The slippery slope into the world of high-fidelity audio.

Yahoo Buckaroo

The fabled physicist, neurosurgeon, test pilot, and rock star Buckaroo Banzai stated,
“Wherever you go, there you are.” That’s great Buckaroo, but how did we even start?

The Pocket Radio

Specifically, how did I begin my slide toward the slippery slope of high-fidelity audio?
Although I am a left-coast captive, I will avoid chemical-induced metaphysics for the answer.
Instead, I will lean on the electromagnetic physics of a 20th-century marvel, the AM pocket radio.

My early musical memories flowed from an AM pocket radio – Dion and the Belmonts, Chuck Berry, Elvis, the 4 Seasons, Ray Charles, Buddy Holly, the Beach Boys, and so much more. My pocket radio also carried Vin Skully Dodger radio broadcasts. It was my first step toward an addictive audio cliff.

1st Upgrade

The era of my pocket radio ended with the purchase of a Montgomery Wards compact stereo.
It included a record changer, plus attached swing-out speakers.
My first albums included Little Anthony & the Imperials, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson,
and The Association. The music was magic.

1st Live Music

In the spring of 1968, I attended my first concert that headlined The Association.
They drenched my ears in powerful, tight harmonies.
However, the opening act, the legendary jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, liberated my naive musical mind.

Select this Spotify Link for Wes Montgomery’s version of “A Day In The Life”.
Select this Wikipedia Link for a quick view of his career.

My spring of live music continued with Ray Charles and Lou Rawls.
My summer closed with The Chambers Brothers, Steppenwolf, and The Doors.
It was an awesome musical baptism.

Phil Begat

1969, I was a broke full-time college student with a part-time job.
I desperately needed to upgrade from my compact stereo.
And a friend introduced me to Phil, the owner of Whittier Electronics.

Phil with his tobacco pipe in hand, graciously took the time to assist a young broke audio novice.
He guided my purchase of an entry-level component stereo audio system – a Martel stereo receiver,
plus a pair of 8-inch raw speakers he tossed in. I installed the speakers into cabinets built by my Dad.
Next paycheck — I returned to purchase a Garrrad record changer and Shure phono cartridge.
Phil begat my slide into the slippery slope of high-fidelity audio.

Rise & Decent Accelerates

My music interest was on a meteoric rise that led to the discovery of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium,
The Ice House, The Troubadour, The Palladium, the Hollywood Bowl, The Greek Theater, and more,
plus a long list of legendary artists.

The rise also expanded my record collection to the sounds of The Buffalo Springfield, Dylan, The Bryds,
The Flying Burrito Brothers, Blind Faith, Led Zeppelin, Graham Parsons, Poco, David Bromberg — well you get the drift. My descent into the slippery slope had accelerated.

Familiar Story

A live music scene, and an expanding record collection, led to more high-fidelity system upgrades.
This musical path also drew me into a consumer electronics audio career.
I was not alone.
Many of my audio colleagues can offer a similar story.
The slippery slope is a powerful draw.

Psycho-Acoustical Twist

Music led us into the world of high-fidelity audio.
Yet another subconsciously heard factor may be at hand.

Now, this may sound like a strange question.
But how does music create pleasure?
You’re asking, “Where is he going with this blog?”
Well, we appear to subconsciously seek harmony.

In the mid-1990s, I attended a musical seminar that featured an avant-garde classical composer.
He was also a physics professor and researcher in psychoacoustics.
He presented surprising evidence that our brain seeks audio harmony.
His evidence included photo images of the eardrum surface.

The first image, produced by music,
created oscilloscope-type peak-and-null parallel ridges on the eardrum surface.

The second image was made from a single audio frequency, a single sine wave.
Initially, he expected his research to reveal an image of a single ridge.
Instead, a series of five parallel ridges appeared.

The parallel spacing of the five ridges corresponded to the mathematical ratio of a piano chord.
He then proposed that it appears our brain seeks sonic harmony.
We humans are “suckers” for harmony.
This bordered metaphysics.

Buckaroo
Music
Psycho-acoustics
& Phil

It’s a fact.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Music plus psycho-acoustical effects may have led me there – the slippery slope of high-fidelity audio.
But Buckaroo,
I’m hoisting a Kathrin’s Biergarten lager to Phil.
Wherever you are, Thank you, Phil.

That’s it for today

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