(All images courtesy of Michigan Tech’s Audio Engineering Society)
Every year students come together to turn Michigan Tech’s snowy campus into a wonderland of snow statues during Winter Carnival. For many years, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) has provided the soundtrack for the traditional All-nighter, bringing the energy with their signature snow speakers and a rotating cast of volunteer DJs.
Built in the center of the action on Walker Lawn between broomball courts and Husky Plaza, the snow speakers spread music across campus, livening the spirits of statue builders, volunteers, and visitors.
The distance the sound travels depends on the design, number, and types of speakers used. Club treasurer and mechanical engineering student Jake Mahoney ’27, says that usually you can hear lyrics all the way to Husky Plaza—and the bass thumps all the way to the Memorial Union Building. One year, the club even received some less-than-thrilled comments from folks in Ripley, all the way across the Portage Canal. While the massive cone-shaped snow amplifier was a success in the sound-carrying category, the club has been more mindful of its Keweenaw neighbors since.
This year’s design will not garner complaints from nearby towns. But the club does have a unique multi-sensory experience up its sleeve. One of their club projects for 2024-2025 is a hefty rotary subwoofer that plays sounds below 20 hertz. That means the vibrations the speaker makes are below the range of human hearing, and will be felt instead of heard.
“It’s more of a practical effects apparatus than a speaker, because you can’t really hear the sound that it is making,” said Mahoney, “But, for example, if a kick drum hits it will send a giant pressure wave that will hit you in the chest to compliment the audible sound the kick drum makes.”
To put it in perspective, the largest commercial subwoofers available are 17 inches. Some hobbyists have built subwoofers up to 20 inches. Audio Engineering Society’s rotary speaker is a whopping 30 inches. The larger the speaker, the lower the sounds it can produce, which makes this 30-inch subwoofer an impressive feat of audio engineering. The speaker will debut for the first time at Winter Carnival 2025 before going on to be part of performances in the McArdle Theatre.
Before the new rotary subwoofer and speakers can be installed, club members will use snow to build a frame and DJ booth to hold them. It’s been a challenge for the group this year as students are not permitted to work on statues when temperatures plummet. The group voluntarily disqualifies itself from the month-long statue competition because it uses power tools, which aren’t allowed.
Even with power tools, creating the speaker rack and DJ booth is a big undertaking. Currently the group has limited wooden forms and can only build one piece of the statue at a time. One of their club goals for next year is to build additional forms and recruit more members so they can take on more ambitious snow speaker designs in 2026.
Speakers and snow aren’t the only ingredients needed to make Winter Carnival a treat for the ears. Students, community members and alumni volunteer as DJs from around 6 p.m. until 1 a.m. during the Wednesday All-nighter.
Though the lineup is not yet finalized, carnival-goers can expect appearances by DJ Vern (Sound Girls president and sound design student Vanessa Dulong ’25), J-Man (Sound Girls vice president and audio production and technology student Jos Olson ’26), and returning DJ and Michigan Tech alum Bearded Beats.
Audio Engineering Society president and sound design student Aidan Conrade ’25 explained that each DJ chooses their own music and style. AES arranges the lineup so the energy starts on a chill vibe earlier in the evening and amps up as the night goes on.
“It’s something that I haven’t seen done anywhere else and I think it is a really great opportunity to platform students and people from the area, too,” said Conrade.
AES is open to new members and is happy to support personal sound design projects with resources and training. If you’re interested, contact them at aes@mtu.edu.
About the College of Sciences and Arts
The College of Sciences and Arts is a global center of academic excellence in the sciences, humanities, and arts for a technological world. Our teacher-scholar model is a foundation for experiential learning, innovative research and scholarship, and civic leadership. The College offers 33 bachelor’s degrees in biological sciences, chemistry, humanities, kinesiology and Integrative physiology, mathematical sciences, physics, psychology and human factors, social sciences, and visual and performing arts. We are home to Michigan Tech’s pre-health professions and ROTC programs. The College offers 25 graduate degrees and certificates. We conduct approximately $12 million in externally funded research in health and wellness, sustainability and resiliency, and the human-technology frontier.
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