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Audio engineering beyond the classroom

The Audio Engineering Society (AES) hosted its 145th international convention in Manhattan, NY, from October 17 to 20. Workshops, exhibits, and demonstrations were some of the many opportunities that attendees were able to explore. Here at Stevens, Music and Technology students and members of the Audio Engineering Club were given the chance to attend the convention and gain firsthand experience with audio engineering beyond the classroom.

Joe Juliano, President of the Audio Engineering Club and a 4/4 Music and Technology major, has been attending the convention since high school. Although he is left inspired by the convention every year, this year he was particularly excited by the number of mixing engineers he recognized in the crowds. He says, “These are the kind of people that you may not really recognize or even know their names, but they’re responsible for the sound of all of your favorite hit records.” As well as being able to spot some of the industry’s top engineers, state of the art microphones and mixing consoles were on display from both well-known and lesser-known companies. Yamaha, Eventide, and Electro-Harmonix were just a few of the many companies showing off their products. Spatial audio headphones, presented by Avid, was one product that impressed Juliano; he explained that the audio engineering industry has largely embraced spatial audio over the past few years. “[The convention] is a great place to really learn about the great technological advances that are happening in the industry. The fact that the convention is welcoming to everyone from complete beginners to the top pros of the industry really shows how beneficial this convention can be to audio engineers.”

Professor Robert Harari from the College of Arts and Letters led a seminar and was among the crowd at the convention. His presentation was a showcase of the research he conducted with Nokia Bell Labs about how audio and engineering overlap and what results when they do. Not only does this provide exposure for Stevens, but it further connects Stevens students to the audio engineering industry. With such a small number of Music and Technology undergraduates, students hope for more discussion of audio engineering on campus. Freshman A.J. Kasper explains, “I definitely hope for more discussion of audio engineering. The Audio Engineering Club has vast potential to expand because the interest and investment is definitely there.”

With more discussion comes an increase in knowledge, and Kasper explains how the convention affected him academically: “I have never been too familiar with the technical portion of music, and the convention perfectly showcased how fascinating it can be. I realized I have barely scratched the surface of audio engineering.” Juliano shares his perspective on the academics of audio engineering in how the Audio Engineering Club is a useful resource for students who are not majoring in Music and Technology to learn. “I believe most people, especially musicians, can benefit from having a basic understanding of audio engineering. That’s really part of our mission in the Audio Engineering Club. We have so many students that know practically nothing about audio engineering, but they all want to learn. Audio engineering really has a place for everyone.”

For more information, the Audio Engineering Club meets Wednesdays at 3 p.m. in Kidde 350.

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