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Ashley Stys (CRAS AES President) alongside Tyler "Seven" Miller (CRAS AES Vice President), commenced the meeting. Following an exchange of pleasantries and light banter, introductions began; students provided their names, cycle, and opinions on their least favorite albums by their favorite musical artists. Contrary to previous meetings, where newer cycles comprised a majority of participants, attending students represented a breadth of cycles from 1 to 9. Noteworthy votes for "worst album" included Xerox by Linkin Park, Dam from Kendrick Lamar, and Music Box by Mariah Carrey.
Ashley transitioned to discussing AES and its mission. She strongly advocated joining the organization and discussed at length the numerous perks afforded to members, such as news, information, activities, discounts, and career resources. Ashley introduced the attendees to our full roster of CRAS AES officeholders: Ashley Stys - President; Tyler "Seven" Miller - Vice President; Gregory Bonini — Secretary, James Shaw -- Vice Secretary; Spencer Halpin and Les Danglar - Techs. An overview of upcoming guest speakers and events is provided: CRAS grad Drew Guy on June 13th, Peter Swann of Useful Arts on June 16th, a Spatial Facility Tour with Robert Brock on June 23rd, two Mic Builds on July 28th and July 30th respectively, and the return to fully onsite classes beginning August 15th.
Ashley took the time to remind everyone of the CRAS Mentor Program, an invaluable resource of upper-cycle students dedicated to academic success, leadership, and community. Mentors in attendance were introduced.
Fresh off the heels of NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants), Ashley presented Sweetwater's exciting "Hot New Gear from NAMM 2022" showcase. Several manufacturers participate with products on display, including major industry players such as Neve, Universal Audio, and software giant Izotope.
For our Mix Tip of the Week, Ashley brought us a video from Guy Michelmore (Thinkspace Education) giving an entertaining overview of MIDI controllers, MIDI parameters, and how to apply them in MIDI composition. Michelmore reviewed continuous controllers, described their functionalities, and outlined the multiple pieces of equipment that can manipulate them.
Two current AES subgroups involving sound design and digital composition respectively were advertised. CRAS AES Secretary Gregory Bonini gave a small presentation on the Sennheiser MKH 416 and shotgun microphones, describing both their utility and how they achieve their idiosyncratic hyper directionality. Soon afterward, CRAS student William Walton shared his impressive suitcase full of equipment, including an array of vintage microphones in his collection.
After an amusing Kahoot! competition quizzing students on the personalities of all our wonderful instructors here at CRAS, the meeting officially concluded with networking and socialization.
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