The AES Historical Committee is an international forum open to all who wish to investigate and learn about the achievements of those pioneers whose innovative ideas and inventions have contributed to audio's rich past. Dedicated to the preservation of over a century of audio history, the Committee is developing a broad-based history of audio engineering and the audio industry. AES membership is encouraged but not required.
If you have questions about the history of audio engineering, search this site or its links or for patents from all countries; check out the Audio Engineering History and History of the AES. Join our E-mail reflector and post a historical question to it -- many of the people who made that history are here, and can answer your questions.
We would be glad to have you volunteer to help us with our projects -- AES membership is encouraged but not required.
Bill Wray and Gene Radzik
Co-Chairs, AES
Historical Committee
2006-11
Updated 2008-05-15
Links to Other Historical Sites, and Museum Coordination project
Timeline of Audio Engineering, from cylinder to DVD
Audio Patents, the plan for a project to improve access to the patent literature.
Auditory Perspective, a scan of the classic Bell Telephone Labs paper from 1934 in Acrobat format (4.5 MB file)
Book Listings and Reviews in the AES Journal, 1990...2002, Index of
Books & video tapes now available on audio engineering history
The Thiele-Krause Archive for Audio-Visual Media Technology (currently off-line)
Digital Audio Engineering Standardization History at the AES: The history of the development of the AES digital audio standards, as given in the AES Journal minutes and reports of the Digital Audio Standards and Technical Committees between 1977 and 1984, and in Bart Locanthi's 1986 summary of the Committees' work.
Exhibits and Meetings of the Historical Committee at AES Conventions
Historical Developments in Audio Engineering 1877...1977, a summary paper by Daniel von Recklinghausen, with 81 references to papers and patents
Historical Issues of the AES Journal, "The Phonograph and Sound Recording After One-Hundred Years" and "The AES: 50 Years of Contributions to Audio Engineering"
History of Audio Engineering as Told Thru the AES Journal: The "non-technical" part of the Journal that's missing from the "Electronic Library"
Forensic Audio Engineering: The complete "Watergate" report, formally called "The EOB Tape of June 20, 1972: Report on a Technical Investigation Conducted for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, by the Advisory Panel on White House Tapes May 31, 1974", that is the basis for much of present-day forensic audio engineering.
Ampex Museum & Historical Collection at Stanford University
3M Tape types, Index to and scans of all 46 issues of 3M "Sound Talk," etc.
Before 1943, History of Audio Engineering and Magnetic Recording
Bibliography of Histories of Magnetic Tape Sound Recording, Selected
Motion Pictures, History of Audio Engineering in, EW Kellogg's 44-page review paper, with 406 (!) references, from the 1955 J SMPTE.
Recording Studios, A Thirty-five Year History and Evolution "Bill" Putnam's AES Preprint from 1980
Standardization Activity of the AES--the History Before 1982
A New Standard Volume Indicator and Reference Level, by Chinn, Gannett, and Morris. The classic 1940 IRE paper on the development of the "vu meter". Includes the history of volume indicators, the engineering factors in designing the meter, and the text of the original standard.
Some Questions and Answers on the Standard Volume Indicator ("vu meter"), by Jay McKnight. A personal interpretation of the Chinn et al paper.
"Measuring the Dynamics of a Standard Volume Indicator (SVI)", by Jay McKnight. A "How to do it" paper.
Personal Histories:
Oral Interviews, including
Oral Histories are available for purchase at the Historical Committee Web Store. Also see the "AES Celebrates 60th Anniversary".
Talks and Papers, including some "Afternoon With...", Texts of Interviews and Talks
Obituaries, Index and links to
Company Histories:
Japan Section of the AES, History of
Operating Structure: The Committee's charter.
Guidelines: Committee purpose, officers, membership requirements, and meetings.
Officers and Project Leaders. Current Projects listed, with their leaders names and email address links.
Committee Reports: Committee activities: What have we been doing?
Agendas, etc., of AES Historical Committee Meetings: What have we planned for the committee meetings?
Minutes of AES Historical Committee Meetings: What we did at the committee meetings.
Last Revised 2006-09-17, 2007-03-08, --07-19, --07-27, --08-23, --08-24, --09-20, --09-27, --10-17, 2008-01-01, --01-06, --04-14, --04-23, --06-10 ,
2008-06-12, --09-18, --10-01 jm