Surround Music Awards - Review and discussion!

QuadG and I were able to attend this years 7th Annual International Surround Conference and the Surround Music Awards at the Beverly Hilton.

We gained a valuable insight into both the people and the state of the Surround Sound Music industry as of December '05! There is so much to cover I'm going to end up breaking this into a number of posts and will start it off with this as an "overall" feel of what we experienced.

First off, it was a fantastic experience for a couple of "old" quaddies! While the actual conference might be considered "small" with somewhere around 100 attendees.......those attending are enormous in the world of Surround music today! Elliot Scheiner, Greg Penny, Ed Cherney, Nate Kunkel, Gary Lux, George Massenburg, Al Schmitt........if you don't know who these people are, check your SACDs and DVDAs and look under 5.1 or Surround mixers/engineers! It was a small enough setting that we were able to really have some great discussions with many of them, and they didn't throw us out when we mentioned "quadraphonic"!!

What I would say overall from the "Surround Mixing" professionals viewpoint is that they are as dedicated and committed as we could ever hope for! THEY get it, they hate the format wars as much as the rest of us.....and for their own (deservedly) interest want to see as much surround music in the marketplace as they can get.....and are even willing to sacrifice to see it succeed! In the Surround Music Mixers Forum they even talked about doing 5.1 mixes ON THEIR OWN without a contract or compensation just to promote it to both the Artists and labels.......basically admitting that if they didn't, it wouldn't happen in many cases!

A demonstrative discussion occurred during the forum for "Surround Evolution: The Label View" the panel for which included: Paul Bishow of Universal Music/eLabs, Ted Cohen of EMI, and the President of Silverline Records........when Paul Bishow commented that at this moment the driving force for new releases is the artists themselves, to which Elliot Scheiner responded "I've got 4 titles in the can, AND the artists approval....so where do I drop them off?" But, it isn't really as adversarial as that sounds......the Labels DO care, there was a little finger-pointing going on as to both the state of "SACD/DVDA" and the current dearth of new releases. But all were hopeful and enthusiastic about the possibilities with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD....of course if it happens, they come out smelling like roses, and WE have to buy the new players and discs! There did seem to be agreement from all sides that in order to maintain any kind of disc media distribution model that they are used to, that media will have to offer "more" than you can get through downloads, streaming, etc. And, one of the best ways to do that is through the "deluxe" packaging, special releases AND surround sound options to bring more value to the customer. A notable absentee from this discussion was any representation from Sony/BMG.............'nuff said!

Another interesting forum was the "Lowdown on Upmixing" forum featuring representatives of software based "decoding/synthesizing" (to use our ancient quad terms) technology to create 5.1 mixes from stereo or even MONO masters/material. They started off by demonstrating their abilities over a very impressive 5.1 system setup around all of us attending.....sidenote, the speakers used were top of the line Genelec's which at $7K EACH certainly DID sound great.......especially if you've got an extra $35K laying around! Anyway, the demo's from an old quaddies viewpoint was really less than awe-inspiring........leaving no doubt as to why most of us have learned to avoid those "stunning 5.1" releases! They sure made me feel good about my Vario-matrix efforts though! Elliot Scheiner and Nate Kunkel took the lead from the audience........first blasting the producer/labels that couldn't find the time/$$/commitment to tracking down the multitrack masters and "doing it right"! Then, calling for at a minimum labeling to inform the consumer that the title was reprocessed from a stereo/mono or other than discrete multitrack sources. I almost had the feeling that if this had been a meeting of the Crips and Bloods.......there would have been bodies all over the place!

I'll touch on specifics and other events in further posts.......

QB

For both QuadG and I just getting the chance to be in the same room with the "Master" was a humbling experience. To hear him speak and feel both his commitment and heartfelt defense of "true" surround sound mixes was awe inspiring.

Biggest news from Elliot was that Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic is ready to go...simply awaiting a format and UMG to put it out! Can't Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstacy and Aja still have problems (the multitracks), but he hasn't given up on them.

He also mentioned that Acura will have a small SUV with his DVD-A system in it next year (this year?) and I think one other model besides the TL, or the RL with the Bose system.

QuadG and I pointed him towards the QQ forums.....and let him know that he has some pretty dedicated fans for his work around here!:banana:

Great to see you again QB!!!
Yeah, Elliot Scheiner, I saw him on a DVD from Toto, with few interviews about his work with them.

