR_51 51 9/25/08 5:11:49 PM
NAMM wants answers.The NAMM Foundation an-
nounced that it has awarded a grant to Drexel University, which will be conducting research on how video games that simulate music making, such as GuitarHero or Rock Band, might serve as an inspiration or learning tool for middle-and-high-school students to develop musical skills.
The proposed research will in-vestigate the following questions regarding musical video games: Does game profi ciency have a pos-itive impact on musical skill devel-
opment? Does avid game play lead to the pursuit of other music mak-ing outlets? Does interest and reg-ular participation in the playing of music video games affect whether a student seeks additional formal music education?
According to principal investor Youngmoo Kim, assistant professor in the electrical and computer engi-neering department at Drexel Uni-versity, video games based on the premise of simulated music play are indicative of a strong demand with-in society for some form of musical experience and expression.
“In particularly at-risk com-munities, true music education has been a lesser priority within
the public school curriculum and in some areas has disappeared completely,” Kim said. “For stu-dents within school districts that provide little or no funding for fi ne arts programs, music video games may represent the foremost form of musical interaction to which these students are exposed. Con-sequently, it is crucial to under-stand the impact and the potential for these music games to serve as a learning tool—ranging from the amount of interest the games generate in making music and pursuing music education, to their
impact on actual musical skill de-velopment.”
Mary Luehrsen, executive direc-tor of the NAMM Foundation, said that the research being conduct-ed at Drexel University supports the overall mission of the NAMM Foundation to encourage more people to get involved in playing music.
“The ‘crossover’ potential of music video games to musical skill development and literacy has not been studied, and this technol-ogy has great appeal for all ages,” said Luehrsen. “This study has the potential to reveal important con-nections between technology and the innate drive to make music.”
52 MMR OCTOBER 2008
NAMM Supports Grant To Examine Effects of “Virtual Music Making”
on board, creating controllers and even opening up their custom shop to customize the plastic guitar controllers.
“Peavey’s always been a hardware company, creating the physical things you can put your hands on,” explains Tony Moscal, general manager business
development. “We wanted to create peripherals for the game.” He points out that the game’s goal is to create the “rock god” experience, but then you’re holding this tiny plastic toy guitar. “It’s not the real deal, and we decided to go ahead and complete the cycle.”
“For students within school districts that provide little or no funding for fi ne arts
programs, music video games may represent the foremost form of musical interaction to
which these students are exposed.”
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Their fi rst client was an unlikely one – Coors Lite. They were taking the games to bars and public arenas, and wanted to have their customers get on stage with a real guitar. Jack Daniels, who they have already partnered with and put their logos on amps and guitars, were doing the same thing. But then for Peavey a controller made from a real guitar was not enough: they had to put together the Peavey Riffmaster Pro System that includes two guitars, a mic, a fully functional Peavey PA system housed in an “amp stack” enclosure with four 10” speakers. The 150-watt “amp head” sits on top and houses the gaming console in addition to powering the full-range sound system. That’s not for the casual gamer, but marketed toward bars and clubs as that system runs $2,000.
Their popular custom shop, which has long allowed for guitarists to put any image they want on a guitar, was opened up for gamers to do the same to their Peavey-made controllers, like a real guitar.The gamer can put a girlfriend, boyfriend, or even his or her kid on it, or any design or image they can supply in a 300 dpi image.
But again, this is costing some money, with custom controllers costing upwards of $400. Who would do this?
Moscal generously spells it out so everyone can understand, even those who might not be sure who Tony Hawk is, but for sure knows who Minnesota Fats was: “If I score 3,000 points on one of these games, I’m happy. But some of these kids are scoring 4,000 and 5,000.They then go to different places to play and enter contests. So think about the excellent pool player. Does he or she show up and just take a cue off the wall? No.They come in, open their case, and get out their custom cue. That’s the way it is with these.”
Peavey is releasing a controller made from a real guitar for $179 that will be shipping this month.
An Indianapolis company called Painted Axe, which mostly focuses on custom art design on guitars, recently announced it is offering four new custom
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OCTOBER 2008 MMR 55
Guitar Hero face plates inspired by Alice Cooper guitarist Keri Kelli. “We are incredibly excited and honored by Keri’sinterest and confi dence in Painted Axe,” said Michael Gauf of Painted Axe. “Keri’snotoriety and willingness to think outside the box is another positive step for Painted Axe. We want musicians to know Painted Axe provides unique opportunities for them to connect with fans and broaden their musical expression.”
M&M Merchandisers is just now releasing their Guitar Controller Xtreme (GCX). The GCX controller is also a real electric guitar with a real guitar body with custom fl ame graphics, real tuning keys, whammy bar, and strum bar. The GCX also features a maple fretboard, covered tuners, chrome hardware, black single coil pickup cover, traditional bridge, bolt on neck, fi ve colored fret buttons, toggle power switch, LED power indicator light, chrome select and start buttons, built-in tilt sensor,
accessible battery compartment, and includes a strap.
And there are plenty of non-traditional MI manufacturers getting in the game. For example, The Ant Commandos, a provider of wireless video game music peripherals and accessories, is shipping its “Illuminated Drumsticks” Available in two “captivating” colors (fl ame red and electric blue), they are designed for “anyone bored playing with old-
fashioned wooden” – er, real – “drumsticks.” These drumsticks do require two standard AAA batteries, two more than traditional sticks require…
Creating Music in the GameLine 6 is also in the game, but it has
its own studio, a studio where the players can “create” music. Activision actually approached Line 6 about an interesting proposal …
“They wanted to allow gamers to actually create songs themselves,” says Erik Tarkiainen, Line 6’s vice president of marketing. The thinking goes like this: as gamers get better, more profi cient at least in terms of rhythm and timing, they will then want to “create” their own music.Thus in the new Guitar Hero, there is a virtual studio that integrates Line 6’s
guitar tone technology, enabling gamers to use amps, cabs and effects from the POD in the game’sMusic Studio. The game’s studio
lets players express their musical creativity by giving them access to a full complement of tools to compose, record, edit and share
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56 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Here they can mix and match basic sequences, lead riffs, and rhythms via the game controller to create their own “songs.”
“They will of course be able to have access to our many different amp sounds, because as you know, the sound of the guitar can be as much a part of the composition as the notes you are playing,” Tarkiainen says. “Gamers will get to experience what real guitarists get to do.”
He sees it as a bridge from the virtual world to the real music making one.
“What’s exciting to us is that hopefully tens of millions of gamers will get excited about creating music, not just playing the game,” he adds. “With this, they can see if they have the inspiration to create their
own songs. It’s a great entry point. We are giving them a taste of what it’slike to be original.” For Tarkiainen, it’s one thing to “play” a classic rock song on the game and then want to learn an instrument so that
song can be played on a real instrument; but if the game can inspire the player to take the leap and want to create his or her own music, that’s a greater motivating force to learn an instrument. “The payoff is that’s a huge motivator to learn guitar, drums, keyboard, or even go into music software. Up until now, we hope they’ve been playing a plastic guitar and then hope they want to play a real guitar. What I hope will happen is they walk into a music store and say to the clerk, ‘I want to make my own music.’
“You don’t have to spend years learning an instrument to express yourself. You can make music right away. It might not be great at fi rst, but it’s yours.”
Creating Music Makers?But the question, quite literally the
million-dollar question, remains: are these games creating music makers? Are kids who spend hours playing these games
getting their hands on real instruments, taking lessons, and forming bands?
“These music games are absolutely a plus for the industry,” says Heiden of ION. “In a world full of iPods that only offer passive listening, these games offer a transitional vehicle that can lead to taking up an instrument. The industry should be embracing these games because they will result in future customers by way of those wanting to learn the real thing after mastering a Rock Band instrument. Those who master the Drum Rocker with Rock Band 2 will be well on their way to being ready to drum in a band.”
Fender’s Lyons hesitates for a moment when asked if the games are creating musicians. “At this point, any data we have is largely anecdotal. Unless dealers could start asking every kid who buys a starter guitar pack if he or she was inspired by the games and kept tally, I don’t know how we’d know for sure…
“But this is the way I look at it: these games are selling millions of copies, and kids are not only playing it, but they are listening to this great classic rock. How can that not help our industry? That’s what inspired us to play … that and thinking it would help us meet girls.
MMR_56 56 9/25/08 4:57:19 PM
“This is absolutely creating an awareness and interest, and we do think its turning gamers into play-ing guitar,” say Jeff Schroedl, vice president of Hal Leonard’s pop and standard publications.
“You have to take a look at the game,” adds vice president of nation-al sales, David Jahnke. “I love the way it mixes new styles with classic rock. It’s creating an awareness of guitar music, and that should lead to fu-ture musicians.” Like others, Jahnke stresses that even if one can’t make the leap from playing the game to playing an instrument, the power of the music will surely inspire. He tells the story of recently speaking with drummer/manager of Kansas, Phil Ehart. “I made the comment that I’ve been hearing ‘Carry On My Wayward Son’ a lot lately, which is featured in one of the games. He just laughed and shook his head,” Jahnke recalls. “He then told me that that is one of the main reasons the band was going out on tour last summer – because of the renewed interest in the band the game has brought them! Now they are back on tour playing to a whole new audience.”
One of Hal Leonard’s main prod-ucts related to the games are their Rock Band and Guitar Hero TAB books. They already had those songs in other books, so as soon as they realized how popular the games were, the company contacted the two game makers and licensed the art and name. Then the folios were easily compiled.
It was just November of last year when they released their fi rst book for Guitar Hero. With Rock Band,they had a little more advanced no-tice of the song list, says Schroedl.
“Rock Band is unique because it has the vocal, bass, guitar, and drum parts, and that gave us the oppor-tunity to expanding the product line,” Jahnke says. The book geared to-ward singers is an especially big hit. And they are able to weave it all into their popular Play Along series that include CDs, which allow the play-ers to slow down the tracks without changing the key in addition to the usual features.
They both ac-knowledged that the gamers doing well “playing” an Aerosmith guitar solo on the virtual stage, then goes out and buys one of the transcriptions, are not likely going to be able to play that solo on a real guitar right off the bat. But they are soon releasing a related guitar method that is built on sim-
plifi ed versions of the songs from the game.
Jahnke stresses again that the re-surgence of “good” music is always good for the industry. “I remember
the early 1990s when Clapton Unplugged came out,” he recalls. “Then rap and hip hop was good for the DJ and turn-table markets, and created a new au-dience in another direction. But now these games are really giving young kids the greatest guitar music of all time.”
Jahnke adds that they’ve been talking to a lot of stores since they fi rst brought out the book, and they have been encour-aging them to hold in store events. “One of our retail-ers partnered with the local Best Buy, who brought down
all the gear to the store – big screen TV, the gear to play the game, etc. The event got over 100 kids in who re-ceived door prizes. But the winner won a year’s worth of guitar lessons. That was something substantial.”
Hal Leonard Capitalizes on Popularity of Games
“These games are really giving young kids the greatest guitar
music of all time.”
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 57
[Laughs] So this is really no different. They aren’t sitting in a beanbag chair staring at a stereo like we did, but they are participating on a bigger level. It’s really just one step closer.”
Lyons points out that the game in general is at least better than the shoot-em-up and run-em-over games that are typically popular with the kids. “And parents are playing the game as well. Parents know the music, and now they have something in common with their kid. And the parents have the check book, and they are thinking, ‘guess who is getting a guitar for Christmas.’”
Brian Ball has no doubts. “I’m a huge supporter, and I do think it’s good for
the industry. We’re talking about 10 million people buying the games. That’sten million at least curious about the guitar. How can that be a bad thing? If even 10 percent of them are inspired and ask their Mom if they can play the guitar, that’s a lot of consumers. And I’mbeing conservative. I think it could be up to 30 percent to 40 percent of people interested in playing music because of these games.”
“We really don’t know what the conversion rate is but we certainly believe that the potential is there,” states Zildjian’sBrad Baker.
For Robinson at Evans, this is an extremely important opportunity. “One of the biggest challenges in our industry is reaching potential music makers,” he says. “Exposure of our brand to these the games players is sure to help with our brand identity and credibility as a name that supports new music makers and those musicians who paved the way with the great music you hear throughout the game.”
For Jodi Malone, the evidence is in. She runs themusicalmom.org, a Website that helps parents who home school get their children a music education. “I have big praise for Guitar Hero, and have
MMR_57 57 9/25/08 4:57:25 PM
58 MMR OCTOBER 2008
recently hosted a contest at the California Homeschool Network (CHW),” she says.The winners received a real guitar, and she followed up that event with free 15-minute guitar lessons. By the end of the event, she sold over $1,200 of guitars, books,
and accessories. She’s already been asked by the organizers of that show to hold another Guitar Hero contest at their next convention.
Last summer she also sponsored a contest using all the NAMM materials
from their “Wanna Play?” program. “It was a huge success,” she says.
Retailers Score with Game“I think MI retailers should absolutely
stock the game,” Ball says. “If they don’toffer this, it only gives that consumer another reason to go to the big box. In this day and age, independent stores have to carry things of this magnitude. If you’re selling guitars, basses, strings, drums, or keyboards, you really should consider it.” Contests are a great way to drive people into the store, and he even fl oats the idea of a cross promotion: Buy Guitar Hero or Rock Band here, and when you want to buy a guitar it’s 10 percent off, or you get three free lessons. “They are already curious if they are buying the game.”
Fender has had their dealers hold contests, and Lyons mentions a MI dealer Tom Lee Music in Vancouver who held a two-week long event that included preliminaries and then a fi nal contest.
Many MI retailers have been skeptical, even negative about the games. Then there’sMom’s Music stores, which are owned by brothers Mark and Max Maxwell. Mark owns one in Jeffersonville, Ind., and Max
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OCTOBER 2008 MMR 59
owns one across the river in Louisville, Ky.Walk into their stores and you’ll see Rock Band set up in their store. “It’s a great thing,” says Max Maxwell. “I don’t know how many come in with their kids to play the game and then want to take lessons.”
