A thought for 2016. Ignorance is NOT bliss or else I’d be pretty happy at this point.

The more I learn about the acoustic measurement process and system design and optimization, the more I realize how much more I need to understand to be competent. After years of active study, what I’ve become good at is recognizing my blind spots. This can be discouraging but I knew starting this adventure that it wasn’t going to be easy. The tools themselves are now well understood. Now it’s time to get more comfortable with the various procedural routines. This is something that 6o6 McCarthy spends a great deal of time on in his classes but for which I still struggle with. It all seems so simple until I’m standing there with my mics and someone’s system is on the line. The map (if you will) of how you get from point A to point Z in the optimization process is known. Proper system design and optimization must follow a certain set of steps in the proper order or else all the decisions made along the way are invalid. 6o6’s book, “Sound Systems – Design and Optimization” goes into great detail regarding these steps but in some ways the details are overly & yet necessarily complicated. Sometimes it’s helpful to be able to ask a question and get an answer. Having mentors has greatly expanded my knowledge. Thank you to everyone who has texted, emailed and called when I get lost in the gory details…