My wife and I had been snorkeling for about an hour, checking out the colorful tropical fish in a secluded small cove. Pretty cool, right? We were on Maui for our honeymoon and having a great time. It had been a long day though and we were getting tired so it was time to make our way back to our hotel. As we swam back to the shore I looked down into the crystal clear water one last time and saw a sand dollar below me on the ocean floor. The perfect gift and souvenir for her to remember this day I thought to myself. I let her swim ahead of me so she wouldn’t be able to notice what I was doing and then down I dove. I almost had it in my grasp but the water was serving up an optical illusion. The prize was further than I thought. No big deal, I’ll just swim down a little further. And then it happened. Something was wrong. Very wrong. I felt tremendous pressure and then overwhelming pain in my right ear. My ear drum had ruptured from diving too deep, bursting out a small hole in it. I fought to pull myself to the surface as fast as I could. Sea water had gotten into my inner ear and was causing me to have vertigo. The entire world was spinning around me and I couldn’t get my bearings. Immediately I started trying to swim toward the shore but I couldn’t focus on it. It felt like I was on a carnival ride going round and round.
I thought I could make it to shore but quickly realized it was not going to happen. I was just too disoriented. In the distance I could see other snorkelers and divers spinning around in my vision having fun in their own world, not noticing me. I started to panic and that’s when it hit me. I am going to die here today.
Wow, so this is how it all ends for me? In a watery grave while the rest of the world goes on without even noticing? I started waving my arms in the air and yelling “Help me! I’m drowning!”
Then something incredible happened. Out of nowhere came two divers. They grabbed a hold of me and like lifeguards drug me to the rocky shore. They eventually got me to a spot where I could sit down in shallow water. As I put my hands behind me to sit down I felt the needles of sea urchins penetrating my hands. I pulled the needles out wincing in pain and they showed me how to clear the water from my ear. This made the vertigo subside enough so that I could walk. Kind of. The cove we were in did not have a sandy beach. It was completely covered in stones that were not easy to navigate, especially as I was still experiencing vertigo. As we walked the half mile back to our rental car I knew that I had just avoided certain death. I owe my life to two guys whose names I never got. The instant they saw I was going to be ok they swam away. They were both obviously serious divers and I’m guessing had probably saved a few tourists’ lives along the way. This was not a life changing experience for them, but for me it was. Wherever they are, I hope they know my wife and I are both eternally grateful.
I saw a doctor on Maui multiple times over the next few days and after about 6 weeks my ear drum healed up and returned to normal. That was ten years ago this May which is also my wedding anniversary. I am a lucky guy in more ways than one.
I wanted to share this story to illustrate that you should never be afraid to ask for help. There will always be someone else who has been down the road that you are on right now and knows the solutions. Believe it or not I hesitated for a minute to cry out for help because part of me was embarrassed. I’m going to die and I’m thinking about being embarrassed. That’s crazy, right?
When you are assembling your musical team keep this in mind. We all need help. Notice that the bigger the band is, the bigger their team is. Management, crew, drivers, etc., etc. As you grow your band you will have more and more need for help to push your career to the next level. Think about that for a second. The stronger your team is, the further you get. This is the idea of a Mastermind. I will discuss this in an upcoming blog post. You can use your skills to help others move forward too. That’s one reason I love to mix. I get to help bands have a killer product and I get to do something I love. It’s a win/win.
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Let’s discuss some different ways that you can think about a compressor besides simple dynamic control. Changing the character of a sound is one secret weapon method of using a compressor. This is about sound shaping. The best engineers use compressors to take tones to a new level. This is where words like vibe and mojo get thrown around. There are certain classic compressors that are famous for the sound they bring to the party. Engineers use them like eq’s. Some examples of these vibe compressors are the LA-2A, the 1176, and the Fairchild. So how are they shaping the sound? This is where it gets interesting. They are actually creating upper harmonics so they are working kind of like an aural exciter. If you have a sound that seems a little boring or generic I suggest trying out one of these compressors and check out how it can spice things up.
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Also, in case you didn’t know, I mix singles, EPs, and Albums for Rock and Metal bands.