In the text I stress learning the functions of an audio console over learning a specific console. If you know how consoles function, you can figure out just about any control board, even if you have never seen it before.

One of my students did an internship in Charlotte, North Carolina, a major market. A producer told the student that she would train the student on the console but that the student should plan on spending a week to getting familiar with the console because it was a big 24-channel digital model in the on-air studio.

The producer sat the student behind the console and as she started to explain things, the student asked if she minded if he tried to figure it out on his own. The student proceeded to explain the first channels on/off switch, fader, routing switches, monitor section, etc. The student then asked the producer to explain the two phone modules for taking phone calls and asked if there was an IFB for remotes. When the student finished, he was surprised to see two other employees standing nearby shaking their heads. They asked him how long he had worked on this type of control board. It was difficult to convince them that it was the first time he ever sat behind one. During his second week at the station he began running the on-air control board. (The console was a large Audio Arts D-70 similar to the one featured in the text.)