NAMM 2014 started off with a bang! I attended workshops by singer-songwriter Ben Folds (stay tuned for video of that presentation), composer and music producer Jerry Gerber, musician/teacher/producer Keith Hatschek, digital sheet music on your iPad from Airturn, and an awesome workshop on the “New Rules for the Music Industry” by producer Jeffrey Weber. I also attended a very cool panel discussion on the state of 21st Century Synthesizers with Gerry Basserman, producer/composer/sound designer Edmund Eagan, composer/synthesist Drew Neumann, sound designer and founder/creative director of Spectrasonics Eric Persing, and synthesizer pioneer Dave Smith; moderated by journalist/historian/teacher/performer Mark Vail.
I was very excited to put down a deposit on a new ROLI Seaboard, one of the most expressive keyboards ever made. I will be one of the first people in the world to own a ROLI Seaboard when they come off the assembly line in fall 2014!