IF BAD SOUND WERE FATAL, AUDIO WOULD BE THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH

by DON & CAROLYN DAVIS


Formats

Softcover
£14.73
Softcover
£14.73

Book Details

Language : English
Publication Date : 09/03/2004

Format : Softcover
Dimensions : 6x9
Page Count : 368
ISBN : 9781414078830

About the Book

If Bad Sound Were Fatal, Audio Would be the Leading Cause of Death is about the “mind set” surrounding the most successful education idea in the audio industry, started by Don & Carolyn Davis, the founders of Synergetic Audio Concepts.  Taken from over twenty years of Syn-Aud-Con Newsletters, If Bad Sound Were Fatal-- is the non technical side of what was shared world-wide with thousands of Syn-Aud-Con “grads.” It is a look at what inspired, thrilled, educated, re-directed, and entertained those on the journey to professionalism in audio and acoustics. It is what the Davises found interesting, both in their own experiences and in the experiences of their grads.  Liberally annotated with 2003 comments on the original articles, it reveals the humorous, the travel experiences, philosophy, management mishaps, mistakes and myths, and is a cornucopia of shared synergetic insights on everything from audio to xylophones.  There is a heavy dose of history of audio giants, many of whom the Davises knew personally, and the explosion of audio knowledge moving the audio industry out of the 1920s into the 21st century. The majority of the book can serve as an “ink blot” of diverse individuals who shared what amused, entertained and informed them.  If you approach this book logically, you’re doomed to failure. It is an extreme case of “free association” reminiscences.


About the Author

Don & Carolyn Davis form a unique husband and wife team working in audio, starting in 1951 with The Golden Ear in Lafayette, IN, selling eclectic high fidelity equipment. Don was Paul Klipsch’s President in charge of Vice in the late 50s, and worked for Altec Lansing from 1959 until 1972 where he was co-inventor of 1/3-octave equalization. The Davises founded Synergetic Audio Concepts in 1973 in response to the growing need in the audio industry for training in the fundaments of sound reinforcement. Their work in equalization, speech intelligibility and recording technologies provided the backbone for developing training seminars and workshops.

Don has authored three books, Acoustical Tests and Measurements in 1965, How to Build Speaker Enclosures in 1968, co-authored with Alex Badmaieff, which has sold over 200,000 copies, and Sound System Engineering, co-authored with his wife, Carolyn, in 1975. They are working on the 3rd edition with co-author, Dr. Eugene Patronis.

The authors of this book, after enduring really poor sound quality at a meeting of a professional audio society, uttered in frustration, “If bad sound were fatal, audio would be the leading cause of death.” 

They have spent their professional careers writing and lecturing on sound system engineering. The audio industry has generously recognized their efforts as instrumental in the better sound quality we enjoy today. Don & Carolyn are both Fellows of the Audio Engineering Society and have received many awards in the audio industry.

In the process of communicating with the grads of their seminars on audio and acoustics, a quarterly Newsletter was established. Most of the Newsletter was technical in nature, but also contained the evolving mindset that bonded teachers and grads into something not originally expected – a fraternity of people dedicated to changing an industry.

These excerpts from the Syn-Aud-Con Newsletters, annotated in 2003, go back to the beginning of these changes in the industry up to the Davises’ retirement in 1995.

The book provides a remarkable insight into entrepreneur teachers communication with entrepreneur students, the typical attendees at their seminars were already successful n their chosen industry, but knew in their hears that there was a higher standard and they actively sought it.