V3.0, 20040503, ht
TUTORIAL SEMINARS
SATURDAY, MAY 8
T1 THE BASICS OF DIGITAL AUDIO: A SEMINAR WITH DEMONSTRATIONS
Presenters:
Stanley P. Lipshitz, John Vanderkooy, Audio Research Group, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Summary:
This is an introductory-level seminar aiming to explain and demonstrate with "live" examples the two fundamental aspects of any digital audio system -- sampling and quantization. These two operations will be discussed and illustrated in real-time using a custom-built sampler and quantizer. This will enable us to present some of the pathologies of such systems, which should not normally be audible, and also show that, when properly implemented, a digital system has analogue characteristics. This will make the presentation interesting to newcomers and "old pros" alike.
Topics to be covered will include:
-- sampling only (without quantization)
-- sampling artifacts (aliases & images)
-- reconstruction
-- quantization only (without sampling)
-- quantization errors
-- dither
The demonstrations will enable the audience to hear and see what is going on, both good and bad.
Saturday, May 8 12:30 h–14:00 h
T2 ALL ABOUT COMPRESSORS
Presenter:
Ed Simeone, TC Electronic, Westlake Village, CA, USA
Panelists:
Ben Georgiades, Engineer, U.K.
Tobias Lehmann, Teldex (ex-Teldec) Studios, Berlin, Germany
Günther Pauler , Mastering Engineer, Germany
Geoff Pryce, Technical director of Real World Studio and Alchemy Mastering, UK
Summary:
Ed Simeon will present a brief historical overview of compression and the different types of compression in use today. Topics covered:
What do all compressors have in common? What are the various types of compression and when were they introduced: optical compression, tube compression, VCA compression, FET compression, multi-band compression (analog and digital).
Guest panelists from the European recording and mastering community will field questions during an extended Q & A period.
Saturday, May 8 14:00 h–16:00 h
T3 BASICS OF SOUND REINFORCEMENT BY USING DIFFERENT LOUDSPEAKER TYPES
Presenter:
Wolfgang Ahnert, ADA Acoustic Design Ahnert, Berlin, Germany
Summary:
The different types of loudspeakers will be explained:
- Point sources
- Clusters
- Line Arrays
- Loudspeaker Arrays in general
This seminar will make clear why it is that one type of loudspeaker cannot be used for every purpose, but that a choice must be made. By understanding the reason why we use different types of speakers for different situations you will avoid complaints and claims from clients or contractors you are working for.
Saturday, May 8 16:00 h–18:00 h
T4 PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF WIRELESS MICROPHONES
- 20 Rules of Thumb for the Operation of Multi Channel Wireless Microphone Systems and Ear Monitoring -
Presenter:
Peter Arasin, Sennheiser Electronic, Wedemark, Germany
Summary:
During recent years wireless microphones have attained a high level of operational safety. If trouble comes up however, fast identification and problem fixing is essential to keep the show going on. In more than 95% of all problems, no soldering iron was needed, but systematic analysis of the situation is the way to success. The important rules for safe operation of Multi Channel Wireless Microphone Systems in simultaneous use with Wireless Ear Monitoring will be presented and explained with practical tests.
| SUNDAY, MAY 9 |
T5 WORKING WITH MICROPHONES: A PRACTICAL REVIEW
Presenter:
Ron Streicher, Pacific AV Enterprises, Pasadena, CA, USA; President of the AES
Summary:
Ron Streicher will present a "hands-on" tutorial workshop covering the fundamental use of microphones. This is not a workshop on "where" to put a microphone to obtain the best pickup, but "how to put it there" to obtain the best performance from it.
A freelance tonmeister for more than forty years and Audio Production Manager of the Aspen Music Festival and School for more than a decade, Mr. Streicher has developed an extensive practical knowledge of microphone mounting and rigging techniques which he will demonstrate using "live" microphones and numerous photographs.
Sunday, May 9 11:00 h- 13:00 h
T6 WEB TV – MULTIMEDIA THROUGH THE INTERNET
Presenter:
Eckhard Meyer, T-Systems Media & Broadcast, Bonn, Germany
Abstract:
Being a relatively new medium Web-TV has gained a considerable foothold in the dissemination of multimedia content through the Internet over the past years. Although not yet as established as terrestrial Radio or TV broadcasting the remarkable growth of broadband connections for end users has led to streaming entering the mainstream of media distribution.
This seminar will explain the technological and practical features of the technology as well as the requirements that are needed to set up a successful streaming operation. Together with examples of what this technology can offer also the Dos and Don’ts of streaming will be highlighted. Furthermore the tutorial will cover those characteristics that go beyond a “simple” streaming configuration such as Digital Rights Management and Streaming to Mobile Devices.
Last but not least also commercial aspects will be mentioned that are needed to make the distribution of streaming content a viable and profitable operation.
Sunday, May 9 13:00 h–15:30 h
T7 LOUDSPEAKERS
Chair:
Neil Harris
Presenters:
Juha Backman
Wolfgang Klippel
Neville Thiele
John Vanderkooy
Abstract:
This tutorial is aimed at technically minded people who have in interest in developing a deeper understanding of how loudspeakers work. There are four participants, each of whom is recognized as expert in his respective field. There will be time between presentations, and at the end of the session, for questions from the floor.
