NAMM Show Report - 2010

Well, another year and another NAMM show. For those of you who are not familiar with NAMM, it stands for the National Association of Musical Merchants.

Every year, they have the big industry convention in Anaheim, CA. It is a time where dealers from all around the world can "shop" the various suppliers and manufacturers in the music industry. It is a closed attendance show for NAMM members only and not open to the public. However, some consumers will make their way into the show as a "Visitor" of a NAMM member. This year, we helped a few local pros gain access.

For me, this represents my 10^th visit to the NAMM show and much of it is the same today as it was 10 years ago. However, there are always some exceptions and some new products that catch our eye. This is what I write this annual report for. For the consumer who is unable to attend the show to hear what I found that might be coming to a store near them in the near future. While there are many positive things at the show, there are of course not so positive things that I find at the show. I will not discuss those items or companies that I didn't care for from the show.

In the past, I have seen a few consumers feel that I was doing a disservice by not reporting on the negative. That is definitely their prerogative to hold that position, but it is also my own prerogative to not succumb to the negative. Also of course, my whole point of going to the show is to evaluate product for the purpose of selling it in our stores. So yes, the items that I discuss will likely be something that we will sell. However, this is not the purpose behind this post.

Enough of the ground rules and explanations, on to the show!

Big Companies' Prototypes!
I was pretty impressed at the number of big companies that had prototype products that were there at the show. Typically from a big company, they will only bring "new ready to sell" product. However, there were 2 companies that had prototypes to show off to select stores… which of course we were one of. However, sadly, I cannot yet tell you about them! I know this is a terrible tease and I am sorry. Trust me, it goes against my nature not to shout them out to the world, but I promised that I wouldn't get into specifics. Just keep your ears open… I promise it will be worth the wait!

Galway Spirit Flutes
If you check out my blog often, then you are already aware of my blog post about the Galway Spirit model flutes. These flutes are the newest offering from Conn-Selmer. They are based around the more advanced Avanti body tube design which features a modern professional Cooper scale pitched at A=442. Basically for the flute jargon impaired… that basically means that the intonation of the flute is on par with a $10,000 handmade professional flute.

The Spirit flutes are absolutely the best student and step-up flutes we have ever seen. Another great bonus is the fact that they are 100% Made in the USA. Sadly, there are not many flutes that can make this claim anymore. The player response on the Spirit models at the show were great. They will be available in 3 models. For more information visit our special Galway Spirit flute page on our site. They should start shipping to customers in the next 1-2 weeks!

Drake Ceramic Mouthpieces for Sax & Clarinet
Yes, you read that correct. Ceramic mouthpieces. If you are a teacher or adult player, than the first image that likely has just popped into your mind has to do with a mouthpiece dropped and shattering into a million pieces. Honestly, I can't blame you as this is the first thing that I thought of as well when I saw one a few months prior to the NAMM show. However, I have to say that I was really impressed with the quality of craftsmanship and the technical information that Aaron Drake provided. In the end, these are high end caliber mouthpieces, not student mouthpieces. So if someone drops one and it does break, there is no one to blame but themselves.

The positive aspect of the mouthpieces is that they are basically temperature/humidity neutral. There is no worry about warping from heat, or shrinking/swelling from the environment (great idea when it comes to the clarinet barrels by the way). So the pros of the product will outweigh the cons for many players concerned about performance. While I cannot say that we are stocking them yet, there is a very good chance that Drake Ceramic mouthpieces and clarinet barrels will be finding their way into our product offerings in the near future.

Selmer Paris' 125^th Anniversary
This year marks Selmer Paris' 125^th Anniversary. While they have not really announced much at the show, they are planning some new releases for this anniversary. They are planning on doing these releases at the big European counterpart show, the Frankfurt Music Messe. I do have some information as to what some of them are but am sworn to secrecy. Sorry, you too will have to wait just like the rest of the world on this.

Kessler Custom Products
There are a few things that we are working on for 2010. I won't get too detailed as all plans are still somewhat subject to change. However, we met with our factory at the show and also the day after the show as they came to visit our shops in Las Vegas the Monday after. We have already announced a new Kessler Custom Alto based on our "Handmade" line. We are calling it the "Jazz Handmade" as it is designed to be more vibrant and quicker responding. Similar to a Yanagisawa A902 in this manner.

We are also looking at offering an even higher lineup of saxophones… Again, not posting anything concrete on this, but keep your eyes open for this one as it is sure to surprise many.

