Meeting notice archive

Meeting Recaps

n.b. Meeting reports and recordings exist for many past meetings. Audio recording of meetings is a relatively new thing, so those don't exist beyond maybe year 2000 or so. The archive is spotty, but if there is a meeting that you'd like more info on, and there isn't a distinct page on it, do inquire and it just might appear.

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2015 PNW AES Section Meetings

November 2015: The State of Audio Education in the Pacific Northwest  The PNW Section's November meeting was a panel discussion moderated by Steve Turnidge, AES PNW Section vice-chair and featuring representatives of seven local audio education institutions. 31 people attended, including 12 AES members. After the panelists introduced themselves and briefly described the nature of their institution's audio education program, Steve Turnidge kicked off the discussion by posing the question, "Why would someone seek higher education in the field of audio engineering?" Read more...	The distinguished panel of Pacific Northwest audio educators for November's PNW AES meeting.
October 2015: An Evening of Reverberation, with Sean Costello, René Jaeger and Rick Rodriguez  We were fortunate to present October's meeting in the gorgeous "Stone Room" at Robert Lang Studio. The story of this studio's genesis is remarkable enough; when you consider the talent that has recorded there, you know you are in a special place. If you caught our "1000 Years of Reverb" meeting with Sean Costello in June this year, you'll remember that when Sean was discussing classic Lexicon reverbs there was a connection made with a member of our audience, René Jaeger, who was working at Lexicon when the 224 and PCM60 were being developed. When Sean continued with reverbs from the '90s such as the Alesis family of products, Rick Rodriguez, who had worked on the hardware of some of those famous reverberators, joined the discussion. That exchange inspired a riveting panel-like discussion with these three folks, and we wanted to continue the magic. read more...	Rick Rodriguez, Sean Costello and René Jaeger in the Stone Room at Robert Lang Studios
September 2015: Rane's HAL Drag-n-Drop DSP Audio Architecture, with Steve Macatee  The PNW Section's meeting season kicked off with a presentation by Steve Macatee of Rane Corp on their HAL installed audio ecosystem. 14 AES members and 15 nonmembers came to the meeting, held at Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, WA. Steve presented the unique architecture of the 30 or so hardware products and their Halogen software for Windows that comprise Rane's HAL System for audio installation applications. There are a variety of analog I/O and digital transports supported and hidden in this quite varied product line. Deeper under-the-hood, each of the four varying I/O-size HAL drag-and-drop DSP "brains" have a Linux computer that runs the show for each and every connected product. Thus, HAL is a centralized DSP architecture, although several peripheral products also contain DSP. read more...	Steve Macatee explains the hardware options for the Rane HAL DSP system.
July-August 2015: Aside from a planning meeting of the officers and the Committee, we generally go on hiatus for the summer months.
June 2015: Algorithmic Digital Reverberators How the technology of artificial reverberation shapes musical aesthetics with Sean Costello.  Sean Costello of Valhalla DSP was the featured speaker at the PNW Section June 2015 meeting and election. Valhalla DSP  is a developer and online source of software plugins for Mac and Windows based audio editors. Sean talked about the history of artificial reverb, some classic reverberators, and some algorithms. There were 18 AES members (sufficient for quorum) and 18 non-members in attendance, allowing election of the 2015-16 PNW officers and committee. read more...  View or Download PDF of meeting presentation slides (771kB PDF)	Chair-Elect Chris Deckard, Presenter Sean Costello, Retiring Chair Steve Malott.
