Clive Young of ProSound News / 11.05.2012 01:37PM
AES Revisited
Los Angeles to host 2014 show
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Steve Lillywhite, producer of classic albums by U2, the Rolling Stones, Dave
Matthews Band, Simple Minds, Peter Gabriel and countless others, gave
the Convention’s Keynote Speech, regaling the crowd with war stories of
how Jagger and Richards might’ve nicked some riffs; why Bono always uses
a handheld vocal mic in the studio; and why digital is better than analog in his
opinion. “I’ve made my best records with the worst equipment, and the
worst records with the best equipment,” he said.
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SAN FRANCISCO -- It was a great time to be in San Francisco—the Giants just swept the
World Series, Hurricane Sandy was on the other side of the country, and
the Audio Engineering Society finished up its strongest convention in
years.
The convention’s show floor was busy with attendees trying to see all 296 exhibitors. More than 10
percent of the companies exhibiting were brand-new to the convention, adding to the intrigue of exploring
the show floor. Roughly 14,000 visitors were expected to have roamed the
convention by the end of the convention, which closed Oct. 29, making the most of the show by seeing
the latest products, learning about the newest technological trends and
networking with the rest of the industry.
After some fairly lean
conventions due to the economy and a radically changing music industry,
AES has made a strong comeback this year, much like the Giants of its
hosting city. The Society made a strong push to attract visitors who
perhaps haven’t been to the convention before, adding new draws and
supercharging old favorites, like the keynote address, given legendary
producer Steve Lillywhite, who often had the crowd in stitches with bon
mots like, “I have the honor of having produced the worst Rolling Stones
album ever—until the next one.”
The new energy behind the show
is no coincidence. “We are reinventing the AES Convention,” said
Chris Plunkett, deputy director, convention management for the AES.
“This year, we’re exploring new avenues, highlighting a lot of
well-established as well as developing tracks in order to make them more
user-friendly.”
That meant bulking up certain educational tracks
like Game Audio, and going full-out with the extremely successful debut
of the Project Studio Expo—a new addition that will return for the New
York convention next year. A series of workshops and tutorials free to
all visitors, the PSE is located on the show floor itself and has been
packed most of the convention.
“It’s a strong, new idea, it’s fun
and incidentally. it’s brought in some new exhibitors that we haven’t
had before,”Plunkett said. “Pro Audio has responded to the PSE’s
addition and we’re glad that the industry has wrapped itself around it.”
There’s
more to AES than the PSE, however. Besides the exhibit floor, there were
the various tracks of related workshops, panels and papers, covering
Networked Audio, Game Audio, Product Design, Live Sound and Sound For
Pictures, among others. [In fact, you can get a taste of the show by
reading the AES Daily newspaper, which was handed out at the Convention; you can download all three issues as .pdf files by going to www.aes.org/events/133 and clicking on "AES Daily (PDFs)" in the Shortcuts menu on the right side of the page]
Part
of the convention’s success was due to its extensive efforts to
attract audio students, with the plethora of educational offerings being
a key draw.
“We’re doing everything we can to make students
feel like they’re a significant part of the audio community,” said John
Krivit, student/career events co-chair. “We’re reaching out with
everything, from social events like parties to the great mentoring party
Saturday night at Coast Recorders, to meetings of the student delegate
assembly where we invite students to introduce themselves to other
students in the community.”
There was more. “There’s also
an education and career fair that has more participation than any recent
convention that we’ve done,” Krivit said. “Same story with the Student
Recording Competition, which is the most well-subscribed for a
West-Coast convention that we’ve ever had. We brought back the Student
Design Competition, allowing us to reach out to people who have an
entirely different relationship to audio – electrical engineers and
computer science majors who are creating projects in audio and we’re
really exited about that.”
You don’t have to be new to the
industry to get a lot out of the educational offerings at AES, however;
they’re designed for everyone across the spectrum, from the audio
student to the seasoned pro. As Krivit pointed out, “Anyone who enjoys
going into Guitar Center’s pro audio department loves going to the AES
Show, because this is that times a million—it’s your bliss.”
Education
with a little flashiness is always welcome, and AES had plenty of it
this year. Special events have included the eternally popular Grammy
Soundtable event, which featured Ed Cherney, Ryan Hewitt, Dave Pensado,
Elliott Scheiner, Salaam Remi and Leslie Ann Jones; the Legendary
Artists panel, which explored the “San Francisco Sound” with artists
like Country Joe and Mario Cipollina of Huey Lewis & The News; Tech
Tours to places like Ex’Pression College for Digital Arts and Fantasy
Recording Studios; an innovative Poe: A Life and Stories In Sound audio drama presentation with Phil Proctor of the Firesign Theater; and lots more.
The
show has traditionally alternated years between the East and West
Coasts, so it will head back to the Jacob Javits Convention Center in
New York City for the 2013 edition, but the following year, 2014, will
see another change: The AES Convention will pitch its tent in Los
Angeles for the first time in over a decade.
“We haven’t been in
Los Angeles since 2002,” Plunkett said. “We’re really excited to go back
down to LA; we’ll be returning to the Los Angeles Convention Center,
right next door to the Staples Center.”
A major reason for the
long-term move to San Francisco 10 years ago, was the area surrounding
the convention site—simply put, there’s lots of engaging facilities
surrounding the Moscone Center, whereas in Los Angeles at the time,
there was no place to go and nothing to do after the show closed. That’s
not the case anymore, however.
“Downtown has changed so much in
the last eight years,” Plunkett said. “I was down there in January for a
walking tour and I didn’t recognize it at all. It’s turned into a
walking city with really exciting stuff going on—great clubs, great
restaurants. If you haven’t been down there since our last convention,
you’re going to be amazed by what it’s like these days.”