AES Student Blog

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from and what do you study?

I am an audio engineer singer/songwriter and composer. I currently work as an audio engineer for The Cleveland Institute of Music. At Case Western Reserve University, I study a foundation of classical recording and acoustic production techniques with Bruce Egre, Alan Bise, and Jack Renner.

I have recently completed work on a new EP “Give Me a Reason”. My YouTube Channel has amassed thousands of views and features original music videos and covers. Two of my original songs “Dream of You Tonight” and “Not as I Have Been” were featured on Dee Perry’s radio show “Around Noon” on 90.3 NPR after winning the Great Lake Theater Festival’s Bardstock songwriting competition.

I have had the honor of working with The Aspen Music Festival, Megan Zurkey, The Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, The Contemporary Youth Orchestra, Roots of American Music, The Chagrin Falls Academy for The Performing Arts, Stagecrafters Teen Theater Academy. As a musician I have performed in a variety of venues around the eastern united states including; The House of Blues, Peabody’s, The Grog Shop, Negative Space Studios, Menorah Park, and The Evening Muse and more on a variety of recording, live sound, composition, and performance projects.

I have composed, arranged, engineered and performed original scores for several theatrical productions including Peter Brook and Jean-Claude Carriere’s “Conference of the Birds”, and Ben Claus’s “May Day”.

What initiated your passion for audio? When did it start? 

My passion for audio engineering began out of necessity. In 2013 I was ready to move forward on recording my first studio album. I was inspired by independent artists on sites like YouTube, BandCamp, and ReverbNation to attempt recording my first album myself. As you can imagine the learning curve was pretty steep. I ended up recording several smaller projects before I was confident enough to begin work on a 10 track album. I learned a lot by trial and error and through my exploration of audio recording technology and microphone placement I realized that I had a real passion for audio engineering, which lead me to pursue a degree in audio recording from Case Western Reserve.

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

Singer/Songwriter Megan Zurkey’s “All My Life” was recorded as the title track to her most recent album. “All My Life" has a pop/rock feel with a 50's beat in the bridge. In Megan’s words “All My Life about the idea of someone more than about one particular person. It's the simple hope and wish anyone has when looking for their match. It's always easier for me to put feelings into music, and this was how I felt thinking about the ideal guy.. that I'd get to be with.. All My Life”. The song is arranged for a basic four-piece rock combo. The challenge to this piece was to create the lush, and full soundscape that has become synonymous with pop music of this sort, while maintaining the integrity of Megan’s singer/songwriter roots. It was important to maintain transparency and accuracy to the source sounds of her and the band whenever possible.

All My Life represents my second entry to the AES Student Competition. My previous entry, “Neon”, received the Bronze award at AES New York 2015. 

What/who made you join AES?

I actually joined AES in 2015 in order to enter the Student Recording Competition. However, I decided continue my membership full time. The membership fee really pays for itself when you take into account the many benefits of membership, such as free plugins, services, and networking/professional development opportunities. I plan to continue my membership into the foreseeable future. 

Tell us about your favourite experiences at the 141st AES convention in LA!

My favorite experience at the 141st AES convention in LA, was definitely the technical tour of Paramount Studios. It was an eye-opening experience to see the inner operations of a studio that worked in very different musical styles from my current job. Everything from the esthetics of the rooms themselves to the tuning of the studio monitors was unique and I enjoyed seeing the space in action. 

To hear Keifer's project, click here

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from and what do you study?  

I am from Caracas Venezuela, and I studied Music Production and Engineering at Berklee

College of Music

What initiated your passion for audio? When did it start? 

My passion for audio started as a musician. As a drummer I was exposed to the studio life a couple of times for recording sessions with different groups. It didn't take too long to fall in love with the process and the environment. When I got to Berklee and started the Music Production and Engineering Program, that was when that love for recording started turning into a reality. Being exposed to such a unique environment with talented musicians and incredible facilities, it was definitely the right place for me to learn the craft. Post production really began as a hobby for me. I've always been fascinated by film more than with music. When I had the opportunity to work with audio for visual media it opened up a whole new world of possibilities of what I can do with sounds and recordings.

