Richard King is an Associate Professor in the Music Research Department at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal. He is an Educator, Researcher, and a multiple Grammy award winning recording engineer. During last year’s Grammy Awards, Richard was nominated for both Best Classical and Non-Classical Engineered album. His research interests include small environment acoustics, the process of music mixing, and multichannel recording and reproduction in three dimensions. His book entitled Recording Orchestra is due to be released in November as part of the Focal Press “AES presents” series.
Posted: Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Meet Merging, the company that brought the incredible DAW Pyramix into the industry, and one of our sponsors for the student recording competition!
Merging Technologies is the world’s foremost manufacturer of high-resolution digital audio recording systems. The list of customers reads like a who’s who in the recording industry and recordings made with Merging Technologies’ systems regularly receive the recording industry’s prestigious Grammy® Award.
The company was founded in 1990 in Chexbres, Switzerland by Claude Cellier; an electronics graduate of the Institute of Technology in Lausanne Prior to this, Claude worked for the famous Swiss audio maker Nagra Kudelski for 10 years. Within a short time of its founding, Merging quickly established a reputation for their expertise in digital signal processing and associated hardware, and with their Pyramix Virtual Studio, was one of the first companies to produce a DSD recording system.
In 2007, Claude Cellier was presented with the Audio Engineering Society Fellowship Award for outstanding contributions to the development of high-performance, high-resolution audio workstations. Merging Technologies currently has over 20 employees with offices in Switzerland and the UK.
Posted: Monday, April 4, 2016
For the first time in 'Up Your Output!'s history, the UK's most relevant audio student event was hosted outside London and moved 'UP! North' to York.
Its fourth instalment demonstrated that the event's established formula is just as effective outside London as it is in the UK's capital: 'UP! North' managed to draw a large crowd of local, national and international students to the University of York's Department of Music for a weekend full of learning, sharing knowledge and making meaningful personal and professional connections.
The event delivered on all the qualities it has become known for since its inception: A two day programme of exhilarating lectures and workshops presented by a lineup of some of the most renowned audio educators and industry professionals, as well as a technical tour of Calrec Audio's headquarters in Hebden Bridge. Further, representatives of a number of event sponsors were present to get in touch with students, give them career advice and the opportunity to go hands-on with their products.
The 'UP!' Committee thanks all presenters, sponsors and volunteers involved and the University of York's Department of Music for making the event possible. The change in location was a big challange for 'Up Your Output!' and it passed with flying colours.
Please visit upyouroutput.com/2016/ for a detailed event report including comprehensive information about speakers and sponsoring companies!
Report and photos by Simon-Claudius Wystrach.
Posted: Thursday, March 31, 2016
The AES Student Delegate Assembly is inviting all educational institutions and audio companies to participate in the AES Education and Career Fair which is scheduled to take place Monday, June 6, 2016, from 10:45 am to 1:00 pm (please note the schedule could change), at the 140th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society in Paris, France.
This event is an opportunity for schools and companies to meet students, inform the audio community about their programs and activities, and to touch base with the future of audio. Everyone is invited to come talk with representatives from the companies and universities and find out more about educational programmes, and job and internship opportunities in the audio industry. Any eligible organisation can get a table at this fair completely FREE of charge, so what are you waiting for?
We recommend that you bring pamphlets, pictures, audio samples and any other type of media that can appropriately represent your institution or company. Both student and educators are welcome as school ambassadors.
If you don't represent a school or company at the fair, don't forget to stop by and explore education and career opportunities.
Space is limited so the sooner you sign up, the better.
See you in Paris!
More Information about Student Events at the 140th AES Convention
Posted: Monday, March 28, 2016
If you are an AES Student Member, you should have received this over email as well.
If you are not (currently) an AES Student Member, below are a few of the many reasons to change that!
Grab your diaries, clear your schedule: the AES Convention is coming to Paris, and that means the Student Competitions are too!
Students and recent graduates can participate in the Student Recording Competition and Student Design Competition for which registration will open soon. We want to remind you now, to give you more than enough time to get your project in shape.
