Thursday, April 16, 2026
Meeting Time: 7:00 pm
Online event (via Zoom): Please register on meetup.com to obtain the Zoom link.
Lecture
In this first of a two-part series on professional audio and musical electronics, we’ll look at the history of these devices, and review some classic circuit designs.
These worlds often overflow with folklore and myths around gear that musicians and audio engineers deeply care about. Behind the romance and storytelling, however, lie circuits with predictable behaviors, components that perform in specific ways, and engineering decisions that shape the sound we hear every day.
Contrast this with circuit design from other fields, where performance and acceptance can always objectively be tested and compared against an agreed-upon criteria.
In this lively and technically grounded presentation, Jim Julian will explore what really happens inside the equipment used by musicians, recording engineers, and audio professionals.
Topics will include:
- Audio Gear, Musical Instruments, and more
- Notable Inventors
- Music Synthesis
- Guitar Effects, a.k.a. Stompboxes
- Recording & Live Sound
- MIDI
- Anecdotes, Rants, and more
Classic circuits examined:
- Guitar Amplifiers
- Microphone Preamplifiers
- Distortion pedal effects
- Wah-wah pedal effects
Speaker Bio:
James "Jim" Julian is an electrical engineer with a BSEE from NJIT. At age 16, he began work at a local music store as a self-taught electronic technician.
Upon graduation, he designed custom test equipment for communication satellites at RCA Astro Electronics. He continued designing analog, digital, and microcontroller circuits, and has also held positions in engineering management and product marketing.
He has a parallel career in quality engineering for medical devices, and is Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certified. He worked at Timeplex, Datascope, VitalCom, GE Healthcare, and Stryker, and as a consultant.
He recently founded Uncool Audio, a new pro-audio hardware venture. Jim is also a drummer, vocalist, commercial and fine art photographer, and videographer.
Notes
There is no cost to attend this meeting, however, if you are a NYS Professional Engineer and would like to receive Professional Development Hours (PDHs) of continuing education credit, then payment of a $15 fee is required. PDHs will be granted based upon actual time of lecture including Q&A. You must stay to the end to receive credit. You will also have to properly fill out an Evaluation Form to prove that you attended this lecture.
Click here to open the form. Simply fill it out and click on the “Submit” button.
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While we prefer that your payment and evaluation form are received by the day of the lecture, they must be received by the first Monday after the lecture.
If paying by Zelle is a problem for you, then please contact Ed Gellender at edgellender@gmail.com for an alternate payment method.
