AES/NY - Should I go?

[Daniel Stover]

Hi everyone.

I'm seriously looking into attending the 115th AES Convention in NYC.
My only question is, is this any place for a college student who's just
getting into recording and such? Or will all the lectures/workshops
etc... be way over my head?

Thanks,
Daniel

[Charles Tomaras]

"Daniel Stover" > wrote in message
...
> Hi everyone.
>
> I'm seriously looking into attending the 115th AES Convention in NYC.
> My only question is, is this any place for a college student who's just
> getting into recording and such? Or will all the lectures/workshops
> etc... be way over my head?
>
> Thanks,
> Daniel

Personally I'm not much of an audio theorist and don't usually register for the
lectures and presentations. I find that just the experience of wandering the
exhibit floor looking at audio gadgets and talking to people is a huge source of
knowledge, lots of fun, and much cheaper than full attendance. That's not to
dissuade you from attending the lectures and presentations, but merely to let
you know that even a mere "user" of audio equipment like me can get quite a bit
out of the AES show.

[Kurt Albershardt]

Daniel Stover wrote:
>
> I'm seriously looking into attending the 115th AES Convention in NYC.
> My only question is, is this any place for a college student who's just
> getting into recording and such? Or will all the lectures/workshops
> etc... be way over my head?

Drop in and see. I've learned a lot over the years from those papers,
and now they have workshops and tutorial seminars in addition to the
(sometimes dry) paper sessions. Just remember that most of the
presenters in these work for someone who wants to sell you something so
their viewpoint is often a little one-sided.

[Marc Wielage]

The other thing I'd add to what the others say is: be sure to at least read
all the lecture preprints put out by the AES. Buy a set of those and read
the abstracts. Sometimes there's some fantastic information there, and if
you can read them the first day you're there, you may find you want to
actually attend one of the lectures.

Note that I believe they also have low-cost student rates for joining the
AES, as well as attending the lectures.

--MFW

[Daniel Stover]

In article >,
Marc Wielage > wrote:

> The other thing I'd add to what the others say is: be sure to at least read
> all the lecture preprints put out by the AES. Buy a set of those and read
> the abstracts. Sometimes there's some fantastic information there, and if
> you can read them the first day you're there, you may find you want to
> actually attend one of the lectures.
>
> Note that I believe they also have low-cost student rates for joining the
> AES, as well as attending the lectures.
>
> --MFW


I'm already a member of the AES, their student fee is $50, and I
believe the student member fee for full access is like $60 or
something. So that part isn't a big concern. It's deciding if it's
work the $272+ plane ticket from Houston and hoping I can find a hotel
for less than $100 a night. And also missing a day or two of school
(which isn't a problem really).

I don't have to worry about buying a bunch of gear, cuz I wouldn't have
any money left after the the expenses of getting there.

:-)
Thanks,
Daniel

[Roger W. Norman]

Might be way over your dollar limit. Over your head is dependant upon your
intelligence. Personally, I'd say go for it, but use it as an opportunity
to "meet and greet" because people networking never hurts.

--


Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio
Purchase your copy of the Fifth of RAP CD set at www.recaudiopro.net.
See how far $20 really goes.




"Daniel Stover" > wrote in message
...
> Hi everyone.
>
> I'm seriously looking into attending the 115th AES Convention in NYC.
> My only question is, is this any place for a college student who's just
> getting into recording and such? Or will all the lectures/workshops
> etc... be way over my head?
>
> Thanks,
> Daniel

[Fletcher]

Daniel Stover wrote:

> I'm seriously looking into attending the 115th AES Convention in NYC.
> My only question is, is this any place for a college student who's just
> getting into recording and such? Or will all the lectures/workshops
> etc... be way over my head?
>

Some of the lectures are indeed very advanced... others bring the concept
of boring to new heights and dimensions... with that said, there are indeed
a bunch of them that will be quite spot on for some of the things you'd
like to learn, and many will assist you greatly as you work on learning.

The "killing floor" is a great place to meet some of the products that will
be part of your career. It's also possible to get some instruction and
insight into some of the hardware you're currently struggling with, but
it's also a place of great big heaping wheel barrows full of bull****... so
take it all with a grain of salt.

One of the things I found best about AES shows when I was starting out was
the ability to meet some of the people that have helped shape my career.
The "parties" are a great place to meet some other folks on your level and
the level above... if you are any kind of social animal, these events can
assist you with forging relationships that will last a lifetime.

