III International Symposium of the Academic Music Recording Industry: New Horizons in the Sound World

The III International Symposium of the Academic Music Recording Industry, organized by the Russian Music Union with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, brought together leading sound engineers, teachers and experts in the field of recording and sound reinforcement. The event became a platform for discussing key issues related to modern technologies and trends in the world of academic music.

Within the framework of the symposium, experts considered a wide range of topics, including optimal methods for mixing near and long-range plans, the possibilities of using neural networks for transcription and processing of audio files, the features of sound amplification in various types of concert halls (from acoustic spaces such as Zaryadye to halls designed for groups with electric instruments), as well as promising immersive sound technologies and their application in virtual and augmented reality.

Particular attention was paid to the practical aspects of chamber music recording, where, for example, a sound engineer and a teacher of the Department of Musical Sound Engineering of RAM. Gnesinykh and the Institute of Contemporary Arts Ilya Dontsov shared the secrets of working with delays that occur when recording with near microphones, and stressed the importance of choosing the right recording angles and using pulsed signal to compensate for these delays.

Experts also discussed the impact of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) in sound recording, and their potential use in working with music data. Despite concerns about the brainrot created by neural networks, participants in the symposium noted that AI can be a useful tool, rather than a substitute for human experience and professionalism.

Particular attention was paid to the use of immersive sound – a technology that allows you to create the effect of full immersion of the listener in the musical experience, using surround sound that reproduces our natural perception. This is already actively used when recording live concerts, in product presentations, educational projects and virtual tours.