The 11th Annual Symposium hosts Alia Fahlborg, David Miles Huber, Eddie Kramer, Sylvia Massy and Leaders of the PNW Producer and Engineer Base, Discussing New Business Models, Technology and Ongoing Challenges in a Changing Industry Landscape
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (April 15, 2010) — In what has become a widely anticipated event throughout the Pacific Northwest's professional audio community, on Saturday, April 10, 2010, The Recording Academy® Pacific Northwest (PNW) Chapter, in partnership with The Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing®, Guitar Center Professional, the Seattle Weekly and Seattle's Experience Music Project (EMP), presented the Pacific Northwest Studio Summit 2010. The JBL Theater at EMP hosted a day filled with panels, shared technology and networking among the region's top audio professionals.
This year's Summit featured input from some of the industry's and area's most successful producers, engineers, mixers and business figures, with keynote interviewees Senior Vice President Nettwerk Producer Management Alia Fahlborg, and producer/engineers Eddie Kramer and Sylvia Massy. Other speakers included recording luminaries Kurt Bloch, Martin Feveyear, Bill Gibson, David Miles Huber, Johnny Sangster, and Rich Williams and Kevin Dickey of Burl Audio.
The P&E Wing has long acknowledged the contributions of production masters, and this year's edition began with a one-on-one interview by Pacific Northwest Chapter Executive Director Ben London with the legendary Eddie Kramer, who has been behind the board for some of the biggest names in music, including David Bowie, Joe Cocker, Peter Frampton, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Traffic, Johnny Winter and many more. The business of record production was addressed in an interview by P&E Wing Senior Executive Director Maureen Droney with Nettwerk Management's Alia Fahlborg, who manages some of the most in-demand producers in the world, including Howard Benson, Bob Clearmountain, Chris Lord-Alge, Tom Lord-Alge, Matt Serletic and Randy Staub. She discussed the state of the industry, the kind of "deals" producers are getting these days and general guidelines producers should consider when working with artists.
The afternoon sessions were started by Droney, who delivered a quick overview of recent P&E Wing activities and initiatives and discussed how members and attendees can get more involved. Then, a panel entitled "The State of A/D Conversion" saw Burl Audio's Kevin Dickey and Rich Williams, with moderator Steve Turnidge, discuss the state of analog to digital conversions, new product developments, and how to best maximize the performance of A/D converters. This was followed by Charles R. Cross interviewing Sylvia Massy, known for her stellar work as the engineer for groundbreaking artists such as System of a Down and Tool.
Interspersed during the event were Learning Labs. The "Surround Playback Experience" saw GRAMMY®-nominated producer David Miles Huber and monitor developers PMC US/UK collaborate for a surround sound playback experience of some of today's most amazing 5.1 music projects. Attendees then joined producers and engineers Kurt Bloch, Martin Feveyear, Bill Gibson and Johnny Sangster at the "GRAMMY U® Demo Review Session," as they critiqued students' recordings, offering them their insights on how to develop their recording skills.
"Over the course of the last eleven years we have worked tirelessly to keep raising the bar on the Studio Summit. I feel like we hit the mark this year. The combination of master producers like Eddie Kramer and Sylvia Massy, mixed with informative presentations and the engagement of the next generation of producers and engineers through our GRAMMY U program, resonated throughout the entire PNW recording community," said Executive Director Ben London.
"The Studio Summits contribute greatly to keeping our members at the cutting edge of trends in both the business and technology of music production," added Droney. "Music production today requires balancing technological prowess, economic astuteness and, of course, the utmost in creativity. The Producers & Engineers Wing is dedicated to doing our best to give our members access to information that will help and inspire in all of those areas."
The Recording Academy's Pacific Northwest Studio Summit is an annual event that gathers together studio owners, engineers, producers and artists for a summit designed to strengthen and promote the Northwest recording industry. The Summit features prominent keynote speakers, Northwest-based panelists and trade tables. Past participants include Steve Albini (Nirvana, Big Black), Larry Crane (Sleater Kinney), Funk Daddy (E-40, Sir Mix-A-Lot), Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden), Glenn Lorbecki (Violent Femmes), Keith Olsen (Ozzy Osbourne, Heart), Nile Rodgers (Madonna, Mick Jagger) and Al Schmitt (Diana Krall, Duke Ellington).
