Audio Engineering Society News

Unless indicated otherwise, meetings are held in the Telus Project Studio,
JPL building, The Banff Centre, at 7:30 p.m.

Dr. Geoff Martin: “Objective Measures for Audio Quality'
March 14, 2006 , ICT Building, University of Calgary

Geoff MartinDr. Geoff Martin has degrees in music performance, sound recording, and acoustics simulation. He has taught electronics and electroacoustic music composition at McGill University and the University of Ottawa. He is presently a researcher in acoustics and auditory perception at Bang & Olufsen in Denmark. Geoff Martin was the papers chair for the 24th International Conference of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) on Multichannel Audio held at The Banff Centre. He is also the chair of the AES Technical Committee on Microphones and Microphone Applications and is a member of the review board for the society’s Journal. In addition, he is the author of a textbook on sound recording which is available at www.tonmeister.ca.

Dr. Martin treated an enthusiastic crowd to a discussion of “Objective Measures for Audio Quality.' Most methods currently used to assess the perceived quality of audio systems are subjective preference tests. This presentation introduced an alternative method, descriptive analysis, which provides an objective assessment of the perceived quality of reproduced sound. The context for the presentation was that of the benefits of this type of testing as it applies to equipment design. Dr. Martin explained how, through the use of a filter model of human sensory perception, we can see sound quality as being perceived in three stages. First, we recognize definitive physical descriptions of the stimulus. Second, there is a stage that involves the assignment of attributes to the stimulus. Finally, there is the subjective or “hedonic' rating that will reveal the listeners opinion of the stimulus. Dr. Martin’s presentation centred around the second stage or the assigning of attributes to the stimulus. Lists of descriptive words that apply to a given stimulus are elicited from a panel of test subjects. There is much individual and group effort put into explaining just what perceptual attributes these words describe about what the subjects hear. The chief investigator can then find associations between these attributes and the technical specifications of some equipment. The result is a kind of map between physical measurements and perceptual measurements. With this map, equipment can be improved and specifications can even be prioritized. In the future, this may lead to an ability to measure the “third' filter and map out preferences.

Gavin Fernandes: “Audio post-production'
January 17, 2006

Gavin FernandesGavin Fernandes, CAS, B.Sc., is a re-recording mixer working with the major sound facilities in Montreal (Technicolor, Modulations, InExtenso), mixing feature films and IMAX. Gavin started in 1988 working on television as an editor/mixer by day and recording albums by night, graduating to films in 1995. He has been nominated for Genie, Gemeaux, and Jutras awards, including Les Invasion Barbares (Oscar, Genie, Jutras), IMAX Volcanoes of the Deep Sea and Fighter Pilot (Best Sound IMAX), Head in the Clouds (Genie), and Les Bougons (Gemeaux). In 2005 he won the Genie Award for Le Dernier Tunnel. Gavin is currently mixing the last season of Les Bougon before starting the feature Duo. He has given conferences for AES, SPARS, AsPrAudio and Digidesign, and been a guest faculty member at The Banff Centre. Gavin is an active member of the Cinema Audio Society in Los Angeles and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

Gavin began the presentation with an overview of audio post production from the early 20th century right up to current trends, highlighting the phenomenon of “mixing-in-the-box' or entirely within a digital audio workstation. This included a discussion of how the approach to mixing changes with fully automated software plug-ins, and integration with outboard or hybrid gear like TC Powercore. He discussed the impact of ever-growing track counts on the post-production chain, and showed examples of stem mixing. He then followed with a description of emerging standards for delivery formats and related encoding processes for film and TV. This discussion included file formats, sync, tones, and noise for deliver, discreet layback to HDSR, DMU/DTS mastering, Dolby AC-3, DTS, and Dolby E encoding. Gavin concluded with a discussion of new trends in post-production, such as the merging of roles including director, mixer, editor, etc. The AES presentation was well attended by members of the Alberta AES section, as well as those from The Banff Centre Audio and CEE programs.

