Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!
It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org
Storyophonic – LYNNE EARLS
A producer-engineer-mixer-composer and player: Irish-born, Liverpool-educated Los Angeles transplant Lynne Earls’ credits include recording K.D. Lang, Calexico, Rumer, Lizz Wright, Wayne Shorter and many others. In this conversation, she compares recording to photography, instinct and intuition guide her as she captures the authentic soul of a sound in the optimal instant.
This episode features “Is Cuma” produced by Lynne, featuring legendary Celtic recording artist – Moya Brennan with Cormac DeBarra from the album “Timeless” on Beo Records. http://storyophonic.libsyn.com/lynne-earls
The other day I was on my way to work, and I always take the same route unless there are some disruptions on my tube line. There were, in fact, some disruptions this particular day so I had to take different trains, but luckily that route takes about the same amount of time for me to take me from my home to work.
I thought that I almost prefer this other route, it is mostly overground and you know, it is nice to change up your habits a bit. We tend to get stuck in the same routines. Mix a show in the same way you’ve always done, mic up a drum kit the same way as you always do, EQ monitors precisely the way you did yesterday. Sure it is tried and tested, but it gets a bit repetitive after a while.
Playing it safe:
In the live industry, you sort of have to play it safe most of the time, simply because there is no time to be adventurous. You got to make it sound good, and you have to do it fast.
However, if you are a venue engineer, you can easily get set in the same ways. But if you don’t challenge yourself, you’re not going to improve nor learn something new. It is like working out in the gym, if you work out a muscle the same way and not adding weight or variety to it you will not become stronger. You will simply just plateau.
The upside of being a venue engineer is that it is a safe environment. If you have been in a place for a little while, you probably feel relatively comfortable and will hopefully have a small bit of extra time to play around with things. This is a perfect environment to try and do things differently if you’ve got something that is tried and tested, you’ve always got that to fall back onto.
The ‘One-way’ route:
I work in a venue where the speakers are all hidden away and scattered around the building, surrounded by loads of marble. Not ideal for creating ‘the perfect sound.’ You just have to make it sound good with what you’ve got, and honestly, it is not that bad. However, anytime there is a visiting engineer they get entirely thrown off; because they are so set in the way they usually do things they can’t figure out a different route to get where they want to go..
The live sound industry is not a ‘one-way’ route. There are tons of roundabouts, disruptions, left turns, stops, and traffic lights. Some people work at 100mph and others are lingering around about 30mph. You have to adapt and treat every situation differently.
Very often you just have to work around it. With amazing gear nowadays, it is easy to forget the room and how critical it is for the overall sound of the show. Halls, venues, arenas, stadiums all sound different, there is not a ‘one-way route’ to mix a performance.
Challenge yourself:
We need to be thrown off in able to learn new things. Adapt the way you set up and tune to each venue, each artist. Work off the basics but work with space you are in vs. fighting it. Ask engineers that work in that venue regularly, how they go about tuning the room. Always be willing to adapt, change, and learn new things.
So whenever you have any disruptions on your line, embrace it. Approach it with the right attitude, and you will see that it will not set you back as much as you might have thought it would. See it as a new learning experience, and hey, you might even find yourself enjoying the alternative route!
Interview Tips for the Theatre Technician
Interviewing for a new job has always been a source of anxiety for me. I did not choose a behind-the-scenes career just so I could talk to strangers about myself, but it seems that the job interview is a necessary evil. Over the years, I’ve learned that interviewing doesn’t have to be scary. You can prepare for an interview without feeling like you’re cramming for a final, and there is a bit of a formula that can be applied so that it doesn’t feel like you’re shooting in the dark or starting from scratch with each interview.
Admittedly, it’s been a while since I’ve had an interview. That’s the good part of being in a residency for many years. I am, however, in the position of interviewing several people every year, and I have definitely learned what makes me happy and what turns me off after an interview. Even if an applicant has a good resume, it’s hard to justify moving them forward if they don’t interview well. It’s true what they say about first impressions, and the bigger the applicant pool, the more memorable an applicant needs to be. No pressure.
