Tritone Expo

The first Tritone Expo, which took place at the Metropolitan Artists Lofts on March 21st, 2015, featured 26 Saint Louis-based exhibitors and an attendance of nearly 1,000 people. Building off of a successful first year, April 2nd & 3rd, 2016 sees the return of the Tritone Expo, this time located in the @4240 building on the Cortex Innovation Community campus, with 3x the number of exhibitors and almost 40x the amount of space.

The Tritone Expo aims to accomplish two things: 1) to make all people feel welcome to pick up an instrument, no matter where in their journey with music they are, and 2) to bring focus to the region for its incredible wealth of music-related manufacturers, educators, artists, and non-profits. The 2nd annual installment of the event will feature six interactive zones of music-related exhibition — Instruments, Effects, & Accessories, Recording Studios & Pro-Audio, Education & Non-Profits, Amplifiers, Drums, and Art, Photography, & Video — which will include activities and exhibits geared towards adults and kids alike.

Aside from an overall increase in scale, new to the Expo in 2016 is a heightened focus on entrepreneurship and innovation, entire wings devoted to art and education, and private rooms for amplifiers and drums to control noise in the main halls.

Some of the family-friendly interactive exhibits to be featured at the Tritone Expo:

* Over 30 exhibitors featuring world-class handmade instruments, effects, and accessories, which you can try out and talk with their creators.

* Recording workshops and instructor-led beat-making stations, presented by ex'Treme Institute by Nelly.

* House band performances, rock-n-roll instrument petting zoos, and on-the-spot bands formed out of Expo attendees, presented by School of Rock.

* Group music instruction and folk-instrument petting zoos, presented by Folk School of KDHX and Prestige Performers.

* 7 dedicated amp and drum rooms where attendees can check out locally made gear at full volume.

Local music-related art, photography, and video on display.

"I was struck by the world-class level of quality work that is coming out of this town. The attendance was overwhelming, too. I can only imagine this growing and growing." said Brad Sarno, of Sarno Music Solutions.

"I was blown away, simply put. I have attended many guitar shows over the years including Arlington, Nashville, and Winter NAMM. The foot traffic was as good if not better than the regional shows and, at times, the NAMM show as well." said Chris Kroenlin, of K-Line Guitars.