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Togaman GuitarViol I was quite impressed with this instrument. By the time you get to the bridge there is a enough of an arc to allow you to bow all of the strings effectively but it's flat enough to easily fret as well. While it does have frets you can still do smooth violin glissandos. It can be played as shown or in a traditional guitar position. They have also developed their own pickup system to accurately capture sound of the strings when plucked, strummed, or bowed. Jonathan Wilson Designs |
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The Music Pole And now for something completely different. Take a piano keyboard and wind it around a pole in the right way and you end up with the notes in a pentatonic scale all in a row, sort of a tube of fifths. This is a MIDI controller with contact switches that require that you use their "Thumbletx" in order to make the connections. Music Pole |
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The Roland V-Accordion It's a rare occurance for a big company like Roland to make it into the NAMM Oddities. The big guys just tend to play it a little too safe to make it in. But this year was different with Roland introducing the V-Guitar for the klezmer set. Like the V-Guitar, the V-Accordion uses physical modelling to give you 30 different accordion sounds as well as 29 other orchestral sounds. With the quality of the trumpet sound I heard I imagine that there's going to be some downsizing of some mariachi bands in the near future. Roland Corporation U.S. |
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The Banjo-Tam As the name abundantly makes clear, you're looking at the bastard offspring of a banjo and a tambourine. This is a full size 5-string banjo that can be played in a traditional fashion but can also act as a percussion instrument. There is some sympathetic jingling that happens with normal playing too. Banjo-Tam, LLC |
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The Jones "Standard" Here is a new instrument for the tapping world. Being a Chapman Stick player myself I took it for a spin. The first thing I noticed is that it's extremely light weight being hollow and made of carbon fiber. There is a wire brace that folds out from the top that you rest on your shoulder. The sound is much stringier (is that a word?) than a Stick but it still has a lot of bottom end output. The lack of a damper system made for a somewhat cluttered sound because of the ringing notes. This instrument is still in a prototype stage and the guys were very open to ideas for improvement. When the design matures this will be another fine addition to the available palette of tapping instruments. Jones MFG, LLC |
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Mellotron Mk VI The latest incarnation of the venerable Mellotron is here. They've updated all the components and build but left the basic design the same. All of the orginal Mellotron and Chamberlin tapes are availble too. If you want to go whole hog you can even get a two-manual version, but it's going to cost you. Big City Music |
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Conklin PacMan Bass You gotta love themed instruments. Aside from the little characters used as knobs, I particularly appreciated the use of the neck inlay dots. Conklin Guitars and Basses |
FlipOut Bass The FlipOut guitars were a centerpiece item in last years Oddities. Now bass players can join in the fun. I can't wait for their take on drums and keyboards. Dewey Decibel, Inc. |
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Electric Viola Da Gamba In Charlie Ogle's viola da gamba booth I came across the first electric viola da gamba that I've ever seen. Following in the tradition of gambas, the "Ruby Gamba", built in Holland built by Jan Goorissen, has tied-on frets. [thanks to Carlos Augusto for the clarification] Ruby Instruments |
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Jerzy Drozd Basses I was attracted to these basses by the intricate sound hole cutouts. Both of these basses have MIDI pickups as well. Jerzy Drozd Basses |
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RCDesign Mandolin This was a new mandolin that Heflen had at their booth. This instrument was not only beautiful, it was quite the little cannon. Heflen Conceptions |
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DeGennaro Mandolin DeGannaro has a way with wood. Here is a nicely carved electric mandolin that would serve as an understated companion to the DeGennaro hand guitar I saw this year. DeGennaro Guitars |
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Colorful Band Instruments You won't trip over this clarinet in a dark room. Deura has quite a selection of colors available for the band instruments they offer. Everyone should own a red pocket trumpet sometime in their lifetime. Deura, Inc. |
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Violins of a Differnt Color From the same people who brought you "Santa and Friends", here we have some unusual shades of violins. I checked out thier website and they can be had for less than $40, perfect for all the Townsend-influenced violinists you know. Bridgecraft USA |
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NAMM Oddities '05 Home | Guitars |
Other Goodies | Percussion |
| Don't be surprised if you find that the product or the company you see
on these pages has ceased to exist, particularly as the pages get older.
One function of the NAMM Oddities is that of a historical archive of
attempted products. These web pages are not associated with or sponsored by NAMM |
Send your suggestions, clarifications, rants or praise to oddinfo@otheroom.com
©2005 Barry Wood