Organizer
AES
The Audio Engineering Society's mission is to promote the science and practice of audio by bringing leading people and ideas together.
Organizer
AES
The Audio Engineering Society's mission is to promote the science and practice of audio by bringing leading people and ideas together.
AES Nashville Section “Spring Mixer” competition
The Nashville Section of the AES held its nineteenth annual “Spring Mixer” competition event on April 10. Area schools with audio recording programs were invited to participate in the annual student mixing competition. Participating from area schools were students from Belmont University, Nashville State Community College, Dark Horse Institute, Union University, The Blackbird Academy, Bethel University, Middle Tennessee State University, and Vanderbilt University.
Each team was given identical raw original studio tracks recorded in a Nashville professional studio, identical mixing environments, and eight hours to create a stereo mix and complete additional paperwork based on the delivery recommendations created by the AES Nashville Section and the Producer / Engineer Wing of NARAS. Entering the competition, the students were only informed of the judging criteria and what equipment they would be using.
The mixing was performed on March 28 in six identical Pro Tools HD postproduction rooms at Belmont University’s Johnson Center facility in Nashville, TN. The students were informed as to what version of software to expect on the Pro Tools, room monitoring equipment, and what plug-ins would be available on those systems. Rules prohibited any materials being brought in, re-recording of any new material outside of the Pro Tools systems, or any outside assistance.
The final mix created by each team, using tracks from a recording session of “Tomorrow Tonight” by Maddye Trew, was judged on eight elements: Fidelity/Sonics, Imaging Width, Image Depth, Mix Balance, Lead Presence, Mix Development, Dynamic Range/Preparation for Mastering and Documentation-completion of “Session Documentation Sheet – Mixing” developed as a joint effort by AES Nashville Section and the P&E Wing of NARAS.
Steve Marcantonio served as Emcee. John Jaszcz graded the documentation. A panel of judges comprised of industry professionals graded the mixes and presented their critiques at the April 10 event. The event was held in the Warner Music Nashville’s auditorium in Nashville. The judges included Bobbi Geil (Mixing Engineer), Shani Gandhi (Mastering Engineer – Welcome to 1971 Studios), Chip Matthews (Mastering Engineer – owner of The Tin Ear), and Danny Duncan (Mixing Engineer/Producer and owner of Vanguard Recording).
The judges were not told what mix was associated with which school. This is quite likely the only chance for the students to be critiqued in a completely subjective environment. The winner of this year’s competition was the team from Belmont University, comprised of Collin Kelly, Christopher Burgmaier, and Jadon Frederick. Second place went to Union University, comprised of Josiah Robbins, Josh Humphrey, and Jaziel Zuniga. Third place was the team from Dark Horse Institute comprised of Issac David, Tim Temple, and Emmanuel De Leon.
The top three schools received over a total of over $15,000 in prizes donated by our generous sponsors: Avid, Harrison Audio, FabFilter, Asterope, PSP Plugins, Yosh Drum Warehouse, Wholegrain Digital Systems, LLC, and Sweetwater in conjunction with Soundtoys. The AES Nashville Section furnished finely tailored upper torso custom garments (event T-Shirts). As the first-place winner, Belmont University took home the coveted “Top Mixer” perpetual trophy that will be proudly displayed at Belmont University with appropriate bragging rights until next year.
