You’ve seen the “top picks” lists elsewhere online for the NAMM show, that massive Californian convergence of musical instruments and music-making gear. Add together the knobs and faders from such lists, and you could probably build a synthesizer Death Star and destroy Daft Punk’s hidden Rebel base. Of course, you’d only have a marginally larger Death Star than the identical one you could have built from last year’s gear.

We’re doing things a little differently: picking out entirely random stuff that managed to reach for the sublime — including the sublimely absurd. Bad is better than boring. We’ve seen strange things that simply failed, or at least substantially creeped us out.

Now, those moments of victory, of supreme revelation, of –

Yeah, that’s Roger Linn, the LM-1 and former MPC designer without whom drum machines as we know them today wouldn’t exist, holding the “Drum Machines Have No Soul” bumper sticker he acquired. That’s why we were in Anaheim.

We’re still waiting on Barry Wood’s legendary NAMM Oddities, so we’ll focus on our own sense of the exceptional.

Other standout moments and products for reflection:

Even as software continues to flourish, there’s still a great argument for a hardware box that does what you need — especially when that box has extensive feature sets, MIDI support, comes from Roger Linn, and costs US$375. Roger himself writes to let us know about the release of the AdrenaLinn III:

AndrenaLinn III Product Page

Like the models that came before it, the AdrenaLinn III is a guitar amp modeler with modulation and effects. The effects section is what really sets it apart: delays, filter sequences, and modulation are all synced to either the built-in drum machine or external MIDI. MIDI sync, of course, means you could easily integrate this with a software setup with tools like Ableton Live, Reason, or Cakewalk Project5. But it’s also little wonder that Linn, creator of various breakthrough drum machines, would turn a guitar effects unit into a drum machine.

The AdrenaLinn III incorporates myriad improvements over its predecessors, generally making this a more well-rounded unit, with enough effects that it could be an all-in-one solution:

• New effects: Reverb, compression, tuner, enhanced modulation
• New amp models, for a total of 40, Linn Design also says the improved models have better presence/tube saturation/tonal accuracy
• Better MIDI control, now letting you get to nearly all settings from MIDI foot switches and expression pedals, with assignable foot switch functions
• More presets, more drum beats

I look forward to hearing one in person. And this sounds too nice, anyway, to let the guitarists have all the fun — this sounds promising on many other instruments, too. Roger tells us his wife uses her AdrenaLinn with a cello.

Since this really is software running in a box, if you have an existing AdrenaLinn, you can upgrade to the latest model for US$99, which sounds well worth it. We’ve predicted before that more affordable, capable hardware would continue to advance external gear at the same time as computer software develops, and this is another example of how the two can nicely coexist in your setup.

Other gear watching…

I’m more in the AdrenaLinn vein than Line 6 Pods, but if the latter interest you, Music thing gets the scoop on leaked specs on a new model.

Meanwhile, what many are really eager to see from Roger Linn is the collaboration with Dave Smith, the BoomChik. We expect that’s a ways off yet. Okay by me: more time to save the pennies.

Sometimes an instrument you know can become something else altogether. Bob Collier has been constructing his own thumb pianos, adding amplification, effects, self-sampling features, and novel cases involving recycled camera bodies and faux fur. As Bob says, “Sometimes the crudest and roughest looking kalimbas can sound surprisingly good especially with the right context of fx and
amplification.”

I find kalimbas beautiful and delicate to begin with. Throw in some faux fur and Korg KAOSS Pad effects, and they take on a whole new life:

Other designs add all-new functionality, like the Sampimer, a “self-sampling” thumb piano with integrated 20-second voice recorder, a speaker covered by a lens cap, and a body made out of a jewelry caddy:

I asked Bob a bit more about the designs, and out came still more ingenious re-adaptations of the lowly kalimba. He explains how he got started with this series in the first place:

It was only a matter of time before the features of virtual software amps hit digital hardware, resulting in what could be a perfect practice amp:

Multiple amp models: Clean, crunch, overdrive, whatever you need — in one hardware amp.

11 digital effects: Multiple effects, and even tap tempo for modulation/delay time. Included effects: wah, chorus, compressor, delay, reverb, phaser, and combinations.

Multiple inputs: Guitar in, yes, but also an aux in (for an MP3 player, computer, etc.) and even a mic in.

Portable, powered: Runs on an AC adapter or six C batteries, and weighs under 8 pounds. How, you ask? The speaker is a tiny 6.5″.

Line, headphone outs: Plug in headphones and you defeat the speaker. Yep, this works well as a practice amp.

There you have it: you can leave your laptop or heavy amps at home and practice anywhere you like. Don’t expect any big sound out of the speaker, but having different amp models and effects could make practicing more fun.

Street price: US$140. Better add that to our Holiday Shopping List! And what’s more hilarious than using an amp as a stocking stuffer?

