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.

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.

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.

Los Angeles, CA, May 11, 2010 — The latest successor to Roland's long line of electronic percussion multi-pads is now shipping. The Octapad SPD-30 features 8 independent Trigger Pads, hundreds of built in sounds, multi-effects and multiple inputs for external triggers and controllers.

Using the latest trigger technology from Roland’s industry-leading V-Drums®, the pads on the OCTAPAD SPD-30 feature an extremely natural and responsive playing feel. The eight separate trigger surfaces provide superior dynamic response, trigger consistency over a pad’s entire surface, and the elimination of crosstalk.

The OCTAPAD SPD-30 includes 50 kits and hundreds of cutting-edge drum and percussion sounds. Powerful onboard effects include 30 types of multi-effects that can be used on individual kits, and Ambience with an Equalizer and Limiter that can be applied to the overall OCTAPAD SPD-30 sound. The Phrase Loop recording feature allows the player to loop recorded sounds in real time, and then overdub additional parts or sounds. With the ability to record three parts per phrase, Phrase Loop is a powerful creative tool for live performance and recording.

Reporters from around the world have come together to issue the 11th Annual MIPA awards, honoring the best in audio and musical products. Announced on the evening of March 25th selections were made from 3 candidates in each of the product categories. Representatives of manufactures and distributors from numerous countries were present making this a truly international affair. A special lifetime achievement award was given to Hartley Peavey of Peavey electronics for a liftime of contributions to the music industry. The most coveted award, "Most Innovative Product", was won by TC Electronics for their Polytune electronic tuner. One strum and you can tune all 6 strings of your guitar at once.

March 30, 2010

PEAVEY INT'L. HEADQUARTERS — Music-and-audio innovator Hartley Peavey received the 2010 MIPA Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor in the global music-products industry, at the Musikmesse International Press Awards in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 25.

Chosen by the votes of more than 100 magazines worldwide, Peavey accepted the MIPA Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award during the annual Musikmesse and Prolight + Sound convention. Peavey also won the MIPA Best Guitar Amp Combo Award for the Peavey Vypyr™ 15 modeling guitar amplifier at the event.

As the founder and CEO of Peavey Electronics Corporation, award-winner Hartley Peavey heads one of the world's largest and most diversified manufacturers of musical-instrument and professional-audio products, boasting a product line exceeding 2,000 products and distribution into more than 130 countries.