AES News

The Audio Engineering Society Inc. is seeking applications for the position of Executive Director; employment will begin on 2012 January 1.

The Executive Director (ED) facilitates the operational activities of the AES and serves as the Society's Chief Operating Officer. The ED is responsible to the AES Board of Governors and its Executive Committee, which provide overall policy guidance and operational oversight. The ED provides leadership and performs such duties as required for AES to refine and successfully meet its strategic objectives, and successfully conduct operations in accordance with its educational and scientific purpose.

The headquarters office of the AES is in New York City, NY and the ED is required to conduct the business of the Society at this office. The ED shall devote best efforts, attention, and energies to the business of the Society, and during the term of employment, may not engage in any other business or occupation which conflicts with this obligation without prior specific written consent of the Board of Governors. This position requires that the applicant be a US citizen or hold a US permanent resident visa. It is preferable that the successful applicant reside in the vicinity of New York City; however, because this is not an absolute requirement, applicants proposing to accomplish the duties and responsibilities of the Executive Director while residing elsewhere should provide details as to how they intend to achieve this.

Read the Full Call for Applications!

The AES Audio Experts are on the way starting Sept. 4th, 2011. Starting today you can text 'AES' to 757575 (in the U.S. or Canada) for 50 days of exclusive content. We're also posting links on Twitter and Facebook.

Watch the first promo video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rS3CSGFCo8

Or you can read the full press release.

View the Oral History Project Gallery

Our Board of Tellers recently announced the results of the AES election, and we can now welcome our new 2011-2012 officers who will take office on October 30, 2011:

President Elect:     Frank Wells

Vice President Central US and Canada:     Michael Fleming

Vice President Central Europe:     Nadja Wallaszkovits

Vice President Southern Europe (3 Yr Term):     Umberto Zanghieri

Vice President Latin America:     Joel Vieira de Brito

Vice President International:     Kimio Hamasaki

Governors: Gary Gottlieb, Ben Kok, and Bozena Kostek.

Please welcome our new officers!

This Week In Radio Tech host Kirk Harnack will feature 131st AES Convention Broadcast & Streaming Sessions Chair David Bialik on the next TWiRT episode. Bialik will preview the upcoming AES Convention at NY's Javits Center October 20-23, 2011. Point your browser to http://live.twit.tv this Wednesday, Aug. 10 at 8pm EDT for David Bialik on This Week in Radio Tech.

Update: The interview was also archived here: http://twit.tv/twirt94

AES voting members are reminded to cast their ballots in the 2011 election for members of the Board of Governors. The deadline to cast your vote is 5:00 PM (EST) on Friday, July 15, 2011.

The positions open this year are:
• President-Elect
• Vice President Central Region, U.S. & Canada
• Vice President Central Region, Europe
• Vice President Southern Region, Europe
• Vice President Latin American Region
• Vice President International
• Governor (3 positions)

There are also two proposals to amend the AES Bylaws.

All voting members should have received an email from Christopher V. Freitag, Chair, Board of Tellers notifying them of the vote. In that email is a Unique PIN which you can use along with your membership number to cast your ballot online.

If you did not receive your ballot call Election Services during normal business hours at +1-800.864.1263.

Associate Members and Student Members are not eligible to vote. We encourage Associate Members to apply to upgrade to Member Status.

Read about Membership Types

Apply for Full Member Status

In 2010, Dr. Charles Limb infiltrated Baltimore’s Hip Hop scene for a study on the parallels between that free form art and “traditional” jazz. On Thursday, October 20th, Dr Limb will detail his findings with a Keynote address at the 131st AES Convention at NY’s Javits Center. Sound, Hearing and Music: A Journey From The Ears to The Brain, will explore the physical and intellectual intricacies of musical creativity; its inception and perception. 

In announcing the address, 131st Convention Chair Jim Anderson remarked, “Dr. Limb’s innovative research into the parallel fields of technology and musical creativity exemplifies the AES mission. His study of brain function in improvising musicians is sure to provide valuable insights.”

“At first glance, the free-form art of musical improvisation and the meticulous environment of the research lab seem to make strange bedfellows,” Dr. Limb remarked. “But through the application of rigorous scientific methods to the study of musicians, we have been able to get a glimpse of how this remarkable process of artistic creativity takes place in the brain.”

An Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Limb is a hearing specialist and saxophonist.  His groundbreaking work on how the brain develops and assimilates musical creativity has been featured by NPR, PBS, National Geographic, Scientific American, the Smithsonian Institute, the New York Times, Library of Congress and the American Museum of Natural History.  A Faculty Member at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Dr. Limb received his undergraduate degree at Harvard, his medical degree at Yale, and completed his surgical training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. His current research focuses on the neural basis of musical improvisation and the study of music perception in deaf individuals with cochlear implants.

