AES Student Blog

Meet Synne Stenersen and William Dahl, who took home the Silver Award for their submission "Fremde Szene". 

We had the chance to chat with these lovely, talented engineers afterwards. 

"When playing with my own bands I got fed up with lazy live sound technicians and wanted to become one myself to give the bands the attention and care they deserve." Synne (center) on why she became an audio engineer. 

Hello Synne and William! Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, what did you study? What is your background as an audio engineer? When and how did your passion for audio start?

William: We both recently finished our bachelor in Music Production at Westerdals Oslo ACT, Norway. I have just started working as a producer/ technician in PhatCat studios in Oslo. 

Synne: And I am working primarly as a live sound engineer, touring with several bands and working for a rental company.

We both grew up playing in bands, being engaged in local musical activities. I started composing music for theater, touring around in Norway from the age of 15 and therefore wanted to learn the art of recording and mixing. When playing with my own bands I got fed up with lazy live sound technicians and wanted to become one myself to give the bands the attention and care they deserve.

William: I found my way into producing and mixing after spending time in studios as a musician. My interest in the studioworld grew and I decided to pursue a career in the business.

Are you a musician yourself? What instruments do you play and in what musical context?

Synne: I play the electric guitar and have played in several different genres such as rock, folk music, world music, contemporary music and pop.

William: I play the bass guitar, primarly pop/rock.

Tell us about the production of your submission. What is the story behind it? What was it inspired by? How long did you work on it? Was it your first entry?

Synne: The Production of our submission was a part of a collaboration between the Norwegian academy of music and our school. We had a close communication with the musicians from the beginning of the project, making it possible to experiment with a creative soundscape. We wanted to enhance the struggle between the string section and the grand piano in the piano trio we recorded, as the piece features great dynamics. It was a long process, with the pre-production taking most of the time. The recording and post-production each took one day. The most inspiring with recording in 5.1 with this setup was realising the importance of the placement of the musicians in the room.

Accidents happen: What was your biggest mistake in the production and what did you do to redeem the situation?

William: We were baffled by the sensitivity of the microphones, as the noise of the room and surroundings easily got picked up by the microphones. The church we recorded in has a noisy hidden machine room, which we failed to acknowledge on our initial inspection. We luckily got in contact with the churches janitor so we could turn of the machinery on the recording day. 

What’s your advice for engineers who are just starting out?

Synne: Take every job you can get, both to get experience and contacts in the business. Be aware of your abilities and don't put yourself in positions where you're not able to do the job in a satisfying way.

Tech talk: What are your favourite pieces of equipment (microphones, outboard, plugins), and why?

William: Our favorite equipment is our ears, being very satisfied with the general high quality of the digital emulation of analogue plugins and the great diversity of microphones.

Can you name one or multiple of your favourite recordings or productions and tell us why you like them/what you like about them?

Synne: Beck's album sea change is a great production, using a lot of delicious effects which blends great with the acoustic instruments.

William: Rage Against The Machine's self-titled album is great because it's able to have great energy and still keep a good level of dynamics.

What do you like about the AES? How does it help you to become a better and more successful audio engineer?

Synne: It's fantastic to be part of the AES community and being able to share experience, getting knowledge and meeting other people in our business. The 138th convention was our first and it was a great first experience with the AES. We enjoyed many of the workshops and tutorials and it's almost like a festival only with courses instead of bands.

What do you do when you’re not in the studio or doing anything music related?

William: When not working with music we like to be social with friends and collegues. Oslo is the perfect city for people working in the audio business, with a lot of social and cultural gatherings.

Synne: Come visit us!

Perhaps a suitable location for one of the upcoming European AES Conventions? Thanks very much for your time, Synne and William, and congratulations again on this beautiful recording! 

Listen to "Fremde Szene"