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

My submission is the very first cinematic trailer for the video game "Elder Scrolls Online". I decided work on this video because I wanted to challenge myself and create something in a larger scale to what I've ever done before. My partner Filipe Antunes had won Category 4 the previous year in New York, and I remember sitting in the audience saying to myself "wow, I wanna do something like that", so in the next couple of months I planed out this project. 

Having the video with absolutely no audio provided an amazing blank canvas witch served as a foundation for what took months of work to create. From the Backgrounds to the Music, it was all carefully planed out and created in a matter of months. I estimate more than 50 hours were put on the creation of this submission on my end, and it was my first entry in the AES Student Recording Competition.

What/who made you join AES?

I joined AES the same time I joined the committee of the Berklee Chapter of AES. I was inspired to join by our faculty advisor and mentor Susan Rogers.

Tell us about your favourite experiences at the 141st AES convention in LA!

My favorite experience at AES was seeing all of the people with who'm I studied with at Berklee. Reuniting with past classmates and seeing what they are working on became one of my favorite parts of the trip.

To see Filipe and Gonzalo's project, click here

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from and what do you study?

I’m an audio engineer from Cleveland, Ohio studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music. I study my audio program under the incredible Grammy award winning engineers: Bruce Egre, Alan Bise, and Jack Renner. It’s an honor being educated by such talented individuals who have experienced every bit of the industry. I also study saxophone performance with the world renowned, Greg Banaszak, at Case Western Reserve University and perform with wind groups around the area.

Receiving my education through CIM and CWRU allows me the opportunity to meet and work with some of the most talented classically trained musicians of our generation. During my time at CIM I’ve had the honor to record many successful string quartets, solo artists, wind chamber groups, and orchestras.

I have the privilege of working for CIM’s Recording Arts and Services where we record over 600 concerts, recitals, recording sessions and rehearsals for CIM faculty, students and alumni each school year. Over the summer of 2016 I worked as the audio engineer for Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Blue Hill, Maine. In the past couple of years I’ve started working on a personal website, www.PazProject.com where many of my works, compositions, and recordings are displayed for others to hear.

What initiated your passion for audio? When did it start?

My passion for audio all started from my love for music. I was six years old when I first noticed a picture on the wall in music class. It was as if everything around me had stopped and all I could focus on was the shiny lust of the golden curves. For the entire period all I could do was wonder about this mysterious instrument. As soon as the bell rang, I jumped out of my seat to ask my teacher about the instrument in the picture. With a bright smile, she told me that it was a saxophone. From that day forward, music has been a part of my life every single day. Gradually my love for playing music has grown into creating and composing my own music. I have trained rigorously in music theory with private lessons in saxophone and guitar for over 15 years and counting. This education has allowed me to orchestrate the ideas in my head and put them on paper. The next step was finding a way to capture the words and sounds which introduced me to the art of audio recording.

During high school I purchased a simple beginner’s home recording kit, which included a cheap microphone, cable, a two channel interface, and free version of a DAW. Throughout the next few years I had self taught myself recording and mixing techniques which allowed me to create my own music. After placing in the top 10 rock charts on Reverbnation.com around the Cleveland area, I recieved great feedback on my works. These kind comments motivated me to continue and create music.

I only started thinking of audio as an optional path when I first applied to colleges. The idea of pursuing my passion as a career had truly inspired me to go into school for audio engineering and music.

I find the art of recording to be a beautiful way to capture specific moments in time which will never be repeated the same way again.

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

My submission for this AES Student Recording Competition was a recording of a live performance of the Requiem by Maurice Durufle. I was asked by my teacher, Bruce Egre, to cover for him on a session of a performance of several CWRU groups at a local church. It was recorded and mixed with a total of three stereo pairs of microphones and a single spot (vocal solo) microphone for one movement. I chose to present the 4th movement, “Sanctus”, at its entirety. It features an orchestra, a 60 voice choir, and a large church pipe organ. I also added a small section of the 5th movement, “Pie Jesu”, in order to present the vocal soloist, accompanied by a cello and pipe organ. Coming into this session, I had a main goal in mind. I wanted to achieve a clean recording of a live concert which consisted of the limitation of one take.

