Behind the Decisions That Preserve Audio History

AES Historical Committee

 

Minutes of the Meeting at the 116th AES Convention, Berlin

 

2004 May 10

Attending: 15 people. Al Grundy, Alex Balster, George Brock-Nannestad, Willy Aubert, Louis Manno, Jerry Bruck, Ernst Voelker (acting chair), Erich Kamp, Cornelius Bradter, Klaus Hobohm, Erich Schleicher, Johannes Richter, Kunimaro Tanaka, Ted Sheldon (secretary).

1. Opening by the Chairman E. Voelker, chairman of the meeting in place of Jay McKnight, called the meeting to order at 12:35.

2. Greeting from Ernst Voelker E. Voelker greeted those attending on behalf of AES HC Chair Jay McKnight. He indicated that Vice-Chair Irv Joel had planned to attend, but could not do so owing to illness. All members present wished Joel good health and a speedy recovery.

3. Introduction of Members and Guests Members and others attending the meeting identified themselves. Also, a sign up list was distributed.

4. Report of the Chairman and Discussion The chair reviewed the activities that have been held and will take place at this conference. He thanked all members who had contributed to the success of the presentations and exhibits at this Berlin convention. He mentioned that nearly 100 years ago, attempts were being made to add a mechanical-disc sound track to early motion picture films at Babelsberg near Berlin. He noted that historical equipment and artifacts are on display here in the AES Historical Booth in the convention exhibit area that were used in these efforts. Further, Babelsberg film, television and audio historical demonstrations now being presented are drawing large audiences. These presentations will continue throughout the convention and a tour of Babelsberg will also be available for Historical Committee members and convention attendees.

5. Projects. During discussion that followed these remarks, discussion of the following projects and topics took place:

5.1 AES HC Communication. The need was presented for a status report giving the current status of AES HC projects. It was suggested that the status report should updated at least every six months. Also, members requested that AES HC meeting notes be sent to members. These active means of communication would be better than the passive methods now used via the website.

5.2 Dutch Broadcasting Museum. The Dutch Broadcasting Museum will move to another building next year. For now, the museum is operating on a reduced schedule.

5.3 Audio-Visual Time Line. W. Aubert is continuing his work on the audio-visual history time line, and encouraged members to contact him regarding contributions. He anticipates that a draft soon will be available. A question arose as to how members could contributed to the time line, and Aubert asked members to talk with him after the meeting or contact him by email. A short discussion of the intended content of the time line helped to clarify the direction it is taking.

5.4 Thiele-Krause Archive. This collection now is at Berlin University. A presentation at this convention from Klaus Hobohm and Cornelius Bradter of Berlin University in charge of the archive discussed the work to organize and make accessible the contents of the Thiele-Krause Archive among others sources.

5.5 Other Archives It was noted that other archives remain in private hands (those held by Schueller, Kupper, Hoffman and Manno were mentioned), and may become endangered through death or changing circumstances. The AES HC can help preserve the contents of these collections in many ways. This is an enormous task. Efforts need to be strengthened, and members must be very watchful to identify audio engineering collections and threats to their continued strength. It may be possible to cooperate with the AES Education Committee in these efforts, and a member of that committee indicated a willingness to work with the AES HC in this arena. It was suggested that AES HC Chair Jay McKnight contact the AES EC chair to explore areas of cooperation..

6. New Projects George Brock-Nannestad proposed a new project. He noted that Stephen F. Temmer proposed a review of patents having to do with audio developments, but he has died and no documentation exists to describe his progress. Brock-Nannestad noted the patents registered by in Britain and presented examples. He proposed to scan the abstracts of patents as they were published. Then it would be possible to scan the patents themselves. He needs someone to go through the AES Journal to look for content references to patents. It is anticipated that the AES HC chair will take the proposal under advisement and seek more detailed clarification from Brock-Nannestad.

7. There being no further business to conduct, E. Voelker encouraged members and interested persons to attend the AES HC presentations yet to come and to view the exhibits. He adjourned the meeting at 13:30.

Minutes submitted by Ted Sholdon, Secretary AES Historical Committee

b0746-04

AES Historical Committee Minutes of the Meeting at the 115th AES Convention, New York 2003 Oct 11, 10:00…12:00

 

Attending:  Kevin Irelan, Geoffrey Wilson, Wesley Bulla, Louis Manno, Michael Murphy, John Chester, Philip Esterhazy, R. David Reed, Alex Kostelnik, Myles Davis, Ron Streicher (AES President), Irv Joel (vice-chair), Jay McKnight (chair).

Chair Jay McKnight called the meeting to order.

1.    Historical Committee (HC) Report to the AES Board.  On the back side of the agenda is the Historical Committee Report to be submitted to the AES Executive Board at this convention.  It includes a list of activities for the past year.  Chair McKnight reviewed the report for those attending.

1.1    History of the Japan Section.  The HC was provided with a history of the AES Japan Section in 2000, along with the request that it be translated and published.  Two people have agreed to undertake the translation, and translation of about one-quarter of the document has been completed.  Both the Japanese and English versions will be loaded on the HC website.

1.2    AES Archive.  A volunteer is needed in the New York City area to help organize and catalog the materials in the AES Archive.  R. Furness, AES Executive Director has responsibility for finding someone.  If members know of someone who is interested, please contact him.

1.3    Historical Exhibits at AES Conventions. Documents from the 114th convention historical exhibits have been placed on the AES HC website.  Thanks to Alex Balster for his hard work on those exhibits.  Another fine exhibit is on display at this New York convention.

1.4   Minutes on the AES HC Website.  It was suggested at the Amsterdam meeting of the HC that it made no sense to have minutes of meetings  approved at the following meeting, because attendance is mostly by different people in Europe compared to North America.  Therefore, it was decided that minutes would be posted on the HC website and suggestions for changes would be reported to the HC reflector.  This appears to be the most expeditious way to handle this issue.

1.5  HC Email Reflector.  The HC maintains an email reflector.  McKnight encourages all members to participate in the discussions occurring thereon.  Persons wanting to participate in reflector discussions can go to the HC website to join.

1.6  HC Web site.  The HC maintains a web site.  Most of the results of the Committee’s work appears there.  This is an important resource for members.  This year the web site was moved to the AES server.

1.7  The HC has a project to develop and publish a directory of museums, libraries and other repositories of audio.  A full report follows later in this meeting.

1.8  The archive of the German audio heritage will find a home at the Technical Museum of Berlin.  The Tiele Archive and its catalog will reside there.

1.9  The HC oral history project is ongoing.  A report will follow later in this meeting.

1.10  The HC programs for this convention.  The “Vinyl Goes Digital”  committee has done a fine job of locating one-of-a-kind machines for display.  These include one of the early Sound Stream machines.  Presenters will talk about using these same machines.  Irv Joel reviewed the successes of HC exhibits and presentations at previous conventions.

2.    Directory of Museums.  M. Davis reported on progress toward the compilation of the Directory.  The official purposes of the proposed directory are 1) to create a directory of museums, libraries and archives and private collections that contain historic audio equipment or documents pertaining to the history of audio engineering, and 2) to cooperate with existing libraries, archives and museums and with other professional organizations having interests in these areas.

