AES Show 2024 NY

Short Abstract:
This presentation explores Black, Indigenous, Afro-Asian, and Afro-Indigenous cross-cultural collaboration leading to influential innovations in sonic creative technology. Centering on the soundsystem as a form of self-determination and as a contemporary art form rooted in survival and resistance, the presentation aims to illuminate meaningful connections between ancestral and state-of-the-art sound technologies through the lens of critical decolonization theory. Highlighting innovations ranging from parametric EQ, radio, and the sound system as both cultural and analog technologies, the presentation shows how these could only exist through mutual influence and the building of nations and kinship across cultures bound by mutual experiences of oppression. These artistic traditions in music, gathering, and engineering emerged and continue to act as dynamic tools of survivance within Black and globally Indigenous communities. By skillfully using these tools, practitioners of these electronic and sonic art forms destabilize racialized boundaries and empower the collective ownership of cultural narratives—a fearless pursuit reflecting a shared vision of Black and Indigenous self-determination, liberation, and futurity for kin past, present, and future.

Extension:
The presentation’s audiovisual materials will comprise two aspects: archival materials from music and resistance movements in the featured locations and contemporary artworks dealing with identity politics and protest in connection with music. Featured locations will include, but are not limited to: Indian Country, USA & Canada; Kingston, Jamaica; Notting Hill, UK; and Detroit, MI. Timeline of technological innovation will center audio advancements in amplification and transmission within the post-transistor era (1947 - present), with a historical focus primarily from 1947 to 1996. Featured BIPOC artists and innovators in electrical engineering in the sonic arts will include and are not limited to: Hedley Jones, Tom Wong, and Don Lewis. Featured entrepreneurial artists in audio engineering, radio, recording, music and storytelling will include, but are not limited to: Vy Higgenson, Kemistry & Storm, Jeff Mills, K-Hand, and Patricia Chin. Featured Black, Asian and Indigenous owned radio stations and music labels that function as both mutual aid and community spaces will include, but are not limited to: Bvlbancha Liberation Radio, Cool Runnings Music, KTNN, VP Records, and the Sound System Futures Programme.

The objective of this session is to provide a brief overview mapping sound histories to the BIPOC innovators of origin with the aim of sparking generative discussion on Black and Indigenous creative technologies as both a cultural and computational history valuable and critical to the healing of community and dismantling of hegemonic societal structures. The session is structured largely in response to a critical lack of representation regarding BIPOC engineering history and legacy, and approaches this topic as a celebration of cross-cultural collaboration in a historical paradigm that often centers cross-cultural interactions as conflict-oriented. At the presentation’s conclusion participants will be encouraged to reflect on their own cross-cultural legacies as sources of innovation, as well as reflect on the unactivated dreams they may hold from their ancestors and how they might activate these dreams through sound, collective action, and community gathering.

Within live and studio sound engineering, the use of compression, normalization and parametric EQ is employed to perfect the sound of musicians we work with. These effects can impact the tone and timbre of an audio sample or even eliminate unwanted noise. Even the resistance of the electrical equipment used to aid us in our work as audio engineers has an impact on the quality of our end product. Many audio engineers and audio companies have used our understanding of the technology within our industry and applied it to the use of hearing mechanisms such as in-ear monitors or ear plugs.

Around 3-9% of adults struggle with some form of hearing disability or hearing loss. While the science and studies of audiology have helped us find ways to assist those disabled in this way, hearing disabilities tend to be comorbid with neurological or psychological disorders that are harder to manage when combined. PTSD, dementia, autism, as well as several other disorders severely impact the way our brains interact with auditory and kinesthetic stimuli that make current hearing aid technology more of a discomfort than a help to patients with these comorbidities.

After multiple observations of audio engineering techniques and the equipment we use, peer reviewed studying of clientele with these comorbidities, and applications of techniques to hearing sciences, we wish to display some of those applications and report our findings so as to make the world more accessible to those with hearing disabilities, neurological/psychological disorders, and those with both.

Are you interested in a leadership position within AES? Whether it's a role in your local section as a chair or secretary, a committee, or our Board of Governors, join our panel of experienced AES leaders to find out what is involved and whether a role in leadership is right for you.

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.

The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative released a study demonstrating the dismal gender balance that continues to plague our industry. While there has been much positive change in the past few decades, there is still a lot of work to be done. Join representatives of the leading gender equity organizations including Women's Audio Mission, We Are Moving the Needle, She Is the Music, Soundgirls, and We Make Noise in a discussion on our common goals to change the gender imbalance in the industry moderated by Singer, Songwriter and Producer Eve Horne, founder of We Are the Unheard.

This panel introduces DEI pedagogical examples in teaching audio engineering and music technology from the University of Colorado, the University of Lethbridge, Georgia Tech, and the University of Michigan, which incorporate topics that address diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and accessibility in the broader field of audio engineering and music technology. These topics include 1) how Open Educational Resources (OER) pedagogy can help bridge the Music Technology Educational Gap and increase accessibility; 2) how to create a safe learning space and build community in the classroom where ideas can be shared and valued; 3) How the Project Studio Music Technology course contributes female-identifying, trans, and non-binary musicians and engineers to electronic music and how this process-based learning method impacts students from diverse backgrounds. 4) how the new course called "Diversity in Music Technology" brings students in new DEI experiences and how the course was structured to include community-building. Through this panel discussion, we strive to improve accessibility, welcoming diverse perspectives, and radiating inclusiveness to all races, genders, and gender identities. Meanwhile, we aim to provide some insights for educators to improve students' mental health and well-being during the post-COVID era.

Our program fosters candid conversations among studio professionals within a supportive environment. It examines the intricate relationship between mental health and client/artist dynamics, focusing on methods to empower artists during times of emotional strain. Participants will explore strategies for preserving personal equilibrium and managing professional boundaries, along with learning coping mechanisms for navigating high-pressure situations. Led by JC Losada "Mr Sonic" and Maria Rice, with special guest(s) TBA, the discussion draws upon experiences in studio environments, educational contexts, and clinical practice.

Reports from the DEI committee and subcommittees will be given. The floor will then be opening for questions and discussion.