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Like the audio exhibits at the CES earlier this month in Las Vegas, the NAMM show in Anaheim, California is all about the passion for, and the business of, music. Or, to put it another way, both shows are about making music.

NAMM, established over one hundred years ago, originally stood for National Association of Music Merchants. With its international reach and emphasis, the organization is now either simply NAMM or The International Music Products Association. And it's got a great slogan: "Believe in Music."

There are other similarities between NAMM and CES. To stand in the main hall at either event is to immerse oneself in a cacophony of sound and motion. Even some brands and faces familiar to audiophiles line the halls: Manley Lab's EveAnna Manley is there with her "Tubes Rule" stickers. (She manufacturers a line of studio equipment, such as microphone preamps and dynamic processors.)

But the differences between NAMM and CES are apparent right away. This show is about musical instruments and music-making tools. Here's an interesting fact that gives a hint about what is going on in the music world: there is more square footage dedicated to guitars and associated equipment than anything else. Acoustic guitars pretty much hold their own against their electric brethren, with an amazing number of shapes and colors now available.

There are guitars with your picture printed on the front of them. There are guitars hand painted by dozens of well-known artists and illustrators. There are guitars with three or four necks. There are guitar bodies made out of steel, stainless steel, aluminum, chromed wood (!), composite plastics, bamboo, and plain old wood. Some models are covered with broken glass, fur of various bright colors, tiles, jewels (Martin had a "Million Dollar" jewel-encrusted guitar on display), rubber, and on and on.

And then there are the guitar amps. Tube amps are huge now, both in popularity and size. And once again, you can get your amp covered in alligator skin, fur, glowing LEDs, plate metal, paisley plastic, day-glo plastic, etc. Just as in the audiophile industry, there are dozens of small, high-end tube amp makers, each with its own approach to tweaking the ultimate tube sound.

Second to guitars in floor footage are drums and percussion instruments. Once again dozens of tweak drum makers have sprung up, and celebrity drummers were everywhere pounding away. Often there were two or more in the same booth having a percussion battle of the bams.

Which brings us to another unique aspect of NAMM: It's stuffed with noted and celebrity musicians of every musical genre, age, size, and ability. I watched Stevie Wonder trying out pianos. Jerry Douglas and Bob Brozman were in the National Steel Guitar booth jamming away. Telecaster master Bill Kirchen was stumping for his favorite boutique amp company. Billy Cobham was giving a rather animated drum demo. Dick Dale, Al Dimeola, and dozens of other notables were giving guitar demos. And of course the place was crammed with heavy metal and thrash bands sporting enough tattoo square footage to cover most of LA.

Carlos Santana also stopped into the Latin Percussion booth to give a short talk about education in California. Surrounded by a group of world-renowned percussionists, he noted that each year the State of California spends $4500 per child in school, but $45,000 per prisoner in the penal system. (I haven't verified his numbers.) He'd like to see more music education, of course.

And then there are the rows of orchestral and band music instrument makers and distributors, including all of the major piano manufacturers. The only problem was that their booths were largely deserted, while those of the pop music instrument makers were stuffed. NAMM prides itself on fostering music education in schools and elsewhere, but the recording industry, record labels, and MTV have obviously done their jobs by turning every school-age kid into a wanna-be music star.

I fondly remember my years spent in band and orchestra practice, which translated into a life-long love for all types of music. Like Carlos Santana, I only hope today's kids get the same opportunity.