May 2015: History, Technical Aspects, & the Care & Feeding of Ribbon Microphones, with Sammy Rothman and Wes Dooley.  The PNW Section May meeting was held at Opus 4 Studios in Bothell, WA, and featured Wes Dooley, Sammy Rothman & Charlene Gibbs of AEA in Pasadena, CA talking about ribbon microphones. Opus 4 Studios owner Dr. Mike Matesky welcomed the group, then Wes spoke about his background and gave plaudits for the AES as a long-time supporter. read more...	Wes Dooley, "The Ribbon Guy" talks to us about AEA Ribbon mics.
April 2015: Legal Update - IP Law and Audio, with Kevin Jablonski  Kevin Jablonski, an attorney with the firm of Lane Powell in Seattle, returned for another semi-regular update about legal issues and the audio industry. The April 22 presentation was held at Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, WA. 12 AES members and 10 non-members attended. Kevin also has degrees in electrical engineering and audio production, sits on the Board for the Washington State Patent Law Association and is a former member of the AES PNW committee. read more...  Download meeting presentation slides (PPT file).	Tom Stiles, Chris Deckard, Kevin Jablonski and Section Chair Steve Malott.
March 2015: Audio Band Measurements, with Mark DeArman  The March PNW Section meeting welcomed Mark DeArman of Cascade Acoustic Research (Puyallup, WA) who spoke about audio band test and measurement systems, with an acoustic focus. A broad overview of essential types and configurations of such systems, as well as theory of operation and software analysis was given. Mark formed the business to address the needs of regional pro audio speaker manufacturing. 27 AES members were among the 41 total attendees. read more...  View or download presentation slides (1.4Mb PDF)	Committee Member Daniel Casado, Mark DeArman and Section Chair Steve Malott
February 2015: More Topics in Loudness - "Microdynamics" with JJ Johnston  This is the question James D. (JJ) Johnston presented to the group at the PNW Section February meeting, held at the Digipen Institute of Technology in Redmond, WA. He said it was neither Dynamic Range nor RMS; and loosely defined as "variation in loudness" based on an insufficient number of experiments. After a short review of terms (such as "loudness"), he presented some challenges of using dynamic range as a measure of microdynamics with some examples of number sequences that can "break" a dynamic range calculation. read more...  Video recording of the session, by Dan Mortensen.	JJ Johnston expands on a point relating to the variation of loudness in recordings
January 2015: The Forza Motorsport 5 Original Soundtrack, an Insider's View  In 2013, the AES PNW Section learned all about the sound design and effects for the video game, "Forza Motorsport 4." To concentrate on that, the music was turned down, but as the music for such games is a story unto itself, the PNW Section January 2015 meeting presented Lance Hayes, Lead Composer for the current Forza Motorsport 5, who spoke about how the music score was created and recorded. Lance, an independent composer (DJDM.com), also worked on several previous Forza soundtracks. The meeting was held at Microsoft Research in Redmond, WA. About 50 people (14 AES members) attended. read more...  Video Recording of Session Courtesy Microsoft Research	Lance Hayes, composer of music for Forza Motorsport 5.

