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Welcome to the 2016 edition of the NAMM Oddities… finally.

So much for solemn pledges. I had another year of travel, work, and other commitments that prevented me (in good conscience) from dedicating the time to put together the 2016 Oddities. Here I am late in November in Colorado Springs for a week and there aren't any "emergency" work issues so I'm frickin' finally getting started.

I suppose as long as I get these out before the 2017 NAMM Show they may still be relevant. In fact I'm certain that there are products covered here that have still not seen the light of day so I'm not the only one who's late.

-Barry

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.