Step one: Do your research.
A very typical interview question is, “Why this company.” You need to be able to answer that, and my pro tip here is, make the answer be about the company. If you tell your interviewer that you’re just trying to find a job or that you apply to every job you see posted, that can be a mark against you. They also do not want to hear that their company is a great stepping stone along the path to the job you really want. The theatre world is a very small one, and if you put some feelers out, you might find that you know someone, or have a friend of a friend who has worked with this company. Pick their brain, and find out how their experience was. What aspects resonate with you? Also, the internet is your friend. Use it to learn everything you can about the company. They will likely have their mission statement posted and probably an “about us” section on their website. Do you have like views? How so? These will be great talking points. If you don’t agree with their mission or don’t like how the company operates, stop right there and reconsider applying for this job.
Step two: Know your resume.
Your interviewer will most definitely have your resume in front of them, so that is going to be a source of questions from them. I know I have several different resumes I use depending on the job I’m applying for, and they don’t all contain all of the same information. I don’t know how many times I have referenced something from an applicant’s resume, and they didn’t know what I was talking about, because they couldn’t remember the specific resume they sent me. If I’m applying to several companies at once, I will immediately print out the resume I submitted and staple it to a sheet of paper with the company’s name on it. Looking at the same thing the interviewer is looking at will help keep your head clear when you’re searching for just the right answer to their questions. Btw, that blank sheet of paper is also the thing you should use to write notes on.
Step three: Be yourself.
Something about your application materials drew this company to you, so don’t mess it up by trying to sound more important, or professional, or what have you. These people are very likely just looking for a human that is good at their craft. That’s you. Be a human. It’s ok to laugh or crack a joke here and there, that stuff lets the interviewer know that you can be relaxed in high-stress situations. Be careful, though; you don’t want to push this point. Don’t go out of your way to sound extra funny, or extra cool, or just plain extra. It’s awkward and uncomfortable to listen to, and it’s also not an accurate representation of who you are. So again, just be yourself.
Step four: Create a stress-free environment.
Many of my interviews are conducted over the phone, and I have heard it all, so let me start by saying that a busy loading dock, the subway, your car in rush hour traffic, the airport, the bar (yes, I have called someone for an interview while they were at the bar) are not considered a stress free environment. If it’s hard to hear you because of background noise, or if you’re driving in and out of cell service, or I guess if you’re wasted at the bar, it is going to be very frustrating for your interviewer, and they are likely going to skip some questions just to be finished with that phone call sooner, and you’re going to miss out an opportunity to show this company how awesome you are. Also, make sure you have plenty of time available before and after the interview. Your interview could be 20 minutes, or it could be 2 hours. It’s also possible that you might get a call a little early, so be prepared, and just block out a good chunk of time. Choose a quiet, good phone service area. If you’re doing a video interview, look at the world around you. Are your interviewers looking at your dirty laundry or watching cartoons in the background of your camera? “No” should be the answer here.
Step five: Take notes.
Before your interview, write down some questions you have about the company or the job. Even the question, “Do you have any questions for us” is a test. They want to know that you have standards, and you’ve done your homework. Indifference is not a good quality to have in an interview, or in life, really, so having some opinions about how you would like to potentially be fit into this new company is a good thing. Also, write down the questions you are asked. If you get a little rambly or need a second to think about the questions, having them written down in front of you will help you keep your thoughts collected.
Step six: Be polite and gracious.
Manners go a long way. This company has gone into a lot of trouble to work you into their busy schedule, so thank them for their time at the end of the interview. I think a follow-up email within the hour thanking them again is a really nice touch, and I definitely always take note when I get that email. Also, remember that your interviewer works for the company for which you are applying, so it stands to reason that they probably like the company. Don’t bash it during your interview. I know this seems like strange advice, but I wrote it because I’ve encountered it. Also, this person is also probably a department head or production manager, so keep that in mind, and don’t tell this person everything you hate about production managers. Trust me; it won’t go over well.
Step seven: Stay engaged, not pushy.
