Several manufacturers have announced new product line ups for fall. Reheats and new colors seem to be a popular theme this fall. Here are the fall line ups from Korg, Vox, and Roland.

Korg

has re-released their Wavedrum hand percussion controller. With multiple sensors and a high power DSP processor it creates an electronic percussion controller with all of the expression of traditional hand played drums. It is also being released in a limited edition black finish.

Also sporting a new color is the TM-40 Tuner/Metronome. This popular model is now available in a rich Pearl White Finish (TM40-PW).

The microKEY controller is a 37 note USB powered controller with pitch bend and modulation wheels, key transpose, octave shift, and two expansion USB ports.

Two Industry leaders Pass

Eugene Czerwinski founder of Cerwin-Vega died on Aug. 6, 2010 at the age of 83. A former Aerospace Engineer, he began making waves in music and audio with the development of the first solid state hi-fi amplifier in 1957. It delivered an unprecedented 125 watts of output power. He earned an Academy Award in 1974 for the development of the twin 18 inch Sensoround sub-woofer for the release of the Movie "Earthquake". He will be remembered for his mastery of the art and science of engineering and for his affection for superb bass reproduction.

Two of my daughters bought me a subscription to Netflix for father's day. I have made heavy use of it in the last month and discovered a number of gems. One that may be of interest to many of you is a documentary lasting one hour and 21 minutes which follows the progress of a Steinway Concert Grand serial number L1037 as it makes it's year long journey through the Steinway piano factory. One of 2000 pianos that Steinway makes annually, we witness the extensive and meticulous hand labor that goes into the making of one of these masterpieces. Starting at $25,000 dollars and with essentially no upper limit these pianos are made in the exact same process that they have been built for the last 100 years.

Individual craftsmen, representing every continent on the planet, describe their particular contribution to the process. With no automation, and rarely even a power tool, every piece of the piano is hand fabricated and assembled, many steps requiring a full days labor by individual craftsmen. The process culminates in 4 chip tunes, a rough tune, a fine tune and then the final voicing process all done by ear, no computer tuning allowed.

As part of its new Summer NAMM line up Yamaha has introduced its DSR series of loudspeakers from there pro-audio, live sound group. The line is comprised of the DSR-112, DSR-115, DSR-215, and the DSR-118W sub-woofer. With built in amplifiers and the all-new D-CONTOUR multi-band dynamic processing these new speakers deliver class leading power and DSP effects.

"These loudspeakers deliver top-quality performance and are ideally suited for a wide range of professional applications," said Wayne Hrabak, marketing manager, Live Sound, Yamaha Pro Audio & Combo Division. "The new innovations in these speakers set the standard for affordable active speakers by delivering class-leading power, extreme sound pressure levels and a listening experience that redefines high definition audio."

Built in to the DSR speakers are leading edge digital technological innovations including Integral Digital Tuning, Intelligent Dynamic Control, Powerful Digital Drive and extensive DSP protection.

The Tennessean newspaper reported last week that supplies of Gibson Electric Guitars is beginning to dry up due to flooding in Nashville. A plant responsible for the manufacture of 2,500 of some of the worlds best known guitars every day has been shut down by the flooding of Mill Creek that flows right behind the Gibson USA's facility.

The nation's largest musical instrument seller, Guitar Center, anticipates its 214 stores will exhaust their existing stock of Gibson-brand electric guitars "within weeks," according to Phil Rich, vice president of guitar merchandise. Other smaller retailers have already depleted existing supplies.

The company also has production facilities in Memphis; Bozeman, MT; and at least five in China. Gibson declines to specify dollar amounts on the damage but has indicated that production was already oversold and that the plant will not be back to full production until July. Look for supplies of some Gibson models to become extremely thin.

After years in the sound reinforcement and stage amplification business Peavey electronics has announced it's intention to compete in the commercial audio arena. Specifically targeting it's Crest Audio, MediaMatrix, and Architectural Acoustics brands, the new division will be charged with creating a core support and marketing organization focused on these brands. This should make getting timely information and integrating solutions across the brands much easier.

The organization will be overseen by Clive Roberts, Managing Director in Corby, UK and Kevin Ivey, Peavey Commercial Audio general manager, based at Peavey's Meridian, MS headquarters. The rest of the team is composed of long time Peavey employees with experience in the pro-audio brands. Peavey brings considerable pro-audio experience and technology to this new marketing arena and expects to become a formidable presence.

The NAMM foundation released results of their 10th Annual "Best Communities for Music Education" survey. This nationwide survey recognizes schools and districts for their commitment to music education and opportunity. The NAMM Foundation’s mission is to ensure that all children have access to quality music education programs that encourage lifelong participation in music making. In the face of ever more tightly strained budgets, music and arts education has long been an easy target for the budget balancers blue pencil. In spite of these national trends some schools and districts have recognized the complementary nature of music in a well rounded program of educational opportunity and have resisted these trends.

With input power rated at 1800 watts continuous and 3600 watts program, Danley Sound Labs new TH-118 subwoofer will offer the ultimate in base response to all but the largest of performance spaces. The TH-118 adds an 18 inch driver to Danley's line of patent pending tapped horn subwoofers. Light weight and portable, this line of subwoofers provide a flat, low and powerful bass. They also feature interlocking skids for building banks of multiples, providing stunning bass and low frequency directivity for large venue and outdoor concert spaces. They also provide a variety of fly points for permanent installation applications.

Specs on these units include a 40 Hz to 250 Hz with ≤ 3dB of variance and power out of 146dBSPL @ 134 Hz. Input impedance is nominal 4 ohms with min 3 ohms at 67 Hz. Msrp for these models is $3332. For more information go to www.danleysoundlabs.com

A contraction of the words piano and leggero, which is Italian for "light", this new line of light weight keyboards emphasizes portability. The NP-V60 and NP-V80 are both 76 note keyboards with new levels of interactivity and piano voice quality to complement their new standard for portability.

"With the evolution of portable keyboards over the years, manufacturers have been packing in more and more features, like 76 keys and hundreds of Styles and Voices," said Dane Madsen, marketing manager, Yamaha Electronic Keyboards. "With that, the products have gotten bigger and bigger. Now with our Piaggero line, not only have we made the size slimmer and lighter, but we've also streamlined the interface to be as inviting and intuitive to pianists as possible."

A unique concert took place on April 17 of this year at the Strathmore Hall in Bethesda, Maryland. Showcasing some of Yamaha's latest Disklavier and hybrid piano technology, Frederic Chiu, a Yamaha Piano artist, played the AvantGrand piano and the Disklavier Mark IV CFIIIS. One of the concert highlights was a unique piano duet that was played with Jarrod Radnich who just happened to be located three time zones away in Anaheim California. Jarrod played live on a Disklavier performance reproducing piano which was connected to the internet. At Strathmore Hall an identical Disklavier piano was also connected to the internet and it reproduced every keystroke and pedal press complete with all of the delicate phrasing and nuance of the original performance. In this fashion Jarrod and Frederic were able to perform a coast to coast piano duet in realtime. This performance showcased not only the talents of the two accomplished artists but also the cutting edge technologies of the Yamaha pianos.