Teach
01-31-2017, 02:37 PM
“Don’t let the needle pin!” my boss said. I was then working weekends at a suburban Boston radio station to supplement my teaching salary. I did news, sports and play-by-play. I even filled in as a disk jockey.
On one particular Saturday morning, I was spinning records. It’s strange what you remember about 45 years ago, but some of the songs I recall were: “Saturday in the Park”; “Ben”; “Suavecito”; “The Morning After,” “Delta Dawn,” etc.
Well, at the time, I recall cueing up a record on “audition” (it doesn’t go over the air) as the song that I was currently playing was just finishing up. I wanted to make a tight segue between the finishing song and the one I was starting
Inadvertently, as I put the new song in play over the air (you take the record back about one rotation to avoid a “whoosh” sound when it begins to air), I had accidentally set “the pot” (dial) too high. The song came on blasting across the airways. The VU Meter in front of me (it monitors sound amplification) was in “the red”. It was peaking.
I recall my boss rushing into the studio and saying, “Walt, be careful. Don’t let the needle pin.” I quickly turned the pot down and the record was now playing at the proper amplification.
For those of you not familiar with a VU Meter, it generally ranges from a low of 20-Black to a “hot” Red-3 reading, sometimes slightly higher. Optimally, the operator should have the sound somewhere in the middle, generally between Black 5 and 3.
And that’s the point, like an oscillating pendulum, we’ve gone from one extreme to the other. I just hope the needle doesn’t get too hot. I believe, as my boss at the radio station said back in the early 70s, "Don't let the needle pin!"
On one particular Saturday morning, I was spinning records. It’s strange what you remember about 45 years ago, but some of the songs I recall were: “Saturday in the Park”; “Ben”; “Suavecito”; “The Morning After,” “Delta Dawn,” etc.
Well, at the time, I recall cueing up a record on “audition” (it doesn’t go over the air) as the song that I was currently playing was just finishing up. I wanted to make a tight segue between the finishing song and the one I was starting
Inadvertently, as I put the new song in play over the air (you take the record back about one rotation to avoid a “whoosh” sound when it begins to air), I had accidentally set “the pot” (dial) too high. The song came on blasting across the airways. The VU Meter in front of me (it monitors sound amplification) was in “the red”. It was peaking.
I recall my boss rushing into the studio and saying, “Walt, be careful. Don’t let the needle pin.” I quickly turned the pot down and the record was now playing at the proper amplification.
For those of you not familiar with a VU Meter, it generally ranges from a low of 20-Black to a “hot” Red-3 reading, sometimes slightly higher. Optimally, the operator should have the sound somewhere in the middle, generally between Black 5 and 3.
And that’s the point, like an oscillating pendulum, we’ve gone from one extreme to the other. I just hope the needle doesn’t get too hot. I believe, as my boss at the radio station said back in the early 70s, "Don't let the needle pin!"