Davis raised a few questions that have emerged from early discussions and asked for comments from the HC.  Is there an intent or mandate to preserve technology through the aegis of the AES?  Is there a purpose to educate regarding the history of audio technology and audio engineering?

If these are the purposes, a review of links on the HC Web indicates that there are only two museums in the world that qualify for inclusion in the proposed directory.  Clearly, an effort is needed to contact people and institutions to widen the knowledge base of the project.

 Is there a cut-off date defining the historical period covered by the project?  It was noted that an effort should be made to be inclusive when determining which institutions and individuals to include in the directory.  Where should be the dividing line placed between audio equipment and computer equipment?  It was noted that while there is no absolutely clear division, the HC is primarily interested in audio and equipment related to audio.  One area needing coverage is equipment and documents residing in private hands.

Next steps include publicizing the project as a way to garner information.  A draft of text for publicity was provided to the chair and read to the members attending the meeting.  The intent is to publish publicity to the AES Journal, newsletters and other reflector lists to inform people about the project and garner information and support .

It was noted that AES has considered the idea of building a museum of recording technology, but this was deemed too expensive.  AES now seeks to coordinate the work of existing museums, and help people find places to donate old equipment.

It was requested that the proposed directory should reside on the web and be maintained in a searchable environment. This would make information about repositories and collections widely available, including which are accepting donations, the nature of holdings, accessibility and other information to facilitate preservation and research efforts.  An endangered equipment list could be developed.

3.    The availability of the HC website was noted, and the chair invited comments regarding its operation and usefulness.

4.    The chair noted the open invitation to all members and others to propose projects for the endorsement and support of the HC.  Projects need to pertain to the interests of the HC as defined in its charge.  The charge can be found on the HC website.

5.    Oral History Project.  Irv Joel has been conducting the project, which began in 1999, for the HC.  The goal has been to record audio and/or video interviews with persons prominent in audio history, and do so as quickly as possible.  Some 115 interviews have been completed to date and they exist on either video or audio tape.  Joel described some of the problems he has encountered, and some approaches he has used to assure that interviews are successful.  It was noted that efforts should be made to assure correctness and clarity of comments made in the interviews.  A disclaimer is needed to the effect that these are the opinions of the interviewee, and not those of AES or the AESHC.  Also, there are a large number of tapes made over the last twenty years in the Los Angeles area, including the “Afternoon with….” interviews.  These need to be merged with the more recent interviews.  An inventory has been created.

Another part of the project seeks to edit the raw interviews and create presentations of the most important parts. Progress in this area has been limited.

6.    History of the AES Japan Section.  A history written in Japanese was submitted for publication several years ago.   Someone has volunteered to translate it.  It should be up on the website by year end.

7.    Ampex Museum.  The museum has moved to Stanford University.  A status report is available on the website.

8.    Adjournment.  The meeting was adjourned, noting that the next meeting will take place in Berlin on May 8-12, 2004.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ted Sheldon Historical Committee Secretary

2004-04-15;  html jm 2004-05-17 Draft 2004-05-25

Minutes of the AES Historical Committee at the 114th AES Convention, 2003-03-24, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

 

The Historical Committee meeting took place on Monday, 2003 March 24, at the RAI Conference Center, Room J, from 10:00 to 12:00. The meeting was chaired by Historical Committee Vice Chair Irv Joel.

Attending: Jurgen Herre, Alex Balster, Cor Doesberg, Kees Immink, Reinhard Sahr, Stan Tempelaars, Berlinghini Gualtiero, Irina Aldoshina, Robert Beppetto, Louis Manno, Irv Joel (vice chair), Ted Sheldon (secretary)

1 Opening Greeting

Alex Balster, project leader for the Historical Events at this convention, welcomed attendees, distributed agendas and introduced HC vice chair Irv Joel who chaired the meeting.

2 Introduction of attendees

Persons attending the meeting introduced themselves and indicated their affiliation.

3 Amendments to and approval of agenda

The agenda (http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/mtgagendas/114conv2003/aes114th-agenda.html) was approved as distributed.

4 Approval of previous minutes, and remark on the approval procedure

The minutes from the previous meeting (113th Convention, 2002-10-07, in Los Angeles, CA) can be found on the AES Historical Committee (HC) website.(http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/minutes/aeshc-minutes-113th-2002-10-07.html).  They were approved without objection.  It was noted that the attendance at the European and North American meetings is almost completely different, making it hard to approve minutes.  Approval of meeting notes via the HC website seems the best way to proceed.

5 Committee Report to the Governors

The Committee-s report to the AES Governors appears on the website (http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/committee.repts/aeshcrept2003-03-11.html )as it was submitted by the Chair.

6 Report on ongoing projects

6.1 Report from this convention

Alex Balster reviewed the HC presentations that have taken place (e.g., Polygram producer) at this convention ( http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/mtgschedules/114conv2003/historical-exhibit-at-114th-convention.html ).  For the first time, the HC exhibit and presentations were moved to the main convention floor resulting in much higher attendance at both the exhibits and the presentations.  Different experiences in Europe and North America were noted and their successes applauded.

6.2 AES HC website

Members are encouraged to look at, comment upon and contribute to the website ( http://www.aes.org/aeshc/ ).

6.3 Proposals for new projects

New projects are always encouraged.  The HC has a small budget so it is not possible to pay the expenses of individuals who serve as project leaders, but some funds exist to pay for special expenses.

6.4 Oral History Project (OHP)

The OHP has recorded interviews with about 100 persons who have made important contributions to the history of audio ( http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/oralhist/oral-history-project.html ).  Any form of oral interview is acceptable, but a release form must be signed to allow use of the recording.  The OHP recordings are not being transcribed owing to lack of funds.  In three months a series of recordings will be placed on the AESHC web site. It was suggested that companies might be willing to support the production of a CD-ROM/DVD of historical figures discussing their contributions.  Members and others are encouraged to help with the oral recording of prominent persons, including suggesting persons to be interviewed.  It was noted that AES sections could help with the project.

7 Suggestions on historical projects.

7.1  Preliminary of plans for the 115th convention in New York

Plans for the New York convention were presented by Irv Joel (http://www.aes.org/docs/mtgschedules/115conv2003/exhibit-plan-newyork-115th-2003-10.html).  David Baker has taken responsibility for the HC presentations in New York.  The format will remain the same as recent presentations in the US, but audio in the digital domain will be added.

7.2  Date of the next European convention

The next European convention will take place in Berlin, Germany on 2004 May 8-11.

7.3  Archiving historical recordings

Alex Balster made a proposal (http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/mtgagendas/114conv2003/balster-proposal-2003-03.html ) to create a central repository for oral history sound recordings. Discussion of archiving media and formats used by the HC ensued.

8 Other new business

There was no new business

9 Date for next meeting.

The next meeting of the HC will occur at the 115th AES Convention on 2003 October 10…13 in New York, USA.  The probable date is 2003 October 12.

Minutes submitted by Ted Sheldon, HC Secretary   2003-04-11.

