Symposium Program Highlights

Evolving Production Trends:
Production choices can define a genre, or even a moment in time. Iconic productions can change the game, and create a sound everyone else is chasing.
In this panel we will explore trends of the past, what’s current and what’s coming next.

Relationship Goals: Exploring the relationship between Engineer and Vocal Producer with Gloria Kaba & Simone Torres:
Moderator Jeanne Montalvo Lucar
The relationship between producer and engineer is just as important as producer and artist. The seamless interaction of the production team can make or break a record. Here we will discuss how teamwork can lead to a great vocal recording and ultimately a hit record.

Classic Pedigree Modern Techniques: Bad Boy Records
Stephen Dent, Prince Charles Alexander
Moderated by Paul “Willie Green” Womack
Throughout the 1990’s Bad Boy Records played a pivotal role in bringing hip-hop from the streets to the top of the entertainment world. The label continued that reign into the 2000’s, successfully navigating the transition from an analog landscape to a DAW based one. In the decades since that initial transition, how has new technology further evolved the workflow of these creators and how have their techniques been modernized?

Modern Software for Audio Manipulation:
Technology advances exponentially; every new invention seeds the growth of infinite possibilities. Our ever changing world also creates an ever changing musical landscape. In Modern Software for Audio Manipulation we will discuss challenges and solutions for the modern music maker, through the lens of three software developers. Changes in technology and music creation provide new opportunities for both creators and developers, and our guests will discuss their approaches to these opportunities in production, editing and mixing.
Sara Simms – Communications Manager, Mixed In Key
Michael Hetrick – Owner, Unfiltered Audio
Mike Scheibinger – Product Specialist, Steinberg SpectraLayers
Moderated by Paul “Willie Green” Womack

Art Installation, Immersive Audio and Avant Garde Hip-Hop with Jawwaad Taylor, Leslie Gaston-Bird and others to be revealed soon!
Records aren’t the only place hip-hop music resides, avant-garde Hip-Hop has been planting roots in art galleries, museums, theaters and more. This panel will explore the expansion of Hip-Hop and R&B into new venues and experiences.

Connectivity Issues: Who Is Listening to Hip-Hop?
Familiarity with a genre is critical for mixing at a high level, but as target demographics skew younger and younger, veteran engineers can find themselves less connected to changing trends, techniques and the music itself.
What is the value of experience, particularly in today’s landscape of video tutorials and home studios? And if the people responsible for the fidelity of the records aren’t connected to the music itself, what does that mean for a genre so embedded in culture?
Prince Charles Alexander and Paul “Willie Green” Womack discuss the passing of torches and the importance of musical understanding.