Steven Slate loses it on stage during NAMM 2018

Steven Slate introduces the VSR8 and the ML-2 and gets rudely interrupted by a marching band

[@SlateDigitalTV]

Hi guys. The NAMM show is without a doubt the most grueling four days of the year. However, it’s also one of the most rewarding because it’s when I get to interact and meet many of our customers. This situation was obviously very frustrating and even more so to relive in this video. But not because I felt bad for myself, but because the people who really suffered were the audience who came to the booth to listen to our products but were not able to. That’s what disappointed me most. Luckily I did several presentations each day and most people were able to eventually hear a great demo of the new system. But anyway, I tried to incorporate a little bit of humor to mellow the situation, and i’m glad some people can get a laugh out of it. Much love to everyone! - Steven

[@mymodel6]

I'd have gone fucking mental! :)

[@BeatsAndMeats]

I thought you handled this very well. And it's funny because of how absurd the situation is!!! A damn marching band... srsly?

[@legatomodi3522]

If it makes you feel any better, I came here to see a freak out but the it was underwhelming but i ended up watching the whole thing and I'm alot more interested in a virtual recording studio than I probably would been otherwise.

[@ezassegai4793]

SlateTV Its alright man, no need to explain.

[@ezassegai4793]

Kek Wills It Kel lel but his neck line is done properly IMO

[@najinelson6742]

Now I see, why Slate plugins do not include presets for horns/brass

[@devmiles]

Lol

[@reflexsoundz]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@lenglain]

🤣

[@lawrencegreenwood4002]

The title should read 'Steven Slate conducts himself in a fair and reasonable manner considering the utter stupidity of the NAMM organizers'.

[@coopercarter]

Lawrence Greenwood yep

[@BigMuff75]

yes

[@jeremymardis5590]

Yes I think he did ok not to flip out, if it was me I would be pissed too , I have a short temper so I would probably start throwing stuff cussing like crazy and ending the show, that is absolutely ridiculous they had a marching band their when people is trying to have a presentation.

[@Dexus19]

Now that's a Slate Trigger.

[@kaidoluht1957]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@onutube167]

Hahahhaaha what a comment!

[@DanRodriguez1]

lol

[@orangeblue3531]

Haha, with a low threshold

[@daviderickson807]

Nicely done.

[@nodaysback8390]

The horns really cut thru the mix without sounding up front..

[@iuihlutuk]

tf! 🤣

[@nodaysback8390]

@@iuihlutuk I forgot about that one.. haaa 😁

[@brianmoran8998]

I don't know about you but it just sounds like a marching band no matter what mic pre you use.

[@avalon747]

I think that's the UAD all-star band!!

[@nicknovak5514]

Regardless of your opinions on Steven Slate, this was extremely unprofessional on the part of the organizers at NAMM. I think he handled this much better than most people would have. He is completely right, booths get fined or even shut down entirely for being too loud. You know he paid very good money to be able to put on this presentation, and its very insulting to have to be interrupted mid-presentation by a goddamn marching band.

[@fullclipaudio]

Greetings, My booth was about 25 yards away from the Steven Slate booth. He was, by far, one of the louder things going on near me. I don't see that he has any cause to complain. It wasn't anything like the guitar, horn or drum sections though. Those places made me want to take a hostage.

[@goddessintriptych7046]

+Mark You're right- everyone should just be cool with everyone else making the environment as loud as possible while merchants try to demo and hawk their products.

[@fullclipaudio]

Yes but you miss the point in that Steven Slate was by far the loudest booth near us. How can he complain? NAMM is what it is and I wouldn't want it any other way.

[@drdelewded]

He's a huge wank..

[@Halocene]

Honestly, I'd be pissed too. I think he's pretty reasonable.

[@gradygavin9917]

Sorry to be so off topic but does any of you know a way to log back into an Instagram account..? I was dumb forgot my login password. I appreciate any assistance you can offer me.

[@maddoxzakai2479]

@Grady Gavin instablaster :)

[@DonSolaris]

I always imagined this guy, when his car fails, he calmly goes home, takes a baseball bat, and beats the crap out of that car.

[@Whiteseastudio]

Completely agree with Steve, if I would be there trying to demo my audio product, I would have responded the same! What where the NAMM guys thinking????

[@skylarcarlson7745]

I agree, i'd be pissed.