Edited & html  jm  2003-05-23

Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting at the 113th AES Convention, 2002-10-07, in Los Angeles, CA

 

Attending: Dale Manquen, Bob Crow, Ted Sheldon, Alex Balster, Dave Huber, Fred Thal, Dave Read, Michael Murphy, John Stroda, Nick Bergh, Al Grundy, Jim Hunter, Lou Manno, Paul McManus, John Chester, Irv Joel, Jay McKnight (chair)

Chair Jay McKnight called the meeting to order at 13:05.

Introduction of Attendees

Persons attending introduced themselves.

Approval of Agenda

The Chair indicated several items to be added to the agenda, and they appear below as they were addressed.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes from the previous meeting in Munich, Germany were approved as distributed.

The current Historical Committee report to the AES Board of Governors is posted on the HC web site. Ongoing projects Report from this convention.

Dale Manquen reported on efforts to arrange for presentations and mount the exhibitions that have occurred at this convention. He recognized and thanked those who made contributions, including Robert-Eric Gaskell, Paul McManus, Mike Spitz, Nick Bergh, and Wes Dooley.

Website Updates

Chair McKnight noted changes in the AESHC web site, http://recordist.com/aeshc/. Recent changes and additions are listed in “What’s New”.

New Projects

Chair McKnight indicated that the AESHC is always interested in new projects. He outlined the method used to start new projects, and encouraged anyone wanting to commence a project to contact him.

Oral History Project

Irv Joel reviewed the current progress of the oral history project. Some 80 interviews have been completed. Help is needed to propose persons in the history and development of audio who should be interviewed regarding their experiences. Others are needed to conduct the interviews. A camera is now available in Europe as well as North America to facilitate interviews there. Most interviews average about one hour; to date the longest one is three hours.

AES Archives

Roger Furness reported that the AES Archives project has seen some progress recently. He indicated that the archives is partly at headquarters and partly stored elsewhere. Because of the headquarters renovation,  much of the historical material has been moved to secure storage. Shortly, these materials will be moved back into the headquarters and organizational work on them will commence.

New business Historical Exhibit at the 114th (Amsterdam) Convention

Alex Balster informed the Committee about activities planned for the Amsterdam convention in 2003 March. He indicated that experience has proved that foreign languages can be troublesome for individuals. This year’s exhibition will concentrate on special measuring devices (e.g., a laquer measuring device). He invited everyone to come to Amsterdam and participate in the AESHC activities.

“Library of Historical Episodes”

Dale Manquen discussed his proposal for an “AES Library of Historical Episodes.” It is clear that the very interesting exhibitions mounted by the Historical Committee at AES conventions should be preserved. At this 113th annual convention, the presentations and their associated audio/visual materials have been captured digitally as an historical record of events. They preserve the history of audio, and we hope to make them available for use by AES sections and schools. They serve the goal of making available transportable exhibitions. To further expand use, options include producing a CD-ROM or streaming content from a web site. We would like to make this convention’s “When Vinyl Ruled” exhibition and presentations available in at least one of these ways.

Ampex Historical Website

Dale Manquen discussed briefly the Ampex corporate web site. Several hundreds of people interested in Ampex audio recorders are seeking to mentor interested people in the use of Ampex machines. Ampex documents (e.g., manuals, sales sheets) will be scanned and posted, to make them available to the audio community as an aid to the mentoring work.

Jensen Loudspeaker Archive

Jim Hunter mentioned that Jensen, the speaker manufacturer, has gone out of business. Jensen archival material, including 72 notebooks from 1936 and following, have been acquired by Lou Manno’s Audio History Library.

Audio History Library

Lou Manno’s Audio History Library has archives of some 600 companies in the history of audio dating from the early history of audio. The AHL intends to build a digital library for all.

Book of  Photos of Historical Audio Equipment

Dave Huber is working on a book of photos from the history of recorded sound. The AES timeline will be the basis of the work. Huber is seeking photos and other resources, along with permissions, to use in the work.

Directory of Archives

Ted Sheldon discussed the goal of creating a directory of archives and repositories, institutional and individual, as a project of the HC. He noted that one AES Standards Committee has a project to do this, and noted that it is more appropriate in the HC. He asked that anyone interested in helping contact him.

Next HC meeting The next Historical Committee meeting will be at the 114th Convention, in Amsterdam, in 2003 March. The meeting adjourned at 14:05. Minutes prepared by Ted Sheldon, AESHC Secretary, 2002-12 Edit & html, J McKnight, 2003-03-03

Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting at the 112th AES Convention, 2002-05-11, in Munich, Germany

 

Attending: Louis Manno, Willy Aubert, Manfred Krause, Daniel van Recklinghausen, Myles Cochran Davis, Mathias Helling, Robert Boesnecker, Ron Streicher, Michael Murphy, Wolfgang Niehoff, Rudolf Mueller, Kees Immick, Hans-Otto Hoffman, Herman A. O. Wilms, Dave Read, Irv Joel, Friedrick Engel, Ernst-Jo. Völker (Munich meeting chair), Ted Sheldon (AESHC vice chair, meeting secretary). Also several visitors attended the meeting

Chair pro-tem Ernst-Jo. Völker called the meet to order at 10:10 and greeted those attending. He thanked everyone for coming and noted the recent passing of Heinz Thiele, a pioneer and dedicated researcher in the history of audio. He introduced and thanked students from Darmstadt University who served as volunteers working with the AESHC, several of whom were at the meeting. The agenda was distributed and reviewed. No additions were suggested and the agenda was approved as distributed. Remembrance of Heinz Thiele by Manfred Krause

M. Krause indicated the sadness brought by news of Heinz Thiele’s passing on 2002 March 4. His papers are now at the Technical University of Berlin through arrangements made by Manfred Krause. A few moments of silence were observed in his memory. Much of Thiele’s equipment and papers were destroyed toward the end of World War II. After the war, he restarted his research and remained active until 1975 when he retired. He was a strong supporter of AES and other societies and associations. Krause intends to continue the work of Heinz Thiele. He intends to make CDs from tapes of interviews made by Heinz Thiele, and hopes that some can be loaded on the AESHC web site.

Roll call of members and guests.

At the suggestion of chair Völker, members and persons in attendance introduced themselves by name and affiliation.

Report on AES Historical Committee projects. Irv Joel (for AESHC chair Jay McKnight).

Joel reviewed the communications methods used by the AESHC. He described the AESHC email reflector and how it can help members communicate with each other and with all members using the reflector. Another means of communication is the AESHC web site. To access it, go to the AES web site www.aes.org, then click on Historical Committee. There will be found descriptions of the projects currently operated by the AESHC to accomplish its work. Leaders of the respective projects are:

Audio Timeline, Irv Joel. 112th convention, Ernst Voelker. 113th convention, Wes Dooley. History of the AES, Roger Furness. History of the AES Japan Chapter, Takeo Yamamoto, chair; Steve Sohma, secretary. History of audio engineering at the Vatican, Roberto Beppato. H. K. Thiele Archive, Manfred Krause. Oral History, Irv Joel, chair; John K. Chester, technical advisor. Server provider, David Josephson. Web master and reflector, Howard Sanner

To start a new project, write a description of the proposed project, then send it to Jay McKnight, AESHC chair. Please be prepared to participate as a leader of the proposed project.