If advice from audio legends, exposure to key players in the audio industry not to mention a very large enthusiastic crowd, a great experience, a fantastic networking opportunity, and an invaluable career boost mean nothing to you, we also have tens of thousands of euros worth of amazing prizes (that's tens of thousands of dollars, too).
140th International AES Convention: 4-7 June 2016
Student Recording Competition submission deadline: Sunday 1 May 2016
Student Design Competition submission deadline: Sunday 22 May 2016
You can submit as soon as the registration is open, so stay tuned!
In case you were already planning to come to Paris, it would be silly not to submit your latest or proudest project, whatever it is, to these popular competitions. If you weren't sure yet, then this is one of the many reasons why you should absolutely come. Don't take our word for it, though - ask any student who has ever been to a Convention.
For instance, AES139 Student Competition winners Nick Lobel and Jesse Brock, Daniel Davidsen, James Pinkl, Keifer Wiley, Jennifer Nulsen or Filipe Antunes.
More information on how, what, why, where and when to submit can be found in the Student Recording Competition and Student Design Competition Rules and Policies.
Left: A student explains his hardware design at a very busy Student Design Exhibition at AES138 in Warsaw, Poland.
Right: Some genius industry experts judge a software project at AES139 in New York. Note the relaxed atmosphere and the smiling student!
Left: World-renowned engineers take a break from making best-selling records and dusting off Grammys to give ALL STUDENT RECORDING COMPETITION ENTRANTS feedback that will change their lives!
Right: Only four empty chairs in an otherwise packed room, listening intently to an excellent Student Recording Competition submission.
Not so very long after that, the 141th Convention will be taking place in Los Angeles, so you may want to think about your SRC or SDC submission for that one, now that the term is still young!
141th International AES Convention: 29 September - 2 October 2016
Student Recording Competition submission deadline: Sunday 28 August 2016
Student Design Competition submission deadline: Sunday 18 September 2016
The AES Student Delegate Assembly is inviting all educational institutions and audio companies to exhibit at and all students, recent graduates and educators to visit the AES Education & Career Fair.
This event is an opportunity for schools and companies to meet students, inform the audio community about their programs and activities, and to touch base with the future of audio. Everyone is invited to come talk with representatives from the companies and universities and find out more about educational programmes, and job and internship opportunities in the audio industry.
We recommend that you bring pamphlets, pictures, audio samples and any other type of media that can appropriately represent your institution or company. We provide some table space, you bring the rest. Exhibiting space is limited though so the sooner you sign up, the better!
Sign up now to exhibit free of charge!
Like with every convention, we are again looking for a new student ambassador to join the ranks of the Student Delegate Assembly. We are just four audio students representing the 4,000 of you, organising the events at the Conventions, supporting student activities and answering queries from all over the world.
The SDA consists of two representatives for North and Latin America, and two representatives for European and International Regions (i.e. everything that’s not the Americas). At every convention, one Chair retires, one Vice Chair assumes the position of said Chair, and one new recruit joins the ranks as Vice Chair. This June, we regret to say goodbye to Brecht De Man, SDA Chair for Europe and International Regions for one more Convention, as Dave Moffat succeeds him, leaving the Vice Chair position vacant.
A few things you need in order to qualify:
Read more about being a student representative on the Student Blog.
If you are interested in running, please contact us at [email protected]
As of this month, we want to thank and empower all our AES Student Members by giving them access to a range of freebies and discounts. This is an unconditional, non-expiring gift to each current student member as well as all who sign up from now on.
At the moment, these benefits include:
Talk about value for money! (A student membership to the AES, already packed with value, is a mere $39)
Make sure you keep up-to-date and follow the SDA online:
All the best from friendly neighbourhood Student Delegate Assembly officers,
Brecht De Man, Chair for Europe and International Regions (@BrechtDeMan)
Zach Bloomstein, Chair for North and Latin America (@ZachBloomstein)
Dave Moffat, Vice Chair for Europe and International Regions (@djmoffat)
Michael France, Vice Chair for North and Latin America
Posted: Tuesday, March 1, 2016
What/who made you join the AES?