Maxwell said brother Mark fi rst put up a Guitar Hero rig up in his store for people to play last year, and he thought he’d try Rock Band. “The kids are wearing it out.And if I could sell the games, I’d have them on my fl oor, but I’ve never really looked into that.”
The Maxwells are convinced that it’shaving a positive effect on the music industry.They do “Weekend Warrior” programs and he says all the parents have these games at home, and they like that there is a comfortable place for kids to play while they practice or shop. In general, it keeps the store active.
“Anything you can do to keep kids in the store.” To naysayers he asserts: “I can’tbelieve why anybody would be bummed about kids playing music, even if it’s this way. It makes kids excited about the idea of playing [real instruments]. It’s been very powerful for us.”
But there’s no shortage of healthy skepticism [see Gary Gands guest editorial, page 40].
Greg McVeigh of Guesthouse Projects, who represents Heil Microphones, has the game in his house, which he says his two young sons constantly fi ght over. But that’sbetter than the alternative: “I’m not going to enter their argument because I know that in a few minutes the stage will shift to Youtube viewing or which DVD will be watched this morning. Somewhere during the morning, Disney Channel will prevail and all will be well. All the while, a neat little Strat copy hangs on the wall begging to be called on to play with the kids.”
As for MI product placement,“as a person who works in artist relations and who understands the power of product placement, I can see where a manufacturer would see value in associating itself with a game maker. But it is a short-term victory. Sure it is cool to know that millions are seeing your logo or digitized product. But in doing so, that same guitar manufacturer just showed kids that they don’t have to know how to play a real guitar. They don’t need to take lessons, learn to tune, fi gure out the chords to their favorite song, and most importantly, get to feel what it is like to play rock and roll in front of a crowd. Really play rock and roll.
“But, these games are the way of the modern world, and manufacturers will
MMR_59 59 9/25/08 4:57:39 PM
Games At Least Good for Rock Music SalesNational media is certainly giving the games even more exposure than it already has. CNN this sum-mer did a feature titled “Guitar Hero saving rock music?”
The report pointed out that only a few years ago, rock music was struggling on the charts. With hip-hop and teen pop ruling the day, rock was fi nding it hard to be
heard, let alone played. But GuitarHero and Rock Band have prompt-ed kids born in the days of N’Sync to be exposed to musicians of the 1970s and 1980s such as Aeros-mith, Kiss, AC/DC, Twisted Sister, Jimmy Buffett, and Pat Benatar. The games’ amazing popularity has spilled over and created suc-cess in other markets.
Geoff Mayfi eld, senior analyst and director of charts for Billboard maga-zine, sees a direct cause-and-effect for some of the artists who have li-censed their songs to Guitar Hero.
“A few weeks ago, when the game featuring Aerosmith came out, there was more than a 40-percent increase in their cata-log sales. I expect you’ll see that again when Metallica gets the same kind of treatment in a few weeks,”
The results have played out at such places as Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, where most teens have grown up on a steady diet of hip-hop and R&B.
Recently, heavy metal blared from the school’s darkened auditorium as it sponsored a three-day Guitar Hero Face-Off. Spotlights illuminated the competitors, and an audience full of enthusiasts screamed wildly at the end of each song.
Source: CNN
Aerosmith experienced a
40-percent jump in album sales
because of the game.
60 MMR OCTOBER 2008
have to sort out the short term from the long term. I would hate to see the games take the place of real music.”
The FutureAsked how much further Fender is
going to go with this, Lyons demurred, saying he wasn’t at liberty to speak about specifi cs, but they are working on some ideas. An entry line of products integrated into the game, with their artist participating will be part of it. Also they are excited that the makers of Rock Band will be exploring country and pop genres in future versions.
“We are working with a third party controller company for a replica of our P-Bass, which gamers can use as a controller. Those will be available by Christmas.”
Fender did a Rock Band Truck Tour getting kids in the truck, playing the game, surrounded by instruments. He said one thing he’s heard from the road is that kids are coming in and playing the game, saying they can spend up to four hours a day on it.“We point out that if they spent that kind of time on guitar, they would be pretty amazing players and be in a band.” But the kids too typically shrug as the game offers instant gratifi cation that a real guitar can’t.“That’s the big obstacle – taking the weeks to get that fi rst couple of chords down.”
Ludwig’s Grant Henry: “We are working closely with the Harmonix people on new ways to enjoy the Rock Band experience.That’s about all we can say at this time.”
“Very simply put, these ‘games’ are dream makers,” says Michael Farley of Farley’s Musical Essentials. “Those with a simple fascination will be weeded out, and the future Guitar Heroes will emerge.It is all about bringing attention to the instrument and industry.” He says the game is a great way to “preach the gospel of guitar,” and that it will instill in gamers a real sense of hunger for music.
“I predict that you are seeing the future [of real] guitar heroes, now in their infancy, coming to maturation.”
And how much crazier could it get?How about a movie?
It was reported at the end of August that the director of X-Men and Rush Hour, Bret Ratner, has approached the Activision about doing a movie. He was quoted as saying, “I love Guitar Hero and I think it’s a part of pop culture. I would love to do a ‘Guitar Hero’movie, if Activision would ever let me.”
It probably will be at a movie theater near you. But will it drive people to a music instrument store near you?
MMR_60 60 9/25/08 4:57:47 PM
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62 MMR OCTOBER 2008
“Huge Gateway Potential”“Harmonix has a history of trying to
bridge the gap between technology and musical creation,” says Sussman. “A lot of our design stems from the idea of giv-ing people the sensation of creating mu-sic; people who, for whatever reason have not had the opportunity to study music.” Does he feel that simulators such as Rock
Band and Guitar Hero lead to folks step-ping away the gaming console and pick-ing up an actual six-string? “There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence, but very little hard data that I’m aware of,” Daniel says. “We do get tons of gushing e-mails from fans who traded in their plastic guitar and drums for the real thing. I think that games like Rock Band are gateways to
musicianship. They expose people to a powerful sensation and bring people into a pretty deep connection with the music. That’s the real value.”
That deep connection and the stag-gering popularity of the games has been enough to convince a slew of heavyweight MI suppliers to jump on board – Rock Band 2 is partnered with Fender, Ludwig/Conn-Selmer, DW, Pearl, Shure, Sennheiser, Zildjian, E-H, Ernie Ball, Gretsch Drums, Pro-Mark, Vater, Vic Firth, Roland, EMG, Z. Vex, and SJC Custom Drums.
“Rock Band is not a music education tool, per se – we don’t actually teach you how to play guitar or drums – but we certainly plant the seed,” Sussman asserts. “That’s really the biggest sell to the MI companies when we talk about licensing arrangements. We make a mass-market product and sell it
As the developers of the original Guitar Hero games and now the driving force behind the Rock Band series,
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. is one of the key architects of the current music simulation video game
phenomenon. Director of Hardware Development, Daniel Sussman has been with Harmonix since before
the fi rst end-user ever picked up one of those tiny plastic guitars and began playing along with the classic
rock tracks featured in the fi rst Guitar Hero.
So You Wanna Be a
A Brief Chat with Harmonix Music Systems’ Daniel Sussman
“The fact is, music games offer a great outlet for exposure for MI companies.”
Rock n Roll
Star
MMR_62 62 9/26/08 9:47:08 AM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 63
primarily to non-musicians. That prod-uct, however, features music, music history, and musical instruments. The fact that the game-play is really addictive and the barrier to entry is low (i.e., absolutely anyone can play) makes that feature pretty strong. Early on, it was a hard sell, but I think that every-one saw the potential pretty quickly. The fact is, music games offer a great outlet for exposure for MI companies. A lot of people buying the games don’t really know they want to play music. These games have huge gateway potential.”
Made by Musicians, for... Future Musicians?
When designing Rock Band, which of-fered a more true-to-life music making ex-perience via its drum set peripheral, how much thought was put into whether or not such a change would be more likely to in-spire gamers to consider taking up an actual instrument? Does something like that even come into play for the guys making these games? To hear Daniel tell it, the answer is an unqualifi ed “yes” – and given that many of Harmonix’s founders and employees are, themselves, professional and semi-pro musicians (I’ve played on bills with at least eight “Harmonix bands” in Boston area clubs over the past few years - Ed.) the statement rings true: “We take authenticity really se-riously as it applies to the game experience and all aspects of the game design and art direction. While the guitar is a pretty coarse simulation of real guitar playing, we fi gured out early on that there was no way we could
make the drum game the same way. There was really no way we could make a drum game without teaching you the rudiments of drumming. Once we realized that, we got incredibly excited about the fact that we were bridging the gap between simulation and actual musicianship.
“I’m totally supportive of using Rock Band to get people interested in music and as a platform to sell musical instruments. I am looking forward to working with the MI industry to come up with new ways to bring music and music creation to people. We’re all gear-hounds at Harmonix – it is kind of funny how exciting a thing it is for us to have the opportunity to work with the likes of Fender and Gretsch.”
Daniel Sussman of Harmonix Music Systems and MMR editor Christian Wissmuller.
“I think that games like Rock Band
are gateways to musicianship.”
“I think that games like Rock Band
are gateways to musicianship.”
MMR_63 63 9/26/08 9:47:17 AM
SURVEY
Guitar Hero/Rock Band Survey:
An Industry DividedCould there be more differences of opinion? Apparently not. Are
the simulated music games “a gift,” as John Spinelli or Seminole
Music & Sound thinks? And as Jeff Firestone of Keene, N.H.
asks rhetorically: “How can this be bad?”
Or, as Spike Klein of The Magic Flute so eloquently put it:
“[The games] are like Dungeon & Dragons meets air guitar in
Loser Land.”
MMR asked MI retailers for their opinions of the video
games that simulate music making and the affects – if any
– they’re having on creating real music makers. The response was
overwhelming. More people participated in this survey than any other in recent memory.
“The truth is that to be a ‘real’ Guitar Hero, it will take a very long time, lots of discipline, and practice, practice, practice!”
No Comment
4%
Yes51%
No45%
Have you, yourself, played Guitar Heroor Rock Band?
Yes39%
No61%
Some MI manufacturers have created related MI products for this audience. Are you stocking these in your store?
64 MMR OCTOBER 2008
MMR_64 64 9/25/08 4:47:33 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 65
Do you stock these games in your stores?
Yes 2%
No, but thinking about it
35%No, and never will
63%
Have you held an in store event involving one or both of these games?
No, but thinking about it
32%
Yes19%No,
and never will
49%
“I love it!”Tim Kletti
Music Go RoundMinneapolis, Minn.
“I’m too old. And at the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon, I am a little skeptical of the whole Guitar Hero deal. While I am very aware that they are immensely popular with the younger generation, I am not sure they are driving wannabes into my store. The truth is that to be a “real” Gui-tar Hero, it will take a very long time, lots of discipline, and practice, practice, practice! I may be missing something but I just can’t get that excited about Guitar Hero.
Ray GuntrenRay’s Mid-Bell Music
Sioux City, Iowa
“My daughter, a good violin player, bought Rock Band three months ago. Our whole family is hooked and we sometimes stay up to the late hours playing. Also, we have X-Box live and play with a few regulars on a daily basis. Never thought I’d like such a game. But I have to admit, it’s cool.”
John PedersenPedersen’s Band & Orchestra
Burbank, Calif.
“I personally have Guitar Hero I, II, and III. Very enjoyable!“Our Guitar Hero III competition sponsored by NAMM’s
Wanna Play Campaign was a success! It was a month long com-petition with about 75 entrants. About 30 percent of players had never been in the store, and had heard about the competition through word of mouth, or our advertising in video game stores.
“Being a part of this industry for so long, we sometimes forget what it’s like to not be a musician. The kids that play Guitar Hero and Rock Band are smart kids that have just never been exposed to anything musical until these games. Some of them had no interest in playing an instrument at all un-til these games. I certainly don’t feel that playing Guitar Herois a prelude to a great musical career, but I think it’s a great step towards helping kids realize it is possible and fun to make music! On the fl ipside, our Guitar Hero competition brought a few kids that are very good Guitar Hero players, but are to-tally resistant to playing a real guitar ... but they came in, and they brought their parents, siblings, and friends with them. So, when little sister wants to play a fl ute in school, she’ll go, ‘Hey! I know where a music store is!’”
Amy OsborneArthur’s Music Store
Indianapolis, Ind.
“We want nothing to do with them. They run counter to ev-erything we’re trying to do.”
Stephanie WildsAcoustic Corner
Black Mountain, N.C.
“It’s the best. We have Guitar Hero in the store for kids and parents to play.”
Clifford F. Lake IIIAmerican Guitar & Band
Maple Grove, Minn.
“I’m not into video games. I would rather spend my time studying music or playing the real thing.
“But this is just one more attempt to fi nd the ‘shortcut’ to getting people interested in making music. Why not try
MI Retailers Sound off on the GamesNot surprisingly, there are as many opinions about the success of the music simulator games as there are MI retailers. Here are just a few of the comments we received from our survey:
MMR_65 65 9/25/08 4:47:38 PM
something revolutionary like us-ing… let’s see… I’ve got it! An in-strument. Let’s work with students and help them understand that this is a truly wonderful life-long en-deavor and that there really are no shortcuts. Let’s educate people to understand and respect those that have invested the time to learn and value good, honest, true hard work.
Guitar Hero is probably a fi ne video game, but like most video games, they’re a waste of time.
“Let’s spend time reading a book or, better yet, spend time studying how to play an instrument!”
John FilesBass Emporium
Austin, Texas
“I had to play – owing to my teenage children. But if my kids spent half the time playing an instrument that they did playing
66 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Have you seen an increase in interest/sales that you can directly attribute to the game(s)?
