blog & news

Snyder Produces Journal of the Audio Engineering Society Podcast

blog · 2015-08-24

The Journal of the Audio Engineering Society (JAES) — the official publication of the AES — is the only peer-reviewed journal devoted exclusively to audio technology. Published 10 times each year, it is available to all AES members and subscribers.

The Journal contains state-of-the-art technical papers and engineering reports; feature articles covering timely topics; pre and post reports of AES conventions and other society activities; news from AES sections around the world; Standards and Education Committee work; membership news, patents, new products, and newsworthy developments in the field of audio.

The JAES podcast, also produced 10 times a year in tandem with the Journal, is produced and engineered by Snyder and it is written each month by the Technical Editor of the Audio Engineering Society. The podcast introduces the contents of each issue of the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society.

To learn more about the JAES Podcast, the AES Journal, or the Audio Engineering Society, visit the AES today at www.aes.org.

Snyder Hosts 2015 MDIA High School Media Workshop

news · 2015-07-28

This year marked the second annual High School Media Workshop, which took place from July 8-11, and welcomed students from eight states and an international student from Vietnam. The workshop introduced students to the latest techniques and equipment in audio, video, games & animation, and storytelling/producing.

“It was wonderful to see so many students completely engaged over the three days,” said High School Media Workshop Director Karen Riggs. “Now in our second year, we grew from 55 to 62 students and have even gone international. A key asset for us was our MDIA student ambassadors. Workshop participants said they benefited greatly from one-on-one time with our college students.”

During the workshop students spent most of their time in Core Sessions that focused on each of the four media groups: audio, video, games & animation, and storytelling/producing. In these focused classes taught by School of Media Arts & Studies professors students received hands-on experience using the tools and equipment in the media labs.

Keaton Kreps of Athens, Ohio heard about this workshop from a peer last year, which led him to register for the workshop. He said that even though there are a lot of students here who are Athenians he enjoyed meeting students from states as far away as North Carolina, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Illinois. Kreps found all of the workshop sessions interesting but enjoyed working on audio and sound editing the most.

“We had a lot of long three-hour class sessions during the workshop, my favorite one was where we did music and editing,” said Kreps. “One of the coolest class sessions we had we did sounds for a short film. We learned how to do sounds while watching a video and editing. One of my favorite parts was creating a song with everyone in the group.”

Student Hang Le Thi Minh from Ha Noi, Vietnam had been eagerly waiting to attend the workshop since she had first heard about it, but was unable to until she was old enough. This trip was her first out of her country.

Quick Links:

Athens News Article (PDF Archive)

“The High School Media Workshop had a profound impact on the way I see my passion and future career,” she said. “The experience I had here was definitely worth my 22 hour flight.”

Students who came for the workshop were about to have a look at what college life was like at Ohio University and wrapped up the week with a farewell banquet and a screening of their projects.

“An incredible aspect of the High School Media Workshop is that students attend not only to experience what the School of Media Arts & Studies has to offer within its curriculum but also for that first college experience, including one-on-one mentoring to help focus their passion and future career goals,” said High School Media Workshop Associate Director Kyle Snyder. “After several days experiencing a variety of required and elective workshops, it’s gratifying to hear students tell us we’ve opened their eyes to new possibilities and that they now know what they’ll be majoring in upon acceptance to the Scripps College of Communication.”

For more information, including pictures, on the 2015 High School Media Workshop please visit http://mediaschool.ohio.edu/hsmw-news. To see coverage of the workshop on Twitter visit #OUHSMW.

Original article by Claire Berlin

Snyder Named Distinguished Faculty Mentor By Ohio University’s Honors Tutorial College

news · 2015-05-01

Kyle P. Snyder, a Lecturer in Ohio University’s School of Media Arts & Studies and the Scripps College of Communication received an award from the Honors Tutorial College recognizing his role as a mentor.

Snyder won the Distinguished Faculty Mentor Award which was presented May 1 at the Honors Tutorial College (HTC) graduation dinner, held in Baker Ballroom. Snyder was nominated for his award by tutee and student Steven Van Dyne who wrote the thesis Case Studies in Classical Location Recording Using Improvised Techniques as Snyder’s advisee.

The Honors Tutorial College allows its students to create a customized curriculum—largely through one-on-one tutorials—based on their creative interests.

Snyder & SPARS Host AskSPARS Career & Mentoring Session With MDIA

news · 2014-12-01

SPARS recently partnered with Ohio University Lecturer Kyle P. Snyder, The School of Media Arts & Studies and the local Ohio University AES Student Chapter in presenting another of their popular Ask SPARS Mentoring Webinars (pdf).

The event was held in the Ohio University Schoonover Center and students had the opportunity to meet on-line and interact with Kirk Imamura, President of SPARS, as well as President of well-known NY recording facility, Avatar Studios.

