Mapex has done a lot of work on their Saturn Series line this past year, but they've never done anything like their Pop To Bop kit. It's a versatile kit that comes with more drums than you need at once for multiple kit arrangements.  

The CME UF 50 is, out of the box, a controller for your software synth or MIDI files. Without audio ins or outs, another device is necessary for the UF 50 to work unless you install your own soundcard into it.  

ART unveiled some nifty rack units at Summer NAMM 2008 starting with the second make of their Pro VLA Compressor. In addition to the Pro VLA II, they've got a headphone amp (ART HeadAMP 6 PRO), a tube preamp (ART TubeFire 8) and a compact power amp (ART SLA4) on display.  

The extremes that Roland has gone through to get their TDW-20 Expansion Board to not only emulate but also control intangibles that make acoustic drums acoustic drums are crazy. Add individual snare buzz that changes to match the snare you have selected, add rivet(s) to your cymbals and more.  

At Summer NAMM 2008, Britton Wetherald had the privilege of sitting down for a long discussion with Mike Matthews. It only took four segments for the discussion to turn into a reflection on Sovtek amps and Britton's demand to bring them back.  

At first, we were attracted to a booth from afar because we thought they were giving away jelly beans. Upon closer inspection, it was our pals at Microsonic Music with new colored, molded ear buds in some unique flavors.  

SPOILER ALERT!

"Hey guys, my name is Felix with Alesis, and I'm here to show you the new Alesis MultiMix 8 Line. If you look at it, it's an eight-channel rackmounted stereo line mixer. You have all your channels, all of them with -- you have your volume, you have your pan and your send. The really nice thing about it, you actually have a -- the back of it you have all your channels and everything. You have one mic input, and not only that, you can actually link it with another. . . with another unit so you actually double up. Instead of having eight channels you're going to have now sixteen channels still using the same effects send and return. Once again, that's the MultiMix 8 Line by Alesis."

 

Quick, here's three examples of climbing being awesome.

• Tom Cruise climbs a giant rock in the opening sequence of Mission Impossible II with no support apparel -- he doesn't care if he lives or dies!
• Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon battle it out in an epic ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania X.
• The Moog Guitar's ladder filter makes some out-of-this world noises

 

We check out the Steinberg MR816 interfaces which consist of the MR816 X and the MR816 CSX. Check this video out to see a recording software giant's take on interfacing -- one that isn't Digidesign.  

Mike Bradley practices his cat burglarizing skills on the VOX Satchurator for Gearwire's eyes only. For his next trick, Mike will attempt to purloin the world's largest cubic zirconia from the Springfield museum.  

The Roland TD-20 module has had quite a distinguished reign as king of the most renowned series in electronic drums today. The Roland TDW-20 Expansion Board secures the king from attack like a well alligatored moat.  

What would a NAMM show be nowadays without a cornucopia of products that beg for the attention and the sweet embrace of your iPod. Dock it up with the new Numark iDeck and you'll be playing and recording audio and video to and fro!  

Nady's new SCM 2090 is a stereo condenser microphone that is all about capturing ambient sound. Use it as the meat in a guitar cab sandwich or mic choirs and ensembles.  

Now your computer has a new weapon -- a brickwall limiter with its own way of fighting overshoot. Like Jackie Chan in that 1985 revenge classic co-starring a younger, more naive Danny Aiello, Blue Cat Audio Protector is The Protector.  

According to a college application essay question I once answered, the King of Naples asked the painter Giotto to prove himself, and Giotto answered the challenge by drawing a perfect circle freehand. Puremagnetik makes Giotto look like a chump with Metalsphere.  

Not to get all psuedo-religious about the Moog Guitar (I'm sure we're all fighting fanaticism, hard), but to paraphrase Job: "The Moog Guitar sustainer system giveth, and the The Moog Guitar sustainer system taketh away."  

Has anyone thought of producing Guitar Talk, a show dedicated to the maintenance and preservation of classic guitars and basses but with a humorous slant? Have you listened to Crosstalk lately?  

Britton Wetherald continues his interview with Electro-Harmonix founder Mike Matthews. The two talk about reissuing pedals and the successfully characteristic tonal quality of E-H pedals.  

At Summer NAMM 2008, Mapex was pushing their My Pro M promotion. This allows drummers to order up a kit to their specs and get normally exclusive finishes on non-exclusive Mapex drums.  

With Randall's Modular Tube System, you can take your preamp out of your amp and switch it with a different Randall preamp model for an extremely clever way to expand your tonal spectrum and mix and match preamp sections.  

After years of working sound and making custom gear, John H. Brandt makes a foray into selling to the general public with the Previs condenser microphone  

The owner of Harmony Guitar company Charlie Subecz was feeling a little nostalgic, so he decided to put the brand's 1950s-era student-guitar models back into production. Only problem was, he didn't have the original plans or original guitars themselves on hand. . .  

Now that we've heard all about the development of the phenom that is the Moog Guitar, Moog Music Engineering Manager Cyril Lance talks bout the basic properties of the sustainer system that is the heart of the instrument.  

Martin shows off some of their limited edition guitars at Summer NAMM 2008. Each limited edition is unique, like a snowflake, but they all share the common trait of being made with some serious style.  

We check out the latest offerings from BBE at Summer NAMM 2008. It looks like they've even upgraded the graphic interfaces on some of these pedals.  

The Muse Receptor is a hardware plugin player that may be the most stable and efficient platform for plugin playback ever. IK Multimedia is one of the premier names in VSTi and plugin effects and loop library development in the industry. Apparently, they found each others' phone numbers. . .  

In part two of Britton Wetherald's interview with Electro-Harmonix found Mike Matthews, Mike talks about receiving purchases from guys like Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana. Back before the days of debit cards and eBay, I wonder if a check autographed by a musical legend would be worth more than the check itself.  

After years of writing, songwriter Emma Skye sat down to record -- using Garageband. Where should she go from there in her attempt to make it in the music biz?  

The Squier Classic Vibe Duo-Sonic 50s marks the first time the Duo-Sonic has been reissued since 1997, and the newest incarnation of the cheap-chic ax features some pretty cool aesthetic touches and design features.  

Sennheiser is looking for a sound logo, and they're opening everything up to the public. You've got five chances to impress Sennheiser with eight seconds of any sound that might be ear catching enough, but the competition is fierce.