Graemme Brown and Ed Meitner: “DSD Surround Recording Workshop'
February 22, 2005

Graemme Brown and Ed MeitnerThe Alberta Section of the AES hosted Graemme Brown, chief engineer of Zen Mastering in Vancouver, in an demonstration of surround recording techniques using Direct Stream Digital (DSD) conversion technology. The Callino String Quartet, a performing ensemble in residence at The Banff Centre, graciously performed several works throughout the evening to allow participants in the workshop to move between the live performance space and the monitoring space to compare the two experiences. Several different techniques were discussed, and an interactive dialog ensued throughout the evening. Ed Meitner of EMM Labs was kind enough to provide a pair of their AD and DA converters, a Switchman Monitor Controller, as well as one of their new SACD players for the purposes of the workshop. Ed also led a brief discussion on DSD conversion technologies. Finally, a reception was held at Canada Disc and Tape following the workshop. A special thanks to the Centre Street Church in Calgary for providing a fantastic venue for this event!

David Sonnenschein: “Creating our World with Sound”
November 5, 2004

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted David Sonnenschein, author, film producer, and sound designer, for a lecture on conceptual tools for filmmakers and sound designers. Mr. Sonnenschein demonstrated examples of his sound design work, and led an interesting discussion pertaining to creative sound design issues.

Mr. Sonnenschein treated the 20 engineers and enthusiasts in attendance to a varied discussion on topics ranging from the film producers role in sound design, to creative uses of technology for the manipulation of sound. The second half of Mr. Sonnenschein’s talk focused on critiquing a five minute video clip produced and edited by Banff Centre audio associate Shawn Everett. An interesting and interactive dialog on the role of sound and music in film ensued, giving participants an opportunity to voice their opinions on creative issues.

Marina Bosi: “Perceptual Audio Coding Technologies: An Overview'
August 14, 2004

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted Marina Bosi, consulting professor at Stanford University’s Computer Center for Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) and chief technology officer of MPEG LA, for a lecture on perceptual audio coding technologies. Dr. Bosi’s talk introduces basic principles behind perceptual audio coding systems and the design choices applied in state-of-the-art audio coding schemes, e.g. AC-3; MPEG Layers I, II, and III (MP3); MPEG AAC; MPEG-4. Perceptual audio coders are currently used in many applications including digital radio and television, digital sound on film, DVD, multimedia/internet audio, portable devices, and electronic music distribution. Dr. Bosi used a variety of audio examples allowing participants to hear different aspects of the audio coding process and potential artifacts as well as the quality of state-of-the-art implementations at varying data rates.

Mark Willsher: “Technical and creative issues in the production of large scale orchestral film scores with reference to the Lord of the Rings trilogy'
June 27, 2004

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted Mark Willsher, San Francisco-based producer and engineer, for a lecture on both technical and artistic issues related to shrinking post-production schedules for large scale film scores.

Mr. Willsher’s lecture to the audience of 30 engineers and audio enthusiasts included several practical examples from his work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy. An open discussion period led to many interesting questions regarding editing, mixing and the production chains for such large scale work. Technical demands of such work were discussed, including the use of Digidesign’s Protools and Merging Technologies Pyramix software, as were issues related to audio editing with picture.

Graemme Brown
May 16, 2004

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted Graemme Brown of Zen Mastering, Vancouver British Columbia, for a lecture on Mastering for SACD, and the use of Merging Technologies Software and associated hardware. Mr. Brown treated the audience to both stereo and multi-channel examples of his work, as well as a lively, stimulating and interactive discussion.

The thirty engineers, musicians and audio enthusiast in attendance engaged in an open dialog with topics ranging from the current state of the Recording industry, to specific topics pertaining to SACD technology. After a short break the second half of Mr. Browns talk focused on the use of Merging Technologies Pyramix software, and some of its associated hardware. He discussed his use of Pyramix for both SACD and PCM mastering projects, future directions for the software, and ways in which Pyramix can be used to increase speed and productivity versus other products on the market.

