AES Show 2024 NY

The aim of this workshop is to provide participants with hands-on expertise in utilizing machine learning for audio quality modeling.

This workshop is a follow-up from the initial edition presented at the 156th AES Convention. The workshop expands on its first edition by including the participation of new panelists working at cutting-edge technology with multimedia industry leaders. Particularly, very recent advancements on deep learning for auditory perception will be presented, as well as a new open audio quality dataset for informing auditory models in audio quality metrics.

Machine learning techniques have been instrumental in understanding audio quality perception, revealing hidden relationships in subject response data to enhance device and algorithm development. Moreover, accurate quality models can be used in AI systems to predict audio quality -- a critical part of customer experience -- in situations where using human subjects is costly (e.g., in day-to-day product development) or impractical such as in audio transmission network monitoring and informing deep learning audio algorithms.

The complex nature of quality perception requires users and developers of these models to possess specific domain knowledge that extends beyond the general machine learning set of skills. This expertise includes experimental design in the domain of subjective audio quality assessment, data collection, data augmentation and filtering, in addition to model design and cross-validation.

The workshop aims to shed light on historical approaches to addressing these challenges by marrying aspects of machine learning and auditory perception knowledge. Furthermore, it will provide insights into state-of-the-art techniques and current related research topics in data-driven quality perception modelling.

The main goal of the workshop is to offer its attendees —- whether users or developers —- the necessary tools to assess the suitability of existing ML-based quality models for their use case.

BBC Radio 2 is Europe’s largest radio station. In this session Jamie Laundon, Solution Lead at BBC Technology & Media Operations, will guide us through the move into the new, state-of-the-art "Pop Hub" studios on 8th floor of BBC Broadcasting House in London.

The project was delivered to extremely tight timescales and with no impact on our listeners. These studios have been designed as dynamic, collaborative spaces, with the aim to inspire our teams to produce their best work, and to reflect an energy and buzz that will be transmitted to our audiences.

The studios have been designed to be simple to use yet also feature complex workflows that permit studios to used in pairs and give additional assistance to presenters and musicians as required.

In this session you’ll learn about managing design decisions when working on an existing site, and the use of realtime media networks, AES67 and Dante to join infrastructure together. As well as audio equipment selection, we will also cover furniture design and some interesting challenges around accessibility, sight lines and camera angles. We will also cover the tools used to visualise radio, and create well-lit branded spaces that suit any of the BBC’s pop music networks. We will also talk about the collaboration and skill sharing between our audio, technology and operations teams to help deliver against very tight timelines.

Presented by We Are Moving The Needle, this panel brings together industry leaders from A&R, management, and artist relations to discuss building an impactful career behind the board. These experienced leaders will share the inside scoop on strategies to build your profile as a producer and engineer from navigating rates to defining your brand to attracting a manager. Whether you're an aspiring engineer or a seasoned pro, this conversation offers valuable insights, practical tips, and a chance to connect with a vibrant community of music industry leaders.

Drawing on research to published in our forthcoming book, Gear: Cultures of Audio and Music Technologies (The MIT Press), this workshop focuses on gear in trade show, print media, and online fora. Samantha Bennett and Eliot Bates first introduce 'gear', hardware professional audio recording technologies, and 'gear cultures', those being 'milieux where sociability is centred around audio technology objects’ (Bates and Bennett, 2022). With special focus on Part III of our book, this workshop examines the myriad ways we see gear 'staged' - in events including AES and NAMM, in diverse print media, including the Sweetwater catalogue and Sound on Sound, and online in fora including Gearspace.

So much of the fetishistic and technostalgic qualities associated with gear today exceed the materials and design; and it is precisely these fetish ideologies that become central to gear sociability. So how does gear become social, and where do gear cultures gather? Since the mid 1990s, we have seen technological objects transformed into gear when staged within these trade show / media / online milieux. In these spaces, gear is gassed to the point where it attains fetish status. When staged, gear is sometimes framed in sex and war metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980), and heavily draws on heritage, canon, and iconicity to amplify and maintain gear discourses. In all these trade show / print media / online fora, we see the erasure of women’s labour in order to maintain hegemonic masculinities that gear cultures rely upon. In this workshop, Samantha and Eliot use a range of examples - from online gear lovers gassing over gear components, to Foxy Stardust selling us a DAW - to show how gear is called upon to do extensive work in structuring social relations, and how these gear-centric social formations produce gear cultures.

This tutorial presents a detailed examination of the first known large-scale implementation of the WHO Global Standard for Safe Listening Venues and Events at the 2023 Serendipity Arts Festival, India's largest multidisciplinary arts event. The case study highlights the methods used to monitor and manage sound levels, the design and deployment of sound systems, and the provision of personal hearing protection, training and information. The session will delve into the practical challenges encountered, the strategies employed to adhere to the WHO Global Standard, and the outcomes of these efforts. Attendees will gain an understanding of the complexities involved in applying safe listening principles in a live event context and the implications for future large-scale events.

Aimed at students, novices, and anyone thinking of transitioning into working in the audio industry as either a professional or hobbyist/amateur. What best prepared our panel of professionals for entry into their career? We will discuss skills, knowledge, work habits, obstacles, working conditions, goals and realities, and whatever else YOU want us to discuss. Join us for a relaxed and informal discussion featuring professionals from different sectors of the industry (including music production, live sound, broadcasting, and research/development, and maybe more!) – and bring your questions – a good portion of the discussion will be guided by audience interests.