Issue 194
The 133rd AES Convention, held in San Francisco, California, surprised the industry with signs of a rebirth in a new direction—thanks to the presence of the Project Studio Expo track. Produced in association with Sound on Sound magazine, and inspired by the Nashville Recording Workshop + Expo events produced by the AES Nashville Section, AES Executive Director Bob Moses expanded on AES’s traditional high-end/big studio focus by also directly addressing a younger audience that represents the future of the audio industry. The gamble paid off: Many—if not most—of the seminars were standing room only, and the feedback from both attendees and exhibitors was overwhelmingly positive. But I have to admit that when I was approached about being part of this effort, although I was more than willing to “help the cause” I was also highly skeptical about its potential for success. First-year events usually don’t get much support from manufacturers as they’d rather wait for a “track record” before committing—nor is there usually much attendance, because there’s no one saying “last year was great, you should really attend.” So props are certainly due to Sennheiser, lynda.com, PreSonus, the InMusic group (Akai, Numark, Alesis, and M-Audio), and Avid for their sponsorship; more importantly, this may signal a new era of relevance for the AES—but maybe not for the reasons you might think.
Sure, the free Expo no doubt brought people into the show who might not have come otherwise. Several exhibitors even mentioned that they had a younger crowd than usual, and I don’t think it was coincidence. But a crucial element is that the Project Studio Expo linked experts willing to teach with people willing to learn.
Many of today’s engineers learned their craft by working their way up in the context of “the big studio.” I learned pretty much all I know about recording from being a recording artist and session musician in the 60s and 70s, when I was privileged to see top engineers and producers at work. Merely being in the studio and keeping my eyes and ears open was a “classroom” experience I’ll never forget; the knowledge that was passed on from one generation to another in that context was invaluable, and launched many of today’s careers. That’s also an experience you don’t get working by yourself in a project studio, but the Project Studio Expo—offering two full days of workshops—helped provide that type of interaction.
A huge part of the Expo’s success is that the events were held on the show floor, not in some little room somewhere, and everyone attending a seminar received a loaner Sennheiser wireless headphone—so the expo was quiet except for applause, and attendees could hear the audio examples in great detail. This was great not just for the attendees, but for the presenters—I even revised my seminar to include examples with more detail and subtlety, as I knew it wouldn't be a lost cause.
Not only did the event not add to the noise nor distract the exhibitors or attendees, but because the event was located at the far end of the hall, booths fortunate enough to be near the Expo received a major boost in traffic instead of having to compete with a loud event.
The proof of the Pro Studio's Expo success was in the numbers. The seminars were all packed, and I found out that for most of my presentations, 200 headphones wasn’t enough—people were waiting outside the seminar area for others to leave and return their headphones, but in general once people came, they stayed. Many people attended more than one workshop, and the questions were uniformly intelligent and probing.
Major props also go to Sound on Sound magazine. They’ve done this sort of event before in Europe, so they did have experience they could apply. They were also able to line up quite a roster of clinicians, many from the ranks of the magazine (like Technical Editor Hugh Robjohns, who really knows his stuff) but also professional engineers like Bill Gibson, who’s worked with Bruce Swedien. And of course, Harmony Central gets props for sponsoring my presence at the show.
The success of the event virtually guarantees that not only will it be ongoing at future AES conventions, but there’s talk of the AES possibly sponsoring events like this in various recording centers. In any event, one thing’s for sure: The concept was a hit, the execution was close to flawless, and most importantly, attendees got what they came for—and more. If you’re going to be in New York next fall, plan to go to the 2013 Project Studio Expo. You won’t be disappointed.
—Craig Anderton
Headliners
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MXL 800 Series "Mic Locker" Bundle
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This cost-effective bundle of five condensers and one ribbon mic make it easy to start—or expand—your collection
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Korg microKEY25 Portable USB Keyboard
by Craig Anderton
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While the East Coast was nervously watching superstorm Sandy and the San Francisco Giants were sweeping the world series, Harmony Central was at the 133rd AES Convention to check out the exhibits featuring the latest innovations from the audio industry—and we have the exclusive videos to prove it, which are also arranged as a convenient Playlist.
But that’s not all: Just prior to AES, Harmony Central covered the Bass Player Live! event produced every year by Bass Player magazine. The results? Over 20 videos, covering everything from bass strings, to the basses themselves, to bass amps, also arranged as a Playlist.
So whether you’re looking for the low down on the low end, or the latest and greatest from the pro audio world, check out Harmony Central’s YouTube channel—with over 1,300 other videos.
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