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A Glimpse of GearFest

Sweetwater held its 13th annual GearFest, June 6-7, at its sizable headquarters in Fort Wayne, IN. Open to the public, the event served up its trademark mix of seminars and workshops, along with entertainment, gear expo and even a flea market. While there were plenty of name musicians on-hand, like Jason Bonham, Kenny Aronoff, Billy Sheehan and others, the rundown of all-star engineers and producers was just as impressive.

Sweetwater held its 13th annual GearFest, June 6-7, at its sizable headquarters in Fort Wayne, IN. Open to the public, the event served up its trademark mix of seminars and workshops, along with entertainment, gear expo and even a flea market. While there were plenty of name musicians on-hand, like Jason Bonham, Kenny Aronoff, Billy Sheehan and others, the rundown of all-star engineers and producers was just as impressive, including the likes of Ed Cherney (seen here during his talk) who opened the program by sharing personal reflections on tenacity, getting a start in the biz, how he created his own success by standing on the shoulders of his mentors and industry pioneers, and how the opportunities have changed today.

Other top pros on-hand included Bruce Swedien, Bob Clearmountain, Mick Guzauski, Ross Hogarth, Richard Chycki and Fab Dupont. Presenting a workshop on acoustic miking techniques was Bil Vorn Dick. Seen here standing, Vorn Dick—best-known for his work with Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss and Bela Fleck—used a selection of Miktek microphones to capture a variety of instruments.

While GearFest was obviously highlighted by music and audio-related endeavors, it nonetheless provided an opportunity to showcase other members in the Sweetwater family of companies including SweetAviation and SweetCars. The latter presented the highest ticket item at GearFest: A 2008 Lamorghini Gallardo (pictured) that got 10 MPG city / 17 MPG highway; while that might be low, at $135,900, the two-door coupe wasn’t really for penny-pinchers anyway.

Look for more GearFest coverage in an upcoming issue of Pro Sound News.

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