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Welcome to the 2014 edition of the NAMM Oddities

Another NAMM, another late edition of the NAMM Oddities. This year the Oddities were again delayed by an unexpected influx of work, which was good for me but not so much for fans of the Oddities. One of the delay-causing bits of work was being part of the sound crew for a documentary shoot in Ireland with an Academy Award-winning director. I can think of many things that suck more than that.

As you may have already noticed, there are two products featured on the right. This year I've decided to award two products the distinction of being Oddities of the Year.

The Aerodrums fall into that rarified category of technology that I consider magic. While I can see that it works, the fact that is does is simply magical.

While the Aerodrums are not much to look at, there's no denying the striking visual appeal of the PianoArc.

Make sure you check out the videos I shot for these two products.

-Barry

2014 Oddities of the Year

Aerodrums

PianoArc

A brief history of the NAMM Oddities…

After attending the Winter NAMM show for a number of years, I'd noticed that the exhibitors seem to fall into two categories: the established company showing its new (and sometimes vaporous) products and the independent start-up company looking to be noticed by distributors, music stores, potential investors and the music press.

It seemed that every year I spent more of my NAMM time checking out the various small companies that got stashed in some dark corner of the show. Many of the products from these companies were never seen by the average visitor, sometimes because they only appealed to a small market, or because most people simply couldn't figure out what the hell they were supposed to do.

That isn't to say that these products are ill-conceived or poorly executed. It's just that sometimes they're, well, a little odd. This situation made me think that there ought to be a place for people to come to marvel and wonder at all of these products. Thus, the NAMM Oddities were born.