A message from our Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, Robert Beiny, reflecting on the recent, untimely death of his friend, audio industry entrepreneur, Andy Shiach. Andy was founder of ACS, one of the world’s leading hearing protection and in ear technology suppliers.
The Birth of In Ear Monitoring for Musicians
Following the terribly sad news about Andy’s passing I have been going through some old press cuttings and remembering some milestones in Andy and my careers. I came across this feature from 1997, which highlighted our early work with in ear monitoring (IEM).
Read the article in Muzine HERE.
At the time, Andy and I were the only UK audiologists specialising in this emerging field, working with the sound engineer Chris Lindop and Martin Noah electronics engineer. Their company, Garwood, designed and manufactured what’s thought to be the first commercially available in ear monitoring system.
Andy Shiach – Founder of ACS. In Ear Monitoring Pioneer
We traveled to Dallas in April 1995 to meet with audiologists Mike Santucci of Sensaphonics, and Lisa Tannenbaum, owner of Musician’s Hearing Services, located in Chicago and California respectively. Suddenly we were not alone in the quest to educate musicians that their hearing needed to be conserved and their on stage monitoring improved. Mead Killion and Etymotic Research provided ER15 musicians earplugs (if you don’t know, check out Parvum Bonum, Plus Melius Fallacy in Earplug Selection HERE for context).
Add in a chance meeting with Marshall Chasin of Musicians Clinics of Canada too and the stage was set (if you excuse the pun).
A small handful of audiologists around the globe began to connect to spread this important message.
IEM is everywhere
Today more than thirty years on, that early work lives on and companies like SENSAPHONICS INC and importantly, Andy’s company, ACS, are leaders in the field of in ear monitoring.
It’s heartwarming to know that our early work and, often, Andy products are now visible every time a musician steps on a stage, literally everywhere in the world.
And so it’s with fond memories and sincere respect that I say farewell to my friend, Andy Shiach.