2014 PNW AES Section Meetings

December 2014: There was no December meeting.
November 2014: Determining the Subjective Effects of Compression: Techniques, Topologies, and Factors  PNW AES Section's November meeting featured a dynamic give-and-take about audio compressors. Presenters were Christopher Deckard and Bob Smith. The meeting was held at Shoreline Community College (Shoreline, WA) and about 50 people attended (20 AES members). Chris Deckard, who recently left a job as a Mackie DSP engineer, realized that many people use compressors as a tonal tool as well as a dynamics tool. He showed a compressor analogy diagram (by Rick Chinn), showing a guy sitting on a hot plate, changing the volume based on how hot his butt gets. read more...	Chris Deckard and Bob Smith, November 2014 session presenters and PNW AES Committee members.
October 2014: There was no October meeting.
September 2014 The Perception and Measurement of Headphone Sound Quality: Do Listeners Agree on What Makes a Headphone Sound Good?  PNW Section started its meeting season with a presentation by Dr. Sean Olive of Harman International and President of the AES. About 57 people (28 AES members) attended his presentation on research into headphone quality, held at Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, WA near Seattle. Chris Deckard won a special election to fulfill the PNW Section Committee term of Scott Mehrens, who moved to California. Sean described several studies and papers and 2 years worth of research either presented or to be presented, on headphone sound quality. Headphone sales are now booming, but there is little research or standards on quality and listener preference, not unlike loudspeakers until Sean's recent research at Harman. There are a few measurement standards, but no adherence by manufacturers of consumer headphones, and seemingly driven mostly by marketing. read more...	Left to right: Dave Tosti-Lane, Dr. Sean Olive, Steve Malott
Summer 2014: Aside from a planning meeting of the officers and the Committee, we took the summer off.
June 2014 Cardioid Subwoofers: Once A Miracle, Now Easily Done  At our May meeting concerning Municipal Noise Ordinances, the questions arose: Is it possible to reduce SPL and infringing loudness by using directional subwoofers and, if so, how do you transform an inherently omnidirectional source into unidirectional or cardioid? The June PNW Section meeting involved Section business/elections, then a presentation on directional subwoofer arrays by Dan Mortensen of Dansound Inc. About 27 people showed up (about 16 AES members), including Bob Moses, AES Executive Director. The venue was the Edmonds Center for the Arts theater in Edmonds, WA, north of Seattle. read more...  View or Download Meeting Slides (7.3MB PDF)	PNW Committee Member and Presenter Dan Mortensen demonstrates an end-fired sub array.
May 2014 Noise Regulations: Is it Noise or Is It Music?  On May 29, 2014, the Pacific Northwest Section of the AES held a section meeting hosted by the Shoreline Community College Audio Production department. The title of the presentation was Noise Regulations: Is it Noise or Is It Music? Seth Tomlinson, INCE, Acoustician with The Greenbusch Group in Seattle spoke about the regulatory process, how local jurisdictions create and enforce noise regulations and how complaints are investigated and substantiated or disproved. About 18 attendees including 11 AES members attended the presentation. read more...	Seth Tomlinson talks about noise ordinances.
April 2014 The Ribbon Microphone Resurgence and London Bridge Studio Tour  The PNW Section April meeting gathered at London Bridge Studios in Shoreline, WA. for a studio tour and presentation on ribbon microphones by Ken Levy of Cascade Microphones. About 56 attended (20+ AES members). PNW Chair Dave Tosti-Lane made opening remarks and Section business notes, then meeting coordinator and PNW Committeeperson Rich Williams introduced studio co-owner Geoff Ott and general manager Carson Lehman. Ott described the studio and its history, which includes recordings by Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Blind Melon as well as many recent artists like Cat Power, Fleet Foxes, and Death Cab for Cutie. The tour was first, so the group split in two, one group in the control room while another saw the main room, where Geoff took questions about the studio and its operations. Carson hosted groups in the control room, describing the vintage Neve console. read more...	The tour of London Bridge Studios included the Neve console used for Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and others.
March 2014 Analog Tape Machines - Basics of Alignment and Calibration  Dust off those bell bottoms, and come back with us to the age when analog tape ruled the earth. The PNW Section March 2014 meeting featured Section officers Rick Chinn and Gary Louie revisiting that age when analog tape ruled the earth, presenting a workshop/demo of an introduction to the analog studio tape machine, and the basics of alignment and calibration. 33 people attended (15 being AES members, including AES Executive Director Bob Moses) at Shoreline Community College, Shoreline WA. While this is certainly a nostalgia trip for many, others never gave up on analog tape, while some have never known it, but hear that it imparts a mythic mojo. Others may have a need for archival playback and digitization. read more...	Gary Louie demonstrates alignment technique as Rick Chinn observes and comments.
February 2014: There was no February meeting.
January 2014 Dynamic Range - How LOW can you go? (Or... What does soft mean, and what does loud mean?)  The PNW Section January 29, 2014 meeting presented James D. (JJ) Johnston talking about the confusing issue of audio dynamic range. In addition, Bob Smith added a demonstration of software for measuring and displaying various interpretations of level or loudness on a DAW. Johnston is a current Governor of the AES and an AES Fellow, and one of the inventors and standardizers of MPEG 1/2 audio Layer 3 and MPEG-2 AAC. Smith is an audio engineer with Physio Control and runs BS Studios. About 60 attendees, about 23 AES members amongst them, gathered at the Digipen Institute of Technology in Redmond, WA. read more...  Powerpoint Slides (1.2MB PDF)	JJ Johnston, In another place altogether.

