AES Historical Committee
Minutes of the Meeting at the 116th AES Convention, Berlin
2004 May 10
Attending: 15 people. Al Grundy, Alex Balster, George Brock-Nannestad,
Willy Aubert, Louis Manno, Jerry Bruck, Ernst Voelker (acting chair),
Erich Kamp, Cornelius Bradter, Klaus Hobohm, Erich Schleicher, Johannes
Richter, Kunimaro Tanaka, Ted Sheldon (secretary).
1. Opening by the Chairman
E. Voelker, chairman of the meeting in place of Jay McKnight, called the meeting to order at 12:35.
2. Greeting from Ernst Voelker
E. Voelker greeted those attending on behalf of AES HC Chair Jay
McKnight. He indicated that Vice-Chair Irv Joel had planned to attend,
but could not do so owing to illness. All members present wished Joel
good health and a speedy recovery.
3. Introduction of Members and Guests
Members and others attending the meeting identified themselves. Also, a sign up list was distributed.
4. Report of the Chairman and Discussion
The chair reviewed the activities that have been held and will take
place at this conference. He thanked all members who had contributed to
the success of the presentations and exhibits at this Berlin
convention. He mentioned that nearly 100 years ago, attempts were being
made to add a mechanical-disc sound track to early motion picture films
at Babelsberg near Berlin. He noted that historical equipment and
artifacts are on display here in the AES Historical Booth in the
convention exhibit area that were used in these efforts. Further,
Babelsberg film, television and audio historical demonstrations now
being presented are drawing large audiences. These presentations will
continue throughout the convention and a tour of Babelsberg will also
be available for Historical Committee members and convention attendees.
5. Projects. During discussion that followed these remarks, discussion of the following projects and topics took place:
5.1 AES HC Communication.
The need was presented for a status report giving the current status of
AES HC projects. It was suggested that the status report should updated
at least every six months. Also, members requested that AES HC meeting
notes be sent to members. These active means of communication would be
better than the passive methods now used via the website.
5.2 Dutch Broadcasting Museum.
The Dutch Broadcasting Museum will move to another building next year. For now, the museum is operating on a reduced schedule.
5.3 Audio-Visual Time Line.
W. Aubert is continuing his work on the audio-visual history time line,
and encouraged members to contact him regarding contributions. He
anticipates that a draft soon will be available. A question arose as to
how members could contributed to the time line, and Aubert asked
members to talk with him after the meeting or contact him by email. A
short discussion of the intended content of the time line helped to
clarify the direction it is taking.
5.4 Thiele-Krause Archive.
This collection now is at Berlin University. A presentation at this
convention from Klaus Hobohm and Cornelius Bradter of Berlin University
in charge of the archive discussed the work to organize and make
accessible the contents of the Thiele-Krause Archive among others
sources.
5.5 Other Archives
It was noted that other archives remain in private hands (those held by
Schueller, Kupper, Hoffman and Manno were mentioned), and may become
endangered through death or changing circumstances. The AES HC can help
preserve the contents of these collections in many ways. This is an
enormous task. Efforts need to be strengthened, and members must be
very watchful to identify audio engineering collections and threats to
their continued strength. It may be possible to cooperate with the AES
Education Committee in these efforts, and a member of that committee
indicated a willingness to work with the AES HC in this arena. It was
suggested that AES HC Chair Jay McKnight contact the AES EC chair to
explore areas of cooperation..
6. New Projects
George Brock-Nannestad proposed a new project. He noted that Stephen F.
Temmer proposed a review of patents having to do with audio
developments, but he has died and no documentation exists to describe
his progress. Brock-Nannestad noted the patents registered by in
Britain and presented examples. He proposed to scan the abstracts of
patents as they were published. Then it would be possible to scan the
patents themselves. He needs someone to go through the AES Journal to
look for content references to patents. It is anticipated that the AES
HC chair will take the proposal under advisement and seek more detailed
clarification from Brock-Nannestad.
7. There being no further business to conduct, E. Voelker encouraged
members and interested persons to attend the AES HC presentations yet
to come and to view the exhibits. He adjourned the meeting at 13:30.
Minutes submitted by
Ted Sholdon, Secretary
AES Historical Committee
b0746-04
AES Historical Committee
Minutes of the Meeting at the 115th AES Convention, New York
2003 Oct 11, 10:00…12:00
Attending: Kevin Irelan, Geoffrey Wilson, Wesley Bulla, Louis
Manno, Michael Murphy, John Chester, Philip Esterhazy, R. David Reed,
Alex Kostelnik, Myles Davis, Ron Streicher (AES President), Irv Joel
(vice-chair), Jay McKnight (chair).
Chair Jay McKnight called the meeting to order.
1. Historical Committee (HC) Report to the AES
Board. On the back side of the agenda is the Historical Committee
Report to be submitted to the AES Executive Board at this
convention. It includes a list of activities for the past
year. Chair McKnight reviewed the report for those attending.
1.1 History of the Japan Section. The HC was
provided with a history of the AES Japan Section in 2000, along with
the request that it be translated and published. Two people have
agreed to undertake the translation, and translation of about
one-quarter of the document has been completed. Both the Japanese
and English versions will be loaded on the HC website.
1.2 AES Archive. A volunteer is needed in the
New York City area to help organize and catalog the materials in the
AES Archive. R. Furness, AES Executive Director has
responsibility for finding someone. If members know of someone
who is interested, please contact him.
1.3 Historical Exhibits at AES Conventions.
Documents from the 114th convention historical exhibits have been
placed on the AES HC website. Thanks to Alex Balster for his hard
work on those exhibits. Another fine exhibit is on display at
this New York convention.
1.4 Minutes on the AES HC Website. It was suggested at
the Amsterdam meeting of the HC that it made no sense to have minutes
of meetings approved at the following meeting, because attendance
is mostly by different people in Europe compared to North
America. Therefore, it was decided that minutes would be posted
on the HC website and suggestions for changes would be reported to the
HC reflector. This appears to be the most expeditious way to
handle this issue.
1.5 HC Email Reflector. The HC maintains an email
reflector. McKnight encourages all members to participate in the
discussions occurring thereon. Persons wanting to participate in
reflector discussions can go to the HC website to join.
1.6 HC Web site. The HC maintains a web site. Most of
the results of the Committee’s work appears there. This is an
important resource for members. This year the web site was moved
to the AES server.
1.7 The HC has a project to develop and publish a directory of
museums, libraries and other repositories of audio. A full report
follows later in this meeting.
1.8 The archive of the German audio heritage will find a home at
the Technical Museum of Berlin. The Tiele Archive and its catalog
will reside there.
1.9 The HC oral history project is ongoing. A report will follow later in this meeting.
1.10 The HC programs for this convention. The “Vinyl Goes
Digital” committee has done a fine job of locating one-of-a-kind
machines for display. These include one of the early Sound Stream
machines. Presenters will talk about using these same
machines. Irv Joel reviewed the successes of HC exhibits and
presentations at previous conventions.
2. Directory of Museums. M. Davis reported on
progress toward the compilation of the Directory. The official
purposes of the proposed directory are 1) to create a directory of
museums, libraries and archives and private collections that contain
historic audio equipment or documents pertaining to the history of
audio engineering, and 2) to cooperate with existing libraries,
archives and museums and with other professional organizations having
interests in these areas.
Davis raised a few questions that have emerged from early discussions and asked for comments from the HC.
