Elaine Rasnake (she/they) is a Philadelphia-based mastering engineer and live sound professional, and the owner of Daughterboard Audio. Since entering the audio field in 2016, Elaine has built a practice rooted in musicality, technical precision, and a deep respect for the emotional impact of sound.
Elaine’s relationship with audio began early—long before it became a career path. Growing up, music was a constant presence, from singing in choirs and performing in musicals to obsessively listening to favorite records and experimenting with recording on a family computer using an early ’90s gray microphone. An old home stereo receiver with physical EQ knobs and switches sparked a fascination with shaping sound, while writing and recording original songs for Myspace CDs laid the groundwork for what would become a lifelong pursuit.
While Elaine always knew music would be central to her life, audio engineering emerged as the most sustainable way to build a career within it. She studied Audio/Video Production and Vocal Performance at Bloomsburg University, earning a Bachelor’s degree and gaining her first exposure to formal recording techniques. As the only non-male student in the freshman audio cohort, Elaine found motivation in the challenge—proving themselves technically while helping open the door for more women to enter the program in the years that followed.
After college, Elaine gravitated toward mastering, a discipline that received only brief coverage in school but quickly became a passion. Largely self-taught in this area, Elaine developed her skills through extensive independent study, drawing from the work of mastering engineers like Bob Katz and Jonathan Wyner, alongside countless hours of critical listening, experimentation, and research. That self-directed education ultimately led to the founding of Daughterboard Audio in 2019, where Elaine now works as Owner and Lead Mastering Engineer.
Today, Elaine balances mastering work with live sound, bringing a musician’s sensibility and an engineer’s attention to detail to every project. Her work is guided by a belief in continuous learning, thoughtful collaboration, and creating sonic spaces where artists feel supported and heard.
Career Beginnings
How did you get your start in audio?
Once I graduated, I continued making my own music at home and uploaded everything to Bandcamp. I used that digital space primarily as a way to display my engineering skills for future clients as well as selling the music/touring/being an artist. Making those songs and going out and performing them was my first big solid step into
What were your first jobs, gigs, or internships like?
My first college internship was at a local radio station which was cool but I learned more about radio in general than anything new in terms of audio engineering. I’m pretty sure my 2nd internship was actually a scam that I was able to escape…but then my first solid job/gig was running live sound in my house. I had been living in a 6 person “show house” we called The Waiting Room. We would have a bunch of bands come through every month and host shows in our basement. I got the chance to work the mixing board for a lot of those shows and in the process, meet a ton of folks that I would later help record/mix/master out of my bedroom.
What skills or lessons did you learn early on that still serve you today?
Be genuine. Make friends. Be kind but set boundaries. People will enjoy and experience the music you help create, but they will always remember whether or not you were a kind, genuine person.
Did you have a mentor or someone who significantly supported your growth?
Katie Tavini was (and still is) a big mentor of mine. We met online and I was able to ask her a ton of questions when it came to the business, growth, networking, side of things. And over the years, she’s just been a great friend and cheerleader for all of my milestones and accomplishments as I move up in this industry.
What barriers did you encounter early in your career, if any?
I would say for the longest time, I was my own biggest barrier. I had a ton of anxiety about the world and life in general (still living at home solely out of fear and worry of being on my own, working the same restaurant job for 8-9 years, scared of any kind of major change). It wasn’t until after meeting my now wife and going to therapy that I was able to overcome a lot of those internal, mental barriers which helped me make even bigger strides in my career and life.
Your Career Today
What does a typical workday look like for you now?
During the day, I juggle two jobs: Mastering and taking care of my 2 year old daughter. I always have my phone on me so during any down times with her, I’m answering emails & dm’s. During her nap I do mastering/admin work in my home studio and attempt to remember to clean the house and myself. After dinner, I am either back in the studio to do more mastering work or I’m out running live sound for Warehouse3 out in Swarthmore, PA.
How do you stay organized and manage the demands of your work?
