Wired for Sound

At a dulcimer festival in Latham, New York on Saturday, 5 March, I was amused to make a classical connection as I was waiting for the open-microphone afternoon concert to begin. The sound folks were setting up multiple microphones and attaching them to the sound board and amplifiers through a box that was sitting on the stage. I walked up to investigate and laughed when I noticed that the brand name on the piece of equipment was the Whirlwind MEDUSA.You can check out the Whirlwind company and see some examples of the Medusa snake here. In this age of so many wireless devices, it is interesting to see a fully wired one that recalls the ancient world. Medusa was a mortal Gorgon, once a beautiful woman, who was greatly transformed as a result of offending the goddess Athena. In her final incarnation Medusa is most famous for having snakes instead of hair on her head and for being so ugly that she turns anything that looks at her into stone. The hero Perseus slays her and cuts off her head. From drops of her blood the winged horse Pegasus is said to have sprung. More about Pegasus soon.