Phone call?

[Old Garage-Bander]

This is exactly how i feel especially having trouble understanding people. I don't want to blow this because I seem half ********. This is my fear.

It's probably not the people that are hard to understand, it's the crap audio quality of the calls.
I will agree that sometimes it is difficult to understand someone on a cell phone.
And if that is the case, then the conversation is better done as text.
The phone company use to have world class standards for how a phone call should sound. Sure it's only 3-4 KHz of bandwidth, but it was the best 3-4 KHz anywhere in the world. When the Fed split up the phone company the those standards began to decline. When cell phones came into being, audio quality went out the window altogether. So in that regard I can agree that it is much more difficult to carry on a phone conversation now than it was when I was being chased off some old guys lawn.
Did you know it used to be possible for people at both ends of a telephone conversation to speak at the same time and you could still understand the other person clearly? Now get off of my lawn, your blocking my cell phone signal!

 

[Helaskold]

Just take the call... I feel the same way and can't stand talking on the phone but what can you do? Clearly it's important to the dude.

 

[Hopkins]

fair enough. my personal experience is different and i disagree with your opinion. of course, my personal preference is e-mail; i appreciate having something to refer to later. phone calls are too ephemeral. wow, i am a fossil!

Email definitely has its place, but you simply cannot get a complete feel for someone through text. I always prefer a phone conversation because I am much too impatient to waste 30 minutes of my life that could be accomplished in a 3 minute phone conversation.

 

[Hopkins]

It's probably not the people that are hard to understand, it's the crap audio quality of the calls.
I will agree that sometimes it is difficult to understand someone on a cell phone.
And if that is the case, then the conversation is better done as text.
The phone company use to have world class standards for how a phone call should sound. Sure it's only 3-4 KHz of bandwidth, but it was the best 3-4 KHz anywhere in the world. When the Fed split up the phone company the those standards began to decline. When cell phones came into being, audio quality went out the window altogether. So in that regard I can agree that it is much more difficult to carry on a phone conversation now than it was when I was being chased off some old guys lawn.
Did you know it used to be possible for people at both ends of a telephone conversation to speak at the same time and you could still understand the other person clearly? Now get off of my lawn, your blocking my cell phone signal!

Seriously,

I have had 3 hour meetings with my boss who has a thick Indian accent and was half the world away from me at the time through a cell phone speaker. The audio quality is perfectly adequate for having a conversation.

 

[DirtDog]

What! What? You're an outgoing, personable, articulate, introvert?

Lots of us extroverted introverts out there!

 

[mellowinman]

Two musicians meet at a library? Can't wait to hear the punchline.

Two musicians meet at a library. First one says, "what do you think in regards to Man's ascent from primitive forms, and where the genealogy is leading for the future?" Second musician says, "cool it! I'm a guitar player."

 

[SickAura]

Before I meet anybody to buy/sell or jam I always insist on a phone call. You can learn so much more about someone through a conversation. I have actually not sold gear or jammed after some of those conversations. If I don't get the right impression - I don't waste my time - and this usually takes 10 seconds or less. I may stay on the call to be polite for another minute - but I have already made up my mind. I have noticed that some people (young and old) really do have issues with a simple call though - its like they don't know how to verbally communicate - even saying 'Hello' is an issue. These are the people that I usually don't waste my time with.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Wow. When I interviewed for my new job I had a 1.5 hour phone interview with the CEO of the company. He was in Vegas I was in AZ. I then Skyped with the CMO for another 1.5 hours. The Skype thing really bothered me. The phone didn't at all. Felt very at ease on the phone, felt like someone was seeing the inside of my nose on Skype, and it was awkward.

I manage lots of Millennials and they never answer the phone. Send a text and instant reply.

I really miss the good ol' days before all of this technology. It has it's pluses but it really has turned a lot of people's social skills to mush. My step son says he has friends, he's never met them in the flesh because they exist in a headset on a gaming platform. Sad.

IMHO, part of the problem is labeling. The boomers are expected to act one way. Gen X another. Millennials? "Whatever man".
I think we chalk it up to some label and then let it slide. If no one is held to a standard, then there are no standards and the Millennials get a pass. How you gonna feel when they jack with your social security because they think they can do "whatever man"?
There seems to be no consequences to Millennialism. What do we label the kids today once they are done being tweens? Anarchist?

 

[Biggbass]

So I emailed this cat about a band. After exchanging several emails he wants to do a phone call. I suggested that we jam. But he insisted on doing a phone call. He's been in some real projects so I guess he's a good player. But I mean...phone call? This guy lives like 10 minutes away from me. What could he learn through a phone call? I hate phone calls.