Snyder Releases A Crash Course to Making Your Mark in the Recording Industry

news · 2014-10-10

Focal Press and CreativeLive have partnered with Ohio University’s Kyle P. Snyder to create the ebook A Crash Course to Making Your Mark in the Recording Industry. Intended for all aspiring and current audio recording practitioners, A Crash Course to Making Your Mark in the Recording Industry provides an overview of a wide-range of central topics related to the business and technical trade of recording.

Designed to help the reader quickly understand how best to achieve success in this industry and comprised of original material and excerpts from Focal Press titles and CreativeLive video courses, this ebook presents coverage of music business, audio fundamentals, pre-production, production, and post production. The title was edited by Kyle P. Snyder, one of the Audio Engineering Society’s leading experts on audio education and a Lecturer in Ohio University’s School of Media Arts & Studies.

Jim Anderson, Past-President of the Audio Engineering Society and a nine-time Grammy award winner with twenty-five Grammy nominations said of A Crash Course, “Anyone who wants to, as the title suggests, make their mark in the music industry must have these pages imbedded in their DNA before starting on their journey.” When people try to break into this field (and long after), they go about it in their own unique way; that is why everyone involved is eager to share this text with the public.

According to Alex Case, noted author and Associate Professor of Sound Recording Technology at University of Massachusetts Lowell, “We don’t just want information on working in the recording industry— we want quality information…For a concentrated dose of quality content on the recording industry, start here.”

Jeff Dean, Focal Press senior publisher remarked, “There is no better person in the industry than Kyle P. Snyder to develop this high-value content, and we couldn’t be more delighted with the result.” Dean explained, “This is an outstanding collaboration between Focal Press and CreativeLive, as both companies strive to create exceptionally high quality content for audio education.

”The resources available in the ebook were designed to help individuals quickly understand a topic and best-achieve success in our tumultuous, ever-changing world. Whether one is just entering the field or has been in it for decades, it is our sincere hope he or she will find it a useful guide.

To get your free copy of A Crash Course to Making Your Mark in the Recording Industry, simply visit www.focalpress.com/crashcourse

Please contact Scott Berman at scott.berman@taylorandfrancis.com to request additional materials, interview requests, or publicity requests.

Top Right: Snyder moderating a Focal Press Author’s Panel at the 137th Audio Engineering Society Convention.

Snyder to Moderate Focal Press Author Panel at AES 137

blog · 2014-09-19

This year at the 137th Audio Engineering Society Convention, Focal Press will be hosting an Author Panel (complete details) on the main Project Studio Expo Stage where Focal authors will discuss “Mixing Perspectives: Tales of Achieving Big Studio Results on a Project Studio Budget.”

The panel will feature the likes of Mike Senior (Mixing Secrets & Recording Secrets for the Small Studio), Alex Case (Mix Smart & SoundFX), Jason Corey (Audio Production & Critical Listening), and David Miles Huber (Modern Recording Techniques, 7e). I’m particularly pleased to announce that Focal Press has once again asked me to moderate this panel of great authors, which I think will be a great session for all in attendance. I’ve worked with Focal Press for some time now and have always been impressed with the immensely high level of technical expertise that their authors bring to the table, and this panel is sure to further that reputation. It’s worth noting that the 137th AES Convention will bring other non-panel related Focal press from me as well, so stay tuned for that as well!

If you have questions for these authors, either for someone specific or in general on the topic of the author’s panel, I’d invite you to leave your question in the comments below (or via twitter directed to @KylePSnyder) as I absolutely welcome suggestions from our audience.

I hope to see you at the AES Convention, and I’d invite you to join us on Sunday, October 13th at 11am. For more details, be certain to consult your AES program.

Snyder Leads Inaugural Media Arts & Studies Workshop

blog · 2014-07-19

More than 50 students converged upon Athens in July week for the Media High School Summer Workshop at Ohio University. The Scripps College of Communication School of Media Arts and Studies sponsored the event, and most sessions took place in the new Schoonover Center.

Participants came from seven states, including California, Alabama and New Jersey. “We expected campers to come only from Ohio, but word spread and we were delighted to attract students from across the country,” said workshop Director Karen Riggs, a professor in the School of Media Arts and Studies.

“The depth of enthusiasm that these young media makers demonstrated was inspiring,” she added. “Most students are incoming seniors, and we cannot wait to see many of them on the Athens campus next year.”

Riggs said demand surpassed facility accommodations. “As Schoonover Center construction advances, we hope to be able to add space for more students next year,” she said. “It was hard to turn applicants away but a pleasant surprise that so many people wanted to be part of things.”

Kyle P. Snyder, also an instructor in the school, served as associate director of the camp. “Each participant brought a unique and creative spirit, which made for a collaborative and powerful educational experience,” he said. “Seeing what these students created after just meeting and spending mere hours together is a testament to our fantastic instructors and to the talent of these future media creators.”

“I’ve been planning on going into audio production and recording at OU for a while, but I’ve never known how to get started,” said workshop participant Alana Baldwin, who will be an Athens High School junior this Fall. “The camp gave me the knowledge and experience to really get going on my career.”

