Trophies

Have I led myself down a dead end path? What I mean is does all of this radio rewinding finally crash into a brick wall? Is there a point in recalling a past career that is for all intents and purposes over? My radio career was shrouded in obscurity anyway so how could it be useful to my readers (making this word plural might be wishful thinking.) I have seen blogging and podcasting as an outlet feeding my hunger for broadcasting. But I need more.

My passions have not diminished just because I no longer work in the field. In 1995 economic realities forced me to part ways with radio. I could not make a strong living at the only real work I have ever truly loved. My second career provided more money at its peak year than as many as seven or eight combined lean years in radio. Sad. I am tortured and to an extent handicapped by the past. Radio continues to be an obsession that roadblocks my future. Therefore tough decisions must be made. I can no longer pine over an unremarkable past. I must return to my original intention for getting into broadcasting, audio. The much bigger picture is my aptitude for anything sound. 26 years ago I saw a little 5,000 watt AM daytimer as my springboard into professional sound recording. Twelve years followed at four more radio homes with no more than a glimmer of fruition. I dreamed of owning and operating my own recording studio and briefly interned at a small semi pro facility with a Foxtex 1/4 inch 8 track machine. This was a tape deck that I rightfully considered purely amateur compared to the 2 inch multi-tracks used in real studios. Where I was short sighted was prematurely severing my ties to the tiny studio due mainly to my disgust over their use of foul language. Reporting to my regular day job at the AM and FM studios provided probably as much or more colorful talk and vulgarity as the Waving Girl studios although escape from it was provided by our isolated control room. Looking back, my snobbish prejudice for inferior equipment might be a more valid theory of my early exit although I insisted at the time the cursing kept me away. For years I supposed my exposure to pro recording added credibility to my resume but it now feels like another dusty trophy on a long forgotten shelf.

Church sound, like podcasting, has been an extra-curricular outlet for me over the years. In fact, it precedes radio by about three years when at 14 years of age I began recording services for my preacher dad and his subsequent broadcast, Jesus is Lord.

Doing sound has flustered me a time or two. It detaches me from the worship and makes a fool of me when some untrained individual holding a mic makes a mistake and blame is directed to the booth. Not to imply I’m perfect but I do bring to the table a unique skill set. The tight cues and quick on you feet thinking I learned in radio have proved very valuable in church work. Getting into the sound booth lately has been impossible though. I just recently left a congregation over not wanting to use me. My expertise was offered free of charge but I was squelched and hurt badly because I had finally decided to return from pew warmer to an active participant following a self imposed 10 year hiatus. I was not even given a fair audition. My one and only turn at the board the choir director unwittingly sabotaged me by setting the stage mix too loud. I discovered that church sound guys were still a close knit group unwilling to let in anyone not associated with their particular clique. Needless to say nepotism rules the day in their world. The diva affected by brief feedback from her monitor criticized me openly in church prior to service by reporting me directly to the main sound man for something I had not originally set. Such pettiness is the reason I abstained from even mentioning my talents for a decade!

My new church seems to have a need, although this time  I will be more guarded. The sound guy’s skills and background are an unknown commodity but I have seen his family members assisting on occasion. Is this more nepotism? I have offered my services and the pastor sees me doing “Media Shout”, which are slides of song lyrics and video stored on a hard drive projected via PC on a pull down movie screen. I suppose I could re-purpose my intuition toward video but as stated audio is my passion, my comfort zone.

In future installments I will go into deeper detail. I will keep all you rewinders updated on my progress at the new church. Next time I’ll recall the best, most positive, situation I have had in church sound where the pastor himself had an enormous passion for audio excellence along with superb musical ability.

Stay tuned