Exploring 2024 NAMM Show's Offerings for Violin and Stringed Instruments
The NAMM Show - the four-day gathering of the National Association of Music Merchants that just took place in Southern California last Thursday through Sunday - feels like it is finally getting back to "normal" after several post-pandemic years of diminished offerings and crowds.
After holding the event in June 2022, then April 2023, this year NAMM was back to its traditional time slot in the calendar year: January. Let's face it, January is the ideal time to visit sunny southern California - for an event at the Anaheim Convention Center, right next to Disneyland. It also was back to packed crowds and full exhibition halls - getting closer to 2020 levels.
Violinist.com Publisher Laurie Niles at the 2024 NAMM Show in Anaheim, Calif.
I spent Friday at NAMM, looking to see what was new for violinists, violists, cellists and stringed instruments in general. While this event focuses more heavily on guitars, electronic gear and production equipment, there was still much to find for violin and other stringed instruments. I did not get to every single violin-related booth, but I did speak with people from all around the country and all around the world. They represented companies large and small, including Shar, Pirastro, Connolly Music, Yamaha, Volta and 3DVarius electrics, Glasser and Hal Leonard.
As you can see in the picture above, it was a gorgeous day, and so one of the first things I did was to sit outside with U.K.-based violinist Henriette de Vrijer to talk with her about her new book, Do It Yourself Violin, published by Hal Leonard (which had a big booth at NAMM). You might recognize her, she is a longtime member of Violinist.com who has posted numerous blogs for us over the years. She also is the founder of Pro-Am Strings Violin School, with many videos on Youtube aimed at the self-starter violinist. She has much experience teaching adults and do-it-yourself learners, and her new book is aimed at that audience, using familiar music such as Disney tunes, popular music and film music as well as some classical to teach violin pedagogy. Here is what she had to say about it:
@violinistlaurie “Do It Yourself Violin” - Henriette de Vrijer describes her new book, aimed at adult learners. We are @The NAMM Show! #nammshow @Pro-Am Strings Violin School @HalLeonardEDU ? original sound - Violinist.com
Coming inside, I made my way to a corner of the exhibit hall reserved for German companies, including Wittner, maker of the amazing Finetune Pegs, and of course Pirastro - creators of strings such as Evah Pirazzi (endorsed by Augustin Hadelich, as indicated in the picture below!), Perpetual Cadenzas, Obligatos, Eudoxa gut strings, Tonicas, etc. I stopped by to see Ed Mingo, the American representative for Pirastro.
Ed Mingo of Pirastro Strings.
After last year's release of the KorfkerRest Luna shoulder rest by Pirastro (reviewed by us here), they are now in the process of developing the KorfkerRest Luna for viola. Mingo couldn't give me a specific release date, but it is in the works! The regular KorfkerRest (which we reviewed here), which is made of wood, is currently available for both violin and viola. What is the difference? The Luna is made of a proprietary composite material created by Pirastro, costs considerably less and has collapsible feet.
And there were more violin strings - at Connolly Music there were brands by Thomastik Infeld, including the new Dynamo for viola, Rondo Golds, Dominants, and Jargar Strings lines such as Evoke. We spoke to several representatives - Joshua Pederson told us a little about the new Dynamo for viola (just out this month) and Rondo Golds. Grace Newman described a two-way humidity system for your violin case called Boveda. I wasn't sure what "two-way" meant - it means that the pack either releases moisture or absorbs it, to keep the inside of the case at a constant humidity level. Nice! She also described Magic Rosin - whose selling point for me is not its holder with nice illustrations (which honestly, get obstructed the first time you use the rosin) but the fact that it is hypo-allergenic. I've had students who were so allergic to rosin they almost had to quit, so this is major! Here are their descriptions:
@violinistlaurie At the Connolly booth @The NAMM Show - Joshua Pederson shows us the new DY strings for #viola and Rondo Golds from @Thomastik-Infeld ? original sound - Violinist.com
I knew that Yamaha had the entire third floor of the convention center, so I headed up the giant window-lined escalators to check it out. Of course, I was at NAMM to get the scoop on violin-related gear and happenings, but when I saw Yamaha's big display of Prince's Purple Piano, I couldn't deny my inner '80s teenager the chance to get a picture next to it.
Laurie with Prince's Piano
The story behind this is that Yamaha delivered the custom-made piano to Prince just weeks before his untimely death at the age of 57, in April 2016. The legendary pop musician had been working on plans for a tour in which he would have played acoustic piano. I did see Prince live in concert once, and he was wonderful. I would have loved to have seen a show featuring him at the piano!