Theo Wanne Classic Mouthpieces
Theo makes the most beautifully crafted mouthpieces with the most unique performance in the world. At the show, he had 2 new models to introduce. First is his new Vintage Rubber GAIA Tenor Sax mouthpiece. This mouthpiece is the same design as his existing metal GAIA mouthpiece for tenor but made from his new Vintage Rubber. These had a great fat dark tone with excellent response. They will be available soon at the price of $595.

The other new product is his new line called BRHAMA. These are Vintage Rubber pieces that use similar designs to their tenor and alto counterparts except they will not have the same sidewall scooping of the other models. I only saw the prototype at the show, but it looks GREAT with paper thin rails just like the GAIA rubber. The thing that most will be excited about is price. Brand new, these are going to sell at $350.

The Asian Market
The Asian market always has something new and great. We found several things that we are excited about. One of which is a fantastic low A bari sax that was based on a Yanagisawa design. This is something that we are looking into stocking in the near future and will likely sell for UNDER $2,000. It is Chinese, but it was fantastic. Played like a million bucks, was comfortable and built well. More to come on that in the future.

 

Otherwise, it was another NAMM show. We had a great time. Went out to dinner at some great places including my favorite, The Crab Cooker in Newport Beach (AWESOME). If you are ever in Newport, go there and get the crab (duh). You won't regret it!

Here's looking forward to 2010!

James Galway Spirit Flutes by Conn-Selmer

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This blog has moved. The new blog home for this article is at
http://www.kesslermusic.com/blog/?p=42

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In March, I wrote a review of the Avanti flutes by Conn-Selmer (designed by Bickford Brannen). The Avanti flutes are an absolutely wonderful flute and a superior overall product to pretty much everything anywhere near their price.

However, the price is out of reach for many younger players as well as for many parents in this modern economy. Coming in 2010, Conn-Selmer has an answer for this issue. The new "James Galway Spirit" line of student and step-up flutes.

The Galway Spirit
In the new brochure for these flutes, Conn-Selmer makes the following statement:

The Galway Spirit, the most beautiful and best playing student and step-up flute in the world!

That's quite a claim! However, after being allowed to test these flutes prior to their release in the first quarter of 2010... I have to agree with Conn-Selmer. These flutes are absolutely amazing and yes, they are quite striking cosmetically.

Now I will be the first person to say that I could care less about the cosmetics of an instrument. I have always focused on the quality of the product from a playing, construction and an overall value statement. Many of my customers come to me solely for advice because of this.

So when I saw the first photographs of the Spirit flutes, I was not overly impressed. They are a beautiful instrument featuring "reverse bead decorative rings" and an emerald colored Cubic Zirconium in the headjoint crown, I instantly put a stigma on the flute of "too much time put into the looks usually means not enough time put into the design" on them. I have to admit that this could not be further from the truth.

Performance Design
The Galway Spirit models use a design that I was already familiar with. They are using the same machinery for the body and key-cup manufacturing as their higher-end counterparts in the Avanti line.

The Spirit models have their bodies and tone holes made on the same machinery and to the same design as the Avanti. They feature an authentic A=442 Cooper Scale. This gives these flutes superior intonation and overall scale.

They also use CNC machined key cups just like the Avanti meaning a more stable housing for the most sensitive piece of the flute, the pads. Perfectly flat inner cups to the keys give pads a stable backing that helps the pads maintain their adjustments over a longer period of time.

Headjoint
All Spirit models feature a professional style modern headjoint cut. This headjoint is definitely more open than the Avanti and provides for most intermediate level players a bigger, more open and expressive tone than the Avanti.

While I still personally prefer the tonal performance of the Avanti-Brannen headjoint (due to their more focused and darker tone), I do feel that the majority of student level players will find the Spirit headjoint easier to play yielding better performance at their level.

I feel that this headjoint is also ideal for the saxophone doubler as well as the intermediate adult who plays more for their own enjoyment and the occasional church or small ensemble playing.

Regardless of the level of flautist, all will find these flutes to be very responsive and a pleasure to play.

The headjoint is also equipped with the "Performance Flute Plug" instead of a traditional headjoint cork assembly. There are claims that this item will make a performance difference, and for some perhaps it does. We did not perform any sort of "blind test" using a traditional cork assembly vs. the Performance Plug. However, strictly from a mechanical repair stance, we like it. It is simply one less item to have maintained and replaced on the flute on a regular basis.

So regardless of whether or not it changes the performance of the flute, it is a good accessory that will help the player have one less adjustment/repair issue to deal with and that in itself is a great thing.

Ergonomics
One thing that was changed when compared to the Avanti design is the size of the key cups. The Spirit models do have larger diameter key cups by about 2mm. While this is a small overall change, it is noticeable in the hands and actually quite comfortable. I assume that this change was made to accommodate smaller hands that wouldn't have as easy of a time gripping the Avanti keys.