What’s your overall opinion of the game(s)?
Yes – many gamers have come in and bought instruments and taken lessons.
21%
Yes – a few have come into the store because of the games.
46%No – I don’t think I’ve sold a single instrument because of the game.
23%
Not sure. 10%
Best thing to happen in a long time– will create music makers.
9%It’s good because it’s exposing kids to great classic rock, and creating interest in music making.
59%
It’s a fad that’s not really going to create music makers.
25%
No opinion. 7%
MMR_66 66 9/25/08 4:47:42 PM
68 MMR OCTOBER 2008
games, they might actually learn to play music, instead of being wannabes!”
Donald ZeppZepp Country Music
Wendell, N.C.
“Rock Band has been plugged into our 46-inch LCD TV in the living room for about two months now and I haven’t touched it one time. I would rather spend my time playing real instru-
ments. The kids play it from time to time with no more interest in learning to play a real instrument than before.
“How about putting that money, time, and effort into pro-grams that help beginners start a real band with real instru-ments and put the focus on the independent dealer rather than more big box retailers?”
John BondKen Stanton Music
Atlanta, Ga.
“I don’t hate the games as much as I used to. Some kids actu-ally want to learn how to actually play an instrument rather than pushing colored buttons.
“What the Industry needs is for popular music that will make kids want to play live music. While the biggest musical sensation is ‘American Idol,’ kids aren’t too inspired to want to play. From Elvis to grunge, popular music excited young people to want to be in bands. Not so much any more.”
Larry GoschEncore Music Center
Auburn, Calif.
“It’s a great game and a fun way to unwind. I think it can have a positive effect on the MI. I actually have made a few new students from these games who are looking to learn the real in-struments.”
Greg AllenLong Island Drum Center
Nyack, N.Y.
What’s your overall opinion of the manufacturer’s creating products related to it or for it?
It’s a great idea and I hope more take advantage of the opportunity
48%It’s a good idea to get their name out, but won’t do any real good for the industry
30%It’s a waste of time and moneyand they should be focused on other things that will work.
9%
No opinion. 13%
MMR_68 68 9/25/08 4:47:48 PM
70 MMR OCTOBER 2008
“It’s a fun game, and has brought new beginners to our store, but it can be deceiving to young players. It can make them think playing the guitar will be easy!
“My son gets excited about learn-ing the songs from the game on ‘real’ guitar, now they are cool, not just Dad’s old music.”
Jake BiggerstaffStrings Attached Music
West Plains, Mo.
“It’s fun, but not a replacement for the real thing.”Scott Karman
Main Street MusicMarinette, Wis.
“Personally, no, I haven’t played them. However my store spon-sored a Guitar Hero contest spanning 13 weeks with a big fi nale. It is a great traffi c builder and generates synergy within our company.”
Tony LeonardPlayground Music Center
Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
“We have both Rock Band and Guitar Hero set up in our stores.”
Max MaxwellMom’s Music
Louisville, Ky.
“I have played Guitar Hero 3 several times and I think it is a great learning tool for younger plays that want to get into the guitar.”
Michael RoeMojo Music Discount
Bellingham, Wash.
“Starting younger kids out on something like this, having fun with it, is a great way to get them into playing a musical instrument.”
Jeff HashbargerJeff’s Music ShopKingsport, Tenn.
“Instant gratifi cation. It seems so obvious. It has been a very good segue into the lesson program.”
Greg MaglioneTower MusicFenton, Mo.
“I could spend quite a bit of time with the game Grand Theft Auto, but really, it takes time to be a good criminal.”
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OCTOBER 2008 MMR 71
“Guitar Hero sounds like a fun game for guitar geeks and wannabes. I don’t see it impacting our business much but the old codger in me can’t help but be self-righteously amused. It’s like Dungeon & Dragons meets air guitar in Looser Land. Don’t call it musicianship. Don’t call those things guitars. They’re just joysticks, nothing more.
“It’s possible that my opinion would change if I played either of these games, but I’m a musician. I spend my free time on my drums!”
Spike KleinThe Magic Flute
San Rafael, Calif.
“Nice toy.”Andy Eder
Andy’s GuitarsTallahassee, Fla.
“It builds more visual acuity/motor coordination than actual musical profi ciency.”
Ralph SpoettleKBD Systems
Virginia Beach, Va.
“We see several sides of the issue. We have had several stu-dents come in and want to take lessons because of Guitar Hero.
There is a shortage of iconic guitarists today and Guitar Hero has exposed people to guitar greats.
“Problem: Everyone thinks that they should be able to play like they do on the game. ‘Practice’ is a four-letter word. We rely on great teachers to bring the excitement to the stu-dents!”
Joe FritzRidglea Music
Fort Worth, Texas
“It’s good because it’s exposing kids to great classic rock, and creating interest in music making.”
Bill SharrowFretz Music Center
Souderton, Pa.
“It’s fun, and I like the selection of ‘real’ music they in-clude.”
Peter SidesSides Family Music Center
State College, Pa.
“I think this is great for music as a whole. This is why we do what we do, for the music. It’s not about us.
“If a game can encourage kids and adults to think about play-ing music then I’m for it. Also look how many marketing dollars are spent on a couple of games that put the words Guitar Heroand Rock Band in the title. This is a gift if you ask me. And don’t
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72 MMR OCTOBER 2008
be surprised when the day comes that the question is asked, ‘How did you get started playing guitar?’ And the words ‘Guitar Hero’ comes out of the next ‘real life’ guitar hero’s mouth. My advice is, don’t fi ght it – but you don’t have to embrace it. It’s just a game to some and could be an inspiration to others.
John SpinelliSeminole Music & Sound
Seminole, Fla.
“It’s a fad that’s not really going to create music makers.”Dan YadeskyYadco Music
New Versailles, Pa.
“How can this be bad?”Jeff Firestone
RetromusicKeene, N.H.
“These products are toy-based. They do not develop new musicians and distract manufacturers from developing ‘useful’ products attractive to musicians.”
Mike RubinProspect Music
Cleveland, Ohio
“We’ve stocked the book, but the game’s easy compared to the book, which is hard. In order for the concept to drive new business the in-store product may need to be easier to al-low customers to gain confi dence in their new found abilities sooner.”
Nick RailNick Rail Music
Santa Barbara, Calif.
“I have seen an up tick of about fi ve percent in music lessons that I can directly attribute to these games. However, many of these new students drop out rather quickly when they realize that playing the actual instrument is quite a bit more demand-ing of time and effort, as opposed to a glorifi ed joystick.”
Dave CaldwellCardwell Connection
Whitestone, N.Y.
“It has the potential to increase receipts, so you may as well make hay while the sun shines!”
Ralph SpoettleKBD Systems
Virginia Beach, Va.
“Like anything which is ‘lightning in a bottle,’ this opportu-nity has the potential to do really good things for our industry. However, just like any previous opportunity, manufactures and retailers who don’t destroy the idea for a short-term gain will only realize the benefi ts. Whatever promotion or sponsorship you do has to be planned out to be benefi cial for the long-term development of customers and musicians. Nothing wrecks a great idea faster than shortsighted exploitation.”
Patrick ReedFunky Munky Music
Shawnee, Kan.
“I don’t believe that shoe sales went up for athletic stores be-cause of Madden Football. This is a game and does not mean that these kids will continue or even try a musical instrument. But if we can increase sales because of it I am all for it.”
Peter EllmanEllman’s Music Center
Naperville, Ill.
“Students who play Guitar Hero a lot have a hard time taking lessons.”
Dale PerkinsPerkins Music House
Skowhegan, Maine
“If the ‘new’ music makers go to Sam’s Club to get their fi rst guitar, we will lose more people than we will gain.”
Eric HansonHanson Pro MusicPort Huron, Mich.
“I have seen an up-tick of about fi ve percent in music lessons that I can directly attribute to these games.”
MMR_72 72 9/25/08 4:48:05 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 73
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“This trend is following the Tony Hawk model of years ago. The game at fi rst distracts from the real thing, but a weird sym-biosis eventually develops.”
Gregg ConserConser Music
Fort Wayne, Ind.
“I have seen people doing it and I thought it was kinda silly. “The few people that have made it into my music shop
after spending time with the game were put off by the fact
they could not play a real guitar in 10 minutes or less. I could spend quite a bit of time with the game Grand Theft Auto, but really, it takes time to be a good criminal.”
Rusty OlsonRockhaus MusicMilwaukee, Wis.
Go to www.mmrmagazine.comto see what is “Off the Record” today.
MMR Blogs about the MI industry every Wednesday.
MMR_73 73 9/25/08 4:48:09 PM
74 MMR OCTOBER 2008
SHOW REPORT
MIAC Show: Where Flat is UpCanadian MI Show Hangs Onto Attendance Number from Last Year – And Why That’s Good
There were a few more exhibitors to MIAC/PAL show in Toronto this
year than last. But a closer look shows that the lower number of
MI companies exhibiting was offset by an increase in those setting
up booths in the Pro Audio and Lighting (PAL) half of the show,
something MIAC executive director Al Kowalenko acknowledged. “Some U.S.
based companies didn’t come because of the soft economy,” he said. (Obviously
the weak U.S. dollar and comparatively strong Canadian one played a role as
well.) He added that while the exact numbers aren’t in, overall attendance to
the show was on par with last year – and he’ll take that as a “win.” From Suzuki: what a $3,000 harmonica looks like.
MMR_74 74 9/25/08 4:48:35 PM
The Music Industry Association of Canada (MIAC) gathered on August 24 and 25, and friends shook hands, traded stories, and did some business. Expecta-tions of some longtime manufacturers were kept low and they weren’t dis-appointed. As one major supplier checked into the hotel and was asked how he thought the show was going to go, the reply mus-tered was only a shrug and a sigh.
Some changes were made this year to spice things up. The opening welcoming party seemed to be a hit. The “007 Ca-sino Royale” theme featured gambling with “MIAC money,” with proceeds going to Coalition for Music Education in Can-
ada. Those that attended had fun, though it seems for many the opportunity to gamble for charity was not going to tempt them into becoming professionals.
“The party was great,” Gemstone’s Bob Berheide said the next day. “For me it was a very exciting 45 seconds and then I lost all my ‘money.’ All it took was about three tries at the craps table ….”
“I lasted only a few minutes longer at the rou-lette table,” cracked asso-ciate Allan Ash. Ash and Berheide confi rmed that they were going to keep their day jobs, thank you
very much.“It was a lot of fun,” said MIAC presi-
dent and Garrison Guitar luthier, Chris
Griffi ths of the reception. “Last year we had a jam, which is fun if you’re the one jamming. And if you wanted to talk, you
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 75
The Canadian Economy By the Numbers
Population: 33,223,840
Unemployment rate: 5.8 percent (a 33-year low).
Prime interest rate: 4.75 percent
Federal debt: one $467,268 million
GDP for the year: +2.7 per-cent
Real fi nal domestic demand has risen 6.9 percent (an 11-year high).
Residential investment has risen 2.4 percent
New construction activity is 5.4 percent, from 10.2 percent the previous quarter.
Spending on renovations rose 5.0 percent
Consumer price infl ation is 1.8 percent
Source: Department of Finance Canada
“The economy in general is hurt by the dollar,
and then there is also the lack of tourism caused
by the stricter passport restrictions. But housing here is not an issue here
like it is in the U.S.”
D’Addario Canada launches new line of accessories, Solutions. Composite Acoustic’s guitar on ice with some of Canada’s fi nest beverage.
Behringer’s Brian Maxwell and Michael Deblois JA Musik’s Phyllis Kohnlenberg and Sal Cardello
MMR_75 75 9/25/08 4:48:41 PM
76 MMR OCTOBER 2008
had to walk out of the hall. This party allowed people to network and have fun.” So much fun was had that while it could have gone on longer, they had to fi nally shut the proceedings down at 11:00 p.m.
The gala the next evening was well attended. The highlight of the evening came when MIAC presented its new Ad-vocacy Award to Fran Herman from the Canadian Music Therapy Association. A longtime advocate for the healing power of music, Herman’s speech put her pas-sion for music on display — it was both touching and inspiring.
The Canadian Economy: All a Wash?
Trying to get a handle on the Cana-dian economy brings to mind that old In-dian legend: three blind men were asked to describe what an elephant is like: the one who was grabbing the trunk, said it was like a snake; the one who was grab-bing the tusk, said it was like a spear… you get the idea.
David Harvey, owner of Musician’s Choice in Toronto, said that the Cana-dian economy in general is just okay, solely because of the infl uence of the U.S. economy. “Canada is like an echo to the
U.S., and whatever is going on there is felt here in some way.” His year was fi ne, but not great, and this was despite an amaz-ing housing boom going on in Toronto, with hundreds of condos rising from the
What’s a trade show without a guy in a kilt? Jim Scott of Scott’s Highland Servicesentertains everyone in ear shot
Lilliana Urosevic of Saga
Fernand Lapierre and Doug McGarry (Roland), Ed Vodicka (Web Only Piano) and Pierre Circé (Roland)
Chris Rausch and J. Hayes of Paul Reed Smith
Charles Dumont’s Alan Ward with Mel Bay’sDenise Kantola and Jeff Ponte
Peterson’s John Norris Amber Carroll of Kjos Notation’s Mark Urmos NAMM’s Eric Ebel
Vaino Gennaro, Anne Joyce, and Charles Boisvert of Sennheiser
Allan Ash and Bob Berheide of Gemstone
MMR_76 76 9/25/08 4:48:50 PM
downtown asphalt in a manner almost unimaginable in the U.S.
“Canada is doing a lot better than the U.S. economically – not terrifi c, but bet-ter,” said Jim Scott of Scott Highland. “The U.S. market is very tough. We just did a Irish trade show in New Jersey and it had half the dealers as last year.” Scott owns the Ontario-based company that specializes in Irish and Scottish instru-ments and accessories, and he confi rmed what many Canadian-based companies were saying: they were doing great in Eu-rope and Australia, and that was making up for the loss of US sales.