Gilles St-Laurent
March 21, 2004

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted Gilles St-Laurent, the audio conservator in the Music Division at the Library and Archives Canada, for a lecture on audio conservation and restoration. He is also a member of the AES Technical Committee on Archiving, Restoration and Digital Libraries and a member of the IASA (International Association of Sound Archives). Mr. St-Laurent discussed his work preserving old, unstable and/or damaged audio carriers as well as digitally restoring recordings for CDs, film, television and internet.

Mr. St-Laurent played numerous samples of his work including recordings spanning the past 110 years. Of particular interest to the audience were recently restored recordings of Glen Gould. Mr. St-Laurent also discussed his use of the CEDAR Cambridge software for purposes of noise reduction, as well as some of the equipment and techniques he uses to transfer older out-dated audio carriers.

Florian Camerer
November 8, 200, Telus Studio


Mr. Camerer addressing the
Banff Mountain Film Festival


Interviewed for TV by Theresa Leonard, director of audio at
The Banff Centre

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted Florian Camerer (senior audio engineer, ORF) for a lecture on 5.1 Surround Sound for Documentaries and Broadcast. Mr. Camerer discussed his experiences recording surround sound for the documentaries "Paradise Found" and "The Ice Trap" as well as the live mixing and transmission of the New Year's Eve concert from Vienna.

The audience of 23 musicians, engineers, filmmakers and local audio enthusiasts were shown numerous clips from Mr. Camerer's documentaries and broadcasts played back in surround sound. Mr. Camerer discussed in depth the technical issues in broadcasting a live surround sound program and his campaign to push the ORF, and other European broadcasters, towards full surround sound broadcast.

While at The Banff Centre, Mr. Camerer took part in the Banff Mountain Film Festival where he explained the importance of 5.1 sound and how it enhances all ranges of productions. Many directors were convinced that 5.1 would increase the impact of their films.

Michael Haas and Jonathan Stokes
October 19, 2003, Telus Studio

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted Michael Haas (independent producer) and Jonathan Stokes (Classic Sound Ltd.) for a lecture on classical music production. The producer and engineer discussed talent management in a recording session, current audio equipment and technology and the future of the classical recording industry.

The audience of 25 musicians, engineers and local audio enthusiasts were treated to listening examples of their recordings and various anecdotes from their recording experience. Mr. Haas discussed in depth how audio is disseminated to the public and the many delivery mediums.

Mr. Haas and Mr. Stokes were at The Banff Centre as part of the 2003 Music Producers' Seminar where they lectured and demonstrated preparing scores, microphone techniques and obtaining the optimum performance from the musicians.

An Evening with Elliot Scheiner
March 10, 2003, Telus Studio

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted Elliot Scheiner, for a lecture on recording and mixing for surround sound. The enthusiastic audience of 46 local area engineers, producers and musicians were treated to various examples of Elliot’s work in 5.1 surround sound including Sting, The Eagles and Steely Dan to name a few.

During the evening, Elliot discussed his experience in the recording industry including his early work with Phil Ramone and various anecdotes from his various recording and mixing credits. Elliot described in technical and artistic detail how he mixes for 5.1 surround sound including various equipment and mixing techniques.

This event was documented on digital video for future streaming of Elliot’s presentation to Alberta section members.

Quantization, Dither and Noise Shaping with Stanley Lipshitz
November 10, 2002, Telus Studio

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted Stanley Lipshitz of The Audio Research Group, Departments of Applied Mathematics and Physics, University of Waterloo, Ontario, for a lecture/demonstration on Multi-Bit versus 1-Bit audio. The audience of 32 local area engineers were treated to a demonstration on the importance of good digital signal processing. The lecture reviewed the nature of quantization errors and how they can be made innocuous through proper dithering. The need for dither in noise shapers and sigma-delta modulators was discussed while the argument was made that signal quantization using a 1-bit sigma-delta modulator is "a backward step, since these converters cannot be properly dithered".

