CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: This summer, the Audio Engineering Society held its third International Conference on Music Induced Hearing Disorders at Columbia College Chicago. Its focus was on strategies and technologies for safer long-term hearing outcomes resulting from exposure to loud music. Two days of papers and presentations from notable scientists and application experts in the fields of audiology, product development and sound production, as well as lively panel discussions, contributed to a well-rounded conference experience.
In keeping with the theme of technology to preserve hearing, Bob Schulein, conference co-chair, engineering producer and ImmersAV Technology’s founding partner, organized a demonstration of a new entertainment experience as a part of the conference banquet on Thursday evening. He arranged for Glass Mountain, a Chicago American folk trio, to perform for the guests and to assist in the demonstration of a unique, binaural audio “you-are-there” experience. The band gladly accepted the opportunity and participated in creating and rehearsing for the musical production. For the performance, each attendee was provided with a set of Sennheiser supra-aural wireless headphones and remained in their seat from dinner for the performance. The group performed in front of a single large diaphragm condenser microphone as well as ImmersAV’s binaural mannequin, named DEXTER. As the performance progressed guests were able to compare the headphone reproduction versus that from a two-speaker loudspeaker sound system feeding the output of the single microphone over DEXTER’s head. As the trio played a number of folk classics and originals, each attendee heard the audio with natural binaural spatial rendering no matter where they were seated. The listening experience mimicked being magically transformed directly in front of the band, hearing exactly what DEXTER is hearing, with the added benefit of being able to control their own listening volume level. “What a potential boon for night clubs, dinner clubs, theaters, churches and auditoriums, to enhance the listening experience for every person coming through their doors, while listening at one’s own desired level,” says Schulein.
Conference attendee, Laura Sinnott, audiologist and audio engineer commented, “The ImmersAV performance felt warmer and clearer compared to the sound from the traditional loudspeakers. The wide spatial image truly allowed for a “you-are-there” experience.”
Glass Mountain performer and Doctor of Audiology Heather Malyuk (Fiddle, Guitar and Vocals) describes her experience during a rehearsal playback session, “It was amazingly realistic. I could hear every nuance of my performance, as well as an excellent ensemble balance with my band mates.
Want to experience this performance for yourself? Visit these Links…
“Hop High” https://youtu.be/Bif2AUQObzc
“Don’t Laugh” https://youtu.be/HkA7p51lhP0
“Cool Water” https://youtu.be/43qG5VHQtDk
ABOUT GLASS MOUNTAIN Glass Mountain is Heather Malyuk, Sara Leginsky and Ari Bolles. Inspired by a love of old-time and early country, the women of Glass Mountain make music that captures the grit and beauty of the American folk tradition. Their shows have the raw, spontaneous energy of a jam and the soulful intent of a gospel hymn. The trio of singers and multi-instrumentalists first met through their involvement in the Chicago’s folk music scene, and quickly found a kinship playing heartsick love songs, dark mountain ballads, and blazing fiddle tunes. They each bring a different musical vision and experience – with backgrounds in classical performance, old-time jams, and the singer-songwriter circuit – to create a sound that both celebrates and moves beyond the traditional. www.glassmountainmusic.com
ABOUT IMMERSAV TECHNOLOGY Founded in 2010, ImmersAV™ Technology is a group of audio and video technologies for creating recordings that are true to the original performance and exciting to experience. ImmersAV Recordings are visually stimulating and sonically accurate regarding tonality, directionality, and dynamic range. ImmersAV Recordings are created using patented audio technology and High Definition Video processes. ImmersAV Recordings are highly engaging and immerse a listener/viewer into the original performance. Productions using this technology are created to make you feel and believe that you are really there and require no special playback equipment. They may also be formatted for binaural loudspeaker listening in post production using proprietary ImmersAV Crosstalk Cancellation (CTC) filters. By selecting from the wide variety of consumer audio and video playback technology, individuals can set their own quality level of entertainment excitement. https://www.immersav.com
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FOR ADDITIONAL BINAURAL HEADPHONE SELECTIONS, AND MORE VISIT & SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOU TUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3SpHHU9byS_hmUdsIkhfOw
PHOTO CAPTIONS (© 2018 Jack Kontney, Kontney Communications) Glass Mountain performing from left: Ari Bolles, Sara Leginsky, and Heather Malyuk.