But back to the violin....last year at NAMM I was disappointed in the very small and un-manned display Yamaha had for bowed string instruments, so I was heartened to see a larger display booth this year, with more instruments as well as several representatives to talk with visitors. As you can see, their display featured the wildly popular violinist Lindsey Stirling, who was there at the NAMM Show and gave a performance on Friday night (I was very disappointed that I had to miss it, I truly admire what she has done to connect so many people with the violin!)
Yamaha's Strings booth at NAMM 2024.
I had a wonderful conversation with Yamaha's Nicole Lamphier, who helped me by showing me a much easier way to connect my Yamaha Electric Violin (YEV) with an amplifier. This could be a game-changer! She showed me how to use a bluetooth guitar relay (specifically a Line 6 G10Tii relay) to connect a YEV with a Yamaha amplifier (specifically the THR30ii) amplifier. No wires hanging anywhere, and the relay goes underneath the fiddle in a place where it doesn't interfere with playing in the least! Here is the demonstration she gave for us:
@violinistlaurie From the 2024 #NAMMShow! Nicole Lamphier of @Yamaha Music ? original sound - Violinist.com
Here are some familiar faces - I ran into Charles Avsharian, founder of the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Shar Music, and Tina Avsharian, the company's current COO. Shar has been supplying stringed instrument players with strings, cases, instruments, sheet music and more for more than 60 years, and they are also a longtime major supporter of Violinist.com.
Charles and Tina Avsharian with Laurie Niles.
Coming all the way from Cremona, Italy (hometown of the great Antonio Stradivari...) was violin maker Stefano Trabucchi, who had several of his violins on display. Trabucchi is a graduate of the International School of Violin in Cremona who has won numerous awards and has served since 2010 as President of the Violin Makers' Section of Confartigianato Imprese.
Moving from the most traditional of violin making to the most modern - I headed next to see some of the many electric violins at this show.
On my way to an electric violin demonstration, I also found Laurent Bernadac, inventor of the 3DVarius electric violin (and cello) - a company based in France. Bernadac was one of the many performers this year at NAMM.
Laurie with 3DVarius Founder and Inventor Laurent Bernadac.
Last but not least, I watched the unveiling of a new electric violin at a gathering at the Volta Strings booth. Violinist Rob Flax made it quite entertaining! The new instrument is a cooperative effort between Glasser and Volta, and they are calling it the Glasser X Volta electric violin. (It will be available to a wider public several months from now from the Electric Violin Shop.) They also unveiled a new Volta viola, which they put in the hands of violist Derryck Gleaton (AKA D Sharp) to play. There is some joyful jamming on the new instruments, at the end of this video!
@violinistlaurie At @The NAMM Show - the new Glasser X Volta electric #violin is unveiled with @Rob Flax, who jams with @DSharp playing the new Volta #viola! #NAMMShow #electricviolin ? original sound - Violinist.com
Below is a picture of me with violinist Rob Flax, Andrew Glasser, owner of Glasser NY; and Volta Violins founder and luthier Marat Gabdullin, who did much of the research and development on this new violin.
L-R: Rob Flax, Laurie Niles, Andrew Glasser and Marat Gabdullin.
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Jan, I can’t see why you would’ve gotten “no volume” from a THR10. I had one and it could be annoyingly loud at close proximity. Were you trying to use it in a performance setting? And by “no volume” do you mean not enough volume? There are two volume controls, preamp gain and main output volume. If your turned up either one without turning up the other, you would’ve gotten “no volume.” I’ve never used a THR30, but it would just be a THR10 on steroids, more power, bigger speakers, more digitally synthesized voices. But it’s still not a “performance” amp.
When I brought the THR10 back to Guitar Center, they tested and just said I needed a more powerful amp. The volume was minimal, but not enough for home-use jamming. I use a Headway Band pickup, which might be an issue.
Ten watts should be plenty for a small practice room. Your preamp isn't delivering enough signal. You can't go right from the pickup to the amp. Here are a couple of simple models:
Belt clip (takes 9V battery):
https://www.amazon.com/Schatten-Mini-Pre-Belt-clip-Instrument/dp/B006AVA3TQ
Stomp box (requires additional 9V power adapter):
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AFXPreEQ2--fishman-afx-pro-eq-mini-acoustic-preamp-and-eq
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February 1, 2024 at 05:10 PM · Laurie mentions the Yamaha THR30 amp. I once purchased and returned the 10 watt version because it produced no volume with my piezo pickup. Is anyone using the 30 watt model? How is the volume? What's the tone quality like?