Editor/Publisher: Gary Khan
Editor: Mike Castronovo
President: Mary Mazurek
V.P.: Mike Castronovo

Volume 19 Number 9
September, 2004

EARS meets at Pressure Point Recording

2239 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, Il
312-842-8099
Tuesday Sept. 28, 7:30pm

EAR MEETS AT PRESSURE POINT RECORDING, Tue. 9/28 at 7:30pm
We join with our area Audio Engineering Society compadres at Pressure Point Recording (312-842-8099) at 2239 S. Michigan on a musically historic end of downtown Chi-town. It is easily accessible by public transportation as well as easy area street parking (with 2 quarters for the meters). Studio Manager, Chris Schneider will host this visit to a truly World-Class multi-room facility selected for the cover of Mix Magazine and their "Class of 2004" annual feature article. It boasts an SSL 9000K and drool-worthy Mic locker! Scott Pfeiffer, acoustical designer, will present his experiences and problem solving techniques as part of the team assigned by local yet internationally recognized acoustics design firm Kirkegaard & Asc whose Chicago area projects included Symphony Center, home of the C.S.O.! We will follow this with an excellent "Q & A" opportunity and wrap up with a tour of the facility.
nuff said - Gary Khan

Meeting Recaps:

It¹s been a bit crazy around here so yer EARDRUM staff needed to do a bit of Ketchup (catsup?)! So, here we go Š

On April 27th, we met at Etymotic Research, Inc. (61 Martin Lane, Elk Grove Village, IL. 60007)] Founder, respected researcher and holder of an incredible amount of patents, Dr. Meade Killion made a presentation called "Lost on the Way to the Brain". It included fascinating demonstrations on hearing in noisy environments. We learned how modern technology addresses hearing impairment with a fascinating look at the hearing mechanism we all use (& too often abuse) in our work! Special thanks to Meade¹s right hand, Karen Briskey for arranging that delicious spread. If you wanna learn more, you gotta check out their spiffy website: www.Etymotic.com or you can do the analog thing by "dialing" 847-228-0006 or Toll-free 1-888-Etymotic (1-888-389-6684)

In May, on the 25th, we gathered on beautiful Navy Pier for an intimate meeting at WBEZ hosted by true craftsperson, Mary Gaffney and her new staffer (rare gig nowadays, eh!) Eric Rudd, an imported L.A. engineer with some tasty credits. After our Obligatory round of self humiliation, er, introductions, we discussed Mary & Eric¹s differing approaches to capturing musical performances. He of a more typical "coast¹ approach and she of a more old school, acoustical technique. The unpretentious Mary was a protégé of Larry Rock, Grammy winning, ex-Chicago recordist. Larry, currently the New York "Phil" primary recording engineer. She was a predecessor of another Mary, your Prez, for some of the broadcasts still actively produced. Yours Truly, among others, can attest to the beauty of her recordings and past clients have attested to her razor blade skills. That¹s not a plug-in, kiddies, but she can zip through a modern DAW with the best of Œem, as well!

After a delicious and interesting chow-down, we toured the multi-Room facility that¹s the home of an award winning station that features news, public affairs, music and arts programming. It includes an acoustically gorgeous tracking room complete with a Steinway Concert Grand, variable acoustics and unique, all digital Soundtracs Console featuring serious automation. We continued through the voice-over/talk studio and editing suites noting the full ISDN broadcast capabilites!

Next, on June 29th, we returned to the friendly confines of early and consistent EARS supporter Gary & Dina Cobb. Their ARS Recording crew treated us to a rockin¹ cookout in beautiful Alsip, Il.! Following attendee introductions, we heard from each of our invited guests, all Chicago area mic pre designers. They discussed their design approaches and philosophies. The line up included, alphabetically, Bill Curtis and his Opre-8 (channel) tube unit. Next up, Blue Man Group engineer and E.E., John Hachtel, regaled us with 4 channel, all tube, "Hachtel Preamp"(s). Next up, veteran designer and long time EARS supporter, John Hardy, showed his non-tube but gorgeously "transformer-ed"(?), M-1 and discussed his other "M-2" and Jenson "Twin Servo" 990 units. Finally, yours truly, brought and described the unavailable Mike Stoica¹s "Sytek MX-4", a solid state design based on and tested with our own Neotek Series 2 console which Mike hand built, himself! We, as well as the designers, learned greatly from the side-by-side listening test that was generously recorded and archived by Gary Cobb at my request! Conclusions varied subjectively but all were deemed most desirable when listened to without reference to price. For more info: www.curtis-technology.com ; www.johnhardyco.com ; John Hachtel c/o home.earthlink.net/~organwolf; www.sytek-audio-systems.com While some ate, others were nauseated by my percussion accompaniment to percussionist Bill Curtis¹s performance which were mic¹d by our host, Gary Cobb in an A/B, level matched shootout through his Amek Galileo desk in the true EARS tradition! We also recorded Audio Biz¹s & EARS resident piano man, Kevin Shaw, again with ARS¹s incredible, matched, 4 pack of vintage AKG C-12a¹s each going to one of the 4 pre¹s!

Appreciation File:

An Ears Cheer goes out to trusty VP Mike Castronovo for hosting our Aug. meeting with such aplomb! Well, no actual a-plums but a really nice cookout with generous contributions from Mike, Dwayne Barker, Kevin Shaw, Kerry Happs & Prez Mary!

Late Breaking News: held back this issue a bit to add an event, some good news and sad news.

First, veteran engineer, EARS charter member and now educator, Benj Kanters, just invited us EARS cats to a 7pm Surround Sound Presentation by Mike Sokol at Columbia¹s new A.T.C. at 33 E. Congress on Tue. October 12th. It¹s the location we visited last March and it¹s free to y¹all!

Second, "The Circle of Life": 2 time EARS meeting host, recent Grammy co-nominee and veteran engineer Chris Willis lost his father this week. He was a respected, Chicago-based, Arts Journalist. Sincere condolences to Chris and his family from your peers, good buddy!

On a happier note, Digidesign¹s ProTools Rep and frequent EARS supporter, Jeff Komar & his wife welcome their spankin¹ new baby daughter ­ an ¹04 model presumably self upgradable and HD ready - Congrats!
Nuff said, Gary Khan

If you have any ideas for stories, wish to contribute an article, or want to include any upcoming events, please contact:

Gary at ears@ears-chicago.org. Or write to:
Peagasus Recording P.O Box 578903, Chicago, IL 60657.