The expression “don’t touch that dial” was uttered frequently during the heyday of radio in the 1930s when broadcasters wanted to ensure that their listeners would not stray and tune-in to another station (“… and now, a word from our sponsors, the Acme Corporation. Don’t touch that dial! We’ll be back soon with more adventures of Rin Tin Tin!”) In later years, broadcast television adopted the saying, and it has since become understood as a general plea for someone to stay tuned or to keep paying attention. For this month’s column, I am co-opting the phrase as both a plea and admonition to live sound engineers. These are the folks who stand between us drummers and the audience who’s listening to us when it comes to sound. In my experience as both a drummer and an audience member, sound people touch their dials WA-A-A-A-Y too much. Here’s an example of […]

February 2026 Issue