AES Section Meeting Reports

L to R: Geoff Maurice, John Vanderkooy, Bob Snelgrove, Frank Lockwood — Toronto AES Section -- December 15, 2015.

Meeting Topic: Tuning a Sound System is all about Making Sense of the Noise

Moderator Name: Frank Lockwood

Speaker Name: Geoff Maurice — Ontario Rep, Gerr Audio; Bob Snelgrove -- Owner, Gerr Audio; John Vanderkooy — Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo

Other business or activities at the meeting: Toronto chair Frank Lockwood welcomed everyone to the meeting. He invited members to consider joining the executive committee. He noted next month's meeting with Ike Zimbel on wireless spectrum management, and February's member's showcase. He thanked the meeting's sponsor and the general sponsors.

Meeting Location: Ryerson University, Rogers Communications Building, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Summary

This meeting gave an overview on the training Gerr Audio offers its clients to use SMAART efficiently.

SMAART is software used for real-time sound system measurement, optimization and control in professional sound engineering. It is also one of the most straight-forwardly conceived products.

As any software is only as good as the person using it, this overview (as noted later by the presenters) attempted to convey three days of training into 45 minutes.

John Vanderkooy provided an introductory look at digital measurement technology. He demonstrated an open source measurement system, discussing prerequisites such as basic hardware architecture, system components, and fundamental parameters. Using slides during his presentation, he discussed signal analysis and its background. He ran a short demonstration test and then briefly discussed the generated charts. He concluded his introductory talk discussing reverberation time.

A break was taken to allow Bob Snelgrove and Geoff Maurice to set up for their demonstration.

Bob's talk was theoretical and focused on the process. As mentioned earlier, he attempted to condense what usually takes three days to teach into 45 minutes.

The goal in live performance venues is to "deliver the original acoustic waveform to all listeners' ears". This is of course an unattainable ideal. Therefore, there is the "achievable goal" to "minimize the distortion of the original acoustic waveform delivered to all listeners' ears".

System optimization is a methodical process: it starts with design and ends with successful performances. Understanding the reason for every step is critical. Measurement is the last step.

Although Geoff's talk continued to provide background, he also began taking in real world considerations. One important point brought up during Geoff's presentation: data is meaningless without context.

He covered a basic setup, suggested primary and secondary mic positioning, and displayed sample graphs. He concluded with an actual demonstration of the software and extensive analysis of the results.

When the presentation was finished, Geoff invited members to have a hands-on look at the software in action.

At the close of the meeting Chair Frank Lockwood presented everyone with a Toronto AES Certificate of Appreciation and coffee mug.

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