NAMM 2016 rumour roundup part 2

More NAMM 2016! With only a couple of days to go before the press day, I have discovered that there are plenty of other things of note that I completely missed in my first article.

So here are even more NAMM rumours!


Yamaha

Following their affordable ReFace series, Yamaha's latest synthesiser is a reimagining of their earlier workstations in the form of the Montage; a massive keyboard complete with glowing multicoloured knobs that promises wide, open sounds. Here's a teaser video they have posted to announce the new keyboard:

As a workstation-class machine, it is likely to be out of my price range but looks great and I am always a sucker for blinkenlights and activity indicators.

Teenage Engineering

TE have been teasing something new from their Instagram channel, though exactly what it is will be left until the 21st. Based on the popularity of their little Pocket Operator synths I expect that there will be some new Pocket Operators to play with, which will no doubt be positive news for fans and existing users.

I actually found a thread on Reddit yesterday where a commenter had mentioned the names of three new Pocket Operators. He cited his source as a music shop owner who he bought one of the existing Pocket Operators from and mentioned that three new ones were incoming after NAMM, which are called ARCADE, ROBOT and OFFICE. While I can expect some lo-fi blips and bloops from Arcade and Robot, the Office is still the subject of speculation.

Either way, more cheap sound generators are never a bad thing!

Novation

I have confirmed via Twitter that Novation will be attending NAMM 2016, but no word if they are bringing anything new aside from the recently released Circuit controller/synthesiser unit. Perhaps a follow up to the Bass Station II might be wishful thinking on my part, though never say never when it comes to Novation.

Waldorf

The German maestros have just announced a set of several Eurorack units (dual VCA, a modulation source and a compressor) together with a 100HP case / keyboard controller, which compliments their waveform-based Eurorack synth module that was released last year. As pictures speak louder than words, I'll let this video do the talking.

Speaking as someone who has not yet gone into Eurorack, I think the controller and case is a great way that a new user could start to build a Eurorack synthesiser - plus it answers the question of how to play the synth (as it comes with pretty comprehensive control - aftertouch, glide, pitch and mod wheels and more!) and organise power to the modules. This might be a silent hit for people wanting to get into modular synths quickly, even if the modules are not necessarily Waldorf's ones. I wonder what 100HP would get you?

DSI

Via Youtube: "We have something coming out in the next few months that will really surprise people". Granted, this could mean anything but new things from Dave Smith and company are generally well received, as a recent post on Synthtopia highlights.

Behringer

After teasing on Facebook, it is widely thought that Behringer will be bringing an ARP Odyssey clone of their very own together with patch memory, marking their first foray into synthesisers for some time. Time will tell if this prediction turns out to be correct or not!