A History of Electronic Music with David Kean
October 22, 2002, Telus Studio

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted David Kean of The Cantos Music Museum, Calgary, Alberta, for a lecture on the history of electronic music including a tour of the museum. The enthusiastic audience of 72 local area engineers, producers and musicians were treated to a history of electronic music with demonstrations of pump organs, player pianos, Melotrons, Chamberlains, Buchla and Moog synthesizers and rare instruments, such as the Theremin. As the museum is still in its infancy, attendees had hands-on access to one of the largest collections of electronic musical instruments.

David discussed his experience in the recording industry including building several recording studios such as the Bomb Factory and Audities in Los Angeles. The most popular topic of the evening was David’s recent acquisition of the original mobile recording studio owned by the Rolling Stones – noteworthy for having the very first Helios console built. The console had been installed in London’s Olympic Studios where it was used to record many famous recordings by artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zepplin.

Alberta Section Meeting Report
July 14, 2002, Telus Studio

Sound Effects in a High-Resolution World with Michael Bishop

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted Michael Bishop of Telarc Records, Cleveland, Ohio, for a lecture on his unique approach to collecting and creating sound effects. The small but appreciate audience of 30 local area engineers and producers were treated to insights into Michael's recordings of real events including stampeding cattle and smashing glass. Michael also discussed the sound design for a novelty CD of "scary music" soon to be released by Telarc, for which he used cutting, snapping and splattering of vegetables to synthesize bloody, gory effects!

Michael also spent considerable time discussing the finer points of Direct Stream Digital audio recording, his preferred choice of high-resolution audio format for both music and effects. The audience was treated to examples of Michael's music recordings on SACD format in 5.1 surround, and posed many questions about the advantages and technicalities of this format, with reference to the consumer market as well.

The Alberta Section would like to thank not only Michael Bishop, but also DSD design engineer Ed Meitner of EMM Labs for providing his 8 channel ADC and DAC convertors, a Switchman router and a Pyramix workstation.

Alberta Section Meeting Report
July 7, 2002, Telus Studio

Audio for Games with Edwin Dolinski

On July 7th the Alberta Section hosted Edwin Dolinski, Director of Audio Operations for Electronic Arts Canada, for a lecture on audio for video games to an audience of 30 local area audio engineers and new media artists. Edwin began the presentation with a discussion of the scope of Electronic Arts Vancouver production house, which employs over 800 people, including 32 audio engineers. He then presented a series of exciting demonstrations of some of EA's titles with full 5.1 mixes that amazed the audience before segueing into the technical aspects of sound design and programming for interactive video. Edwin shed light on the complexities of memory management in games with reference to streaming, RAM allocation, buffering and bit budgetting as well as the role of data compression in multi-voice, multichannel products. Other subjects discussed included the use of onboard DSP to mix audio and treat samples with ambiences and EQ according to the on-screen scenario; the role and managment of music in games; and the use of dynamics processing to rebalance elements of spontaneously generated mixes.

Alberta Section Meeting Report
May 19, 2002

Jim Anderson - "The Art of Jazz Recording"

The Alberta Section hosted well known recording engineer Jim Anderson for a meeting on May 19th at Telus Studio, Banff Centre. Mr. Anderson has enjoyed a long and illustrious career recording and mixing for the top artists in jazz, including Terence Blanchard, Ron Carter, Joe Henderson, JJ Johnson, Branford Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Phil Woods, John Zorn and many others. He has also served as Chairman of the New York Section of the AES, and is presently the AES VP for the Eastern Region.