With that said... maybe it will be a good thing... maybe it won't. It is a
huge event with a bazillion things going on... weeding out what is worth
your while and what ain't is a pretty arduous task. Perhaps you might want
to save some money and do next years Tape Op Conference in New Orleans
instead. It'll cost you more to get in... but for the most part you'll
find the 'lectures and panels' more aimed at 'independent music production'
which something tells me may be the direction in which you would like to
head?

If you decide you want to go to AES... and want a free [or several free]
passes to the "Exposition" [product section]... just give our office a
shout... we have a couple hundred extra passes and will be more than happy
to send them to anyone who wants one.

Peace.
--
Fletcher
Mercenary Audio
TEL: 508-543-0069
FAX: 508-543-9670
http://www.mercenary.com
"this is not a problem"

[Scott Dorsey]

LeBaron & Alrich > wrote:
>Charles Tomaras > wrote:
>> "Daniel Stover" > wrote..
>
>> > I'm seriously looking into attending the 115th AES Convention in NYC.
>> > My only question is, is this any place for a college student who's just
>> > getting into recording and such? Or will all the lectures/workshops
>> > etc... be way over my head?
>
>> Personally I'm not much of an audio theorist and don't usually register
>> for the lectures and presentations. I find that just the experience of
>> wandering the exhibit floor looking at audio gadgets and talking to people
>> is a huge source of knowledge, lots of fun, and much cheaper than full
>> attendance. That's not to dissuade you from attending the lectures and
>> presentations, but merely to let you know that even a mere "user" of audio
>> equipment like me can get quite a bit out of the AES show.
>
>Good points, with one caveat for beginners: do not become enamored with
>stuff you see on the floor that seems like just the thing you need. Go
>home with what you came with plus the info you have gleaned and leave
>the gear lust for another day. As you learn more about the practice of
>recording and mangling music you will develop your own point of view,
>way of working, and gear preferences. In the light of those you will
>make well informed gear choices. Or not. <g>

I recommend taking a look through the lectures and workshops, because
although it might be over your head, you'll learn a lot just trying to
figure out what is going on. That's how I learned most of what I know,
I think.

The show floor is more hype than substance. Not as bad as the CES show
or NAMM, but it's still much too flashy for my tastes. But it still
gives you a chance to meet the people that make the gear and pump them
for information, and that's a learning experience in itself.

Also it's worth attending just to watch EveAnna Manley's horribly pink
fluffy jacket, and the guy at Apogee with the purple crushed velvet
three-piece suit.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Kurt Albershardt]

Scott Dorsey wrote:
>
> Come to my paper in the Loudspeakers section... it's basically about the
> level of a high school physics lab project and the total instrumentation
> consisted of a voltmeter and a chart recorder. But I had a question about
> how something worked, and nobody else seemed to have done the measurements,
> so I did the measurements and wrote it up. Nothing earthshattering, no
> wonderful breakthrough, just a first-order model and a couple measurements.

Would love to, but no more travel time this year.

Will it make the Journal?

[Scott Dorsey]

Kurt Albershardt > wrote:
>Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>
>> Come to my paper in the Loudspeakers section... it's basically about the
>> level of a high school physics lab project and the total instrumentation
>> consisted of a voltmeter and a chart recorder. But I had a question about
>> how something worked, and nobody else seemed to have done the measurements,
>> so I did the measurements and wrote it up. Nothing earthshattering, no
>> wonderful breakthrough, just a first-order model and a couple measurements.
>
>Would love to, but no more travel time this year.
>
>Will it make the Journal?

No, it'll make the Proceedings, but the qualifications to get a paper into
the Journal are a lot tighter than to get it into a conference. In some ways
this is good because it means the conference provides a place for this sort
of thing that isn't really earthshattering research. In some ways it is bad
because the conferences sometimes become a dumping ground for poor research
that would never pass peer review.

A couple years ago there was a really neat paper that was basically a guy
talking about how he built his remote truck. It was fun and informative,
but there is NO WAY the Journal would have taken something like that. Same
with the paper on special microphone systems for hockey rink broadcast pickup.

On the other hand, there are the thinly-veiled marketing papers.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[xy]

dude, totally go.

i personally go to about one lecture or so then spend the rest of my
time wandering around the exhibits. the whole idea for me is to check
out all the microphones and stuff, and catch some of the aroma of the
future of audio from the super hero exhibits. and i must always go to
the ssl exhibit out of some mysterious religious calling.

there's seriously like $5million in equipment there, probably more.
and it's the "Good stuff".