2013 PNW AES Section Meetings

December 2013: There was no December meeting.
November 2013: Weaponized Audio for Enormous Venues — OR Can We Outshout the Crowd?  Our Presenter for November was Ed Simon, of Edward Simon & Co., designer and installer of sound systems. Of late, he did the sound system design for the newly remodeled Husky Stadium, which speaks for itself. He posed the following points to ponder prior to the meeting: The atmosphere vs. the announcer. The architect vs. the acoustician. Seahawks Stadium: What kind of loud is good? Drivers: Efficiency vs. Flatness - Are you sure about that? Why loudspeaker frequency response should not be flat Can a sound system really add to home field advantage? How loud is enough? 2.5 Megawatts in action! But WHY? read more...
October 2013 The State of the Art in Modular Synthesis  Continuing along the topic of Modular Synthesis, past PNW AES Chair Steve Turnidge brought us up to date with current trends from the re-emerging art and science of modular synthesis. He introduced representatives from several local and remote modular synth manufacturers and asked them to discuss their individual approach to modular design and their new spin on this time honored art form. read more...	Steve Turnidge with James Husted of Synthwerks.
September 2013 The Circuit Is The Sound — An Engineer's Perspective on Analog Modular Synthesis  PNW Committeeman Daniel Casado discussed the basics of modular synthesis, from the standpoint of the fundamental synthesizer building blocks: audio signals, control voltages, VCOs, VCAs, VCFs, Sequencers, ADSR, Ring Multipliers. read more...	PNW AES Committee member and presenter Daniel Casado prepares to begin the meeting.
There were no section meetings in July or August
June 2013 Everything* You Need To Know About Using Ethernet Cable for Portable Audio  What do all those CATegory cable numbers mean? How are they different from one another? Does it matter if you use this one instead of that one? How well do they hold up to repeated deployment? Can you do anything to them while in use that will cause a disruption in your signal transfer? If so, how can you avoid doing that thing? Is it hard to put those little connectors on them? How well do those little connectors stand up to normal use/abuse? How is an Ethernet cable's performance measured, qualified, and quantified? read more...	AES Executive Director Bob Moses and Dan Mortensen torturing a cable by pulling it thru a small aperture.
May 2013 Transparent One and Audio Entrepreneurship  Gary Gesellchen and Rick Kernen of Vanatoo discussed the path taken in the development of their company's Transparent One desktop loudspeaker system. Two veteran engineers decide to enter the audio marketplace with a new and innovative product. Their presentation described the process: product definition, design prototypes, manufacturing, sales and marketing. Audio recordings and a more detailed report on the meeting are also accessible at the meeting report for this meeting. read more...	Section Chair Dave Tosti-Lane, presenters Rick Kernen and Gary Gesellchen.
April 2013 Audio, Radio, and Acoustics, and Signal Processing  The Richard C. Heyser distinguished lecturer for the 133rd AES Convention is James D. (jj) Johnston. The title of his lecture is, "Audio, Radio, Acoustics, and Signal Processing — the Way Forward." In his talk, JJ will discuss our present understanding of human auditory perception, pointing out how the way we actually work encourages a dichotomy of knowledge that no longer exists. He goes on to suggest some ways that education can bring artistic and technical approaches together, apply some of the technical things we know on the artistic side, and learn what the artistic side of the business needs and wants. He proposes to address such issues as "mix buss performance" claims and the performance of various processors (which are quite nonlinear, for good reason). It is his hope that we can continue to push the understanding of perception, which should help create the "really here" immersive understanding that is the goal of the realists, the "you could never be here but you wish you could" sensation of the avant-garde, and encourage the delivery systems of the world to "get with the program." read more...	PNW Committee member and presenter JJ Johnston
March 2013 The State of the Mostly Modular Art of Synthesis  James Husted of Synthwerks took the PNW AES Section through the history of Synthesis, with particular emphasis on Modular Synthesis. Today's modulars are related to early patchcord synthesizers such as the Moog 900-series, Buchla, and Arp instruments. It took instruments like the MiniMoog or the Arp Odessy to bring synthsesizer sounds to the performance stage, but these instruments, since their capabilities are predefined by the manufacturer, play a minor role in today's modular scene. This meeting was partly a teaser for the MMTA Synthfest, which took place 2 days later at Shoreline CC. read more...	James Husted demonstrates the workings of his modular synth.
February 2013 Power Tools for ProTools 10  The PNW Section Feburary 2013 meeting had Glenn Lorbecki, Seattle studio owner and author of "Power Tools for Pro Tools 10" (Hal Leonard), present a practical tour of Avid's audio product for users at all levels. About 11 AES members and 25 others attended the meeting at Shoreline Community College, Shoreline WA. read more...	Glenn Lorbecki seated underneath the screen at the right.
January 2013 Vroom - The Interesting World of Racing Game Sound Design  The PNW meeting for January 2013 took "a deep dive into the interesting, diverse, and sometimes dangerous world of sound design for racing games" with Nick Wiswell, Creative Audio Director for Turn 10 Studios (part of Microsoft). Nick revealed many details about how painstakingly sound is produced for modern car-racing computer games. About 34 persons (13 AES members) attended the event at the Microsoft Research building in Redmond, WA. More than a few attendees confessed to being car nuts as well as gamers. read more...	Nick Wiswell begins the presentation.

2012 PNW AES Section Meetings

• December, 2012: There was no December meeting.

• November 2012: We had two meetings in November:
  • November 20, 2012: Soldering Workshop: 
    The PNW Section doubled down in November with a second meeting on November 2. During a basic soldering workshop led by PNW committeeman Rick Chinn (Uneeda Audio), participants were invited to bring their own tools - or not, and be instructed on basic microphone cable building, with connectors and cable provided free courtesy of an anonymous donor. The meeting was held at the Shoreline Community College music building in Shoreline, WA. read more... 

  • November 8, 2012: Copyright Transfer: 
    The PNW Section November 8th meeting was on copyright law as it pertains to sound recordings, specifically termination rights, a part of U.S. copyright law which can allow artists to reclaim rights previously assigned 35 years ago. However, as the law often goes, it may not be completely clear or simple. The speaker was Michael Matesky II, an attorney with the Seattle law firm of Christensen, O'Connor, Johnson, Kindness. The meeting was held at Dr. Michael Matesky's Opus 4 Studios in Bothell, WA. read more... 