[@aidanswiftofficial]

oh hey! :)

[@mr.afrikaans1747]

Stop defending him. People are DEAD because of this!

[@joshuamathermusic]

Came to watch him lose it. After he didn't lose it I just enjoyed his namm presentation.

[@mal2ksc]

This isn't a meltdown, it's just a rant to fill the time until the problem goes away. God forbid he visit the wind instrument area. It's like this all day, all four days.

[@ToneSherpa]

exactly.. he had to do something entertaining. what else was he supposed to do but makes some jokes about the absurdity of the situation.

[@SEBBY_SHREDZ_BOI]

Loved the fact that they were playing “Dreams” though, one of my favorite Mac songs.

[@Category5]

Ridiculous! They should have at least made the band schedule public so the exhibitors could plan the demos around it. Pretty annoying, even watching the video. I can only imagine how annoying it was in person. Actually Slate held it together pretty well IMO.

[@Mjo742]

Honestly rude of NAMM not to inform him that there would be a marching band playing.

[@DigiArc]

I feel for Steven. We weren't at NAMM this year but they have, for the past couple of years, really been cracking down on volume on the trade show floor. And then they allow that crap to happen. Ridiculous.

[@Peteypuckettband]

I would like to see the video of "Trevor doing something about this!"

[@Creptter]

Next plug-in: Slate Noise Canceller.

[@rt-uh6mt]

Hopefully it cancels out his voice.

[@maz7100]

Marching band redirected by folks at ToonTrack

[@chazzhill-hayr6281]

I like Steven way more after this! This was hilarious.

[@Project312]

“Bob just killed the marching band. Big hand for Bob.” Hahaha 😂

[@AndrewAHayes]

It was driving me crazy listening on headphones, it must have been 10 times worse at the booth

[@Bobzekat21]

Well this is what happens at big shows. At the end of the day as long as you enjoy it overall that is all that matters bro. Everyone knows your products are good and we appreciate how are you and your team are working to give us audio engineers and musicians so much more. So thank you Steven.

[@cycl0nic]

Perfectly warranted; how the fuck are you meant to work around that? There's extraneous circumstances, and then there's flawed planning and unrealistic expectations surrounding the simultaneous exemplification of sound.

[@EchoKraft]

That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen at Namm absolutely fucking ridiculous. I can’t believe they allow that to happen!

[@shanenichols1794]

Dear God, this is incredibly infuriating.

[@declanpovey3948]

Why doesn't he clip his wireless mic pack to his belt or pocket or something. I just found myself staring at the cable he's twisting..

[@haraldkal]

Loses it? He's saying like it is and I think he's handling it pretty well and even humors the audience. I have to agree with the rest of the guys here. If you consider how much money you pay to show your newest products and the noise level is already pretty damn high, why the hell is a marching band allowed through the show? If I was attending I would be pretty damn annoyed and probably more grumpy than Steve.

[@BillBene67]

100% agree. I met Steven at a Golf Event and he didn't know me from Adam and he could not have been nicer.

[@kenkreisel6890]

So he’s saying with this program, that you can replicate other popular microphones? Sounds pretty awesome to me. I’m very surprised the mics didn’t pick up all the surroundings chatter and sounds. Besides the interruption, he sold me on it. Granted I could never afford it ever in my life.

[@j.t.peterson]

He didn’t “lose it”...you just wanted views. He handled it perfectly.

[@overkill2006]

This guy is a total bad ass! He handled this so much better than I would have. Namm owes this man big time.

[@iVardensphere]

Take the fancy mic and software and record the marching band. See how good they can make them sound.

[@marcmini8137]

iVardensphere LMFAO dude I'm dying of laughter

[@my4trackmachine]

LOL is that Gaz Williams at the12:55 point? Hope to hear about this on Sonic Talk.

[@manifestgtr]

Wow...that went from Rumours to Tusk mighty quick

[@MajorSeventh]

I can't believe you're the only one who made that joke. I thought the comment section would've been full of similar takes.

[@manifestgtr]

Dude, I did the same thing....I scoured this section to keep from being one of those redundant commenters you see on EVERY video...but nothin... Did people really ignore tusk to that degree? I guess so....

[@orlandofebres7604]

😄😄😄👸😅😅😅

[@elikrantzberg]

I was there during that presentation. All things considered, I thought Steven handled it really well.

[@VoxJ]

Agree!!