The recording session took only one evening with a couple of hours of preparation and soundcheck. I worked on the mixing stage of the project for a couple of weeks before reaching the aspired quality to present to the competition.

This recording was my first submission to the Traditional Acoustic Recording category in the competition. I had participated in the Traditional Studio Recording submission in the previous AES in New York City, which helped me have a better understanding of the judges’ expectations and prepared me for this competition in LA.

What/who made you join AES?

I joined AES after hearing great feedback about the conventions from students in my program. I was very inspired to be part of a larger group of people who shared the same love and passion for audio as I do. After consulting with my teachers, I decided to join AES and attend my first convention in New York City, which was one of the best decisions I’ve made.

Tell us about your favourite experiences at the 141st AES convention in LA!

Some of my favorite moments from the AES convention were meeting my greatest inspirations in the audio industry. I had the chance to have conversations with people such as Fab Dupont, Dave Pensado, Andrew Scheps, and many more. One of the greatest outcomes of this convention were the connections I made with people all over the world. From walking around the exhibit hall floor and meeting representatives from many leading companies, to attending the AES student after party and bonding with young audio engineers alike, I was able to make lifelong connections.

To see Ophir's project, click here

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from and what do you study?

I am from Scotland where I still spend a lot of my time. As an undergraduate I obtained a 1st Class Honours in Electronic and Communication Engineering. I also have a Postgraduate Diploma in Mechatronics, a Masters with distinction in Digital Music Processing as well as a Diploma in Music. I am now a member of the Media and Arts Technology Doctoral College at Queen Mary University of London. My PhD is in Real-Time Synthesis of Aeroacoustic Sounds using Physical Models. This requires me to research the sound generating processes from a fluid dynamics perspective and then implement this as a sound effect. 

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

My submission was the Real-Time Synthesis of a Propeller. This effect is a combination of two different aeroacoustic sounds and a motor sound. The first aeroacoustic sound is a broadband sound generated by vortex shedding as a propeller moves through the air. The second aeroacoustic sound is a periodic sound generated by the thrust and drag of the propeller creating pulses at the revolution speed. The motor sound was borrowed from Andy Farnell, one of my supervisors. 

The inspiration behind this was to give a practical example that has relevance to video games, films and TV. The majority of my research is designing fundamental models of aeroacoustic sounds, e.g. Aeolian Tone, Cavity Tone or Edge Tone. By implementing sound effects where the fundamental models are the building blocks, reveals the diversity of what can be achieved. A propellor model is a great example of this. 

This was my first entry to the competition.

What/who made you join AES?

I first joined my research group at Queen Mary, lead by Josh Reiss, in 2009 while I was undertaking a Masters project. Josh and a number of students in the group are active AES members and saw the benefits of being a member so joined.

My favourite experience at AES 141 was meeting the guys from Columbia who won the Gold award at the student design competition. They had clear passion for their project, obviously worked extremely hard on it and really deserve the recognition.

To see Rod's project, click here

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from and what do you study? 

I am a graduate student in my first year of study at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, where I am studying Sound Recording. Before this, I did two undergraduate degrees at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School in West Hartford, Connecticut, in the States, in music production and technology and piano performance. I studied for one summer term at the Banff Centre as an audio engineer work study, and have worked two summers at the Tanglewood Music Center as an assistant audio engineer.

What initiated your passion for audio? When did it start?

I came to audio as a performer who was used to listening critically, but only to my instrument or to musical aspects of a performance. Audio intrigued me because it encouraged more holistic listening in combination with a technical approach - almost like a conductor might listen, but with an ear to the science as well. That fusion of science and art led me to pursue my undergraduate degree in music production and technology beginning in 2012, where I became much more focused on recording acoustic music. Since then, I’ve also begun working more with electroacoustic sources, particularly in the new classical music area, and I also try to work on some jazz and rock so that I can maintain a balanced perspective.

