A Kiwi in Shanghai - Part 3

Day three with another small anecdote. Something I noticed looking out the window on the plane on the way in. In NZ we have sub-divisions like Stonefields where you have ‘cookie cutter’ houses. In Shanghai they have a similar thing, except the houses are huge apartment blocks. I guess if you have the design for one and you have a population of 1 billion you might as well build 20 or 50.

Today was less about meetings and more about looking around, seeing what manufacturers were doing that was new or interesting. A few observations this time rather than highlights.

• I had a good talk to BAM cases. They’re a European company who make enviable Violin, Cello, Guitar etc. cases. So enviable that you can find a dozen companies making copies of them now. This is such a concern for BAM that they’ve put off displaying a new product this year to give them a years head start. Still, even the best copies didn’t come close to the quality and elegance of the originals.
• The piano hall just blew me away. It was amazing being able to play Steinway, along side every other brand, Grotrian, Fazioli, Bluthner, Seiler, Shigeru Kawai, Kawai, Yamaha. I can safely say Steinway was my favourite, but that goes without saying.
• There were a number of incredibly interesting piano case designs, although generally the odder the design, the worse they sold. Safe to say you won’t be seeing a space ship grand piano at Lewis Eady anytime soon.
• This year they had a large contingent of Chinese Folk Instruments there. I had a good wander through the stands. Tried a couple of things. Very keen to get something for myself, but I’m pretty sure snake skin won’t clear MAF control!

This may be the last blog this side of NZ, but subscribe to our Youtube channel to see some of the performances from the show.

 Post by David Love

A Kiwi in Shanghai - Part 2

Day two of the fair, but a quick little snapshot of Shanghai. Unfortunately I was too freaked to actually take a snapshot. A taxi ride is something akin to a roller coaster except with the very real concern of death. Lanes are just guides. You want to pass someone, you go around them. Someone’s coming in the other direction, fine go faster and toot at them to get out of the way!

So a few highlights from the show.

• I met with Jorge Julia from Alhambra. We had a good chat about how things are in Europe etc. Saw a couple of cool new guitars. What would you say to a Spanish made steel string for under $1k?

• Talked to Harvey from KG Instruments. They’ve got this beautiful new series of violins and cellos called the 500 series made with European woods. Unsure how much they’ll be yet, but he had already sold out of the violins by the time I got there so they must be amazing value.
• I had a good wonder around. There are stands where you can you buy wood blanks for violins, guitars and even piano sound boards. A stand where you can buy/rent CNC machines. And a stand where you can buy guitar kits. What more do you need… it’s probably there anyway.

• Watching a Chinese hard rock band on one of the stages. Funnily enough there’s music getting played everywhere here. I’ll try and get some videos up once I get back to NZ. The hard rock one didn’t come out so well with my digital camera microphone.

• And hands down today… Tonight I went to dinner with the guys from Farida, and the distributors from the England, India, and Malaysia. A traditional Shanghaiese banquet which was awesome, but it was awesome to hit around some ideas and share war stories with the other distributors. 

Until tomorrow…

Post by David Love

A Kiwi in Shanghai - Part 1

There are three major trade fairs for musical instruments each year. Namm (Anaheim), Frankfurt Musikmesse and the Shanghai Musikmesse. This year was the turn of Shanghai. They’re an amazing experience so why not share it with you all as it happens.

First off, Shanghai… what an incredible city. Incredibly busy, incredible buildings, ridiculous traffic, and yet very clean. I’ve sampled a very little shopping, from the Science and Technology Museum market with copy everythings, to the Superbrand Mall, with every conceivable shop, to Nanjing Road where Prada and fake Prada live side by side - and everything’s for sale. Try doing all three in 1 day and see how your feet feel.

Day one at the fair and a few highlights:

• Finally meeting the guys from Farida guitars. I got to meet Mr. C. W. Tsai who has been involved with Farida for 40 years! Some cool stories about their guitars, but they’ll wait for another day.

• AXL have some pretty cool looking new electrics, but my favourites were the Recording King wood body resonators, and their new RP-06 Parlour size guitars. I’m looking forward to getting these guitars through.
• Hausheng had as many classroom percussion instruments fitted into as small a space as possible. They’re constantly coming up with new products. I’m looking forward to expanding our range of this product. Absolutely everything I saw was incredibly quality.

• But hands down the best moment of the day was the Steinway stand. In particular the John Lennon Tribute Imagine piano. I figured it would be fitting to play ‘Imagine’ on it; it was slightly surreal. It made me smile when a couple of Chinese families came up to me and asked to have their picture taken with me playing the piano. I didn’t have the heart (or language) to tell them I wasn’t a performer, so just smiled along.

Until tomorrow…

Post by David Love