"The music always comes first!" With this as my life’s guiding motto, my audio career started at the music department of a local radio station in 1963. A few years later I began doing business as PACIFIC AUDIO-VISUAL ENTERPRISES and for more than four decades have worked as an independent audio engineer and consultant with many of the world’s leading performing organizations and artists:
THE ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL and SCHOOL: In 1988 I joined the faculty and engineering staff of the Edgar Stanton Audio Recording Institute. I served as Audio Production Manager and Chief Engineer from 1996 through 2005, during which time I supervised the operations of the audio recording department and was closely involved in the initial design and annual upgrading of the audio facilities in all of the Festival’s performance venues.
The broad variety of musical ensembles featured at the Festival provided me the opportunity to design and develop unique equipment and techniques for the recording and sound reinforcement of live performances ranging in scale from big-band jazz and chamber music to large symphonic and choral works. Because of my love of opera, it was one of my particular specialties: I recorded and provided sound design for more than fifty fully-staged productions by the Aspen Opera Theater Center.
Among the hundreds of live-in-concert recordings I produced at the Festival, many were broadcast over the National Public Radio and WFMT networks, and the compact disc “Let’s Do It” featuring Joan Morris and William Bolcom was released on the Omega Classics label.
During my eighteen summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School I am very gratified to have been able to participate in the training and development of the hundreds of staff and students of the ESARI, many of whom have gone on to significant careers in the audio industry.
BOLSHOI THEATRE ORCHESTRA: In 1987 and 1988, I traveled to Moscow to make "live-to-stereo" digital recordings of the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra; these were produced as custom compact discs for use by the Moscow and Donetsk Ballet Companies during their US tours. These recordings subsequently were released commercially as a six CD set on the PILZ label.
THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA: From 1977 to 1987 I served as the Audio Consultant to THE MANN MUSIC CENTER summer concert series featuring The Philadelphia Orchestra. Other productions at the Center included the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, the American Ballet Theatre, and numerous prominent solo artists. During my association with the Mann Music Center, I also was responsible for ongoing improvements to the audio facilities at the theater; in 1983, I designed and supervised installation of a major upgrade of the audio system.
THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: During the last three seasons of Zubin Mehta’s tenure as Music Director, I was audio producer for the Orchestra's radio broadcasts over KPFK-FM. When this series was assumed by National Public Radio in 1980, I was retained by the local affiliate (KUSC) to train its engineering staff in the operation of the project. During that three-month period, I was responsible for the radio broadcast of Carlo Maria Giulini’s debut concert with the Orchestra, which was transmitted live worldwide via satellite and provided the audio feeds for the subsequent Emmy Award-winning live PBS nationwide telecast.
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, AMERICAN PUBLIC RADIO, and CALIFORNIA RADIO MUSIC NETWORKS: For nearly two decades, I recorded a variety of musical and dramatic radio program series for these networks, including: The Robert Winter Lectures, The Orford String Quartet Performs the Complete Beethoven Quartets, and "Little Women" (a production of "The Spider's Web" at WGBH). I also have served on NPR’s roster of traveling consultants, providing on-location training workshops in recording techniques for network member stations.
AUDIO ENGINEERING ASSOCIATES: Since 1975, I have been an "associate" of this Pasadena-based audio services company: as director of the recording division (1976 - 1984), and subsequently as a consultant for recording projects, systems design, and special projects. I have also been instrumental in the design, development, and marketing of AEA’s custom line of Mid/Side matrix products, ribbon microphones, and microphone accessories.
PROTONE RECORDS: During the 1980s and 90s, I was the principal recording engineer for this Los Angeles based record company. For one of their most ambitious projects, I traveled to Shanghai to record two world premiers performed by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
L.A. THEATER WORKS: For the 1991 and 1992 seasons, I provided sound design and post-production services for their series of live-performance radio plays. These were subsequently broadcast over the National Public Radio Network.
THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART: For nearly fifteen years, I served as audio consultant to the Museum's Music Department, assisting in the production, presentation, and recording of concert programming including their world renowned Monday Evening Concert series of contemporary music.
Other record companies and clientele: Angel Records; RCA Records; Omega Record Classics; Koch International, CMS Desto Records; Discovery Records; Arkay Records, and Composers Recordings Inc. In 1983, for SAZ Records, I traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, for a remote session, which was the world's first digital recording of Islamic music. I also have produced recordings for the music departments of UCLA, USC, and the California State Universities at Northridge and Los Angeles; the California Institute of the Arts; the Pasadena Symphony; the Orford and Sequoia String Quartets; Henri Temianka and the California Chamber Symphony; the Coleman Chamber Music Association; the Ojai Festival; the Early Music Ensemble of Los Angeles; the California and Pasadena Boys Choirs; the City of Philadelphia July Fourth presentations; Thunder and Lighting Productions; Columbia Artists Management; and the Ambassador College Music and Television Departments.
EDUCATION
Master of Arts Degree in Communications Arts, specializing in television production, Loyola University at Los Angeles, awarded in 1974.
Bachelor of Arts Degree (cum laude) in Music, specializing in composition and theory, from UCLA, awarded in 1968.
In 1989, I designed a course specializing in audio perception for the Department of Recording Arts, UCLA Extension. Under the title Critical Listening: Perception and the Audio Environment, this became a required course in UNEX’s recording technology certificate program.
AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY
A Fellow and Life Member of the Audio Engineering Society, I was honored with the Society's Bronze Medal Award in 1995 “in recognition of long standing dedication to the goals of the AES and for continued work on its behalf,” and the Distinguished Service Medal Award in 2010 “in recognition of more than three decades of dedication, leadership, and service to the AES.” Following eleven years as the Secretary of the Society I served as President in 2003/4 and have held other international offices including Western Regional Vice-President, two terms as a Governor, Chairman of the AES 89th Convention, and Co-chair of the 109th Convention, both in Los Angeles.
