Leslie Gaston-Bird (CAS, AMPS, MPSE) is author of the book "Women in Audio", part of the AES Presents series published by Focal Press (Routledge). She is an Avid Certified Dolby Atmos Professional and Dante Level-3 Certified audio engineer working as a freelance re-recording mixing (dubbing) and sound editing under the banner Mix Messiah Productions. She is also a voting member of the Recording Academy (The Grammys®) and its P&E (Producers and Engineers) Wing. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of Surrey working on a project titled "Immersive and Inclusive", for which she received support from Innovate UK's Women in Innovation programme. From 2016-2018, she was Vice President, Western Region (US & Canada) for the Audio Engineering Society (AES), followed by a term as Governor-at-Large. She was the inaugural chair of the AES Diversity and Inclusion (now DEI) Committee. Prior to that, she was a tenured Associate Professor of Recording Arts at the University of Colorado Denver (2005-2018) where she also served as Chair of the Department of Music and Entertainment Industry Studies. She led groups of Recording Arts students in study abroad courses in England, Germany, and Italy which included participation in AES Conventions. Leslie has done research on audio for planetariums, multichannel audio on Blu-Ray, and a has presented several papers at AES conferences, incuding a comparison of multichannel codecs that was published in the AES Journal (Gaston, L. and Sanders, R. (2008), "Evaluation of HE-AAC, AC-3, and E-AC-3 Codecs", Journal of the Audio Engineering Society of America, 56(3)).
Other AES presentations have included:
Gaston, L. et al (2014) Case study: University Recording Arts Program seeks to Educate, Engage and Recruit High School Students. Convention Paper TBA. 137th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society. Los Angeles.
Gaston, L. et al. (2010) The Influence of Individual Audio Impairments on Perceived Video Quality. Convention Paper 8151. 128th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society. London.
Gaston, L et al. (2008) Methods for Sharing Stereo and Multichannel Audio among Planetariums. Convention Paper 7474. 124th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society. Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Gaston, L. and Sanders, R. (2007) Evaluation of HE-AAC, AC-3, and E-AC-3 Codecs. Convention Paper 7049. 122nd Convention of the Audio Engineering Society. Vienna, Austria.
Gaston, L. (2006) Tactile Strategies and Resources for Teaching Multichannel Sound Concepts. Convention paper 6689. 120th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society. Paris, France.
Other papers and articles include:
Rodigast, Rene and Gaston, Leslie (2010) The Sound of Space: A Look at the History and Future of Audio in Planetariums. International Planetarium Society Conference 2010. Alexandria, Egypt.
Yu, Ka Chun et al. (2007) Gaia Journeys: A Museum-Based Immersive Performance Exploration of Earth. Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Digital Earth, June 5-9, Berkeley, CA.
Gaston, L. and Sanders, R. (2006) Drei Mehrkanal Codecs im Vergleich. Proceedings of the 24th Verband Deutscher Tonmeister conference. Leipzig, Germany.
Gaston, L. (2014) "Video Vérité". Sound on Sound. London.
2022: Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award
2019: Heartland Emmy nomination for "Enough White Teacups" (dir. Michelle Carpenter)
2018: Utah Film Fest nomination for Best Sound for "Klocked" (dir. Michelle Carpenter)
2014: Nominated participant in University of Colorado Denver "Excellence in Leadership" program.
2011: Fulbright Award for Research and Teaching at the University of York
2000: Edward R. Murrow Award (Large Market Documentary) for "A Columbine Diary" (with Kelly Griffin and Dan Drayer)
Current PhD Candidate at the University of Surrey's Institute of Sound Research (IoSR)
M.S. Recording Arts
B.A. Telecommunications
A.S. Audio Technology, Indiana University
1995-present: Owner, Mix Messiah Productions
2005-2018: University of Colorado Denver
2002-2005 Post Modern Company
1995-2002 Colorado Public Radio
1991-1995 National Public Radio
Several films on IMDB, see http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2989554/
Music recordings including classical, rock, and experimental genres. Clients include the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Gregory Walker, Beth Perry and Chris Doney, Ezmeralda, Greenhaus, and others.
The late Roy Pritts and the late Rich Sanders were mentors of mine who encouraged me to get involved with the AES. Later I held officer positions (secretary and chair) in our Colorado Section. I feel like the AES is a family, I have met many friends and colleagues who share my passion for all things audio. I am currently chairing the AES Diversity and Inclusion Committee whose mission is at www.aes.org/community/diversity. With these activities, I am committed to expanding the appeal of the AES and growing a stronger Society.
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