MAM Blog

127th AES '09... a little late, but here goes...

Just found a text file documenting my visit to the 127th AES NY convention in Oct0ber 2009 that I never got around to posting on the AES-New York Thread on Gearslutz.


Spent Saturday and Sunday roaming the aisles at Javits. The show was smaller this time around but that was a plus in my book. Reminded me of the AES show a month after 9/11... much more intimate which allowed more time to savor the experience.


Saw a LOT of stuff that I liked! In no particular order:


Mark VIII from Pete's Place. I originally saw this unit on GS and it was cool to see the unit in person as well as have the concept fully explained by Tony Shepperd at the Pete's Place/A-Designs booth. The sound of the Electrodyne 511 EQ 500-series module brought back memories of my early days learning on a '70s-vintage Electrodyne 2000 with 711 and 712 input modules. Another cool 500-series module was the Brad Avenson-designed BAC-500 compressor, another great-sounding device.


This booth was the crossroads for a number of regular Gearslutz posters. Besides Tony, I met Armando Avila and his Cosmos crew, and Ronan Chris Murphy who hipped me to the LittleLabs VOG and with whom I checked out the "Laser Mic"... he interviewed the(very young!) guy about the concepts behind it. He shot a very cool video showing a lot of the highlights of the show. It filled in some gaps in my experience looking at all that was available. I didn't really have a chance to talk to Peter Montessi but I must mention that his wife is a wonderful person, very warm and friendly, a sweetheart. A lucky man he is.

The 2010 Brookdale Guitar Show

Well the show is over and everybody has packed up and gone home.

It was an interesting day. This morning I was running a bit late because I was editing some video from a DVD that Larry had sent me featuring an interview he'd done for local access TV up in New England... a show called "Far And Wide" with host Dave Davis. I was glad that I had spent the time because it ended up being a very helpful tool during the day to show people more about the "leather guitar" and how it and it's other family members came to be.

After hurriedly setting up my table with the Rue Du Royale on a stand, Atelier Du EL Welker literature, my business cards, my MacBook Pro with the QuickTime video I'd prepared, and a pair of powered speakers(which turned out to be necessary equipment due to the oftentimes high noise level on the show floor), I was ready to go.

IMG_0841

First person to stop by was Chris Buono, who I'd met a couple months previously at a local Ableton Live user group gathering at the Downtown in Red Bank. At that time I'd mentioned I'd be attending the show with the Rue and now he had a chance to see and play it for a bit. He was slated to do a couple of clinics today, so he headed off after trying out the guitar and chatting a bit.

A bit of history with ELWelker...

I am an audio engineer and producer, not a player per se(even though I consider the recording studio an instrument in it's own right), and I've always liked things that combined the aural and mechanical worlds. Maybe one day I'll get off my butt and get more into learning more about one of my favorite instruments, the electric bass.

Back some time ago, before the Internet existed in the form it does today, I became a member of the PAN Network. PAN was created with the goal of being a self-help organization for self-managed performers, but quickly expanded its charter to include all professionals throughout the music industry.

One of the individuals I met "online" back then was Larry Welker from Cornish, New Hampshire, an area which has a famed tradition as an artist colony including artists such as  Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Maxfield Parrish. Larry is a lifelong musician, wood/metal/leather designer and worker, master luthier, and a member of the American Guild of Luthiers. I was able to visit he and his wife Kathleen at their home for the first time in the summer of 2000.

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