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*Apologies for the late notice! Please note this event is this Thursday, Dec. 17th.* * ARSC New York Chapter <http://www.arsc-audio.org/chapters/newyorkchapter.html>* *DECEMBER 2015 Meeting* 7 P. M. Thursday, 12/17/15 At the CUNY Sonic Arts Center West 140th Street & Convent Avenue, New York or enter at 138th Street off Convent Avenue Shepard Hall (the Gothic building) – Recital Hall (Room 95, Basement level) An elevator is located in the center of the building *THE ART OF RECORDING THE BIG BAND * *Presented by Robert Auld* The jazz big band was born in the twenties, came of age in the thirties, enjoyed its greatest popularity in the forties, and went into popular decline in the fifties. In the sixties the big band enjoyed a comeback of sorts, but was displaced from the front pages by The Beatles and other things. In the seventies it looked like the big band would either expire or be transformed out of recognition. And yet it persists; people still play in big bands, still dance to them, still record them. It has proved a most durable ensemble. Robert Auld's interest in the big band dates from childhood. His father was a Benny Goodman fan, so he grew up with his music in the house. Auld became a musician, and played in big bands. He was interested in audio recording, and he tried recording big bands. Auld was not very satisfied with the results, so he paid attention to how others were doing it. In 1997 Robert Auld wrote an article for his website titled, "The Art of Recording The Big Band", which surveyed the history of how jazz big bands had been recorded over the decades and made some recommendations for best practices. This presentation grew out of that initial article, and includes both audio and visual samples to illustrate my observations. Starting with the dance bands of the twenties, Auld worked his way up to about 1960 and then paused to consider a modern big band recording session, which he engineered, that sought to re-create the recording techniques current at that time. Finally, Auld considered modern studio multi-tracking, and the practical and aesthetic challenges such methods pose for big band recording. ROBERT AULD is a freelance audio engineer who has worked around the New York area for the last quarter century or so. He has experience in digital transfers of historical disks and tapes, remote recording of both large and small projects, studio music recording, and recording of voice-over work for broadcast and the internet. He is a member of the Audio Engineering Society and a past chairman of the New York Section of the AES. He has given presentations on historical subjects at several AES conventions, and at AES section meetings. He has also written on audio-related technical subjects for Recording Magazine. Mr. Auld was educated as a musician at the Mannes College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, and worked as a professional trumpeter from the mid-seventies until the year 2000. He notes that in this respect he is in good company; some other audio engineers who were trumpet players include Bob Ludwig, Jack Renner and the late Doug Sax. *OUR NEXT PROGRAM WILL BE ON 21 JANUARY* *“A Photo History of WNYC AND WQXR” Curated by Marcos Sueiro Bal* ↂ DIRECTIONS TO THE SONIC ARTS CENTER Subway: Take the 1 train to 137th Street City College and walk north to 140th St. & Broadway, then go east to 140th St. & Convent Avenue. Take the A, B, C, or D trains to 145th St, go south on St. Nicholas to 141st St, (one long block), then west one block to Convent Avenue, and south one more block to 140th & Convent Avenue. Bus: M4 and M5 on Broadway; M 100, 101 on Amsterdam Ave. (one block West of Convent Avenue) ↂ The Sonic Arts Center at CCNY offers 4-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Music with a concentration in Music and Audio Technology. Their program provides an in-depth curriculum emphasizing real-world skills with a project-based approach. Students enjoy a well-rounded program, with emphasis on audio technology, music theory, orchestration, and history to help them compete in a field that today demands an ever-growing and highly diverse skill set. *All ARSC NY Chapter meetings are free and open to the public.* *Voluntary contributions to help defray our expenses are welcome!* *To join ARSC, visit http://www.arsc-audio.org <http://www.arsc-audio.org>* BEST WISHES FOR A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A PEACEFUL HOLIDAY SEASON Kimberly Peach ARSC Web Editor [log in to unmask]