I just got an invitation to visit Skywalker Ranch next Wednesday.

I guess a bunch of us from the Recording Academy (NARAS) will be testing out new microphones from Neumann and Sennheiser.

Am I going?

Yes I am.

I am sure there are a lot of people who would be way more excited than I am to visit there, but I am actually interested to hear the new mics.

I wish I could give my "golden ticket" to someone who would value it more - like Lucy's kid - but it will be kind of cool to see what they have built for themselves out there and hear the rooms where all that movie magic is made.

I am so glad I ended my snit with the Academy. I have gotten more invitations than I can shake a stick at since doing so, including a movie premiere for something or other.

This is cool for Aspie me though, because we will actually be comparing microphones, which is one of the most fascinating things people can do with their clothes on.

I take it Skywalker Ranch is famous? I've never heard of it, but I'm glad that you get to play around with new equipment. It sounds sort of like Christmas morning and you get to play with all the packages and don't have to share.

Skywalker Ranch is George Lucas's place.

You might know him from his Star Wars films.

Hey, Star Wars I've heard of. Sorry if I don't know much about your area of expertise.

Can Max go with you????? HA

I must admit, I'd go just to gawk.

Sorry Linda, the invite says that it's a members only deal. As cool as it sounds, it's basically the Neumann/Sennheiser reps trying to sell some very expensive microphones to members of the Producers and Engineers wing of the Academy.

It's going to be held on their scoring stage, which should be a very acoustically interesting space. It's got to be large enough to accomodate a 110+ piece orchestra, but not sound like a barn.

Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart built a really big orchestra-sized room at thir Bad Animals studio in Seattle, and the acoustics are one of the wonders of the world. The decay of the natural reverberance is so even and smooth that the first time you walk in and clap your hands and listen, it almost takes your breath away. I have heard that they're booking it primarily for film score projects now, which was certainly not the case when I was there. I had that room booked for a mix of something I recorded elsewhere and went there to check it out and came away planning to use that acoustic space by sending tracks back out into the room and recapturing them with a coincident pair of large-diaphragm condenser mics. My project went north instead, as favourable exchange rates made Bryan Adams' studio in B.C. a bette deal fr the band. Bad Animals was $2k a day book rate even 15 years ago.

I imagine Lucas has something better.

Much better.

Just got my confirmation e-mail back. I'm on the guest list they'll have at the gate at Skywalker.

Few things in life are better than being on the guest list. It was a way of life for me n Seattle. I could go to just about any club and be on "the list" and get free beer as well, because where the players in the scene go, the sheep follow. For every pitcher of microbrew they comped me, they sold 4 or 5 to the people at my table who had to follow the social rules and buy a round to reciprocate my "generosity."

I'm not saying it's right or it's fair, but I will say that it made my stay in Seattle much more pleasant and fun.

Cover charges and beer add up quickly when you are just starting out in your profession.

V-Dog I thought I would share why I don't know a lot about who's who and what's what. I have always felt that it is an invasion of privacy to learn very much about people in the entertainment industry and have purposely tried to not be one of those people that has to read every living thing about who's who and what's what, let alone read the front page of the Enquirer, so not knowing is a twisted form of "respect" I suppose you would say.

To me, a certain fluency in areas of pop culture is necessary in order to comfortably navigate the world, I like knowing that Kelis is a singer and Bob Clearmountain is an engineer specializing in mixes, and Elvis died in 1977, and that Fergie is in The Blackeyed Peas with Will.I.Am.

These things make the world a little bit more sensible to me. When I hear a reference I am able to relate it to a my internal database.

As to privacy, they don't want it. They make a lot of money because people like us know their names. If they wanted to, they could go live under a rock somewhere and sing and play to their heart's content, utterly anonymous. They choose fame. They are in the business of being famous.

Why would you want to interfere with their business plan?