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Sol starts the meeting by welcoming the attendees and talking about AES as a whole. They explain that AES is responsible for the creation and testing of gear standards and expectations within the audio industry. He also talks about the plethora of benefits available to AES members including news and information, invites to meetings and events, discounts, and more! He mentions the career resources and benefits available for AES members, briefly telling a story about a time that he had connected with a Canadian audio engineer through AES. He stresses that attending CRAS AES meetings is free, but the benefits of becoming a paid member offset the cost, especially with the discount offered through CRAS!
Sol then pulls up contact information for the officeholders, as well as the new tech, Mikey Fierro. He explains that over the course of the next cycle, three of the officeholders are going to graduate. He segways into introducing the new generation of officeholders currently shadowing the board, and then moves into the introductions for the week. Sol asks the room to introduce themselves by name, cycle, pronouns, and the question of the week: "Who is your favorite person in the audio industry?". Answers range from Daft Punk to Wendy Carlos and even Tyler the Creator.
Sol then moves into the announcements for CRAS. On Saturday, August 5th, Sound Radix is going to be joining CRAS AES on a zoom call to talk about their plugins. Sol mentions a few of their plugins, such as Auto Align and Surfer EQ, to help familiarize the attendees with some of their material. Monheim Microphones, a company started by a CRAS graduate, will be joining CRAS AES on August 9th for a session with T.Nava. CRAS Women in Audio will be joined by Emma Harlow for a presentation about financial wellness on August 1st.
Sol then starts to talk about some of the changes to the CRAS AES chapter. First and foremost, the AES meeting times are moving from 7:30 PM to 6:30 PM in order to accommodate for the change in class end times. There will also be mix tips from instructors included in future presentations! Instructors like Brandon Valfre, Rick Allen, and Gerald Shoerner have already provided videos, and there are more on the way!
After talking about the new additions, Sol mentions the mentorship program available at CRAS. He talks about where students can find access to additional resources as well as where study groups run by mentors can be found. He talks about the mentor walk-ins, an allotted time for people to come in and work on whatever they need with the assistance of the mentors. In addition, mentors offer one on one tutoring for students who reach out with a request. All the mentors in the room raise their hand, showing that they're willing to help students at any time, all they have to do is ask!
Sol touches on the Audio AESthetics video included in the email, talking about how you don't need expensive plugins to mix something, the free things work just fine! Mixing on a budget is a very present reality for a lot of people, it's all about knowing what you're doing. He also shows off a plugin of the week, demonstrating the tone of the Fire to Gold preamp plugin.
Sol then dives into the sample challenge for the cycle. With three guitar loops, a kick drum, and an ambient sample, the board challenges the attendees to create something and stretch their sound design muscles. Sol explains that there are no rules towards what you can create with the samples, it's just an exercise in making something. During week three meetings, attendees can send in their samples and play them over the live sound speakers.
Sol then hands it off to the subgroup leaders to explain the various subgroups available at CRAS. Star starts by explaining the Sound Design subgroup, a weekly meeting where he takes the time to teach people how to create their own drums, loops, etc. He stresses the creative flow that can be achieved by knowing exactly how to use the tools available to you before handing it off to Mikey to talk about the Jammin subgroup. Mikey explains that at this point, the Jammin subgroup has reached its conclusion. Next week is going to be the last jam session, and the other weeks this cycle will be devoted to mixing the material recorded from previous sessions before Mikey graduates. Sol then explains their EDM production subgroup. He goes over his experience with EDM production as well as the subjects that have been tought in previous subgroups, such as mixing, arrangement theory, and mastering.
Before ending the meeting, Sol brings up a kahoot for the meeting! The kahoot is on Instructor catch phrases!
Sol then encourages the attendees to go network and talk with each other! With that, the meeting comes to a close.
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