Celebration
To those who have signed up or are still thinking of joining your “AudioFile’s” analog seminar on Sept. 19, Saturday, at the AIM Conference Center in Legaspi Village, Makati City, you can expect nothing less than a festive get-together. Yes, on that day we will celebrate fellowship among newfound and longtime friends who share a common interest in music. For the first time, the readers of this column who have followed it since day one will have the chance to party with others whose passion for music is surpassed only by their thirst for knowledge about the analog sound. I am very excited to finally meet in person some of you whom I have thus far only communicated with through e-mail. The prospect of shaking the hands of fellow music nuts who have been very supportive of “AudioFile,” constantly giving suggestions and sharing with me what they know about audio, is really something to look forward to.
Please allow me to take this opportunity to sincerely thank San Miguel Corp. (SMC) and Audio Visual Drivers International Phils Inc. (AVDI) in partnership with Rega Audio Philippines which have agreed to support this once-in-a-lifetime gathering of music lovers. These companies know all too well the importance of music especially in these extremely stressful times. To my friends, SMC vice chairman, president and COO Ramon Ang and vice president for Communications Ramon Santiago, AVDI’s Wilfred Lim and Rega’s Stephen Gan and Nick Sy, my deepest gratitude!
AXA (Life Insurance and Investments) Philippines, Acoustic Dimension, Audio Amplified and Architectural Audio have also chipped in to make this event exceptionally fun.
We guarantee that seminar participants will not be bombarded or bored with technical gobbledygook. The resource persons who will take turns in widening our audio knowledge will provide us with laymen-friendly presentations. Our resource team is composed of: analog collector, music lover and IT professional Francis Sogono; orthopedic surgeon and master analog audio tweaker Dr. Lito Gozum; Rizal Representative and recording engineer Jack Duavit; environmentalist and electrical engineer Mandy Mariño; audio dealer and electronics engineer Andrew Sevilla; DIYer and electrical engineer Jon Agner; DIYer and master violinist Joseph Esmilla; DIYer and electrical engineer Joel Villanueva, DIYer and university professor Arnold Cruz and lastly, businessmen-audiophiles Philip Chua and Pic Añonuevo. The whole program will be emceed by insurance executive and analog buff Jen Dones.
These people are the cream of the crop in the audio community. They are full-blooded audiophiles whose ardor for and expertise in audio are sure to help us truly understand and further appreciate it.
How and why do the grooves in LP produce music? Why is vibration the arch-enemy of good music playback? What makes vinyl different from a CD? What audio gadgets should an enthusiast start with? How do you tweak analog rigs? These and a lot more will be discussed and demonstrated during our whole-day seminar (from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). For only P950 registration fee per person, inclusive of lunch and snacks, you can have fun bonding with fellow audiophiles, maybe win a raffle prize, and swap analog gears/software … What more can you ask for? And if after the seminar you feel confident enough to embark on a more advanced audio knowledge, you can book for a slot at “Analog 102” which will be held during the November Hi-Fi Show to be held at the Manila Mandarin Hotel.
You have until Sept. 15 to sign up. For details, you can get in touch with Jen Dones at jenjen.dones@gmail.com or through 0917-8004868. Remember, you must pre-enlist for the seminar even if you intend to pay on-site.
Music, indeed, is food for the soul. Songs from the past are guideposts to many of our memories, from happy reminiscences to heartbreaking remembrances. In earlier columns, we’ve discussed how our mothers soothed us with loving lullabies when we were infants. Music has the power to destroy barriers between races and ideologies. It has the charm to bring two disparate individuals together in harmony and love. Love for music is reason enough to celebrate.
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For comments or questions, please e-mail me at audioglow@yahoo.com or at vphl@hotmail.com. You can also visit www.wiredstate.com or http://bikini-bottom.proboards80.com or you can twit audiofiler at www.twitter.com for quick answers to your audio concerns.
