PNW Section ended its meeting season June 16 with the Section Annual Business Meeting/elections and a presentation by Immersion Networks of its novel, cloud-based immersive sound mixing system. Some 34 AES members and 24 others attended the Zoom meeting.
The Section Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and 5 Committee positions were open. Each had only one candidate and no other nominations were presented, so the ballot was voted in by acclamation. The positions for the 2021-22 PNW Section are:
Next, the evening’s presentation was the debut of a new immersive sound mixing application by Immersion Networks of Redmond, WA. Founder Paul Hubert was joined by Chief Scientist jj Johnston and COO Jim Rondinelli. Applications to graphically mix 3-D audio and headphone virtualization are gaining popularity, but they require special hardware. Immersion’s “Mix³” (Mix Cubed) system relies on cloud-based processing as well as integrated acoustic modelling and virtualization techniques (not simple pan-pots, said jj) to enable accurate graphical 3-D sound mixing without the user having to fuss. The user does upload files to their cloud, then graphically mixes on the app. A range of fees including free was expected.
Demos were done on Zoom and headphones were recommended, but they also have material available on their website (note: the Zoom recording of the meeting is in mono, like all Zoom recordings). Some history of Immersion Networks was given, and some slides of their research facilities. A clip with Wynton Marsalis recorded with Mix³ was played. Local mastering engineer Steve Turnidge was a beta tester and gave his impressions of the system.
jj said that they were not going to present an in-depth technical explanation of their system at this time. After the Q & A session, attendees all had a chance to introduce themselves.
Our Presenters:
Jamie Howarth
Jamie Howarth is musician, composer and audio inventor who resides on Nantucket, MA. Veteran engineer and director at various media facilities including the Hit Factory and a 20 year run at ABC TV as an audio post-production engineer and music director.
Howarth’s audio restoration company, Plangent Processes has earned 2 Best Historical Album Grammy wins for The Rolling Stones’ “Charley is My Darling” and “The Live Wire – a 1949 live performance by Woody Guthrie, and a 3rd nomination for Errol Garner’s “Concert By The Sea”. Plangent Processes has restored numerous master tapes for Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Grateful Dead, the Neil Young Archives, Doc Watson, Tim Buckley, Pete Seeger, and the Andy Warhol estate, The Owsley Foundation, among others.
A mag film version of Plangent has aided soundtrack restoration for From Here to Eternity, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cabaret, Camelot and West Side Story among many others.
John Chester
In 2002 John began repairing and upgrading tape machines. After refreshing his memory of magnetic recording theory, he then started on all the theory he’d never learned. John then learned how to use modern digital tools to improve the performance of vintage machines.
In 2007 he met Jamie Howarth, learned about Plangent technology, and began the design and construction of the next generation of Plangent hardware. He began doing Plangent transfers in his studio. For formats larger than 1/2″, he set up Plangent equipment in a studio that had the appropriate tape machine and then supervised the transfer (e.g. Grateful Dead Europe 72 multitrack, done at Sonicraft). John is an AES Life Fellow.
| Reported by Gary Louie, PNW Section Secretary |
