The World of Sound by Peter K. Burkowitz

Author:Peter K. Burkowitz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sound engineering, music, practice, phono, sound, noise, carrier, recording, surround, analog, digital, orchestra, concert, microphone, artist, grammophone, turntable, Burkowitz, multi-channel
Publisher: Schiele&Schön
Published: 2014-02-05T12:57:12+00:00

The patent rally

I have already made some remarks about mounting mixing desks in previous chapters. It may interest some readers that a fierce, even if latent, competition among studio engineers had flared up already during the early 1950ies. They vied with each other for the newest model, trying to devise the most “ergonomic” appliances, offering the most functional tactile, optically and acoustically user-friendly elements.

The various shapes of knobs and switches, faders, sliders, push-buttons, symbols, light signals, desks and consoles invented for this purpose could fill the Guggenheim Museum. It was part of the game to try outstripping one’s competitors by introducing smart functions and working methods – just like in any other field of industry, or in sports arenas.

In this context I want to mention an unusual way of arranging mixing controls which I encountered during my first visit to the USA in 1960, when I went to see dozens of sound studios, filled with insatiable curiosity about foreign countries and technical innovations that had been bottled up during the “Third Reich”. This piece of equipment was unique – at least I have never again seen anything like it. In that New York ATLANTIC studio, discussed everywhere because of the refined 8-track recording technique they had first employed for the multiple overlaying of the voices of Les Paul and Mary Ford, the faders were inserted in the mixing desk the “wrong” way around. In order to raise the volume the operator had to pull the handles of the faders towards himself instead of – as it is usually done – pushing them away. Tom Dowd argued that this seemed more logical to him as it also better equals the natural reaction of corporal defense.

“Suum cuique” is a good principle which works best in one’s own workshop, but in larger enterprises with a numerous crew and a duty roster standardized equipment is a “must”.

The patent office was not always best pleased with more and more new gadgets, either. The number of publications on utility models and patenting alone in the field of recording would have justified a lot of law students specializing in patent agency, instead of which we were confronted during legal discussions with experts on power current or telephony. As I was filled with an urgent desire for innovation, meeting these universalists on electricity helped me to learn formulating patent claims for some exotic studio appliance in a way that could be grasped by specialists on streetcar engines and floodlights alike.

Here’s a little exercise for home-use: Try to describe the unheard-of novelty of your neighbor’s latest MP3-player in a way that enables you to complete the Patent Office’s set phrase “we declare that what we claim is:”, containing every relevant attribute, in just one sentence. It should be done, too, with unanimous precision, only concentrating on aspects which are truly different, better and which offer a “level of novelty” in comparison to an older version. This is what the Patent Office demands in return for the admission of your

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.