Is there an intent or mandate to preserve technology through the aegis of the AES?
Is there a purpose to educate regarding the history of audio technology and audio engineering?
If these are the purposes, a review of links on the HC Web indicates
that there are only two museums in the world that qualify for inclusion
in the proposed directory. Clearly, an effort is needed to
contact people and institutions to widen the knowledge base of the
project.
Is there a cut-off date defining the historical period covered by the
project? It was noted that an effort should be made to be
inclusive when determining which institutions and individuals to
include in the directory.
Where should be the dividing line placed between audio equipment and
computer equipment? It was noted that while there is no
absolutely clear division, the HC is primarily interested in audio and
equipment related to audio. One area needing coverage is
equipment and documents residing in private hands.
Next steps include publicizing the project as a way
to garner information. A draft of text for publicity was provided
to the chair and read to the members attending the meeting. The
intent is to publish publicity to the AES Journal, newsletters and
other reflector lists to inform people about the project and garner
information and support .
It was noted that AES has considered the idea of
building a museum of recording technology, but this was deemed too
expensive. AES now seeks to coordinate the work of existing
museums, and help people find places to donate old equipment.
It was requested that the proposed directory should
reside on the web and be maintained in a searchable environment.
This would make information about repositories and collections widely
available, including which are accepting donations, the nature of
holdings, accessibility and other information to facilitate
preservation and research efforts. An endangered equipment list
could be developed.
3. The availability of the HC website was noted, and
the chair invited comments regarding its operation and usefulness.
4. The chair noted the open invitation to all members
and others to propose projects for the endorsement and support of the
HC. Projects need to pertain to the interests of the HC as
defined in its charge. The charge can be found on the HC website.
5. Oral History Project. Irv Joel has been
conducting the project, which began in 1999, for the HC. The goal
has been to record audio and/or video interviews with persons prominent
in audio history, and do so as quickly as possible. Some 115
interviews have been completed to date and they exist on either video
or audio tape. Joel described some of the problems he has
encountered, and some approaches he has used to assure that interviews
are successful. It was noted that efforts should be made to
assure correctness and clarity of comments made in the
interviews. A disclaimer is needed to the effect that these are
the opinions of the interviewee, and not those of AES or the
AESHC. Also, there are a large number of tapes made over the last
twenty years in the Los Angeles area, including the “Afternoon with….”
interviews. These need to be merged with the more recent
interviews. An inventory has been created.
Another part of the project seeks to edit the raw
interviews and create presentations of the most important parts.
Progress in this area has been limited.
6. History of the AES Japan Section. A history
written in Japanese was submitted for publication several years
ago. Someone has volunteered to translate it. It
should be up on the website by year end.
7. Ampex Museum. The museum has moved to
Stanford University. A status report is available on the website.
8. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned,
noting that the next meeting will take place in Berlin on May 8-12,
2004.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ted Sheldon
Historical Committee Secretary
2004-04-15; html jm 2004-05-17
Draft 2004-05-25
Minutes of the AES Historical Committee at
the 114th AES Convention, 2003-03-24, in Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
The Historical Committee meeting took place on Monday, 2003 March 24, at
the RAI Conference Center, Room J, from 10:00 to 12:00. The meeting was
chaired by Historical Committee Vice Chair Irv Joel.
Attending: Jurgen Herre, Alex Balster, Cor Doesberg, Kees Immink, Reinhard
Sahr, Stan Tempelaars, Berlinghini Gualtiero, Irina Aldoshina, Robert Beppetto,
Louis Manno, Irv Joel (vice chair), Ted Sheldon (secretary)
1 Opening Greeting
Alex Balster, project leader for the Historical Events at this convention,
welcomed attendees, distributed agendas and introduced HC vice chair Irv
Joel who chaired the meeting.
2 Introduction of attendees
Persons attending the meeting introduced themselves and indicated their
affiliation.
3 Amendments to and approval of agenda
The agenda ( http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/mtgagendas/114conv2003/aes114th-agenda.html)
was approved as distributed.
4 Approval of previous
minutes, and remark on the approval procedure
The minutes from the previous meeting (113th Convention, 2002-10-07,
in Los Angeles, CA) can be found on the AES Historical Committee (HC) website.(http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/minutes/aeshc-minutes-113th-2002-10-07.html). They were approved without objection. It was noted that
the attendance at the European and North American meetings is almost completely
different, making it hard to approve minutes. Approval of meeting
notes via the HC website seems the best way to proceed.
5 Committee Report
to the Governors
The Committee-s report to the AES Governors appears on the website
(http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/committee.repts/aeshcrept2003-03-11.html
)as it was submitted by the Chair.
6 Report on ongoing projects
6.1 Report from this
convention
Alex Balster reviewed the HC presentations that have taken place (e.g.,
Polygram producer) at this convention ( http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/mtgschedules/114conv2003/historical-exhibit-at-114th-convention.html
). For the first time, the HC exhibit and presentations were moved
to the main convention floor resulting in much higher attendance at both
the exhibits and the presentations. Different experiences in Europe
and North America were noted and their successes applauded.
6.2 AES HC website
Members are encouraged to look at, comment upon and contribute to the
website ( http://www.aes.org/aeshc/
).
6.3 Proposals
for new projects
New projects are always encouraged. The HC has a small budget
so it is not possible to pay the expenses of individuals who serve as project
leaders, but some funds exist to pay for special expenses.
6.4 Oral
History Project (OHP)
The OHP has recorded interviews with about 100 persons who have made
important contributions to the history of audio (
http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/oralhist/oral-history-project.html
). Any form of oral interview is acceptable, but a release form must
be signed to allow use of the recording. The OHP recordings are not
being transcribed owing to lack of funds. In three months a series
of recordings will be placed on the AESHC web site. It was suggested that
companies might be willing to support the production of a CD-ROM/DVD of
historical figures discussing their contributions. Members and others
are encouraged to help with the oral recording of prominent persons, including
suggesting persons to be interviewed. It was noted that AES sections
could help with the project.
7 Suggestions on historical projects.
7.1 Preliminary
of plans for the 115th convention in New York
Plans for the New York convention were presented by Irv Joel
(http://www.aes.org/docs/mtgschedules/115conv2003/exhibit-plan-newyork-115th-2003-10.html). David Baker has taken responsibility for the HC presentations
in New York. The format will remain the same as recent presentations
in the US, but audio in the digital domain will be added.
7.2 Date of the next European convention
The next European convention will take place in Berlin, Germany
on 2004 May 8-11.
7.3 Archiving
historical recordings
Alex Balster made a proposal (http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/mtgagendas/114conv2003/balster-proposal-2003-03.html
) to create a central repository for oral history sound recordings.
Discussion of archiving media and formats used by the HC ensued.
8 Other new business
There was no new business
9 Date for next meeting.
The next meeting of the HC will occur at the 115th AES Convention on
2003 October 10…13 in New York, USA. The probable date is 2003
October 12.
Minutes submitted by Ted Sheldon, HC Secretary 2003-04-11.
Edited & html jm 2003-05-23
Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting
at the 113th AES Convention, 2002-10-07, in Los Angeles, CA
Attending: Dale Manquen, Bob Crow, Ted Sheldon, Alex Balster, Dave Huber,
Fred Thal, Dave Read, Michael Murphy, John Stroda, Nick Bergh, Al Grundy,
Jim Hunter, Lou Manno, Paul McManus, John Chester, Irv Joel, Jay McKnight
(chair)
Chair Jay McKnight called the meeting to order at 13:05.