You have no idea what your interviewer’s schedule is like, so don’t expect to hear from them the next day. It’s fair to ask during your interview when they expect to get back to you and if you’ll hear back whether or not you get the job. If the date that you were expecting a call has gone by, feel free to follow up with a friendly email, but I would suggest stopping at one email. Not everyone gets back to applicants if they didn’t get the job, so if you haven’t heard anything even after you sent a follow-up email, you probably have your answer.
All in all, confidence, genuine personality, and organization are going to be your best lines of defense during your interview. If you feel good about how your interview went, then remember what you did, and make it your base formula that adjusts based on the company. If you didn’t get the job, but you truly thought your interview went well, don’t blame the interview. There are a myriad of reasons why you might not have been chosen, and you don’t want to psych yourself out before the next interview, so just know that you have done your best work, and you can do it again.
How to Learn Any Digital Console Quickly
Many times I have accepted an event, asked about the equipment, and received a super vague response. Or, even better, requested a specific console and then received something completely different! Cool, I guess we’ll figure it out as we go?
Locate your most important things:
Interface – how do you navigate? Is there a computer/mouse situation, or is it a touch screen? If you’re on a console, some are touch screens, and some aren’t. Do you need to make your faders, is there a blank session you can load for the venue that gives you a starting point? Figure it out.
Console layout – Take a minute or two to see how the console is set up. Where is the EQ/effects section, does it have its own section or is it variable on the scribble strip? How many layers, and can you change the layers with a flip to faders function (those can screw you up if you don’t realize it’s turned on!) Locate the headphone port and how to adjust your own monitors. This sounds silly, but I had a conversation last week with Beckie Campbell where she just couldn’t find it on a Midas console, and she’s a damn legend.
Patching – Usually when I start to get annoyed or confused on a new console, it’s because of the patching. Patching can be super simple (like on the Avid consoles) which is a click-and-drag situation. Calrec Summa is a multi-step process where you click back and forth between Source and Destination points. It’s a good system (in my opinion) but takes extra consideration.
Bus assignments – How do you assign your channels? Are there buttons, can you select them all and do it all in one go? I teach audio students, and this is one of the biggest things that gets overlooked. It’s one of the very first things that I do, but students seem to forget until they don’t get audio as expected.
Now figure out what you will need for the show
Aux Sends & Effects – Are there dedicated effect returns, or do you need to make some from stereo channels? In some interfaces, it might be easier to add the effect first and then route it. Other consoles will demand you have the aux and returns and then add the effect to the channel.
Compression/EQ onboard vs. plugins – All digital consoles will have some onboard effects. Calrec Summa – a broadcast console – has two dynamic effects per channel. It does not have any time-based (other than time delay) effects onboard whatsoever. FOH digital will have a large selection of brand-based or fancier licensed plugins, with the option to load more from your personal key (such as Waves). This can be frustrating and may require phone calls to get your license functioning on a new console. It’s up to you and your client, but for any smaller shows or corporate events, I just keep it simple.
Snapshots – You can select which parameters will save in your snapshots, so I suggest you take a few minutes to set this up. It has screwed me up when I changed snapshots and then my patch changed, for example.
Other Notes
Download the manual (not a link!) and read it if you can on your commute.
Download software if available and start building your show file.
Try to give yourself time for a break so you can walk away. It’s fun to learn new things, but it can be frustrating when it isn’t working the way you expect.
Use your network – Do you have any friends you can call or text to get a tip? We have dozens of digital consoles where I work, so I am lucky enough to be able to access almost anything to build a show file or learn the layout ahead of time. Most people aren’t privileged in this way, try to see if a friend of a friend has the console you need or will be using one locally! SoundGirls on Facebook is also an excellent resource; there are literally hundreds (thousands?) Of people online who are willing to help. We’ve had FaceTime sessions, chats, phone calls, text marathons, etc. to help when needed! Once I phoned a friend just to see if I could plug my phone USB into the console to charge it (I couldn’t), so don’t be afraid to ask the dumb or seemingly obvious questions.
Analog/Tape Recording Workshop w/Lenise Bent Part 2
This is open to intermediate recording engineers that wish to learn to analog recording techniques. Session will be taught by Lenise Bent.