While on campus, students participated in four hands-on workshops: video production, music recording, animation and social media. Four school instructors conducted the workshops, assisted by student ambassadors from MDIA. High school students also created a mock newscast in the WOUB studios.

Campers also participated in social events, including a walking tour of the Ridges and a mixer with campers from the School of Journalism workshop. They roomed in a dorm on East Green and dined at Nelson Commons, feeling the ambience of the Athens campus.

On the final day of camp, students gathered in the Scripps Auditorium to view and listen to their individual and group projects. Each of the four groups created an animation from their individual drawings, recorded an original song written by a student in the group, and produced a television segment that helped create an entire narrative episode during the workshop.

As they departed, many noted that they had made social media connections with new friends, whom they hoped to meet again as OU students.

Camp instructors included MDIA faculty members Josh Antonuccio, audio engineering leader; Kate Raney, animation leader; Jeremy Bessoff, video leader; and Riggs, social media leader.

Olivia Powers, coordinator among the four MDIA student ambassadors, praised the campers for their work ethic. “They were engaged, enthusiastic and curious about the various fields of media,” she said. “The students consistently impressed all the ambassadors.” Her fellow ambassadors were Tyler Blust, Hanna Cimperman and Brett Maszczak.

Drew McDaniel, director of the School of Media Arts and Studies, said camps like this one make an impact on media programs.

“The School of Media Arts & Studies profits by exposing interested high school students to the professional and academic possibilities of work in media,” said McDaniel. “It allows us to identify and possibly recruit to study in our school some of the best and most media savvy high school students across the US. Students gain by developing ideas about career possibilities in their field of interest while having a fun time exploring life on a college campus.”

See work produced by workshop students, workshop photos, and their Twitter archive at mediaschool.ohio.edu/hsmw-news

Press:

Original article by Media Arts & Studies staff.

MDIA / WOUB Radio Drama Internship Students Record The Lottery & Win Awards

blog · 2014-05-19

Over the past several years I’ve posted frequently about an exciting partnership between Ohio University Media Arts & Studies students which again continued into the Spring Semester of 2013-2014 and provided an internship / independent study opportunity to complete an exciting audiobook / radio dramas, an ongoing content initiative of the WOUB Public Media.

I’m pleased to report that our amazing team of students have completed production on The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and production is underway on Arch Oboler’s Bathysphere. Once again the results are amazing and we once pleased to announce that once again the project (now known as Ecoustic Alchemy) won a prestigious First Place award within the Media Arts & Studies Category at the Ohio University Student Expo 2014.

WOUB_SpringStart_2 — Tristan Olson & Maggie Mitchell accepting the 2014 First Place Award

Cast & Credits:

Narrator / Man / Floyd Summers: Joe Balding
Mrs. Summers: Cecilia Rinaldi
Bill Hutchinson: Rob Goeller
Tessie Hutchinson: Heidi Wilhelm
Laura Hutchinson: Kate Wilhelm
Davy Hutchinson: Nora Price
Agnes Delacroix: Ruth Borovicka
Dicky Delacroix: Tess Wilhelm
Mr Martin: David J Whealey
Mrs Martin: Heather Johnson
Schoolmaster John Gunderson: Mark A Robinson
Mr Graves, Postmaster: Terrence J Smith
Old Man Warner: Jim Parsons
Mrs. Dunbar: Celeste Parsons
Mrs. Graves: Rita Greco Preston

Audio Engineering:

Anthony Difino
Aaron Goldstein
Jeffrey Hill
Todd Hochradel
Maggie Mitchell (Student Project Manager)
Tristan Olson

Executive Producers:
Kyle P. Snyder and Mark Robinson

Top Left: The Ecoustic Alchemy display at the Ohio University Student Expo 2014.

Above: The prize-winning expo display.

Session Documentation: Plan Wisely & Arm Yourself With Data! on AudioUndone.com

blog · 2013-11-01

Whether you’re just beginning a career in recording or you’re at the top of your game, documentation is key. Imagine you’ve just finished a killer tracking session, one you may want the ability to recreate someday (hint: that’s potentially every session), so now what? I’m generally confident in my memory for microphone placements and studio setup for a few months, however plans change over time, and what may have been easy to remember tomorrow suddenly needs to be compartmentalized until everyone is available again next month. Plus, there’s no remembering compressor or EQ settings, let alone values for gear that has less than descriptive faceplates.

So, what’s an engineer to do? Well, the obvious answer is documentation of some form. If you’re serious about this business, you’ll be documenting your session. After all, you never know what may become of that last-minute project you did last week, and it’s always valuable to be able to look back. All this having been said, what form of documentation you use depends completely on your work-flow and needs. There are many important items which should be included in your documentation, as discussed by David Miles Huber in his newest version of Modern Recording Techniques, 8th Ed.

For David’s thoughts on documentation as well as sage advice from Kyle on the various forms that production documentation can take, be certain to click through to AudioUndone.com for my complete article.

Session Documentation: Plan Wisely & Arm
Yourself With Data! on AudioUndone.com