- Introduction of Attendees
Persons attending introduced themselves.
- Approval of Agenda
The Chair indicated several items to be added to the agenda, and they
appear below as they were addressed.
- Approval of Minutes
The minutes
from the previous meeting in Munich, Germany were approved as distributed.
- The current Historical Committee report
to the AES Board of Governors is posted on the HC web site.
- The current Historical Committee report
- Ongoing projects
- Report from this convention.
- Ongoing projects
Dale Manquen reported on efforts to arrange for presentations and mount
the exhibitions that have occurred at this convention. He recognized and
thanked those who made contributions, including Robert-Eric Gaskell, Paul
McManus, Mike Spitz, Nick Bergh, and Wes Dooley.
- Website Updates
Chair McKnight noted changes in the AESHC web site, http://recordist.com/aeshc/.
Recent changes and additions are listed in “What’s
New“.
- New Projects
Chair McKnight indicated that the AESHC is always interested in new
projects. He outlined the method used to start new projects, and encouraged
anyone wanting to commence a project to contact
him.
- Oral History Project
Irv Joel reviewed the current progress of the oral history project.
Some 80 interviews have been completed. Help is needed to propose persons
in the history and development of audio who should be interviewed regarding
their experiences. Others are needed to conduct the interviews. A camera
is now available in Europe as well as North America to facilitate interviews
there. Most interviews average about one hour; to date the longest one
is three hours.
- AES Archives
Roger Furness reported that the AES Archives project has seen some
progress recently. He indicated that the archives is partly at headquarters
and partly stored elsewhere. Because of the headquarters renovation,
much of the historical material has been moved to secure storage. Shortly,
these materials will be moved back into the headquarters and organizational
work on them will commence.
- New business
- Historical Exhibit at the 114th (Amsterdam) Convention
Alex Balster informed the Committee about activities planned for the
Amsterdam convention in 2003 March. He indicated that experience has proved
that foreign languages can be troublesome for individuals. This year’s
exhibition will concentrate on special measuring devices (e.g., a laquer
measuring device). He invited everyone to come to Amsterdam and participate
in the AESHC activities.
- “Library of Historical Episodes”
Dale Manquen discussed his proposal for an “AES Library of Historical
Episodes.” It is clear that the very interesting exhibitions mounted by
the Historical Committee at AES conventions should be preserved. At this
113th annual convention, the presentations and their associated
audio/visual materials have been captured digitally as an historical record
of events. They preserve the history of audio, and we hope to make them
available for use by AES sections and schools. They serve the goal of making
available transportable exhibitions. To further expand use, options include
producing a CD-ROM or streaming content from a web site. We would like
to make this convention’s “When Vinyl Ruled” exhibition and presentations
available in at least one of these ways.
- Ampex Historical Website
Dale Manquen discussed briefly the Ampex corporate web site. Several
hundreds of people interested in Ampex audio recorders are seeking to mentor
interested people in the use of Ampex machines. Ampex documents (e.g.,
manuals, sales sheets) will be scanned and posted, to make them available
to the audio community as an aid to the mentoring work.
- Jensen Loudspeaker Archive
Jim Hunter mentioned that Jensen, the speaker manufacturer, has gone
out of business. Jensen archival material, including 72 notebooks from
1936 and following, have been acquired by Lou Manno’s Audio History Library.
- Audio History Library
Lou Manno’s Audio History Library has archives of some 600 companies
in the history of audio dating from the early history of audio. The AHL
intends to build a digital library for all.
- Book of Photos of Historical Audio Equipment
Dave Huber is working on a book of photos from the history of recorded
sound. The AES timeline will be the basis of the work. Huber is seeking
photos and other resources, along with permissions, to use in the work.
- Directory of Archives
Ted Sheldon discussed the goal of creating a directory of archives
and repositories, institutional and individual, as a project of the HC.
He noted that one AES Standards Committee has a project to do this, and
noted that it is more appropriate in the HC. He asked that anyone interested
in helping contact him.
- Next HC meeting
The next Historical Committee meeting will be at the 114th Convention,
in Amsterdam, in 2003 March.
The meeting adjourned at 14:05.
Minutes prepared by Ted Sheldon, AESHC Secretary, 2002-12
Edit & html, J McKnight, 2003-03-03
Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting at the 112th AES Convention, 2002-05-11, in Munich, Germany
Attending: Louis Manno, Willy Aubert, Manfred Krause, Daniel van Recklinghausen,
Myles Cochran Davis, Mathias Helling, Robert Boesnecker, Ron Streicher,
Michael Murphy, Wolfgang Niehoff, Rudolf Mueller, Kees Immick, Hans-Otto
Hoffman, Herman A. O. Wilms, Dave Read, Irv Joel, Friedrick Engel, Ernst-Jo.
Völker (Munich meeting chair), Ted Sheldon (AESHC vice chair, meeting
secretary). Also several visitors attended the meeting
- Chair pro-tem Ernst-Jo. Völker called the meet to order at 10:10 and
greeted those attending. He thanked everyone for coming and noted the recent
passing of Heinz Thiele, a pioneer and dedicated researcher in the history
of audio. He introduced and thanked students from Darmstadt University
who served as volunteers working with the AESHC, several of whom were at
the meeting. The agenda was distributed and reviewed. No additions were
suggested and the agenda was approved as distributed.
- Chair pro-tem Ernst-Jo. Völker called the meet to order at 10:10 and
- Remembrance of Heinz Thiele by Manfred Krause
M. Krause indicated the sadness brought by news of Heinz Thiele’s passing
on 2002 March 4. His papers are now at the Technical University of Berlin
through arrangements made by Manfred Krause. A few moments of silence were
observed in his memory. Much of Thiele’s equipment and papers were destroyed
toward the end of World War II. After the war, he restarted his research
and remained active until 1975 when he retired. He was a strong supporter
of AES and other societies and associations. Krause intends to continue
the work of Heinz Thiele. He intends to make CDs from tapes of interviews
made by Heinz Thiele, and hopes that some can be loaded on the AESHC web
site.
- Roll call of members and guests.
At the suggestion of chair Völker, members and persons in attendance
introduced themselves by name and affiliation.
- Report on AES Historical Committee projects. Irv Joel (for AESHC chair
Jay McKnight).
- Report on AES Historical Committee projects. Irv Joel (for AESHC chair
Joel reviewed the communications methods used by the AESHC. He described
the AESHC email reflector and how it can help members communicate with
each other and with all members using the reflector. Another means of communication
is the AESHC web site. To access it, go to the AES web site www.aes.org,
then click on Historical Committee. There will be found descriptions of
the projects currently operated by the AESHC to accomplish its work. Leaders
of the respective projects are:
- Audio Timeline, Irv Joel.
- 112th convention, Ernst Voelker.
- 113th convention, Wes Dooley.
- History of the AES, Roger Furness.
- History of the AES Japan Chapter, Takeo Yamamoto, chair; Steve Sohma, secretary.
- History of audio engineering at the Vatican, Roberto Beppato.
- H. K. Thiele Archive, Manfred Krause.
- Oral History, Irv Joel, chair; John K. Chester, technical advisor.
- Server provider, David Josephson.
- Web master and reflector, Howard Sanner
To start a new project, write a description of the proposed project, then
send it to Jay McKnight, AESHC chair. Please be prepared to participate
as a leader of the proposed project.
