Go here to read the entire Sound Mountain Series.

Although Ben was stung by David’s treatment of him during the whole cable thing in his first weeks of employment at Frank’s Sound Company and Show Rentals, he resolved to stick it out and keep going – even though it wasn’t always easy.

Truth be told, David was a terrible supervisor and it seemed that he only had Ben doing the really crappy stuff, working with the dirty cables back from the outdoor festivals, the cases with the broken latches and warped lids, and all that.

But Ben didn’t give up. He believed in his teacher’s advice about finding ways to make this a learning experience.

So he carefully cleaned the old adhesive off the grody cables with Goo Gone, wiped the dust off the cases with a damp rag, and re-stenciled case numbers and other markings when he thought it needed to be done.

One of the other things Ben started to do to improve his own situation was to figure out ways of organizing his work so that his output could not be confused with David’s.

That way, he figured, he couldn’t get screwed again. So if David asked him to repair a bunch of cables, he made sure he did all of one type, while David fixed another type.

Ben also set up his work area and labeled everything so it was clear what had been done, what was yet to be done, and what was in process.

He made sure he had plenty of supplies on hand like solder, shrink tubing, extra tips for the iron, sharpies in different colors, etc. And he kept his tools in good working order – sharp, clean and safe.

Of course, there were times when David wouldn’t let up. Ben started to get good at detecting David’s moods and was careful to know when to steer clear.

Nevertheless, the influence of David could always be felt in some way or another. Most surprisingly was that Jack Dean, the Chief Tech, didn’t seem to notice or pay any mind.

Ben realized that he might not ever be David’s friend but at least they could work together and get things done. It wasn’t really a team, but they seemed to know how to stay out of each other’s way.

David’s constant muttering about how much his tools sucked and how the company didn’t know how to treat him was something that Ben picked up on, but he’d seen it before and it didn’t seem out of place in the sound business.

Ben was mistaken, however, in thinking that no one was noticing his work ethic.

He would have been even more motivated had he overheard Jack talking to Frank about their latest hire. “Yeah, Ben is the kind of kid we’re looking for,” Jack mentioned to Frank over a beer on a Friday after work. “He keeps his bench so clean you could eat off it.”

They chuckled about that idea, and then Jack asked, “So, what are we going to do with David?”

Both of them knew David didn’t have much of a future, but after a few months of employment, Ben had already shown he probably had what it took to advance. “I guess we’ll have to just do the right thing and get Ben working into systems with Jim. However David takes that, we can’t control it. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles.”

Jack and Frank had seen dozens, maybe hundreds of people come through their doors over the years, and could recognize when they had potential and when they didn’t.

Mostly it was about attitude – who “got it” and who didn’t. Who would let a young kid touch a quarter-million dollar mixing console if they couldn’t properly dress a rack?

That next Monday, Ben was at his bench, early as usual, organizing his work for the day and week. He’d also dug out his already dog-eared copy of the Sound Reinforcement Handbook and looked up each type of cable and termination he was working on.

It gave him a sense of accomplishment to really understand the work as he was doing – even if it was largely “just soldering cables.” He also took pride in the quality of his work. “I could make jewelry if they’d just give me some silver,” he muttered under his breath while soldering a bunch of quarter-inch TRS plugs.

Unbeknownst to Jack and Frank, Ben had also continued to study the issue of power and grounding, both by poring over the handbook and searching online for more info. There were things that still escaped him, but he knew for sure now why to never use a ground lifter.

What he didn’t know was that these were things one needed to know if they were to work in systems. And he also didn’t know that Jack and Frank had plans for him to eventually go to work for Jim Frederick, the Chief Systems Tech.

At about 11:30 that morning, Frank wandered into the shop and shot a knowing glance at Jack, and then sauntered over to Ben’s bench and stood waiting.

After Ben looked up from the panels he was working on, Frank said, “Hey, kid, listen. Would you join me and Jack for lunch today?” Ben was about to tell him that he had brought his lunch that day, but somehow picked up on the importance of the moment and nodded silently. Frank acknowledged him, adding, “OK, let’s go in about 15 minutes, then.”

Ben nodded again as Frank walked out. David turned around to look at Jack, then Ben, but both of them were already back to their respective projects and so missed his dark look. He had never been invited to lunch by the bosses, and wondered what that meant – either the young kid had messed up and was getting let go or…

David didn’t want to admit that he probably knew what was happening.

Taylor Jensen is a freelance pro audio writer.

Go to Sound Mountain, Part 5: Systems – The Path To Monitors