Audio Education

Wednesday, October 18, 9:00 am — 10:30 am (Rm 1E12)

Chair:
Alex Ruthmann, New York University - New York, NY USA

P02-1 Audio Education: Audio Recording Production Students Report Skills Learned or Focused on in Their Programs—Doug Bielmeier, Purdue School Of Engineering and Technology, IUPUI - Indianapolis, IN, USA
Previous research polled employers, new hires, and educators in the audio industry to identify what skills were most important, what skills new hires had, and what skills educators focused on in Audio Recording Production (ARP) Programs. The Skills Students Learned (SSL) Survey used in this study, polled 40 students from the U.S. and aboard to identify skills learned at ARP programs. Students reported their skill level before and after attending a formal ARP program via an online mixed methods survey instrument. In the quantitative section, students reported an improvement in all skill levels upon completing their ARP training. In the qualitative section, students reported communication skills and in-depth technical skills missing from their programs and personal skill sets. This study recommends infusion of these skills into existing ARP curriculum. 

P02-2 Audio Archive Preservation Challenges and Pedagogical Opportunities: School of Music RePlayed—Samantha Bennett, Australian National University - Canberra, ACT, Australia
This paper considers the various challenges, implications and pedagogical opportunities presented via a small-scale audio archiving project: School of Music RePlayed. Housed in the Australian National University’s School of Music, this historical archive of more than 1200 recital and concert tape recordings features multiple recordings of historical significance, yet presents with a number of issues pertaining to storage and tape deterioration. This paper first considers the challenges presented in the digitization of such an archive before focusing on the pedagogical opportunities afforded by such a unique project. Developed and run in conjunction with the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, this unique project addresses both technological and pedagogical matters of preservation, heritage and digitization.  

P02-3 The Education of the Next Generation of Pro-Audio Professionals—Curig Huws, University of South Wales - Cardiff, UK
Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, the changing nature of the music industry has led to the demise of recording studios, which have decreased dramatically in number. This decline has led to a corresponding disappearance of the “teaboy” route, the traditional route whereby engineers, producers, and mixers (EPM) learned their craft. In the training vacuum that the demise of recording studios creates, how do EPM professionals now learn the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in the music industry? Through primary research and indepth interviews with leading EPM professionals and online education providers, this paper assesses the skills needed to become a successful EPM and explores whether the internet can ever replace the traditional teaboy route in educating the next generation of professionals. It concludes that there are currently significant limitations to internet learning of EPM skills, some of which might be overcome by new technological developments such as virtual reality.