Stories from ADC22 - Part 1

This article was originally published on LinkedIn here.

Unskippable Disclaimer: ADC22 was a huge event and I did not have Hermione's Time-Turner with me so I could only meet a small percentage of people and attend a limited number of workshops. Hence, these series of articles will NOT do justice to how brilliant the conference was. I strongly recommend you to consider joining it in-person or online the next year to really enjoy the hangover that I am in right now.

Audio Developer Conference (ADC) is a non-profit event aimed at bringing audio-geeks together.

It's a place where you get to meet a lot of like-minded people who speak the language that you do.

An actual picture from ADC22, London clicked on 14th November 2022 (no kidding)

I had attended the event online in 2021 and really liked it so I decided to join the event in-person this year. One of the best decisions of my life.

A screenshot from Sched app

I met a lot of people who I have know for years through social media or through their work, and many new folks who are all absolutely brilliant and are doing some superb work. I have collected as many stories that I could and in these articles, I'll share them with you.

So after some brilliant workshops on Day 1 about GPU Audio, dynamic cast, Cycling '74's RNBO and some interesting talks by the panel, it was time for a casual meetup at Strongroom. Here's a description of what happens next:

I see a group of people standing in a circle meeting each other for the first time. I notice some familiar faces so I go ahead and join them, which is when everyone introduces themselves. On my right is a person who mentions himself as an audio plugin developer.

Me: Hi, I'm Prashant.

Benjamin: Hey, I'm Benjamin.

Me: So what kind of plugins do you make?

Benjamin: I have a suite of tools that help in audio restoration using real time machine learning approach. You might have heard of DeRoom Pro or Chameleon. The company is called Accentize.

Me: *taking a moment to recall these familiar names* Oh yea I think I've heard of these and tried them too. One sec.

I then take my phone, open WhatsApp and type "accentize". This is what shows up:

Me being a geek and sharing new tech info with the team I was leading

I show it to Benjamin and his face lights up!

Me: *having a fan moment* Oh wow! So it's you who built all of these? That's great work.

Benjamin: *being humble and all* Thanks, I'm glad you liked them.

And that's how friends, I met Benjamin. Over the rest of ADC22 I had the honor to discuss a lot more ideas with him, get more understanding of ML based apps and some interesting perspectives on licensing, cracks and how PACE Anti-Piracy, Inc

is helping developers in solving all this with immense efforts.

Benjamin and I, randomly clicking a selfie while having coffee I'm jet-lagged, of course!

Moments like these is one of the strongest reasons why events like the Audio Developer Conference are so valuable to the audio industry. People share knowledge with no expectations, just to make it easier for everyone else who might need that information for their products. A healthy educational and connection-building event. Plus:

Imagine. You make a product. Put it out in the world. Then go attend an event. And what do you know. You meet ME at a random bar praising your work. Now that's definitely a reward for you for sure! Congratulations Benjamin!

Jokes aside, dear readers, if you are holding back on releasing your apps, well, don't. You never know how it'll change someone's work — could be an indie sound designer or a big ass studio. Either way, you'll find out only if you publish.

PS: Accentize has a BlackFriday sale going on and I genuinely recommend you to try the plugins yourself.

Chameleon by Accentize

A lot more stories from the event are on their way. Search for "adc" in my blog index. Cheers! Share this article with fellow audio tech enthusiasts.