“Expectations for the 131st AES Convention are particularly high this year,” reports committee chair Jim Anderson, “our team is making an extraordinary effort to create an unforgettable event.”  Scheduled for Oct. 20 – 23 at NY’S Jacob Javits Center, this year’s attendees will find a wealth of stimulating, challenging, entertaining and informative Workshops, Tutorials, Papers, Master Classes, Technical Tours and Special Events designed to hone their skills and recharge their batteries.

AES executive director Roger Furness reports that the stellar Committee is comprised of seasoned pros whose enthusiasm for the Convention is matched only by their professional accomplishments and peer recognition.  “Our chairman Jim Anderson is a particularly accomplished engineer, producer and educator.   His organizational acumen and leadership skills make him an indispensible asset. Many of our chairs have served for years and their knowledge of their fields is legendary. Broadcast & Streaming Events chair David Bialik is back for his 23rd consecutive Convention, which we believe is a record,” Furness says.  “We are honored to attract this level of talent each year, and our attendees reap huge benefits from their dedication to producing a first rate event.” 

The 131st AES Convention Committee is comprised of:  Chair Jim Anderson, Broadcast & Streaming Events Chair, David Bialik; Live Sound Co-Chairs Henry Cohen and Mac Kerr; Workshops/Tutorials Chair Natanya Ford; Education Chair John Krivit; Papers Co-Chairs Veronique Larcher and Agnieszka Roginska; Technical Tours Chair, Lou Manno; Games Track Chair, Steve Martz; Facilities Chair, Michael McCoy; EE Co-Chairs, Bob Moses and Jonathan Novick; Tech Tours/Volunteers Chair, Doron Schacter and Master Class Chair, Alan Silverman.

“Our Committee is constantly challenged with topping the previous year’s events, and the 131st Committee is clearly up to the task,” Jim Anderson concludes.  “Over the next few months we will announce a number of surprising innovations and high profile participants. The vigor, good humor we see evidenced at each of our Committee meetings convinces me that the 131st Convention will be one for the books.”

Dear Readers,

AES convention attendees have expressed a desire for more application-oriented papers. Our current Convention Papers and Posters are largely research-oriented, but we have a lot of engineers and practitioners who would appreciate presentations of a more practical nature. To this end we are instituting a new presentation initiative at the upcoming London AES Convention, called Engineering Briefs. These are intended to be short verbal talks or poster presentations that will be of interest to AES members. For this first time, only posters will be accepted, to facilitate planning for the Convention. Contributors must supply a short synopsis to indicate their desire to present an Engineering Brief, followed later by an electronic manuscript.

Update for New York: For the 131st Convention we will also accept short 15-minute paper presentations. The deadline is July 15th. 

Topics for the Engineering Briefs can be very wide-ranging, such as studio experience, equipment construction, new loudspeaker concepts, room acoustic measurements, analysis of audio equipment, and project studio startups, to name just a few. Relaxed reviewing of submissions will consider mainly whether they are of interest to AES convention attendees and are not overly commercial. Double-column electronic manuscripts will be restricted to 4 pages in length, and they will be available for all members on the AES website, but there will be no paper copies. For more information, please see the Call for Engineering Briefs.

John Vanderkooy
Journal Editor

The Nominations Committee is at this time soliciting the names of members to be considered for possible inclusion in the 2011 ballot for election of officers to the Board of Governors. To aid us in this task, please let us know if there is someone you would like us to consider for this election.

To be eligible for nomination, a candidate must be a voting member of the Society and belong to one of the following membership categories: honorary member, fellow, or member, and must be willing and able to attend the meeting of the Board of Governors each year.

Nominations must be received by March 7th, 2011 and can now be submitted online.

Submit a Candidate

A full year of preparation, augmented by hopeful rays of economic sunshine and a spirit-boosting World Series sweep by the SF Giants, provided 129th AES Convention exhibitors and attendees with an enthusiastic platform for previewing the industry’s latest hardware and software advances, re-establishing relationships and, updating business and technical expertise.

Over 14,000 attendees and more than 300 exhibitors crowded the Exhibition Hall, Workshops, Tech Tours, Panels, Platinum, Live Sound and Special Events.

“AES continues to represent the interests of the most serious, most influential and most advanced audience for professional audio gear and technology.” AES executive director Roger Furness says. “The growing appreciation for the quality of our technical programs, coupled with a palpable sense of community and an improving business climate continues to make the AES Convention a bellwether for positive developments in the world of professional audio."

Read rest of press release