A Barking Dog

This year’s edition of the Systems Integration Expo (old guys just call it NSCA) starts next week. The show is primarily for contractors and designers but there is plenty for portable sound geeks to do. There is a plethora of good workshops for sound reinforcement. One I find pretty noteworthy is Practical Acoustical Measurement Techniques and Technologies presented by John Murray. I first met John in the early ’90s when he was with TOA and we were a test site for the Saori product. John is now a consultant and owns ProSonic Solutions, a Rocky Mountain territory rep firm. John is very good at this sort of thing and can explain advanced concepts in such a way so even short pants wearing sound roadies will understand.

As noted previously, new console company APB-DynaSonics, Inc, booth 1352 (site is on the way) will debut the first of the new designs, expected to ship Q3 this year. I saw a bit of it at NAMM and based on what I saw, the projected pricing and the history of those involved these guys will be the one’s to watch in the mid level console biz in the coming year.

The Network Integration Center looks pretty interesting as well. Though if I hear another rep or manufacturer use the buzzword “convergence”, their ear is going to converge with my outdoor voice. The point of NIC is to demonstrate real life applications running in a networked environment. In this case, the systems are the actual systems controlling and providing AV services for the various parts of the show. That’s my understanding, anyway. The network geek show Networld+Interop does the same sort of thing with InteropNet that’s a functioning, real world deployment showcasing the latest in technology. It’s a great idea and if anyone would like to report on it or snap some picks I’ll put them up here.

I should have made plans to go but at the time I was scheduled to be on tour. If anyone would like to post some updates or have something they think we should go see, product, party, whatever, let me know and I’ll help you get the word out.

With great fanfare some months back Apple introduced the U2 branded iPod. Regular victims at A Barking Dog are well aware of my fascination with my 2nd gen iPod and iTunes. I’m listening to Nevermind on mine right now. I think they are great innovations in commercial music though many times Apple has fallen on a bad case of “head in ass syndrome” ™ when defending what they consider intellectual property rights. They basically bully the most ardent supporters with a litney of legal filings that would bust all but the most wallet worthy supporters. With friends like this, who needs enemies…

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Tonight (last night by the time this posts) I had the opportunity to attend the Pacific Northwest Section AES meeting featuring a presentation by AES Fellow Juergen Wahl, retired from Sennheiser but still doing some work for them. As discussed previously this presentation was at the Art Institute of Seattle, in conjuction with a visit there by Wahl as a guest of the recording arts program. My first thought was, “shit, the kids in school these days are a lot younger than when I was in school”. The reality is, they aren’t, I’m just an old guy. Good to see a fresh crop of smart young folks interested in pursuing careers in pro audio.

The presentation is not only very informative, but also entertaining as well. Wahl has given this many times and has the delivery and supporting material honed to a tee. Basic mic technology and applications were discussed from a basic to mid level. One of the things that impressed me the most was the animated graphics developed in Adobe After Effects and Photoshop used to demonstrate the raditating effects of sound sources with regards to microphone placement and application. There were also different audio playback samples involving polar pattern basics, mic placement and the finale using mic comparison techniques from the Aspen Fall Festival.

It was very informative and though I already knew most of the material it was good to see the reasoning and physics of the material in a way that reinforced what I knew and opened me to some other things I didn’t know. The material was based on basic principles, much of it using symphonic program material to demonstrate subjective differences when comparing different microphones. The knowledge contained in this sort of presentation is the sort of thing that makes the difference between being a bunch of apes in short pants turning up at a gig with a truck load of gear, plugging it in and making noise or being an artisan practicing a craft.

I wish more professionals of Wahl’s knowledge and stature were so generous in sharing what they have learned and experienced over the years.