Greg gave the opening presentation talking about his Elton John surround mixes........unfortunately due to San Diego and LA traffic QuadG and I missed half of it. However, we did catch the last half.......and then got to have a great one on one discussion with him during the break!:banana:

The big news is that he confirmed he has finished four more titles; Don't Shoot me I'm only the Piano Player, Caribou, Rock of the Westies, and Blue Moves. And, he's currently working on Made in England and The One.
Greg was obviously as concerned as we all are over the Labels handling of SACD and DVD-A.....he mentioned that he held off turning in the four new titles due to concern that they might just shelve them, and was waiting for both this meeting and the upcoming Grammy awards to hopefully put some "spark" into getting these out quickly in some form of High Rez.

Gerado (and I also), was just amazed at how nice and down to earth Greg is...just really open and great to talk to!:sun

All politics aside.....it's a great album, a great mix for what they had to work with, and we've all been waiting for it a loooooooooong time!

Before we even headed up there I thought that perhaps his award as "Best Surround Artist" for 2005 had more to do with him being local and able to attend the awards.......but that theory was blown with Jerry Harrison also attending and picking up four awards himself for the Brick.

QuadG really had the best conversation with Jackson.......after the Awards, QuadG was on the lookout to snag Jackson and get him to autograph his copy of ROE, so he gets his chance, and Jackson was more than happy to fulfill his duty to a fan. Then QuadG nails him with what we were both thinking.........so now that you've been named Best Surround Artist of the year, how long will it be before we get MORE Jackson Browne in Surround? What about doing Late for the Sky updated to High Res. from your original quad 8-track and CD-4 release????

Jackson replies...."I never did any quad"
QuadG "yes you did"
Jackson "No, I didn't"
QuadG "I've got the Q8 and CD-4 lp of Late for the Sky.....so YES you did!"
Jackson "Wow........I don't know anything about it, can I see it? Hear it?"
QuadG (thinking fast).....gives him one of my QRX business cards and says come on down to San Diego sometime, or get in touch and we'll be happy to fix you up with it!

Then, just to make it even more interesting, I show up......confirm with Jackson what QuadG was saying, and as we attempt to get out of the way so others can talk to him.........he keeps hanging on to QuadG and calling for his Manager, as he wants us to tell him what we had just told him!

So, we'll see if he or his Manager ever come looking for his Quad release!

is that long-beard man Lee Sklar?

It is always heartening to read about how much some of these guys care, as we do. I guess the question, re Steely and Moodies is, will they go DualDisc on us? I can live with that, if it's anything along the lines of the Heads DD's, but UMe really does have to pick a format and get moving on it...for our sakes, anyway....

ED

Looks like Leland Sklar! Not many that look like him - great bass player.

QB and QG! Great job. I, as well as everyone else, am envious and thank you guys for "getting the job done". Man, if you can get Jackson to listen to a Q8 of "Late For the Sky", you are THE MEN!!

This is probably the best thread in the History of QQ!

Again, terrific job!

Great stories Bob!

The Jackson Browne story makes me wonder how many artists there are whose work was released is 5.1 without them being aware of it, or simply not realizing what that means. I bet he was told about a quadraphonic version of "Late for the Sky" at one point when it was released, but at the time what that meant just didn't register. Chances are like so many other people at the time, the relatively new term "quadraphonic" meant simply "audiophile". And like so many artists, after laboring for so long on their record, once they finish it and it is released, they "let it go". The quad mix could have been something his handlers didn't think he would be into. Of course, this is all just pure speculation on my part.

Good work QuadBob and QuadG! I wish I could've been there.

Ohhhh....That Steely Dan tidbit made me sick...@:
I hope they can fix the multi problems.

Good job guys......Thanks

Yes, thanks for posting about this, QuadBob!

I particularly enjoyed reading about the Jackson Browne segment. And it was good to see that Nathaniel Kunkel and Greg Penny were in attendance. I've thoroughly enjoyed many of their mixes, but I wasn't sure if they were as big of a surround sound fan as, say, Elliot Schiener, or, well, all of us here at QQ. I didn't recognize some of the other names, though; I'll have to check my discs!

Interesting news, guys. Thanks for sharing 'em.