NAMM Foundation to Honor Musical Innovations at Annual TECnology Hall of Fame Ceremony

The NAMM Foundation has announced 10 historic musical and sound inventions ranging from 1947 through 2000 will be inducted to its10th annual TECnology Hall of Fame, Saturday, January 24 at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. The awards will be presented by the NAMM MUSEUM of Making Music and hosted by veteran pro-audio journalist George Petersen.

"The inductees for the NAMM TECnology Hall of Fame cover an exceedingly wide range of breakthrough inventions that date back 135 years, to the very roots of audio reproduction," says George Petersen, NAMM TECnology Hall of Fame chairman. "Interestingly, most of the products selected for this year are still in active use and are even considered classics, which says a lot about the lasting power of these innovations."

While products must be at least 10 years old to be considered for induction, many entries are still in use, decades after they were first produced, including the Electro-Voice RE20 from the 60s, a mic that has a diverse fan base among broadcasters and studio musicians alike.

Which music product created the unlikely intersection between Luciano Pavarotti’s engineer and one of the Grateful Dead mixers as beta testers? The SIA Acoustics SMAART, a Sound Measurement Acoustical Analysis Realtime Tool, created in the mid-90s.

The race to create tape recorders based on the German Magnetofon after World War II resulted in the creation of 1947’s 3M Type 100 Recording Tape, which led to the first American-made recorder, an auspicious start to the advancement of professional analog recording technology. 

These innovations, along with seven others that include a piano, music software, a vintage synth and more, bring with them diverse histories and colorful stories from the world of music invention.

2015 NAMM TECnology Hall of Fame Inductees Include:

1947  3M Scotch 100 recording tape
1955  Sony C-37A microphone
1965  Fender Rhodes electric piano
1968  Electro-Voice RE20 microphone
1970  ARP 2600 synthesizer
1979  Otari MTR-90 24-track
1985  TC Electronic 2290 digital delay
1995  SIA Software SMAART audio analysis program
1996  Empirical Labs Distressor compressor
2000  Propellerhead Reason music software

The 2015 NAMM TECnology Hall of Fame ceremony will be presented Saturday, January 24, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Room 203/A&B on Level 2 of the Anaheim Convention Center, as part of the H.O.T. (Hands-On Training) Zone. Seating is limited and available to credentialed NAMM attendees, inductees and their guests.  The 30th Annual NAMM TEC Awards will follow that evening with tickets available for purchase here.

Established in 2004, the NAMM TECnology Hall of Fame recognizes the innovations and companies that have made significant contributions to the advancement of audio technology. Inductees are chosen by a panel of more than 50 recognized audio experts, including authors, educators, product designers, production pros and others.

For full descriptions of the 2015 Inductees, and past NAMM TECnology Hall of Fame Inductee profiles, visit: www.tecawards.org/tecnology-hall-of-fame.

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About NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a non-profit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 9,200 members around the world. The NAMM Foundation works to advance active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, please visit http://www.nammfoundation.org/, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.