Presentations:
- Basic Acoustics of Loudspeakers by John Vanderkooy
- Electrical Equivalent Circuit by Neville Thiele
- Non-linear Behavior by Wolfgang Klippel
- Practical Devices on a Small Scale by Juha Backman
Sunday, May 9 16:00 h–18:00 h
T8 SURROUND SOUND DESIGN IN TV
- Surround Sound Design in TV: dramaturgical goals, tools and concepts -
Presenter:
Florian Camerer, ORF - Austrian TV, Vienna, Austria
Summary:
During 2003, public broadcasters in Europe have started multichannel audio transmission via digital satellite DVB-S. Notably the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation has been the first to produce surround sound live (New Year’s Concert) as well as post-produced. The aesthetics of the latter will be the focus of this tutorial, where many different aspects will be presented: multichannel location recording, workflow of a documentary production, physical and dramaturgical tools as well as key examples from the author’s work will provide an insight into advanced soundtrack crafting techniques for 5.1 surround sound.
| MONDAY, MAY 10 |
T9 ALL ABOUT MICROPHONE PREAMPLIFIERS
Chair:
John La Grou, Millenia; Placeville, CA, USA
Panelists:
Geoff Daking
George Massenburg
Crispin Taylor
Summary:
Microphone preamplifiers have become a critical component in both the live and recording worlds. Few audio products have a wider cost spread with such similar specifications.
This tutorial addresses key issues in microphone preamplifier design, selection, and use. A few of the issues to be reviewed are: The use of transformers, self-noise, impedance, distortion and perceived sonic differences. Plenty of Q/A time will be available.
Monday, May 10 11:30 h–13:30 h
T10 THE CENTER CHANNEL CHALLENGE
Presenter: Jeff Levison, DTS Entertainment, Agoura Hills, CA, USA
Summary:
The center channel has long been the audio image anchor for the cinema but has found difficulty fitting into easy use for multichannel music. This presentation will examine a variety of mixing techniques for the center channel and its incorporation in popular music by evaluating artistic stereo goals and translating them into multichannel.
Monday, May 10 13:30 h–16:00 h
T11 GROUNDING AND SHIELDING
Presenters:
Bill Whitlock, Jensen Transformers, Van Nuys, CA, USA
Jim Brown, Audio Systems Group, Chicago, IL, USA
John Woodgate, J.M. Woodgate & Associates, Essex, England
Summary:
Grounding and shielding techniques, at both the equipment and system level, have profound effects on immunity to interference. High-performance professional audio systems routinely encounter interference ranging in frequency from 50/60-Hz utility-power up to several GHz. A tutorial overview will explain basic interference coupling mechanisms as well as widely used grounding and shielding strategies. Expert panelists will discuss tradeoffs involved in these strategies, results of various equipment and cable tests, and recommendations for equipment and system designers. A question-and-answer session will follow.
Monday, May 10 16:00 h–18:30 h
T12 HOW TO SET UP 5.1 SURROUND
Presenter:
Chistophe Anet, Genelec Oy, Iisalmi, Finland
Summary:
A modern audio production facility must be able to serve productions in a large number of different formats. The change from mono and stereo to multichannel reproduction has produced many problems, both in converting existing production facilities to multichannel format and in new installations.
The audio formats that must be handled by a modern production facility
include currently:
Mono, stereo
- Matrix four channel format
- Five channels (5.0 systems)
- Five channels with a separate Low Frequency Enhancement channel (5.1
- systems)
- Advanced multichannel formats such as 6.1, 7.1 and more
This presentation does not seek to explain monitoring loudspeaker design and technology.
| TUESDAY, MAY 11 |
T13 ALL ABOUT AUDIO DATA REDUCTION
Presenters:
Karlheinz Brandenburg, Fraunhofer IIS/AEMT, Ilmenau, Germany
N.N.
Summary:
Audio compression has found its way into mainstream consumer electronics and all computers. Still, there is more technical progress and more standardization going on. The tutorial will focus on
- the basics of audio coding
- mp3 technology: how does it work, what are the limitations
- newer standards: AAC, MPEG-4, AC-3, and others
- ongoing research work
- - parametric coding
- - bandwidth extension work (e.g. HE-AAC)
- - lossless, scalable-to-lossless coding
- - parametric coding
Tuesday, May 11 11:00 h–12:30 h
T14 SPECTRAL PROCESSING - FUNDAMENTALS AND DIGITAL AUDIO EFFECTS
Presenters:
Xavier Jerra, University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
Udo Zoelzer, Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, Germany
Summary:
The main aim of this tutorial is the description of digital audio effects with regard to physical and acoustical effects, digital signal processing and musical applications with acoustical demonstrations. The tutorial will cover the fundamental signal processing algorithms for creating digital audio effects based on a time-frequency representation of the audio signal called Spectral Processing. The tutorial is based on the book "DAFX-Digital Audio Effects.
Tuesday, May 11 13:30 h–18:00 h
T15 LISTENING TESTS IN PRACTICE
Chair:
Nick Zacharov, Nokia Research Center, Audio-Visual Systems Laboratory, Finland
Panelists:
Søren Bech, Bang and Olufsen a/s, Denmark
Durand Begault, NASA Ames Research Center, CA, USA
William L. Martens, McGill University, Canada
Sean Olive, Harman International Industries, Inc., USA
Gilbert Soulodre, Communications Research Centre, Canada
Thomas Sporer, Fraunhofer IIS/AEMT, Germany
Summary:
This workshop presents a short but effective guide to preparing, performing and analyzing data for listening test. The first part of the workshop will provide a general overview of experimental design methods that are generically applicable to all types of listening tests. The second part of the workshop will specifically consider three main types of listening test categories, providing examples of how they are correctly performed / analyzed and what is their scope of applicability.
