Nothing is in itself boring related to this subject if it's enlivened by
the presentation. What's irredeemably boring is metadata!

DDR

On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 11:34 AM, Steve Smolian <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> It seems to me the logical approach is to see how much material there is to
> be covered adequately (adequately is a matter of opinion, of course) and
> then figure out what time blocks are needed.  An outline is the starting
> place.  We could develop this on line through this forum.
>
> I'd view each 30 minute presentation as a module.  These modules can be
> presented in linked groups at sequential ARSC conferences so what is
> unearthed at one can be integrated into those of the following year or
> years.
>
> International participation would be welcomed.  Why things happen in this
> arena is often a function of how the patent laws of different countries
> worked at the time the patents were granted.  We'd have to get into this.
> We can't ignore it just because it's complicated and, to many, boring.
>  This is not an entertainment script but a study that pretends to accuracy.
>
> Various modules suitable for technical and less technical audiences can be
> optioned in as the viewer desires.  This may well develop into an ARSC
> video
> presentation, partially funded from without.    Video need not use the
> original presenters though it would be nice if they were credited.  It
> could
> be a circulated video or on U-Tube, etc.  The advantage of a live
> presentation, the Q & A, may be superceded by on-line classroom techniques.
> And by the time this is ready, the MP3 format should be available real time
> at a more adequate sampling rate.
>
> This sure seems down the middle of the plate for ARSC's outreach function.
>
> Steve Smolian
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Tom Fine
> Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 10:28 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] EARLY ELECTRICAL DISK RECORDINGS: ANOTHER UNUSUAL
> SAMPLE.
>
> I think you could do it in one of those 90-minute blocks in a conference.
> Now, you have 3
> presentations in the blocks, usually somewhat related in themes or areas of
> interest. So I'm saying
> you could do this in the same format, splitting the histories into 3
> half-hour "courses" within the
> larger "meal." The requirement would be tight integration between the
> presentation and presenters,
> in other words not three independent operations but rather an agreed-upon
> division of topics covered
> and agreed-upon "look and feel" so the whole thing feels integrated. I
> suppose you could go longer
> and do a full-blown seminar, but I doubt you'd get volunteers to then
> develop what is essentially
> course-level curriculum and activities. I know that for some veterans, guys
> like you and Dennis and
> Mike Beal, this is stuff you already know and even experienced some of it
> first-hand. But, I'm 46
> years old and I saw many people younger than me at the ARSC Conference in
> Rochester, and none of us
> grew up with much first-hand knowledge of the 78 era. You get someone born
> in the 80's and it's the
> same with magnetic tape, aside from their early years with Walkmans and
> duped cassettes. You get a
> kid born in the 90s and I doubt they ever fooled much with cassettes and
> may
> have owned only a few
> CDs in their lives.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Smolian" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 10:09 AM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] EARLY ELECTRICAL DISK RECORDINGS: ANOTHER UNUSUAL
> SAMPLE.
>
>
>  Is this a conference presentation a course or a seminar?
>>
>> Steve Smolian
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Tom Fine
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 8:43 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] EARLY ELECTRICAL DISK RECORDINGS: ANOTHER UNUSUAL
>> SAMPLE.
>>
>> I come down in the middle on this one. The presentation should be a
>> "segment" in an ARSC Conference,
>> broken into three "presentations," as I described yesterday. That gives
>> breaks for Q&A about
>> specific parts of the history (ie WECO, Europe, non-WECO American
>> systems), and time for people to
>> shuffle around in their uncomfortable chairs.
>>
>> Where I agree with Don is that no presenter I saw at ARSC (myself
>> definitely included) has the
>> professional stage presence to hold an audience for 90 minutes. Die
>> Meistersinger is inherently more
>> compelling a spectacle than anything I've ever seen on the agenda at
>> ARSC, AES or any other audio
>> organization conference!
>>
>> AES Historical Committee organizers like to set up 90-minute slots. The
>> only way I've found to fill
>> them is use long music examples. I think I still maxed out at 80 minutes
>> and I noticed a lot of
>> people clicking "smart" phones and the like during the music examples.
>>
>> If one really endeavored to present the early history of electrical
>> recording, say from the roots up
>> to when the WECO system was established in the American record business,
>> that's a dense amount of
>> history. A lot to absorb, best presented in bites. It would be a
>> tremendous thing to see. The
>> followup at the next conference could be a "segment" covering the history
>> of magnetic recording.
>> Start with early stuff, Poulsen, wire recording, invention of AC bias (by
>> WECO), etc. Then the
>> German development of both magnetic tape recording and magnetic tape
>> itself, plus their early stereo
>> recordings. Then you could have a half hour on Ampex, the adoption of
>> tape as the master medium in
>> American and European professional recording, amateur formats,
>> mass-duping, etc. Then end with a
>> half hour summary on modern knowledge about tape care, degradation,
>> mitigation and transfer methods.
>>
>> -- Tom Fine
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dennis Rooney" <
>> [log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 8:21 AM
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] EARLY ELECTRICAL DISK RECORDINGS: ANOTHER UNUSUAL
>> SAMPLE.
>>
>>
>>  Dear Don,
>>>
>>> As the first act of DIE MEISTERSINGER lasts slightly longer than ninety
>>> minutes but doesn't seem a bit too long in a good performance, I cannot
>>> agree with your estimate except insofar as it might be influenced by the
>>> quality of chairs we get to sit on at our conferences.
>>>
>>> DDR
>>>
>>> On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 5:16 AM, Don Cox <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>>  On 15/10/2012, Dennis Rooney wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > Dear Tom,
>>>> >
>>>> > I'm inclined to agree with you; however, my experience with ARSC-ies
>>>> > is that they are not a particularly technically-savvy lot, although
>>>> > more and more computer mavens seem to post to this list and we do have
>>>> > a Technical Committee. That feeling has certainly been reinforced by
>>>> > the often comically ignorant queries that have been posted so
>>>> > frequently in recent months.
>>>> >
>>>> > The genesis of electrical recording, presented in a detailed overview
>>>> > with appropriate technical, patent and legal exhibits, and of course
>>>> > with plentiful audio examples, would in my opinion be a great
>>>> > presentation, just one not possible to cover in 35 minutes. To even
>>>> > approach treating the subject properly, an hour would be a minimum
>>>> > time and ninety minutes would be better. That sounds like a workshop,
>>>> > except that it's not a how-to subject. "Too AES-y" would probably be
>>>> > the response of the current worthies on the Program Committee. A
>>>> > grass-roots contradiction of my thesis would be heartening. We'll see.
>>>> >
>>>> Ninety minutes would be a two-part presentation.
>>>>
>>>> No single talk should be longer than 45 minutes. People just cannot pay
>>>> attention for that long.
>>>>
>>>> Regards
>>>> --
>>>> Don Cox
>>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dennis D. Rooney
>>> 303 W. 66th Street, 9HE
>>> New York, NY 10023
>>> 212.874.9626
>>>
>>>
>>


-- 
Dennis D. Rooney
303 W. 66th Street, 9HE
New York, NY 10023
212.874.9626