AES 105th Convention

AES 105th Convention -- San Francisco, USA September 26-29, 1998

SPECIAL EVENTS

OPENING CEREMONIES and Awards Presentations

The convention opened with ceremonies honoring recipients of special awards given by the Audio Engineering Society. Each year the AES acknowledges outstanding contributions to the Society, excellence in research, scholarship, and publication, and other accomplishments that enhance our industry.

This year we wrapped up the celebration of the AES Golden Anniversary with a look towards the next 50 years. A video production which focused on the technologies that are still just beyond the horizon will set the stage. Alan Parsons, a distinguished recording engineer who has devoted a lifetime to the excellence of his craft - in recording music, video, film soundtracks and much more, will delivered the keynote address. Mr. Parsons began his career at EMI Studios, Abbey Road working with The Beatles and Sir George Martin, and went on to form the popular music group, The Alan Parsons Project.

All convention attendees were welcome

"It Doesn't Have to Hurt: SPL and Psychoacoustics"
Saturday, September 26,
3:00PM - 5:00PM
Moderators: Mark McLean, Live Sound! Inter-national and Fred Ampel, Technology Visions
Panel: Bruce Howze, Community Professional; Marvin Caesar, Aphex Systems; Robert Scovill, Audio Engineer; Fan-Gang Zeng and Dilys Jones, House Ear Institute; Monita Chatterjee, House Ear Institute; and a surprise guest
Keynote Speaker: Monita Chatterjee, House Ear Institute

The House Ear Institute focused our attention on current and emerging sound reinforcement technologies designed for low distortion even at higher sound pressure levels. Sound distortion has traditionally been the cue to signal excessive loudness � and sound pressure levels that can cause permanent hearing damage. Current research in psychoacoustics and signal processing technology presents a solution � by measuring apparent loudness you can determine dangerous SPLs and satisfy the demands for LOUD.

Experts in loudspeaker design, signal processing, system design, psychoacoustics, and hearing protection discussed these issues. Questions and comments from the audience were encouraged.

This event was co-sponsored by Live Sound! International Magazine, Systems Contractor News Magazine, and the House Ear Research Institute.

As a complement to this session, the House Ear Institute provided free audiometric screenings throughout the entire convention. A special hearing test facility was located at the Convention Center.

