Fish(er) Tales

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! These posts will give you a better idea about what this site is about. Start here, then go here, and here, and then here.My college courses are starting up soon around here, so I thought I’d share some insights into why I teach. These thoughts came from my 2008 speech when I won the College of DuPage Adjunct...

So, as I sat down to contemplate my journey, I pondered the fundamental ideas that have shaped my career. You may call this A Sound Life Manifesto because it does showcase the whys and wherefores of how to build and sustain a career in audio and music that can help bring you closer to the success you need, want, and deserve. But first you have to define what success means to you. There are a couple...

I’ve been a fan of Ian Fleming’s James Bond since my youth. It started with the movies, of course, but one summer I decided to read all the novels, in order. I moved on to John Gardner’s take on the character, and then found renewed interest when my friend Raymond Benson penned a few excellent Bond novels (please Raymond write more!). And, unless you’ve been living under a rock,...

My son asked me what my favorite number is and I told him 4. He asked me why and, frankly, I had to really think about it. I couldn’t remember the actual reason why because for as long as I can remember, #4 was it. Then I saw something that lead me toward a possible answer. The Thunderbirds. No not the Navy ones, the goofy marionette ones from 60′s TV. They had several machines to which...

As I contemplate the ways and means to a A Sound Life, here is a short (but powerful!) list of fourteen crucial traits you must possess to be successful: Passion Dedication Confidence Mastery of your talent and art Take charge attitude Self-reliance and motivation Know your strengths and weaknesses Thick skin Entrepreneurial spirit Committed to success Great people skills Rudimentary business background Basic...

It’s summer (duh!) and I see a lot of amateurs and pros alike cutting grass. I also see a lot of construction workers on road crews and at building sites. What I don’t see a lot of is ear protection! Some of today’s machinery is quite loud — loud enough to do permanent damage to hearing. And once you suffer hearing loss, it doesn’t heal. You are born with a hearing range...

Sometimes the simplest advice is still the best advice: Simple Advice Special Thanks to Tony Santona for originally doing this cartoon for me for an article on Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI). They didn’t print it, so I thought it would be good to share it now.

Read this article over at EQ and found this tip on “Barely There Vocals” by Greg Laswell to be interesting: “One of my favorite things to do is to record the lead vocal to get it perfect, and then track two more but turn them down almost to the point where you can’t hear them at all. I actually make them so low that if you mute the lead vocal in the center channel, you can just barely,...