QSC POWERED HPR122i P.A. SPEAKER
QSC's new HPR122i speaker is pole-mountable or or flyable with via nine M10 suspension points. The 27x14.5x15-inch birch plywood cabinet has a 12-inch woofer, 1.4-inch compression driver with conical horn and 500 watts of RMX-quality amplification for a 53-20k Hz response. Street price: $799. NAMM booth #7650. www.qscaudio.com

FURMAN UPGRADES REFERENCE SERIES
Furman has updated its Reference Series power conditioners, now with "dual screen" technology for greater noise reduction and a new look. The new "i" suffix versions still offer Discrete Symmetrically Balanced Power, Linear Filtering Technology and virtually non-sacrificial surge suppression. NAMM booth #6874. www.furmansound.com

YAMAHA DISKLAVIER 2
The Disklavier 2 software for Yamaha's Mark IV series reproducing pianos adds features such as direct Internet connection to receive free product upgrades directly from Yamaha. At NAMM in the Marriott Marquis Ballroom. www.yamahaproaudio.com

NOVATION XIOSYNTH 49
Novation's XioSynth 49 has 200 hard-hitting patches, optional filter distortion for a greater range of sounds and a new X-Gator 32-step sequencer/patch programming facility where varying levels of each step can create interesting rhythmic patterns, without having to rely on an external sequencer. It also features semi-weighted keys, full MIDI/USB computer interfacing, AA battery operation for portability and mic input with phantom power. NAMM booth #6474. www.novationmusic.com

KURZWEIL SP2 DIGITAL STAGE PIANO
The SP2 Digital Stage PIano features 64-note polyphony, easy splitting and layering functions, and a collection of 64 Kurzweil presets, including pianos, electric pianos, mallets, strings and voices. Its four assignable knobs allow the SP2 to be used as a MIDI controller. Booth: 303CD www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com

Roland Offers New Product Theater
At booth #2652, Roland's New Product Theater will host Don Lewis (working the vocal performer keyboard), Tony Fenelon (Atellier Organ), David Benoit (Grand Piano) and others on Thursday, January 18. The following day will see Rosemary Bailey, Brian Culbertson, Paul Hanson and others. Saturday and Sunday are both filled with such guests as Hector Olivera, Scott Tibbs and Omar Hakim, Lincoln Brewster and Marcus Cole.

Aviom Giveaway
Aviom (Hall E, Booth #1297) is offering a grand-prize drawing for a free Aviom Personal Mixing Pack taht will include four A-16II personal mixers, an A-16D distributor, an in-ear monitoring system courtesy of Westone and all necessary accessories. NAMM attendees need to go the company's booth and pick up an entry postcard for the giveaway. Completed postcards can be stamped at Westone's booth in Hall A, #6993, and returned back to Aviom's booth for official entry into the prize drawing. The winner will be selected and announced at Aviom's booth on Sunday, January 21 at 12 p.m.

Anyway, here are some of the industry's most memorable NAMM moments uncut and (mostly) uncensored, and now made public for the first time, and offered for your entertainment. These are listed in no particular order, but I'll get the ball rolling with one of my faves. Interestingly, most of the people we contacted had tons of great stories, but on second thought felt some should remain "private." However, it you have a NAMM tale to add, send it to gpetersen@mixonline.com.

Take It to "11"
Back when I worked at Shure, I was the organizer of one of the most legendary NAMM concerts, the free Spinal Tap concert at the Hilton in 2001. From the hiring of the little people to backstage amenities, the entire experience was so appropriately surreal that it's difficult to pick just one memory to share. The thing I most remember was soundcheck. We had the full-blown California Ballroom, a shiny new line array system and a band that really does turn everything up to "11." Several of us Shure folk were watching the rehearsal, which just got louder and louder until we noticed a couple heavy, 5-inch-long crystals from the massive chandelier 30 feet above had been shaken from their moorings and had fallen directly into the seating area. Suddenly, we were faced with the possibility of actually doing bodily harm to the audience, giving new meaning to the phrase "killer sound." Thankfully, the 3,000 attendees that night absorbed enough SPL to keep everything under control, and the show was everything we could have asked for.
-- Jack Kontney
Kontney Communications Inc.

The Show Must Go On
Once, Taylor clinician Dan Crary and Piedmont blues master John Cephas were onstage in the Taylor booth, and Cephas took a cell-phone call. He didn't realize that the soundcheck had ended 10 minutes earlier and that his mic was live, and he began negotiating his fee for another gig, right in front of the audience in the middle of their set! Then there was the Dan Crary-on-the-Titanic moment, when Dan was playing solo and the convention center fire alarm went off. Lights were flashing, horns were horning, people were confused and pouring out of the convention center...Crary looked up for a second but never stopped playing, saying something like, "The hell with it, I'm playing through..."
-- John D'Agostino
Taylor Guitars

Bathroom Tales
We walked into a bathroom at the Marriott to find two extremely inebriated famous session drummers, lit up and trading studio stories of the hit records they had played on. One was leaning against the wall holding his stomach because the other was making him laugh so hard. They were trashing artists and commenting on how bad the songs were. One went on to tell us mere mortals how he put the 'backbone' in [a hit record by a very popular artist] and without his drumming the record would never have made it because the songs had 'zero substance, and were total !*^$+!$!!@'! I hung out in that bathroom for about 20 minutes. It was a great 'fly on the wall' moment.
-- Andy Lund
Taylor Guitars