- Minutes of the meeting at the 111th Convention in New York City on
2001 Dec. 2 were accepted without exception.
- Minutes of the meeting at the 111th Convention in New York City on
- Report on European AESHC projects, Manfred Krause.
Vatican project. No activities were reported.
The H. K. Thiele project. The Thiele archive continues to develop as
Manfred Krause directs it and learns its content. A database is planned.
The collection contains patents and correspondence of patent holders. The
first stage of the database is to create headings for all of the material
in the archive.History of the AES. Roger Furness described the project. Materials at
the AES HQ will be gathered together as the offices are renovated during
the coming year and a place found for them. Also, the materials need to
be organized and cataloged.
- The day’s scheduled for presentations in the HC room at this convention
were reviewed. They include Hans-Otto Hoffmann from Bavarian Radio discussing
the first loudspeakers, a very interesting presentation, and Manfred Krause
discussing the legendary tape recorder magnetophon of AEG. Ernst Völker
will discuss Phillipp Ries – from the first telephone to the first (carbon)
microphone. Other highlights in the program schedule were reviewed.
- The day’s scheduled for presentations in the HC room at this convention
- The Oral History project. Irv Joel noted that some 68 oral or oral/video
interviews have been completed. Two already were competed at this convention
and more are planned. Miles Davis has done two interviews in England, and
others are encouraged to help with identifying interviewees and act as
interviewers.
- The Oral History project. Irv Joel noted that some 68 oral or oral/video
- Still images of the “When Vinyl Ruled” exhibition at the New York 111th
Convention, 2001-12, were shown by Irv Joel. Joel noted the theme of the
presentation and the methods used to put the exhibition together.
- Still images of the “When Vinyl Ruled” exhibition at the New York 111th
- The next meeting of the AESHC will be at the Los Angeles convention in
2002 October 5-8.
Respectfully submitted,
Ted Sheldon, Vice Chair and Secretary
AES Historical Committee
2002-06-26 a
2002-09-04 b jm html & edit; attendees confirmed against
video tape by ij
Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting at the 111th AES Convention, 2001-12-02, in New York
Chair Jay McKnight called the AES Historical Committee (HC) meeting to
order at 12:20. He indicated that the purpose of the meeting was to review
the activities of the AES Historical Committee (AES HC) and to learn about
the views of member regarding current and future projects.
- Introduction of Attendees. Attendees introduced themselves: Irv Joel, Louis
Manno, Kees Immink, Howard Sanner, Ken Wilkinson, Chris Muth, John K. Chester,
Greg James, Kurt Hulit, Al Grundy, David Baker, Frank Abbey, Steve Sohma,
Fred Katz, Dan Gaydos, Bernard Fox, Georgia Anderson, Tom Scott, Wes Bulin,
David J. Graham, Marjorie Joel, Robert Auld, Sid Feldman, Bill Pollup,
Steve Durr, Michael Christopher, Eric Somers, Paul McManus, Nicholas Bergh,
Jay McKnight (chair). Also several visitors attended the meeting part time. - Amendments to and approval of the agenda. The agenda was distributed, and
approved as distributed. - Approval of previous minutes. Minutes from the previous meetings in Los
Angeles (109th
convention, 2000 Sept.) and Amsterdam (110th
convention, 2001May) have been available on the AES HC web site. The
minutes of the Los Angeles were approved as distributed. Minor editorial
changes were made to the Amsterdam minutes, and they were approved. - Discussion
of points from the meeting at the 110th convention (2001 May)
in Amsterdam. At the AES HC meeting during the Amsterdam convention, Alex
Balster raised several questions regarding AES HC programs and practices.
McKnight reviewed these concerns as follows.- Concern about communications between North America and Europe: McKnight
suggested that the AES HC was considering a request for funds to support
one person who would attend all AES HC meeting and thereby provide continuity
betwen the Spring and Fall meetings. - Problems with the web site: McKnight reviewed the current arrangements
for use of the web site and the reflector, both of which are the official
means to distribute information about the AES HC. Many organizations use
these same methods. The AES HC is always open to suggestions for improving
these methods, and to add other methods where appropriate. - Software usage: It was noted that the AES HC tries to use simple text files
and avoid specialized software packages. - Inventory of audio projects: In response to the call for such an inventory,
McKnight noted that it already is available in the “Purposes” given in
the HC
Guidelines that are posted on the web site. - Native language interviews: This request is to conduct interviews for the
oral history project in the native language of the interviewee. It was
noted that the widest distribution of the content of interviews would be
achieved with the use of English, but AES HC policy supports the need for
interviews in native languages when the interviewee is more comfortable
using his/her native language. In these instances, interviews should be
conducted in the language of the interviewee and a translation secured. - Storage and access to historical materials: Funding from the AES is not
available now to store the audio interviews of the AES HC. Interviews are
being stored by Irv Joel; backups will be made at a later date. - Lost tapes: It is believed that this relates to tapes of the Los Angeles
“Afternoon With…” series. Paul McManus is working to add these tapes
to the AES HC oral history collection.
- Concern about communications between North America and Europe: McKnight
- Committee report
to the Governors. McKnight reviewed the report to be presented to the
Board of Governors at this convention. The topics are:- The AES HC is trying to get more suggestions of people to interview for
the oral history project. Names of those planned for recording are listed
on the web site. - The AES HC is working with Roger Furness to accomodate historical materials
at the AES headquarters. Furness is the chair of this effort. - History of AES in Japan: The text of the History of AES in Japan has been
received from Steve Sohma, and it now will be loaded on the web site. A
translation currently is underway. Those interested in writing histories
of the AES in their countries are encouraged to do so and contact the AES
HC. - IEEE cooperation: A liaison has been established with the IEEE history
center at Rutgers University. Discussions are now underway exploring areas
of cooperation. - At the Amsterdam convention, word-of-mouth comments indicate that the Historical
Café was a big success. - The Vinyl Ruled 2 exhibit is ongoing at this conference and has drawn a
strong attendance. - The AES HC runs a web site, FTP
site and reflector. They are accessed through the main AES web page. Contact
McKnight if you have problems. - Manfred Krause is continuing work in Germany on a catalog for classifying
the inventions and developments made in audio engineering, based on the
work of HK Thiele. - The oral history project is active in the USA and Europe. Interviews are
being transcribed and will be placed on the web site. - Members were encouraged to send ideas and materials to McKnight
to further the projects of the AES HC. New projects are welcome, and the
AES HC will use its web site to distribute the results of historical projects.
- The AES HC is trying to get more suggestions of people to interview for
- Munich conference: The local arrangement people are preparing displays,
papers on historical subject, and exhibits. Some historical films may be
included in the program. - Committee membership list: The membership list of the AES HC was started
some years ago, but has not been kept up to date. Secretary Ted Sheldon
will be contacting members listed there asking for confirmation of contact
information (name, mailing address, email address, telephone number). How
would the membership list be used? Most persons do not want their information
listed on a public list. One possibility is to list it on a list available
to members of the AES HC only. Another possibility is to have the listing
several pages down in the web site. It was suggested to post only names
and email addresses. This last was the concensus of those present. - New Business:
- Many of those present indicated that they were on the AES HC reflector.
