This is the week. Winter NAMM, 2007 is upon us, and in a few short days yours truly and the rest of the Gearwire crew will be in Anaheim to bring you all the previews, product announcements, and receding heavy-metal hairlines you can shake a mic at. One thing I love about being a music journo type is the amount of dirt I have access to before the general public gets it. I can't tell you how many press releases I've gotten in my inbox in the last two weeks with the word "embargo" on them. What does that mean, you ask?

An embargoed press release is one that given to writers so we can get our homework done, but is not "releasable" to the public until the date specified on the press release.

The government does this sort of thing all the time, and it's no surprise that industry would follow suit. If you only knew the things I'm currently privy to that I just. . .can't. . .tell. . .

At least until the day of the show. Would you like to know what is in store for Ableton? M-Audio? Sony? It's all in black and white, folks, but nobody's talking til it's live, on the floor.

What I will do here is recap a few of the announcements made by people who don't care to keep secrets about their NAMM debuts. And have there been plenty of those! Daisy Rock has been issuing near-daily press about their line of woman-friendly guitars, and Schecter did a one-day press blitz on three separate new products. Let's take a quick look at a few of the notables announced for debut at NAMM or leaked just in time for the shindig:

Stanton gets a "much anticipated" award for the release of Final Scratch 3. According to the Stanton press release, "Expect current FS2 users to receive special support for the transition." They aren't saying much officially, of course, til the show.

The Moog MF-107 pedal is another high-profile goody. This successor to the Moogerfooger lets you add, in Gearwire Editor Rob Warmowski's words, "Digestive-tract gurgles, mothership exhaust rumble or generalized modulation madness" to a guitar player's lineup of effects. Oh, HELL yeah. Don't think I won't be checking that baby out in a hurry once the doors open in Anaheim.

We've already reported that Rhodes is making a big noise about their return to the biz with a new line. From the press release, "Join us as we proudly unveil the brand new 2007 Mark 7 Rhodes piano at the NAMM Convention." Rhodes is back, and still dedicated to the electromechanical biz. The new Rhodes will have a USB out and a screen, but if you REALLY want the old-school look and feel, you'd have purchased one by now, right? Who's a true purist these days, anyway? Digital creeps in there somewhere, even if it's only the final product.

Gemini says ten new products will be on display at their booth at NAMM, "Including the MPX-40 Professional FX MP3 Player and the CDM-600 Professional DJ Station." According to GCI's press release. "In addition, an updated CDT-05 MKII Professional Hybrid Turntable, and the soon-to-be-released new PS series of DJ Mixers will also be on display." Gemini has plenty of other stuff, but we'll save space for that when I report from the show.

Daisy Rock has a ton of new stuff, including the Rock Candy series, the Tom Boy Deuce, and Wildwood series. DR founder Tish Ciravolo will also be part of a NAMM discussion panel on Saturday, so I'm hoping to track her down for a few words from the floor.

Reverend says it will show off its new Set-Neck series, with 11 new semi-hollow and solidbody models. The Reverend site is a bit sketchy on the details, but they will naturally have product demos including Gil Parris playing his signature axe.

This is not a comprehensive list by any stretch, and there are plenty of other well-known bits of pre-NAMM flotsam to ponder. Logic 8, anyone? NI Traktor? M-Audio? That closeup .jpg with all the pretty lights? Lots of teasing and speculating going on. I'm saving my own observations for the floor of NAMM, thanks.

My brain is sore from wading through too many press releases, which all have far too many adjectives. How many "one-of-a-kind" and "revolutionary" pieces of hardware and software will make me a recording studio genius "like never before"? If I have to read about one more "groundbreaking solution" I think I might just scream. I'm ready for the real deal now. I'd officially swear off the hype until showtime, but I know I can't resist talking about it all here. If you ask me, NAMM is held a month too late. This has a real holiday feel to it, with all these new gear innovations being presented like so many presents under the tree. Nobody in their right mind would schedule this in the middle of the holiday shopping season, but I feel that dread of the credit card bills to come in exactly the same way.

That's it for now. Get your shopping lists ready, brace yourselves, and keep watching Gearwire for more NAMM-related gossip and breaking news. Come Thursday you won't know what to read first.

Of course, that is a complete load of bollocks. You'll probably just read what comes up first. See what's happening here? Even I am being sucked into the hype machine.