AES Fall Online Convention

In this keynote, Asher will share stories and media ranging from his early career as one half of the ‘60s pop duo Peter and Gordon, to managing artists including James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Randy Newman, and going on to produce hits for acts including Taylor, 10,000 Maniacs, Diana Ross, Robin Williams, Neil Diamond, Ringo Starr, Ronstadt, Hans Zimmer, Ed Sheeran, Miguel and Cher, among many others. Throughout his presentation, Asher will share stories of momentous events from the span of his career, as well as rare photos and recordings, including his own bedroom demo recording of a young Paul McCartney performing a song that turned out to be a number-one hit for Peter and Gordon in 1964.

'Let's Drop An NFT!' - moderated by Elijah Walsh, this panel features acclaimed multi-platinum music producer LA+CH, renowned deconstructive pop artist Matt Gondek and the phenomenal creative technologist White Lights.

All of the speakers are engaged in the NFT community. They have a track record and history of NFT drops minted on the blockchain, featuring collections, 1/1 rare works and collaborations with other artists and platforms.

This tutorial/discussion aims to cover a step-by-step format on ‘how to mint’ an NFT on the blockchain. While discussing the artistic process and creative approach, we will learn what is involved technically behind the scenes, from conception to final execution. The subject matter will touch on music, fine/street art, and the intersection of audio and visual art-forms in producing quality NFTs, geared towards collectors and supportive communities all over the metaverse!

Rhythm Across the World 
The Whole Is Greater Because of the Sum of its parts—the Producer/Engineer/Composer/Musician Perspective

When you hear a song that has a rhythmic quality that is soulful and emotionally moves you - we say that track is in the “groove." But how did we get there? This panel brings together an international group of award-winning individuals, each sharing their perspective on how their craft approaches each song/project and how they interact with the other players on the track with the goal of obtaining the maximum groove.

One of the most valuable lessons you can teach people is the importance of giving back. Devoting your time and sharing your knowledge and life experiences for the next generation to learn and grow have been foundational and represent core values for John McBride, owner of the famed Blackbird Studio and Institutional Director of The Blackbird Academy. John has spent his entire life in the pursuit of quality, professional sound as well as giving back to the industry that has given him so much. In 2013, John opened The Blackbird Academy, dedicated to advancing the quality of recording education through a hands-on, professional training curriculum, whereby he regularly appears at classes and shares his real-life experiences and knowledge with the students.

In an interview with Chuck Ainlay, multi-GRAMMY® Award-winning producer/mix engineer (Mark Knopfler, Peter Frampton, George Strait, Miranda Lambert) and founding member of METAlliance, hear how John began in the industry, starting a live sound company in his hometown of Wichita, then coming to Nashville in the 1990s and selling his company to Clair Brothers Audio, opening up Blackbird Studio and finally starting the Blackbird Academy, with all of the challenges he faced along the way, including keeping audio education going during the pandemic.

The Heyser Memorial Lecture at the 151st Fall 2021 online show will be presented as the second of a two-part Heyser series by John Chowning.
 
In this lecture, "Frequency Modulation Sound Synthesis," Dr. Chowning will present the follow-up to his October 2020 introductory Heyser Lecture, "Realizing a Dream, a Discovery, and Lissajous Figures."

Dr. Chowning will explain why the YAMAHA DX7 became the "face" of FM Synthesis (FM), the circumstances of FM's unlikely discovery, and an important technical detail regarding reflected sidebands around 0Hz. He will then demonstrate a powerful synthesis concept, spectral modeling, using FM. Finally, he will present the theory of a composition that found a perfect complement in FM theory and could only be realized by FM synthesis.

https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jc/heyser/AES-HeyserLecture-2021-1.5.5corrected.pptx

Discussion with FINNEAS (Billie Eillish, Halsey, Selena Gomez, Ben Platt, Camila Cabello, Justin Beiber) led by Jack Douglas (John Lennon, Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith).

With the ability to bring immersive music to the masses in a way that has never been possible before, engineers, producers, and artists are presented with many new questions, among them being:

• What is immersive audio? 
• What format do I choose? 
• How does one ensure that the music being listened to by the consumer is the best representation of the artist's intent? 
• Does immersive audio need to be mastered?

This group of experts will talk about what mastering in immersive audio really means.

• How is it similar or different to working with only one or two channels vs. multiple channels? 
• How will the music be distributed and what are the considerations for streaming vs. physical media?

They will discuss perspectives and workflow, monitoring in headphone and speakers, formats, and delivery. They will leave time to answer questions from the attendees.

Histoires sans paroles - Harmonium Symphonique, a symphonic re-interpretation of the music of influential 1970's Montreal-based progressive folk-rock band Harmonium, was recorded, mixed and mastered during the pandemic through a long-distance collaboration between engineers in Montreal and Los Angeles. The studio sessions included recording the 68-piece Orchestre symphonique de Montreal (OSM) and choir at Montreal's 1,900-seat Maison symphonique (Symphony House) - with all involved practicing safe social distancing and other pandemic precautions. The album, within just seven weeks after its release, was certified platinum in Canada, and staggeringly, this album has done the unthinkable; going platinum the OLD way, sticking to physical units and downloads and not releasing the record to streaming services, and being available only via online orders. In this panel, you will hear directly from the artist, and the recording and mastering engineers how they used a number of online tools to conference, collaborate, trade mix notes, monitor progress and see the project to fruition while maintaining social distance during this landmark recording.