Minutes of the meeting at the 111th Convention  in New York City on 2001 Dec. 2  were accepted without exception. Report on European AESHC projects, Manfred Krause.

Vatican project. No activities were reported.

The H. K. Thiele project. The Thiele archive continues to develop as Manfred Krause directs it and learns its content. A database is planned. The collection contains patents and correspondence of patent holders. The first stage of the database is to create headings for all of the material in the archive.

History of the AES. Roger Furness described the project. Materials at the AES HQ will be gathered together as the offices are renovated during the coming year and a place found for them. Also, the materials need to be organized and cataloged.

The day’s scheduled for presentations in the HC room at this convention were reviewed. They include Hans-Otto Hoffmann from Bavarian Radio discussing the first loudspeakers, a very interesting presentation, and Manfred Krause discussing the legendary tape recorder magnetophon of AEG. Ernst Völker will discuss Phillipp Ries – from the first telephone to the first (carbon) microphone. Other highlights in the program schedule were reviewed. The Oral History project. Irv Joel noted that some 68 oral or oral/video interviews have been completed. Two already were competed at this convention and more are planned. Miles Davis has done two interviews in England, and others are encouraged to help with identifying interviewees and act as interviewers. Still images of the “When Vinyl Ruled” exhibition at the New York 111th Convention, 2001-12, were shown by Irv Joel. Joel noted the theme of the presentation and the methods used to put the exhibition together. The next meeting of the AESHC will be at the Los Angeles convention in 2002 October 5-8.

Respectfully submitted,

Ted Sheldon, Vice Chair and Secretary

AES Historical Committee

2002-06-26  a

2002-09-04  b  jm html & edit; attendees confirmed against video tape by ij

Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting at the 111^th AES Convention, 2001-12-02, in New York

 

Chair Jay McKnight called the AES Historical Committee (HC) meeting to order at 12:20. He indicated that the purpose of the meeting was to review the activities of the AES Historical Committee (AES HC) and to learn about the views of member regarding current and future projects. 1.Introduction of Attendees. Attendees introduced themselves: Irv Joel, Louis Manno, Kees Immink, Howard Sanner, Ken Wilkinson, Chris Muth, John K. Chester, Greg James, Kurt Hulit, Al Grundy, David Baker, Frank Abbey, Steve Sohma, Fred Katz, Dan Gaydos, Bernard Fox, Georgia Anderson, Tom Scott, Wes Bulin, David J. Graham, Marjorie Joel, Robert Auld, Sid Feldman, Bill Pollup, Steve Durr, Michael Christopher, Eric Somers, Paul McManus, Nicholas Bergh, Jay McKnight (chair). Also several visitors attended the meeting part time.

1. Amendments to and approval of the agenda. The agenda was distributed, and approved as distributed.
2. Approval of previous minutes. Minutes from the previous meetings in Los Angeles (109^th convention, 2000 Sept.) and Amsterdam (110^th convention, 2001May) have been available on the AES HC web site. The minutes of the Los Angeles were approved as distributed. Minor editorial changes were made to the Amsterdam minutes, and they were approved.
3. Discussion of points from the meeting at the 110^th convention (2001 May) in Amsterdam. At the AES HC meeting during the Amsterdam convention, Alex Balster raised several questions regarding AES HC programs and practices. McKnight reviewed these concerns as follows.
   1. Concern about communications between North America and Europe: McKnight suggested that the AES HC was considering a request for funds to support one person who would attend all AES HC meeting and thereby provide continuity betwen the Spring and Fall meetings.
   2. Problems with the web site: McKnight reviewed the current arrangements for use of the web site and the reflector, both of which are the official means to distribute information about the AES HC. Many organizations use these same methods. The AES HC is always open to suggestions for improving these methods, and to add other methods where appropriate.
   3. Software usage: It was noted that the AES HC tries to use simple text files and avoid specialized software packages.
   4. Inventory of audio projects: In response to the call for such an inventory, McKnight noted that it already is available in the “Purposes” given in the HC Guidelines that are posted on the web site.
   5. Native language interviews: This request is to conduct interviews for the oral history project in the native language of the interviewee. It was noted that the widest distribution of the content of interviews would be achieved with the use of English, but AES HC policy supports the need for interviews in native languages when the interviewee is more comfortable using his/her native language. In these instances, interviews should be conducted in the language of the interviewee and a translation secured.
   6. Storage and access to historical materials: Funding from the AES is not available now to store the audio interviews of the AES HC. Interviews are being stored by Irv Joel; backups will be made at a later date.
   7. Lost tapes: It is believed that this relates to tapes of the Los Angeles “Afternoon With…” series. Paul McManus is working to add these tapes to the AES HC oral history collection.
4. Committee report to the Governors. McKnight reviewed the report to be presented to the Board of Governors at this convention. The topics are:
   1. The AES HC is trying to get more suggestions of people to interview for the oral history project. Names of those planned for recording are listed on the web site.
   2. The AES HC is working with Roger Furness to accomodate historical materials at the AES headquarters. Furness is the chair of this effort.
   3. History of AES in Japan: The text of the History of AES in Japan has been received from Steve Sohma, and it now will be loaded on the web site. A translation currently is underway. Those interested in writing histories of the AES in their countries are encouraged to do so and contact the AES HC.
   4. IEEE cooperation: A liaison has been established with the IEEE history center at Rutgers University. Discussions are now underway exploring areas of cooperation.
   5. At the Amsterdam convention, word-of-mouth comments indicate that the Historical Café was a big success.
   6. The Vinyl Ruled 2 exhibit is ongoing at this conference and has drawn a strong attendance.
   7. The AES HC runs a web site, FTP site and reflector. They are accessed through the main AES web page. Contact McKnight if you have problems.
   8. Manfred Krause is continuing work  in Germany on a catalog for classifying the inventions and developments made in audio engineering, based on the work of HK Thiele.
   9. The oral history project is active in the USA and Europe. Interviews are being transcribed and will be placed on the web site.
   10. Members were encouraged to send ideas and materials to McKnight to further the projects of the AES HC. New projects are welcome, and the AES HC will use its web site to distribute the results of historical projects.
5. Munich conference: The local arrangement people are preparing displays, papers on historical subject, and exhibits. Some historical films may be included in the program.
6. Committee membership list: The membership list of the AES HC was started some years ago, but has not been kept up to date. Secretary Ted Sheldon will be contacting members listed there asking for confirmation of contact information (name, mailing address, email address, telephone number). How would the membership list be used? Most persons do not want their information listed on a public list. One possibility is to list it on a list available to members of the AES HC only. Another possibility is to have the listing several pages down in the web site. It was suggested to post only names and email addresses. This last was the concensus of those present.
7. New Business:
   1. Many of those present indicated that they were on the AES HC reflector. For those not on the reflector, the preferred methods is that people follow the instructions on the website.  Sanner who will acknowledge and make arrangements.
   2. Ampex had a museum of artifacts that was stored several years ago. Stanford University Libraries have acquired that collection. They are organizing it now and they hope that it will be publicly available in two years.
   3. Kristina Schwarz was introduced. She will be making oral history interviews in Europe starting at the Munich convention. She intends to start at the IRT in Munich.
   4. Thanks to Irv Joel, John Chester and all those involved for putting together the exhibition here at the New York convention. Irv Joel described the process of bringing the exhibit to life with the interruption of the World Trade Center attacks. The exhibit is totally a volunteer effort except for required union work. The Javits Center staff has been wonderful. Joel also reviewed the historical programs presented in recent years, commenting on how the programs were assembled.
8. Discussion from the floor.
   1. It was announced that SoundWave, the international museum of recorded sound and entertainment, will be opening in Camden, New Jersey, USA. Tom Corcoran was the creator of this center. Members of the AES HC are invited to become involved. SoundWave now needs support from the audio industry.
   2. Michael Christopher announced that he is working on a project involving Edison cylinders. He aims to release a cylinder recording on CD of a recording of Thomas Edison’s voice.
   3. Nicholas Bergh talked about transcribing oral interviews to text.
   4. Howard Sanner noted the last living acoustic recording engineer should be interviewed for the oral history project. Cyril Francis worked for Parlophone in London and is the father of David Francis, former head of the Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Irv Joel is working on this.
   5. Irv Joel demonstrated the exhibition being presented at this convention.
9. The next meeting will take place in 2002 May, in Munich, Germany.
10. The meeting was adjourned at 13:50.

