AES Show 2024 NY

Wireless audio, both mics and in-ear-monitors, has become essential in many live productions of music and theatre, but it is often fraught with uneasiness and uncertainty. The panel of presenters will draw on their varied experience and knowledge to show how practitioners can use best engineering practices to ensure reliability and performance of their wireless mic and in-ear-monitor systems.

The rapid evolution of live media networking has brought it closer to converged networking, where robust and efficient communication is paramount. While protocols such as MILAN/AVB, Dante and AES67 are staples, significant opportunities exist to enhance live media networking by adopting architectural blueprints, tools, and widely used protocols from the Information Technology (IT) sector. This workshop explores the specific requirements of live media networking, identifies potential learnings from IT workflows, and examines how other industries, particularly broadcast and video markets, have successfully integrated IT principles to propose technical recommendations.
Live media networking, encompassing audio, video, and control signals, demands high precision, low latency, and synchronization. Unlike traditional IT networks, which prioritize data integrity and security, live media networks must ensure seamless real-time transmission without compromising quality. The workshop will delve into these specificities, highlighting the challenges unique to live media and how they differ from typical IT networking scenarios and the use of Time Sensitive Networking (TSN)..
A significant challenge in this transition is the learning curve faced by sound technicians. Traditionally focused on audio-specific knowledge, these professionals now need to acquire IT networking skills to manage complex media networks effectively. This gap in expertise necessitates a new role emerging in the industry: the "Live Media Network Manager," a specialist who bridges the knowledge gap between traditional sound engineering and advanced IT networking.
A key focus area will be examining IT architectural blueprints and their applicability to live media networking. IT networks often leverage scalable, redundant, and resilient architectures to ensure uninterrupted service delivery. By adopting similar principles, live media networks can achieve greater reliability and scalability. The workshop will discuss how concepts such as network segmentation, redundancy, and failover mechanisms from IT can be tailored to meet the stringent requirements of live media.
Additionally, we will explore the tools and protocols widely used in IT that can benefit live media networking. Network monitoring and management tools, such as SNMP and Syslog, offer comprehensive insights into network performance and can aid in proactive maintenance and troubleshooting. Furthermore, protocols like QoS can be adapted to prioritize media traffic, ensuring that critical audio and video streams are delivered with minimal delay and jitter.
The workshop will also draw parallels from the broadcast and video markets, which have already embraced IT-based solutions to enhance their networking capabilities. These industries have developed technical recommendations and standards, such as SMPTE ST 2110 for professional media over managed IP networks, which can serve as valuable references for the live media domain. By examining these examples, participants will gain a broader perspective on how cross-industry learnings can drive innovation in live media networking.
This workshop will provide a comprehensive overview of the specific needs of live media networking and present actionable insights from IT workflows and other industries. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how to leverage IT principles to enhance the efficiency, reliability, and scalability of live media networks, paving the way for a more integrated and future-proof approach.

The Healthy Ears, Limited Annoyance (HELA) certification scheme, which originated within the AES Technical Committee on Acoustics and Sound Reinforcement, launched in summer 2024. Tailored for event organizers, sound engineers, venue managers, musicians, and all other key live event industry stakeholders, HELA offers a comprehensive framework for delivering live music experiences that protect audience hearing and minimize neighborhood disturbances. This session will delve into the balance between sound quality, hearing health and community harmony. Attendees will gain practical insights into HELA's guidance on sound level management and effective communication strategies, fostering a community dedicated to sustainable live event production. Join us to discover how HELA Certification can set a new industry standard, creating memorable yet safe and respectful experiences for everyone involved.

ADM-OSC is an industry initiative aimed at standardising Object-Based Audio (OBA) positioning data by implementing the Audio Definition Model (ADM) over Open Sound Control (OSC). As immersive audio gains traction across various industries, from music streaming to gaming, and from live sound to broadcasting, the Audio Definition Model (ADM) is becoming a popular standard for metadata. This includes Serial ADM for broadcast and ADM BWF or XML files for studio use.

The ADM-OSC workgroup was formed four years ago to bridge the gap between immersive live and studio ecosystems. It now includes leading developers and manufacturers who aim to facilitate the sharing of audio object metadata across different environments, from studios to broadcasts to live performances.

Since its initial draft implementation, ADM-OSC has been supported by various audio industry tools, including live rendering engines, digital audio workstations (DAWs), controllers, live tracking systems, and media server solutions. It is currently being deployed in both live and studio productions, with increasing interest from technology developers wanting to join and implement this standard.

ADM-OSC 1.0 is now the published specification, aiming to provide a basic interoperability layer between Object Editors and Object Renderers.

This presentation and workshop will take a dive on ADM-OSC and will cover:
- The origins of ADM-OSC
- Presentation of ADM-OSC 1.0 specification
- Use case/application demonstration
- DAW object positional data to external rendering engine (s)
- Controllers’ data to object panner in DAW for automation recording
- Live tracking (actors, artist) positional data to live rendering engine (s)
- Plugin fest 2023 and 2024 report
- Future considerations
- Application-specific subgroups such as broadcast, VR/Gaming, live rendering, show control

This workshop falls under the category of an AES Tutorial. This workshop outlines the tested method implemented in a small house of worship, and aims to demystify WHO standards as well as communicate an effective solution to implement hearing health monitoring.

