In praise of audio engineers

My "What's Your Story?" radio series on the Virginia Voice would be far different were it not for Alex Childress.

Alex is the studio manager for the station. For me, he's an audio wizard and a godsend.

"What's Your Story?" is my half-hour interview series for the Virginia Voice, which is a nonprofit organization that broadcasts readings of news and information for those with blindness, vision impairment or physical disabilities that limit reading. "What's Your Story?," which has been plugging along for almost a year now, features interviews with ordinary -- and extraordinary -- people. It's based on the premise that everybody has a story to tell; all you have to do is ask.

I conduct the interviews "on location," using a small, portable digital recorder. You have to have a special radio to receive the broadcasts, but all of the interviews are posted online, and you can listen to them by clicking here.

It's a volunteer job for me, one which keeps me engaged and lets me practice the broadcast skills I acquired over a lifetime.

Alex takes the raw recordings and turns them into polished radio broadcasts.

Most of what he has to do is a result of the on-location aspect of the program. A half hour is long for a one-on-one interview. Phones ring, people cough and clear their throats, people lose track of their thought or struggle to find the right word, dogs bark, clocks chime, doorbells ring. Alex smooths it all out, editing out technical glitches and making us sound good.

It can be hard work: It takes much longer than 30 minutes to edit a half-hour program.

Most of the time, my guests and I record our interviews straight through, just as though we were doing a live broadcast. But on some occasions, it just doesn't work that way. I remember one guest whose husband interrupted us to offer a bowl of candy -- each piece wrapped in noisy cellophane. I did one interview in front of a fireplace with a backdraft that filled the air with the smell of creosote, which clogged us both up. We did that 30 minutes in three parts, if I'm remembering correctly. We'd record for 10 minutes or so, then stop to hack up creosote. Then there was the time when the batteries died right as we got to the good part. We stopped, changed the batteries, and tried to pick up where we'd left off.

Alex takes the bits and pieces into the control room and laboriously performs his audio wizardry.

I've never had to suggest what he should do; he just knows. I've never listened to the final product and heard an edit I didn't like. He just seems to divine what was in my mind -- and in my guest's mind.

During a lifetime in broadcasting, I've run across maybe two or three audio engineers with Alex's perception and skills.

God bless them for knowing exactly what to do and how to do it. Because they know what they're doing, they make us sound like we know what we're doing.