One of my many bosses, known to intimates as “Yoo-hoo,” provided one of the high points of my live sound journey when he allowed that I had done a reasonable job (for a “Yank”) of imparting English audio attitude in this publication.
There was a time when English audio attitude was the worst part of my day – the gentle guidance of the U.K. engineers during their Chicago sojourns was not dissimilar to R. Lee Ermey’s turn as the drill instructor in Full Metal Jacket, except that he was a lot nicer. “You have a blank-y blank-ing PA, a blank-y blank-ing club, you don’t know blank” – etc.
I shudder during our summer bootcamp when I recall the U.K. version that was delivered to me, not in halls of ivy, but in crummy basements redolent of stale beer and the inevitable outcome of its consumption.
Their motivation, of course, was not academic; they were incensed at the quality of our equipment and our craft, and were not shy about demonstrating their superior knowledge and kit.
They didn’t realize that they were providing a service – a seminar, if you will. The real-time exposure to their method was a crash course in professional live sound practice, unencumbered by texts (as in books) or learning outcome assessment. You picked up what you could, in the hope that you did a little better the next time they came through.
Not a model for (accredited) academic practice. The last 30 years I have attempted to re-configure those experiences into something that fits the college model. That model has changed, along with the imperatives (loudspeaker management/line arrays/digital consoles/measurement/the IT-ization of everything/the commoditization of labor’s contribution/ear monitors…) that drive current live sound biz reality.
We often hear from people who “did it the hard way” that no one can learn this stuff in school. You don’t have to learn it in school, but school has given more people access to the mysteries of this business, along with a technical foundation not provided by slugging cases down the stairs into some dump or other.
