April 15th is more than just tax day here in Nashville; it’s also the date for the AES sponsored annual event known as the Spring Mixer, a mixing competition for audio engineering students. The participating students will be given the multi-track for a professionally recorded song, a studio at MTV’s downtown Nashville facilities, and eight hours to mix the track. They’ll then anonymously submit their mix to a panel of industry professionals, volunteering their time to support these students by offering their critiques and advice, and by judging the competition.
This year the students will mix a song entitled “Wall” by the hip-hop artist Da’ T.R.U.T.H. from their Grammy nominated album Big Picture, originally mixed by John Jaszcz and produced by Freddy Washington Jr. They will be judged by a great lineup of judges: Chris Stevensn (Carrie Underwood, Matt Kearny), Otto Price (Natalie Grant, Barlow Girl), Ken Love (Switchfoot, Toby Keith), Brett Teegarden (Veggie Tales, DC Talk), and James Waddell (Vickie Winans, Donald Lawrence). A big thanks to all of these Nashville engineers for their time and holding the responsibility of awarding the coveted “Top Mixer” trophy for the school who’s representatives create the best mix.
Schools participating this year will include Belmont, MTSU, SAE Institute, International Academy of Design and Technology, and the Art Institute of Nashville. The goal of this competition is education. It is an invaluable experience for these students to work and be taught by some of Nashville’s finest engineers. Thank you to these recording schools for facilitating their student’s educations and allowing them to participate in the event.
You can go listen to the mixes and hear the judging at 7:00 p.m. after a 6:30 social. More information is available at http://www.aesnashville.org. It’s a great opportunity to support the engineering students of Nashville and is a great AES event.