• October 2012: Careers in Audio - a Panel Discussion 
  The PNW October 2012 meeting convened a panel of distinguished industry professionals to discuss careers in audio. The meeting was held at Shoreline Community College and about 48 attended (12 AES members), with quite a few students from SCC's audio programs. The panelists were chosen by Moderator Steve Malott for their diverse careers and experiences. Steve is PNW vice-chair and currently full-time faculty at Shoreline Community College in their audio technology program, and adjunct faculty at Northwest University in Kirkland. Steve has enjoyed a varied career in audio engineering, advertising, broadcasting and management, and has been active in the Recording Academy, AES and SBE for many years. Panelists included: Julian Colbeck - Keyfax Media, Glenn Lorbiecki - Glennsound, Jonathan Plum - London Bridge Studios and NARAS, Jeff Heiman - Windham Hill, PlayNetwork, & NARAS, Nancy Rumbel - Grammy winner & NARAS, Steve Turnidge - Mastering Engineer, NARAS, & AES. read more... 

• September 2012: Understanding and Interpreting Audio Measurement Tools in a Real Room with a Real System 
  The PNW Section started its new season with a presentation of Rational Acoustics' SMAART v7 acoustical analysis software by incoming PNW chair Dave Tosti-Lane. Tosti-Lane is the Chair of Performance Production and Sound Design Area Head of Seattle's Cornish College of the Arts, and mere hours before had finished a comprehensive training seminar on SMAART in California. read more... 

• July-August 2012: There were no meetings held.

• June 2012: Another Meeting with CBS Records Legendary Engineer Frank Laico  The PNW Section's season-ending meeting took a closer look at CBS Records' 30 street NYC studios, with emcee Dan Mortensen (PNW chair) and retired CBS engineer and AES Honorary Member Frank Laico. The meeting was broadcast over the internet as a webinar, and two special guests participated by phone from the east coast USA, Dave Simons, author of the book, "Studio Stories" and Steve Epstein, former CBS Masterworks engineer. A variety of historic photos, music and video clips, and remarks from Frank, Dave and Steve traced the history of the famed studio, now long gone. 19 AES members and 58 non-members attended at the Crista Rehabilitation Center in Shoreline, WA, where Frank lived at the time. read more... 

• May 2012: Whitespaces and new wireless microphone technology. 
  PNW's May 2012 meeting brought local manufacturer's rep Van Browne to speak about the latest developments in "whitespace" radio spectrum usage and wireless microphones.

• April 2012: 2012 Legal Update: Patents and Copyright 
  The PNW Section took another semi-regular look at the legal aspects of the audio world from IP attorney Kevin Jablonski, of the law firm Graybeal, Jackson in Bellevue WA. The meeting took place April 17, 2012 at the Art Institute of Seattle. About 15 AES members and 6 non-members attended.
  Kevin is not only an attorney, but holds an Audio Production degree from the Art Institute, a BSEE degree from Gonzaga University, and plays in local bands. He is a past committee member of the PNW Section. He started with a review of what intellectual property law covers in the USA, explaining the principles, and giving example cases. read more... 

• March 2012: Desktop Mastering: Book Release 
  Our own past Chair and Committee Member, Steve Turnidge, has gone off and written a book. A book you say? But not just any book, one covering a topic near and dear to any recording engineer: <ta-da> Desktop Mastering. Desktop Mastering is a conceptual guide, intertwining a broad range of knowledge regarding audio engineering principles and practical applications for those wishing to enhance their own as well as their clients' work. In addition to providing a step-by-step in-depth survey of a successful mastering plug-in chain, Desktop Mastering covers real-world practical applications as well as the fundamentals of audio and electronics. Also included is a personal guide to the business of mastering and how to leverage emerging social networks for positive personal and business results.

• February 2012: Audio Development for Android Games 
  The PNW Section's February 2012 meeting featured game sound designer Peter "pdx" Drescher describing programming Android game audio with two methods, the "middleware" FMOD (from Firelight Technologies) and the Android Java environment. He also described his techniques for making musically appropriate sounds. About 11 AES members and 19 non-members attended the talk, given at the Art Institute of Seattle, with many AIS students present. read more... 

• January 2012: What the @#$%$% is FFT all about? 
  The PNW Section held a free, all-day Saturday workshop/seminar about the FFT and the practical use thereof, with breaks interspersed and a no-host lunch. Attendance was about 30 in the morning (about 15 AES members). The event was held at the Redmond WA Teen Center in the Old Firehouse (OFTC). Presenters included JJ Johnston, Bob Smith, Dan Mortensen and Steve Hastings.
  In the morning session, James "JJ" Johnston explained what a Fourier Transform is and what it's for, in non-mathematical terms. Then he explained some of the ways that an FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) can be used to measure, characterize, and correct for various kinds of audio system issues, audio testing, and the like. Significant time was devoted to using Octave to evaluate audio signals. read more... 