This second workshop will include:
In this workshop we will be taking the next step in analog tape recording, mixing to tape using a large format recording console and outboard gear.
We will be at the world-class Sphere Studio in Burbank, CA. SoundGirls will have a quick hands-on review of the first workshop, “24 trk. analog tape recording”, in which you will each thread the 2″ 24 trk. tape machine and run the transport.
We will also review:
Tape alignment and tones
Cleaning and de-gaussing of the heads and tape path
Editing and splicing of tape and leader.
Definition of “safe”, “sync” and “record” modes on the tape machine
Arming and recording onto the tape machine
Overdubbing
Proper labeling protocol of the tape box (metadata)
We will use the song recorded to 24 trk. tape from the first workshop to practice mixing down to 1/2″ 2 trk. stereo. This will include:
Alignment and recording tones on the 2 trk. tape machine
Mixing through a large format recording console using automation
Using the patchbay to access outboard gear in the rack
Editing and splicing mixes together.
Invoicing 101
Many of us are asked to generate invoices for our work, but what is needed on an invoice? There are many templates online, but ideally, you are setting up an invoice that is easy for you to complete and easy for the person paying the bill to read.
I suggest building your template using something like excel or google sheets, so you don’t need to recreate the important sections of your invoice all the time. Items that won’t change frequently but are required on every invoice include your name, e-mail, mailing address, phone number, and your company name if you have one. All this information should be at the top left of your invoice.
Each invoice should have a different invoice number for tracking, for simplicity, keep this at the top right of the document. Also, include the date of the invoice there as well. This helps the date stand out, so you know when the invoice was created and submitted. In result, you can track when you should be paid as you set your Net terms.
Net terms, usually at the bottom of the invoice, is the timeframe in which you require invoices to be paid. For example, you may note something like “All invoices due within Net 30, overdue invoices will be charged a 10% late fee.” You will want to select a timeframe that is reasonable for an accounting department to fulfill. Most do Net 15 or Net 30. This net timeframe is based on the date you send the bill, which should also match the date at the top of your invoice. In this same area consider adding a note of whom checks should be made out too such as your name or a company name.
Your invoice also needs information about who you are billing and what you are billing. Make sure to have the company’s full details such as name, address, email, and phone number. Then include references to what you are billing. Here I use the company’s job number, job name, and the job location. This will help you as well as the accounting department sort your paperwork faster for payment.
Next is the most vital part of the invoice – the amount you are going to be paid! This is the center of the invoice. Here you are going to provide a description of the work, hours, rates, and totals. Lay this out in an easy to read format and help yourself by inserting formulas to do the math for you. Your description should include the date, task, or position you performed, and activity you did, such as load in, show, or load out.
Here is also where you also would include chargebacks for per diem. I recommend you list this separately, so it doesn’t get lost in your invoice as well as for your records since per diam is tracked/taxed differently depending on your location. Reimbursements could be listed in the section as well, but don’t forget to attach the receipt.
You will want to communicate with each company for all events your expectations for per diem, such as the rate and payment timeline. Some people prefer cash in advance while others invoice after the event. As far as rate, each company seems to treat this differently, but if you are in the states and want to know the going rate, you can refer to the US federal website for this information. https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates/per-diem-rates-lookup Keep in mind some companies will follow this recommendation and others will not. Make sure to have this discussion before you commit to working for the company or before each event if needed; work with them to agree on the amount.
Adjust your invoice template as you go. Feel free to use a little color or design, but nothing major as you want to make sure the necessary parts stand out. You will learn what works better for each company and what works better for you. Remember to submit your invoice within a timely manner. I suggest a day or two after the event. This way, you don’t forget the details you need to invoice for, and you can get paid faster! Plus, then it’s on the company’s to do list and not yours!
Petra Randewijk is an independent sound engineer based in The Netherlands. Petra has been working in audio for 21 years, and she is currently on tour with Imogen Heap as the FOH Engineer. The world tour is heading to the U.S. & Canada in May and June.