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

This production was a concert recording done while I was working at Tanglewood this past summer. We each were responsible for one orchestra recording over the course of the summer, and mine was this concert. The orchestra performed this specific Wagner overture, Beethoven’s Eroica, and a Strauss horn concerto, so I needed a flexible setup that could accommodate such a wide range of classical music. Therefore I picked several general area spots to supplement the main orchestra sound, and then adjusted slightly over of the course of the week of rehearsals in the hall. I had three rehearsals before the concert to study the scores and fine tune the sound, and then during the concert, I did a live mix to two-track for archival, broadcast, and amplification purposes. I ended up using this mix as my submission, with some slight master bus equalization applied. I’ve entered the competition twice before this, and I was so excited and honored to be chosen as a finalist for this entry!

What/who made you join AES?

My professor at the Hartt School, Justin Kurtz, strongly encouraged me to join during my first year of study, and he also urged me to run for chapter office and attend conventions. I’ve been a student member ever since, and have had the privilege of serving as both Hartford and McGill chapter Vice-Chair. AES has become such an incredible resource for me to use through the online library and the conventions, as I can find answers to any audio questions that I might have. Especially as a graduate student, the research resources available online have made a huge difference in the quality of my studies!

Tell us about your favourite experiences at the 141st AES convention in LA!

It’s always great to see friends and mentors at the convention that I haven’t seen since the last convention. I also enjoyed the Raw Tracks session on Beck’s Morning Phase (which is one of my favorite records of all time), and the panel discussion about breaking the glass ceiling for women in the audio industry. I’m looking forward to the next convention in New York already! 

To hear Jennifer's project, click here

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from and what do you study?

I'm originally from the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, but I've been in Nashville now for 6 years. After taking time off from school to try the "artist thing," I'm now back at Belmont University with a self oriented focus on film audio as I finish my senior year for a BS Degree in Audio Engineering Technology. Belmont boasts the only Dolby Atmos surround system in any university in the U.S. (possibly world, but I'm not positive) which has been quite exciting to learn about and have (sparring) access to.

What initiated your passion for audio? When did it start? 

I've grown up playing and writing piano music since I was 4, though I never really learned to read music. My piano teacher, after my stubbornness wouldn't cease, began to foster ear training and I learned to play fully by ear.  From there I learned to play guitar, bass, drums, etc. and developed an ear for how they all fit together. Recorded bands in high school with a super simple Zoom multitrack and maybe 3 mics and from that point on my perfectionist mind was always fascinated with making things sound better and better. But it was going to an IMAX to see Interstellar in 2014 that made me realize what I believe is my purpose. That film has some AMAZING sound done by Richard King and his team to make it visceral and powerful. However, hearing Hans Zimmer's score in that film was one of the most religious experiences of my life; the powerful organ from Temple Church, the intimate piano, the dynamic and patient orchestral movements seemed so clearly to paint the gravity of reaching out into space for a new home...You may have heard this if you're a fan, but Hans was only given one page describing the film before he began the score - the page described a drama about a relationship between a father and his son - although the film was destined to be a large scale Sci-Fi production. So, his score cut right to the heart of the film denying predictable Sci-Fi motifs  - learning this jettisoned me into a new world that made me realize the depth and emotional context of film music and how it has shaped me as an engineer and composer in my life. My goal in my life is to learn how to work this way - to cut through to the heart of a film to its most central and human element. I believe it's the one thing I can do well while also helping someone else to enhance and develop their vision, which to me is everything; to me it's purpose.