For those not on the reflector, the preferred methods is that people follow
the instructions
on the website. If all else fails, email Howard
Sanner who will acknowledge and make arrangements. - Ampex had a museum of artifacts that was stored several years ago. Stanford
University Libraries have acquired
that collection. They are organizing it now and they hope that it will
be publicly available in two years. - Kristina Schwarz was introduced. She will be making oral history interviews
in Europe starting at the Munich convention. She intends to start at the
IRT in Munich. - Thanks to Irv Joel, John Chester and all those involved for putting together
the exhibition here at the New York convention. Irv Joel described the
process of bringing the exhibit to life with the interruption of the World
Trade Center attacks. The exhibit is totally a volunteer effort except
for required union work. The Javits Center staff has been wonderful. Joel
also reviewed the historical programs presented in recent years, commenting
on how the programs were assembled.
- Many of those present indicated that they were on the AES HC reflector.
- Discussion from the floor.
- It was announced that SoundWave, the international museum of recorded sound
and entertainment, will be opening in Camden, New Jersey, USA. Tom Corcoran
was the creator of this center. Members of the AES HC are invited to become
involved. SoundWave now needs support from the audio industry. - Michael Christopher announced that he is working on a project involving
Edison cylinders. He aims to release a cylinder recording on CD of a recording
of Thomas Edison’s voice. - Nicholas Bergh talked about transcribing oral interviews to text.
- Howard Sanner noted the last living acoustic recording engineer should
be interviewed for the oral history project. Cyril Francis worked for Parlophone
in London and is the father of David Francis, former head of the Library
of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.
Irv Joel is working on this. - Irv Joel demonstrated the exhibition being presented at this convention.
- It was announced that SoundWave, the international museum of recorded sound
- The next meeting will take place in 2002 May, in Munich, Germany.
- The meeting was adjourned at 13:50.
Respectfully submitted,
Ted Sheldon, Secretary
AES Historical Committee
2002-03-04
Rev e: jm 2002-04-22; rev f: hcs 2002-09-05
Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting at the 110th AES Convention, 2001-05-13, in
Amsterdam
The AES Historical Committee (HC) meeting was called to order by
Chair pro tem Alex Balster at 15:35 in the Historical Café (Room
R) of the RAI Convention Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Ted
Sheldon, AESHC Vice Chair, served as secretary.
Alex Balster distributed the agenda for the meeting.
1 Welcome
Members in attendance were welcomed. Nineteen persons were in
attendance, including Robert Beppato, Gualtiero Berlinghini, George Brock-Nannestad,
Jerry Bruck, Luciano d’Aleo, Tim De Wolf, C. L. Doesbury, Albert Grundy,
Gerard Hali, Louis Manno, Andreas Meyer, R. David Read, Yoshizo Sohma,
Herman van Laar, Arthur van Maurik, and Erhard Werner. They introduced
themselves and gave short summaries of the their careers and interests
in audio engineering.
2 Relevant Correspondence; messages from the HQ
Chair pro tem Balster indicated that communication between the
AESHC and its European members was not working as well as could be hoped.
He asked how the stream of information between the AESHC and its European
and North American members could be improved. Members agreed that
there is a problem in this area. It was agreed that a request be
made for clear explanations about what is on the web site and the email
reflector. And clear instructions be available telling members how these
resources can be used. Also, it was noted that there are language
problems in Europe that do not exist in North America; these need to be
recognized. The structure for distributing AESHC information about
its activities need to be much clearer. AESHC needs to make the use
of the web site and the reflector easy and intuitive. This was agreed
to by all.
3 Minutes of the Los Angeles meeting at the 109th AES Convention
( see http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/minutes/aeshc-minutes-109th-2000-09-24.html
)
Approval of the minutes of the Los Angeles meeting was deferred
in view of the fact that no one from the Los Angeles meeting was present,
and it seemed inappropriate to approve the minutes without comments available
from North American participants.
4 Core Items for the meeting.
4.1 Common software usage. The suggestion was made that
universal computer file formats for sound, text, pictures and video be
adopted. The chair said that this was clearly needed, and was an
important part of the effort to clarify the methods for communicating information
throughout the whole of the AESHC. This desire is again communicated
to the leadership of AESHC. There was consensus on this issue among
all in attendance.
4.2 Inventory of audio history projects. It was noted that
the need existed to make an inventory of audio history projects that are
under way or should be initiated in Europe. This inventory should
also indicate the person who is conducting, or could conduct, such projects.
It was noted that the Phonographic Museum in The Netherlands
is conducting interviews with persons prominent in the history of the Dutch
recording industry. This is an active project. It may be possible
to form a partnership between this project and the AESHC.
Furthermore, it was suggested that national oral history projects
should be undertaken in the native language of the person being interviewed,
with an English translation and/or summary complementing the audio recording
of the interview.
4.3 Audio History Library. Louis Manno discussed his work
to create a privately supported audio history archive in New York City.
He proposed in 1991 that an AES Historical Database be created. This
database would fill the need for a place for researchers to go to learn
about the history of audio, as well as historical audio equipment and its
uses. He has begun a project, the Audio History Library, and is endeavoring
to collect information (e.g., literature, manuals, etc.) for addition to
the archive. While this is a private project, he welcomes cooperation
from the AESHC and its members.
4.4 History of the AES. Albert Grundy (USA) indicated that
he was working on an inclusive history of the AES, starting with the United
States. He recognized that other national bodies are working on this
same topic within their countries. The intent is for all these projects
to come together as a comprehensive history of the AES.
4.5 Storage and access of historical materials. When materials
are generated digitally, storage and distribution are relatively easy.
However, currently, the AESHC is conducting oral history interviews using
8 mm tape. This medium is not appropriate as an archival medium.
In the near future, these recordings will need to be transferred to more
archivally stable media, requiring more time and effort. Attention
needs to be given now to using a more acceptable media for the oral history
interviews, and plans need to be laid for the transfer of the 8 mm tapes
to an archival medium.
It was noted that oral history interviews were being conducted
at this Amsterdam conference to continue the project before it becomes
too late. These interviews use the same methods as those in the United
States. It also was noted that language problems pertain to the making
and editing of these recorded interviews. It was noted that a more
effective and informative record of individual experiences would be achieved
when the native language of the subject is used. It was the consensus
that native language should be used for European interviews.
4.6 The AES/Japan 50th anniversary. AES/Japan is celebrating
its 50th anniversary this year in 2001. Yoshizo Sohma discussed the
making of the history of the AES/Japan, 1952-1998 and presented a draft
of the document to T. Sheldon, in both printed and electronic form.
Sohma indicated that the history is written in the Japanese language and
needs to be translated into English as a next step. Sheldon thanked
Sohma and agreed to carry the impressive document to AESHC Chair Jay McKnight
and begin the discussion regarding translation. <<Louis
Manno indicated he might know of a source for talent to translate the history.>>
4.7 A question was asked about comments made in earlier meetings
(e. g., Munich, 1999) that some tapes from meetings had been lost in at
AES office. Is this true? It was noted that AES Secretary Ron
Streicher is in the best position to answer this question.
4.8 Robert Beppato announced that on the next day, May 14, at
11:00 am, a presentation will take place titled -Artifacts from the State
Archives in Rome.- Recordings have been transferred to digital format
and will be played.
5. The meeting was adjourned at 16:30.
Respectfully submitted,
Ted Sheldon
AESHC Vice Chair
Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting at the 109th AES Convention, 2000-09-24, in
Los Angeles
The AES Historical Committee (HC) meeting was called to order by Chair
Jay McKnight at 13:10 in Room 301B of the Los Angeles Convention Center.
