We are proud to announce that we have gathered an amazing group of judges for the Student Design Competition at AES 135. All of them are well known industry professionals, and here you can find out a little bit about each of them.
DAVE HILL
Dave Hill started designing and building devices at an early age, constructing analog synthesizers from scratch, performing professional sound recordings, and working in equipment maintenance while still in high school. After high school, Dave continued to pursue a career in electronics and enrolled in a local technical college. After his first year he was asked by the college to take over teaching duties and taught analog and digital electronics for 8 years. During his time, he also designed a flight timer for small private aircraft and did maintenance on the school’s electronic instruments and machines.
Early in the 1980's, Dave was asked to design a tube compressor with a classic, vintage tone. The result was the Summit Audio TLA-100. Dave went on to design and set up the manufacture of all Summit Audio products until September of 1994
In August of 1995, Dave founded Crane Song Ltd. and began his first project, designing a tube playback preamp for the ATR-102 analog tape machine. Dave then launched his Crane Song product line with the STC-8 two channel discrete class-A compressor-limiter
Today the Crane Song family of products has grown to nine world-class hardware products and a Pro Tools plugin. Other credits include Avid's HEAT plugin, ATR Service Company's variable speed control and ARIA record-play electronics. Dave's designs have won him many TEC nominations. Dave is currently working on new designs for Crane Song and Dave Hill Designs and is performing research on clocking, jitter, and digital control of analog audio.
Posted: Sunday, October 13, 2013
We are proud to announce that we have gathered an amazing group of Judges for the Student Recording Competition at AES 135. All participants will have their work reviewed and scored by three Judges per category. All of them are well known industry professionals and here you can find out a little bit about each of them.
Jim Kaiser
CAT 2 - TRADITIONAL STUDIO RECORDING
Since 2000, Jim Kaiser has been the Director of Technology at MasterMix in Nashville, and responsible for surround production and audio restoration.
Kaiser’s career features experience in live & studio recording with artists like Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Gloria Estefan, and Michael Jackson, and technical design of recording and production facilities, including Sony-BMG, East Iris, MasterMix, and Clear Channel Entertainment/Live Nation.
Jim was the Audio Engineering Society President in 2009-2010 and serves on the AES Technical Council, the Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing, and the Nashville Engineer Relief Fund Board. He has been involved in workshops, seminars, and paper presentations at AES international conventions and regional conferences since joining in 1983
Jim Kaiser has been teaching in the Audio Technology Program at Belmont University since 2005.
Posted: Sunday, October 13, 2013
It's time for us to tell you all about all of the wonderful sponsors that support our Student Recording Competition! Expect to see some awesome giveaways by these generous companies at AES 135!
TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik™ strives for absolute perfection. By offering historic recreations of classic microphones alongside their own proprietary designs based around the distinctive tube mic sound, TELEFUNKEN has established a product line that perfectly blends vintage style and sound with the reliability of a modern-day microphone. Their commitment to both the sonic excellence and quality of all of their products is rivaled only by their dedication to provide the BEST possible service to each and every one of their customers.
TELEFUNKEN's R-F-T Series of tube microphones are affordable solutions that deliver amazing tone and ultimate application flexibility at a price anyone who is serious about recording can afford. The Dynamic Series microphones are a phenominal value and offer an articulate, detailed sound with minimal proximity effect in a rugged, roadworthy design. Upgrade your sonic collection with TELEFUNKEN microphones!
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Posted: Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Tell us a little bit about yourself: Where are you from? What do you study? How did you discover your passion for audio?
My name is Winfried, I am from Munich and studied Tonmeister at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna until last may. I’m mainly interested in recording classical music and jazz, as well as studio and concert hall acoustics.
Are you a musician yourself? What instruments do you play and in what musical context?
I play the piano, guitar, accordion (Bavarian!), and I sing.
Tell us about the production of your submission. What is the story behind it? How long did you work on it?
There is a three-week jazz workshop at The Banff Centre in Canada every year, which is very intense for both musicians and engineers. The musicians get to come into the studio for a 4 to 5 hour session, often with newly written songs. The time available for the sound check is limited. Since most instruments are in the same room it is a challenge to handle the microphone leakage to make it sound nice in the final mix. I remixed the session I had recorded during one afternoon, also at The Banff Centre.
What were your most significant, funny or inspiring experiences as an audio engineer?
In one session we had a Yamaha Disklavier (MIDI-controlled upright piano) at hand and fed it the MIDI arrangement of a piece from the Star Wars soundtrack. The piano totally freaked out - it was pretty funny.
Also my whole room at home was full of insulating material on two occasions because I had ordered half a truck load of absorbers for me and other students.
Occasionally I make binaural recordings with two small microphones near my ears to capture concert hall acoustics - I usually put them on in the bathroom. Weird things happen there...
