O’Neill ’92 Completes AES Immersive Academy

March 16, 2021

Director and Associate Professor of Music Production & Recording Technology Golder O’Neill ’92, M.M.E., completed the Audio Engineering Society’s (AES) Immersive Academy on Feb. 11. It was a 9-hour intensive workshop that demonstrated the use of immersive technologies that are currently being offered to the industry today. The program’s workshop and masterclass sessions took on diverse applications of immersive audio production — from live events, to gaming, movies and beyond. Attendees learned to capture and mix 3D audio using object-oriented solutions and then be able to create immersive content suitable for a variety of applications, such as live concerts, studio recordings, advertising, gaming, VR, AR, esports and more.

“My favorite part of the day was the masterclass on ‘Producing High Quality Immersive Audio,’ said O’Neill. “The presentation was an intensive 3-hour session demonstrating and unveiling secrets of 360 audio production, hosted by Andres Mayo (@360MusicLab) with Brian Glasscock (Sennheiser) and Achim Fell (Dear Reality) and featuring music of Fantastic Negrito. With our new Immersive Audio Dolby Atmos Suite here at SU and by attending the AES Immersive Academy, I am able to impart some of the knowledge that I gained from attending the academy.”

Shenandoah recently installed a 9.2.4 Immersive Dolby Atmos mixing suite in the Ruebush Hall recording studio that features 5.1 DTS and 9.1.2 Dolby Atmos mixing.

“This immersive technology is still evolving and there is much to learn,” continued O’Neill. “As we move forward with the different listening experiences that are available to the public, it’s important that we prepare our students to be able to create and have the skill sets to contribute to this growing field.”