Posted: Monday, February 15, 2016
Posted: Monday, February 1, 2016
Grab your diaries, clear your schedule: the AES Convention is coming to Paris, and that means the Student Competitions are too!
Students and recent graduates can participate in the Student Recording Competition and Student Design Competition for which registration will open soon. We want to remind you now, to give you more than enough time to get your project in shape.
If advice from audio legends, exposure to key players in the audio industry not to mention a very large enthusiastic crowd, a great experience, a fantastic networking opportunity, and an invaluable career boost mean nothing to you, we also have tens of thousands of euros worth of amazing prizes (that's tens of thousands of dollars, too).
Right: a small sample of the prizes given to Student Competition finalists at the 139th AES Convention in New York - this also doesn't include the many, many software prizes awarded that day.
In case you were already planning to come to Paris, it would be silly not to submit your latest or proudest project, whatever it is, to these popular competitions. If you weren't sure yet, then this is one of the many reasons why you should absolutely come. Don't take our word for it, though - ask any student who has ever been to a Convention.
So polish your best project one more time, or start an entirely new one especially for this occasion, as you might never again get such an opportunity to bootstrap your audio career.
More information on how, what, why, where and when to submit can be found in the Student Recording Competition and Student Design Competition Rules and Policies.
IMPORTANT DATES
Student Recording Competition submission deadline: Sunday 1 May 2016
Student Design Competition submission deadline: Sunday 22 May 2016
140th International AES Convention: 4-7 June 2016
You can submit as soon as the registration is open, so stay tuned!
Left: A student explains his hardware design at a very busy Student Design Exhibition at AES138 in Warsaw, Poland.
Right: Some genius industry experts judge a software project at AES139 in New York. Note the relaxed atmosphere and the smiling student!
Left: World-renowned engineers take a break from making best-selling records and dusting off Grammys to give ALL STUDENT RECORDING COMPETITION ENTRANTS feedback that will change their lives!
Right: Only four empty chairs in an otherwise packed room, listening intently to an excellent Student Recording Competition submission.
Learn all about student activities at the 140th Convention and elsewhere by following our Twitter feed, Facebook page, and this blog!
Posted: Monday, January 25, 2016
Keifer Wiley received the Bronze prize for his Category 2 Submission at the AES139 Student Recording Competition. We were lucky enough to interview him afterwards.
Keifer's winning submission 'Neon' is available for download on his website.
Hi Keifer, thanks a lot for meeting with us!
Not a problem, my pleasure.
So, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? Where 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 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.
Ah, so you're a musician too. What instruments do you play and in what musical context?
I started with woodwinds in elementary school and eventually picked up guitar from a friend when I was 12. From the moment I learned my first chord on guitar I was pretty much hooked. As my interests in music grew I branched to a variety of other instruments; piano, drums, and various wind instruments. It was around this time that I began writing my own songs and today I would describe my primary musical pursuits as singer/songwriter and indie rock bands.
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?
“Neon” was record as part of the album, “Give me a Reason”. The song is arranged for two vocalists, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums. In order to fully capture the dynamic and spontaneous quality of a natural live performance, the entire session was tracked live in one take through a Pro Tools multi-track session with limited overdubs. Tracking for “Neon” took place over one four-hour session on site in a large historic church, Harknes Chapel.
What was your most significant/funny/inspiring experience as an audio engineer?
I would say the most significant realization that I have made so far as an audio engineer is that while gear and plugins are extremely helpful and admittedly fun to collect and experiment with, there is no substitute for proper mic placement and selection. In fact, having a mired of plugins and outboard gear can have the effect of paralysis due to far too many options. One of the greatest strengths of my first album is that I was forced to make all my recording decisions with one microphone, limited plugins, and no outboard gear. Due to this limitation I was never tempted to “fix” things in the mix and or throw more microphones up. I had to get things as right as I could with the gear I had. This minimal approach is also helpful to engineers who are starting off with a small budget (as I am); you don’t need thousands of dollars’ worth of gear to create decent recordings.