Jim presented a two hour discussion of jazz recording and mixing techniques to an audience of 40 engineers from southern Alberta, with some attendees coming from as far away as Montana. Rather than follow a lecture with question period format, Jim chose to play examples of his work, with explanations of his approach, followed by questions from the audience about the selection. Discussion of a Joe Henderson recording led to an explanation of Jim’s drum recording techinques, including the use of multiple stereo overhead pairs and stereo kick micing, while a discussion of a Cyrus Chestnut session led to the finer points of jazz piano recording. The audience was treated to further in depth insight into Jim’s approach to woodwind, brass, and string recording with reference to mic choice and position, imaging, and spaciousness. Jim also generously shared his views on reverberation with respect to his preference for live chambers and the creation of live chambers in stairwells and other atypical venues.

The Alberta Section is looking forward to a busy summer, hosting lectures in July and August with Edwin Dolinski of Electronic Arts, Michael Bishop of Telarc, and Leslie Ann Jones of Skywalker Sound.

Alberta Section Meeting Report
February 24, 2002

Dr. Floyd Toole - "Audio Engineering -Science in the Service of Art"

The Alberta Section hosted Dr. Floyd Toole of Harman International on February 24th for a presentation entitled "Audio Engineering - Science in the Service of Art". For the benefit of three dozen attendees Dr. Toole recapped his keynote address from the last AES convention in New York and touched on a host of issues pertaining to studio and home environment monitoring. Dr. Toole used a particularly interesting analogy with the visual arts, observing with the use of visual aids that artists use neutral light in their studios so that their choice and balance of color is not affected by lighting. Likewise recording professionals need to target neutral listening environments so as to make objective and unaffected decisions that "preserve the art" as conceived of by the creators. Dr. Toole’s dissertation on effective monitoring discussed frequency response as the critical evaluator of loudspeaker and room design, and in the course of the presentation observed that more than 50% of professional studios measure outside of what he considers "acceptable range". Interestingly, he also observed that frequency response of commercial loudspeakers vary extremely, regardless of their price point.

Dr. Toole put forward that his main evaluation technique for imaging is the use of pink noise. He put forward that the image of mono pink noise on a stereo playback system should be tightly centred and remain so as the engineer moves back from the sweet spot. Diffuse sounding noise is an indicator of bad control room design. Moving from this point to monitoring environment design, Dr. Toole observed that axial room modes between pairs of walls are the most audible problems in control rooms, and that bass management/subwoofer setups tend to yield more accurate and low end response than full range speaker arrangements. He went on to demonstrate loudspeaker placement concepts for the selective elimination of unwanted room resonances, while touching on the need for and occasional use of electronic equalization. Finally the audience heard about the use of various styles of acoustical damping, including resistive absorbers, membrance absorbers and acoustical resonators.

In attendance at the lecture was Roger Furness, Executive Director of the AES, who was in Banff to meet with Theresa Leonard, Geoff Martin, John Sorensen and the rest of the team co-ordinating a conference for AES to be held in Banff in June 2003.

Alberta Section Meeting Report
Saturday, February 9, 2002

Internet Audio with Bob Moses

On Saturday, February 9th the Alberta Section heard from industry expert Bob Moses on the subject of Audio on the Internet. Mr. Moses is the President and Chief Technical Officer of Island Digital Media Group, and previously was founder and Chief Technical Officer of Digital Harmony Technologies. His developments have been used by a wide range of hardware and software corporations, including Rane, Symetrix, JPL, Microsoft, Harman, Peavey, Denon and many, many more. His present work is a consultancy that helps companies develop audio streaming technologies for LANs.

During his comprehensive two hour lecture Bob discussed the salient issues related to the distribution of audio on the internet, including not only the related technologies, but also the management of artist rights and new business models. As Bob pointed out, audio searches and downloads have matched or exceed almost all other uses for the ’Net in recent years, and as a force this can no longer be ignored or mismanaged by the recording industry. Issues relevant to recording engineering practice were also discussed with reference to "mastering for the format" and the audio practicioners role in translating recordings for new media. The audience also had the opportunity to participate in a single-blind listening test at the end of the lecture, comparing multiple audio players at different data rates.