“Retailers in Canada are doing the same if not even well, but the same can’t be said for all the Canadian manufactur-ers,” said Larry Manford, Yamaha Can-ada Music. “The economy in general is hurt by the dollar, and then there is also the lack of tourism caused by the stricter passport restrictions. But housing here is not an issue like it is in the US, and there’s an oil boom in Alberta providence. In the west, they are benefi ting from prepara-tion for the 2010 Winter Olympics to be held in Vancouver.” He adds that the MI business in that area is doing especially well because of pro lighting and audio needs related to that big event. “And even the Saskatchewan area is benefi ting be-
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 77
MIAC president Chris Griffi ths at the MIAC gala dinner
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Highlights from the “State of the Industry” MeetingTaking a well-worn page from NAMM’s playbook, MIAC this year instituted a “state of the industry” breakfast meeting for the morning of the fi rst day of the show. A collec-tion of respected industry members including Jeffrey Carman (Erickson Audio), Julio Costelleso (Steve’s Music), Jim Norris (publisher of Canadian Music Trades magazine), Sam Gair (Second Encore Music), Larry Manford (Yamaha Canada Music), and Jack Long (Long-Mc-Quade and Yorkville Audio).
“Interest in music has grown,” Long observed. “An-other change is that the [new music makers] are older now. It used to be teenagers and people in their early 20s. Now we have lots of customers in virtually every age with the average age being much older than it used to be.” He added that the older person tends to have more money “and the money tends to be cash,” as opposed to music stores having to help the customer try to fi nance the purchase.
Erickson’s Carman noted that the quality of products out of the China and the low prices are benefi -cial to the customer: “It used to be a pair of studio monitors were $1,200, but now you can get good ones for $399.” Specifi cally to Canada, he said the relatively strong, and that’s been a boon at least to the pro audio side of things: “They are spending money to improve infrastructures – courtrooms, for example, are get-ting new audio installation.”
“In general, we are seeing the [U.S.] states struggling,” Yamaha’s Manford said. “Europe is progres-sive, markets in Asia are emerging, and that’s balancing the equation.” The weak U.S. dollar against the growing strength is “a huge chal-lenge for everyone in this room, and it’s cost our company a sub-stantial amount of revenue. We sell more quantity to maintain levels.”
Long caused a lot of heads in the room to nod in agreement when he
later declared: “The U.S. is sup-posed to be in recession, but in mu-sic it’s not all bad. I think Canadian dealers are better – I think they are a little smarter. [laughs] Canadian dealers have a different approach to business and more success. The quality of the retailers in a lot of towns in the U.S. is weak.”
Carman advised retailers to seek help from manufacturer’s rep-resentatives. “These guys can be a great ally for you. I see it everyday that dealers working closely with their reps get more help – it can
be as simple as dis-cussing co-ops, ask-ing if terms can be changed, help with merchandising and marketing – a good rep can help you with
all sorts of things.” Costelleso advised: “Stay fo-
cused on the products you know how to sell. Don’t get into selling things you don’t know about.”
Manford urged that it’s not all “doom and gloom” and there’s “a lot of business out there.” He point-ed out that the retailer who is sen-sitive to the ethnic makeup in the community, which is undoubtedly changing. “Immigrants, particu-larly the Chinese that are moving here, highly value music and music education.”
Though the biggest applause line came from retailer Scott: “Pay suppliers on time.”
“I think Canadian dealers are better – I think they
are a little smarter.”
MIAC’s executive director Al Kowalenko introduces the panel of retailers and suppliers at the “State of the Industry” breakfast.
78 MMR OCTOBER 2008
MMR_78 78 9/25/08 4:49:07 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 79
cause of the need for [the mineral] pot-ash is in high demand.
“But at the end of the day, it’s all a wash.”
While Canada is not economically hurting, Manford points out that in good times or bad, MI business is always at least stable. He credits this in large part to the music advocacy groups, particu-larly the Coalition for Music Education in Canada, which Yamaha is very in-volved in supporting.
Hitting the Floor“Where are the people?” asked one
manufacturer, exhibiting for the fi rst time. “Why are we here?” laughed an-other.
But Peter Stairs of Sabian reported a good show, and said that, to him, it seemed that attendance was up. “When you add all the people in the other hall at any given time, it’s a good crowd,” he said, adding: “But I can re-member back when it was all in just one room.”
The “100” aisle was particularly crowded throughout the show, as this was home to the majority of guitar makers.
For Composite Guitar, this was their fi rst MIAC, and the company’s vice pres-ident of business development, Laurie Abshire, came prepared to catch the at-tention of the crowd: her booth featured a tub of Molson Canadian beer on ice. Sharing the tub with the fi ne lager was one of their guitars, buried in the ice, to make the point of the carbon fi ber mate-rial used to make their instruments.
“Canada needs our instruments!” she exclaimed. “With this weather, the abil-
ity for our guitars to stay in tune and withstand any elements would certainly be advantageous.” She was showing of their new “Xi” model, which she said she wrestled from her guys in R&D on the way out the door to MIAC. She also let it be known that at January’s Winter NAMM show, they will be showing off a new acoustic bass.
Martin reported a good show, and Bruce Mariano explained that they use MIAC as an opportunity to show off new products
Roland supplied great entertainment on the show fl oor.
MMR_79 79 9/25/08 4:49:15 PM
80 MMR OCTOBER 2008
that they debuted at Winter and Summer NAMM shows. On display and getting a lot of buzz was something big that came in a small package: to celebrate their 175th year,
they packaged three sets of strings with a T-shirt, only the T-shirt was compacted in a square so much it was barely bigger then the package that held the strings (the com-
pany that did the packaging is appropriately called “Simply Smashing”). “It’s been a huge hit not just in North American but globally, and we’ve sold about 60,000 units,” Mariano
said. “It’s been fi ve or six times more successful then we even thought it would be, and might just be our best promotion in the history of the company.”
Larrivee Guitar’s recent foray into creating electric guitars is going “better than expected,” said Larrivee’s Rick Thompson. The solid-body guitars are made with all high-end components,
D’Addario booth gets a lot of interest for its new traveling instrument line.
Hal Leonard’s Brandon Mathieus and Luke Edstrom
Tim Bronson and Vincent Matino of Alfred
Jim Scott of Scott’sHighland Services
Berthold Neidhardt of German American Trading Co
Laurie Abshire of Composite Acoustic and the new CA Xi
MMR_80 80 9/25/08 4:49:23 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 81
and are doing well for the dealers carrying them. From MIAC, Thompson said he’s off on a world-wind tour visiting all their dealers, including in the U.S., through the end of November. “It’s a big job ahead of us, but we’ve done this kind of thing before.”
Power Group is continuing to bring out more guitars and basses under the Highland name, and president Ron Larcombe said they are doing well. “We design with familiar shapes in mind, but they come out unfamiliar,” he said. “Our headstocks at fi rst glance look like any others, but on closer look, like no oth-ers. We like taking that approach with everything we do.” Lar-combe said he’s proud that his Chinese-made instruments are of high quality yet coming in at price points that make them more accessible. A $3,000 arch top, for example, is not something that the average consumer does easily. “But with our Titan at $799, you don’t have to even think about [purchasing] it. You’re going to feel good about buying one of these instruments.” He adds that while others back away or hide the fact that their instru-ments in China, “we embrace it” because it’s allowing for better instruments at affordable prices.
Larcombe, who last year was president of MIAC, said he’s been able to focus additional time on the company’s many lines,
Mark Owen and Keith Willis of Indie Guitar Company
Larry Manford, Yosuke Nikami, and Robert Barge of Yamaha
June Doyle and Arnold Davidson of D’Addarrio Canada
Power’s Earl Johnson and Ron Larcombe
MMR_81 81 9/25/08 4:49:35 PM
82 MMR OCTOBER 2008
and will be attending Winter NAMM with a bigger booth to promote the High-land instruments to the US market.
World’s Most Expensive Harp?Arnold Davidson of D’Addario Can-
ada smiles broadly when he shows off a pretty special Suzuki harmonica – it re-tails for $3,000. “We have harmonicas for
$9.95, and then this $3,000 … and with this one, I only have to sell one!” he jokes. Actually, it’s a serious high-end instru-ment that Stevie Wonder currently plays and, while the price point might raise an eyebrow at fi rst, it actually can do well for a dealer if he or she stocks it. “If you stock it, you will sell it,” said the soft-spoken Davidson with a smile.
Also the D’Addario booth was abuzz with their newer Beaver Creek guitars, small travel instruments in bright col-ors priced attractively. These he hopes to introduce to the US market soon. D’Addario Canada has also launched a new line of accessory products called Solutions. These lower-end drumsticks, guitar bags, drum keys, et cetera are
Mario Biferali, Robert Godin, and Gerald Da Sylva of Godin, with Jean-Paul Yergeau of Le Palais de la Musique in St. Jean, Quebec
Breezy Ridge/John Pearse Strings: Spafford Lewis, Carol Long, Dave Voino, and Mary Faith Rhoads-Lewis
MMR_82 82 9/25/08 4:49:43 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 83
aimed for those beginning to play, and the product line is doing well so far.
Meinl’s Juan Berrios was defi nitely one of the more enthusiastic exhibitors at the show. “It’s a great show for us,” Berrios said. “But the last two years we’ve been up more than 30 percent, and so more retailers continue to be-come interested in trying our cymbals
and instruments, and once they do, they do well with them.”
CE Distributions was another compa-ny exhibiting for the fi rst time. The com-pany deals in guitar parts and ships them all around the world. The Arizona-based company was hoping to take advantage of the weak US dollar and get his products in the hands of more Canadian dealers.
The company is the exclusive distributor of the Jensen Speakers and that alone was bringing many into his booth.
At the Gemstone booth, the Brio lines of fl utes were being well received, Ash and Berheide testifi ed. Having Greg Pattillo, the extraordinary fl utist who is one of YouTube’s biggest stars on board is helping to create high visibility for
Larrivee’s Rick Thompson and Ben Thompson
Meinl: Adam Anderson and Juan Berrios
Martin’s Tony Manzi, Bruce Mariano, Tim McNair, and Duane Robar
Levy: Bob Richards, Tom Levy, Frank Bresee, Harvey Levy, Jeff Bard, Amy Pitt, Glen Booth, and Jerrome MacPherson.
James Warburton, professional musician, and brother Terry of Warburton Music Products,were on hand helping out Hunter’s Paul Chu.
Yorkville’s Shale Leech, Ken Kucharic, Ian McRae, Owen Connell, and Liette Comeau-Mercier
SF Marketing celebrates their 30th Anniversary with a cake and a band.
MMR_83 83 9/25/08 4:49:49 PM
84 MMR OCTOBER 2008
the instrument with young players, they confi rmed. Ash was also showing off ef-fective merchandising tools that help dealers explain to customers quickly and easier which instruments step-up stu-dents all the way up to professional.
Peterson’s Body Beat garnered atten-tion. “It’s like that teacher tapping the beats on your shoulder,” said John Nor-ris of the body metro-nome. “And people think it’s just for drummers, but that’s only 30 percent of our market. All musi-cians are doing well with these, and teachers love them.”
Harvey Levy of Levy’s Leather also con-fi rmed it was a good show … how good? “Somebody else asked me that a while go,” Levy said when asked if this show was better than last year. “They all can blur together for me!” he laughed, then added: “But these shows are always good for us, and this one is no exception.”
Over in the PAL hall, things were buzzing the entire show. Sennheiser was reporting a great show, which di-rector of marketing Anne Joyce attri-butes to the “new neighborhood.” “We used to be over there,” she said, mo-tioning toward the MI hall. “But we felt
we belonged in the PAL hall, and ever since we’ve moved here, it’s been great.” The Sennheiser booth was indeed hop-ping, and there was a great deal of interest in their showing ARRAY products, which are
amazingly small speakers from Italy that pack a lot of punch. These prod-ucts aren’t even available in the US yet.
A highlight on Monday outside the convention center, SF Marketing celebrat-ed its 30th anniversary with cake, a terrifi c band, and a beer tent. Suffi ce to say those in attendance at that party could agree the show certainly ended on a high note.
Sabian: Kevin Laskey, Peter Stairs, Terry Ryan, Bob and Willi Zildjian, and MMR’s Kevin Mitchell
“These shows are always good
for us, and this one is no exception.”
Tri-Tech’s Andy Kamentz and James Patterson
Larrivee’s electric guitars got a lot of show buzz.
MMR_84 84 9/25/08 4:49:59 PM
That’s the$50,000question!Levy’s most successful dealers pose this question to each of their customers, and as a result, sell $50,000.00 worth of Levy’s guitar straps per storefront annually. Well… okay, it’s not that simple. There are a couple other things you need to do besides asking the question:
1. Keep your Levy’s display accessible and well-stocked. That’s where we come in. Not only do we offer the broadest range of comfortable, great-looking guitar straps, we also offer a comprehensive array of visually stimulating POP displays.
2. Remember that you’re selling a fashion item. Help your customers match a Levy’s strap to their music, their guitar, or their attire. Your customers will appreciate the personal attention.
You too can be a successful Levy’s dealer. Start by asking the question…
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Do you want Levy’s with that?
Levy’s guitar straps were identified as a “must-have” product at the recentSummer NAMM Showand were designated BestIn Show. Levy’s alsoreceived the Best in Showat Winter NAMM 2007.
