美国国家公共电台 NPR Meet The Woman Who's Been Pearl Jam's Sound Engineer For 24 Years

Meet The Woman Who's Been Pearl Jam's Sound Engineer For 24 Years 

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Lots of people have jobs where they have to make their bosses look good. But for over two decades, Karrie Keyes has been making sure her bosses sound good. Keyes is a sound engineer. And her bosses happen to be the members of the band Pearl Jam. Caroline Losneck has her story.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PEARL JAM: (Singing) I'd rather be with - I'd rather be with an...

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Shouting) Animal.

CAROLINE LOSNECK, BYLINE²: Sound technicians say the work is kind of like waiting for something to go wrong but hoping it doesn't. Karrie Keyes stands intently on the side of the stage in front of her soundboard. She seems oblivious³ to the 37,000 fans packed into Boston's Fenway Park. Keyes occasionally steps out but describes herself as an introvert⁴.

KARRIE KEYES: Half our fans know who I am because they see me come out on stage - the microphone girl because I'm checking the mics.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PEARL JAM: (Singing) I'd rather be with - I'd be rather be...

LOSNECK: Keyes is the live sound monitor engineer for Pearl Jam. She doesn't mix the sound the audience hears. She mixes the sound the individual band members hear through ear buds and speakers while they're playing live.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PEARL JAM: (Singing) Oh, tonight began with anything.

KEYES: Sometimes, it's easy, and everybody wants to hear the same thing. And sometimes, it's really difficult 'cause none of them want to hear the same thing.

LOSNECK: From offstage, Keyes communicates with the band, especially lead singer Eddie Vedder, using mostly hand signals. It's more complicated than a lot of fans realize.

KEYES: Hey, hey, one, two. Kick it. The snare⁵ can come up.

LOSNECK: There's a soundcheck hours before every show. The conditions are unpredictable - everything from weather and humidity to crowd size and sweat-drenched microphones. She's designed her monitor system over time around the band's needs. Keyes has been with Pearl Jam for 24 years. As a teenager, she loved punk-rock.

KEYES: I went to a Black Flag show.

LOSNECK: And it changed her life. There, she met the sound engineer who hired her.

KEYES: When I started, it was loading trucks, putting all the equipment back in the truck, then taking it out of the truck.

LOSNECK: She learned to survive on 50 bucks⁶ a week, taking any work she could from punk shows to mariachi to gospel festivals.

KEYES: Some shows were less than great. But you're going to go someplace else the next day. So it didn't matter (laughter). That was the selling point. Every day was new. And every day had the potential of being an amazing day.

LOSNECK: Back then, she was one of very few women sound engineers. And it felt like it.

KEYES: There was sexism. And that's what you dealt with. It was part of life. Thirty years ago, you kind of had to put up with it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PEARL JAM: (Singing) Because it's evolution, baby.

LOSNECK: By the early '90s, when Pearl Jam exploded, she was on the road a lot. Then Keyes had twin daughters. While she was touring, their dad, aunts and sometimes a nanny took care of them.

KEYES: It took me a good - probably until there were three or four to actually come to terms with - you know what? I'm actually a better mother if I'm doing what I love doing so that when I'm here I'm completely here.

GEORGE WEBB: That's some serious bravery - doing this job, touring all the time and having two kids.

LOSNECK: George Webb is Pearl Jam's equipment manager and bass⁷ guitar technician.

WEBB: I remember, you know, when she was pregnant - pregnant on tour - or having babies, raising them and trying to tour at the same time. It just wasn't an easy thing.

LOSNECK: It's rare for sound engineers to stay with a band as long as Keyes has with Pearl Jam. And it's still rare for sound engineers to be women. A few years ago, Keyes co-founded Sound Girls, a group that supports and mentors⁹ women in professional audio. This summer, they held camps to teach young women live sound.

KEYES: Everyone's had a mentor⁸, a teacher, a guide.

LOSNECK: From the musicians in Pearl Jam onstage to the crew members like Kerry Keyes offstage.

KEYES: The crew and the band has earned being here. And we're going to go out and put on a really good show.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PEARL JAM: (Playing "Rearviewmirror").

LOSNECK: For NPR News, I'm Caroline Losneck.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 oblivious   

adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的

参考例句：

• Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后，妈妈变得特别健忘。
• He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。

4 introvert   

n.性格内向的人

参考例句：

• You are very much an introvert.你是一位地道的内向性格者。
• The same conversation that energizes the extravert also drains the introvert.同样的交谈能让外向者荣光焕发，却让内向者精神颓靡。

5 snare   

n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑

参考例句：

• I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
• Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。

6 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

8 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

9 mentors   

n.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Beacham and McNamara, my two mentors, had both warned me. 我的两位忠实朋友，比彻姆和麦克纳马拉都曾经警告过我。 来自辞典例句
• These are the kinds of contacts that could evolve into mentors. 这些人是可能会成为你导师。 来自互联网