Respectfully submitted, Ted Sheldon, Secretary AES Historical Committee 2002-03-04 Rev e: jm 2002-04-22; rev f: hcs 2002-09-05

Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting at the 110th AES Convention, 2001-05-13, in Amsterdam

 

The AES Historical Committee (HC) meeting was called to order by Chair pro tem Alex Balster at 15:35 in the Historical Café (Room R) of the RAI Convention Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  Ted Sheldon, AESHC Vice Chair, served as secretary.

Alex Balster distributed the agenda for the meeting.

1  Welcome

Members in attendance were welcomed. Nineteen persons were in attendance, including Robert Beppato, Gualtiero Berlinghini, George Brock-Nannestad, Jerry Bruck, Luciano d’Aleo, Tim De Wolf, C. L. Doesbury, Albert Grundy, Gerard Hali, Louis Manno,  Andreas Meyer, R. David Read, Yoshizo Sohma, Herman van Laar, Arthur van Maurik, and Erhard Werner. They introduced themselves and gave short summaries of the their careers and interests in audio engineering.

2  Relevant Correspondence; messages from the HQ

Chair pro tem Balster indicated that communication between the AESHC and its European members was not working as well as could be hoped. He asked how the stream of information between the AESHC and its European and North American members could be improved.  Members agreed that there is a problem in this area.  It was agreed that a request be made for clear explanations about what is on the web site and the email reflector. And clear instructions be available telling members how these resources can be used.  Also, it was noted that there are language problems in Europe that do not exist in North America; these need to be recognized.  The structure for distributing AESHC information about its activities need to be much clearer.  AESHC needs to make the use of the web site and the reflector easy and intuitive.  This was agreed to by all.

3  Minutes of the Los Angeles meeting at the 109th AES Convention ( see http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/minutes/aeshc-minutes-109th-2000-09-24.html )

Approval of the minutes of the Los Angeles meeting was deferred in view of the fact that no one from the Los Angeles meeting was present, and it seemed inappropriate to approve the minutes without comments available from North American participants.

4  Core Items for the meeting.

4.1  Common software usage.  The suggestion was made that universal computer file formats for sound, text, pictures and video be adopted.  The chair said that this was clearly needed, and was an important part of the effort to clarify the methods for communicating information throughout the whole of the AESHC.  This desire is again communicated to the leadership of AESHC.  There was consensus on this issue among all in attendance.

4.2  Inventory of audio history projects.  It was noted that the need existed to make an inventory of audio history projects that are under way or should be initiated in Europe.  This inventory should also indicate the person who is conducting, or could conduct, such projects.

It was noted that the Phonographic Museum in The Netherlands is conducting interviews with persons prominent in the history of the Dutch recording industry.  This is an active project.  It may be possible to form a partnership between this project and the AESHC.

Furthermore, it was suggested that national oral history projects should be undertaken in the native language of the person being interviewed, with an English translation and/or summary complementing the audio recording of the interview.

4.3  Audio History Library.  Louis Manno discussed his work to create a privately supported audio history archive in New York City. He proposed in 1991 that an AES Historical Database be created.  This database would fill the need for a place for researchers to go to learn about the history of audio, as well as historical audio equipment and its uses.  He has begun a project, the Audio History Library, and is endeavoring to collect information (e.g., literature, manuals, etc.) for addition to the archive.  While this is a private project, he welcomes cooperation from the AESHC and its members.

4.4  History of the AES.  Albert Grundy (USA) indicated that he was working on an inclusive history of the AES, starting with the United States.  He recognized that other national bodies are working on this same topic within their countries.  The intent is for all these projects to come together as a comprehensive history of the AES.

4.5  Storage and access of historical materials.  When materials are generated digitally, storage and distribution are relatively easy. However, currently, the AESHC is conducting oral history interviews using 8 mm tape.  This medium is not appropriate as an archival medium. In the near future, these recordings will need to be transferred to more archivally stable media, requiring more time and effort.  Attention needs to be given now to using a more acceptable media for the oral history interviews, and plans need to be laid for the transfer of the 8 mm tapes to an archival medium.

It was noted that oral history interviews were being conducted at this Amsterdam conference to continue the project before it becomes too late.  These interviews use the same methods as those in the United States.  It also was noted that language problems pertain to the making and editing of these recorded interviews.  It was noted that a more effective and informative record of individual experiences would be achieved when the native language of the subject is used.  It was the consensus that native language should be used for European interviews.

4.6  The AES/Japan 50th anniversary.  AES/Japan is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year in 2001.  Yoshizo Sohma discussed the making of the history of the AES/Japan, 1952-1998 and presented a draft of the document to T. Sheldon, in both printed and electronic form. Sohma indicated that the history is written in the Japanese language and needs to be translated into English as a next step.  Sheldon thanked Sohma and agreed to carry the impressive document to AESHC Chair Jay McKnight and begin the discussion regarding translation.   <>

4.7  A question was asked about comments made in earlier meetings (e. g., Munich, 1999) that some tapes from meetings had been lost in at AES office.  Is this true?  It was noted that AES Secretary Ron Streicher is in the best position to answer this question.

4.8  Robert Beppato announced that on the next day, May 14, at 11:00 am, a presentation will take place titled -Artifacts from the State Archives in Rome.-  Recordings have been transferred to digital format and will be played.

5. The meeting was adjourned at 16:30.

Respectfully submitted,

Ted Sheldon AESHC Vice Chair

Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting at the 109th AES Convention, 2000-09-24, in Los Angeles

 

The AES Historical Committee (HC) meeting was called to order by Chair Jay McKnight at 13:10 in Room 301B of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

1. Introduction of attendees.

Persons in attendance introduced themselves, adding comment about their affiliation and interests: Peter Swarte (Netherlands), Louis Manno, John Woodgate (England), Paul McManus, Susan Schmidt Horning, Irina Aldoshina (Russia), Albert Grundy, Donald Plunkett, Yoshizo (Steve) Sohma (Japan), Jim Hunter, Rick Minne, M. David Read, John French, Chris Herles, A. Douglas Moncrieff, John K. Chester, Ted Sheldon, Irv Joel.

