NAMM Foundation to honour trailblazing audio tech

The NAMM Foundation will induct ten historic musical and sound inventions, ranging from 1947 to 2000, into the TECnology Hall of Fame ceremony on 24 January during the NAMM Show.

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," said 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.

These innovations include pianos, music software, vintage synth and more, each bringing with them diverse histories and colourful 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

For full descriptions of the 2015 Inductees, and past NAMM TECnology Hall of Fame inductee profiles, visit: www.techawards.org