| Meetings and other Notices |
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| The
November Live
and Zoom Meeting |
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Date: Saturday,
November
22, 2025,
1:00 PM EST
Featured Guest: Phaenelagh
(Nel)
Burnett
(Owner)
and John
Lenard
Burnett
(Founder
&
Designer)
https://www.lenardaudio.com/designs.html
Where:
Billerica
Public
Library,
15
Concord
Rd,
Billerica,
MA
01821
Topic:
Lenard
Audio is
an
esteemed
electro-acoustic
research,
design,
and
consulting
company
specializing
in
product
development,
audio
standardization,
and
audio
education.
Their
expertise
lies in
ensuring
the
consistent
replication
of sound
and
music
across
all
dynamic
ranges
and
audio
platforms.
Lenard
Audio is
recognized
as a
leading
audio
company
in
Australia.
Phaenelagh
Burnett
will
attend
our
meeting
in
person
held at
the
Billerica
Public
Library,
where
she will
provide
a live
demonstration
of one
of their
manufactured
audio
components.
John
Lenard
Burnett
will
join via
Zoom
from
Australia
to
discuss
The
Lenard
Manifesto,
which is
dedicated
to
scientific
principles
and the
establishment
of audio
standards
of
excellence.
The
manifesto
upholds
the
integrity
of
sound,
advocating
that
nothing
should
disrupt
the
connection
between
music
and the
listener.
According
to John
Lenard
Burnett,
the
company’s
work is
driven
by a
passion
for
music
combined
with a
fundamental
respect
for
science
and the
technology
of
amplified
sound.
This
commitment
forms
the
foundation
of
Lenard
Audio’s
purpose
and
design
philosophy.
Additional
details
regarding
their
manifesto
and
dedication
to
quality
can be
found on
their
website,
and
their
equipment
demonstrates
this
focus on
excellence
in
sound.
Note:
“I’ll be
attending
Capital
Audiofest
and will
have
some
systems
to
demonstrate
in a
studio
nearby
the
show. If
anyone
would
like to
connect
with me
there
they can
call or
text me
on (615)
351-6716”.
The BAS
extends
its
appreciation
to the
Billerica
Public
Library
for
providing
the
meeting
space.
Please
note
that
seating
is
limited;
attendees
are
encouraged
to
arrive
early to
secure a
seat.
Directions
to The
Billerica
Public
Library:
From
Boston,
take
I-93 N,
then
I-95 S,
and US-3
N toward
Lowell.
Continue
on US-3
N and
take
exit 76
to merge
onto
Concord
Rd
toward
Billerica.
Proceed
to 15
Concord
Rd,
Billerica,
MA 01821
(approximately
22.7
miles).
Boston
Audio
Society
PO BOX
260211
BOSTON,
MA 02126
617.271.6588
Join Zoom Meeting
Ken
Schwarz
is
inviting
you to a
scheduled
Zoom
meeting.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/2941605896?pwd=SUpBMFMwcnp2VlhrSTMxWmxIQU9Gdz09&omn=79943708955
Meeting
ID: 294
160 5896
Passcode:
DLR7td
One tap
mobile
+16465588656,,2941605896#,,,,*884558#
US (New
York)
+16469313860,,2941605896#,,,,*884558#
US
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Hope to see you then.
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THE BAS MESSAGE
November 2025 |
Miscellaneous News
1.
Harry Mairson is a
professor of
computer science at
Brandeis, and has
done research in
algorithms and
programming language
design. But for the
last 15 years, he’s
been working on
becoming a
professional luthier
and using software
technology that I’ve
developed and
learned how to use
to make better
instruments that are
better informed.”
“A
luthier is a maker
of stringed
instruments violins,
violas, cellos,
guitars. I love
woodworking. I love
the geometric form,
and I love what I
like to call a
secular
transubstantiation,
where wood and wire
becomes imbued with
life. You’re making
something that’s
static and sitting
there, and a
musician gets up to
play it, and all of
a sudden, it’s
alive. You’ve
created something.”
His father was a
woodworker. So much
of what’s in his
woodshop are tools
that belonged to his
father and his
grandfather. “The
intersection of my
work as a computer
scientist and as an
instrument maker
really revolves
around the idea of
an algorithm,
because there’s a
method for
everything.
Gathering the CT
information I have
can be used in many
different ways. A
very important way
is 3D printing, and
a 3D printer is
additive, so it’s
very valuable in
turning digital
knowledge into
physical artifacts.
From a solid block
of wood, a cello
scroll begins to
take form. Mairson
designed the shape
of this scroll on
the basis of CT
scans of an original
Stradivari. He then
3D-printed a copy of
his design to use as
a reference.
For Mairson,
building instruments
is a labor of love.
He gives most of
them away to
professional-level
musicians.
Brandeis Magazine
Summer 2025
https://www.brandeis.edu/magazine/2025/summer/digital-extras.html#digital
2. The BAS is
looking for a new
webmaster. The
current webmaster
will train you and
hand it over to you,
and provide support
as necessary. The
website is written
in simple HTML. You
will need a computer
and a high speed
internet connection
(you will need to
download a 6GB
backup in a
reasonable amount of
time). The annual
payment is $300. You
may be asked to
support
administration of
the BAS Facebook
pages as well.
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Below, other meetings and notices which
may be of interest to BAS members |
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JUST RELEASED !
A fantastic historical video!