Open House of the Technical Council
Saturday, September 26,
6:00PM - 8:00PM, Room 305
Guest Speaker: Jorg Sennheiser
The Technical Council and its committees invited you to join them for a glass of 'cheer' and fine music to be performed by the Hot Club of San Francisco at this open house. Find out what the Technical Committees are up to and what the Technical Council is about, chat with the experts, voice your ideas, and even get involved. Jorg Sennheiser, an expert and innovator of microphone technology, was our special guest. Professor Sennheiser's address, 'Audio on My Mind,' touched on the aspects of new technologies and the future of audio as seen from his unique perspective. Technical Committee chairs and members were on hand to greet the participants.
Jorg Sennheiser is currently chairman of the board of Sennheiser electronic and a professor at the Technical University of Hannover where he teaches electroacoustics. Dr. Sennheiser's special interests include the field of electroacoustics, with emphasis on transducers, such as loudspeakers, headphones, microphones, and related equipment.
10th Annual GRAMMY^� Professional Recording Forum
Monday, September 28,
10:00AM - 12:30PM
Moderator: Han Neuberger, Chicago Recording Company, Chicago, IL, USA
Panelists: Humberto Gatica (recorded for Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Chicago); Don Gehman (Tracy Chapman, John Mellencamp, Hootie and the Blowfish); Tom Lord-Alge (Wallflowers, David Matthews Band, Live); Bob Rock (Metallica, Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi)
Celebrating a 10 year partnership, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the AES bring together some of today's most respected engineers from across the country. These professionals have all made a significant impact on the recording industry. Discussion focused on the most critical, relevant issues and concerns facing the recording community.
The GRAMMY Forums at the AES Conventions have provided "some of the most inspiring and intellectual forums in the Recording Academy's history," said Michael Greene, President/CEO of NARAS. "From Bruce Swedien to Phil Ramone, George Massenberg to Al Schmitt and Bob Clearmountain to Roger Nichols, the stature of our participants is always of the highest caliber and the audience is always packed. This year's panelists added another chapter to this history and will continue the high standard of professional excellence that this series has established."
"An Afternoon With . . . Rupert Neve"
Monday, September 28,
2:00PM - 5:00PM
Moderator: Paul Gallo, PSN Publishing, New York
Rupert Neve was born in 1926, in Newton Abbot, Devonshire, England. From age 13, he designed and built audio amplifiers and radio receivers. He was educated at Belgrano Day School, ("Green's School") and St. Alban's College, Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires. Rupert volunteered straight from school in the second world war and returned to England to serve in His Majesty's Royal Signals.
Peace time found him running a Public Address and (Disc) Recording business in England. He worked in London at the REDIFFUSION design labs where he took charge of transformer design; he then went to FERGUSON RADIO and, eventually became Chief Engineer to a small transformer manufacturer. He designed one of the first "bookcase" high quality loudspeakers and was invited to lecture on it at the Royal Society of Arts in London in 1958. For four years he designed and manufactured HI FI equipment.
RUPERT NEVE & COMPANY Ltd, was started in 1961 and from 1964 operated out of the coach house of The Old Rectory in a village near Cambridge, England. The flow of custom equipment for the Recording, T.V., Film and Broadcasting industries grew rapidly until in 1969 the operation burst into a new factory at Melbourn, where the Company continued until 1992. Manufacturing Plants and Sales depots were established in Kelso, Scotland, Bethel Connecticut, Toronto, and Hollywood.
In 1975 Rupert sold control of the Neve Companies and by 1978 had ceased to design for them. With the later sale of the Neve Companies to Siemens in 1985, Rupert's involvement terminated and he recognized that the market was ready for something fresh.
Rupert Neve is now long term design consultant to AMEK LTD. whose expertise in the audio sound control and manufacturing fields is partnered by Rupert's innovative approach to the sound path.
Recent designs include new analog rack-mount microphone preamps, equalizers, dynamics units and consoles for live sound, film and music recording. The AMEK 9098i; another major console - flagship of the AMEK range - has just been announced. This retains Rupert's transformer and EQ traditions and incorporates innovative circuitry to take account of new discoveries about the way we hear music.
Design continues and a number of new modules and consoles incorporating digital techniques, will soon be making their appearance.
ORGAN CONCERT
Monday evening, September 28,
8:00PM. - 10:00PM,
Grace Cathedral
1100 California Street (at Taylor)
San Francisco
Organist: Graham Blyth
Since 1993 Graham Blyth, technical director of Soundcraft Electronics, has been providing an opportunity for AES convention attendees to experience the sound of some of the most renowned church organs in the U.S. and Europe.
The Great Organ of Grace Cathedral was originally constructed by the Aeolian-Skinner Company in 1934. The organ has subsequently undergone several additions and revisions, most recently the installation of a new console. This truly magnificent instrument features 123 ranks, comprising more than 7200 pipes.
For this program, Mr. Blyth featured by British composers as well as many of the more traditional composers of organ music.
Mr. Blyth has been active as a performing musician since he was a Junior Exhibitioner at Trinity College of Music and holds diplomas in Organ Performance from the Royal College of Organists, the Royal College of Music and the Trinity College of Music.

