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Sometimes - it’s uncanny how some things you were impressed with at an early age affect the outcome of a part
of your life. In mine it was being exposed to electrical sound? I suppose I should describe what I just wrote for the benefit of my readers, if any.
Electrical sound to me is enhanced, amplified sound originating from a microphone, record player or radio.
I’m past seventy now and it still fascinates me and I continue to follow it and watch the technology almost double from year to year.
I have heard amplified sound reproduced from a metal needle, scraping on carbon cylinder vibrating up through a large shell type horn while I turned a crank to keep the cylinder turning – to digital disks hidden inside a black box. (Bad engineering, for half the fun was seeing the cylinder – later - record - turning as the sound moved out toward you.)
I must also admit, that the fascination also served me to meet many very interesting people on the path it led me, and, perhaps that was the most rewarding part. The era that God allowed me to explore and live in was shared with many outstanding professional personalities that were responsible for many of the things we consider normal everyday’ items in the sound field and songs that we sometimes still hum. Many I speak about with their first names for I knew them well.
Then, there were those curious friends who became buddies, interested in what I was doing and helping me out by encouragement or plain physical labor. Names like Smitty - - (“Can you believe that sound came out of a ratty’ old garage”, after listening to some of the first tracks in the 60’s studio). C. A. - - (“It made a beautiful whoosh’”, relating to the sound his new $150.00 speaker made when his wife plugged it into the 110 volt plug by mistake). Harley, (“Make me sound like that”, after hearing a voice track from another singer’s session). And, Sam - - “Hey Boss”, “you headed up to the STUDIOS” the name he provided and I adopted for my last studio.
I was also fortunate that I was able to include my sons, Gary, Scott and Ron in my romps through the sound madness. I hope they had as much fun as I did following the trail it led me. I suppose it lightly affected Gary, the oldest, for he wound up with an electrical engineering degree and then a jump in to upper echelons of power industry in California. He still plunks on his original guitar and plays with others now and then. Scott plays the guitar well, mainly as a hobby, while he plies a trade in the construction industry in Washington State. And, Ron – well, you can look up www.ronnydean.com and browse a bit. You would be welcome there. It may say a few things about being fascinated with music and sound. And, my wife Dorthy who stood by and put up with all of this, being the only female in the family wasn’t easy for her. So follow me if you will, as I keep writing – otherwise, don’t ever say, “What did he ever do?”