Since 1975, I have been an active member of the Los Angeles Section and have served as a member of its Executive Committee as Committeeman, Vice-chairman, eight terms as Secretary, and, ultimately, as Chairman. In these capacities, I was involved in the development and implementation of numerous educational projects and technical workshops for the Section. In addition to Los Angeles, I have also presented technical meetings throughout the US, Canada, Australia, and St. Petersburg, Russia.
Initially for the Los Angeles Section, I created the series "An Afternoon With ...” which hosts important historical personalities from the world of audio and documents their retrospectives. In 1989, I produced a 55-minute video documentary, “An Afternoon With Jack Mullin,” which chronicles the history of sound recording through the life and collections of this noted audio pioneer. This program has since been incorporated into the regular schedule of Special Events for all West Coast AES Conventions.
I also am proud to have produced and recorded several concerts by organist Graham Blyth performed at the AES Conventions in the US and Europe. Excerpts from these recordings were released by the AES on a compact Disc in 1998.
OTHER AFFILIATIONS: As a member and Certified Broadcast Technologist of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, the Acoustical Society of America, the Hollywood Sapphire Group, and I have participated in technical presentations to these organizations. I am also a member of The Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters, The Hollywood Sapphire Group, SPERDVAC, and Mensa.
AS A LECTURER
Ron Streicher has created a series of audio production seminars. These tutorials offer you the opportunity to share the knowledge, experience, and unique solutions he has garnered during more than four decades providing audio services for many of the world’s greatest musical artists and organizations.
Seminar titles include:
• Microphone Technology
• Microphone Pragmatics
• Microphones: The Physics, Metaphysics, and Philosophy
• A Practical Guide to Ribbon Microphones
• Stereophonic Techniques
• Early Stereo — A Retrospective
• Critical Listening: Perception and the Audio Environment
• A Critical Listening Experiment: A-X-B Comparison
• Live “Hands-on” Recording Workshops
• Electrical Hook-up of Computer and A/V Systems
• How to Prepare a Presentation
Ron has presented seminars to Recording Studies programs at colleges and universities, meetings of the Audio Engineering Society, and other technical organizations throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia.
AS AN AUTHOR
PUBLICATIONS:
THE NEW STEREO SOUNDBOOK Third Edition, published by Audio Engineering Associates, Pasadena, CA, 2006 (The First Edition was co-authored with F. Alton Everest in 1991; Second Edition published in 1998.) This book has been adopted as a standard reference text by audio educators worldwide.
“AN AFTERNOON WITH JACK MULLIN” a 55-minute video documentary which I produced for the Audio Engineering Society in 1989.
"M/S STEREO: A POWERFUL TECHNIQUE FOR WORKING IN STEREO" This technical paper (co-authored with Wes Dooley of Audio Engineering Associates) was presented to the May, 1981 Convention of the Audio Engineering Society and was subsequently published in the October, 1982 issue of the of the A.E.S. Journal.
"BASIC STEREO MICROPHONES PERSPECTIVES" This technical paper (also co-authored with Wes Dooley) was presented at the Microphone Technology Session of the A.E.S. Technical Conference on Recording in May, 1984; published in the August, 1985 issue of the A.E.S. Journal.
(The two preceding articles were subsequently included in STEREOPHONIC TECHNIQUES, an anthology published by the AES, and have also been reprinted or excerpted in several audio textbooks.)
“THE BIDIRECTIONAL MICROPHONE: A FORGOTTEN PATRIARCH” Co-authored with Wes Dooley, this paper traces the development and particular properties of the pressure-gradient microphone. It was first presented at the 113th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society in Los Angeles and subsequently published in the April, 2003 issue of the A.E.S. Journal
Magazine articles:
“THE DECCA TREE: IT’S NOT JUST FOR STEREO ANYMORE” published in the September, 2003 issue of MIX magazine. (This was an abridged version of the article. The complete article, with photographs, is posted on the Audio Engineering Associates website: www.wesdooley.com)
"LOCATION RECORDING PRACTICES: A TUTORIAL (With Emphasis Toward Broadcast Sessions)" presented at the 76th Convention of the A.E.S. in New York, October, 1984, and subsequently published in the June, 1985 issue of "Mix" magazine.
"RECORDING IN THE 'REAL WORLD' (A Discussion of 'Classical' Music Recording Techniques)" published in the August, 1985 issue of "MIX" magazine.
"MICROPHONES -- THEIR CHOICE AND APPLICATION" This is a condensation of a radio presentation which Wes Dooley and I gave on the program "In Fidelity" (KPFK-FM in Los Angeles). I have also appeared on this program -- hosted by Peter Sutheim -- on several other occasions.
“USING RDAT IN THE ‘REAL WORLD’” a two-part article in the April and May, 1991, issues of “Recording Engineer/Producer” magazine.
"IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SONY PCM-F1/SL-2000 FOR LOW-COST FIELD RECORDING" presented at the A.E.S. Technical Conference in Anaheim, May, 1984.
"A PRACTICAL ANALYSIS OF SUM-AND-DIFFERENCE MATRIXING FOR STEREO BROADCAST TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS" presented with co-author Richard Burden to the 78th Convention of the A.E.S. in Anaheim in May, 1985.
Other publications:
“Stereophonic Techniques” co-authored with Wes Dooley; reproduced in the “Audio Engineering Handbook” by K. Blair Benson, pub. McGraw-Hill, NW, 1988, pp. 6.50-6.60
“Choosing the Right Microphone” an introduction to the “Microphone Data Book”, ed. By Chris Woolfe, pub. Rycote Microphone Windshields, UK, 2001, pp. 8-14