[@rt-uh6mt]

kind of a douche bag though

[@ChannelEleven59]

Yeah, real pro...... Cursing at a band and drinking beer while trying to sell product. What an unprofessional douche-bag

[@alphasxsignal]

Non Pro

[@TONEScott]

He's a cry baby. IT'S NAMM! There is sound going off (musical sound and floor noise) literally constantly; that's what happens when you fill 5 connected halls (A through F... even though F is down stairs) with all M.I. and Pro Audio companies... it's fricken noisy by literally everyone (not just the marching band). Indstead of acting like a spoiled effing 8 year old brat, he could have paused for 30 seconds and had someone politely go and ask if the marching band could stop until his seminar was done.... simple. Normally if you ask exhibitors at NAMM nicely people respond positively. Now, I wouldn't use his shit if you gave it to me.. Total douche bag

[@matrixate]

Click bait. That...is not losing it. That...is called he was pissed that he's not getting what he paid for...kind of like the way some of us feel when we try his plugins or find an issue during the installation or usage.

[@leftchicago]

I think he handles it pretty well all things considered. He obviously spent big money to do this and they (NAMM) kind of crapped all over him.

[@badmonkeymusicproductions3569]

This really brightened up my Thursday LOL

[@darkworld737]

Why did they add unnecessary noise to product convention for audio and music products. Isn't it difficult enough to isolate each display as is?

[@Spinnaker36]

Every booth should be sold with scheduled access to a soundproof demo room. Even with ambient noise it must be impossible to hear nuances in anything demoed. NAMM probably offer this separately at a premium ...

[@ThemFuzzyMonsters]

When do we get the “parade emulation” upgrade?

[@djicymic]

I just got the access pass I really like it ....cant wait to get the microphone situation

[@ToneSherpa]

why was there a NAMM parade? that's what I wanna know.

[@miykul5570]

About to order myself an ML-2, and now I know this is the guy behind it I'm even more enthused by it haha! What a legend!

[@alantomazin56]

Hahahahaha damn it man, love your stuff Steve! Ordered an ml1 can’t wait to try it out!

[@NickPavlica]

I completely agree with him being upset! He's there to make a living, and has paid allot of money to be there. NAMM owes him some money...

[@grizcuz]

And like he says, I believe the organisers can be quite strict when monitoring volume. I saw at least one photo on social media showing a notice that a booth had been closed down for exceeding the allowed SPL levels.

[@rt-uh6mt]

God dammit! I'm trying to sell my magical $1000 microphone that sounds just like a $100,000 mic. No seriously!!! Turn that damn marching band off!!! It's magic! Please god dammit people, buy my crap!!!

[@alphasxsignal]

You are so right with his crap mic.

[@higainamp]

its called technology, in this day in age it also has to be marketed. The guy is fighting to bring great products to the market against the big players that are ripping you off in value. every product i have bought i love. if you paid 50k to have a both you would think otherwise. unbelievable!!

[@kimmygibler760]

Umm its a audio trade show .... As in music and instruments and sound. I guess the other 5000 vendors are supposed to just hault everything because this douchbag has a nice haircut or something .

[@kingmixx]

Man I can’t help but die laughing! This is funny as heck!

[@jesse_cole]

This was actually funny. I'd be pissed too... I do like how they were playing "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," though. It was ironic for the moment.

[@ksteiger]

The king of hype.

[@datemodifiedtomorrow7510]

Funny how the title spins it as if steven is doing something wrong but then the description has a more accurate assessment of the situation

[@DoctorMcFarlandStudios]

Love using SSD drums with my Roland TD1K

[@BurntSquirrel]

LOL!!! A Steven Slate Meltdown is the best!

[@puresoulg]

Hahahaha lol

[@ToTheSummitkicksass]

new song title, tactical nuke 2.0

[@tommynoisemusic]

aside from the headache NAMM, this is a very cool presentation. very interesting sound designs and crazy mic models.

[@weswhaley]

id built out a completely sound proof room for these shows but I'm not a audio company so it probably doesn't make sense to do that but it sounds like a great idea to me.

[@TheGgreen100]

Why does NAMM still exist again, especially now that online videos exist?

[@garylastchatcraft7357]

can't compete with a marching band!....Where's slayer when you need em?

[@TheWorldTeacher]

OMG - is guessed the song ("Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac) about one measure into the drumming! :D

[@mrsockmonkey1969]

You missed your calling dude. You should do stand up comedy. This was painfully funny 🤣

[@bennettshapiro7711]

He’s completely justifiably pissed off. That’s ridiculous. He should’ve at least been given notice as to when the marching band would be performing, so that there was no conflict with his presentation.