MMR_85 85 9/25/08 5:11:58 PM
86 MMR OCTOBER 2008
It is in fact the very fi rst thing K&M’s Gabriela König wants you to know about her company. And she encourages their position on this important issue be con-veyed to the end user: “Our retailer can assure their customers that each K&M product is produced in a responsible way,” she says. “Furthermore our products are well known for their longevity and the fi rst-class quality of the materials used. This quality provides not only for satisfi ed customers, but also for an effective use of raw materials, and therefore reduced envi-ronmental impact. A contributing factor is our long standing replacement service, which leads to products not being thrown away, but rather to be used further.”
HistoryFor almost 60 years, K&M has been
one of the leading manufacturers of mu-sical equipment.
The company’s history goes back to 1949 when Karl König and Erich Meyer founded the organization in Wertheim, Germany with 10 employees. Just two years later, business had grown to 60 employees, and was serving retailers be-yond Germany’s borders. The company produced music stands and measuring instruments at that time. In the next few years microphone stands and instrument stands were developed. In 1968 Martin König succeeded his father, Karl, and at this point the business employed 160 workers. In 1969 a second factory was built where the production departments like punching, galvanizing, tool shop, powder coating, welding, and assembly are located. In the 1980s and 1990s K&M was growing, and more product groups were added like keyboard stands, 19” racks, speaker, and lighting stands. In 1998 they were awarded the EU environ-
K&M Stands: German Quality, Earth FriendlyWhile Most of Their Products Come In Black, It’s Really All “Green”
For K&M Stands, it’s fi rst and foremost about being responsible.
“Our production techniques and
machines have been improved and
refi ned specifi cally to provide for an
economical handling of energy.”
Gabriela König
MMR_86 86 9/25/08 4:50:24 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 87
ment audit certifi cate emphasizing ef-forts taken to protect the environment.
K&M celebrated their 50th anniversa-ry in 1999 with a joint excursion by staff and management to the U.S. In 2004, a new powder coating plant and new gal-vanizing lines were built. In 2006, a laser for cutting tubes was put into operation which has opened new and more fl exible manufacturing possibilities.
In August 2005, a new managing team was formed. Gabriela König, daughter of Martin König, became responsible as managing director for sales, market-ing, IT, and controlling. Heiko Wolz became managing director for produc-tion, and Martin stayed on as managing director for strategic tasks. Prior to join-ing K&M, Gabriela König worked for a
state-owned research center, but was drawn to the family business and
joined K&M in 1996. Today about 250 employees produce 1,500 products which are exported to more than 80 countries.
Not surprising, she’s proud of the much-admired German engineering that goes into their products. “We maintain an uncompromising quality manage-ment according to ISO 9001, use fi rst-class materials, and offer high-precision workmanship,” she says. They also have in their catalog benches and drummer thrones, multimedia equipment, and music accessories. Most recently they are shipping their Spider Pro Keyboard Stand, Memphis Pro Guitar Stand, Jazz Sax Stand, and Gomezz drum throne, among others.
New York-based Connolly & Com-pany is K&M’s U.S. distributor, catering to over 500 retailers today.
While it’s a competitive fi eld, König says there are several ways that K&M sets itself apart from others. “We have the ability to service commercial and profes-sional users with a premier brand which is oriented to value defi ned by function, innovation, durability, safety, and pro-tection of the environment,” she says. “Small return ratios provide for both re-tailer and end customer satisfaction.”
In times of ever shrinking margins, the products offer solid profi tability for retailers. And their ability to offer spare part service is also something that is harder to come by these days.
Not to say there aren’t challenges: “A soft U.S. dollar makes it a little diffi cult for us as the product gets more expensive
for the customer,” she explains. “We try to absorb some of the price increases our-selves and work closely with our distribu-tor to fi nd solutions. Right now the dollar is getting stronger again which helps us with our export business.”
Green “We are convinced that a company
can only be successful in the long run if it takes care on the environment and looks for every possibility to save energy and resources,” König says emphatically. German companies are in fact ahead of the U.S. on this issue primarily because the government there has been on the cutting edge of this movement long be-fore many others even acknowledged it was important. Germany was one of the
fi rst countries that supported renew-able energies, for example. But the U.S. is “catching up” and one state is even emerging as a leader: “California has one of the world’s leading environmental programs,” she says. “A lot of new ‘green’ companies are founded there.”
König is proud of the company’s ac-complishments in this area. “Even when the issue was not mainstream, the con-sideration of environmental protection has played an important role for K&M early on.” In the 1970s, forward-thinking decisions were taken like the installation of a modern wastewater treatment plant. By means of technical and organizational measures, they reduced their water con-sumption by 94 percent within the last 26 years.
The environmental impact of every action is taken under consideration in the plant. In fact, extra care is taken dur-ing the products’ design process so that parts are easily removable, and can be re-cycled when they have reached the end of their lifespan.
“Through extensive measures over the past several years, we have succeeded in continually reducing the environmen-tal effects of our operations.”
Even how parts are cleaned is taken in consideration: They don’t use clean-ing chemicals that contain CFC or CHC
MMR_87 87 9/25/08 4:50:30 PM
88 MMR OCTOBER 2008
agents. In the production of synthetic materials they exclusively use materials free of plasticizers. The varnishing of the components takes place in their modern powder-coating facility, which in com-parison with a wet varnish process, is a much more effi cient and environmen-tally friendly procedure.
“Our production techniques and ma-chines have been improved and refi ned specifi cally to provide for an economical handling of energy, notes Köenig. A state-of-the-art wood-heating installation has re-cently been added to the operation, and each building is optimally insulated.”
Management doesn’t pretend to have all the answers either, and turn to their most valuable resource: the people who work with them.
“We have something called the K&M Idea Initiative, which offers everyone an opportunity to submit suggestions for improvement measures,” König says. “This has been created to motivate our staff to engage directly in the improve-ment of the production procedures. Staff members even earn a fi nancial share of the economic benefi ts derived for K&M from their suggestions.”
Despite all this, however, König & Meyer is by no means content to rest upon its laurels. “With the help of a con-sultant, we have built up a comprehensive health and safety management system in recent months as well as an action plan for worker safety. Among other things, several workstations will be ergonomi-cally overhauled and a noise reduction program will be implemented in several departments. In autumn, we will strive for the certifi cation of our health and safety management system by the Em-ployer’s Liability Insurance Association with the quality seal Sicher mit System (‘Systematic Safety’).”
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MMR_88 88 9/25/08 4:50:36 PM
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Entire New Line – Including Acoustics – Out By January
90 MMR OCTOBER 2008
“It just wasn’t working any more,” Ze-linsky said of his former company. “It’s time to move on. I wish them well, but I really needed to be CEO of a guitar com-pany again and have total control over things.”
Zelinsky, who has been making gui-tars since he was 18, had already left his own guitar company once before, in 1986. Current Dean Guitars presidint,
Elliot Rubinson lured him back to the fold in the late 1990s. In July Zelinsky left again, only this time he launched a new company. He already has a new model out under the moniker DBZ Guitars, and promises a full line of new six strings – including acoustics – to be shown at Jan-uary’s NAMM. “I will continue to make heavy metal guitars, but we’re also going straight down the middle, and we will be making round gui-tars that compete with Gibson, Fender, and PRS.”
Zelinsky promis-es that his new brand will be for, and only to, independent re-tailers. “The guitars won’t be in Guitar Centers,” he said.
Partnering with DiamantZelinsky has partnered with Diamond
Amplifi cation owner Jeff Diamant, (who is now also president and COO of DBZ Guitars), and Diamant’s partner, Terry Martin. “Jeff and I share a vision for DBZ, and see eye-to-eye on how this in-dustry should be serviced,” says Zelinsky.
“I have teamed up with Jeff because his proven business savvy is critical. Guitar brands are not built everyday.”
Dean adds that he’s long been a per-sonal fan of Diamond products before he met Jeff Diamant: “I was in a store one day literally trying to sell Dean guitars to dealer, when I just happened to pick a Diamond amp to play through. And not to diminish the guitar, but that
amp sounded so good that any-thing could play through it and sound great!” A year ago the two spoke and started up a friendship that then turned
into a partnership. “Dealers and distributors world-
wide are already calling and vying for exclusive rights to DBZ/Dia-mond,” said Diamant. “Simply, to-gether we can do more than we can apart. Diamond will not be chang-ing its current vision or plan. We have a vision for DBZ and a vision for Diamond.”
Dean Zelinsky, founder of Dean Guitars, has departed that organization and launched a new guitar company, DBZ Guitars.
Zelinsky Leaves Dean, Launches DBZ Guitars
“I really needed to be CEO of a
guitar company again and have
total control over things.”
Dean Zelinsky
MMR_90 90 9/25/08 4:51:18 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 91
Zelinsky says that while proud of his work with Dean, he felt too pigeon-holed in the heavy metal “pointy guitar” mode. “I embrace the metal world, but it just felt that I was limited,” he says. “DBZ will be in every category. And we won’t be the $99 guitar company. We’ll be more up-scale.” Going forward also means reach-ing back: one of the new guitars coming out at the fi rst of the year will be based on a design he’s wanted to do since the 1980s, he said.
He’s aware of his challenges – not only in going up against his former company, but in bringing something new, but not “too” new to the players.
“The guitar happens to be the single industry that resists technology the most,” he says. “It resists technology and change. It always comes down to a beautiful piece of wood, hot pickups, and some knobs. The challenge is to come up with technology for guitars that can be accepted by players and be marketable.
“We are bringing a radical approach to every aspect of DBZ Guitars; guitar design, marketing, advertising and dis-tribution, while retaining traditional and elegant styling and feel. This industry is stuck in the Dark Ages — it needs anoth-er shot in the arm.”
Given that Dean guitars are so iconic, that you can spot one from across the fl oor the second you walk into a guitar shop, he was asked how much his new
guitars will differ from that style and how much they will be similar. “Ev-
ery time I’ve designed a guitar, it starts at a point of thinking about
how I can improve on it,” he says. “I’ve been able to do it
before, and also it’s not a big deal to start with a V
stock for a guitar.”The fi rst guitar
from the com-pany is in fact a
“V”-shaped one.DBZ Guitars will be based in
Zelinsky’s hometown of Chicago, but will “have a presence” in Houston, home of Diamond Amps. The guitars will mostly
be made overseas, and he says they’ve al-ready sourced a company to build there. “The production line is getting up and rolling,” he says. “The new guitars will have a great new design that will appeal to my fan base.” There will also be some USA made “custom shop” models made in his own facility as well.
The DBZ Web site, currently revealing only a glimpse of the new line, also in-cludes the “DBZ Guitar Forum” where Ze-linsky will be interacting once again with his fans online. It remains to be the seen how much of the extensive fan base that Dean Guitars has built up, fans that are known for their fever for those “pointy” guitars, will make the transition to DBZ.
Rubinson on Dean“There is only one true story, and that is that on May 2, Dean Zelinsky was let go,” says Elli-ott Rubinson, CEO of Armadillo Enterprises, which owns Dean Guitars.
Rubinson emphasizes that the quality of Dean guitars are better than ever, as are the sales. “The fact is: sales of the guitars continue to grow every year, and it’s because the qual-ity continues to get better and better. And we continue to enjoy a rising profi le, as most recently Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Michael Schenker of MSG, and others have joined our artist roster. We see nothing but blue skies ahead of us.”
Jeff Diamant
sontronicsusa.comfor a retailer near you, visit
“The minute we heard the CHIMERA we knew it was
something special. You can drive the output hard and it takes it, while giving back a thick in-your-face tone. It’s so fl exible, I wasn’t reaching for any EQ. I’ve never come
across a pre this good on so many sources!”
CHIMERASingle Channel Preamplifier / DI Box
Brett Chassen, Engineer/ProducerGeorge Lynch, Tony Iommi, Billy Gibbons
MMR_91 91 9/25/08 4:51:25 PM
92 MMR OCTOBER 2008
RETA I L
“It is very diffi cult for a retailer to reverse integrate into importing and manufacturing,” says Kilkenny, presi-dent of Anthem. “There is no ‘one-stop shopping’ in regard to manufacturers in China, and many of the good instrument makers do not go to the NAMM show or the Music Messe show. Successful importers have relationships with many different suppliers, and are able to travel overseas frequently to inspect shipments and view working conditions, under-stand the international business culture, and be able to communicate effectively.
“Having a team of technical experts to evaluate product is essential, and perhaps most importantly, an im-porter must offer the manufacturer some sort of volume. This is diffi cult to do for retailers on an individual basis.”
With this knowledge, Kilkenny has launched the Anthem Music Group. Al-ready, 20 retailers are on board and the in-struments are a success. “Initially, we put the instruments in circulation for a full year,” in a test pilot program that had 500 of his prod-ucts in Massachusetts students and band di-rectors hands.
Not an OEM OperationKilkenny stresses that they
are not an OEM company just placing a name on a product
line, but offer a line developed by retailers, technicians, and
band directors alike, made by man-ufacturing partners that offer exclusive
features to the Anthem Music Group. Anthem has created a full line of stu-
dent instruments including fl utes, clari-nets, saxes, trumpets, trombones, as well as background instruments such as French horns, tubas, and euphoniums. All Anthem student products are packaged in custom ABS cases. At the request of their retailers, the company will be introducing their step-up fl ute and wooden clarinet this fall.
“John Gill, our director of operations, specifi cally manages product quality and development,” he says. “John has a vast
Anthem Music Group Offers High Margin Instruments“Freedom Pricing,” Strict Anti-Internet Policy Protects Dealers
It’s no secret that there are many wind and brass
instrument dealers frustrated by ever-shrinking sales
and margins. Many are even contemplating or looking
into “private labeling” of China-made instruments.
For those, there is now the Anthem Music Group.
MMR_92 92 9/25/08 4:51:51 PM
amount of industry experience and can evaluate instruments from the perspec-tive of both retailers and manufactur-ers.” Industry veteran Jack Faas is also on board as a consultant and making sales calls for the new company.
