CENTRAL TEXAS AES SECTION MEETING #2 MAY 19, 2005
OFFICIAL MEETING REPORT
On May 19, 2005 the Central
Texas Section of the AES met at Studio 6A, of the University of Texas
Telecommunications department, home of the award winning PBS series, Austin
City Limits.
Section Chair, Andy Murphy
who had arranged the program, welcomed the members and guests. Then he
entertained a motion to accept the slate of officers elected at the initial
meeting by the members present. That was voted on and passed by the membership.
Mr. Murphy then introduced
our host and speaker for the evening, David Hough, AES member and chief audio
engineer for Austin City Limits. David started off by giving us a little
history of the show. In 1973 the University of Texas Telecommunications
building was completed. The Public Broadcasting System had contacted the
University about creating programming. Director Bruce Schafe, producer Paul
Bosner and then program director Bill Arhos wrote the proposal to PBS to fund
the seriesÕ pilot episode. Aiming to capture on camera the energy of live music
and the experience of the audience and performers, the program was taped in the
round.
David laughed when he
remembered those early days working with the rented and borrowed gear and
equipment from local studios.
Austin City Limits tapes the
shows live. Ò The band is there and practicing before the show, by the time the
audience is in the studio and we are ready to tape, all the levels are in the
pocketÓ says David. Afterwards, David and sometimes the artistÕs producers will
mix the tapes and get them ready for broadcast. Unlike album production, David
has but one day to mix the whole program.
The first mixing board owned
by the show was a 16 channel Neve with 1083 modules, classic sound. The analog
multi-track recorder was a Studer. The stage board that fed the amplified
signal to the audience was the same board used on the Allman Brothers ÒEat a
PeachÓ album David said. The PA
system was built by AustinÕs own Xeno Sound utilizing a Delta Max Electro Voice
system.
For 12 years or so the show
used this analog setup producing mixes in mono and stereo,
recording 10-13 shows a
season. Austin City Limits was one of the first shows to use Dolby Pro Logic
Surround. Dolby contacted ACL about beta testing the early systems.
Years went by and the FCC
mandated that TV begin converting to digital, so recently ACL purchased a
Euphonix console and a Pyramix digital recording system along with Protools to
produce stereo and surround mixes of all their shows in full digital formats.
They also have an AMD system
linked to Nuendo for transferring the old 2Ó taped shows to digital for
remixing and potential re-broadcast.
AES members and their guests
got a tour of the studio and control room and even took a few moments to take
pictures on the famous stage and talked about our next meeting.
Submitted by Andy Murphy, Section Chair and Charles Roe,
Section Secretary
