NEW YORK -- Oct. 7, 2014 -- Paul Tapper, NUGEN Audio co-founder and technical director, will present a tutorial session on audio metering at the 137th AES (Audio Engineering Society) Convention, which will take place Oct. 9-12 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California. Scheduled for 11:45 a.m. on Oct. 10, "Let Your Eyes Help Your Ears: Techniques and New Challenges in Audio Metering" will provide students and engineers with an overview of the role of audio analysis and metering in the music industry, followed by a closer look at specific metering practices and how they help to ensure audio fidelity through mastering, distribution, and playout.
"Audio metering and analysis are fundamental to our industry as they provide tools necessary for creating music that will sound the way it should, whether played out on TV, radio, a streaming service, a club PA system, or on an iPod dock," said Tapper. "This tutorial will examine current standards, practices, and solutions for audio analysis and metering, looking at how they enable engineers to use both their eyes and ears to achieve and maintain the sound they want, even when circumstances are less than ideal."
Tapper will begin the tutorial session by briefly discussing the "loudness revolution" that has reshaped audio metering within the TV broadcast industry and move on to explain why this change is relevant to the music industry's audio engineers. Using audio and visual examples, he will illustrate audio metering techniques and their application within the music industry. He will also describe their growing importance as an ever-expanding volume of content is delivered to consumers via outlets such as iTunes Radio and Spotify, which already employ automated loudness normalization, and as radio broadcasters begin to implement similar processing on playout.
Though most music is delivered in stereo, mono compatibility remains an important consideration. Tapper will take time to discuss the handling of this factor and, in particular, overcoming the challenges of auditioning the bass frequencies that often are presented in mono by club PA systems.
"Audio analysis allows your eyes, and a bit of science, to help out your ears, and it is valuable in a variety of circumstances," Tapper added. "An imperfect playback system, an unfamiliar mixing studio, a lack of experience, and fatigue from a long work session can all have an undesirable impact on sound. The industry's shift toward loudness normalization can likewise have the effect of degrading or distorting audio. This tutorial will show attendees how, in these and other cases, metering and analysis tools can be used to understand, address, or prevent specific problems that can affect a mix."
Information about the entire NUGEN Audio product family can be found at www.nugenaudio.com.
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About NUGEN Audio
NUGEN Audio's award-winning tools for audio analysis, loudness metering, mixing/mastering, and tracking are used by the world's top names in music production, broadcast, and post-production. For audio professionals, NUGEN Audio's mix and mastering products offer market-leading fidelity and unrestricted creativity in every situation, providing an easy, direct, and natural way to work with sound. NUGEN Audio tools have become critical for some of the biggest names in the industry including Michael Brauer (Coldplay, The Rolling Stones), Robbie Bronnimann (Chicane, Paul Van Dyk), and Mr. Mig (Beyonce, Akon). For more information, visit www.nugenaudio.com.
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Photo Caption: Paul Tapper
