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Matthew Lindsey (Upcoming Vice President of AES at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences) opened the meeting by asking all in attendance to answer the question, "What do you do to relieve stress?" Some of the responses included walking, meditation, racketball, kickball, YouTube, weight lifting, making music, watching a movie, riding bikes, and building Legos. Matthew then described to the group what AES is and the benefits of joining. Matthew stated, "AES is an international organization that unites audio engineers, creative artists, scientists, and students worldwide by promoting advances in audio and spreading new knowledge and research."
Matthew then introduced the CRAS AES office holders in attendance: Ashley Stys - President; Tyler "Seven" Miller - Vice President; William Walton - Secretary; James Shaw - Vice Secretary; Spencer Halpin and Les Danglar - Techs.
Upcoming events currently scheduled for our chapter were announced, including an Ableton LINK event with Deadbeats at 7:30pm on August 4th, an Apogee Digital Plugins event on August 8th at 7:30pm, a DAWn Audio Zoom Event on August 25th, an Austin Ribbon Mics Pedal Build August 27th, and an Austin Ribbon Mics Mic Build August 28th
Matthew spoke about the CRAS Mentor Program, an all-important tool provided to students to ensure their academic success by connecting them with upper-cycle students for help with any topics that they are struggling with.
Current AES Subgroups were discussed, including the DAW subgroup that is led by Teddy Huang. According to Teddy, the subgroup will be focusing on Logic workflow in preparation for the Logic certification. For those interested in attending, it meets at the CRAS Gilbert campus on Wednesday nights at 8:30pm. There is also a Sound design subgroup that meets Tuesdays at 8pm.
Matthew then shared a video of a modification of a Shure SM58 to a Shure SM7B. This was accomplished by creating a 3D printed mold of an SM7B encasement that is made to accommodate an SM58 inside. The capsules in each microphone respectively have very minimal differences, so by placing the SM58 inside of a 3D printed body of an SM7B, you can achieve a sound very similar to the cost of an SM57, approximately $100, versus the $400 you would expect to buy a new SM7B for. This modification can be taken further by removing the transformer from the SM58, bringing you even closer in sound to a SM7B.
For Matthew's Mix Tip of the Week, he discussed a conversation with 2012 CRAS grad Will Anspach. According to Will, If you insert an 8-band parametric EQ on the master of your song, then place a bell curve cut down at 1kHz, it opens up the mix, making space for vocals.
An announcement was made for HOWL-O-WEEN at the Monarch Theater on October 30th, featuring CRAS student Blake "King" Curtis (IRI Da King).
Current Cycle 2 student Connor Frederickson shared his Fender Precision Bass with a white finish and a maple neck that he was thankful to recently get back from some minor repairs.
After that, a Kahoot quizzed everyone on MP100 terms. The meeting concluded with networking and socialization.
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