AES London 2010
Technical Tour Details
Saturday, May 22, 14:00 — 16:00
TT1 - British Library Sound Archive
Abstract:
The British Library Sound Archive holds more than a million discs and 200,000 tapes, featuring around 3.5 million recordings. The collections come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound from music, drama, and literature to oral history and wildlife sounds stretching back to the earliest experiments in sound recording. In 2007 the BL opened a new suite of technical facilities for the work of the Sound Archive. The key objective was to create acoustically isolated studios, a tough challenge given that they are sited within 100 meters of several underground tunnels. The visit will include a tour of the studios, an introduction to our processes ranging from the rescue of signals from the earliest sound carriers to mass-digitization processes. The tour will finish with “Fakes and Forgeries”—a talk by audio engineer Nigel Bewley featuring sound excerpts of rare collection items.
Capacity limited to 40 persons. Transportation by tube.
Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis. Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.
Price: Free
Sunday, May 23, 10:00 — 12:00
TT2 - BBC – Broadcasting House
Abstract:
This impressive building in London W1 has been the headquarters of the BBC since 1932 and is under going a major redevelopment to ensure its future for the 21st century. Broadcasting House is the home of BBC National Radio and as well as its historic interior it houses a modern London Control Room, the main offices, and studios for Radio 3 (classical) and Radios 4 and 7 (speech). The building also contains a range of production studios, including Radio Drama facilities and the beautiful Art Deco Radio Theatre (concert hall) which was refurbished and subsequently reopened in 2006. Next door to Val Myer's Broadcasting House, work continues on the second phase of the development, which is on schedule to open in 2012 and will provide a modern extension to house BBC News and the BBC's World Service, making this central London site the largest, live broadcasting center in the world.
Capacity limited to 30 persons. Transportation by tube.
Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis. Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.
Price: Free
Sunday, May 23, 10:30 — 12:30
TT3 - National Theatre
Abstract:
The National Theatre has three auditoriums running up to three shows in repertory on each stage. Most shows are produced
in-house and the National Theatre sound and video department supplies the resources and expertise to meet all the sound and video requirements of every production. The department is a
central resource that provides a core team in each venue
but allows for movement between them. The video team is particularly mobile, going wherever there is a need. When not actively working on a particular production members of the department will find themselves supporting the AV requirements of the many other events that regularly take place at the NT. The
department has two recording studios and a live room that primarily service the needs of the productions but are also available for external booking. You will be able to visit the three auditoriums and the studios as well as look around other areas of the organization.
Capacity limited to 20 persons. Transportation by AES bus or cab.
Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis. Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.
Price: £15
Sunday, May 23, 14:00 — 16:00
TT4 - BBC – Maida Vale Studios
Abstract:
Built in 1909 as the “Maida Vale Roller Skating Palace and Club,” this building has been occupied by the BBC for the last 75 years. The site contains seven large studios, five of which are currently in use. This iconic building was home to the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which was influential in early electronic music and the former studios are now the home of the operation to digitize the audio archives of the BBC. Maida Vale is perhaps best known for the “John Peel Sessions,” recorded in its rock and pop studios over several decades for Radio 1. Bands as diverse as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Nirvana have recorded here, along with many World Music bands. The site is also the home of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and world-class Radio Drama production.
Capacity limited to 30 persons. Transportation by AES bus or cab.
Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis. Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.
Price: £15
Monday, May 24, 10:00 — 13:00
TT5 - South Bank Centre and Royal Festival Hall
Abstract:
The Royal Festival Hall was opened in 1951 and was built as the centrepiece of the Festival of Britain. Originally designed as a classical acoustic hall the venue has since become a multi purpose venue attracting such diverse presentations as David Bowie and the Berlin Philharmonic. The main auditorium seats just under three thousand ticket holders and the venue has numerous foyers and function rooms that are used for a wide range of events and presentations. The main PA system we employ within the hall is a Meyer MILO system and we also have a Meyer Melody system for smaller events. Since our recent renovation we have an extensive automation system, which was installed by Stage Technologies, which controls everything within the hall.
Capacity limited to 24 persons. Transportation by AES bus or cab.
Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis. Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.
Price: £15
Monday, May 24, 14:30 — 16:00
TT6 - EMI Archives
Abstract:
The EMI Archive is the largest record company audio-visual collection in the UK. The asset library consists of master tapes, artwork, CDs, vinyl, 78s, and photos. The Archive also handle all of EMI’s current business paperwork and a heritage collection of company records. Also based at the facility in Hayes is the EMI Group Archive Trust, which preserves a collection representing the cultural significance of EMI and the history of recorded sound. It maintains a museum store of artifacts, including a range of recording and playback equipment, artifacts associated with EMI’s achievements in television, radar, and medicine, and a large collection of HMV/Nipper themed items.
Capacity is limited to 10 persons. Transportation by AES bus or cab.
Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis. Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.
Price: £15
Tuesday, May 25, 10:00 — 12:00
TT7 - British Grove Studios
Abstract:
British Grove Studios is a ground up, purpose built facility situated in West London. Completed in 2005 to exacting technical specifications, the two fully climate controlled studios offer the very best analog gear together with state of the art digital recording systems, in a beautiful working environment.
Capacity limited to 24 persons. Short walk from Novotel.
Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis. Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.
Price: Free
Tuesday, May 25, 14:00 — 16:30
TT8 - Science Museum Blythe House
Abstract:
Technical visit to the Science Museum reserve collections, West Kensington The Science Museum, London, is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. It was officially founded in 1909 but its origins go back to the Great Exhibition of 1851. Since then many more objects have been acquired than can be displayed at any one time in the Museum’s galleries at South Kensington. The bulk of the reserve collections are stored in Blythe House, a large office complex built about 1900 that was converted for museum use in the late 1970s. You will see the extensive undisplayed holdings for the Sound Reproduction, Acoustics, and Telecommunications collections.
Capacity limited to 20 persons. Short walk from Novotel.
Technical Tours are made available on a first come, first served basis. Tickets can be purchased during normal registration hours at the convention center.
Price: Free