Internet2 "Round Table" Forum
Tuesday, September 29,
10:30AM - 12:00NOON
Chairs: Zack Settel, AES/McGill University; Ted Hanss, Internet2; and John Strawn, AES Technical Council/ S Systems, Inc.
Panelists: Andy Adamson, Center for Information Technology Integration, University of Michigan; Guy Almes, The University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development; Robin Bargar, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Kevin Gross, CobraNet, Peak Audio, Inc.; Ted Hanss, Director, Applications Development, Internet2, University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development; Peter Marshall, CANARIE Inc.; Bob Moses, PAVO, Inc.; Thomas Dolby Robertson, Headspace Inc.
This "round table" discussion featured musicians, developers, and experts in the forefront of developments in the implementation of the Internet for the production and presentation of the performing arts.
The Internet2 Project is a U.S. university-led effort to establish advanced networked applications on an enhanced internet infrastructure. Working with industry and government partners in the U.S. and abroad, Internet2 is building an end-to-end broadband (gigabit) network and deploying research and education applications for multiple disciplines (including health care, the arts, physics, space science) within collaborative environments. A major focus is building applications that use high- quality video and audio.
This session, co-organized by Internet2 and the AES Technical Committee on Networked Audio Systems, introduced advanced network capabilities to the AES community; discussed audio and music needs for members of the Internet2 community; and offered a round table discussion including network experts, performers, and application developers. Members of the Internet2 community, who held their Fall Meeting in San Francisco, also attended. An important feature of this session, the AES White Paper on audio and music over Internet2, were discussed. Come and learn what the future has in store!
The BAAM and AES bring the streets of San Francisco alive at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts!
Saturday, September 26,
8:00PM - 11:00PM
Relax and enjoy an evening with your audio friends and colleagues. The Bay Area Audio Manufacturers (BAAM) and the AES 105th Convention Committee planned a fun-filled event for Saturday evening, the first evening of the AES convention. Featuring the diversity of tastes and entertainment that make up the San Francisco Bay Area, the party was held at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (adjacent to the Moscone Convention Center) from 8 PM to 11 PM.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is a visual, media and performing arts complex that presents art and arts education reflecting the cultural diversity of the San Francisco Bay Area. Guests were able to view three different gallery exhibitions and also enjoyed outstanding Bay Area performers who entertained throughout the event. The streets of San Francisco were represented in a variety of hors d'oeuvres, Californian wines, beers and waters, as well as desserts and coffee.
An important element of each AES Convention is the opportunity for student members around the world to meet and share experiences related to education in the field of audio.
GOLD MINE: 50 YEARS of Audio and AES
Sunday, September 27,
Room 305
Chair: Irv Joel, Chair, Committee for the Fiftieth, Irv Joel & Associates, Teaneck, NJ, USA
A video presentation tracing the course of audio over the last half century in terms of the people, events, and inventions that shaped our industry, from the early days of LP and magnetic recording through stereo, quad, electronic music and digital technology to the CD, a wealth of audio memorabilia.
One showing only of each video:
1:15 pm - 1:55 pm
The New Yorker, with guests introduced by Ken Pohlmann, from the AES 103rd Convention in New York.
5:15 pm - 5:55 pm
The Dutch Treat, edited with a continental accent, from the AES 104th Convention in Amsterdam. Pick up on this nugget before the millennium lapses: This is who we are and where we have been!
Special Presentation of DVD-Audio
Monday, September 28,
1:00 pm - 1:45 pm Room 305
Chair: Bike H. Suzuki, Chair of DVD Forum Audio WG4, JVC, Kanagawa, Japan
Version 1.0 of the DVD-Audio Specification will be almost established. The DVD-Forum Audio Working Group (WG-4) has successfully coped with all the technical requirements from the International Steering Commission (ISC), representing the RIAA, RIAJ, and IFPI. The event focuses on the DVD-Audio Specification which is the result of fruitful discussions between WG-4 and ISC over a two-year period.
Special Presentation of Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD)
Tuesday, September 29,
1:00 pm - 1:45 pm Room 305
Chair: David Kawakami, Sony Electronics, Park Ridge, NJ, USA
Panel: Peter Eastty, Sony Broadcast & Professional Europe; Gerard Lokhoff and Paul Reynolds, Philips; Akira Suzuki, Sony Corp.
Sony and Philips have proposed and are actively developing Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) as the next-generation high-density music carrier. Key representatives from Sony and Philips will present the SACD proposal and update the AES on its current development. The presentation also updated the audience on progress in the development of production equipment, based on the Direct Stream Digital (DSD) encoding technology which is the core of the SACD format proposal.

(C) 2000, Audio Engineering Society, Inc.