[@demodemo9543]

ideal microphone for marching band

[@zykify]

Maybe they should have read the NAMM fixed schedule before making theirs.

[@JTB--]

The Rose Bowl Parade broke out in the middle of his presentation. Is this an episode of the show Punked?

[@jim4633]

next time follow Gibson and just do CES lol

[@jim4633]

Not so well.... more like "in" the well. lol

[@rkl08551]

c0cainum...

[@klextacy]

rkl08551 BINGO!

[@Danilo8208SS]

This shit is exactly why I would never go to NAMM again. NAMM 2018 was almost an entirely visual experience for me because everywhere you go it’s like every song you’ve ever heard being played at the same time. I really just got to see a lot of new equipment. I didn’t hear hardly any of it.

[@snoolee7950]

Steven Slate knows that there's a sucker born every minute, and Steven Slate is going to get their money.

[@MrJHate]

Damn dude that must be insanely irritating. I work events like this quite a bit and the event coordinators are usually DDIICCKKSSS about noise levels and scheduling. That’s absolutely unacceptable.

[@nonahyobusiness8063]

NAMM is stupid. It's tired. Companies are already starting to drop because of the costs and they can get more hype on their own.

[@BuddyNubbins]

To me NAMM feels like it's for lazy tech nerds, who can show up without doing any research and see new stuff. Brands are realizing it doesn't actually increase their sales and it's slowly dying.

[@benshirleymusic]

Absolute waste of time.

[@danieljung2810]

I completely disagree. For new up and coming products from small companies that might have just started, NAMM has allowed them to get onto store shelves. I still recall the amazingly talented young teen who hand built his own synth last year and because of NAMM, was placed in the spotlight.

[@nicodabastard]

BuddyNubbins namm is for retailers to come and see and try the new gear and new tech..... It has nothing to do with "tech nerds"

[@ralphenz32]

True - the booths and companies are getting smaller. I noticed that at Namm this year. They give away less and less merch, shirts, hats, strings, etc. A lot of the plugin makers are in so much fuckin' competition lately. I got to play at Namm this year, so that was cool. But, overall, it is getting less and less interesting.

[@diregremo]

Where the hell did a marching band come from?

[@Hanssone]

im impressed he kept it cool with the sale face on during the marching all while drinking a beer. Takes years of patience and dedication being that professional minded.

[@TheGuitarModder]

Feel sorry for Steve, that must have been fucking brutal standing up there while that fucking racket was going on.

[@coronet67]

Consumerism, driving the last nail in music's coffin.

[@lukeweiler1192]

Honestly I wouldn’t have heard of slate until I saw this video and this is very interesting. A tube condensor mic that can digitally model an arsenal of studio mics that would cost $10000s of $? Really interesting technology. Pretty groundbreaking.

[@curseleisure5507]

The Townsend Audio Labs Sphere L22 does a WAY better job of that, though.

[@TheSpoonwood]

The crowd noise sounds great!

[@NamooNara]

Did UA hire a marching band just to sabotage Slate? haha

[@SYNERGYESPORTSOFFICIAL]

Someone else should start doing shows like these. Ive seen so many videos of the Namm event organizers ruining the shows for the crowds. That is what happens when there is no competition.

[@lightningrt434]

Bit of advice. Next time you give a You Tube video a click bait title, don’t make us sit through 7 minutes of crap first.

[@eddiem4868]

Lightning RT right?

[@johnnyroastbeef84]

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan that last snare sounds fantastic!!!!!

[@Dramatello]

"loses it" ROFLLL talk about clickbait. Dude was handling it PERFECTLY. Dude's a pro, I'm no surprised.

[@keepitevil29]

I like him even more now!

[@Ehrhartmagick]

Super polished hair cut and drum samples.

[@adamthomas1246]

He responded very well...why the hate?

[@danobrien7758]

Isn't there a dB limit for the Floor? I'm pretty sure I red that. This poor guy.