I am the kind of person that always keeps my notifications cleared and read, so that helps a ton. I use Trello a lot in tandem with Gmail and Google Calendar. When someone sends an email inquiry, it shows up in Trello as its own card. When I add a deadline to a Trello project card, it shows up in my Google Calendar. This setup has been huge in keeping things organized and knowing how my mastering work lines up with my live sound work and my child care work/home life.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
I love getting to meet so many creative and inspiring artists and listening to new music every day. I love having that “proud parent” feeling when a project gets released and knowing that I was able to help them feel really confident and excited about something they put a lot of time, money, and energy into.
What aspects of the job are the most challenging or least enjoyable?
I am SO bad at small talk haha so as much as I love meeting new people and networking and everything, talking to people in person (as compared to email, dm’s, texting) is still very challenging for me. But I’m working on it!
What is your favorite way to spend a day off or time away from work?
It feels like it’s been years since I’ve had any proper kind of time off, especially since my daughter was born. But I always enjoy watching movies, reading books, hiking, biking, playing video games, and sleeping.
Challenges, Growth & Perspective
What obstacles or systemic barriers have you faced in the industry?
I often feel like such an outlier when it comes to this because I never felt like I was treated any differently than my male peers in the audio world. For all of my life, I just felt like one of the guys, was never really treated differently, or faced any major obstacles outside of my own brain and mental health.
Have you seen the industry change during your career? If so, how?
I’ve seen so many more women/non-cis male engineers enter the field and be recognized for their accomplishments which has been so wonderful.
What still needs to change to better support women and marginalized genders in audio?
We need to increase our visibility and representation and diversify hiring (I’m so tired of looking at a studio’s website, scrolling through the endless list of male engineers and finding that the one woman is just the manager/secretary.) When the younger generations don’t see role models that they can look up to, it’s hard for them to see a place for themselves in the audio world.
Advice & Looking Forward
What advice would you give to women or young people interested in entering audio?
Now is an incredible time to get into audio. There are so many people making music, there is always a show or event that needs sound to be amplified, etc.. And gathering the proper info and experience to do this has never been easier thanks to the internet. You can join audio engineering discords, directly message engineers on instagram, attend virtual conferences, etc. There are so many people out there rooting for you to get started and to succeed. The only thing left is for you to go out there and make the first move.
What skills—technical or otherwise—do you think are essential for success?
People skills are huge because in a big way, this is a service industry. Being able to talk to people, whether it’s a new artist you met or your co-workers at a live sound gig, could be the difference between getting the next upcoming job/project or not.
What long-term goals or aspirations do you have?
I want to keep growing my business. Maybe one day it’d be cool to have other engineers be part of Daughterboard Audio (a lot like the Weird Jungle mastering collective over in the UK).
Is there something you wish you had known earlier in your career?
I wish I had known about all of the resources out there like SoundGirls, AES, GrammyU, etc. That would have been huge.
Favorites & Personal Touch
Favorite or most-used gear (and why)
My Audeze LCD-MX4 headphones. I monitor all of my work in headphones so without these, I’ve got nothing. I also do all of my work “in the box” so my favorite plugin gear is Izotope Insight 2. I use this to meter everything I’m working on to see where things are sitting. It’s also a great way to see where modern releases are sitting, loudness-wise, these days.
A piece of gear you can’t live without:
Also the headphones for the same reason why they are my favorite.
A moment in your career that made you feel proud or affirmed:
Being asked to be on the panel for the 2025 SoundGirls conference. In the past I was a part of a couple of AES panels but I think it was mainly because I was a moderator on a mastering Facebook page and all of the mods presented a couple group panels. The recent SoundGirls conference panel was the first time I was reached out to, solely because of who I was and what I had accomplished and people wanted to know my journey, workflow, and perspective. It was one of the few times where I finally felt like I was a “pro” and had a proper place in this industry.
Anything Else
I love teaching, mentoring, guiding folks through this audio world so always feel free to send questions and reach out to me on Instagram @daughterboardaudio or send me an email at elaine@daughterboardaudio.com