Petra originally got interested in studio sound, while recording a demo with a band she played in when she was fifteen. “I wasn’t the best musician and didn’t enjoy a lot of what being a musician is about, like standing on a stage with people staring at me, but being in the studio sparked something. I wanted to study music technology to get a job in a studio, but didn’t get in at first try, so to gain some experience I decided to try and do some live work, or at least try and have people explain to me how all the sound equipment works.”
She would go on to study music technology and graduated as a composer for theatre and dance. She would learn live sound by just doing it, and while she wanted to go into the recording side, she would find the excitement of live sound addictive.
“I got my start at with a local PA company who provided sound for the local venues where I went to see bands and also played as a musician. They had an anarchistic way to organise themselves and a focus on equipment, to build it, repair it and take it apart in general for educational purposes or just the fun of it. What I learned there was that there is not one way of doing things, and whatever you do, it’s never good enough.”
Petra has in the past worked with international touring band Jungle by Night, a nine-piece Dutch instrumental band. She also works with other Dutch groups and occasionally will take on the role of TM/FOH. When she is not on the road, she works at Doornroosje in Nijmegen and with local sound companies, where she will take on the roles of FOH, Monitors, Patch whatever needs to be done.
She also owns a small studio “where I record a mixture of bands in different styles. Doing this also helps me for live shows because, in the studio, there is way more time to talk with and understand musicians and how they feel about their sound. In live sound, it’s tough to do that, as musicians can never hear the end result of what you are doing during a show. So the conversation is always about hearsay or at the best you discuss in vague terms what we are doing. And I do believe this can help to better amplify and put across artist creativity and emotion, which is in the end what I think doing sound is all about.”
On the current Imogen Heap Tour, which is a mix of live shows, talks, workshops, and exhibition for Creative Passport, this is a different way to tour and Petra shares with us what life is like.
Yes, it’s indeed a bit of a weird one, compared to what people might be used to for touring. But for me, it keeps it interesting, and it is never dull. A week (sometimes shorter) differs in every city. It is done this way, because the tour is also set up to showcase the Creative Passport, and on the road talk to music makers all over the world on their point of view and needs on this. Creative Passport is the digital container to hold verified profile information, IDs, acknowledgments, works, business partners and payment mechanisms, to help get music makers and their works, linked and open (data) for business.
We also have Mi.Mu glove presentations, tech talk ones. For this, we use part of the same setup as in the shows. These talks are informative because Imogen explains how the things she does with the gloves actually work. This is a good talk which was recorded, and it also discusses Creative Passport.
My main focus as a sound engineer are the live shows, which are with Imogen, Guy Sigsworth, and four other excellent musicians on stage playing guitar, drums, cello, and keytar. The setlist contains Imogen Heap songs and Frou Frou songs.
The basis of the setup for the live shows is an A&H Dlive mix rack, which has a Madi card to communicate with Imogen’s computer through optical Madi and an RME madiface. It sends audio to Imogen which she can process, such as vocal, but also other instruments. It receives 20 input channels, as well. The full input list is 32 channels, and ambient mics, and all channels are split into FOH and Monitor channels. All musicians are on in-ears, and they take care of their own monitor setup with the help of an iPad app. This took a bit of getting used too, but we used the setup at all the pre-production rehearsals.
Whenever possible, we are sponsored by d&b to use Soundscape. For this, I added a Dante card in the Mixrack to send all channels. Soundscape is d&b’n new immersive sound system and amazing to work with. It can make everything sound very natural like its directly coming from where the musicians are standing. But there is also a whole new world to be discovered, the possibilities to use it for effects and electronic sounds. That makes it so much fun. And because it receives OSC to control the sound objects, Imogen can directly move sounds in the room with her Mi.Mu gloves.
There are intimate evenings with Imogen Heap, which are only for the people who helped start up this tour from day one as an enabler. There she talks about her songs and then plays using just a grand piano and vocal. The audience can ask for their favorite songs to be played, which makes the shows different every time.
Heap’s live shows feature both solo performances by the artist, as well as an electronic duo with Frou Frou collaborator Guy Sigsworth. The tour is also the first to showcase Heap’s innovative Mi.Mu gloves.
