NAMM 2015

Blackbird Guitars has now followed the 2013 launch of its Clara concert-level ukulele, which is made from something called Ekoa, with a NAMM debut for an acoustic guitar called El Capitan that's constructed from the same sustainable material.

This astonishing piece of motion tracking software watches you play air drums, and translates what you're doing into a MIDI signal in real time. It's a simple enough idea, but the execution works astonishingly well – making Aerodrums the most portable drum kit I've ever seen!

Remember that wonderful virtual barbershop audio track that made you feel like you were in the room with the barber? Here's a microphone setup that could allow you to create a similar effect.

Klang's Fabrik monitor mixer motion tracks up to 8 musicians in a band, and spatially models each muso's in-ear monitor mix to give a binaural picture of where each musician stands on stage.

Zoom North America has revealed a new addition to its HD videocam range at this year's NAMM Show in California. As well as being capable of recording video at higher-than-HD resolution, the Q8 also boasts the modular microphone capsule system first seen in the H6 audio recorder.

Line 6 has added a very special instrument to its Variax family, the Standard, which represents the first major collaborative effort since Yamaha acquired Line 6 in January 2014.

After testing, tweaking and refining the technology with the help of more than 40 teachers for over 4 years, Orange Music Education says that its Musicboard interactive music theory teaching tool is now ready for launch.

Kemper has announced the launch of a complementary control interface for its Profiler modeling amp that puts the power to switch tones at a player's feet.

The 2015 NAMM trade show is but weeks away and PRS Guitars will be taking along a rather intriguing vintage-inspired single-cutaway guitar called the P245. What makes this particular solid body PRS interesting is the inclusion of a piezo pickup system in addition to two in-house magnetic humbuckers.