By Miles Patrick Yohnke
© 2021 All Rights Reserved.
"...And through life, each person moves through stages. This grand stage of life."
"You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note." - Doug Floyd.
It was the summer of 1986, and I was managing a high-end stereo store in Saskatoon called "The Harmony Centre." Myself and Marcel Toews, who was another salesperson at the store, would set many of these systems up for people in their homes after the store purchase.
Setting systems up for customers was always a real outing. The people would often make us supper, and bring us into their many customs and cultures as we visited and dined. I still remember this one beautiful family, a doctor from Haiti and his wife and children. The deep flavour of the food that was served, and how open hearted and kind they were. The people were always interesting to meet.
I remember that I had sold one system valued at about $20,000 dollars to one client. The owner of this system was a well respected Saskatoon businessman with a very well known high-end furniture store. He was gay, and his name was Joe.
Joe had bought a television and a few other purchases before this major investment. As such, I had built up a bond with him. A trust. So too had Marcel Toews. So that night wasn't filled with any sexual tension even though this was at the height of AIDS and all the unknown regarding it. It was a far different culture than it is now. Joe's lover was present also. It was just four lives. Four human beings in this world at the same place and time. Together for one night to share some musical moments.
When we'd finished the set-up which in most cases would take an hour or two, I played a few selections from some vinyl records like I always did. I knew these materials would showcase the system like it had sounded in our sound room. I did this to educate. Often peoples' own collections didn't sound very good. Not meaning that the content was poor, but that it may not have been recorded well.
In recordings there are three stages, and the final one is mastering. Part of mastering is the amount of compression placed on the recording. The amounts often are placed on the tracks allowing for what types of devices it is going to be listened on.
For example, hard rock is mostly played on car stereos. Music like Katy Perry's and pop music in general are often mastered for small devices, iPods, etc. These forms of music and genres get what we call "hard-knee" amounts of compression. Meaning that they tighten up the soundstage. There is a lot of pop in the mids.
When these materials are played on systems like my own personal one, and ones like my customer Joe's, they don't sound big or dynamic. They sound really small. There is nothing worse than setting up a system like this and then playing Ozzy's "Crazy Train," as one example. Materials like this turn a system like Joe's or mine into sounding like a ghetto blaster leaving one to wonder where Is the earth-shattering kaboom that we are used to. And so we would be educating clients on compression, and that their purchase was just fine. Now they had to explore other music to really get the true experience we were trying to educate them about.
After we set up Joe's system he asked, "can I play a record?," and there was that moment, where I wanted to start expressing to him all that I have just told you about in the last few paragraphs regarding mastering, etc., but I didn't. I just replied "sure."
He put on a cut and within moments I looked over and said "WHO THE F%CK IS THIS?" "Laurie Anderson," he replied. It was the most dynamic and original piece of music I had ever heard. It woke that system up and took it to places dynamically unlike anything I had ever witnessed.
The song was "Gravity's Angel," from the 1984 recording "Mister Heartbreak." Not only did it sound brilliant but was a form of high-end art. It was smart.
When you have a learning disorder like I do, and you are told you are stupid your whole life, hearing something like this was AWE-inspiring. Brilliant artists, and minds must listen to material like this, I thought. So I dove head first into Laurie Anderson. This song and the album was far more straight-up than other materials of hers. Most of her catalog is even more complex, and you really need to devote your time to it in order to realize all the hues she plays with.
What I am faced with from a lot of people is, "I hate this, and I hate that." Pretty strong words. What it really is is new. Their minds aren't open to it. They have placed a limit upon it and upon themselves. What you hear over and over is "I like this type of music. That is my music." So sad. It would be like "I just like burgers, that is my food." Many people say they are artists. Well, they aren't. True artists understand and appreciate all forms of music. When a person tells me they hate something, what they are really telling me is "I'm not educated in that field of music."
Before I started managing the stereo store, I too was like that. Marcel Toews who is now the co-owner of Burnett's Key Shop - a Saskatoon small business landmark since 1951, showed me very quickly, and with FRANKNESS that there is a lot out there and that it is okay to explore. There sure was and still is.
Letting go of control. Here is a great case study. There was something special about that evening and Joe, for me to surrender and trust in him and his musical knowledge. Imagine if I hadn't? Would I have ever heard this artist?
Laurie Anderson would have a major impact upon me. The ideas I write about, and talk about, were heavily developed around her and this era of time. Joe sadly, would die of AIDS just a few years later.
Sara Genn, a Canadian artist and musician living in Palm Springs, wrote a wonderful article on Laurie Anderson, and her late husband, Lou Reed, and the many stages that they went through in their lives and careers. The original article appears here.
Life is a privilege, and these are some of the stages I've moved through as I continue to develop. I thank you so much for the time you have allowed me here. To allow my words to enter your being. I hope that this will perhaps enrich your life in some small way, as it does mine, by sharing them. I thank you!
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