2011 PNW AES Section Meetings

• December 2011: New Requirements in the NEC and How they Affect Live Sound Systems 
  The PNW Section held its December 2011 meeting at Opus 4 Studios in Bothell WA, featuring Mark Rogers speaking about the latest National Electrical Code as it relates to sound systems. Rogers is Director of the AV Department at the Greenbusch Group, a Seattle acoustical consulting firm. He is a designer of audio/visual systems, including sound reinforcement, audio reproduction, video projection and displays, videoconferencing and audioconferencing, and related control systems. Typical projects include airports, train stations, corporate boardrooms, convention centers, universities and hospitals. He has designed and installed AV for over 40 years, and also teaches classes and seminars on AV technology. read more... 

• November 2011: Lies, Damn Lies, and Specifications 
  The PNW Section's November 2011 meeting saw Jonathan Novick, Sales Director for Audio Precision of Beaverton, OR, present his take on "Lies, Damn Lies, and specifications." Jonathan is Sales Director at Audio Precision. He is a past chairman of the LA Section of the AES and has served on the executive committee there for seven years. Jonathan is an active member of the Consumer Electronics Association standards committee on audio and is co-chair of the Product Design track for the 131st AES convention. He also co-chaired the Live Sound tracks for the 129th and 125th AES conventions. He holds a BSEE degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and spent much of his professional career involved in the design and simulation of RF and microwave circuitry. read more... 

• October 2011a
  There were two meetings in October. Sometimes we just get lucky.
  • October 4: Bill Putnam - His Life and Legacy 
    Our October 4th meeting was an insider's look at the recording business in its heyday: 1950 to 1975 by two fellows who were there to be a part of it, Bob Bushnell and Jerry Ferree. They both worked their way up from the bottom, working alongside an industry giant: Bill Putnam. Bob and Jerry wrote a book on the subject, "From Downbeat to Vinyl: Bill Putnam's Legacy to the Recording Industry." They shared some of these tales as well as other stories about this time in the industry. read more... 

  • October 11: Wifi | Whitespace | Wireless Mikes: Can they coexist? 
    For the PNW Section's second October 2011 meeting, researchers at Microsoft Research gave details on their proposed system to allow Wi-Fi-like digital data transmissions in the same radio frequency spectrum ("whitespace") that many wireless microphones can use, without causing audible interference. Ranveer Chandra, a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research, devised the system, working with George Nychis, a Carnegie Mellon University doctoral student interning at MS, and with Thomas Moscibroda and Ivan Tashev of MSR. Ivan also serves on the AES PNW Section committee. A demonstration of their proposed technology followed. read more... 

• September 2011: Digital Audio Transport in an Ethernet World. 
  The AES PNW Section's September 2011 meeting was held at Rane Corp. in Mukilteo, WA, (north of Seattle and south of Everett). Longtime Rane employee Steve Macatee is currently Director of Product Development and Training, and gave a talk on digital audio in the Ethernet environment. Steve's presentation was partially distilled from a 3-day SynAudCon course he gives. Approximately 34 persons came (about 18 were AES members). read more... 

• August 2011: Field Trip to NWAA Labs 
  The PNW Section co-sponsored a field trip to NWAA Labs, in Satsop WA. Built on the site of an abandoned nuclear power plant, the Lab is an acoustical measuring facility uniquely suited to these enormous buildings. A special treat was a visit to one of the cooling towers, which has unique and interesting acoustical properties. "Super-sized" only begins to describe these buildings. A recording of the tour/presentation and the inside of one of the cooling tower is part of the meeting report. read more... 

• June 2011: Inside a Cellular Telephone. 
  After we conducted section elections, Scott Mehrens, software engineer with Motorola Mobility, spoke about the modern cell phone, and gave some insight into what makes these things tick. Scott started with a brief history of Motorola, which began in 1928. Motorola made its name with car radios in the early 1930s. By the 1950s, non-cellular car phones were made, and by the 1960s, the space program used Moto radio links hinting at cellular networks that were demonstrated in the late 1970s. 1983 saw the first, huge analog cell phones, and we have seen the evolution to digital and greatly increased capabilities with less size and weight. read more... 

• May 2011: Audacity, A Digital Audio Workstation 
  The PNW Section May meeting brought Steve Hastings, a software developer and engineer at the DTS Inc. Kirkland WA office, to speak about the free, open source audio editing program Audacity. The meeting was held with the cooperation of the Art Institute of Seattle's AES Student Section at their downtown Seattle campus. About 26 attended (1/2 AES members). read more... 