Can you explain the Gloves?
The Mi.Mu gloves are controllers. They come with excellent software that registers hand postures, movement, and relative location. With them, and the software, you can control everything you could want. It can output MIDI and OSC, and you can connect it to anything compatible. Imogen controls all the music that comes from her computer, running Ableton. They can do starts and stops, make drum loops, scroll through samples, as well as control effects as loops, harmonizers, delays, and reverb. Anything, is possible, although, it is the same as with other instruments, it does get complicated to keep track of all the movements you need to do. It’s always awe-inspiring to watch Imogen do all that.
You are touring with d-Live and Soundscape. Are you touring with other production?
We are traveling with a Dlive rack, but still, need to get the surface locally supplied. We get great touring support on this from A&H and d&b is sponsoring Soundscape, whenever possible. Other than that, I am carrying a set of mixed microphones and DI’s. Nothing big, just my personal favorites.
Working with an artist like Imogen, who is at the forefront of new technology for music and musicians, both in helping to develop it and/or using it, makes it possible and maybe even needed to keep looking for new ways to make things easier and/or better. So I am now working to check if we can integrate KLANG’s 3D monitoring system in the setup, and using it to follow the glove movements.
This keeps me challenged to keep learning and trying out new things all the time, which for me makes this tour amazing.
How large is the crew for the show?
As for the crew, we are traveling with Imogen’s PA, a Nanny, the Mycelia head of operations, who also helps with the show setup, me, and a backline tech/general tech/driver. We all have a bit of a mixed-function description, as Imogen’s PA and the Mycelia head of operation also shares TM duties. My function besides sound is also PM. And one of the musicians also helps out with production and does the stage design. In general, we all make sure that everything that needs to be done gets done.
What do you like best about touring?
I love seeing new places and meeting wonderful people everywhere. And that every day is different. I feel I am at my best when everything has to be done on the spot, and maybe even is a bit chaotic. I sometimes even find myself thriving in chaos. (And smiling in the middle of it)
What do you like least?
Hanging around at airports.
What is your favorite day off activity?
Doing some touristy stuff, seeing the surroundings. Trying local food, when there is a vegetarian option available.
What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?
The sound world is tough in general, and you do need to have a thick skin. I started at the end of the nineties when everything seemed even a bit rougher. More yelling, more making fun of people mistakes and all was never good enough. Being slightly insecure already, this didn’t help me. I can’t tell for sure if it was especially harder because I was a woman, I did get all the ‘you aren’t rock n’ roll enough’ ‘are you the sound guy’s girlfriend’ ‘this sounds rather good, did your boyfriend mix it’ and more of that stuff. It’s all small stuff, but together, it’s a constant reminder that I am less trusted by sight as my male colleagues. But to be honest, I had the same lack of trust in myself, so I may have been my biggest obstacle.
I didn’t meet a lot of women doing sound in the first ten years, so everything seemed personal instead of about gender, which maybe made it harder to get around it.
But I know I’ve seen a lot of guys leave as well.
How have you dealt with them?
I made it through the first part by being stubborn. Taking all the crap and just kept on going. Also, I didn’t know that there was any other option. After a while, people gave me more responsibility and opportunities to do things on my own, and in my own way, which worked better for me.
One day I decided I wasn’t going to take being yelled at from anyone anymore. So I started talking back, asking why people thought it is okay to do that, or stopped working with people and at places that got me down. I just found the best space for me. It took a lot of years to get to this point. Realising at least some of it wasn’t personal really helped me, and a place like SoundGirls is amazing to discover that. The SoundGirls community also told me to stop complaining about needing to know twice as much as my average male colleagues to be taken equally seriously. But just go for it.
In the end, gaining knowledge is never a waste. So I am still trying to learn as much as possible. Taking courses, asking questions, learning every day.
Advice you have for other women and young women who wish to enter the field?
Don’t forget things are rarely personal. Things people say are more about themselves as they are about you. Having said that doing sound is also never about you, but about the music being made on stage. And how to bring that to the audience as much as it is intended to be.