After the meeting the Executive of the Alberta Section met Mr. Moses, also AES Vice President for Western Region Canada/US for a working dinner. The Alberta Section is gearing up for an AES Conference on multichannel surround in June 2003 and took this opportunity to discuss section business and preparations for the conference with Bob, while enjoying the hospitality and incredible view of the Banff Centre main dining area.

The next meeting of the Alberta Section will feature Dr. Floyd Toole of Harman International, and will be held in the Telus Project Studio at the Banff Centre, Sunday, March 24th at 7:30 p.m.

Alberta Section Meeting Report
Monday, November 19th, 2001, 7:30pm

Canada Disc and Tape, Calgary, AB

The Alberta Section of the AES hosted an informal lecture and networking party at Canada Disc and Tape, a local CD/DVD duplication broker and mastering house. The get together was hosted by Theresa Leonard, AES Governor, and Ed Meitner, noted equipment designer and DSD pioneer. Attended by 40 local area members and students, the meeting was an excellent opportunity for producers, engineers and studio owners to liase, discuss business and tour the Canada Disc and Tape facility.

A question period on DSD technology was led by Mr. Meitner during the course of the meeting, as professionals and students alike sought greater insight into the format, with reference to the more familiar ground of PCM digital audio. Special thanks for helping with this enjoyable and informative event go to Doug Wong of Canada Disc and Tape, Theresa Leonard, Ed Meitner, and Susan Meitner whose RSVP Catering provided complimentary food and beverage.

Alberta Section Meeting Report
Monday, October 8, 2001, 7:30pm

Telus Studio, Banff Centre

Surround Sound-Considerations on new esthetic criteria for multichannel recordings with Jean-Marie Geisen and Martha DeFrancisco

The Alberta Section was recently treated to a comprehensive dissertation on multichannel recording by former Phillips Classics producer/engineer team Jean Marie Geisen and Martha DeFrancisco. After a short introduction by Martha the audience enjoyed a long playback session from DA88 and SACD multichannel sources. Jean-Marie offered varied examples of recordings and techniques, selected to illustrate a variety of techniques and even incorporating excerpts that he felt were not effective in order to provoke interest and discussion.

Following a coffee break Martha and Jean-Marie made a more formal and technical presentation on the nature and background of the recordings played in the first half of the presentation, highlighting microphone techniques and philosophies that they subscribe to. Following the presentation there was a lively discussion and question/answer period between the panel and the several dozen attendees, which included local area producers, engineers and musicians, as well as faculty, staff and students from the host Banff Centre Music and Sound department.

The Alberta AES and Banff Centre would like to thank Jean-Marie and Martha for their kind participation in the event, and also DSD pioneer Ed Meitner of EMM Labs for his attendance and for providing an SACD player and Switchman multichannel router for playback.

Alberta Section Meeting Report
July 22, 2001

High Resolution and Surround Recording

The Alberta Section of the AES recently hosted Grammy Award winning engineer Michael Bishop of Telarc Records for a talk focussing on Multichannel Recording and Playback of High Resolution Digital Audio. Drawing on a career of 30+ years in professional audio, Michael described his early experience and interest in surround through quadraphonic reproduction up to and including his current 6.0 recording and mixing techniques.

Michael illuminated his points for the audience (including noted DSD pioneer Ed Meitner and Sony design engineer Andreas Koch) by playing selections of multichannel recordings with a 7 loudspeaker array fitted with an elevation component. Central to the presentation were key format issues as related to recording multitrack and editing DSD format, delivery formats such as DTS, SACD and DVD, and surround playback issues. The audience was also treated to detailed accounts of Michael’s recording techniques, particularly the use of dummy-head for main pair pickup and double M/S room pickup.

Banff Centre and the Alberta AES Section would like to thank Michael Bishop for his time, Ed Meitner for the use of his AD/DA DSD convertors, and HHB Canada for the loan of a Genex 8500 for this presentation. The next Alberta AES lecture will feature European producer/engineer team Martha Defrancisco and Jean-Marie Geisen with another perspective on multichannel recording and playback.