• April 2011: Operating a Public Address System & Special Award for Frank Laico. 
  The PNW Section conducted a dual purpose meeting April 2011, to both discuss practical aspects of doing live sound, and to honor a very special person in the recording industry. Frank Laico , for many years a New York recording engineer at CBS Records, and now a Seattle-area resident, received a rare recognition - that of Honorary Member of the AES. Unable to travel due to health problems, the PNW Section held a local presentation ceremony for him.
  Following the presentation, PNW Section members Dan Mortensen and Rick Chinn did a free-form discussion of operating a sound system for live music. The meeting was held at Edmonds Center for the Arts. read more... 

• March 2011 Cables: Fact, Fiction, and Fraud. 
  Steve Lampen of Belden and Kurt Denke of Blue Jeans Cable took us through the fact, fiction, and folly of the audio cable business. The meeting was held at Shoreline Community College.

• February 2011: The February meeting was postponed because of snow.

• January 2011: Rewriting a Digital Audio Workstation. 
  The PNW Section held its January meeting at Seattle office of Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe engineer Charles Van Winkle spoke about the rewriting of the audio editing program, Adobe Audition (originally begun as Cool Edit by Syntrillium Software). 50 people attended (21 being AES members). Charles was assisted with remarks from coworkers Matt Stegner and Colin Stefani. read more... 

2010 PNW AES Section Meetings

• December 2010: Sound Capture Applications in Entertainment and Gaming 
  The PNW Section's December meeting was a presentation by Dr. Ivan Tashev of Microsoft Research, about the engineering used behind the audio capturing abilities of the popular Microsoft Kinect gaming device. 10 AES member and 19 non-members came to the Microsoft Research building in Redmond WA.
  Dr. Tashev has been a software architect in the Speech Technology group at Microsoft Research since 2001. He received his masters (electronics) and PhD (computer science) degrees from the Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria.Dr. Tashev is the author of the book, Sound Capture and Processing: Practical Approaches, Wiley, 2009. He is a senior member of IEEE and IEEE Signal Processing Society, and an AES PNW Section Committee member. Dr. Tashev has also published two other books, over 50 scientific papers, and is listed as inventor of 11 U.S. Patents, and 40 U.S. Patent applications. read more... 

• November 2010 We had two meetings in November.
  • November 21st: An Afternoon with Wes Dooley. 
    Taking advantage of circumstances, the PNW Section snagged Wes Dooley of AEA (Audio Engineering Associates) on short notice for an afternoon chat. Wes and AEA are known as producers of RCA-style ribbon microphones and vendors of recording gear, based in Pasadena, California. The meeting was held at Opus 4 Studios in Bothell, WA, with 9 AES members and 14 non-members attending. read more... 

  • November 8th: John Vanderkooy, The Acoustic Centre.  At the November 8th meeting of the AES Pacific Northwest Section, Professor John Vanderkooy from the University of Waterloo, Canada, presented a lecture about his research on the acoustic centre. The meeting was jointly organized by the PNW Section and Microsoft Research, and held at the Microsoft Research building in Redmond, WA. 13 AES members and 17 nonmembers attended. read more... 

• October 2010: A Personal History of Perceptual Audio Coding 
  James (JJ) Johnston spoke at the October PNW Section meeting, giving a personal viewpoint on his participation in the evolution of perceptual audio coding. Some 15 AES members and 18 nonmembers attended the meeting held at Microsoft Studios in Redmond. Johnston received BSEE and MSEE degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University. He then worked for AT&T Bell Labs and its successor AT&T Labs Research, retiring (temporarily) in 2002. He also worked for Microsoft as Windows Audio Architect for 6 years. Most recently he has been working in the area of auditory perception of soundfields, ways to capture soundfield cues and represent them, and ways to expand the limited sense of realism available in standard audio playback for both captured and synthetic performances. He is currently Chief Scientist forDTS Inc. Mr. Johnston is an IEEE Fellow, an AES Fellow, a NJ Inventor of the Year, an AT&T Technical Medalist and Standards Awardee, and a co-recipient of the Donald Fink Paper Award and the 2006 James L. Flanagan Signal Processing Award from the IEEE. read more... 

• September 2010: The History and Future of Surround Sound with Tomlinson Holman 
  The PNW September 2010 meeting featured Tomlinson Holman with his history and future of surround sound. The meeting was held at Microsoft Studios in Redmond, WA. 31 members and 53 nonmembers attended. A $5 fee was charged for nonmembers. PNW chair Bob Moses conducted the meeting, explaining the mission of the AES, having everyone introduce themselves, then turning things over to Tom Holman. Holman, (a Fellow of the AES), is known for his decades-long work in audio and cinema, notably the original THX programs. Currently he is a professor at the USC School of Cinema-TV, is a principal in Audyssey and consults with his TMH Corp. read more... 

