The next meeting of the AES Melbourne Section will be an online event held on Monday 11th August 2025 via Zoom.
It will commence at 7:30 pm AEST with a brief Section Annual General Meeting, which will feature reports from the Chairman and the Treasurer, followed by the election of Section Officers and Committee Members for the 2025/26 year.
Bookings are required – please book at https://www.trybooking.com/DCYKW
Then, at approx. 7:45 pm AEST, Paul Messick will present on the topic of:
Melbourne AES social events are a new initiative to foster ‘off-agenda’ discussions amidst good company and good food. These events are open to all members and interested guests. The second of our socialisations this year was at Patterson Lakes on Monday 23rd June, and had a distinctly Indian flavour – just the thing for a cold Melbourne evening.
There were many interesting discussions on a wide range of topics, with all contributing. The diversity of knowledge and experience exposed those attending to new disciplines, concepts, and ideas in the diverse fields of audio engineering. All this accompanied by a ‘succulent Indian meal’.
It was the general opinion that these events should become more regular, so keep a lookout for the next opportunity.
Our next meeting includes the AGM, and will be on Monday, 11th August via Zoom.
Further details will be available in the next few weeks.
Our next meeting will be on Monday 11th August at 7:30 pm (AEST) via Zoom.
It will start with the Section’s Annual General Meeting, followed by Paul Messick presenting on:
Paul hopes to pass on the how’s and why’s of low-noise and low-distortion circuit design. Microphones and Mic Pres are the front end of the studio world, so to bring the presentation into the real world, Paul will talk about key microphone specs, and then design and measure a suitable, high-quality preamp to match.
Members and guests of the AES Melbourne Section connected via Zoom to hear Ross Cockle recount his days at the Bill Armstrong and Armstrong AAV Studios in the seventies and eighties.
Following an introduction by Section Chair, Graeme Huon, Ross started by recounting how he had started at Armstrong Studios in Albert Road, South Melbourne in 1973 as part of the workforce needed for the transition to the new Armstrongs Studios in Bank Street.
This was just after they had taken delivery of the first Australian-built Optro 16-Track recorder. Ross joined as Armstrongs was bolstering staff numbers to handle the move into the “old butter factory” premises that Bill Armstrong had just purchased in Bank Street. He told of how he started as a “gofer” fetching cigarettes and “recording fluid” (alcohol) for the producers and engineers – not an issue at all in those days, despite being only 15-16 years old. We then got a rundown of the microphones being used at that time, lots of EV RE20s, Neumann U67s and some FET U47s, as well as a classic valve U47 that was kept for special sessions. He went on to tell us how he graduated to dubbing duties, where he had to make multiple copies of radio commercials for distribution to stations, and how recording radio commercials and jingles was the money-making enterprise that subsidised the music recording operation, and how jingles were being recorded during the day, and bands being recorded at night at a lower studio rate. He described the Ampex 351 and Rola 77 tape recorders used for dubbing.
Continue reading “Meeting Report: 10th February 2025 – Ross Cockle – The Armstrong Studio & AAV Years”