A One-Eared, One-Eyed Fly on the Wall

Recently I was in the audience for a Camerado concert in Brooklyn while sitting at home in my living room, thanks to a live webcast; and I was more engaged than when viewing a live network awards concert.

It's so easy to be seduced by the power and possibilities of expensive mics, preamps and digital 5.1 surround sound.  At first, experiencing the webcast's low fidelity audio and video made me think of a tenth generation analog dub of a recording, which was contrary to the exciting factor that it was live.  But it's the musical performance, and my enjoyment of it, that transcends the quality of transmission.  It's like the early days of AM radio when folks in the hinterlands tuned in far away urban soundscapes and listened through the static to bands playing live in New York City hotel ballrooms.  While hi-def may be able to put bad music on life support, lo-fi can't kill good music.

Auditorium

Within the past two weeks, I had the pleasure of performing in two very different, yet wonderful acoustic spaces.  One was an early 1900s rural opera house and the other, a modern suburban church.  One was built for secular purposes, the other religious; but in each case the room was built to be an auditorium - a room for several hundred people to listen.

Sometimes I'm stuck in an acoustically ugly space and do the best I can with or without sound reinforcement.  That's why I appreciate great rooms like these all the more; and it's when little or no amplification works best.  

This recent experience gave me a very strong image and understanding:  I was a mere string vibrating; the room was the great sounding board, the wooden box of a violin or guitar.  I will practice playing the room as an instrument.

Balance Meter

We're all familiar with American-British synonyms like fries and chips.  In the audio world alone radio is wireless, tube is valve, ground is earth, and calling a VU meter a balance meter is downright poetic.

Balance deals with more than just volume - it's a guiding principle in audio from design to production.  And it's a sensible approach to living: a balanced diet, finding balance between mental and physical activity, the familiar and the new, being with others and being alone, loving yourself enough and not too much.

So when I wear the symbol of a balance meter on my lapel I'm not only honoring the field of sound and audio which has been my passion since childhood and my profession since 1972, but reminding myself with every step and with every breath to keep my balance.