TheAudioPod’s Long Road
Fifteen years. I had to do the math to see if I was reading that correctly. That's how long this blog or website has been on the internet. The blog's intent changed over the years. But I kept it going. I paid the domain fees and moved it from iLife to iWeb, blogger, and now to Squarespace. The blog has seen some action. I like to think it has grown with me, but it has grown on its own in reality. TheAudioPod is often a reflection of myself, but primarily its own entity. It's funny how things can blossom even when they are forgotten. I wouldn't say I forgot the blog, but it was neglected. Put on a shelf, mellowing like a fine bourbon until it was ready for a purpose.
The years of neglect were not on purpose, but that's what everybody says. During the lean years of TheAudioPod.com, I put most of my creative energy into my doctorate dissertation. There was little creative capital to do much of anything else except scour the library stacks for journal articles on music technology education and teacher preparation. At that time, the blog became a news blog, repurposing the press releases of major manufacturers. You can still see some of it on the blogger version of this site. At other times, posts were about my frustrations with certain aspects of the audio industry (see the post titled "money"), and at other times, it was a reflection of what I was experiencing in my personal life. The writing style evolved over the years, as did my perspective.
As neglectful as I was about the TheAudioPod, it never complained; it just waited. It waited through a master's degree, a divorce, a change of careers, a doctorate program, a marriage, and a child. During the 2009-2012 years, TheAudioPod mainly lived on Twitter. And still, it waited. For that, I am thankful, and I feel I owe it a better existence than just a press release regurgitator.
The renewed interest in TheAudioPod came from two places. The first was from the US Trademark Office, which informed me that they accepted my trademark after 12 years. I had forgotten about my application until I received that letter. Secondly, my long-time friend Dan Tang, who suggested starting the podcast at the beginning of the year. I was amid revisions on my dissertation, but I enjoyed those pilot episodes and especially with a co-broadcaster this time. Those episodes pushed me to the realization; no matter how old I think the information, mixing, somebody is listening, reading, or watching for the first time.
One of my biggest problems, I will admit, was the use of social media. Wasn't a blog social media?! TheAudioPod was on Twitter, wasn't it?! When I decided to reboot TheAudioPod, I started going through all the social media platforms, saying to myself, "self, just sign up for them and see if they have "TheAudioPod" available as a name." So, I did. I signed onto Instagram, and the name was available. I signed onto TikTok and Snapchat, and the name was available. After all these years and millions and millions of users signing up for these platforms, TheAudioPod was available and waiting for me.
On Writing
Blogging is an interesting way to communicate with people. It's a bit outdated, but it's something I enjoy. I am not a good writer, I will admit. Having dyslexia and a bit of ADD, I found it extremely challenging to put together coherent sentences. My doctorate and dissertation smacked me in the face with the fact that I was a terrible writer. Drafts would come back with so many revisions that the pages were often oozing with red ink.
My lousy writing skills were the result of several factors. The first was the revolving door of English teachers my classmates and I had from fifth to eighth grade. I never learned the elements of style or proper grammar. What's an adverb? Why do I like prepositions? Why bother diagraming a sentence? Secondly, my undiagnosed ADD and dyslexia indeed hindered my ability to read. I hated reading. It took me forever to read a chapter as the words would constantly shift on the page. Compounded by the fact that I had ADD, I didn't want to sit down to read, nevertheless write. I had made it through my high school, bachelor's, and master's degrees because my teachers didn't care about writing. They worried more about the content of the subject matter, which I will say, I had some dam good ideas. But in academia, most communication is done with writing. I was handed my hat on several occasions in doctorate school, and looking back on it, my teachers were right to do so.
In the Winter of 2019, I was spinning my wheels with my dissertation I realized that I need to relearn the English language. Slogging through textbooks about writing style, I relearned basic grammar and sentence structure. That wasn't enough. I also needed to read more. I listened to audiobooks in the car, both fiction and non-fiction. I learned about narrative and tone, sentence structure and improved my literary tool kit. All that work paid off because I completed a 5 chapter dissertation, passed, and earned my doctorate (although I am unsure if my writing improved or my committee took pity on me).
Writing does come naturally to me, but editing does not. I have to work at it and use every tool in my literary toolbox to get my thoughts across using the English language. But I have seen improvement. Look at my early blogs (I transferred some entertaining posts over to this platform as a nostalgic window in time). I improved my literary toolbox by reading, learning, and doing. It's the same thing I did with learning how to mix, just different sets of tools.
On the Future
I wasn't expecting to write a 1000 word essay on re-entering the blogosphere, and I apologize if you were not expecting to read one either. It just happened. But I did expect to go into this post with a sense of honesty. I wasn't expecting to re-start TheAudioPod; it just happened. It was the right time to harvest the fruits of experience and try to pass them down, so you could avoid the same mistakes I did. Or so that you can make the same mistakes that I did but learn something different. Either way, I hope to provide you with a different perspective on music, technology, and production so you can succeed. In the meantime, I welcome you or welcome you back to TheAudioPod.com. Let's have a musical conversation and create some awesome art together.
Share this Post!
(Dr.) Mike Testa