I've already given him a lot of the logistics. Like how old I am, how long i've been playing, influences, rig. So...

Any thoughts?

I try to avoid having phone conversations with cats too.

 

[BlueAliceOasis]

I don't mean to be one of those "I'm a zygote and Jon Lord is the best organ player ever" people on Youtube, but as a 15 year old, I find it disturbing that my generation finds phonecalls...disturbing.

I remember back when I used to call people on a house-phone all the time and I don't know what happened. Making phone calls on a house-phone will probably keep my hands healthier than constantly texting.

My only qualms with phone calls are that they aren't free and with certain people, no matter how close I am with them, I can't interact with them the same way I do in person. So, face-to-face meetings trump all.

 

[Remyd]

I think it's reasonable to talk on the phone before meeting someone. Especially a singer - I've avoided a couple of messes by hearing a singer's speaking voice and deciding that they (she) weren't for me. By the same token I've gotten myself into an mess-in-progress by being fascinated by this singers growly voice even though he's personally the sort of person I'd usually dismiss as a fly-by.

Edit: I'm 37 and the 28 year old singer expressed amazement that I actually took the time to call.

 

[DirtDog]

IMHO, part of the problem is labeling. The boomers are expected to act one way. Gen X another. Millennials? "Whatever man".
I think we chalk it up to some label and then let it slide. If no one is held to a standard, then there are no standards and the Millennials get a pass. How you gonna feel when they jack with your social security because they think they can do "whatever man"?
There seems to be no consequences to Millennialism. What do we label the kids today once they are done being tweens? Anarchist?

Don't worry. Millennials will eventually grow up, be handcuffed to a mortgage and a significant other, all the while listening to thier teenaged kids bitch and moan. Then they'll be just as grumpy as the rest of us old farts.

I was an early Gen Xer until I went through the same thing. Today, I'm more like my pre-Boomer father was in the 1980s.

 

[Steve Dallman]

So, I'm a good guitar player and I'm looking for a bass player. I can determine in a few minute phone call if the bass player is serious and would be worth pursuing in a band situation. I can do this without letting someone I don't know into my house and showing him what I might have worth stealing there. We talk, and it goes well, we move to the next step. We talk and it doesn't go well, all I have given him/her is my number.

It's a nasty world. Personally, I wouldn't mind meeting a guitar player on the phone and giving him an impression of me BEFORE he sees I'm a geezer who walks with a cane. The positives work both ways.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

In regards to the OP, I understand the frustration/nervousness. I'm 25, and I dislike talking to people I don't know, too.

What I've done to help get over my own nerves is to look at those sorts of conversations as interviews where I'm the interviewer and they're the interviewee. If we're talking about music then I'll try to initiate the majority of the questions to get them talking first. This gives me the opportunity to hear their side of business, and it gives me time to think of a response and a follow up question to keep the conversation going. By taking control of the conversation, it makes me feel like nothing awkward or surprising can happen because I know where the conversation is leading. It works for me and maybe it can work for you.

 

[cdlynch]

To the OP: I know lots of people freaked out by phone calls. Is it the lack of visual cues? Does the idea of a Skype call with video freak you out less? If so, suggest that. I know that I've saved countless hours with phone interviews, so it's an expected part of the business. If they're not into Skype, work on building up your tolerance like you said about your warm up call. Besides, what's a few electrons between strangers?

 

[andrew]

 

[InhumanResource]

Back in my day my girlfriend had a party line for a phone.

You probably don't know what that is since you probably dont have much memory of phones that werent cellular. But It was a single phone number shared by multiple households.

So imagine trying to have a romantic conversation when her mom, dad, sibling or any of her neighbors might be silently listening in.

Now that's a reason to be nervous on a phone call.

Haha. Sounds like I came out a little after you, but still remember the very real dread of a girl's parents picking up the line or *gasp* answering first when you call, then the mind-blowing advent of call waiting. BEEEP

 

[bassinplace]

I don't mind the idea of just texting or emailing before getting together to jam, audition, whatever. But if I think about it, it never really goes down that way. There's always invariably a phone call at some point in time before we meet for the first time. I suppose because it's the only real way to get an actual idea of who it is I'm going to meet. That's why humans invented machines in the first place, to make life less complicated. Right? Lol.

 

[guy n. cognito]

I can't imagine why I WOULDNT want to talk to someone on the phone before inviting them into my practice space for a jam or audition.....

 

[GretschWretch]

I try to avoid having phone conversations with cats too.

Cats communicate telepathically.