Indy Summertime: Summer NAMM 2005

Aug 11, 2005 6:34 PM, by Geary Yelton

           

From Friday morning until Sunday afternoon, July 22 through 24, thousands of musicians invaded the city of Indianapolis for NAMM Summer Session 2005. Store and studio owners, instrument manufacturers, software developers, audio engineers, and players of every ilk converged on the Indiana Convention Center and RCA Dome for three days of new gear, live music, and camaraderie.

This year marks the first time in over a decade that Summer NAMM has occurred somewhere other than Nashville. Many potential exhibitors and visitors were skeptical about attendance, and their hesitation about participating became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Just over 20,000 registrants signed up, down more than 3,000 from the previous summer. Several exhibitors that usually take lots of floor space-Korg and Yamaha among them-were nowhere to be found. Though attendance was down, most who were there said that business was good: exhibitors took plenty of orders and reported a good return on their investment.

The overall atmosphere was more relaxed and more slowly paced than usual, leaving attendees with additional time for leisurely conversation, for attending demos and lectures, and for catching up with friends. Although the show floor wasn't crowded, the level of noise might have been at an all-time high. The decibel police were nowhere to been seen, and guitarists loudly competed with drummers for attention. Fortunately, EM's centrally located booth was situated directly across from a sound-absorbing wall.

The city of Indianapolis was a gracious host, with plenty of good music, good food, and a beautiful downtown area, thanks to a $4.5 billion renovation over the past ten years. Concurrent with NAMM was the Midwest Music Summit 2005, a regional showcase event featuring dozens of emerging artists and thousands of wanna-bes and recording industry types. For one bright and shining weekend, Indianapolis became the center of the universe for musicians and audio professionals.