[@halcyondaystunes]

Sounds like a shopping channel pitch

[@ProDoucher]

Steven Slate is the greatest salesman in audio. If he was on a shopping channel, every household in the world would have pro audio equipment. I can see it now. Every man, women and child would be recording and mixing their own music, constantly trying different slate mic combinations. Little Timmy, the youngest of the family would prefer the crisp sounding U87 while his older sister Abigail is quite contempt with an AKG c414 for its balanced tone. The mother Thelma though, she loves her RCA 44a. Her taste in microphone reflects on her expensive taste in order to maintain face and dignity among her peers. The father Steve, as much as he is a fan of fidelity is a tough man and an old soul. For that he always chooses the old faithful sm57. May not be the most finesse of microphone but like an old roll of duck tape, it will get the job done. When he feels like being a bit more adventurous he often chooses a coles 4038 as he is often nostalgic of old AM radio broadcasts and often dwells on the collective impact of the 1938 radio play of War of the Worlds as the pinnacle of audio fidelity. Steven SLate would sell the dream of audio fidelity at a convenient price point and not a single home in the US would be without a Slate product!

[@ProDoucher]

Obviously you don't have the entrepreneur spirit that Steven Slate has. I can see it now, you sitting at your computer, day in... day out. Pretending to be happy. A fake happiness if you will. All your life you constantly think to yourself "I could do that" or "What if I did that". However, due to lack of motivation or drive you never act out on these inhibitions and grand ideas. Instead you go on youtube and watch videos of other successful entrepreneurs and business identities. By observing the success of others you give yourself a shallow but steady degree of happiness. Everybody loves an underdog or success story, building something grand from almost nothing, just an idea. However, deep down you know that such feats are just beyond your grasp. You will never live out your dreams and only settle with what is comfortable in the present. But there is a glimmer of hope. Your romantic partner, little Timmy (mentioned in the previous post now all grown up) provides the loving support and motivation you have always yearned for. After finally starting a successful career and living out your dreams, you will finally change your name from Fake Unhappiness, to True Happiness. Good luck and godspeed True Happiness!

[@ProDoucher]

Mark Jeremy Seymour (born 26 July 1956) is an Australian musician and vocalist. He was the frontman and songwriter of rock band, Hunters & Collectors (1981-1998). Seymour has a solo career, releasing a number of albums. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2001 he won Best Adult Contemporary Album for One Eyed Man. Mark Jeremy Seymour was born on 26 July 1956 in Benalla to Frank and Paula Seymour. He has two older sisters, Hilary and Helen, and a younger brother, Nick (born 1958) - later bass guitarist for Crowded House. His mother encouraged all four children to learn musical instruments and sing. He initially learned piano but switched to guitar as a teenager. Seymour and his family moved to Melbourne in 1972, he graduated from University of Melbourne in 1978 and was qualified to teach. He later lived in the St Kilda area. He wrote the anthem "Holy Grail", which although not intended to be about sport, became synonymous with the AFL Grand Final and adopted by Network Ten for broadcasts of AFL matches, and also with Queensland's first Sheffield Shield cricket win in 1995. Seymour has performed at several AFL Grand Finals.

[@macrondo5852]

"You know what everyone at NAMM is wondering? When the goddamn marching band will come around again" lmfao

[@thegee-tahguy4877]

I personally would have gone to show management and demanded my entire show costs back including drayage (the union's cut) and all travel expenses for purposefully preventing my company's new product demo from taking place. What a world-class stupid move allowing a marching band in there.

[@eddyrox5150]

WTF is NAMM's marching band doing???? Slate has EVERY right to say "FU*K this!"

[@MultiGuitarman94]

To be fair.. That’s one hell of a great marching band! But definately at the wrong place at the wrong time...

[@AlejandroRasmussen7]

Great product

[@808_rafa]

Slate is a legend

[@panko8288]

Poor guy. :( Those booths aren"t cheap!!! Still like a pro he works through it!! :)

[@philpower_]

That’s what you call making it work. 👏

[@anatoly2453]

Вам нужен именно этот плагин ps: Steven Slate

[@carsonbeats5689]

It’s his money on the line I think we would all be pissed too

[@johnp82]

If he pronounces the "r" in February, he must know what he's talking about.

[@chrisherrera9477]

I was there and this was effin hysterical - now, I felt terrible but it was a riot.

[@sumoblues]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@BlackLlamaGuitar]

Nah, he handled it just fine. Consider what these companies pay Namm to get these booths. I'd be punching that snare drum and bending brass.

[@scootmcgoot570]

Next product demo is the bushmaster AR15

[@AveMcree]

Insert "hold my beer" joke