When I was about 8 years old, on our annual family summer vacation in England, our car was making a funny noise. Worried about being stuck somewhere on the road my parents found a dealership with a service department. We were told to wait in the parking lot and that someone would be with us momentarily. A few minutes later a middle-aged man with graying hair and glasses approached our car. In his spotless white lab coat, he looked more like a doctor or research scientist, than a car mechanic. He asked my mother to release the hood and start the motor. After only a few moments bent over the front, he told her to turn off the car, smiled, and said he would be right back. And he was, with a single wrench, slid under the car, tightened a bolt and sent us happily on our way. He wouldn’t even accept a tip.
From that day forward I secretly harbored the wish to become a car mechanic.
As it turned out, what I was really fascinated with was the power of the ear and the brain that is connected to it. A single sound or the first few chords of a song can instantaneously send us back in time and place, just like a smell. For this evocative power, sound has a sheer limitless potential to emotionally connect with an audience or potential clients. Listening to music can change our mood, help us get motivated, relax or drive us crazy. It can tell us a story or give us the invisible subtext to a story told in another medium. Hearing is a perfect combination of analytical and emotional perception. These are the things I want to write about on this blog and how they apply to advertising, film making, producing music and the success of your business.