AES Alberta Section Report
February 26, 2001

Neil Muncy - “Power Trip'

The Alberta Section of the AES enjoyed a highly informative lecture by one of the leading industry experts, Neil Muncy of Neil Muncy Associates, Toronto, Ontario. Active in the AES, Mr. Muncy holds a number of US and international patents, has authored and published many papers and continues to consult and design systems for live, broadcast and studio facilities.

Neil’s lecture focussed primarily AC Power Systems, Power Conditioning and Filtering, with particular reference to grounding. The audience, comprised of 30 regional engineers, was treated to a general debunking of audio power mythology, with reference to his groundbreaking paper on the “pin 1 problem' of 1995. Time was spent discussing the safety aspects of grounding versus common studio problems pertaining to noise and interference. After a break Neil gave the audience insight into a new product called “SurgeX', which is a new and innovative method for power surge protection. With reference to new standards set by IEEE, Neil made a strong case against common place surge protection in favor of these newer, safer and cleaner techologies for AC power management.

Alberta AES Section Meeting
February 19, 2001

Acoustic Measurements in Studios and Control Rooms
Claude Fortier, State of the Art Acoustik, Ottawa, Canada

The Alberta Section was treated to a very interesting dissertation on test and measurement by Dr. Claude Fortier, founder and proprietor of Canada’s State of the Art (SOTA) Acoustik. Dr. Fortier has long been associated with research and design, having presented papers and participated in conferences worldwide. His crossover filter system earned him a patent, while his loudspeaker designs recently earned a Class A rating from Stereophile magazine.

In his lecture to the Alberta Section Dr. Fortier reviewed the fundamentals of acoustic and gave a history of audio test and measurement. From that basic background he gave a detailed discussion of the MLSSA system and its application in control room, studio and concert hall analysis. Specific reference was made to his analysis of the on-site facilities and the monitoring systems in place. He also gave practical demonstrations of test techniques for loudspeaker testing, with suggested recommendations for placement in control rooms.

On January 16th, 2001, the Alberta Section of the AES in affiliation with the Audio Program of the Banff Centre enjoyed an enlightening lecture on classical music recording by Richard King, Senior Recording Engineer for Sony Classical, NYC. Having engineered for artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Andre Previn, Wynton Marsalis, LA Philharmonic and many others in many national and international venues, Richard is an expert on acoustic music recording techniques. He has nominated for Grammy Awards in the Classical Engineering categories several times and has engineered Grammy winning classical albums as well. Additionally, as both producer and engineer, he has remastered over 60 analog recordings for CD reissue.

During his well attended talk, Richard talked about the fixed and mobile techologies currently used at Sony Classical for recording, mixing, editing and mastering acoustic musics, with specific reference to techniques used for capturing orchestra, small to mid-sized chamber groups, duos, trios and soloists. The audience, comprised of a diverse group of producers, engineers and even equipment designers, engaged Richard in a long question and answer period which referenced issues pertaining to high-resolution formats such as SACD and DVD, among others.

On December 4th, 2000, the Alberta AES Section was also pleased to receive a lecture by one of Canada’s top sound designers for theatre, Peter McBoyle. As sound designer for the Stratford Festival, the largest repertory theatre in North America, Peter has faced and overcome many creative and technical challenges. He offered a very detailed view of the parameters of auditory design for theatre to an appreciative audience of several dozen engineers and theatre professionals.

In explaining the work that he does, Peter touched on the steps involved in bringing a presentation from “page to stage' including contract negotiation, technical specification, collaboration with creative people and talent, sound system design (specifically Meyer systems), budget, scheduling, technical installation, marking and preparing cues to script, RF tracking, sound effects, live music issues, foldback, among many other things. The audience was particularly impressed by the sophistication of the productions and the advances that have been made in theatre sound over the years.

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