3 Models
The Galway Spirit flutes will be available in 3 models.

JG1
This model is completely silver plated and features closed holes with a low C footjoint. This is the typical "student" configuration. However, the term "student" when applied to this flute means something different in my opinion than the what the music industry will typically imply with the term.

This model is for the "student player". What is a student? Frankly, it is any player that is still in a learning phase or a non-professional level of playing. This definition covers a heavy majority of flautists out there. The headjoint cut on this model is the same one used throughout the line and will give advanced performance regardless of its "student" designation.

JG2
This is the same overall flute as the JG1 model except it is an open-hole, low B foot version.

JG3
This is the main "step-up" level from the line. This model features a Solid Silver headjoint, open hole with low B foot. This flute is beyond impressive! It offers a much bigger and sweeter sound than the JG1 or JG2 models.

This model, based on performance, will completely dominate the intermediate flute market when compared to the other offerings in its class. While pricing has not yet been released, they should fall in slightly above the $1,000 price point.

(click here to view pictures of the JG3 on my family's company site)

The "Bling Factor"
As I said earlier, I am not much of a fan of putting heavy focus on the cosmetics of the product because USUALLY this means that the company has skimped on the a feature that could have increased the performance of the product. In the case of the Galway Spirit, flautists do not have to compromise on this.

The Cubic Zirconium in Emerald Green that is placed into the headjoint crown may not be to my personal liking, but I have a feeling that students will absolutely flip over this. Conn-Selmer will also be selling replacement headjoint crowns featuring colored gemstones for all of the various "birth stone" colors. Again, not my cup of tea but definitely something that students will enjoy and appreciate.

I do however really like the delicate look of the "reverse bead decorative rings". These really add an elegant look to the flute that the majority of the music playing population will be impressed with.

The engraving on the flute is a little gaudy for my taste with James Galway's initials engraved into the headjoint along with a rose, but again, plenty of people will like.

Made in the USA
I have said this before and I will say it again, I love supporting American made product. Don't get me wrong, I am not the kind of person who will ONLY buy American. I feel we live in a global market and believe that there truly is quality product available from all around the world. BUT, when there is a quality American made product, I will always choose to support the American made product as long as it is at least up the performance/value level of the import.

In the case of the Spirit flutes, there is no need to compromise as they are 100% American made and will still be priced at the same level as many of the imports while completely outplaying those imports.

Availability
These flutes are going to be "officially launched" at the NAMM Convention in Anaheim, CA on January 14-17, 2010. Shipments to dealers should start in February of 2010 but this is of course subject to change.

All 3 models will be available to authorized Conn-Selmer dealers but only the JG3 model will be available online. The JG1 and JG2 will not be available online due to their "student" designation. While I personally feel that this will short term hurt the exposure of these flutes, the long term will yield (in theory) better dealer support and the performance of the flute will build a reputation on its own merit rather than any advertising policy could ever hope to accomplish.

Final Thoughts
These are plain and simple the best flute in their class. In my family's music store, we have been doing blowouts of several models of flutes specifically in anticipation of these new flutes. These will become our primary recommendation for the majority of flautists.

I want to thank Conn-Selmer for allowing us to review these flutes prior to their release. There are not many companies that I really anticipate new product from, but Conn-Selmer has been doing all of the right things in their past few product releases and so far, all have been resounding successes in my opinion!

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To read more about options and pricing (once it is released) on the Galway Spirit flutes, please visit my family's company site at http://www.kesslermusic.com/

Avanti Flutes

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This blog has moved. The new blog home for this article is at
http://www.kesslermusic.com/blog/?p=41

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So back in 2006, my father and I had the privilege to be invited to come up to the Conn-Selmer facilities in Elkhart, IN. We were brought up for several things, but one of the principle reasons was to give our input on a new flute project to be made at the woodwind facility in Elkhart and designed by master flute-maker Bickford Brannen.

These new flutes would become the new Avanti flutes.

For those who don't know who Bickford Brannen is, he is a co-founder (along with his brother) of the Brannen Brothers Flutemakers company (http://www.brannenflutes.com/) that is known by many professional flautists as one of if not the best flutes in the world.

In 2008, Bick was awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the National Flute Association (http://www.nfaonline.org/convention/awardwinner/1)

Bick is also one of the most genuine and best persons that I have had the pleasure to work with in this business.

