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This interview kicks off with a story from Tim about some western swing shows he worked in Vegas. Tim Weaver has been working in live audio production since 1993. Tim says he started using digital consoles regularly about 2000. He also says that audio quality for a live event doesn't have to be perfect. "Good enough" is the goal to aim for. This topic will be visited multiple times through this two part interview.

Tim - "You're not talking about an educated audiophile audience ... As long as they can hear the vocals and understand what's going on and maybe a little thumpy kickdrum ... 9 and a half times out of 10 the audience is fine. They think it was a good show ... that Astroworld mess that just happened? Bad Show!"

"All you can do is hope for the best, average it out, make yourself happy ... I'm trying to make myself happy, I'm trying to search for that elusive mix ... It's only happened a handful of times over my whole career."

He lays out all the things that have to go right (that are outside the engineer's control) to get that perfect mix.

Then there are some noises in Tangela's house that prompt a story about drunk raccoons and a margarita machine.

When people want to talk about production while Tim or Tangela are on the job, they welcome it, within reason.

Tim - "The meme of the grumpy old sound guy, that was for real when I got started."

He describes one of his mentors, Vince at Backstage Sound and Lighting in Bryan, TX, and some of the gear they used to use, such as the JBL Horn Loaded Array.

Tim is active on prosoundweb.com; they discuss social media and podcasting. "It's kinda got that flavor of pirate radio."

Tangela has noticed in her analytics that some people find the pod from prosoundweb; turns out that's Tim's doing!

Next they talk about trust, and letting someone do the thing they've signed up for.

Tangela - "You're one of the few people that I've met that is very come one come all ... when I first met you, you didn't really question me in my skills or anything. You just assumed that because I said that I could that I could and then you just let me be at it. And that is not something that usually happens."

"It's important that although we talk to minorities about their stories, but also talk to the people who are encouraging of all people in general."

"I think that conversation needs to be had just as much so we don't all end up 'white man hating' because we can all fall into that really easy if we're not conscious of ourselves"

Tim grew up in rural middle Tennessee, and graduated with a class of sixty-something. "People fear the other, and there was no other to have experience with."

When he got out into the real world, he found that people of other backgrounds, are still just people, just like him.

Tim has hired Tangela to a few gigs. She was referred to him by Chance Sampson, who has also worked for Tim in the past.

Tim - "If Chance told me Tangela can get through the job, I'm gonna let Tangela get through the job however she sees fit to do it ... If I just go in and put my foot down and say 'you can only do it this way' ... you're not learning anything ... that's what McDonald's does to people flipping burgers."

"I want to hire people, put them on gigs, let them discover who they were and how they wanna do things, turn them loose ... as long as I'm not getting complaints by the client, what do I care? If I could go in and make the mix sounds better because I've got twenty more years' experience, how does that help you a person trying to get that experience? It doesn't."

Tangela notes that some people try to be that way but fail, because they "try to ignore the personality of a person and they focus specifically on the physical attributes ... That's a great thing to have in some capacity, but you also should be concerned about their personality, their skills, are they trustworthy or reliable?"

Tim points out he has no kind of desire to do any kind of virtue signaling. "Otherwise very good people sometimes feel the pathological need to let the world know they've done something ... the problem is social media drugifies that effect ... the point is to score fake internet points."

Tangela is reminded of her favorite musical of all time, Cinderella with Brandy, which was done 100% with blind casting.

They talk a bit about how individually our perception of these things is colored very strongly by where we live. So naturally they talk about Texas, and the diversity of lifestyles that can be found here. Tim recalls working gigs in the south Houston rap scene in the days of DJ Screw.

Tangela - "No matter where you are in your journey of the audio world, there are life lessons to be taught and to be learned thru lived experiences of others ... You can learn how to be a better sound engineer by just learning how to be a better person."

This episode was recorded over squadcast.fm on 12/21/2021. Tim Weaver is going on 30 years in the production business. "I still love it, even if my back doesn't!"

In the preshow questionnaire Tangela asked him if there are any current projects he's excited about. "About once a month I mix a group of old timers doing western swing music. There are some grammy winners in the band. I absolutely love it."

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As usual you can find Tangela on her website where you can sign up for the Newsletter!