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

Yes, this was my first entry into AES. My submission was the last 5 minutes of a beautiful film called "My Indian Rhapsody" - a successful thesis for Emerson graduate film student Abijeet Achar about a man conflicted with between love and success. For this project, I was asked to compose an original score, which ended up being 7 unique pieces that I began in January of 2016 and finished around March. I then took over most of the sound editing and fully mixed and mastered the film from March to May. I knew Abijeet from high school and when he contacted me about the project, I was incredibly excited as it is the longest and most creatively open film I had worked on to date! I was given an incredible amount of freedom to envision a score based on my own countless viewing on his cuts. As each new cut would come in, I would feel closer and closer to the film and began to take on its complex themes and meanings in my score creation. Themes that I felt I had experienced in my life; of love and loss, of following the right path, of daydreaming and feeling torn between two paths, of adoption and what that search entails, and many others - I could go on for days haha. The film is rich and incredibly well done, and made it to the semi finals of the student academy awards. I showed it to one of my professors, Dr. Doyuen Ko who won the AES Student Competion multiple times in his college days, and with his guidance I was able to select a section of the film which I remixed in Belmont's new 7.1 Film Mix Room. 

What/who made you join AES?

I joined our Belmont AES Chapter in 2013 when I came back to Belmont after taking some time off. I soon joined AES as a paying member after learning from Jim Kaiser of the endless opportunities they had for students to get involved and connected to professionals in the audio industry. I got involved as the treasurer in Belmont's chapter and now hold the current Belmont AES Chair position, though I'm sad to say I've been spread too thin been to put my full energy into it recently, though I plan for that to change as we gear towards some really exciting things next semester. I feel I haven't expressed this enough to our Belmont members, but AES is an incredible entity where you as a student can meet seasoned engineers and gain a wealth of knowledge from their experiences and I'm so grateful to be involved and have had the chance to take part in the student competition!

Tell us about your favourite experiences at the 141st AES convention in LA! 

Oh God. Haha there were so many! Walking through the showroom I got to demo some gear that I've been dying to see for years (namely Jonathan Pines showed me around the Master Bus Processor and 5060 Centerpiece by Rupert Neve Designs - I didn't think i could geek out that much). I met the head engineer  of Sony PlayStation and talked about the future of VR audio for games. Outside of the conference, I toured Universal Studios' Post Production Facitities and met re-recording engineer Jon Taylor (The Revenant, Birdman, Unbroken, Babel) through one of our amazing Belmont faculty, Dave Warburton and was able to get some invaluable knowledge from him as well as hear his mix for Unbroken (as he soloed his stems individually for us). So. Mind. Blowing. The lectures on VR Audio, Game Audio, and Sound for Picture were some of the coolest talks I've ever heard. I'd finish the day of lectures and walk my 15 blocks back to my crappy hotel with a headache and a notebook full of barely ledgible notes as I tried to capture all the info I could haha it was epic. Getting to hear other student projects and hearing comments from the judges had to be my favorite part. So valuable. It was also amazing (and terrifying) to show my submission to my peers and hear the judges' comments on my work as well - I certainly left feeling empowered and felt I had some amazing guidance for my next projects! I will certainly be back for New York and if all goes well I'll make it to Berlin this May too - to summarize, I'm hooked for life. 

To hear Kerrick's score project, click here

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from and what do you study?

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, but 3yrs ago I moved to Nashville to pursue my education and career in audio from Middle Tennessee State University. I’m currently working on my Masters of Recording Arts and Technologies at MTSU. I also serve as a graduate teaching assisting at MTSU and I run my own project studio called The Crooked Switch, where I freelance record, produce, and mix local artists. 

What initiated your passion for audio? When did it start? 

Like most audio engineers my passion for audio started with being a musician and having a love for music. Ever since I was a child I was always involved in music. I took piano lessons as a kid, I played clarinet and trumpet in my elementary school band, I studied music theory at a grammy winning high school (Neuqua Valley), and I played guitar and wrote music for a handful of rock bands throughout high school and college. While playing guitar, I became obsessed how things sounded. I was always fiddling with the settings on everyone’s amps, and I would leave shows constantly commenting on the quality of the sound. At the same time, my high school also had a small MIDI lab that it used for its music theory classes which was my first introduction to audio technology and the power it provided. Once I reached college I had enough money to buy Ableton live and an interface of my own. I was immediately hooked and knew that music production and audio engineering was what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing, and as they say, the rest is history. 

