Talk but not walk?

Hi glupson

I very much enjoyed your post! You have a gift in writing. Reading you I always feel I'm able to see your thoughts even if I have interpreted them incorrectly in the past. I think that is rare in forum settings because, like with emails and texting, we read the words but also add to them our own personalities to the mix. Like that game we played as kids where someone says something in someone's ear and by the time it gets pasted around the room it's a completely different meaning let alone words. I on the other hand am not a gifted writer and sometimes lucky if my points are intelligible at all. I'm far better at "show and tell" than tell alone. Which is why the OP applies to me as well. If I didn't have systems around me all day I doubt if I could "talk" anything meaningful or useful on these forums as well as TuneLand at all. I would say I am a walker who is constantly learning about the talk side of life in general. It's been weird that I have been asked to speak so many times through my life and even been asked to teach. I have written entire university courses and even accepted to teach at SUNY, but when I got there felt very inadequate that I would ever pull off what these amazing people do. Dr. Robert Barstow is one of these amazing personalities who at one time was pushing to build a Tuning Research Lab on the campus at Oneonta. That was one of my wow moments in life. I could ramble till your ears bleed about the people who have approached me about what I do. Again pretty wow-ish for me at least.

"On a different note, I did ask recently what it is about you that ignites so many people, call it rubs them the wrong way. I have a feeling it is not just the content of the discussion as responses, at least to me, seem to be out of proportion. Just your existence on this thread, as anonymous and ultimately unimportant for the world that it is, brings some combative tendencies out. Do you have any idea what it is? Does it happen to you in real life? It may have nothing to do with audio topics, but I noticed it over the days so I thought I might ask."

part one

glupson, I can only give examples and hints to this cause it has been my personal mystery as well through life. I smile and think that maybe someday someone will look back and read this and other documents and say maybe I had a part (small part) in something much bigger than myself. I think it was amg who said how arrogant I was. Truth is I have no idea if I am or if I'm what the opposite side says. I get up every morning, thank God for another day, and begin tuning. My goal is to tune and build as much of a historical basis as I can through my lifetime. I use to think that while I was alive the Tuning Revolution would be in full swing and all things audio and mechanical would be sensory evaluated and self tuning, and even though it's going to be, it is still possibly beyond my lifetime. It's exciting to me though to see how far we have come in innovative technologies during our life times. The ego fights we see here on these pages and other pages of journals mean little to me. The push into what will be is what drives me.

Michael Green

www.michaelgreenaudio.net

Chapter Two

"On a different note, I did ask recently what it is about you that ignites so many people, call it rubs them the wrong way. I have a feeling it is not just the content of the discussion as responses, at least to me, seem to be out of proportion. Just your existence on this thread, as anonymous and ultimately unimportant for the world that it is, brings some combative tendencies out. Do you have any idea what it is? Does it happen to you in real life? It may have nothing to do with audio topics, but I noticed it over the days so I thought I might ask."

Thanks again for the question glupson!

You know how when we were kids and asked the question what do you want to be when you grow up? Sometimes nonfiction can be more exciting than fiction for those of us who lived the answer to the above kids question. I never pushed to become that grown up version of that kids question, it just happened. In fact it is kind of a curse to "be" something instead of "trying" to become something. I, like all of us, have been around people trying to be something. There’s that little bit of doctoring the resume and the ego driven one-ups-men-ship for many (maybe most I don’t know) and than there’s that guy who walks in and does it without question. He’s not a credit hound, he’s just really good at doing it.

The other day I asked a maintenance guy here where I live how he changes lights on the top of the building here with such ease? He hung over the edge and said "no fear of heights". I was so freaked out that he did this that I had to grab on to the railing on my porch. I get nervous about the second step on a ladder and this guy is on my roof playing Spiderman. I’m I more skilled than him? Heck no, but he does stuff like this everyday and doesn’t blink an eye at it or need noticed. We all have those gifts. Some of them get noticed and others never even get thought about twice.

In entertainment there’s a little different ego play going on. I saw this first as a child with my family and surroundings. I didn’t understand what was so weird about a music or tv "star" getting on my uncle and aunts jet and flying off. But, it must have been a big deal because of the crowd that would gather at the airport. Jets, limos, camera flashes and name dropping is a life style all on it’s own. It has made me uncomfortable all my life but I have done it (name dropping) as well and saw the results, both good and bad. In my early teens I remember a picture of a music entertainer that caught me in the background and it was on display a couple of days later on a newsstand. Riding my bike home from school two older kids knocked me over and beat me up. What was worse was my dad was a tough guy and took me back over to those kids houses and made me beat them up. Maybe that’s no big deal to anyone else but those types of things get stored and eventually play out in our lives in some way. I could give you a bunch of these types of stories based on my younger years and how they have shaped my thinking, life and what I share. They always though make me somewhat uncomfortable and maybe too shy or private, yes I am shy believe it or not LOL.

Another example and I’ll move on to glupson’s question more. In 1975 or about I started to do "real" touring myself. I say "real" because when I was younger than that I was really only a studio brat and would play snare for Bluegrass bands. At 15 though I had that bug to actually get on that bus and go. What a life changer! Everything about touring life is different from domestic living, it’s a different paradigm. Throw away high school peers and activities they no longer existed. I was built for this life and it was built for me. Those who have done this will understand and those who haven’t will only be able to guess. I didn’t even know what high school was about until years later when I saw tv shows. College? My college was done by tutor and mail. The only exposure to campus life was if we did a concert there. My high school graduation was very weird, I gave the opening prayer threw my hat in the air and met up with the band two days later. I’m I totally boring you guys yet? Cause I’m boring myself lol.

To cut this part short, from 15-21 I was on constant tour and studio work, a blurr would be a good description. My nickname was Natch (naturally high) and music production came to me as easy as breathing. Besides stopping by home to kiss my mom and do a couple gospel concerts, that was all to be seen of Natch. I never got into credit collecting or in studio fights, there was too much to do and I was having too much fun doing it. Planes replace the buses by about 16 or 17 and I lived on them. I was somewhat of a bulkhead king. I could hit that seat and be out till landing, totally refreshed and shuttled off to the studio, or live gig. Anything outside of that world didn’t exist. The first time I started to become a little stationary was when I returned to studio work in Florida, moved to Atlanta, got a gig as one of the Atlanta engineers, opened a few stereo stores, toured more, had a personal life and there you have it. There’s tons more to fill in any blanks but who cares, I’m thinking.

glupson, that was the super long answer (is there an answer?) to your question of why do people respond to me the way they do. I’ve had people speculate, make up their own stories about that question and create imaginary MG's that even entertain me. All I can really say is music and living it has been one fast an eventful ride. If I were to attempt at choosing one of the answers that has been given to me by several friends I would have to say the "Vibe" theory would be believable. And also, I bring out the best and worst in others. It has always happened and I don’t worry about it, better or worse it’s simply mg.

Michael Green

www.michaelgreenaudio.net