Can you find the prog rock keyboardist in this photo?

The 2009 Winter NAMM Show has fewer vendors and visitors this year, but there’s still a ton of new gear and software to check out – and fantastic performances by musicians like Keith Emerson, above. Synthtopia is on site to bring you the latest news about electronic music software and gear. 

Here are some of the highights of Day 3 of the 2009 NAMM Show:

• Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio is out of the price range of a lot of people – but, if you’re a Sonar user it’s pretty drool-worthy; 
• A lot of people are excited about the microKorg XL, even though it’s pricey for a mini-synth (Tip for other manufacturers – it’s the vocoder!); and
• The Moog Etherwave Theremin Plus is what everybody wanted in a theremin.
• Metasonix’ new Eurorack synth modules show put vacuum tubes into new places;
• The Korg nanoSeries is now available in black; and 
• Max For Live is one of the biggest music geekfests in years. 

Check out some more highlights below. 

We got a sneak preview from the Museum Of Making Music of an upcoming exhibit on the work of Robert Moog. We’ll have more on this in a few days – but check out the photo above for a taste of the artifacts that they’re lining up for the exhibit.

There were tons of great musicians to see and friendly people to meet, like ModWheelMood’s Alessandro Cortini:

And, as always, there were some bizarre sites to see:

Kinky sex outfits or a Tonium Pacemaker demo? You make the call!

If you made it to NAMM, leave a comment and let us know what you thought!