In other amp news, it seems to be amp week over on Harmony Central: Vox also has a traditional (non-digital) amp with a “classic British tone,” bass players can drop $2800 on a bass amp, and best of all, the Hottie toaster amp with a custom auto paint job is going to be available this month. That’s the toaster you use for breakfast, not some kind of special “guitar amp” lingo — see CDM: Advances in Toaster Music Technology

Thank God for press releases. Without them, how would we know about some of the least-interesting product announcements being made at shows like the huge NAMM music conference?

Here are just a few of the most-useless product announcements made in the last few days. And why do I have a sinking suspicion I’ll have part II coming soon?

Taylor’s Limited-Edition Guitars: You’ve gotta love a press release that begins with the words “Acoustic guitar players love wood.” And Taylor delivers: with guitars made out of exotic rainforest wood. Now that can’t be good for the environment, can it?

John Mayer-signature Stratocaster. I was hoping for a John Mayer signature keyboard since John regularly makes fun of his own keyboard skills, but I’ll have to settle for this.

Griffin iPod Cases: Stop the presses! A custom case — for the iPod? Whodathunkit. But what’s newsworthy here is clearly the watermelon pattern with which you can adorn your Apple player.

Evans Utility Key: Sure, having a drum key handy is nice, but what about when you need to open your next bottle o’ Miller Lite? Evans has your answer. Absolutely worthy of a press release, maybe even a demo video? (Flash animation?)

Jack Daniel’s Amp: Peavey has my absolute favorite of these: a Jack Daniel’s-branded guitar amp. (I’m not making this up.) It’s “a U.S.A.-made guitar amplifier inspired by the common American heritage shared by Peavey and Jack Daniel’s.” That heritage being — drunk guitar players?

Truly, a mark of excellence.

Okay, get back to whatever you were doing — I’ve got to get back to my Wild Turkey-edition Casio keyboard and L.S.D.-edition Moog Modular.

Who doesn’t have a kink for vinyl?

If you’re plugging in a turntable, you’re going to want to amplify it properly. Unless you want a $500 tube amp, something like the US$60 ART DJ Pre II should fit the bill. Aside from the new name (its predecessor was called the “Phono MicroPRE” but I guess kids don’t know what phonographs are), this box includes other enhancements and plenty of hi-fi audiophile features for tweaking your sound.

Just want to plug directly into your computer? ART has a USB model, the USB Phono Plus (US$119). Phono “Plus”, indeed: line and digital ins are provided, as well, making this an ideal portable interface for switching between turntables and other inputs.

ART’s pre’s have traditionally sounded great without having high-end prices, so this looks like good news. Both products become available in August.

Finally, something this week for our Windows readers (lest you think my PC was eaten by a Tiger): the bargain-basement guitar amp software continues this week with GXStack, which includes 6 amp models with reverb, delay, and timbral controls for an intro price of US$39.99. The sound samples sound terrific and they promise it’s easy on your CPU, too, but don’t believe them — try the demo download. Let us know what you think, and I’ll, um . . . go learn how to play guitar?

GXStack VST

Prefer the "a la carte" approach to virtual amps/effects for your guitar to the "all you can eat buffet" bundle? Native Instruments' new Guitar Combos series will offer three amp models with effects:

• Twang Combo: models Fender Twin Reverb
• AC Box Combo: models Vox AC-30
• Plexi Combo: models Marshall JMP50

Each features cabinet emulation with one mic model (modeling the mic
that's recording the amp, that is!), amp effects like spring reverbs
and distortion pedal, plus a tuner, noise gate, and limiter. Standalone
and plug-in modes for every formats on Windows and Mac (VST, AU, RTAS,
DX, ASIO, Core Audio, Direct Sound).

Individual: US$79 each (EUR69)
Bundle: All three for US$199 (EUR179)

All in all, a good deal — though, depending on your needs, IK Multimedia's AmpliTube Live
could be a better value, with three amp models (clean / crunch / lead)
and three cabinets (open / British / vintage closed) plus effects for
just US$99/EUR99. IK also
gives you standalone and plug-in versions. Best bet: try them out, see which sound you prefer.

Guitar versus keyboard update: In case you haven't been watching, after a brief lead early, keyboards pulled out ahead of guitars in the CDM instrument poll. Guitarists, care to even the score?

The ThinAmp from AXL,
introduced in January at NAMM, is a portable amp packed into the size
of a laptop: only 2" thick and just 5 lbs. (!) You can literally fit it
into a laptop bag — in fact, you can probably fit it and your laptop
into a laptop bag. The amp is geared at guitarists, but Synthtopia reviews it and finds it suitable for laptop, too.

Of course, you can't expect a whole lot of sound out of a 2" amp; while
it has EQ and DSP presets for reverb, vibrato, flanger, chorus, and the
like, the ThinAmp's sound will be a bit thin with just 10W of power. On
the other hand, for US$140 street and at this size, this is pretty
tempting.