2. Amendments to and approval of the agenda.

The printed agenda was distributed.  McKnight asked for permission to alter the order of consideration of agenda items.  There was no objection.

3. Approval of previous report from AES 108th convention, Paris, France.

The minutes of the Historical Committee meeting from 2000 February in Paris were approved as distributed.

4. Project report

The -Project Report, 2000-09-19″ document was distributed and reviewed. [The complete report  is now available online at http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/projrepts/aeshcprojrept20000909.html .]

The -Historical Café-: This project is proposed for the 110th Convention (2001 May, in Amsterdam)  with a budget of 8,000 US$.  This proposal will be made to the AES Board of Governors.  Arrangements also may be made to visit a nearby museum.

Through the efforts of Art Shifrin and Irv Joel of the Historical Committee, an Ampex Model 200A stored at the AES headquarters was returned to its owner. The -library- of technical journals and books at AES headquarters has been donated to the Library of Congress. Histories of the AES.  The history of the Japan Chapter of AES has been written; now it is proposed to request 5,000 US$ to translate it into English.

The -When Vinyl Ruled- exhibition presented at this conventiont has been a big success.  Thanks go to Paul McManus, Irv Joel, David Baker, John Chester, Shelly Herman, Jim Webb, and others for the exhibition demonstrating recording technology from the 1950s – 1970s. Email reflectors. The Steering Committee email reflector is available for administrative matters. The AES website has a historical element including links to related sites.

Under the heading of -catalog for classifying the inventions and developments made in audio engineering-, Prof. Manfred Krause (Germany) and colleagues plan a database of the Heinz K. Thiele Archive.  A description of the archive, and a slide show of the proposal for this database was presented.

Historical resources.  AES is publishing the memoirs of Semi Joseph Begun (to be available in 2000 November).  Also, historical data on 3M magnetic tapes is now available on the Historical Committee web site. Oral histories.  Irv Joel, John Eargle, and  Susan Schmidt Horning have conducted numerous video interviews at the 107th and 109th conventions. Thus far, 32 interviews have been completed as of the end of the 109th convention [and 10 more were done in the SF Bay Area during the next week thanks to Ross Snyder and Peter Hammar].  The list of interviewees on the HC web site will be updated soon.  Irv Joel asked for ideas about how to use the interviews.  Streaming video is still problematic if one does not have broadband service.  Also, the video interviews would have to be edited  – Who will do that?  What about an audio interview of the month?  Several examples of the video interviews recorded by Joel were played.  The need to make backup copies of the tapes was noted.  A discussion of how to make preservation copies occurred.   Irv Joel asked if this project was heading in the right direction?  It is.  What about working with the AES Education Committee to get the content of interviews into educational packages for K-12 schools?  Joel encouraged members to use the -Oral History Interview Recommendation Form- on the HC  web site to suggest individuals who should be interviewed. McKnight noted that -An Afternoon with Jack Mullin,- and -A Chronology of American Tape Recording- are available on video tape from AES. Al Grundy announced that he is working on a presentation for the New York convention in September 2001; the working title is -When Vinyl Ruled, the Second Pressing.- Chris Herles of the Museum Of Sound Recording announced that they have signed a contract to plan, design, and construct a museum and theme park called -SoundWave — the International Museum of Recorded Sound and Entertainment Center- on the waterfront in Camden, NJ. [Further details are now in JAES 48:12, 2000 December, p 1267.]

5. New projects.

 A -Historical Café- for the 109th Convention in Amsterdam in 2001 (A. Balster)

Alex Balster presented the plan for an -Historical Café- for the Amsterdam convention in 2001 May.  He indicated his pleasure at being able to see the exhibition of the committee here in Los Angeles. Plans call for the establishment of a planning committee.  They wanted to have an exhibit of hardware, but such is very expensive, so they plan to display a collection of photographs.

 Translation of -History of the AES Japan Chapter” (T. Yamamoto)

It is proposed to translate the recent history of the Japan Chapter. Plans will need to be made to find someone to do the translation.

6. New business

The current organization of the Historical Committee is based on regions.  Several officers have recently resigned.  It seems better to restructure the committee officers to parallel those of other AES Committees, namely, to have a chair and a vice chair.  Then have project chairs who serve for a specific time and purpose.  McKnight asked for comment.  The only comment made supported the proposed restructuring.

Currently, AESHC operates in accord with the directives of the AES Board of Governors.  They require guidelines for the operation of the committee.  Chair McKnight will rewrite the guidelines to accommodate the changes, and submit this to the Committee for review and approval.

7. Date of next meeting

Next meeting will be at the 110th convention in Amsterdam in 2001 May.

8. Adjournment.

The meeting was adjourned at 14:45.

First draft, Ted Sheldon, 2000-10-17

Second draft, J McKnight, 2001-01-25, corrected 2001-02-08

Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting at the 108th AES Convention, 2000-02-21, in Paris

 

The meeting of the AES HC was held on 2000 February 21, in Paris between 10:00 and 12:30. European Chair Roberto Beppato was Chair for the meeting.

 

The following people were present: Mr H.A.O. Wilms, Mr Roberto Beppato, Mr Manfred Krause, Mr Donald Plunkett, Mr Daniel R. Von Recklinghausen, Mr Louis Manno, Mr Sean Davies, Mr John Woodgate, Mr James Kaiser, Mr Marshall Buck, Mr David Robinson, Mr Roy Pritts, Mr Luciano Daleo (technical staff of the Italian state recording media archives – Rome), Mr Lewis Cullborn? (signature not readable). Mr Grundy was in Paris but was absent for personal reasons; he arrived at 12:30.

1  Mr Manfred Krause started the meeting with a discussion of a memo from Robert Van der Hilst concerning AESHC convention facilities.

2  Mr H. A. O. Wilms wheeled in a Studer tape recorder A37 dating back about 45 years, still mint conditions and operational. Mr Wilms mentioned that Mr Peter Bollen, one of the members of the AES HC died on 2000 February 16, leaving one of the largest private collection of  microphones on the premises of the PAC Eela company. Everybody hopes that this collection will end up in a Dutch museum for broadcasting.

3  Mr Roy Pritts suggested to plan well in advance the AES HC meeting in Los Angeles, and decide whether some written documents and a presentation should be prepared for publication/distribution. This includes interviews with personalities in the audio field, and also the presentation of vintage audio pro gear.

4  Mr Manfred Krause suggested to use a list of standard questions for the interviews. Mr John Woodgate noted that these interviews are with major personalities and it is very difficult to get them to unwind and feel at ease. It is very important that the person who performs the interview be aware of the professional life of the person being interviewed. Otherwise an important chapter may be completely forgotten or may have been erased from the mind of the inventor. We solicit other members of the AESHC to comment on this idea.