1. Introduction of attendees.
Persons in attendance introduced themselves, adding comment about
their affiliation and interests: Peter Swarte (Netherlands), Louis Manno,
John Woodgate (England), Paul McManus, Susan Schmidt Horning, Irina Aldoshina
(Russia), Albert Grundy, Donald Plunkett, Yoshizo (Steve) Sohma (Japan),
Jim Hunter, Rick Minne, M. David Read, John French, Chris Herles, A. Douglas
Moncrieff, John K. Chester, Ted Sheldon, Irv Joel.
2. Amendments to and approval of the agenda.
The printed agenda was distributed. McKnight asked for
permission to alter the order of consideration of agenda items. There
was no objection.
3. Approval of previous report from AES 108th convention, Paris, France.
The minutes of the Historical Committee meeting from 2000 February
in Paris were approved as distributed.
4. Project report
The -Project Report, 2000-09-19″ document was distributed and
reviewed. [The complete report is now available online at http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/projrepts/aeshcprojrept20000909.html
.]
- The -Historical Café-: This project is proposed for the 110th Convention
(2001 May, in Amsterdam) with a budget of 8,000 US$. This proposal
will be made to the AES Board of Governors. Arrangements also may
be made to visit a nearby museum. - Through the efforts of Art Shifrin and Irv Joel of the Historical Committee,
an Ampex Model 200A stored at the AES headquarters was returned to its
owner. - The -library- of technical journals and books at AES headquarters has been
donated to the Library of Congress. - Histories of the AES. The history of the Japan Chapter of AES has
been written; now it is proposed to request 5,000 US$ to translate it into
English. - The -When Vinyl Ruled- exhibition presented at this conventiont has been
a big success. Thanks go to Paul McManus, Irv Joel, David Baker,
John Chester, Shelly Herman, Jim Webb, and others for the exhibition demonstrating
recording technology from the 1950s – 1970s. - Email reflectors. The Steering Committee email reflector is available for
administrative matters. - The AES website has a historical element including links to related sites.
- Under the heading of -catalog for classifying the inventions and developments
made in audio engineering-, Prof. Manfred Krause (Germany) and colleagues
plan a database of the Heinz K. Thiele Archive. A description of
the archive, and a slide show of the proposal for this database was presented. - Historical resources. AES is publishing the memoirs of Semi Joseph
Begun (to be available in 2000 November). Also, historical data on
3M magnetic tapes is now available on the Historical Committee web site. - Oral histories. Irv Joel, John Eargle, and Susan Schmidt Horning
have conducted numerous video interviews at the 107th and 109th conventions.
Thus far, 32 interviews have been completed as of the end of the 109th
convention [and 10 more were done in the SF Bay Area during the next week
thanks to Ross Snyder and Peter Hammar]. The list of interviewees
on the HC web site will be updated soon. Irv Joel asked for ideas
about how to use the interviews. Streaming video is still problematic
if one does not have broadband service. Also, the video interviews
would have to be edited – Who will do that? What about an audio
interview of the month? Several examples of the video interviews
recorded by Joel were played. The need to make backup copies of the
tapes was noted. A discussion of how to make preservation copies
occurred. Irv Joel asked if this project was heading in the
right direction? It is. What about working with the AES Education
Committee to get the content of interviews into educational packages for
K-12 schools? Joel encouraged members to use the -Oral History Interview
Recommendation Form- on the HC web site to suggest individuals who
should be interviewed. - McKnight noted that -An Afternoon with Jack Mullin,- and -A Chronology
of American Tape Recording- are available on video tape from AES. - Al Grundy announced that he is working on a presentation for the New York
convention in September 2001; the working title is -When Vinyl Ruled, the
Second Pressing.- - Chris Herles of the Museum Of Sound Recording announced that they have
signed a contract to plan, design, and construct a museum and theme park
called -SoundWave — the International Museum of Recorded Sound and Entertainment
Center- on the waterfront in Camden, NJ. [Further details are now in JAES
48:12, 2000 December, p 1267.]
5. New projects.
- A -Historical Café- for the 109th Convention in Amsterdam
in 2001 (A. Balster)
- A -Historical Café- for the 109th Convention in Amsterdam
Alex Balster presented the plan for an -Historical Café- for
the Amsterdam convention in 2001 May. He indicated his pleasure at
being able to see the exhibition of the committee here in Los Angeles.
Plans call for the establishment of a planning committee. They wanted
to have an exhibit of hardware, but such is very expensive, so they plan
to display a collection of photographs.
- Translation of -History of the AES Japan Chapter” (T. Yamamoto)
It is proposed to translate the recent history of the Japan Chapter.
Plans will need to be made to find someone to do the translation.
6. New business
The current organization of the Historical Committee is based
on regions. Several officers have recently resigned. It seems
better to restructure the committee officers to parallel those of other
AES Committees, namely, to have a chair and a vice chair. Then have
project chairs who serve for a specific time and purpose. McKnight
asked for comment. The only comment made supported the proposed restructuring.
Currently, AESHC operates in accord with the directives of the
AES Board of Governors. They require guidelines for the operation
of the committee. Chair McKnight will rewrite the guidelines to accommodate
the changes, and submit this to the Committee for review and approval.
7. Date of next meeting
Next meeting will be at the 110th convention in Amsterdam in
2001 May.
8. Adjournment.
The meeting was adjourned at 14:45.
First draft, Ted Sheldon, 2000-10-17
Second draft, J McKnight, 2001-01-25, corrected 2001-02-08
Minutes of the AES Historical Committee Meeting at the 108th AES Convention, 2000-02-21, in
Paris
The meeting of the AES HC was held on 2000 February 21, in Paris between
10:00 and 12:30. European Chair Roberto Beppato was Chair for the meeting.
The following people were present: Mr H.A.O. Wilms, Mr Roberto Beppato,
Mr Manfred Krause, Mr Donald Plunkett, Mr Daniel R. Von Recklinghausen,
Mr Louis Manno, Mr Sean Davies, Mr John Woodgate, Mr James Kaiser, Mr Marshall
Buck, Mr David Robinson, Mr Roy Pritts, Mr Luciano Daleo (technical staff
of the Italian state recording media archives – Rome), Mr Lewis Cullborn?
(signature not readable). Mr Grundy was in Paris but was absent for personal
reasons; he arrived at 12:30.
1 Mr Manfred Krause started the meeting with a discussion of a
memo from Robert Van der Hilst concerning AESHC convention facilities.
2 Mr H. A. O. Wilms wheeled in a Studer tape recorder A37 dating
back about 45 years, still mint conditions and operational. Mr Wilms mentioned
that Mr Peter Bollen, one of the members of the AES HC died on 2000 February
16, leaving one of the largest private collection of microphones
on the premises of the PAC Eela company. Everybody hopes that this collection
will end up in a Dutch museum for broadcasting.
3 Mr Roy Pritts suggested to plan well in advance the AES HC meeting
in Los Angeles, and decide whether some written documents and a presentation
should be prepared for publication/distribution. This includes interviews
with personalities in the audio field, and also the presentation of vintage
audio pro gear.
4 Mr Manfred Krause suggested to use a list of standard questions
for the interviews. Mr John Woodgate noted that these interviews are with
major personalities and it is very difficult to get them to unwind and
feel at ease. It is very important that the person who performs the interview
be aware of the professional life of the person being interviewed. Otherwise
an important chapter may be completely forgotten or may have been erased
from the mind of the inventor. We solicit other members of the AESHC to
comment on this idea.
