David Friedli

By the Dashboard Lights

04/03/08

Reverberations

The personal collection began with a phone call in 1985.

“Friedli, I am selling my sound system, you know, my little Yamaha mixer and Peavey speakers. I’ll make you a heck of a deal.”

It was David Fowler, my best friend and an accomplished musician. His small sound system had supported his musical gigs throughout college and filled the dorm hallways and courtyard with hundreds of watts of sound.

“I dunno,” I replied. “You know, The Wife might have some reservations about that….”

He cut me off. “Friedli. Great deal. I’ll throw in cords, a couple of mics, the transformers and a stand. You can use it for dances, for church, for school…whatever. Once you’ve got it, you’ll always be finding uses for it.”

I hid the purchase for a few months before The Wife discovered it, piled in a corner of the basement. The purchase received a cool response.

“What will you use THAT for? You’re no musician.”

“Well, I can use it for dances, for church, for school, for…whatever.”

The Wife stared me down with a “whatever” look, and walked away. The great news was that now the purchase was out in the open, so was the system. A tape deck and turntable (cutting edge technology in the mid-80’s) created a formidable hi-fi in the basement.

In short order, the system found its way to school, to dances and to church.

And with every event, I found reason for more equipment. Longer microphone cords would get me further from the object of audio projection.

Additional microphones and stands (with the accompanying cords and transformers, of course) provided additional flexibility. I viewed powered monitors and a mixer board as essential additions.

A compact disk player—CD’s!, the highest fidelity possible—was required when young people at dances expressed horror that only the latest and best music was on that format.

Soon, transporting a small sound system required numerous boxes and bags and most of a hatchback car and along the way came a reputation that I actually knew something about mixing sound for performances.

In reality, here is the one thing I know: as long as I am turning the knobs instead of performing behind the microphone, things sound pretty good.

As The Wife aptly stated two decades ago, I’m no musician.

But if I ever become one, I’ve got the system.