• July-August 2010 The section went on hiatus for the summer months except for committee planning meetings.

• June 2010: An Overview of Film Scoring in Los Angeles 
  The PNW Section held its June meeting before a summer hiatus, with AES Fellow Shawn Murphy discussing feature film scoring. The Section also held its business meeting with elections. 16 AES members and 33 non- members attended the meeting at Microsoft Studios, Redmond, WA.
  Shawn Murphy has extensive credits in major motion picture sound work, including an Oscar® in 1993 for Jurassic Park. He said that only about 25 people worldwide record film scores for a living. The business is mostly based in LA (maybe 80%) or London (10%) and other places (10%).
  Using material from two recent projects recorded at different sound stages, Shawn presented extensive sound and picture demonstrations to show the work flow involved in recording orchestral scores for feature films. The demonstrations were run by Adam Michalak, Stage Recordist at the Sony (MGM) Scoring Stage in Culver City, CA, running a ProTools rig and basic theatrical 5.1 playback system, provided by Microsoft Studios. read more... 

• May 2010 There were two meetings in May
  • May 8, 2010: Audio Perception: Why you hear what you hear 
    After a welcome from PNW Chair Steve Turnidge, and crowd self introductions, PNW committeeperson Dan Mortensen announced another live Frank Laico interview program for Shoreline Community College; the next AES meeting with film score recordist Shawn Murphy; and the PNW elections.
    Then James (JJ) Johnston began, saying he was ex-Bell Labs and Microsoft, and now DTS chief scientist. He would cover some basic ideas about the working of the human CNS (central nervous system) and hearing, with perhaps some insight into the pitfalls of gauging sound quality with humans. While certainly not everything about the workings of the human brain is fully understood, many ideas from many researchers make some sense. read more... 

  • May 1, 2010: Let's Listen to a Large Line-Array 
    Due to some fortuitous, if short notice set of circumstances, Dansound Inc. offered PNW attendees the opportunity to attend the soundcheck of an arena-sized sound system, talk with the front-of-house engineer, and attend the concert, featuring Arlo Guthrie and his family. 4 AES members and 5 non-members took Dan Mortensen of Dansound Inc up the offer. read more... 

• April 2010 — There was no meeting in April.

• March 2010
  The Evolution of Analog Guitar Effects 
  The March PNW Section meeting was a discussion and demonstration of the evolution of analog guitar effects devices. PNW Committee person Greg Mauser conducted the event, held at Microsoft Studios in Redmond, WA. About 27 nonmembers and 13 members attended. After PNW chair Steve Turnidge did Section business and had attendees introduce themselves, a short opening musical performance was given by Ian Moore, a popular Austin TX-based guitarist/singer. Greg Mauser noted that the effects boxes, which can be connected in series and/or parallel arrays between a guitar and amplifier, are very popular for guitarists' artistic expression. He divided the major types of effects devices into categories, then took one category at a time and described the history and people involved, showed the technical explanation of the effect, gave examples of circuitry, showed typical units, played musical examples and gave other background. read more... 

• February 2010: New Wave Modular Synthesizers: Meet the Seattle Area Modular Manufacturers 
  Our February meeting featured some of the rising stars of the new wave of Modular Synthesis giving demonstrations of some innovative new products - as well as showing off some of the more tried and trusted, but never completely predictable, modular delights. The meeting began, as usual, with AES committee chair Steve Turnidge calling the meeting to order and begin self-introductions of the audience. He then introduced the synth manufacturers present, who included Steve himself, George Mattson, James Husted, Kevin O'Neil, Scott rise and Sebastian Jaeger. The team spoke about the re-emergence of modular (patch cord) synthesis, ala the ancient Moog 900 series, or the ARP 2600. read more... 

• January 2010
  Upgrading the Audio Industry & Subjective Evaluation of Loudspeaker Quality 
  The AES PNW Section and Art Institute of Seattle Student Section presented a January 2010 program featuring Dr. Floyd Toole and Dr. Sean Olive of Harman International, and a tour of the venue, Microsoft Studios in Redmond, WA. About 95 total persons attended (38 being AES members). Earlier that afternoon, the AIS students held their own discussions with the presenters at their school, in part because Dr. Olive also serves as AES Western Region VP. PNW Chair Steve Turnidge opened the evening meeting, conducted some AES business, and ran the traditional self introductions by the attendees. read more...