Accidents happen: What was your biggest mistake in a production and what did you do to redeem the situation?
I hardly ever make mistakes (…) but once I placed a big tube mic in front of a double bass the wrong way around, because the LED wasn't visible after putting on the clip. I heard it instantly, though… after 15 minutes!
What’s your advice for engineers who are just starting out?
Find an area within the audio that you like particularly and spend as much time learning about it as possible. Check out different places to study and learn, otherwise you won’t experience new things to form your own taste from. Get a reference CD early on to check out different listening environments. Compare gear, speakers and so on when it's possible and you have the time. Pay attention to acoustics, in both the recording and the listening space. I think it is one of the most important aspects after the quality of the recorded instruments, and the monitor speakers.
Tech talk: What are your favourite pieces of equipment?
I really like the Schoeps MK21, the Sennheiser MKH50, and the Royer 122 for their versatility.
The Smart C2, the Tracker Compressor, and the Impirical Labs Distressor are great sounding pieces of outboard that I will probably never own...
The UAD EMT reverb emulation sounds great, and is really cheap and easy to use compared to the real deal.
Could you pick one of your favourite productions and tell us what makes it stand out in your opinion?
I just re-listened to some of the Carlos Kleiber opera studio recordings on Deutsche Grammophon. They had the time and budget to make something really great it still stands out. Even the “lighter” works such as the operettas are dramatic and thoroughly produced, almost like an audio drama with sound design and actors for the spoken parts.
What do you like about the AES? How does it help you to become a better and more successful audio engineer?
The AES is a great place to meet people from all over the world and make contacts, to remote places such as The Banff Centre. It also enables me to visit different cities in Europe, which is very nice.
Tell us about your favourite experiences at the 134th AES Convention in Rome!
It was funny to see people who were quite obviously audio students standing around randomly at the Piazza del Popolo. ?Also, we tried trading a friend’s camera for beer.
What is your favourite frequency?
30-40 Hz and 80Hz.
What do you do when you’re not in the studio or doing anything music related?
I enjoy hiking and woodworking.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
In a mirror. Unless a vampire shows up beforehand...
Could you provide us with some closing comments?
Yes.
If you want to get in touch with Winfried you can send him an e-mail using the following address: winfried.lachenmayr(AT)gmail.com
Winfried's submission is currently not available online, but you can listen to the following live recordings, which were engineered and mixed by him at The Banff Center:
Photo by: Megan Krauss, TBC
Posted: Wednesday, October 2, 2013
The Student Delegate Assembly is accepting pictures of Student Section Events for the AES 135 Student Booth, your student home at the Convention. Submit your pictures to [email protected] and show the world what your section has been up to!
Posted: Sunday, September 29, 2013
We are proud to announce that we have gathered an amazing group of judges for the Student Design Competition at AES 135. All of them are well known industry professionals, and here you can find out a little bit about each of them.
BILL WHITLOCK
Well known as a guru of analog audio systems, Bill Whitlock has been president and chief engineer of Jensen Transformers since 1989. His prior analog circuit design jobs include Capitol Records-EMI, laser light show producer Laserium, and console-maker Quad-Eight. He's presented numerous papers, tutorial seminars, and master classes at AES conventions and local sections, SynAudCon workshops, and universities, including MIT in 2007. His writings include three chapters in Glen Ballou's Handbook for Sound Engineers, training manuals for NSCA, InfoComm and CEDIA, and numerous trade magazine articles. He holds four patents, including the InGeniusR balanced line receiver IC. He is a Life Fellow of the AES, a Life Senior Member of the IEEE, and a highly revered expert in the global audio community.
Posted: Thursday, September 19, 2013
Tell us a little bit about yourself: Where are you from? What do you study? How did you discover your passion for audio?
I'm Victor Osadchev. I was born in a small town on the outskirts of Russia. I had a long way to get where I am now in my life. I'm currently a 3rd year student at the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music in the Department of Sound Engineering. I also work as a recording engineer in the Moscow Philharmonic Society, where I make several records every month. I prefer recording orchestral music.
Are you a musician yourself? What instruments do you play and in what musical context?
I finished musical college as a classical pianist. And it helps me so much with my work as an audio engineer because I have a deep understanding of music and each musician I work with feels it.
Tell us about the production of your submission. What is the story behind it? How long did you work on it?
The piece I presented in this year’s competition is not my first orchestral recording, but it was my first experience with Shostakovich's cello concerto. It was set up for a live broadcast on our web site meloman.ru.
What were your most significant, funny or inspiring experiences as an audio engineer?
For me, the most inspiring part of my work is the cooperation and conversation with the musicians I record. It’s great to have a mutual understanding working together for the same reasons - creating Music.