Anthem touts what it calls “Freedom Pricing,” which allows dealers to indepen-dently set their own retail price based on their respective market. For this to work, the company must offer a pledge of ex-clusivity, and that includes not allowing dealers to sell products on the Internet or in mail-order catalogs. “By providing pro-tected territories, dealers will not have to price match with the Internet or the dealer across town,” Kilkenny says. “Dealers then have the choice to obtain a very attractive profi t margin when the situation allows, or they can sell at low prices to help cus-tomers and increase overall sales.”
HistoryKilkenny is actually a drummer who
studied and played professionally. He was vice president of sales and marketing and a part owner of Grover Pro Percus-
sion, before moving onto Sonaré Winds in August of 2002. He left his position as president of Sonaré Winds in 2007. He cites both companies as being great to work for and he gained valuable learning experiences at both places.
“Upon leaving Sonaré, I knew that I wanted to remain in the music industry and was open to many different ideas,” he explains. “It wasn’t until I started re-ceiving phone calls from various retail-ers that the idea for the Anthem Music Group developed. Dealers were asking me questions regarding the importation of instruments from China and asking if I would consult with them to create pri-vate label lines. My fi rst two questions were, ‘Why are you looking for some-thing different?’ and ‘What has your ex-perience in China been thus far?’”
He says he learned several things from the exchanges, including that many inde-pendent retailers were simply anxious to increase their profi t margins. “Many main-stay manufacturers are already making instruments in China but apparently not passing on much of the savings,” Kilkenny
says. “Retailers profi t margins seem to be shrinking to the point where dealers are no longer satisfi ed. They seem to be fed up with building brand names only to have the margins chiseled away at each year.”
Kilkenny says he felt that there are many consumers who simply cannot afford the mainstay products on the market. “Over the past several years, instrument prices seem to be increasing at a greater rate than that of infl ation and disposable income is rapidly eroding., Many families have dif-fi culty affording $800 for a student fl ute or trumpet, or $1,300 for an alto sax.”
This all pointed the way to the found-ing of Anthem Music Group. The business plan involved creating quality woodwind and brass product lines for student, step-up and background markets; creating in-
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 93
“By providing protected
territories, dealers will not
have to price match
with the internet or
the dealer across town.”
MMR_93 93 9/25/08 4:51:58 PM
94 MMR OCTOBER 2008
struments with good profi t margins; and offering membership to the group on a very exclusive basis. “Anthem is dedicat-ed to the success of independent retailers. Marketing the Anthem brand allows us to offer our pledge of dealer protection and exclusivity.”
Dealers – and the band directors they serve – can be understandably skeptical when one hears the terms “quality instru-ment” and “China made” in the same sentence. But Kilkenny says that it’s all
in the approach, and that it involves both keen analy-sis and good old-fashioned pavement pounding: “One factory might make a good fl ute but a sub par clarinet,” he explains. “We have built partnerships with the in-strument makers that cre-ate the best instrument in their class.”
Retailers, educators, and manufacturers have been involved in design-ing Anthem instruments for the U.S. market he says.
They have partnered with the top instru-ment makers in China and we maintain a presence in each factory. “John [Gill] and I have spent a lot of time working with the craftspeople and spot-checking instruments. By maintaining a presence, our scrap rate goes down and our quality improves. Finally, we test and adjust each instrument at the Anthem headquarters before shipping.”
There long-term plans include reach-ing out to band directors and end users,
but the new company is fi rst and fore-most focused on the retailers.
“Our fi rst step is to win over the re-tailers,” he says. “They are the ones who maintain the most infl uence over the school music teachers. By offering ter-ritory protection, quality product, and high margins, we are providing incentive for the retailers to pioneer our brand. So far, the response from the teachers has been overwhelmingly positive. Our pric-es allow band directors to extend their bid dollars to get more for their money.”
“The price point on Anthem instru-ments has signifi cantly improved our cash fl ow by allowing us to pay for our entire master order before Christmas and eliminating our long term debts,” says Todd Manning of Manning Music, who recently signed on with Anthem. “With Anthem’s Protected Territories, we get to work with a TEAM of other music stores, not compete against them. With Anthem’s Freedom Pricing, we are consistently real-izing a true 100 percent markup.”
Anthem Music Group can be reached at (978) 667-3224 or [email protected].
MMR_94 94 9/25/08 4:52:07 PM
www.ehx.com myspace.com/ehx
Bass Big Muff The prodigy rebornwith underworld instincts that cometo life wielding the drive of the origi-nal Muff and the earthy support of abass tailored design.
Bass Microsynth Pure bass guitarsynthesizer with all analog circuitry.Adjustable synth parameters deliverfat, sweet tone. Warm and soulful.
Bass Metaphors Your performance arsenalin a channel strip toolbox. A new distortionmelds with carefully selected compressionand bass specific EQ to add structure with arock solid foundation.
Steel Leather Dedicated attack expanderallows your bass to cut through any liveperformance with razor’s edge control.Adjustable attack bleeds bite with suede.
Bass Blogger Finesse distortion withsilky definition. Reinforce the two-way message with your drummer.Drive your rhythm section withvoodoo authority.
Bassballs Twin tuned filters sweepyour signal creating a unique vocaltone. The envelope follower for bassplayers who gotta be funky.
Groundbreaking Bass Effects from the Legendary Name in Rock.
MMR_95 95 9/25/08 5:12:57 PM
96 MMR OCTOBER 2008
SuppliersceneWashburn Rare Wood SeriesWashburn introduces the new Limited Edition Rare Wood Series. The new models include the D49SPK and the D49CESPK. Both fea-ture spalted maple tops and spalted maple back and sides. The aesthetics furnishing the gui-tar are the abalone headstock logo and decorative ebony bridge pins. They feature rosewood fretboards, triangle MOP and abalone inlays, and Grover exclusive ebo-nite button tuners. The acoustic electric D49CESPK also features B-Band pre-amp electronics. Both limited edition guitars come with a certifi cate of authenticity.www.washburn.com
Epilog’s Laser engraving system provides a fast and easy way to add initials, text, or even images to musical instruments and instrument accessories. Epilog’s Legend EXT is a large-scale laser engraver that combines a robust design with convenient features that make personalizing instru-
ments as easy as pressing the print button on your computer. Due to the large work area and powerful cutting capabilities of the EXT, users can create beautiful designs that add style and fl air to the instrument of their choice.www.epiloglaser.com
Epilog Laser Engraving
Kluson returns the Su-per Guitar machine head to the marketplace. Also nicknamed the Waff le-back or Radiatorback, these tuners were used on America’s most prestigious guitars as original equipment,
most notably Gibson and Mar-tin. Even though they are exact reproductions in all cosmetic aspects, the Supers have re-ceived numerous upgrades
in internal materials, gear ratio and design. www.kluson.com
Kluson Revives Super Guitar Machine Head
MMR_96 96 9/25/08 4:52:29 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 97
Rivera RM-1 Effects Switcher and ControllerRivera Amplifi cation has released the Rivera RM-1 Effects Switcher and Con-troller.
The RM-1 features a built in 9V power supply for four effects devices, eliminat-ing the drain on batteries, or the need for an external power supply for those ped-als. There is a built in signal buffer as well as an assignable level control for match-ing of levels between effects devices in the different loops. The RM-1 also fea-tures a MIDI Output, audio loop switch-ing, and relay switching with TRS phone jacks. With a single tap of the toe, a musi-cian can toggle many different functions in his signal processor and amplifi cation system. Two RM-1 units can be linked together to create an eight loop system. Also available is the Wah-Pad accessory that allows a loop to be bypassed by just lifting the foot from a Wah-Wah or other pedal resting on the Wah- Pad.
Each of the RM-1 foot switches are il-luminated and color-coded so as to be eas-ily found on a dark stage. Pro User Net is $499 and the RM-1 is available now. Wah-Pad accessory is Pro User Net at $99.www.rivera.com
SKB Rolling Roto-RackDesigned as an upgrade and stronger alternative to SKB’s existing Rolling X-Rack cases, the new Rolling Roto-Racks feature industrial grade steel threaded rack rails, allowing non-destructive screw mount installation and removal with full access rear lids. An optional rear-rack rail add-on (RRK4 or RRK6 kit) allows enhanced load capacity and stability, ideal for heavy weight power amplifi er units.
The 1SKB-R4W and 1SKB-R6W Roll-ing Roto-Rack models are rotational, molded of high impact LLDPE Polyethyl-ene, with in-line wheels supporting heavy loads, a nearly indestructible low-profi le injection molded telescoping cushion grip
rubber over-molded pull handle, and cush-ioned handle for carrying comfort. SKB’s trigger release latching system, with TSA recognized and accepted recessed locking latches, enables users to securely lock their cases and still have them inspected by air-
line security personnel and safely checked as luggage. Additionally, SKB has designed the 4U and 6U Rolling Roto-Racks in such a way to make them stackable under their new 1SKB19-RSF4U Studio Flyer. www.skbcases.com
MMR_97 97 9/25/08 4:52:35 PM
98 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Together over 15,000 backing tracks!Give your customers the chance to perform with
a top notch band or orchestra. From Classical to Top 40 we have it all!
Visit our websites to hear audio samples: www.musicminusone.com
www.pocketsongs.com Also visit our dealer site for marketing tools
and shipping specials: www.mmogroup.com
Proud Distributors of MMOHal Leonard • Pro Sing • Music Sales • Charles Dumont
OSTW • Forsyth • Schott • Europa Music • Arpege Diffusion
Proud Distributors of Pocket SongsPro Sing • Atwood • East Coast • Ace • OSTW
Singers Choice • KDS • Lynns • Forsyth • Karaoke Paris
Contact Steve Rose - [email protected] Executive Blvd. • Elmsford, New York 10523-1325
ph: 914 592-1188 • fax: 914 592-3575
High-end: The Future of the US MarketSchimmel Pianos Offers ViewpointThe international piano market has changed rapidly in the last few years: In-struments from German manufacturers in the high-end segment have experienced some increase overall. The tendency for
beginners to fall back on digital products and pianos in the low-range segment from Asia has steadily been on the increase. Meanwhile the middle price range has de-creased. Some German manufacturers ex-
panded their lines to offer products for all target groups. But in the U.S. it is the high-end sector, which is stable for Schimmel.
Generally, German manufacturers have been struggling in the US market for the last two years. “But with good quality in-struments and broad services we were able to increase our sales in high-end concert instruments against the common trend”, says Hannes Schimmel-Vogel, manager of Schimmel Pianos. “We raised our sales in 2008 by more than 20 percent. Our new model K230 is especially successful.”
People have been worried by the eco-nomic woes. That is why Schimmel counts on a clear four-brand-marketing concept and individual consulting of dealers and customers: “Our professional and very close-knit network of dealers sustains the business and helps us to bring our Konzert Trilogy forward”, says Schimmel-Vogel.
Exclusiveness or uniqueness is another trend Schimmel sees in the US-market: Modern design, handcrafted intarsia, and noteworthy style and color. With its new piano C 116 M Schimmel launched a model which has already won one of the most renowned international design com-petitions, the “Red Dot Award for Design 2008.” New production methods and ma-terials – such as the aluminum elements which form a counterpart to the polished fi nish – and the absolute reduction to a minimum create the feeling of purism.
Also, the grand piano V 177 Tradition Intarsie is a best seller among the Schim-mel special editions. It contains more than 300 individual elements which form the artistic ornaments. “The noble character of the Vogel grand is what the people like”, says Schimmel-Vogel.
With the success of the Konzert Trilogy in the U.S. Schimmel is optimistic about en-hancing the high-end sector and strength-ening its American piano business.
Guyatone’s Mighty Micro SeriesGodlyke lnc. announces the release of the new Guyatone mighty micro series of compact effect pedals. The mighty mi-cros offer professional-grade features and sound quality in an ultra-compact, light-
MMR_98 98 9/25/08 4:52:39 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 99
violetusa.comHandcrafted in Latvia
The Wedge
Deep,Dimensional
SoundIntroducing...
Versatile large-diaphragmstudio condenser mic
Wedge shape effectively reduces plosive sounds and
wind/pop/breath noises
Innovative free-standingdesign results in more open,
detailed sound from any angle
First stage circuit is locatedclose to the capsule forimproved sound quality
The String Cleaner™ was awarded “Best in Show” for “Company on the Rise” at this summer’s NAMM show.
The String Cleaner utilizes a revolu-tionary 360-degree cleaning process to revitalize used, old, and damaged strings. The String Cleaner also, “extends the life and preserves the tone of guitar strings by up to four times compared to conven-
tional, untreated strings,” according to the company.
Created with specially designed mi-crofi ber pads that remove and hold de-bris sans cleaning solution, The String Cleaner was created for longterm, low-maintenance usage. The String Cleaner has a list price of $12.99.www.thestringcleaner.com
weight chassis that is 33 percent smaller and 50 percent lighter than the average stompbox.
New features include:Lightweight, ultra-durable cast-alu-minum chassis Top-mounted, no-tools battery compartment with “Smart Screw” and battery “Load Scope” Mechanical true bypass switching Ultra-bright status LED is easily vis-ible on dark stages Professional-grade component se-lection offers improved sound quality
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Cast aluminum “Stomp Guard” protects controls from damage or accidental adjustment Adjustable input attenuators allow use with any instrument or input signal Glow-in-the-dark washer for bypass switch offers improved visibility on dark stages Additional controls with improved functionality provide greater tonal options Top-mounted jacks save space on crowded pedalboards 3-Year warranty
www.guyatone.com
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The String Cleaner Awarded Best in Show at NAMM
The Andy Guitar The Andy is a three-quarter scale arch top electric guitar that is perfect for either travel or the serious youth guitarist. The guitar’s 23” neck scale features a solid carved spruce top and a solid carved maple back with laminated maple sides. The Andy incorporates the same de-sign features of its big brothers with an ebony fi ngerboard, fi n-
ger rest, tailpiece, and bridge. A mini-humbucking pickup, with volume and tone control, is built into the top. The Andy will be available in a traditional antique burst fi nish, or with a honey blonde top and espresso back, sides, and neck. The Andy comes with a fi tted gig bag. Re-tail price is $2,475. www.benedettoguitars.com
MMR_99 99 9/25/08 4:52:45 PM
100 MMR OCTOBER 2008
SuppliersceneDimebag Darrell Guitar Cable Ammo PackExcetylene Pro Audio announces the re-lease of a commemorative Dimebag Dar-rell Abbott Signature Series Ultra-Force Guitar Cable and Ammo Pack. The heavy-duty cables are manufactured in the USA with Excetylene Ultra-Force instrument cable designed for maximum output at high-gain and fi nished in a durable mili-tary green nylon over-braid. Ultra-Force includes indestructible, hand machined aluminum housings treated with non-con-
ductive military green anodizing for op-timum shielding and gold plated plugs. Dimebag’s trademark signature and silhouette are permanently engraved at each end.
