Apr
1
Written
4/1/2010 7:39 AM
--Frank Wells
As I write, it’s now a few days after the 2nd annual
Nashville Recording Workshop + Expo. Even with a bit of time gone by, the
experience is still resonating with me. The conference offered two days of
compelling content, highlighted by a number of active on-stage demonstrations.
NRW+E is a production of the AES Nashville Section and Belmont University’s
Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business, in conjunction with
the international Audio Engineering Society organization. This year NRW+E moved
into spacious digs at the Belmont Curb Event Center.
Pro Audio Review was well represented
at NRW+E 2010. Technical Editor Lynn Fuston picked up where he’d left off from
last year’s program with a discussion of microphone basics, focusing on
microphone characteristics and considerations when capturing vocals. Lynn
brought along nine of his favorite mics and lined them up on stage for
practical demonstration of polar patterns, proximity effect and other
microphone concepts. Taking it a step further, four of the mics were part of a
shoot-out with a local session player providing the vocals. Nathan Chapman
joined Lynn on stage for the conclusion of the shoot-out, and then produced a
vocal track live on stage (the vocalist ensconced in a Whisper Room booth).
On the second day of NRW+E, PAR
contributor Russ Long (I’d call him “Senior Reviewer” if we had such a title)
produced and engineered overdubs on stage in a “Capturing Electric Guitar and
Bass” session, with an assist from Lynn (the Whisper Room became the amp
locker). I emceed most of the two days of presentations, with the title of
“NRW+E Program Chair.” I wouldn’t even begin to take credit for the NRW+E
program, though. A very talented group of individuals with a passion for audio,
and for seeing audio knowledge disseminated, tapped into their own experiences
and those of a host of top engineering talent and other industry luminaries as
the backbone of the conference.
Our small little industry is very much a community, and nowhere
is that more evident than in Nashville. From the creation of a non-profit
corporation that gives back to the local audio community in times of crisis and
need (the Nashville Engineer Relief Fund or NERF) to the rip-roaring golf
tournament that funds NERF (a two-day event—the 13th annual Audio Masters is
coming up in late May) to the monthly AES meetings and social events to the
numerous lectures and presentations available from the local schools with audio
production programs (MTSU, Belmont, SAE, IADT, AIT, Nashville State Technical
Community College—there may be more…) to organization and manufacturer
sponsored events at local studios. It’s my home market that I know intimately,
but I’m sure if you look around a bit, get yourself on a mailing list or two,
make some local industry friends on Facebook and the like, you’ll find that
there are resources for continuing education and peer interaction near you as
well. It’ll be worth the effort.