5 Mr Plunkett reminded the audience of the AES HC that in some
interview a person in good faith may attribute to himself a patent which
was given in reality to somebody else. The AES should look for ways to
protect itself from legal action. Mr Roy Pritts informed us that a “model
release type contract” will be necessary from Mr Joel in USA. The Chair
thinks that every member of the AES HC should have a copy, and will ask
that it be posted directly.
6 Mr Joel in a previous e-mail stated that whom to interview and
when must be based on the importance of the contributions of this person
to the audio professional community. Who makes this decision? [Mr Joel
has replied by email: “I don’t find this statement in my email, but in
any case that is not what I intended to say. If anyone is willing to conduct
an interview with a person whom they feel should be recorded, then hopefully
under our guidance the interview will be done and welcome. I don’t have
any sure-fire way of predicting how well an interview will come out, but
I am sure that doing the interview is the best practice.”]
7 Manfred Krause proposed to ask the manufacturers of audio equipment
to let us know what kind of archives they have and which part of these
archives might possibly be available to AES HC (pictures of prototypes
and production model, patent applications, patents granted, production
processes relevant to special results for the products).
8 The Chair commented that he does not know how many manufacturers
keep a record of what they manufacturer over the decades and if they have
these archives in a form that one day it could be easily transferred to
the AES archives.
9 We have to investigate this at local level possibly with a person
who still works for these manufacturers, or who retired within living memory,
to get first hand information.
10 Roy Pritts proposed to use the service of student members to
collect or make pictures of the various artifacts in museum, radio stations,
private collectors or manufacturers. One problem could be that students
will have great difficulty to separate artifacts of great significance
from standard objects. In some places like the Vatican Museum and RAI Broadcasting
Museum in Turin, the manager will not allow students to approach the items
on the shelves. Persons must be selected to accompany the student in these
visits and to help them to select the material.
11 Mr Woodgate suggested that AES send a sample letter to all
of the AES HC members stating that they are doing the research on behalf
of the AES. This letter will be required from the HC and used as a template
to approach the several organisations in different countries.
12 Mr Louis Manno mentioned that he thought that the Ampex collection
had found a place in a museum in New York. We must get the complete address
of this museum and a list of all objects in the collection.
13 There was general agreement that much archival material is
being lost forever due to the closures and mergers taking place in the
industry. This is due to the very high cost of maintaining a museum these
days. Apart from companies being loth to invest funds in a museum of their
own, they are reluctant to contribute to the upkeep of centralized museums
serving the whole industry. Mr Woodgate mentioned that UNESCO under its
umbrella should take care of this problem, before they are forever condemned
to the scrap yard. This is a good idea. Support from UNESCO, if available
(and it certainly won’t be if no one asks), would be used to support either
existing or new museums.
The Chair suggested that UNESCO might be encouraged
to create a transit camp for audio artifacts, but that he believes that
Unesco has other priorities, and who could or should manage and finance
this transit camp is not yet on the AES horizon. Mr Woodgate doesn’t think
a transit camp is necessary and thus it doesn’t need managing.
14 Mr Louis Manno mentioned that in Nashville there is now an
audio history museum with a restoration section that is extremely active.
The Chair remarked that the details of this museum should be put on the
AES page together with other addresses of other museums.
15 Mr Woodgate made a suggestion about a paper session of the
AES HC at the next meeting in Europe about subjects which may be of historical
interest.
16 The Chair mentioned that the technical member of the Vatican
Radio Mr Florenzo Petitta (the Vice-President of the Italian Section) would
be available to show a video of the inauguration day of the Vatican radio
showing. Mr Guglielmo Marconi, the Pope, Monsig. Franceschini, the general
manager of the radio standing in front of a Reiss marble/carbon microphone
for the speech marking the beginning of the Vatican Radio. Two film units
in OB van by Westrex USA can be seen on San Peter Square fitted with long
horns on the roof for PA purposes.
17 Mr Daleo from the management of the Italian State Archives
for Media (Edison cilinders, discs, etc) said he would be interested to
present a CD Rom with many historical artifacts of this very important
museum in Rome dating back 130 years.
18 One of the members suggested that some members of the AES HC
should contact companies to check if they have artifacts or documentation
they are willing to discard. Probably the problem here is where do you
put these items once you get them: in the Chair’s opinion museums have
not shown much interested in more artifacts. What they really need are
a few more wings to add to existing ones, so they can show what they already
have in the cellars.
19 Roy Pritts presented a list of points that he was going to
present to the BOG. Some items were noted, other added or modified, and
Roy will inform us about the results.
20 Mr Davies mentioned some museums in England, and surely every
member would like to have their addresses:
- Film Technology
- Film Museum
- Moving Image
- BKSTS (British Kinematograph Sound and Television Society) Museum
Mr Woodgate or Mr Davies were asked to provide complete addresses, phone,
fax and e-mail, opening days and hours, to Mr Manfred Krause.
21 Mr Manfred Krause informed the members of the AES HC that the
Technical University of Berlin is developing an interactive web site on
which details of several devices can be seen, operated and probably listened
to at the TU-Berlin. This will be used to teach sound engineers how to
use these devices (mixers, limiters, etc) without being there physically.
This could be very interesting also for AESHC to get members acquainted
with old devices that people have no idea how to operate, and this could
be a way to show them on a PC screen without touching them.
22 Mr Davies mentioned that old equipment is even more fascinating
when it works, as the performance is not that bad if you remember it was
achieved 80…100 years ago. Unfortunately it is very difficult to get
young people interested in the maintenance of these devices, because they
have more interest in computers.
23 The Chair remarked that his experience sitting in front of
a gramophone with horn that was 6 meter long and over 2 meters in diameter
at the mouth was very moving. He did not hear the noise from the 1920 record,
he only heard Caruso’s voice (Nimbus record in UK).
24 Mr Donald Plunkett invited the AES HC members to put pressure
on the BOG to reissue the Journal centennial number (Vol 25 Nr 10/11, 1977
Oct/Nov), including bringing that history up to date. We have no idea how
this can be done or if we have to wait for the 150th year for this immense
task.
25 Mr David Robinson mentioned that the Board of Governors has
approved converting all AES journals, pre-prints, etc into electronic form,
and that the estimated cost will be 250 000 US$. (This does not include
the anthologies since they are themselves reprints of articles so will
be available as individual papers etc).
26 Mr Marshall Buck (AES Treasurer) said a few but important words
for the AESHC members: before you commit money for a project, you must
submit a budget — no budget no money. Please be specific about the project
for which you require a budget.
ACTION ITEMS
- Decide with Mr Robert Van der Hilst if we should put this report on the
reflector - Send a copy of this report to all participants in the Paris meeting, on
their own e-mail; get all names right - Create a program for the meeting in Los Angeles
- Decide if at the next conference papers should presented and ask opinion
of the AESHC members about this project - Decide how long the AESHC meeting it LA should be (2 hours, or half a day,
depending on the program developed on both sides of the Atlantic) - Require the name of a contact person to organize the AESHC meeting in a
better way
Roberto Beppato, AESHC European Chair
Manfred Krause, AESHC European Secrecary
FOURTH DRAFT, jm 2000-08-08
Audio Engineering Society
Historical Committee
Minutes from 1999 September 26 Meeting of AESHC held during the
107th AES Convention, New York
Present at the meeting were
the following AESHC members: Ms. Marina Bosi, Mr. David Robinson, Mr. J.