This Limited Edition Commemorative Dime-bag Ammo Pack in-cludes an authentic, one of a kind 30 caliber M-62 military
ammo box hand stamped with “DIMEBAG”(each box is unique as actu-ally used in the fi eld
by American G.I.s), one 16’ Excetylene Dimebag Darrell Signature Series
Ultra-Force Guitar Cable, a Dimebag Darrell Com-memorative Military Dog-
Tag, several military patches, and a few other extra special party
favors. Package retails for $149.95.www.excetylene.com
Madarozzo Gig BagsMartin Ritter has launched a new bou-tique range of gig bags. The Madarozzo boutique range is a collection of individ-ually designed guitar and fretted instru-ment bags.
The Madarozzo range comprises more than 70 models in a wide varia-tion of boutique designs, padding, price points, and is available in a range of three colors. The range offers bags for all kinds of fretted instruments, from all standard guitar shapes to the more unusual shapes such as Flying V, Explor-er, Headless, and many more diffi cult to fi nd shapes. The range offers luggage grade 600D polyester, rugged zippers, soft nylon lining, comfortable designed backpacks, headstock, bridge, and end-pin protection.www.madarozzo.us
Supplier Scene.indd 100 9/26/08 12:42:01 PM
Córdoba Guitars and surf-rocker Do-navon Frankenreiter have released La Playa, their beach and travel guitar line.
The keystone model, Traveler, will be a half-sized cutaway, nylon-string guitar with an onboard pickup, tarpee insulated gig bag, and battery powered amp and cord. The La Playa Traveler is based on the half-sized Requinto model. Córdoba is also developing a special guitar bag patterned after surfboard travel packs, incorporating refl ective tarpee insula-
tion into the design to protect the guitar from sun, surf, and sand. A small, light-weight, battery-powered amp will also be included in the pack for extra volume on the road. La Playa Traveler’s price will be friendly to most any wallet.
Blending the acoustic bracing and tone of a traditional nylon string with the neck width and fast action of a steel string, the Fusion guitars are the ultimate acoustic hybrids. The new guitars feature radi-used fretboards, 14 fret-to-body (22 total
frets) construction, and premium BBand A6T blended pickup systems. All models are handmade and available in a variety of wood options. Pro models will also be available with custom wood options.
The Fusion Series Lineup:Fusion 12 “Jet” – MSRP $825Fusion 14 “Jet” – MSRP $895Fusion 14 RS – MSRP $1,075Fusion 14 “Rose” – MSRP $1,125Fusion 14 “Maple” – MSRP $1,145
www.cordobaguitars.com
Pedalfl exV&R Remote introduces Pedalfl ex, an accessory that allows you to control your pedals and pedal boards from your microphone stand. The control unit simply clips to your mic stand and it works with any pedal or pedal board. Relatively inexpensive, a two-channel model is less than $100. The company plans to unveil a 4-channel model in the near future.www.pedalfl ex.com
Córdoba La Playa and Fusion Series
LightWave Systems, Inc. announces the introduction of the LightWave Atlantis ElectroAcoustic Guitar. Featuring the Company’s proprietary LightWave Opti-cal Pickup System, the Atlantis is the fi rst guitar to use infrared light technology to sense string vibration.
The launch of the Atlantis joins the Sa-ber Bass line that pioneered LightWave’s pickup technology. This infrared system ‘sees’ the vibration of the string without affecting string motion and faithfully senses the full, natural output of each string, from the fundamental to the most complex overtones. Atlantis affords the player accurate response with an excep-tional acoustic tone, for live performance at any volume as well as clear and noise free recording. The LightWave Optical Pickup System harnesses the power of
light to deliver a rich amplifi ed acoustic guitar sound without the feedback of mics or the harshness of piezos. Featur-ing a chambered mahogany single cut-away body, book matched fl ame maple
top or Spruce, mahogany neck and rose-wood fi ngerboard, the Atlantis is avail-able in clear gloss fi nish at $1,995 MSRP and includes a deluxe ProTec gig bag.www.lightwave-systems.com
LightWave Atlantis ElectroAcoustic Guitar
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 101
MMR_101 101 9/25/08 4:52:59 PM
102 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Guitar Controller Xtreme
M&M Merchandisers in-troduces Guitar Controller Xtreme or GCX to their elec-tronics line up. The GCX is a
real guitar body with custom fl ame graphics, real tuning keys, whammy bar, and strum bar. The GCX also features a maple fretboard, covered tun-
ers, chrome hardware, black single coil pick-up cover, traditional bridge, bolt on neck, fi ve colored fret buttons, toggle power switch, LED power indicator light, chrome select
and start buttons, built-in tilt sensor for star power,
accessible battery compartment, and in-cludes a strap for easier playing. The GCX is compatible with PS2TM, Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero 2, and Guitar Hero 3.www.mmwholesale.com
Life in Rhythm Twinkle’s Life in Rhythm series has re-leased a selection of guitar-themed gift items. The guitar water globe has a decaled porcelain base and the scene in the globe rotates to the chorus of Simon and Gar-funkel’s “The Sound of Silence”. The Life in Rhythm product lines feature creations that combine contemporary and classical art styles to showcase musical instruments and performance arts themes. This line in-cludes musical water globes, wall art, music boxes, clocks, coasters, and stationary. www.twinklelgobe.com
www.shubb.com • [email protected]
Resilient like your fingertip,
so it will notcreate tuning problems.
SHUBBCAPO
the
12 note full range chromatic tuner with back light Works by picking up vibrations, so it’s not affected by ambient noiseClips to most instruments Super compact size and price...easy sale Excellent dealer margin (A mark +)
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Tune in profits with the OH-11 Clip-on Tuner
Oasis, Inc. 410-772-5380/866-263-7965www.oasishumidifiers.com
MMR_102 102 9/25/08 4:53:04 PM
Supplierscene
Eastwood Guitars introduces their new Air-line Lap Steel. This new model is a tribute to the late 1950’s National Lap Steel mod-els with its distinctive body shape and art deco pickguard. The new lap steel features
the popular Airline Hot-Rail Humbucker pickup, volume and tone controls, fully adjustable Strat-style bridge, all mounted on a slab basswood body. The guitar also features the art deco pickguard and the
vintage raised metal Airline logo. The Air-line weighs in at only seven pounds and is available in black, red or metallic blue. US MSRP is $449 and the street price is $349.www.eastwoodguitars.com
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 103
Cool StrapsSHS International of Indianapolis has added 36 new models of guitar straps to the “Cool Straps” line. This brings the to-tal number models to over 100 to choose from, and also a very “Cool” stand alone strap display that holds over 150 straps. The Cool Strap line offers a wide range of styles and patterns that range in list prices from $3.95 up to $49.95.www.coolstraps.com
Pro-Mark is releasing its “Anatomy of Feel” poster nationwide. The poster is expected to begin arriving at retail stores in late Sep-tember or early October 2008. The com-pany strongly encourages dealers to place Pro-Mark drumsticks in the bins so that the color coded packaging is clearly vis-ible. They are also offering color coded bin
labels to dealers that request them. The bin labels are free of charge and fi t all of Pro-Mark’s display units as well as most other display units commonly found in retail stores. The la-bels clearly show the model, type of wood,
and feature graphic representations of the tip shapes.www.promark.com
Pro-Mark Releases “Anatomy of Feel” Posters
Airline Lap Steel from Eastwood
MMR_103 103 9/25/08 4:53:11 PM
104 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Find Breaking News in the Hot Newssection of MMR’s Web site, www.MMRmagazine.com
Daking Mic Pre OneTransAudio Group, the U.S. distributor for Geof-frey Daking and Com-pany, Inc., announces the introduction of the high performance Dak-ing Mic-Pre One single-channel microphone/instrument pream-plifi er at the 125th AES Convention.
Essentially a single channel of the Mic Pre IV, the Mic Pre One features switch-able phase, 20dB mic input pad and +48V phantom power, plus a selectable 1/4–inch line/hi-z instrument input, all utilizing relays with gold bi-furcated contacts. Two large knurled aluminum knobs control the variable high-pass fi lter (0-200Hz) and continuously variable input gain, which is complemented by a full-width, twenty-segment bi-color LED meter. The rear of
the unit offers a Jensen trans-former-isolated mic input and fully-balanced XLR output, plus a 1/4–inch line output. A fourth connector introduces DC power from the external power supply to the unit. The Daking Mic Pre One has an
MSRP of $850.www.transaudiogroup.com
JZ Microphones Pop FilterJZ Microphones intro-duces a new pop fi l-ter design at the AES Convention. The pop fi lter offers a distinc-tive “curved cone” shape and employs two screens – one in front, one in back. The main benefi t of this unique design is reduced rever-berations and, there-fore, improved fi delity to the original sound. This new accessory comes with the new Black Hole microphone shock mount—an advanced system devised for use in more complicated applications than included stand holder is able to car-ry. Both the pop fi lter and shock mount are patent pending, and will be available at a suggested retail price of USD $490.www.jzmic.com
Sennheiser’s Sound AcademyFocusing on both RF wireless tech-niques and studio recording practices, Sennheiser’s Sound Academy sessions have visited nearly twenty cities through-out the U.S. thus far. All studio recording concepts and techniques are demonstrat-ed on a comprehensive array of Sennheiser and Neumann microphones, all of which will be on display at AES 2008.
During the course, attendees learn how to place the Sennheiser MKH 8000 series microphones to obtain the best musical sound, while also tuning in to the subtle nuances between each of the other models that make up Sennheiser’s MKH line. www.sennheiserusa.com
AES 2008The Audio Engineering Society (AES) will hold its 125th convention in San Francisco, Calif., October 2nd-5th. The AES conventions offer educational opportunities, including seminars and workshops covering current research and new concepts and applications. The primary feature of each convention is the wide-ranging exhibit of professional equipment.
MMR_104 104 9/25/08 4:53:16 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 105
Classifi eds Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
Accessories
Business Opportunities
Piano TuningLEARN AT HOME
with approved home study course.American School of Piano Tuning
1-800-497-9793Visit our website: www.piano-tuning.com
Tools Included - Diploma Granted
For Classified Sales Call Maureen • 800-964-5150 ext. 34 • [email protected]
800-964-5150 ext. [email protected]
For Classifi ed Sales Call Maureen
Business Opportunities
Guitar Show Operators
Promote your show dates and reach every guitar
dealer in the US through the classifi ed
pages of MMR.Call Maureen
800-964-5150 ext 34
MMR_105 105 9/25/08 5:01:28 PM
106 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
www.mmrmagazine.com
800-964-5150 ext. [email protected]
For Classifi ed Sales Call Maureen
Business Opportunities
BIGGEST MUSIC SCHOOLin the HOUSTON AREA
FOR SALE
25 Teachers; 500-plus students and 2-story bldg. in prime
real estate location with music store and rental space!
For more informationCall broker at 281 359-2593or Owner at 832 445-5668
For Sale• 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
MUSIC STORE FOR SALEON MAUI
Have you ever dreamed of living in Hawaii?
This could be your chance!Full Line Music Store in Paradise.
All inventory and xtures included.Most major lines are represented.
Established in 1979$2,400,000
For info 808-870-5953
Help WantedLOOKING FOR DISTRIBUTORS
Throughout USA and Europe to promote our revolutionary Rick Rock Acoustic Guitar
Pick Guards and Guitar Picks (Patent Pending).Both with Photo quality imprint
in a transparent 3D dome covering. Picks provide brighter sound andtones
with a longer durability.Email all inquiries to
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAFull line retail Music Store. Major brands.
All inventory, furniture and xtures. Same ownership 26 years. Lesson studios, guitar repair, band instrument repair
and rental program. High traf c, high visability downtown dist..
Turn key operation. Owner willing to train. $425K. Excellent localreputation
and recognition. Building (5700 sq. ft.) also available for purchase or long term lease.
LIVE YOUR DREAM!Call 760-996-0198
MMR_106 106 9/25/08 5:01:35 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 107
Help Wanted Merchandise
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
CASES CASES CASESFactory Direct!
Any ATA Case For $99Mixers, Amps, Heads, or Keyboards
www.newyorkcasecompany.com
877-692-2738
ACCORDIONS: All sizes — over 100 in stock — new & used. Regular, Electronic, MIDI, etc. JOHN GAUNT, Distributor, 1248 S. Highland Ave., Clearwater, FL 33756, (727) 443-4113.
Retail Yamaha Piano Manager Regional Yamaha piano and
Disklavier dealer is looking for candidate to manage piano store in
major Northeast city. Candidate should have at least 5 years of piano sales
experience. Commission based compensation plus comprehensive
bene ts package including health insur-ance, 401k, etc. Please email resume and
earnings history in con dence to [email protected].