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

This song was inspired by a free release of some space themed samples by NASA. I’m a geek at heart and love outer space, so after sifting through some of these samples, I thought it would be really cool to base a song around the Apollo 11 landing. I was living in an apartment at the time of this song’s creation so most of my productions were done in-the-box using either MIDI, sampling, or DI guitars. This song was no exception. I work in both Pro Tools and Ableton live, but I prefer Ableton live for my own compositions and electronic based music that I make when I’m not doing production or mixing work for other artists. This song took a couple of months to create which is about normal for me. I wear many hats and juggle many balls, so I only devote time to my own productions such as this, when I have free time in my schedule, which is becoming much more rare these days.

What/who made you join AES?

I joined AES back in 2013 when I started school at MTSU. I had heard about their AES chapter through the departments website. I wanted to be as involved as I could in the audio community so it was a no brainer to join. I’ve been a student member ever since. In 2015 I also competed on MTSU’s mixing team during the AES Spring Mixer. 

Tell us about your favourite experiences at the 141st AES convention in LA!

As always, one of the best parts of AES is just being in the same room with so many like minded and talented audio professionals where the exchange of new knowledge is commonplace, new friendships are formed, and the opportunities are provided to talk about new technologies with your peers. Above all, I would say the highlights of the convention for me would be either making finalist in the recording competition, or listening to top producers like Greg Wells, George Massenburg, Darrel Thorp, and Al Schmitt, talk about their productions and recording techniques. I’d also never been to LA before so it was really cool just getting see such an influential and historic city that has had such a major impact on the music and entertainment industries. 

To hear Kyle's project, click here

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from and what do you study?

I grew up in Michigan and studied music production and composition in the Performing Arts Technology department at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. I had also been getting into programming and ended up earning a minor in computer science as well. Later, I got to pursue my interests in computer science and music in the Media Arts and Technology program at UC Santa Barbara, where I focused on software development for real-time audio applications. 

What initiated your passion for audio? When did it start? 

My interest in audio grew out of my passion for music. During my first couple years of college I started writing and recording my own songs, and I became fascinated with the process of composing and producing music. This eventually led me to apply to the PAT program in the music school. Though I was mostly focusing on studio production and composition at the time, I also got to explore audio processing using Max/MSP and Csound. During graduate school I began studying signal processing and further developed my software engineering skills in the context of effects processing and music information retrieval. I think I've been motivated by a desire to really understand the tools I use to make music, and as I've learned more about how these things work I've been inspired to develop new techniques for music production and performance.

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

The project was developed over the course of my final year of grad school. I had been learning about music information retrieval and audio effects processing and made the connection that controlling the behavior of effects based on the musical content of the signal could be really interesting. Though there are many existing examples of adaptive effects, at the time no one had attempted to generalize that concept in a way that could be integrated with digital audio workstations, so it seemed like a good idea to pursue for my master's project. This was my first entry in the competition. 

What/who made you join AES?

I originally joined AES to get access to journal articles, but I've since found it to be a good resource for meeting like-minded people and keeping track of what's going on in the audio industry.

Tell us about your favourite experiences at the 141st AES convention in LA!

Aside from being a valuable opportunity to get feedback on my project, it was great meeting the other students in the design competition and learning about their work. I also enjoyed wandering the exhibition hall and catching up with some friends at the Real Industry after party. 

To see Owen's project, click here

Many thanks to PSP Audio for sponsoring the student competitions!

PSPaudioware develops high quality audio effect and processor plug-ins. Their products garner rave reviews and endorsements from every corner of the music production, engineering, composition, and post-production worlds and become staples in professional and home studios worldwide. 

More Information

Many thanks to MathWorks for sponsoring the student design competition!

The MATLAB and Simulink product families are fundamental applied math and computational tools adopted by more than 5000 universities and colleges. MathWorks products help prepare students for careers in industry, where the tools are widely used for data analysis, mathematical modeling, and algorithm development in collaborative research and new product development.  

More Information