Introduction
So, what does the Audio Engineering Society have
in common with the CIA and myself? I know you’re going to say that we all share
hidden agendas, but that’s not it. It’s that, among other things, we’re all
50 years old.
I’d also like to say “Happy Birthday” to
the 33-1/3 rpm vinyl record, which was introduced in 1947.
So, what does being 50 mean to all but the LP?
1. Not dead yet. Maybe at the midpoint, maybe not. Maybe
venerable, maybe not.
2. Much to reflect on and to consider, but, at the same
time, much left to contribute.
And another thing. I'm pretty sure of the day I was born,
but the birthdates of either the CIA or the AES are less than certain. The CIA was born
either on July 26th or September 18th, 1947, no one will say for sure. And we’re told
that the AES was born in 1948 when a group formally got together at the RCA Studios in New
York.
But the date locked in my mind was in 1947, when Norman
Pickering and C.J. Lebel and a few other visionaries determined that it was high time that
we should get together and talk.
I, myself, have rarely missed AES conventions since 1961.
I’d like to believe that the excitement this very week of the young,
wide-eyed, student engineer will be little different than mine so many years ago. In 1961
I was mesmerized by the gear. But, I was more enchanted to see and often meet the pioneers
of that time, who were pointed out to me one-by-one, along with their whispered
accomplishments.
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