ACCORDIONS, CONCERTINAS, & BUTTON BOXES new, used, buy, sell, trade, repair, tune,
CASTIGLIONE DISTRIBUTING CO.13300 E 11 MILE WARREN, MI 48089
PH # 1-586-755-6050 WWW.CASTIGLIONEACCORDIONS.COM
HARD SHELL PLASTIC CASESgreat seconds & overrunsFlute $9.00, Piccolo $6.00
Clarinet $10.00, Oboe $12.00 [email protected]
1-800-582-0319
Wristies® fi ngerless glovesWarmth for hands-dexterity for fi ngers! Find out why so manymusicians are wearingthem for practice and performance.
Wholesale, retail and quantity discounts available.
wristies.com 800-811-8290
Piano Salesperson PositionWant self motivated individual for piano sales.
Steinway and Yamaha lines represented.Excellent pay structure,Bene ts.
Email resume to: jim [email protected]
CLASSIFIEDS on the MOVE!
check www.mmrmagazine.com for daily updates!
MMR_107 107 9/25/08 5:01:40 PM
108 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
YAMAHA–KAWAI& MORE
CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED PIANOS
Asian High Quality
No other supplier offers superior service before,
during and after the sale. You get what you pay for!
GUARANTEEDLANDED QUALITY
1-800-782-2694North American Music
11 Kay Fries DriveStony Point, NY 10980Fax: (845) 429-6920
FINANCING AVAILABLE
300,000 Piano Lovers!That’s how many unique, piano loving people visit PianoWorld.com every month.
Be smart, advertise your piano or music related business where your new customers are hanging out.
PianoWorld.comHome of the world famous Piano Forums.
For more interesting statistics and advertising information:Visit www.PianoWorld.com/advertising ... Now!
For Classifi ed Sales Call Maureen 800-964-5150 ext. 34
Merchandise
800-964-5150 ext. [email protected]
For Classifi ed Sales Call Maureen
MMR_108 108 9/25/08 5:01:45 PM
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 109
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
MiscellaneousBAND INSTRUMENT REPAIR VIDEO
Save $$$ on repair expense. Earn extra income. Journeyman repairman offers “How To” videos on the repair of
brass and woodwind instruments. For information write to:
B.I.R.V. Co.880 Slater Rd.
Bellingham, WA. 98226(360) 384-6707
For Classifi ed Sales Call Maureen 800-964-5150 ext. 34
FAST TURN-AROUND ON STOCK REPAIRS NATIONWIDE
NAPBIRT member, 26 Years Experience
Contact: Dan Rieck, [email protected]
For 60 years we have provided musical instrument
repair tools to technicians and musicians around the world. We have a wide selection of pads and other supplies in
addition to our repair tools. Contact us today for a FREE CATALOG.
Repair ToolsBOW REHAIRING
Expert Bow ServiceOrder forms,Pricing and Shipping label at:
www.bowrehairing.com
Violin bows as low as $10.00 per bow in quantity incl. shipping (see website fordetails.) Large inventory of replacement parts both new and vintage.
IRA B. KRAEMER & Co.Wholesale Services Division
“An industry leader since 1967”467 Grant Avenue, Scotch Plains, N.J. 07076
Tel: 908-322-4469 Fax: 908 322-8613 e mail: [email protected]
Sales Reps Wanted
Sales Representatives Wanted!!
Michigan-based Brass, Woodwindand accessories line. Join a
great new organization with an “artist-endorsed” product.
Competitive Commissions with incentive.
Contact: [email protected]
INDEPENDENT SALES REPSSales Reps Wanted
Band & Orchestra InstrumentsMost territories open
A Great Job!AMERICA LONGXING
(718) 706-0828Ask for Paul
Oboes & BassoonsWe create the fi nest hand-crafted Oboes
& Bassoons. Also replacement 5K Bassoon Bocals.
Linton Woodwinds Corporation, Jack Linton
1013 Alma St. Elkhart, IN 46514 U.S.A.PH: 1-866-220-2909 Fax: 574-266-7658
E-Mail: [email protected] www.LintonWoodwinds.com
Solid, Reconditionable Pianos. Some have Benches.
Studios, Consoles, SpinetsLot Pricing: $195-$350
800-411-2363Fax: 216-382-3249 • Email: [email protected]
JAY-MART PIANO WHOLESALERSP.O. Box 21148 • Cleveland, OH • 44121
“The Piano Store For Piano Stores”
Merchandise
800-964-5150 ext. [email protected]
For Classifi ed Sales Call Maureen
MMR_109 109 9/25/08 5:01:51 PM
110 MMR OCTOBER 2008
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
Seeking EmploymentPianos/Digitals/Organs
I Don’t Sell, You Don’t PayCloser for hire!
20 years experienceOutside promo specialist
[email protected] • 561-379-4718
LOCAL & NATIONWIDE PIANO MOVING • CRATING • STORAGE •
(800) 222-2888(310) 830-3362 (FAX) • http://www.pianomove.com
Find Breaking Newsin the Hot News section
of MMR’s Web site, www.MMRmagazine.com
Wanted USED TUBASANY CONDITION-CASH PAID
THE TUBA EXCHANGE1825 CHAPEL HILL RD.
DURHAM, NC 277071-800-869-8822
WWW.TUBAEXCHANGE.COM
Software
Used InstrumentsClarinets and utes from $50
Alto Saxes from $250Trumpets and Trombones from $100
French Horns and Baritones from $395Clarinets and Flute repad $69
Alto Sax repad $149
Call Jimmy Hayes 800 559-4472
Used 4 Less Music
Vintage Instruments
Wanted To Buy
SHIPPING YOUR PIANOwith Lone Wolf Trucking
is a “grand” idea!An independent, long-distance Mover
specializing in coast-to-coast residential Relocation.
1-800-982-9505Alamogordo,
New Mexico. 88310ICC MC-256289
Services
We’re
Buying
PianosWe are buying grands —
and smaller verticals
800-411-2363Fax: 216-382-3249
Email: [email protected]
Honest - Professional - We Sell Nationwide
JAY-MART PIANO WHOLESALERSP.O. Box 21148 • Cleveland, OH • 44121
“The Piano Store For Piano Stores”
WE, BUY, SELL, TRADE and ship worldwide.
Written APPRAISALS available.GRUHN GUITARS,
400 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 256-2033fax (615) 255-2021 www.gruhn.com
www.mmrmagazine.com
www.mmrmagazine.com
MMR_110 110 9/25/08 5:01:56 PM
Visit the Classifi eds on the Web: www.MMRmagazine.com
400 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 256-2033fax (615) 255-2021
www.gruhn.com
WE, BUY, SELL, TRADE and ship worldwide.
Written APPRAISALS available.
GRUHNGUITARS
What’s it worth?We buy, sell, trade, consign and appraise
fi ne guitars, banjos and mandolins.
629 Forest Ave., S.I., N.Y. 10310Phone (718) [email protected]
Vintage Showcase
Call Maureen Johan 800-964-5150, ext 34 or [email protected]
for Special Offer Details!
Please charge my:
Mastercard Visa AMEX
Credit Card #: _________________________
Expires_____/_____
Authorized Signature: ___________________
Name: _________________________________
Company: _____________________________
Street: _________________________________
City: __________________________________
State: _________________________________
Zip Code: ______________________________
Telephone #: ___________________________
Fax # _________________________________
Email Address: _________________________
Classifi ed AdvertisingTo Advertise Call Toll Free 1-800-964-5150Deadline: Fourth Friday of every month
Attention: Classifi ed AdsMMR, 21 Highland Circle Ste. 1 Needham, MA 02494FAX your ad copy to (781) 453-9389
PAYMENT MUST BE RECEIVED IN ADVANCE
MasterCard, Visa, American Express accepted
PLACE YOUR AD BY MAIL OR FAX:
AD RATES$20.00 per inch (1 inch minimum). 1 inch = 7 lines, 36 characters per line .$30.00 per inch if one color, logo or graphic added. Add $1.00 per bold face line, $5.00 for use of a box number. Display classifi ed: $45 per inch.PAYMENT MUST BE RECEIVED IN ADVANCE.
PLEASE PLACE MY AD UNDERTHE FOLLOWING HEADING
__ Books __ Business Opportunities__ Distributors__ For Sale__ Help Wanted__ Instruction__ Lines Wanted __ Schools __ Luthiers __ Merchandise
__ Miscellaneous__ Repairs__ Services__ Sales Rep Source__ Schools__ Software__ Vintage__ Wanted to Buy__ Other ( )
OCTOBER 2008 MMR 111
MMR_111 111 9/25/08 5:02:01 PM
Adindex
112 MMR OCTOBER 2008
COMPANY NAME E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS PAGE COMPANY NAME E-MAIL/WEB ADDRESS PAGE
AAccess Bags and Cases www.accessbagsandcases.com 58Al Cass 104 Allparts www.allparts.com 88 Amati’s Fine Instruments www.Amatis.us 33 America Longxing Inc. www.huntermusical.com 70American DJ Supply Inc. www.americandj.com 37 Anderson Silver Plating 68Anthem Music Group www.anthemmusic.com 36 ASC www.sejungusa.com 45 Audio-Technica U.S.Inc. www.audio-technica.com 25
B/CBenedetto Guitars www.BenedettoGuitars.com 98 Breezy Ridge Instruments Ltd. www.jpstrings.com 88 Chem-Pak Inc. www.chem-pak.com 82 Chesbro Music Co. www.chesbromusic.com 38-39 Collings Guitars www.collingsguitars.com 103 Composite Acoustics www.compositeacoustics.com 79
DD’Addario & Co. www.daddario.com 28 D’Addario & Co. www.daddario.com 44 Direct Sound Headphones www.extremeheadphones.com 54 Dunlop Manufacturing Inc. www.jimdunlop.com 59 Dusty Strings www.dustystrings.com 94
E/FE. & O. Mari Inc./La Bella www.labella.com 61 Eastwood Guitars www.eastwoodguitars.com 77EMD Music Inc. www.staggmusic.com 23 EMG Inc. www.emgpickups.com 55 Epilog Laser www.epiloglaser.com 73 Evets Corporation www.danelectro.com 5 Flaxwood Guitars North America www.fl axwood.com cov 2
GGetm Getm Wear www.getmgetm.com 79 George L’s www.georgels.com 84 Glasser Bows www.glasserbows.com 102 Godlyke Inc. www.godlyke.com 41 Good for the Goose Products www.chopsaver.com 100 Graph Tech Guitar Labs www.graphtech.com 70
H/IHal Leonard www.halleonard.com 21 Harris Musical Products Inc. www.harrismusical.com 52 Hutchins Guitars of North America www.hutchinsguitarsusa.com 72 Irradiant Inc. 80
J/KJ. Bouvier www.jbouvier.net 80 JHS www.jhs.co.uk 16 Jones-Fletcher email:jonesfl [email protected] 96Jupiter Band Instruments www.jupitermusic.com 17 K&M Stands www.km-america.com 85 Kaman Music Corp. www.kamanmusic.com 26 Ken Smith Basses Ltd. www.kensmithbasses.com 77Keystone Electronics www.keyelco.com 15 Kyser Musical Products Inc. www.kysermusical.com 97
LLevy’s Leathers Ltd. www.levysleathers.com 53 Light Wave Systems www.lightwave-systems.com 63 Lollar Guitars www.lollarguitars.com 71
MC.F. Martin & Co. Inc. www.martinguitar.com 51 Metropolitan Music Co. [email protected] 27 Morley/Sound Enhancements Inc. www.morleypedals.com 66 Morrell Music Dist. Co. www.morrellmusic.com 101
N/ONAMM www.namm.com 42-43 National Educational Music Co. www.nemc.com 69 National Music Funding www.nationalmusic.com 94 New Sensor Corp. www.newsensor.com 95 Oasis Inc www.oasishumidifi ers.com 102
PP & D Wholesale www.PDWholesale.net 104 Peace Musical Co. LLC www.peacedrum.com 18 Peterson Strobe Tuners www.petersontuners.com 22Petrof USA www.petrof.com 31Pocket Songs www.pocketsongs.com 98 PRS Guitars (Paul Reed Smith) www.prsguitars.com 49
RReal de los Reyes www.realdelosreyes.com 59Retail Up www.retailup.com 41 Rivera Research & Development www.rivera.com 30
SSaga Musical Instruments www.sagamusic.com 35 Samson Technologies Corp. www.samsontech.com 3 Samson Technologies Corp. www.samsontech.com 9 Sennheiser Electronics www.sennheiserusa.com 29 Seymour Duncan Pickups www.seymourduncan.com 54 SHS International www.shsint.net 32 Shubb Co. www.shubb.com 102 SKB Corp. www.skbcases.com 67 Sonic Distribution www.sonicUS.net 88 Sontronics www.sontronics.com 91 Southland Music Distributors, Inc www.southlandmusic.com 100String Swing Mfg. Inc. www.stringswing.com 13 Super-Sensitive Musical String Co. www.cavanaughcompany.com 78
TTech 21 www.tech21nyc.com 7 The Adolph Agency, Inc www.musiciansthreads.com 82 TKL Products Corp. www.tkl.com 1 ToneGear www.The StringCleaner.com 81 Tregan Guitars www.treganguitars.com 56 Tropical Music Corp. www.tropicalmusic.com 24 Twinkle Enterprises Ltd. www.twinkleglobe.com 89
V/W/YVandoren www.dansr.com 99 Violet Design www.violetdesignusa.com 99 Visual Sound www.visualsound.net cov 4 Voyage-air Guitar www.voyageairguitar.com 60 W.D. Music Products Inc. www.wdmusic.com 101 Walking Bird Repair Forms www.walkingbirdmusic.com 96 Wyman Pianonc. www.wymanpiano.com 81 Yamaha Corp. of America www.yamaha.com 19
Ad Index.indd 112 9/26/08 12:48:37 PM
JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK
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MMR_COV3 COV3 9/25/08 5:03:22 PM
