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presentation, the Q & A, may be superceded by on-line classroom techniques.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
>>
>
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