The New York City blues
(Published in "Studio Systems" Jan-Feb
2000 issue)
In September'99, I was fortunate to attend the 107th convention
of the Audio Engineering Society (AES). The convention was held from Sept 24th
to 27th at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre, a purpose-built centre located
in New York City. The exhibition of professional audio equipment and the complete
technical program was all held under one roof, almost the size of an indoor
football stadium. This year's program was one of the most intensive to date,
which consisted of 97 technical papers, 18 workshops, 8 Education events, and
12 technical tours. There was also an extensive schedule of special events,
as well as meetings of the Technical and Standards Committees. Also, there were
a record number of over 400 exhibitors at what was the largest exhibition of
professional audio technology and equipment anywhere in the world.
The exhibition at the convention was truly a grand affair. Housed
in a huge hanger with stalls by all the leading audio manufacturers and the
exhibitors outdoing each other with some great give-aways and lively demos.
Full Sail and some mobile studios had their huge trucks in the exhibition area.
You could even get your hearing tested for free! The Digidesign area was huge
and impressive with a great demo by 2 musicians who put up a great show for
the upcoming 001 while the Roland drummer freaked us out with the possibilities
of the new Roland drum set. Genelec had a huge room where we heard every single
speaker system they had manufactured in a listening test where we could compare
each system as they played the same CD through the entire range. The buzzwords
at the convention were 5.2 Surround and 24bit/96khz and every manufacturer displayed
and demonstrated his latest creation. There are just too many breakthroughs
to mention all of them and the information overload was apparent. The InSync
engineers and I are still going through the truckload of literature that I brought
back with me.
I found myself in the company of some of the world's finest audio
technicians and professionals at the workshops and special events and the discussions
and question answer sessions were always lively and interesting. These sessions
were attended by audio professionals from all over the world and a fair amount
of students, attended, all at an incredible discount. The first thing that struck
me immediately and instantly about all the speakers that addressed these gatherings,
was their incredible humility. Here they were, the greatest of audio engineers
and producers, technicians of the calibre of Phil Ramone (Billy Joel, Gloria
Estefan, Barbara Streisand, Pavarotti, Paul Simon etc.), Jimmy Douglas (Rolling
Stones, Led Zepplin etc.) Mick Guzauski (Madonna, Michael Bolton, Whitney Houston,
Mariah Carey etc.) Susan Rogers (Prince, Bare Naked Ladies etc.), Andy Wallace
(Nirvana, Slayer, Sheryl Crow etc.) and countless other legendary people. Names,
which we only read about on CD liner notes. Yet they were so secure in their
abilities that they did not feel it necessary to have an attitude! No questions
were stupid for them and which they felt did not deserve an intelligent reply.
The atmosphere was always healthy, alive and above all positive. The all knowing
arrogance, which we sometimes see in professionals in India, was totally missing!
The seniors used the opportunity to keep in touch with the youth and as one
of them remarked, he felt he learned so much from these exchanges that he wouldn't
miss them for the world. The seniors were all using cutting edge digital equipment
and were on the beta testing squads of all leading audio software and hardware
manufacturers. They were very frank in their opinions and would not tolerate
any compromises as far as their craft goes. In spite of all the technology surrounding
them, they never lost focus that the music they recorded was the most important
thing that they did and that they would never do anything to damage the integrity
of the artiste. The youth, on the other hand, were hungry for knowledge and
interacted with the vast pool of audio pros, drawing on their wisdom and experience.
The relation between the teacher and the student was almost that of a friend
but at no point did the student show any sign of disrespect. If at all, the
respect for the teacher was boundless and bordering on fan worship. No wonder,
as they were stars in their own right!
The convention was held over the weekend so that everybody got
a chance to have a look without missing work and the visitors, over 22,000 of
them, poured in from all over USA and the world. Indeed, there were a few from
India including India's premier sound engineer and the AES-India Chapter Chairman
Daman Sood. I also met some Indian students studying sound engineering in American
colleges.
However, the most interesting visitors I saw at the exhibition
were groups of school children brought in by their teachers, some of them from
out of New York! I got talking to some of them and learned that they were there
as a part of their school curriculum. They had taken the media program as an
optional subject and were there to familiarise themselves with the audio industry
and the latest breakthroughs. The foresight of the education system in helping
the children decide their vocation is truly exemplary. I believe AES has a school
program where they expose the children to the possibility of a career in Audio
Engineering.
Truly we have such a lot to learn from the methods of the west.
In my limited experience of just a year and a half at InSync Studios of interviewing
potential audio engineers, I have had the misfortune of seeing the incredible
confusion in the minds of the young kids who come to me for jobs. There seems
to be no guiding agency out there who even lists the possibility of a career
in Audio Engineering or related activity and specifies how to go about it. This
has to happen in school, as it will determine the subjects you choose in your
college years. The Pune Film Institute insists selecting students with Science
background. There is this young arts graduate I know personally who was refused
admission on these grounds. I think if given a chance there wouldn't have been
a better sound engineer. However ignorance of the requirements makes it difficult
for him to realise his dream. It all seems to depend on your luck as to whom
you meet and the off chance that you like what they are doing. A lot of audio
engineers in India are in this line in any case because they have relatives
and close friends in the profession and therefore have been exposed to this
career possibility at an early age.
We need to attack this problem urgently, as the present mediocrity
has to be seen to be believed. The Media boom has made it absolutely necessary
that the quality of the work force in our industry is of world standard if we
hope to take our place as one of the leading music, video and film producers
of the world. Already, the University of Mumbai is doing great work with their
short-term course. However, a lot needs to be done to attract the right kind
of talent to this industry. I'm sure there are thousands of kids in the cities
of India who are not even aware of this career choice and we need to welcome
them into our fold. Our dream of audio excellence in India can only then be
realised. My trip to the convention and interaction with the pros there made
it very clear to me that the world is finally looking upto India to deliver
works of world standard and to be on par with the greatest audio engineers/producers
of our time. Its time for all of us now to pull up our socks and meet this challenge
head on.
Nandu Bhende
homesite :http://nandu_bhende.tripod.com
