Bern Mixolot

As an undergrad, I minored in broadcasting. Actually, the minor was in communication with a broadcasting emphasis. The college radio station was in the basement of the building where all of my English classes were, and it broadcast at twenty-five watts; essentially, its range was from the basement to across the street. Still, having air shifts was great fun. I usually brought in my own records, and sometimes I would get a theme going. I think I had (and have) a flair for segueing from one song to the next, and to master the mix was a thrill. It's hard to explain, but for everything to flow just right, there's a lot that has to happen. You have to cue up two records, one on each turntable, and bring up the potentiometer on the left while bring down the one on the right, all while keeping an eye on the needles (of the potentiometer) to make sure it's going to come off perfectly. It hardly ever does.

I don't have a set-up at my house quite like the one at my college radio station, although I could probably turn up my receiver to make the music travel as far from here as it did from there. I still get a thrill from getting a good segue, even though I don't have two turntables. Sometimes I'll skip a track on the record, and putting the stylus down at just the right spot to start the next track is almost as exciting as executing the perfect mix. Not quite, but almost. More about this topic later -- or not.