5  Mr Plunkett reminded the audience of the AES HC that in some interview a person in good faith may attribute to himself a patent which was given in reality to somebody else. The AES should look for ways to protect itself from legal action. Mr Roy Pritts informed us that a “model release type contract” will be necessary from Mr Joel in USA. The Chair thinks that every member of the AES HC should have a copy, and will ask that it be posted directly.

6  Mr Joel in a previous e-mail stated that whom to interview and when must be based on the importance of the contributions of this person to the audio professional community. Who makes this decision? [Mr Joel has replied by email: “I don’t find this statement in my email, but in any case that is not what I intended to say. If anyone is willing to conduct an interview with a person whom they feel should be recorded, then hopefully under our guidance the interview will be done and welcome. I don’t have any sure-fire way of predicting how well an interview will come out, but I am sure that doing the interview is the best practice.”]

7  Manfred Krause proposed to ask the manufacturers of audio equipment to let us know what kind of archives they have and which part of these archives might possibly be available to AES HC (pictures of prototypes and production model, patent applications, patents granted, production processes relevant to special results for the products).

8  The Chair commented that he does not know how many manufacturers keep a record of what they manufacturer over the decades and if they have these archives in a form that one day it could be easily transferred to the AES archives.

9  We have to investigate this at local level possibly with a person who still works for these manufacturers, or who retired within living memory, to get first hand information.

10  Roy Pritts proposed to use the service of student members to collect or make pictures of the various artifacts in museum, radio stations, private collectors or manufacturers. One problem could be that students will have great difficulty to separate artifacts of great significance from standard objects. In some places like the Vatican Museum and RAI Broadcasting Museum in Turin, the manager will not allow students to approach the items on the shelves. Persons must be selected to accompany the student in these visits and to help them to select the material.

11  Mr Woodgate suggested that AES send a sample letter to all of the AES HC members stating that they are doing the research on behalf of the AES. This letter will be required from the HC and used as a template to approach the several organisations in different countries.

12  Mr Louis Manno mentioned that he thought that the Ampex collection had found a place in a museum in New York. We must get the complete address of this museum and a list of all objects in the collection.

13  There was general agreement that much archival material is being lost forever due to the closures and mergers taking place in the industry. This is due to the very high cost of maintaining a museum these days. Apart from companies being loth to invest funds in a museum of their own, they are reluctant to contribute to the upkeep of centralized museums serving the whole industry. Mr Woodgate mentioned that UNESCO under its umbrella should take care of this problem, before they are forever condemned to the scrap yard. This is a good idea. Support from UNESCO, if available (and it certainly won’t be if no one asks), would be used to support either existing or new museums.

    The Chair suggested that UNESCO might be encouraged to create a transit camp for audio artifacts, but that he believes that Unesco has other priorities, and who could or should manage and finance this transit camp is not yet on the AES horizon. Mr Woodgate doesn’t think a transit camp is necessary and thus it doesn’t need managing.

14  Mr Louis Manno mentioned that in Nashville there is now an audio history museum with a restoration section that is extremely active. The Chair remarked that the details of this museum should be put on the AES page together with other addresses of other museums.

15  Mr Woodgate made a suggestion about a paper session of the AES HC at the next meeting in Europe about subjects which may be of historical interest.

16  The Chair mentioned that the technical member of the Vatican Radio Mr Florenzo Petitta (the Vice-President of the Italian Section) would be available to show a video of the inauguration day of the Vatican radio showing. Mr Guglielmo Marconi, the Pope, Monsig. Franceschini, the general manager of the radio standing in front of a Reiss marble/carbon microphone for the speech marking the beginning of the Vatican Radio. Two film units in OB van by Westrex USA can be seen on San Peter Square fitted with long horns on the roof for PA purposes.

17 Mr Daleo from the management of the Italian State Archives for Media (Edison cilinders, discs, etc) said he would be interested to present a CD Rom with many historical artifacts of this very important museum in Rome dating back 130 years.

18  One of the members suggested that some members of the AES HC should contact companies to check if they have artifacts or documentation they are willing to discard. Probably the problem here is where do you put these items once you get them: in the Chair’s opinion museums have not shown much interested in more artifacts. What they really need are a few more wings to add to existing ones, so they can show what they already have in the cellars.

19  Roy Pritts presented a list of points that he was going to present to the BOG. Some items were noted, other added or modified, and Roy will inform us about the results.

20  Mr Davies mentioned some museums in England, and surely every member would like to have their addresses:

Film Technology Film Museum Moving Image BKSTS (British Kinematograph Sound and Television Society) Museum

Mr Woodgate or Mr Davies were asked to provide complete addresses, phone, fax and e-mail, opening days and hours, to Mr Manfred Krause.

21  Mr Manfred Krause informed the members of the AES HC that the Technical University of Berlin is developing an interactive web site on which details of several devices can be seen, operated and probably listened to at the TU-Berlin. This will be used to teach sound engineers how to use these devices (mixers, limiters, etc) without being there physically. This could be very interesting also for AESHC to get members acquainted with old devices that people have no idea how to operate, and this could be a way to show them on a PC screen without touching them.

22  Mr Davies mentioned that old equipment is even more fascinating when it works, as the performance is not that bad if you remember it was achieved 80…100 years ago. Unfortunately it is very difficult to get young people interested in the maintenance of these devices, because they have more interest in computers.

23  The Chair remarked that his experience sitting in front of a gramophone with horn that was 6 meter long and over 2 meters in diameter at the mouth was very moving. He did not hear the noise from the 1920 record, he only heard Caruso’s voice (Nimbus record in UK).

24  Mr Donald Plunkett invited the AES HC members to put pressure on the BOG to reissue the Journal centennial number (Vol 25 Nr 10/11, 1977 Oct/Nov), including bringing that history up to date. We have no idea how this can be done or if we have to wait for the 150th year for this immense task.

25  Mr David Robinson mentioned that the Board of Governors has approved converting all AES journals, pre-prints, etc into electronic form, and that the estimated cost will be 250 000 US$. (This does not include the anthologies since they are themselves reprints of articles so will be available as individual papers etc).

26  Mr Marshall Buck (AES Treasurer) said a few but important words for the AESHC members: before you commit money for a project, you must submit a budget — no budget no money. Please be specific about the project for which you require a budget.

ACTION ITEMS

Decide with Mr Robert Van der Hilst if we should put this report on the reflector Send a copy of this report to all participants in the Paris meeting, on their own e-mail; get all names right Create a program for the meeting in Los Angeles Decide if at the next conference papers should presented and ask opinion of the AESHC members about this project Decide how long the AESHC meeting it LA should be (2 hours, or half a day, depending on the program developed on both sides of the Atlantic) Require the name of a contact person to organize the AESHC meeting in a better way

Roberto Beppato, AESHC European Chair

Manfred Krause, AESHC European Secrecary

FOURTH DRAFT, jm 2000-08-08

Audio Engineering Society Historical Committee

 

Minutes from 1999 September 26 Meeting of AESHC held during the

 

107th AES Convention, New York

 

Present at the meeting were the following AESHC members: Ms. Marina Bosi, Mr. David Robinson, Mr. J. G. (Jay) McKnight, Mr. Donald J. Plunkett, Mr. Albert B. Grundy, Mr. Gerald Gibson Mr. Roberto Beppato, Mr. Elmar Leal, Mr. Robert van der Hilst, Mr.Ted Sheldon, Ms. Tita Posada, Mr. Karl O. Bäder, Mr. Ron Streicher, Mr. John M. Eargle, Mr. Irv Joel, Mr. John Woodgate, Mr. Sid Feldman, Mr. John K. Chester, Mr. Menno van der Veen, Mr. Jim Hunter, Mr. David Bialik, Mr. Dan Gaydos. Regrets: Mr. Hermann A. O. Wilms, Mr. Manfred Krause, Mr. Yoshizo Sohma, Mr. Pieter Bollen. The meeting was chaired and opened by Mr. J. G. (Jay) McKnight, Chairman of the AESHC.

