2/5/2024:

"Halloween Special 2021 #2"

Transcript
Panel 1. The World On A String. CC BY-SA 2021 Ken Alleman. Sound effects reading "chop, chop, chop."

Panel 2. There is a threatening-looking figure in Victorian garb and leather apron holding a dripping cleaver. A candle burns in the background, throwing harsh light and shadows. He says, "Oh, hello. I didn't see you come in. Did you know that a microphone is a lot like a human head?"

Panel 3. Overhead view of a simple recording studio. The musicians are all arranged in a circle, facing the middle, where there is a single microphone. Caption reads, "In the early days of studio recording, everyone set up around a single microphone Mixing was simple. The closer you were, the louder you were."

Panel 4. Same image, but the microphone in the middle of all the musicians has been replaced by a human listener. Caption reads, "A record from that time was a crude facsimile of what you might hear if you stood in the middle of the band."

Panel 5. Image of a more modern recording setup with multiple microphones for amps and drums. Caption reads, "With the invention of multitrack recording, everyone could have their own mic, or more than one. The mix of instruments on a modern studio recording cannot be heard in nature!"

Panel 6. Back to our Victorian cleaver guy, who gesticulates wildly, throwing around whatever is dripping fromt he cleaver. He says, "Would you like to hear a live band the way they sound on a record? Why, you'd have to chop your head up into lots of tiny pieces and scatter them around the room!"

Panel 7. Our cleaver guy holds up a jack-o-lantern, which throws sinister underlighting on his face. He says, "Happy Halloween. Try not to lose your head out there."

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