And if you lose a gig, don’t dwell on it, there are always more gigs, and sometimes it’s just someone else’s time. The best way to deal with this is to keep going and get other gigs, preferably things that fit especially for you. But to establish that you mustn’t be afraid to take an honest look at yourself too. And never forget to stay your own person in the whirlwind off the rock and roll, it’s the best person you can be.
Never forget to broaden your musical horizon, because if you work in sound, this can never be wide enough. Every kind of music has his own sound ideas and sometimes even rules. And every new thing you discover can give you new information you might be able to use in the next show. So don’t be afraid to listen to music outside of your comfort zone.
Must have skills?
Stubbornness, patience, always staying relaxed, and a lot of curiosity.
Favorite gear?
For live, I am at the moment pleased with my d-live rack and the Allen and Heath d-live series in general. If I could bring one thing, this would be it. It has amazing possibilities with getting audio in lots of directions. Great sounding internal fx and compressors, and very easily flyable. And also very useful to do recording sessions on location. For in the studio, my favourite piece of gear is a Schoeps MK4 microphone, which makes everything it records sounds amazing.
Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!
It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org
Spotify Launches Second Year of EQL Residency – Apply Now! Deadline is June 7th!
Are you a female-identifying audio professional? Apply for this paid, six-month residency in either London, Los Angeles, or Nashville.
Last November we announced The EQL Directory—a database of women and gender non-conforming audio professionals, powered by SoundGirls, made possible by Spotify. The idea behind it is simple: here’s a resource designed to make putting together an inclusive team that much easier.
Hand in hand with this is Spotify’s annual EQL Residency, a program that provides hands-on experience for rising studio engineers. From today until June 7th at 5pm PST, you can submit your application for positions in our Secret Genius studios in London, Los Angeles and Nashville. In partnership with Berklee College of Music, the EQL Residency is a paid, six-month residency for female-identifying producers and engineers.
On a rainy Friday night, I’m drinking tea under the glow of fairy lights in the crowd that’s gathered to catch Helen McCookerybook on the Midlands leg of her solo tour. Dr. Helen Reddington’s pseudonym helps to distinguish the multi-faceted nature of her work, spanning from musician in the British Punk movement to academic and teacher, to solo musician, author, and filmmaker. Helen is an ambassador for telling women’s stories, and she kindly squeezes in time for a coffee with me the morning after the gig to tell me hers.
It’s like chatting with an old friend as we recall our highlights from the previous evening, compare notes on overcoming musician’s injuries, and discuss the similarities between knitting and sequencing, and the nonsensical myth that women’s brains aren’t conducive to working in these patterned methods. As we talk about her colourful life, I wonder how we will cover everything in time for the screening of Helen’s documentary “Stories From The She Punks” that afternoon. The film has been a natural progression following the publication of Dr. Reddington’s book “The Lost Women of Rock Music: Female Musicians of the Punk Era.” Created by Helen and fellow Punk musician Gina Birch, the film came about after Gina was interviewed for the book and suggested they make a film about it together.
Q: Women are frequently omitted and written out of history, and you address that in so much of your work, particularly in this film.
“It still shocks me how much it gets covered up, because it was so important, that period of time. I think we interviewed 20 women for the film; there was easily another 20 we could have found. The women are people, people first. This is where feminism works, when it makes women into people, rather than the second sex or whatever, and they’re people’s stories. I think you can tell everyone’s quite proud of what they’ve done, but without trumpeting it, it’s just like actually we did this thing! We did it, you know? When you’re a creative person, there isn’t a point where you sit, and you say ‘oh yeah I’ve done it’ because you’re always looking at the next thing, and I think that’s what the film did for the people that we interviewed.”
The film focuses on the stories of women instrumentalists including Palmolive & Viv Albertine from The Slits, Enid Williams from Girlschool and Shanne Bradley from The Nipple Erectors. Helen tells me she’s trying to encourage Shanne in particular to write her biography.
“She auditioned Shane McGowan from The Pogues for his first ever band, The Nipple Erectors with Shanne, and she was there right at the beginning. She knows so many people and did so many things, and she appears in Punk Histories, there’ll be a photograph of her, and it’ll say ’unknown woman.’ You can’t be an unknown woman; you’ve got to write your story!”
