Event Info:
Applications are reviewed on a continuous basis until the available slots for the workshop are filled.
Physical Modeling for Digital Audio Workstation Plug-ins
Instructor: Dave Amels, New York
This five-day workshop provides a hands-on introduction on the physical modeling of analog audio circuits.
This workshop has unfortunately been cancelled - we will reschedule it in the future.
The workshop will provide participants with a broader understanding of the techniques used to produce viable and marketable modeling plug-ins through daily lectures/demonstrations and work groups. Participants will reverse engineer and digitally model the Shure Level-Loc limiter/compressor with a Shure SM57 microphone attached.
The workshop will start with an overview and examples of how to model physical audio systems. The modeling process will involve separating the system into functional pieces and determining which pieces are already well modeled, and which are still a black box.
Preexisting equations written for the well-modeled pieces will be investigated and selected. Black box systems will be further reduced into smaller pieces if permitted. Equations—either available or developed through further testing—will be generated for these smaller black box subsystems, which will then be coupled to form a larger model supposition. All subsystems will then be reassembled as an equation that represents the overall Level-Loc model.
Testing of the model against the real physical systems (hardware) will be conducted to determine errors and incorrect assumptions. Finally, the class will implement the model in an SDK (software development kit) for the target platform, which for the purposes of the workshop will be VST (virtual studio technology).
Applications are reviewed on a continuous basis until the available slots for the workshop are filled.
TOTAL ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS:
8
SKILL REQUIREMENTS:
All applicants will be expected to exhibit an ability to code in C++, read electronic schematics, and possess college level mathematics both calculus and algebra.
HOW TO APPLY:
Applicants are invited to submit a CV and a short statement about their interest in modeling plug-ins.
WHAT TO BRING:
Participants are required to bring their own laptop.
WORKSHOP FEE:
$500 (stipends for Rensselaer students are available) – 50% payable after acceptance.
HOUSING:
Participants in the workshop will be able to choose single dormitory style housing near the Rensselaer campus for $60/night, or may organize their own housing in Troy.
SCHEDULE:
Check-in is on July 17 and check-out is on July 24. The workshop runs daily eight hours. Lunch is provided.
CONTACT:
Janette MacDonald / MACDOJ6@rpi.edu / +1.518.276.6792
Bio:
Dave Amels is an electrical engineer, inventor, session musician, recording engineer, and producer. Advocating digital models for musical instrument synthesis since the 1970s, Dave's college thesis became the base technology for the products produced by Voce. In addition to designing wireless microphone technology still used today by Nady Wireless Systems, he also created a security system for fine art pieces in museums, and radar jamming devices for F-18 fighter jets. It was Dave's appreciation for vintage recording equipment and practices that led to a working relationship with musician Lenny Kravitz and his producer/engineer, Henry Hirsch. In addition to designing mic pres, DIs, and EQs for Lenny's tours, Dave played a key role in designing Lenny's Miami recording studio and Henry's Waterfront Studio in the Edison Hotel, New York City. Dave is also known for his technical contributions to Bomb Factory Recording Studios and for co-founding, along with Erik Gavriluk’s Bomb Factory Digital, a plug-in company that pioneered the modeling of vintage audio equipment for digital audio workstations. In 2003, the shipping assets of Bomb Factory Digital were sold to Digidesign. AnaMod, a pro-audio equipment manufacturer, was co-founded in 2006 by Dave and Greg Gualtieri. AnaMod propagates Dave’s Bomb Factory Digital work/research on analog computers, which focused on using mathematical models to emulate the original analog circuitry and recording mediums of coveted analog recording equipment.