1. Opening remarks and introductions of the members present
2. Mr. Menno van der Veen requested an amendment to the agenda, to discuss the 25th celebration book of the Dutch section for publishing, which was coming up later in the meeting and was added on to the agenda. The agenda was approved.
3. Minutes from the AES 106th Convention in Munich were approved.
4. The Chair then reviewed with the attendees the Structure of the AESHC and the officers that had been appointed in Munich by the AES president, Ms. Marina Bosi. This document has now been renamed the AESHC Guidelines. They had been originally posted temporarily on www.flash.net/~mrltapes/aeshc-m.pdf . [They were  moved to the AESHC website when it was established.]
5. The AESHC website and e-mail reflectors systems were discussed, and the decision was made to accept the offer of the donated connections and server from Mr. David Josephson who will also provide an FTP site and website as long as the traffic can be handled by the connection he has. The URL for this site will be linked from the main AES website, for which the server administrator will be requested to make a link.
6. The first project, the “Audio and AES Timeline” was discussed. It will be published on the AESHC website, and AES student, regional specialist, and AES sections AESHC members are invited to select an event or an invention for further research. After approval by the AESHC, the results of their research will be linked from the AESHC.
7. The Chair told the members present that a cataloging system for classifying inventions and developments has been made by Mr. Heinz Thiele. Mr. Thiele’s collection has been received by the TU of Berlin, and we are awaiting Mr. Manfred Krause’s comments regarding when we can have an electronic index of the system.
8. A clarification and discussion of the drafted AESHC Guidelines yielded the answers for the revisions. A new region was set up by the Chair, creating the Latin American Region within the AESHC with Mr. Elmar Leal appointed as Chair, and Ms. Tita Posada as Secretary. The final draft document will then be put on the AESHC web site for a vote of approval by the membership via e-mail.
9. Mr. Irv Joel gave an update and showed the progress of the oral history, with the presentation of a segment of one of the video tapings.
10. The AES Headquarters is to be refurbished, and it will be necessary to find another home for the extensive library of journals and books that have been donated to the Society over many years. Mr. Irv Joel has agreed to work with Executive Director Roger Furness to catalog and box this library.
11. The Dutch section request for publishing their 25th celebration book was discussed. The conclusion was that first the whole book had to be translated into English, from which sections can put up on the AES sections website. These sections websites will be used to research the cost recovery possibility of the publication of a book, and will be linked from the AESHC website to the sections website.
12. The creation and estimate of the committee budget for one year of operation was discussed. A budget will be prepared and submitted to the AES Treasurer for approval at the next day’s AES Financial Committee meeting.
13. The next meeting will be held in Paris during the 108th AES convention.
14. As there was no further business, the Chair thanked the members and closed the meeting.

Draft RVDH 1999-10-17, Revised 2000-01-21 J McK

Audio Engineering Society Historical Committee

 

Minutes from 1999 May 10 Meeting of AESHC held during the 106th AES Convention, Munich

Present at the meeting were the following AESHC members: Ms. Marina Bosi, Mr. David Robinson, Mr. Subir K. Pramanik, Mr. Albert B. Grundy, Mr. Roberto Beppato, Mr. Manfred Krause, Mr. Yoshizo Sohma, Mr. Kees A. Schouhamer Immink, Mr. Heinz H. K. Thiele, Mr. Sean Davies, Mr. Rudolf Mueller, Mr. Ulrich Apel, Mr. Andreas Meyer, Mr. Heinrich Pichler, Mr. Chris Muth, Mr. Cornelis H. van der Gragt, Mr. Jiri Ocenasek, Mr. Dan Popescu, Mr. Friedrich Engel, Mr. Peter Ford, Mr. Jean-Marc Fontaine, Mr. David Josephson, Mr. George Brock Nannenstad, Mr. Tim Shelton, Mr. Karl O. Bäder, Mr. Pieter F.J. Bollen, Mr. Hermann A. O. Wilms and Mr. Robert van der Hilst.

Regrets: Mr. Donald J. Plunkett, Mr. J. G. (Jay) McKnight, Mr. Gerald Gibson.

The meeting was chaired and opened by Mr. Robert van der Hilst and Mr. Hermann A. O. Wilms.

Ms. Marina Bosi, the AES president, announced that the AES Board of Governors had approved the proposed Guidelines for the operation of the AESHC .

Ms. Bosi next announced the appointment of the following officers of the AESHC: Chairman Emeritus, Donald J. Plunkett Historical Committee Chairman, J. G. (Jay) McKnight Committee Secretaries, Robert van der Hilst and Hermann A.O. Wilms North America Chairman, Mr. Gerald Gibson European Chairman, Mr. Roberto Beppato International Regions Chairman, Mr. Takeo Yamamoto AES Historical Archives, Mr. Albert B. Grundy North America Secretary, Mr. Ted Sheldon European Secretary, Mr. Manfred Krause International Secretary, Mr. Yoshizo Sohma. Mr. Robert van der Hilst explained the tasks of the Historical Committee, according to the proposed Guidelines. In the discussion that followed about the tasks, a couple of minor corrections were made. The document was then put to a vote, and was approved unanimously. A point was brought up that the AESHC must have some contact with other organizations, such as SMPTE, IEEE. Members present pointed out that many of the AESHC members are already members of these organizations, and therefore these other groups are well represented within the AESHC. The creation and estimate of the committee budget for one year of operation was discussed, and the conclusion was reached that a realistic number for the first year setup of the committee would be $ 5000.00. A request for this amount will be prepared and submitted to the AES Board for approval. For projects with an AESHC approved number that do not make use of the AESHC website and e-mail reflectors, the need for a separate budget must be requested and approved. The first project will be continuing the work on the Audio and AES timeline that was published during the 50th Anniversary year of the AES. The AES student sections and AESHC members are invited to select an event or an invention for further research. After approval by the AESHC, the results of their research will be linked from the AESHC website. AES student sections will have access to the AESHC e-mail reflectors, and can, by this means, further contact Regional or AES History specialists via the reflector systems. The cataloging system for classifying the inventions and developments made in audio engineering, based on the work of HK Thiele, was explained and approved. The next meeting will be held in New York during the 107th AES convention. As there was no further business, Mr. Hermann A. O. Wilms and Mr. Robert van der Hilst thanked the members and closed the meeting. Revision 2 jaymck 1999-09-15