Implementing affordable and efficient hearing health monitoring in small music venues is crucial to align with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines aimed at preventing hearing damage due to prolonged exposure to high sound levels, which have become much more standardized in recent years. This tutorial will address the unique challenges faced by small music venues, especially houses of worship, which often operate under tighter budgets and where user-friendly permanent solutions are key to long term success. The WHO guidelines emphasize regular monitoring of sound levels, provision of adequate hearing protection, and educating both patrons and staff about the risks of hearing loss and the measures that can be taken to mitigate these risks. This workshop will provide a detailed, practical, and cost-effective roadmap for small venues to implement these recommendations without compromising on the quality of the musical experience. We will walk through interpreting the WHO and AES hearing health standards for live venues, and making sense of large technical documents to communicate to volunteers and newer employees, as well as outline a real world tested solution to implementing hearing health monitoring. Another area of focus will be a brief explanation of how human hearing works, and how it can be damaged. The tutorial will demonstrate how to collect and interpret data, and practical everyman solutions to adapt to hearing health challenges as they arise. Another critical aspect of the tutorial will be on hearing protection strategies. Small music venues can provide disposable earplugs to patrons and staff at a minimal cost or invest in reusable earplugs that offer better sound quality while protecting hearing. The tutorial will discuss the different types of earplugs available, their cost, and how to encourage their use among patrons without detracting from the concert experience. Education is a cornerstone of the WHO guidelines, and this tutorial will explore effective ways to raise awareness about hearing health. This includes training staff to recognize the signs of excessive sound exposure and understand the importance of hearing protection, as well as developing clear and engaging signage and informational materials for patrons. By the end of the workshop, attendees will have a comprehensive understanding of how to implement a hearing health monitoring system in their venues that is both practical and affordable, aligned with the WHO guidelines, and tailored to the unique needs of small music venues. They will leave equipped with actionable strategies, practical tools, and a network of peers committed to promoting hearing health in the music community. This tutorial not only aims to protect the hearing of patrons and staff but also to enhance the overall quality of the live music experience by fostering a safer and more aware listening environment.

With upwards of fifty remotes each year, NY Public Radio broadcasts a great variety of events from the very simple to large scale events that can involve a many different challenges, including connectivity issues and internet issues with getting audio back to the studios for live broadcasts, dealing with microphone techniques for the greatest orchestras in the world at Carnegie Hall to dealing with the elements with live broadcasts in Central Park or other outdoor locations around NYC, dealing with cooperating with p.a.'s and unions at various sites, to broadcasts at a politician's residence. Each of these kinds of events might entail unique technical and personnel challenges, but there's also a lot of common sense approaches to working with each of these challenges, as well as applying new technologies as they come along to simplify things, and hopefully make things easier over the years to deal with these challenges.

We will discuss in detail two recent events, "This Land" a live broadcast of Classical, jazz, and Americana from Brooklyn Bridge Park and World Orchestra Week (WOW!) a Youth orchestra festival from Carnegie Hall, contrasting indoor vs outdoor and amplified vs unamplified.

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.

There is a renewed need to study the development of AI systems that the artistic community can embrace as empowering tools rather than replacements for human creativity. Previous research suggests that novel AI technologies can greatly help artists expand the range of their musical expressivity and display new kinds of virtuosity during live music performances[1,2]. However, the advent of powerful AI systems, in particular generative models, has also attracted criticism and sparked concern among artists who fear for their artistic integrity and financial viability[3,4]. This is further exacerbated by a widening gap in technological innovation between private companies and research-focused academic institutions.

In this context, we need to pay specific attention to topics such as artistic consent, data collection[5], as well as audience approval. Furthermore, we deeply believe in the importance of integrating lighting and visual arts to effectively convey the role and impact of AI-generated content in human-AI performances to broader audiences.

This workshop will bring together researchers and professionals from music, lighting, visual arts, and artificial intelligence to explore the latest advancements in AI technologies and their transformative potential for live music performances. In particular, discussions will touch on the controllability requirements of AI-augmented instruments, the associated visualization methods, and the sociocultural impact of these technologies[6]. We will focus on the limitations of such technologies, as well as ethical considerations. As an example, we will also discuss the outcomes of the innovative Human-AI co-created concert that we produced with Jordan Rudess on September, 21st, 2024.

References:
[1] Blanchard, Lancelot, Naseck, Perry, Egozy, Eran, and Paradiso, Joe. “Developing Symbiotic Virtuosity: AI-augmented Musical Instruments and Their Use in Live Music Performances.” MIT Press, 2024.
[2] Martelloni, Andrea, McPherson, Andrew P, and Barthet, Mathieu. “Real-time Percussive Technique Recognition and Embedding Learning for the Acoustic Guitar.” arXiv, 2023.
[3] Morreale, Fabio. “Where does the buck stop? Ethical and political issues with AI in music creation.” Transactions of the International Society for Music Information Retrieval, 2021.
[4] Rys, Dan. “Billie Eilish, Pearl Jam, Nicki Minaj Among 200 Artists Calling for Responsible AI Music Practices.” Billboard, April 2, 2024.
[5] Morreale, Fabio, Sharma, Megha, and Wei, I-Chieh. “Data Collection in Music Generation Training Sets: A Critical Analysis.” International Society for Music Information Retrieval, 2023.
[6] Born, Georgina, Morris, Jeremy, Diaz, Fernando, and Anderson, Ashton. “Artificial intelligence, music recommendation, and the curation of culture". White paper: University of Toronto, Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, CIFAR AI & Society program, 2021.

Come join the team from the Tony award winning stage play Stereophonic at AES NY 2024, to learn what it takes to put a 1970s recording studio on stage!

Large scale systems face unique challenges of scale, shape, acoustic overflow restrictions, flown weight restrictions and yet still must produce high quality experiences for the audience. Join Bob McCarthy for a discussion of the large-scale outdoor systems used in festivals from the NY Philharmonic in Central Park through major rock festivals.