The summer version of the NAMM (National Association of Music Makers) tradeshow is this weekend in Indianapolis. Peter Kirn at create digital music is going to be covering new product announcements and writing five-word capsule reviews of them, which should be entertaining. Maybe I’ll write a five-word review of his coverage when he’s finished.

One announcement I’m aware of so far: Native Instruments introduced Akoustik Piano, which looks like a great sample-based piano module in software, coming this September.

I always enjoy reading interviews with musicians I enjoy, especially when they talk about gear. Native Instruments, the makers of my favorite soft synth package, Reaktor, have just posted an interview with Trent Reznor that talks about his infatuation with their products. Not surprisingly, it comes across as an advertisement at times, but there’s some insight into his songwriting process and his thoughts on his recent experiment with remixable tracks.

The tech talk section at N.I. has tons of other interviews including The Crystal Method, Deepsky, and Junkie XL.