Avanti Flutes

The Avanti flutes are Bick's design, made at the Conn-Selmer Woodwind facility in Elkhart, Indiana. They are in a relatively new classification of flutes that we refer to as "Pre-Professional" or "Advanced Intermediate" flutes. This classification of flutes essentially are flutes that feature professional hand-cut headjoints but are priced closer to the "Intermediate" price range.

The headjoint itself accounts for well over half of the performance of a flute. So when you combine a $1,000+ headjoint on a flute that sells for a total of $1,579, the overall performance of the flute will far exceed what a typical $1,500 flute in the "Intermediate" category would.

However, there are MANY things about the Avanti flutes that differ from the other flutes in this emerging category that really make the Avanti the most impressive flutes in their category.

Made in the USA!

ALL of the other flutes in this category outsource some level of the production to other countries, mainly China and Taiwan. While this isn't necessarily a "bad" thing, anytime that we can support a product made in the USA, especially in an economic time like we are facing now, we feel that we should. This means more jobs in the USA.

Cooper Scale

The "Scale" of a flute refers to the size and placement of the tone holes. There are many "scales" used on modern flutes, however the Cooper scale is the modern professional scale of choice on the professional handmade Brannen flutes, and it is the same scale used on the Avanti flutes.

Straubinger Phoenix Pads

Straubinger pads are the highest end professional pads available for handmade flutes. These pads offer superior performance and feel. However, typical Straubinger pads are expensive and need more technical experience to work on, making them not ideal for a flute in this price range.

The new Phoenix Pad was design specifically for "performance" level flutes like the Avanti in mind. The new pad uses a synthetic body just like traditional Straubingers but has a thin cushion layer of special "felted" rayon.

This new pad gives the benefits of feel and playing performance of a professional Straubinger pad but allows for more standardized technical skills in adjusting.

These pads are truly revolutionary and for the first 2 years, are exclusively found on Avanti flutes! For more information, please visit our page on these pads here http://www.kesslermusic.com/html/flutes/straubingerphoenixpad.htm

Investment Casted Keys

Investment casting is a type of manufacturing process that is very different then what is used on standard flutes. This is the style of key manufacturing that is used at Brannen Brothers on their professional flutes. In fact, back in 2006, the Discovery Channel's show "How It's Made" did a segment on flute manufacturing that was focused on flutes made at Brannen Brothers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHSu0trGkRg

This show did a GREAT job of showing how professional flutes are made at Brannen Brothers. This video unfortunately did not specify this... however it does have a great segment in it that shows what investment casting really is.

Also, the video talks about the pad life of 5 years and costing $90 to replace a pad... this is not accurate on the Avanti flutes. One should be able to get 5-10 years life out of pads and to replace ALL the pads and perform a full overhaul will vary by technician, but does not come to $90 a pad.

This process gives the key mechanism a more professional feel and higher tolerances then standard key production techniques. It also makes the key parts stronger than standard methods.

The end result of this is a stronger mechanism that FEELS like a professional flute rather than an intermediate model.

Solid Silver Barrel and Footjoint Receiver

Did you know that most "Solid Silver Body" flutes actually are not as solid silver as you might believe?

While a "Solid Silver Body" does mean that the actual body TUBE is made from silver, it does not count the headjoint and footjoint receiving pieces as parts of the body, but rather pieces that are soldered on to the body. So in other "Solid Silver Body" flutes in this price segment, these pieces are not actually made of silver!

On the Avanti flute, Bick's principle concern was in making the best PLAYING flute in this category. So instead of spending money on features like pointed key arms or gold plating, which are for most practical purposes cosmetic, Bick insisted that the headjoint barrel and the footjoint receiver were both alto made from Solid Silver on the "Solid Silver Body" model (model 2000).

This gives the Avanti 2000 model a higher silver content then any of the other flutes in this category helping to produce a richer and sweeter sound from the Avanti 2000.

Final Thoughts

I feel that the Avanti flutes are simply amazing. Their quality, features & manufacturing techniques are second to none. While in the end, finding the right flute for the player is purely personal preference, I believe the Avanti should be on anyone and everyone's list of flutes to try.

For this reason, through the store that I work for, we offer a 100% Risk Free Trial. We are SO confident that these are great flutes, that (inside the continental USA) we will pay for all the shipping to you, and if for any reason you decide that it is not the flute for you, we will pay ALL the shipping back!

This means that if you don't keep the flute, you are not out a dime!

If you have any further questions about the Avanti flutes or any other instruments, please feel free to contact me direct through either the company.

Dave Kessler

Contact Information:
http://www.kesslermusic.com/
e-mail: music@kesslermusic.com
Toll Free: 1-888-830-0474 Mon-Sat 9:30-6:00 West Coast Time