AES Show 2024 NY

NPR's Tiny Desk Concert Series has seen and increase in its popularity post-pandemic and is now a must for up and coming as well as established artists. Neil Tevault started the concert series when Bob Boilen came to NPR's music studio with an idea to record an artist at his desk. Josh Newell is the current technical director of NPR Music who is working to keep the standards set at the highest level and move the concert series into the future.

Neil will present a couple of concerts from early in the series looking at the small recording footprint that was employed. The very first concert with Laura Gibson, which was a single microphone and a DI and Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Zakir Hussain who played around a single stereo shotgun microphone.

Josh will present a couple of recent concerts to show how everything has grown and we have moved all the microphones closer and increased the number of microphones to capture the sound that the Tiny Desk is known for. Josh will also look at what we're doing to make things work better and make the recording process more efficient on concert day. We'll discuss Josh's vision for the sound of the Tiny Desk moving into the future.

We'll also leave ample time for Q&A

During the Covid pandemic, streaming was the only way for musicians and artists to connect. As the pandemic subsided, many organizations continued to stream and livestream, and oftentimes it was the audio engineering team who were left to figure out how to produce video. Join this panel of experienced engineers and educators who found themselves learning how to produce compelling live concert video. The special challenges of livestreaming (i.e. streaming without a net) will be discussed, along with lessons learned. It is the intention of the panelists to provide encouragement to fellow engineers who are learning this new skillset themselves.

Where are the files of my immersive production and why don't they open correctly on another DAW?
This workshop will outline some of the major challenges when working with archival materials and it will discuss ongoing activities in AES Standards Group SC-03-06 relating to multi-track and multi-channel audio. The workshop will give an overview of the status of the document, "Implementation of a Recommended Workflow for the Creation and Archiving of Digital Archival Materials from Professional Audio Production Formats," as well as why the interaction with related partner institutions (NARAS P&E Wing, SMPTE) and internal working groups is so important. The topic is relevant not only for preservation in an archival setting, but far beyond, for keeping audio productions safely stored and accessible in general.

Ambisonic microphones offer a dynamic and multifaceted approach to capturing and creating immersive audio experiences. This workshop delves into the process of transforming multichannel A-format raw recordings into versatile Ambisonic B-format files. These files can then be decoded into various audio formats, including stereo, binaural, surround, and spatial 3D audio. This makes it an ideal technique for crafting head-tracking binaural audio for 360/3D videos and VR gaming environments.
Participants will gain hands-on experience with the Zoom H3-VR portable recorder and learn how to create Ambisonic recordings. The session will guide you through processing raw recordings using Reaper and the dearVR AMBI MICRO plugin and illustrating the workflow for integrating Ambisonic audio into 360/3D video and VR games for head-tracking binaural sound. Attendees are encouraged to bring their laptops and headphones, install the necessary software, and download the provided demo projects for an interactive experience. Additionally, the workshop will offer insights into capturing immersive audio with various Ambisonic microphones, including the new em64 Eigenmike Spherical Microphone Array.