Group Photo
AES Nashville — 18th Annual "Spring Mixer"
The Nashville Section of the AES held its eighteenth annual "Spring Mixer" competition on April 19. 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, Middle Tennessee State University, SAE Institute-Nashville, Nashville State Community College, Dark Horse Institute, Bethel University, and The Blackbird Academy.
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 April 13 &14 in four identical Pro Tools HD postproduction rooms at Paramount Global's 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 "Find My Way" by Laura Palumbo, 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.
Barry Cardinael, AES - Nashville Section served as Emcee. A panel of judges comprised of industry professionals graded the mixes and presented their critiques at the April 27 event. The event was held in the Warner Music Group's new auditorium in Nashville. The judges included — Rich Travali -- Independent Mixing Engineer, Jon Blass — Independent Mixing Engineer, Jimmy Mansfield -- Studio Owner, Murfreesboro Recording Studio, Recording Engineer, Scott Gerow — Producer -- Battery Lane Music and Adam Smith- Independent Recording Engineer/Mixer.
The judges were not told what mix went 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 Dark Horse Institute, comprised of Isaac Smith, Cole Nesson, and Jordan Cornett. There was a tie for second place — The Blackbird Academy, comprised of Elasa Birk Lund, Taylan "Ty" Tansug, and Jay Havranek and SAE Institute Nashville, comprised of Bodie Hammer, Ana Solorzano, and Adam Hullinger. The top three schools received ADK microphones. The students won several thousand dollars of software donated by our generous sponsors -- Avid, Austrian, FabFilter, Eventide, Nashville Sampling Company, PSP Plugins, ADK, SSL, Corner Music, and Yosh Drum Warehouse.
The AES Nashville Section furnished finely tailored upper torso custom garments (event T-Shirts). As the first-place winner, Dark Horse Institute took home the coveted "Top Mixer" perpetual trophy that will be proudly displayed at Dark Horse Institute with appropriate bragging rights until next year.