Accidents happen: What was your biggest mistake in a production and what did you do to redeem the situation?
I once went into a live session which required five independent headphone mixes, I had never needed this many headphone mixes before and I had not used this feature of my Roland interface before. I quickly learned that setting up a good headphone feed can be complicated and the internal and external routing can create quite a headache if you aren’t quite sure what your doing. I ended up going about 30 minutes over on my setup time and noticeably frustrating everyone involved as I fumbled for the proper configuration. At this point there was nothing I could do to get that time back, but once I got myself organized all I could do is give the most efficient session I could from that point on. Luckily the band was able to stay a little late to makeup the lost time.
What’s your advice for engineers who are just starting out?
Referring to the story above, never go into a session with any questions about your gear, procedure, or routing. Those are all things that need to be worked on outside of the stress of a session. With any new gear of new technique, you will run into snags and I can say from experience there is nothing more stressful than being watched by a band sitting in the live room ready to record, while you struggle with some technical issue. Just like a musician spends hours in a practice room before taking the stage in front of the public we must also hone our craft outside of session. When the artist is in the room we are performing and have to be as on top of our game as they are.
Tech talk: What are your favourite pieces of equipment (microphones, outboard, plugins), and why?
The most important piece of my signal flow are my microphones. I really like a pair of Schoeps CMC6 with the MK21 sub-cardioid capsules. When placed in ORTF a pair of CMC6 MK21’s can be used to mic a whole orchestra by themselves. I love to place these as my room mics for acoustic guitars and strings when I want clear imaging and betting frequency response than cardioids alone can accomplish. People might cringe a little at this next one, but I heavily rely on Pro Tools’ stock plugins for eq and compression; they have a unique color and are very streamlined and intuitive. For reverb I’m a huge fan of Altiverb, I haven’t found a plugin that rivals its sound quality, intuitive interface, and versatile control features.
What/who made you join the AES?
I joined AES after hearing about the experiences of my peers who had participated in one of the New York conventions. After a little bit of research, I discovered that the benefits of AES for students and professionals alike extend far beyond the Convention floor. Since joining AES I have had the opportunity to meet with the heads of recording at several of the studios, and festivals that I had admired in my time as a student of audio recording. It was an invaluable experience to hear about their careers and their advice on the industry and career development.
Tell us about your favourite experiences at the 139th AES Convention in New York!
I would have to say my favorite experience of AES139 was the student mixers and the recording feedback that we received from each other and many of the audio professionals that we admired. It was truly inspiring to hear and see what my peers have been working on. There was so much talent there and so many of the students were making opportunities for themselves that I had never even considered possible; it most certainly set a fire under me to work harder and gave me some of the tools I need to work a bit smarter.
What is your favourite frequency?
8kHz.
What do you do when you’re not in the studio or doing anything music related?
I’m really into outdoor adventuring - camping, hiking, and climbing. I also like literature and movies.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
If the last 4 years of my life are any indication, my life in 10 years will be nothing like what I could imagine now. The opportunities I have gained and lost always take me in new and interesting directions. I’m sure that songwriting, composition and audio production will always be a part of my path, I have no Idea where that will lead me. Right now I’m focusing on honing my craft and improving myself so I’ll be ready when the next opportunity presents itself.
Could you provide us with some closing comments?
I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities AES and the student delegation have provided to my peers and I. I would also like to express my gratitude to Brandie Lane, Richard King, and Sean McLaughlin for taking the time out of their schedules to impart their feedback, advice, and improvement ideas to me. It was truly an honor to present my art to a group of such distinguished judges.
Thanks very much, Keifer, and good luck with the rest of your already quite impressive career!
Check out Keifer's work on his official website, YouTube channel, and SoundCloud page.
Posted: Monday, January 18, 2016
Hi Jimmy. Congrats again on your achievement! Thanks for taking the time for sitting down with us. 
Posted: Monday, January 11, 2016