Accidents happen: What was your biggest mistake in a production and what did you do to redeem the situation?
The main problem I have is time. I sometimes overthink things and forget to actually do what I have to do. The solution for me: Don’t spend too much time thinking about the task but carrying it out.
What’s your advice for engineers who are just starting out?
Try really hard, put a lot of effort into your work and use all of the opportunities life presents to you. Don't give up! Who knows, one day you might suddenly realise that you are exactly doing what you’ve always wanted to do.
Tech talk: What are your favourite pieces of equipment?
I like Pyramix and work with it as often as I can. It's very nice, because its programmers really think about how the user experience and workflow can be improved. People, who use Pyramix once, usually never come back to another Digital Audio Workstation. Also, I cannot imagine recording classical music without DPA mics. It's impossible.
What is your favourite recording or production?
On the one hand I like productions in which I hear things that I haven’t heard before that give me new idea. On the other hand I like old records or modern recordings with a traditional production approach that keep the natural acoustical atmosphere intact. I think its unfortunate that more and more modern classical recordings seem to approximate the sound aesthetics of cinematic productions. Sometimes, though, mixing new thoughts and modern approaches with old or traditional ideas can have really nice results.
What do you like about the AES? How does it help you to become a better and more successful audio engineer?
First and foremost the AES provides the opportunity of meeting and talking to many new people to gain novel ideas and learn different perspectives. Living in Russia this aspect is particularly important to me. We oftentimes have different views when it comes to the way classical music is recorded. It really helps to learn different opinions about a subject. And of course the SDA meetings.
Tell us about your favourite experiences at the 134th AES Convention in Rome!
Talking and listening to Ron Streicher always is really interesting. He covered a lot of the basics, but provided his own perspective. It’s necessary to be reminded of the simpler things every once in a while so as not to drown in the complexity of the field and forget essential aspects.
What is your favourite frequency?
Any… Except for 1 kHz.
What do you do when you’re not in the studio or doing anything music related?
When should that be!? Does it ever happen? No. I really like traveling, though, seeing new places and meeting new people.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Time will tell. I have concrete goals and will see. I’d definitely like to work on high quality classical music with top-level musicians – and maybe not only in Russia.
Could you provide us with some closing comments?
Thanks to AES for providing opportunities such as the recording competition. Presenting our work to so many people is really important for the realisation of our ambitions. I highly value hearing other people’s opinions - it helps me to make further steps in my personal and professional life. See you at many other AES events!
Victors's submission can be downloaded here.
If you want to get in touch with Victor you can send him an e-mail.
Posted: Thursday, September 19, 2013
We are proud to announce that we have gathered an amazing group of Judges for the Student Recording Competition at AES 135. All participants will have their work reviewed and scored by three Judges per category. All of them are well known industry professionals and here you can find out a little bit about each of them.
Andres Mayo
CAT 2 - TRADITIONAL STUDIO RECORDING
Andres is a multiple award-winning stereo & surround Mastering Engineer with strong recording and sound post-production skills, and a DVD producer, with wide knowledge of interactive platforms.
He pioneered the art of CD and DVD mastering in Latin America since 1991, with credits in more than 1500 albums by many of the best known artists in the region, and currently runs his own facility Andres Mayo Mastering, with high resolution 5.1 mixing and mastering capability.
As an audio Engineer, Andres won five Carlos Gardel Awards to the Technical Excellence in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011 and several nominations to the Latin Grammy ® Awards and MTV Music Awards since 2002. As an independent producer, he has won 2 Latin GRAMMY ® Awards in 2008 for his 7-DVD collection “Buenos Aires, Days and Nights of Tango”, winning in the categories of Best Tango Production and Best Recording Packaging.A
Posted: Wednesday, September 18, 2013
We are proud to announce that we have gathered an amazing group of Judges for the Student Recording Competition at AES 135. All participants will have their work reviewed and scored by three Judges per category. All of them are well known industry professionals and here you can find out a little bit about each of them.
Jonathan Wyner
CAT3 - MODERN STUDIO RECORDING
Posted: Wednesday, September 18, 2013
We are proud to announce that we have gathered an amazing group of Judges for the Student Recording Competition at AES 135. All participants will have their work reviewed and scored by three Judges per category. All of them are well known industry professionals and here you can find out a little bit about each of them.
Prof. Jim Anderson
CAT 2 - TRADITIONAL STUDIO RECORDING
President of the AES, 2008-2009, Jim is an internationally recognized recording engineer and producer of acoustic music. He is the recipient of numerous awards and nominations. His recordings have received nine Grammy awards and 25 Grammy nominations; radio productions have received two George Foster Peabody Awards and there have been two Emmy nominations for television programs. He is also a professor in the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at NYU and was the Chair of the department for four years.
Posted: Wednesday, September 18, 2013