G. (Jay) McKnight, Mr. Donald J. Plunkett, Mr. Albert B. Grundy, Mr. Gerald
Gibson Mr. Roberto Beppato, Mr. Elmar Leal, Mr. Robert van der Hilst, Mr.Ted
Sheldon, Ms. Tita Posada, Mr. Karl O. Bäder, Mr. Ron Streicher, Mr.
John M. Eargle, Mr. Irv Joel, Mr. John Woodgate, Mr. Sid Feldman, Mr. John
K. Chester, Mr. Menno van der Veen, Mr. Jim Hunter, Mr. David Bialik, Mr.
Dan Gaydos.
Regrets: Mr. Hermann A. O.
Wilms, Mr. Manfred Krause, Mr. Yoshizo Sohma, Mr. Pieter Bollen.
The meeting was chaired and
opened by Mr. J. G. (Jay) McKnight, Chairman of the AESHC.
- Opening remarks and introductions
of the members present - Mr. Menno van der Veen requested
an amendment to the agenda, to discuss the 25th celebration
book of the Dutch section for publishing, which was coming up later in
the meeting and was added on to the agenda. The agenda was approved. - Minutes from the AES 106th Convention
in Munich were approved. - The Chair then reviewed with
the attendees the Structure of the AESHC and the officers that had been
appointed in Munich by the AES president, Ms. Marina Bosi. This document
has now been renamed the AESHC Guidelines. They had been originally posted
temporarily on www.flash.net/~mrltapes/aeshc-m.pdf . [They were moved
to the AESHC website when it was established.] - The AESHC website and e-mail
reflectors systems were discussed, and the decision was made to accept
the offer of the donated connections and server from Mr. David Josephson
who will also provide an FTP site and website as long as the traffic can
be handled by the connection he has. The URL for this site will be linked
from the main AES website, for which the server administrator will be requested
to make a link. - The first project, the “Audio
and AES Timeline” was discussed. It will be published on the AESHC website,
and AES student, regional specialist, and AES sections AESHC members are
invited to select an event or an invention for further research. After
approval by the AESHC, the results of their research will be linked from
the AESHC. - The Chair told the members present
that a cataloging system for classifying inventions and developments has
been made by Mr. Heinz Thiele. Mr. Thiele’s collection has been received
by the TU of Berlin, and we are awaiting Mr. Manfred Krause’s comments
regarding when we can have an electronic index of the system. - A clarification and discussion
of the drafted AESHC Guidelines yielded the answers for the revisions.
A new region was set up by the Chair, creating the Latin American Region
within the AESHC with Mr. Elmar Leal appointed as Chair, and Ms. Tita Posada
as Secretary. The final draft document will then be put on the AESHC web
site for a vote of approval by the membership via e-mail. - Mr. Irv Joel gave an update
and showed the progress of the oral history, with the presentation of a
segment of one of the video tapings. - The AES Headquarters is to be
refurbished, and it will be necessary to find another home for the extensive
library of journals and books that have been donated to the Society over
many years. Mr. Irv Joel has agreed to work with Executive Director Roger
Furness to catalog and box this library. - The Dutch section request for
publishing their 25th celebration book was discussed. The conclusion
was that first the whole book had to be translated into English, from which
sections can put up on the AES sections website. These sections websites
will be used to research the cost recovery possibility of the publication
of a book, and will be linked from the AESHC website to the sections website. - The creation and estimate of
the committee budget for one year of operation was discussed. A budget
will be prepared and submitted to the AES Treasurer for approval at the
next day’s AES Financial Committee meeting. - The next meeting will be held
in Paris during the 108th AES convention. - As there was no further business,
the Chair thanked the members and closed the meeting.
Draft RVDH 1999-10-17, Revised 2000-01-21
J McK
Audio Engineering Society Historical Committee
Minutes from 1999 May 10 Meeting of AESHC held during the 106th AES Convention, Munich
Present at the meeting were
the following AESHC members: Ms. Marina Bosi, Mr. David Robinson, Mr. Subir
K. Pramanik, Mr. Albert B. Grundy, Mr. Roberto Beppato, Mr. Manfred Krause,
Mr. Yoshizo Sohma, Mr. Kees A. Schouhamer Immink, Mr. Heinz H. K. Thiele,
Mr. Sean Davies, Mr. Rudolf Mueller, Mr. Ulrich Apel, Mr. Andreas Meyer,
Mr. Heinrich Pichler, Mr. Chris Muth, Mr. Cornelis H. van der Gragt, Mr.
Jiri Ocenasek, Mr. Dan Popescu, Mr. Friedrich Engel, Mr. Peter Ford, Mr.
Jean-Marc Fontaine, Mr. David Josephson, Mr. George Brock Nannenstad, Mr.
Tim Shelton, Mr. Karl O. Bäder, Mr. Pieter F.J. Bollen, Mr. Hermann
A. O. Wilms and Mr. Robert van der Hilst.
Regrets: Mr. Donald J. Plunkett,
Mr. J. G. (Jay) McKnight, Mr. Gerald Gibson.
The meeting was chaired and
opened by Mr. Robert van der Hilst and Mr. Hermann A. O. Wilms.
Ms. Marina Bosi, the AES
president, announced that the AES Board of Governors had approved the proposed
Guidelines for the operation of the AESHC .
Ms. Bosi next announced the
appointment of the following officers of the AESHC:
Chairman Emeritus, Donald
J. Plunkett
Historical Committee Chairman,
J. G. (Jay) McKnight
Committee Secretaries, Robert
van der Hilst and Hermann A.O. Wilms
North America Chairman,
Mr. Gerald Gibson
European Chairman, Mr. Roberto
Beppato
International Regions Chairman,
Mr. Takeo Yamamoto
AES Historical Archives,
Mr. Albert B. Grundy
North America Secretary,
Mr. Ted Sheldon
European Secretary, Mr.
Manfred Krause
International Secretary,
Mr. Yoshizo Sohma.
Mr. Robert van der Hilst
explained the tasks of the Historical Committee, according to the proposed
Guidelines. In the discussion that followed about the tasks, a couple of
minor corrections were made. The document was then put to a vote, and was
approved unanimously.
A point was brought up that
the AESHC must have some contact with other organizations, such as SMPTE,
IEEE. Members present pointed out that many of the AESHC members are already
members of these organizations, and therefore these other groups are well
represented within the AESHC.
The creation and estimate
of the committee budget for one year of operation was discussed, and the
conclusion was reached that a realistic number for the first year setup
of the committee would be $ 5000.00. A request for this amount will be
prepared and submitted to the AES Board for approval.
For projects with an AESHC
approved number that do not make use of the AESHC website and e-mail reflectors,
the need for a separate budget must be requested and approved.
The first project will be
continuing the work on the Audio and AES timeline that was published during
the 50th Anniversary year of the AES. The AES student sections
and AESHC members are invited to select an event or an invention for further
research. After approval by the AESHC, the results of their research will
be linked from the AESHC website. AES student sections will have access
to the AESHC e-mail reflectors, and can, by this means, further contact
Regional or AES History specialists via the reflector systems.
The cataloging system for
classifying the inventions and developments made in audio engineering,
based on the work of HK Thiele, was explained and approved.
The next meeting will be
held in New York during the 107th AES convention. As there was
no further business, Mr. Hermann A. O. Wilms and Mr. Robert van der Hilst
thanked the members and closed the meeting.
Revision 2 jaymck 1999-09-15