If you’re one of the fortunate members of the pro audio community attending this month’s AES show, welcome to San Francisco. If you want to blend in with the locals, just refer to the town as “The City,” and you’ll be right at home. There are a lot of great cities, and such a nickname might come off as haughty, but there are a lot of reasons why the San Francisco Bay Area is special, especially to those of us who call this place home.
From the early days of the Spanish missionaries through the wild times of the Gold Rush and Barbary Coast and up from the ashes from the earthquake/fire a century ago, San Francisco has a long history of thinking differently, and that continues to this day. This is an area of individualists and thinkers and artists who have the ability to see great things beyond what others perceive as boundaries.
We’re definitely Californians, but distinctly not Ellay. We’re Pixar and Lucasfilm and Coppola, but not Hollywood. We have beaches, but here “Baywatch” means watching the evening fog roll in under the Golden Gate. We’re Silicon Valley and Napa Valley. We’re Chinatown and North Beach Bohemians. We live in grand painted Victorians and little boxes on the hillside. We’re Google and Yahoo!; Apple and HP, too. We’re the birthplace of acid rock and West Coast rap, the VTR and multitrack.
This special San Francisco AES issue celebrates some of that magic that makes this region so special. In a departure from our usual format, Bay Area Legends is a photo-essay salute to some notable residents who have made the audio world a better place. Local studios are on the build: We peek into Talking House Productions (featured on this month’s cover), Asphodel Studios and Emmy Award-winning composer Scott Singer’s project room. And our own legendary Blair Jackson delves into some of the hottest new videogame productions emerging from this area’s gamemeisters.
Speaking of gaming, AudioNext is our new column by composer/engineer/game production authority Alexander Brandon, who each month will look at all forms of new media, from cell phone technology to satellite radio and, you guessed it…games. He’s sharp and has a lot to say.
And yes, we have our annual AES New Products Guide for those who just can’t get enough technology.
AES is right around the corner, and from all indications, this is going to be a most memorable show, with nonstop activities and fun for all in our favorite city. If you’re in town during AES, drop by and visit us at booth #1526. We’ll be hosting online blogs throughout the show, so stop by and add some of your AES experiences to share. We’ll also be posting Vlogs, nightly news updates, blogs, Webcasts and more at www.mixonline.com. And we’ll follow it up with complete post-AES highlights online and in next month’s Mix.
P.S. You might notice this month that there are two Mix covers for October. For the AES convention issues and on newsstand, you will see the SSL 9000K room at Talking House Productionos, San Francisco. Subscribers have received the Talking House live room. Look for more in the future.
See you in The City!