Ken Berger and Kenton Forsythe are the founders of EAW (Eastern Acoustics Works) and they discuss, with terrific overlaid graphics, the history of, well, pretty much every audio thing Boston from the early 70's.
18 minutes and right here: https://youtu.be/fPfQEK0b0mI
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A Boston issue - As MIX magazine reports:
Sound Museum owners cry foul as their tenants likely secure new spaces without them
While the headline sounds like someone has sour grapes, the complete story of how the closure of this crucial Boston rehearsal studio is being handled is far more nuanced and complicated -- particularly since it brings up issues of gentrification, government support of the arts, non-profits' ethics and more. Full Story HERE (WBUR-FM Boston (1/11/23)
And here's an update:
www.wbur.org/news/2023/01/25/charlestown-rehearsal-studios-musicians-boston
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MAHLER 3
In the recent (April 2022) performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony at Boston's Symphony Hall by Ben Zander and his Boston Philharmonic, the recording was done with the three main spaced omnis with two more farther back. No accent mikes or chorus microphones were used nor, it turns out, were they needed. Remarkably, this produced a recording that is as close to the Symphony Hall experience as may be possible.
The info is here: www.bostonphil.org/concerts/2021-2022/bpo4-mahler3
Here is the recording in its entirety as a single .WAV file; 44k / 16 bit; 1hr 47 min
Mahler Sym 3 CD.wav 1.1GB
(For those of you with editing software note that the .wav file HAS markers to denote the movements.)
Here is the exact same Symphony 3 with the movements separated as FLAC files, 48k / 24 bit as a ZIPped file: Mahler 3 Zander as FLAC.zip 1GB
IF you'd like further Gustav Mahler info... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Mahler
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Shop Talk
Shop Talk was a WBUR program about Hi Fidelity, music, speakers, tape recorders, etc. Enjoyed by many during the 1970s, the program's format was ‘talk’ and interviewing major audio luminaries. It was a forerunner of the popular program Car Talk!
Peter Mitchell and Dr. Richard Goldwater were the original hosts. They were later joined by Brad Meyer. Here, John Allen interviews Scott Kent:
Shop Talk John Allen talks to Scott Kent on SPEAKERS.mp3 (81Mb 1:27)
Shop Talk John Allen talks to Scott Kent on TAPE RECORDERS.mp3 (79Mb 1:26)
There is also an episode track on the BAS CD and here is that Description:
Track 12. "Shop Talk", WHRB-FM, November 5, 1984.
Peter Mitchell (on the left), Richard Goldwater, MD (center) and E. Brad Meyer (right) introduce the show with a 1932 stereo recording and prepare to talk with guests Mark Davis and David Moran, both then of dbx corporation.
Shop Talk, which through most of its ten-year life on WBUR featured just Mitchell and Goldwater, was the precursor of Tom and Ray Magliozzi's "Car Talk". As we finished our 9:00-10:30 stint every Saturday morning, Tom and Ray would take our places and begin joking with each other. Eventually the station manager figured out that they were funnier than we were, and that more people drove cars than owned hi-fi equipment, and fired us. Until then, the show publicized the Boston Audio Society, vastly increasing attendance at our monthly meetings. The show came back for a time during the '80's on the Harvard station WHRB, where we appeared once a month as guests of HRB stalwart David Elliott. [EBM]
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| BAS MICROPHONE CLINIC REPORT ! |
| In September 2009 the B A S held a microphone clinic, testing 37 different microphone models. The ambitious nature of the clinic effort, the extent of data collection, the number of individuals involved in microphone testing and in writing various sections of the report, and the complexity in determining how to construct the clinic report and make it available to members resulted it not being published until now. The dataset is extensive.
Representative samples were included in the abbreviated report in "The B A S Speaker"
(Fall 2015; v37n3)
Go to the MICROPHONE CLINIC PAGE for more...
...and don't forget, here is the master list of microphones in the world
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When collecting and plotting "noisy" data it is often useful to have Microsoft Excel plot a Trend Line through it. If that data is to be used for further work, it may be necessary to have an X-Y table of the Trend Line. That is not easy to get and this paper will show how to do it.
Joseph DeMarinis has an article here: Extracting Numerical Data from an Excel Trend Line
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Foster's Test Bench !
by Alvin Foster ! Click the logo: —> |
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The rapidly-becoming-famous BAS Headphone Test Article is now available in the BASS VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4, on Page 17, available HERE  PDF 3mb |
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Visit our PODCAST PAGE for:
The LIVE video podcast of our meetings,
Archived video of past meetings (only one so far!),
and Audio Podcast interviews by Alvin Foster |
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There is a supplemental and further explanation addendum paper to the E. Brad Meyer / David Moran paper published in the September, 2007 issue of the AES Journal. That page, which documents the experimental protocol and audio systems/source material is here:
www.bostonaudiosociety.org/explanation.htm |
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| There is a Power Point Presentation of the lecture given by Dr. Barry Blesser at the March 2007 Meeting. The Meeting page synopsis is HERE; the Power Point Presentation (as a web page) is HERE |
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Some earlier BASS issues, previously available only directly by mail, are now available online, on the BAS SPEAKER page, HERE
Show your appreciation for the immense amount of dedicated work that went into both the original writing, gathering, editing and printing, PLUS the more recent scanning and conversion to PDF format, by joining the Society, HERE !
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A L L O F F S I T E L I N K S O P E N I N T O A N E W T A B O R W I N D O W
- AND FOR CONVENIENCE -
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