Q: You’re currently editing your next book on the topic of women engineers and producers. Can you tell us about that?
“It came about through the experience of working with producers and never getting the vocal sound that I wanted, and also working in Higher Education and always seeing the guys in that environment. In 2002 I did an academic study and found the guys already learn at school and get a head start on music tech. I ran parallel classes; one for guys and one for girls. During one session, a girl came to the guy’s class by mistake, and within 10 minutes a guy had borrowed a pen from her, and someone else had borrowed her bag to lean on, so she was put into this position of being a supplier. It was really interesting psychology, and the girls loved the class. I started finding women to interview while touring – I decided every place I went to. I would find a female engineer or producer because the spread of activity under that umbrella is really wide.”
Helen tells me about some of the 30 women she worked with for the book; they range in age from 22-70 across genres, all took different routes into the industry and all experienced different levels of acceptance. Additionally, they all had different attitudes and ideas about what production actually is.
“I interviewed Yvonne Shelton, a Gospel Choir producer in Manchester, which is quite a niche, as was another producer who programmes cheerleader music and mashups. I worked with Janet Beat, one of the first electronic music composers, as well as reggae, analogue and grime producers.” Dr. Reddington tells me about interviewing Susan Rogers, sound engineer to Prince.
“She came into it through repairing equipment, and that is such an interesting route into it. She was told when she was learning that there was no way that she was ever gonna be able to engineer, so she might as well learn how to fix studio gear. And she was actually fixing the gear for Prince’s studio, and then one day he just said ‘put the tape on’ and she said, you know, ‘I can’t do this, cause this is your engineer’s job,’ and he just said ‘that’s you.’ He’d kind of got to see how much she knew, and because of the way that he worked he actually wanted somebody who knew that side of things, cause he knew everything else, but that’s how come she started doing that.”
“The book has the working title of ‘Gender Ventriloquism’ because it’s that thing where a male producer, contextualised in a kind of history for example Nile Rodgers saying stuff like ‘I could make your secretary a star’ and like feeding Sister Sledge a line at a time, not allowing them to listen to a whole song, so that he’s completely in control of what’s happening, which for singers is completely disempowering. Dance producers just sampling female voices and taking them away from a body or any sort of agency, so it’s this idea, I call it Gender Ventriloquism. I’ve written something academic for the International Association of the Study of Popular Music where a male producer takes a female voice and makes them sound like men want to hear, rather than what the woman wants to sound like. What really freaked me out is being brought up on girl group music which is actually even written by men, and it’s all like the girls want to have sex with the men, sung by teenage girls, and that was my instruction on how I should be as a teenager – by men! And it’s so wrong, and it’s still happening. I got the article through by talking about instances where women produced men because that does happen, so I balanced it up, and I think that made it a bit less kind of controversial. But there’s not any punches pulled in the actual book, because it’s a historic. And all I’m doing is pulling out what’s actually happened in history and putting it all together in one place.”
Q: You’ve said how happy you are with your choice to take a break from music while you raised your daughters, and how pleased you are to be back again on the live scene now.
“There wasn’t any support from anybody, even the male musicians I knew, it was like ‘oh no, you’re a mother’ so if I’d have done it then I wouldn’t have felt confident. I’m really glad that I put the girls first. I take inspiration from blues ladies like Rosetta Thorpe and Etta Baker if they could do it so can I. I’ve seen how life could have gone, and that’s not an option. Whatever piles up, I’ll carry it, and it’ll make me stronger. Playing live is the closest you can get to flying.”
Q: What advice would you give to women and girls in the industry?
“The most important thing to me is that people actually write their own stories. Everybody, it’s really important. Keep a diary of what you’re doing, because by doing that you put yourself into some sort of history, and when you’re feeling ignored, you look at your diary and you push it out there, and you say look what I’ve done.”
You can find more from Dr. Helen Reddington at www.mccookerybook.com
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Storyophonic – LYNNE EARLS
