Toronto AES Seminar 2008 

The Roots of Our Toronto Sound

On October 25, 2008, a host of studio owners, managers, designers, music producers and recording engineers, live sound company owners, professional engineers, scientists and gear designers who were or are active in the Toronto pro audio world assembled and organized themselves into five panels at Ryerson's Eaton Theatre to discuss the motivations, challenges and developments in studio recording, along with live mixing technologies and practices, and the design of equipment and facilities with a view to identifying what it was that made Toronto unique.

Most probably, this was the first time in four decades that these individuals were all assembled in one room at the same time. Whatever else was discovered or rediscovered that day, it became clear that it is they themselves who, in large part, constitute “the roots of our Toronto sound.”

Also in 2008, the Toronto section of the AES celebrated its 40th anniversary, while the international Audio Engineering Society marked its 60th. Both milestones were observed that day, with AES President Jim Anderson and Executive Director Roger Furness as guests of honour representing AES International.  Dr Floyd Toole was our seminar keynote speaker and Wayne Jones gave the keynote address at the banquet.

Historical Video

The conference included the taping of a video historical documentary, with short interviews of the many attendees who were involved in the AES and the Toronto music industry over the past forty years.  The DVD is being made available to all Toronto AES members free of charge, and to other interested persons for a nominal cost. On this site, you are invited to join in their recollections and reflections through short excerpts from the DVD production posted on YouTube.

Click on the images below for video excerpts and bio information about the presenters.

Jim Anderson	Roger Furness	Phil Giddings	Floyd Toole	Terry Brown	David Greene
Jack Richardson	Andy Hermant	Leigh Cline	Sy Potma	George Semkiw	Chris Russell
Claude Fortier	Martin Van Dijk	Wayne Jones	Doug McClement	Tom Shevlin	Peter Houston
Scott Bagby	Martin Stec	Paul Gross	Bob Snelgrove	Victor Svenningson	George Graves
Mark Mason	Bill Dowding	Bill Woods	Jack Kirkpatrick

Executive Producer:  Earl McCluskie
Web Design/YouTube Video Excerpts:  Earl McCluskie

An Associated Buzz Creative Production for the Toronto Section of the Audio Engineering Society.

Chair: Phil Giddings (Engineering Harmonics)
Vice Chair/Sponsorship: Sy Potma (Fanshawe College)
Event Coordinator/Treasurer: Earl McCluskie (Chestnut Hall Music)
Committee:  Jim Cox, Tom Shevlin (Ministry of the Environment), Dustin Su (Engineering Harmonics), Denis Tremblay (IMAX)
Registration/Stage Management: Anne Reynolds (Peace Arch Entertainment Group)
Facilities: Jim Vanderweil (IMAX)
Audio: Ike Zimbel (Zimbel Audio Productions)
Banquet Coordinator:  Joseph Sunday (Creative Affinities)
Video Archive:  Keith Gordon (VitaSound Audio)
Video Documentary: Alan Hardiman (Post Toronto)
Website/Program:  Earl McCluskie (Chestnut Hall Music)