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Workshops Define The 129th AES Convention

Workshops include Rethinking the Digital Audio Workstation, Wireless Audio Streaming, BluRay Audio, and many more.

Supporting the 129th AES Convention Bridge To The Future theme, the Nov. 4-7 program at San Francisco’s Moscone Center will offer twenty diverse Workshop presentations.

Featuring big names from the pro audio community, the groundbreaking agenda will address issues directly impacting work techniques and livelihoods.

“Workshop Co-Chairs, David Bowles and Mike Wells have developed a content-heavy curriculum designed to inform and inspire both seasoned and aspiring professionals,” remarked Convention Committee Co-Chair, Jim McTigue.

“The time and energy they devoted to this lineup are evident in every event.”

Commenting on the quality and diversity of this year’s Workshops, David Bowles said,
“Our goal was to seek topics with the potential for deeper influence on future thinking.”

“Our presenters have impeccable credentials and the perspective to support their ideas.”

129th AES Convention Workshops include:

Rethinking The Digital Audio Workstation
Moderator, Michael Hlatky (accessive tools GmbH); panelists: Allen Saego (London Metropolitan University), Bernard Mont-Reynard (SoundHound Inc.), Guy McNally (Uncut Video Inc.), Jörn Loviscach (University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld).

Today’s DAWs much resemble those of 1989.

Considering technology advances, we should be doing better. Potential improvements include: real-time online cross-DAW collaboration, leveraging social networks for finding optimal effect settings, and making DAWs not only bulletproof, but foolproof.

This workshop will survey existing technologies; examine possible synergies from other fields of computing sciences, and propose improvements and radical changes to DAW software.

Wireless Audio Streaming
Moderator Gary Spittle (Audio Consultant);

Panelists: Deepen Sinha (ATC Labs), David Trainor (CSR).

High quality audio is streamed wirelessly via such mediums as satellite broadcasts; mobile telephone networks; Bluetooth ecosystems and proprietary ultra low latency systems.

Panelists will discuss techniques and challenges in delivering high quality audio wirelessly, and how essential audio codecs are adapted for specific audio source material.

The Challenge Of Producing BluRay
Moderator Stefan Bock (MSM Munich); panelists Mark Waldrep and colleagues from Dolby and DTS.

BluRay is gaining momentum as a storage medium, a platform for high definition video and audio and even as a super-high-quality format for audio-only titles.

Do mixing and mastering engineers need to change their workflow to incorporate such formats? What is the challenge of working for BluRay compared to other surround formats?

How Does It Sound Now? The Evolution Of Audio

Moderator Gary Gottlieb (Webster University) and Grammy-winning engineer/producers Al Schmitt, Elliot Scheiner and Ed Cherney will discuss the ultimate responsibility for audio quality… The man behind the desk!

How do we maintain excellence and continue to create recordings that conform to our own high standards when confronted with new and evolving technology? How high should our standards be?

Live Monitoring & Latency With Digital Audio Networks
Moderator, Umberto Zanghieri (ZP Engineering) and panelists Carl Bader (Aviom); Kevin Gross (AVA Networks) and Michael Lester (Shure).

Will address the increasing adoption of digital audio networks for live events and the impact of audio signal latency as perceived on stage.

Topics include: Personal monitoring; traditional, speaker-based monitoring and, performers’ idiosyncratic preferences and habits.

Keep Turning It Down! Developing An Exit Strategy For The Loudness Wars

Moderator Martin Walsh (DTS Inc.) panelists: Bob Ludwig, Thomas Lund, Bob Katz, Susan Rogers will deliberate one of the pivotal issues of our time:

Ending the loudness war and returning peace, harmony and dynamic range to the people. Alternatives to aggressive dynamic range compression e.g. seasoned mastering techniques, gain normalization algorithms and standards will be addressed.


Additional Workshops Include:

• Applications For High-Quality Audio Over Long-Distance Networks
• Paths to High-Resolution Downloads
• The Return To Quality In Audio Production
• Audio System Coverage for Auditoria and Cinemas
• AES 42 and Digital Microphones
• The Future Is Tactile How Does Whole Body Vibration Affect Perception of Binaural Audio Over Headphones?

“Workshops represent the very heart of the AES Convention,” Co-Chair Mike Wells said.

“We’ve made every effort to provide this year’s program with genuinely indispensable presentations which are unavailable anywhere else.”

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