Re: lobbying for upgrades.

[Jon Durant <74074.1316@CompuServe.COM>]

Matthias writes:
>Jon Durant, what would you say as an old professional?

First, I'm not old. I just feel that way sometimes when my two boys run me
ragged!!!

Second, and more to the point: Getting Composers on our side is a tricky 
issue.
For example: Bill Frisell has been using a JamMan for years, mostly as a
compositional tool. In his live performances, he generally still uses his 
trusty
old Electro Harmonix thingy. Why? Because he can take a loop and speed it 
up or
slow it down using the delay time (something no cuurrent looping device 
can do).
So his use of the device is completely hidden to the general public.

>For them we need demonstrations or a video "how to apply loops in rock
>music" or so.

Did anyone see the Lexicon JamMan Video? This was one of the greatest
embarrasments of my professional career. What started as exactly what 
you're
calling for turned into a complete disaster. Yet another case of having 
people
who don't understand the product take responsibility for marketing it. In 
this
case, the Marketing VP at the last minute decided to give the entire 
project to
his buddy, a notorious publisher in the music world, who also dabbles in
convention TV, and let him decide how to make a "snappy" video. I had 
already
contracted David Torn to do the guitar portion, and the producer brought 
in a DJ
to do that portion. From there everything went to hell. To this day, I have
refused to let Torn see the video. The last segment was Steve Frankel
(International Sales) and myself in the demo room at Lexicon, caught on 
hi-8. We
added this section, because it was the original outline. The horrible 
results of
the "big" production required us to add this miserable little piece to 
give some
sort of reason why someone might want to buy this thing.

>- Amateurs that start playing and grab the loop quicker than the 
>>instrument
they are using and therefore are happy to be able to create >something 
musiclike
on the loop from the start (some techno rythm for >example).

I did a dealer show in Florida a couple of years ago, and had an 
interesting
experience. One person came up and saw my little demo and was instantly 
hooked.
It turns out that he plays in a cover band (which I suspect means that he 
makes
a lot more money than those of us who are trying to create original 
music!) and
they do a bunch of "alternative" music, such as the Cure. He immediately 
grasped
how useful it would be to grab some of those repetative licks and be able 
to
play the counterpoint lines with them. He bought one immediately. And I 
realised
that if we could hook a band like the Cure to start using one and talking 
about
it, then it would be a big lift. So my British distributor tried to get me 
into
the sessions for their last record (recorded at Jane Seymour's house!), 
but they
had started work and didn't want to be interrupted. Of course, the record
stiffed, and they *never* talk about gear, so it wasn't a big loss.

Meanwhile, the way to get kids to get into it is through the dealers. And 
we all
know how likely that is to happen: It isn't. Besides, there's a major price
barrier for beginners: You can't sell them a looper that costs more than 
their
guitar, and that means the thing has to cost about $200 max. Probably more 
like
$100.

So where does this leave us? Personally, I'm frightened by the outlook in 
the
present tense. I do know that there are a couple of guys at Lexicon who 
believe
in the potential. Of course, they happen to be the two guys who created the
JamMan and modify PCM 42s. Believe it or not, the answer really comes from 
one
place: the dealers. (I know, I know...) The management of Lexicon is 
completely
conviced that the word of Sam Ash and Guitar Center is the word of God. If 
we
could convince these guys to start pestering the manufacturers, then we 
might
see movement. 

True story: At one point, I tried to put forth a proposal that went way 
beyond
reason, but that I thought would work: I suggested that an upgrade to the
JamMan, adding the most requested features (which had already been 
developed and
tested by the product's creator in a personal quest for the coolest thing 
going)
should be done, not because we'd sell more, but because it was the 
professional
thing to do. Stand behind your customers. It would have generated excellent
press, and would have said a whole lot about why Lexicon is the 
professional
choice. And it really wouldn't have costed a whole lot of money--you could 
write
it off to the PR account! The idea gained steam, until the words "JamMan
Upgrade" were raised in a management meeting and were met with howls of
laughter. NEXT!

OK, I'm leaking confidential secrets of life at Lex, and I'm sure Kim could
regale us all with some charmers from Oberheim/Gibson land, but this is the
reality: Looping is a sore subject for these companies, and it won't 
improve
until Alesis comes out with a winner and makes everyone look stupid. (Did 
I just
say that? JD, you've come a long way in 9 months...)