Tech Tours Planned for 125th AES Convention

Aug 25, 2008 12:49 PM

San Francisco – Aug 25, 2008 – The AES Convention Technical Tours Program provides attendees with behind-the-scenes visits to sites of audio innovation. This year’s tours pull from intriguing examples from the San Francisco area’s pro audio community. Convention attendees should queue early for tours; tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Oct. 2
9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. – San Francisco Conservatory of Music/Kierkegaard Associates
Founded in 1917, the SFCM is recognized as one of the world’s leading music schools. Students and faculty present more than 1,500 public performances annually to Bay Area residents and visitors. The Conservatory’s $80 million teaching, performance, rehearsal and practice complex opened in the SF Civic Center in Sept. 2006. This tour will include a presentation by acoustical treatment experts Kierkegaard Associates.

2 p.m. 5 p.m. – Dolby Laboratories
Dolby will showcase its latest audio and video technologies for high-definition packaged disc media and digital cinema.

Oct. 3
10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Center for New Music and Audio Technology (CNMAT)/Meyer Sound
An interdisciplinary research center within the Dept. of Music at U.C. Berkeley, CNMAT is orientated towards live performance and interactivity. The Center houses programs in education, research, and composition / improvisation, and is dedicated to providing a common ground where researchers, artists, and scholars can collaborate to address problems and issues in music technology for live music-making. A Meyer Sound principal will discuss two prototype speaker arrays installed in the complex.

10:30 a.m.- 12non – Paul Stubblebine Mastering & DVD/the Tape Project
This is a world-class mastering studio with credits that include classic recordings for The Grateful Dead and Santana and new artists including Ferron, California Zephyr and Jennifer Berezan. The studio recently moved to a larger Mission Street complex. The Tape Project remasters recordings for analog tape distribution.

12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. – Singer V7 Studios
Composer/producer Scott Singer opened Singer Studio V7 in 2006 to meet his needs for a full-service facility capable of meeting an eclectic range of productions.

1 p.n. – 3 p.m. – Tarpan Studios/Ursa Minor Arts & Media
Producer/artist Narada Michael Walden has owned this studio for more than 20 years. During that time artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston Mariah Carey, Steve Winwood, Kenny G and Sting have recorded gold and platinum albums here. The tour will also include URSA Minor Arts & Media, an innovative web and multimedia production company.

2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. – Sony Computer Entertainment America
SCEA markets the Playstation products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the Playstation Portable entertainment system.

Oct. 4
9 a.m. 11:30 a.m., 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. – Industrial Light & Magic
George Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic complex occupies its new home on the Letterman Digital Arts campus on the Presidio.

11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Pyramind – The Institute For Advanced Digital Audio Training
Combines a cutting-edge media and music production facility with a high-tech school offering certified, hands-on Digidesign and Apple training. Pyramind is also the home of Outpost Studios, SF’s largest Dolby-certified surround mix room, including Foley pits and ADR services.

1p.m. -2 p.m. – Wam Studios: Women’s Audio Mission
This San Francisco-based, non-profit organization is dedicated to the advancement of women in music production and the recording arts. WAM seeks to “change the face of sound” by providing hands-on training, experience, career counseling and job placement to women and girls in media technology for music, radio, film, television and the internet.

Technical Tour tickets can be purchased at the Moscone Center Registration Desk.