Join Us

Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

Join Us

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

March Feature Profile

https://soundgirls.org/lillian-mcmurry-record-producer-owner-of-trumpet-record/

The Blogs

Women & The Grammy For “Producer of The Year, Classical”

A Snowy Story

Keeping Organized Digitally

Internet Round-Up

Behind the console: women working in audio and changing the game

 

International Women’s Day 2019 – 9 Women in Music Tech (WoMuTe) Heroes

 

 

International Women’s Day: Meet the women shaping the future of music

 

 

Women in Audio – A Celebration of International Women’s Day

 

 

Who’s helping womxn into sound?

 

 

SoundGirls News

The Studio Side – An Evening with Bob Horn

https://soundgirls.org/event/new-york-soundgirls-soundcheck-workshop/?instance_id=1478

https://soundgirls.org/event/los-angeles-soundgirls-march-social/?instance_id=1474

https://soundgirls.org/event/bay-area-chapter-1st-mondays-meetings/?instance_id=1452

https://soundgirls.org/event/detroit-soundgirls-spring-meet-greet/?instance_id=1477

https://soundgirls.org/event/glasgow-aes-soundgirls-theatre-sound-assembly/?instance_id=1472

Volunteer for Sound Check Xpo 2019

Viva La Muxer – SoundGirls Volunteers

SoundGirls and SoundGym

Music Expo – Miami – Representation on Panels –

SoundGirls Launches Initiative for Members Working in Production Sound

Shadowing/Mentoring/Internship Opportunities

Intern with Amanda Davis and Jess Jacobs

Shadow TM Erika Duffee – Canada

https://soundgirls.org/shadow-foh-ld-on-amanda-palmer-tour/

https://soundgirls.org/soundgirls-mentoring/

SoundGirls Resources

Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund

Letter for Trades and Manufacturers

Women-Owned Businesses

SoundGirls Scholarships 2021 Now Open

Events

Sexual Harassment

https://soundgirls.org/about-us/soundgirls-chapters/

Jobs and Internships

Women in the Professional Audio

Member Benefits

Keeping Organized Digitally

Digital Clutter

How often do you go through your handbag, backpack, work bag, etc. and clear out the trash? Receipts, smushed snacks, melted lipstick tube, random hardware and batteries, 800 sharpies (but I never have one handy somehow? These are some things I pulled out of my bag last week. Imagine the car or trunk situation…So. Much. Trash.

How often do you clear out your downloads folder, desktop, or trash on your computer? If you do this more than once every couple of years, cheers to you! For the rest of us animals living in digital filth, we need to get our lives sorted. Digital clutter is just as troublesome as the water bottles next to your bed or in your car. They once served their purpose, but now they are taking up valuable space. Maybe it’s one of those nice Nalgene ones, and you want to wash it and keep it to use again. It’s not going to do any good for you buried under the other bottles that you haven’t touched in weeks/months/years.

Storage & File Management

Digital workflow is everyone’s unique language for how they keep their files organized. I use an assortment of applications to suit my coworker’s personal tastes. Some prefer Google Docs, Dropbox, iCloud, Evernote. This makes personal digital asset management difficult because I have to keep items in different places to suit those people. Right?

I keep it simple and consistent. I use iCloud for nearly all of my personal and professional files. If my computer or phone were to get stolen, I could remotely wipe it and still have all of my files in the exact way I like them. I separate my files into very specific categories and file structures (see photo). If I need to share a file with someone, I can either email it to them or share a link (Dropbox). I don’t have backups of anything, really. They are stored in the cloud, and I access them remotely from that server. This means all of my files across my phone and computer are the same! This is possible without using Apple products, Google Drive works the same way (For the most part). Google Drive is incredibly slow, and I don’t like the way it stores video files. I’m not a fan of Dropbox, although I know many people prefer it. Exclusively I use Dropbox at work to share video files with people.

 

Templates

I do the same thing every month at work. Grading student projects, video processing, lectures, schedule, etc. I make folder structure templates, call sheets, rubrics, multitrack recording session templates, tech riders, inventory, invoices, etc. Bonus points for any apps that link directly between my laptop and my phone. I have a desk, but our campus is spread out so often I am walking or driving between buildings and I don’t always want to haul my office with me, so the phone apps are integral for me. iCloud and Evernote both make it easy to keep and load templates.

This might take a little more time if you are starting from scratch, however many of these applications have awesome looking templates built in that you can quickly adapt to your preferences. You can also take any document you already have created and save it as a template in most of Apple’s built-in software (keynote, pages, numbers, etc.).  Evernote allows for custom templates, but that’s going to be in the upgraded account.

Evernote is especially awesome. The free account gives you access on two devices. It functions as a word processor, PDF storage, document scanning, web clipper, voice or FaceTime memos, and a ton of other neat things. It’s also easy to collaborate with other people, I was introduced to it when we used it organized our rundowns, ideas, topic lists, links, etc .for our podcast.

Physical Media

Physical media, such as hard drives, flash drives, CDs, etc. are all still completely valid forms of storage. My files are stored in the cloud, and honestly, at this point, I trust it more than I trust myself not to break or lose a drive. I process video using a laptop at work, so I need hard drives to process and store those files. I upload the compressed version to Youtube or Dropbox. That’s my workflow, and obviously, you will have your own process. Files on a hard drive won’t be as up to date as working files you use daily or weekly. Drives also fail, so unless you’re spending money on RAID storage, you can lose all of your backups anyway (also assuming you are responsibly backing up daily). SSDs have a limited number of write cycles. There are tons of points in both columns of cloud vs. hard drive, but daily workflow wise I am going to use the cloud as much as possible to protect myself from myself.

 

Festival Tiempo de Mujeres

The Mexico City Chapter of SoundGirls will be staffing Festival Tiempo de Mujeres. on the Noche de la sonoridad stage. Come out and represent SoundGirls.

Festival multidisciplinario para la promoción de la actividad de las mujeres en el campo de las artes, las ciencias y el liderazgo social. Se erigirá como una acción afirmativa para el impulso del trabajo cultural realizado por mujeres. Articulará espectáculos, actividades pedagógicas y de divulgación para promover los derechos de las mujeres así como el cambio cultural contra el machismo, la misoginia y la violencia de género. Dentro del marco del Festival, se realizará un concierto masivo, así como exposiciones, conferencias, talleres, encuentros, conversatorios y muestras de obras escénicas y cinematográficas

Soundgirls estará a cargo del area técnica en el escenario Noche de la sonoridad.

Multidisciplinary festival for the promotion of women’s activity in the field of arts, sciences and social leadership. It will be built as an affirmative action for the promotion of cultural work carried out by women. Articulate shows, pedagogical and outreach activities to promote women’s rights as well as cultural change against machismo, misogyny and gender violence. Within the framework of the Festival, a massive concert will be held, as well as exhibitions, conferences, workshops, meetings, talks and samples of scenic and cinematographic works

Soundgirls will be in charge of the technical area on the Night of Loudness stage.

 

 

 

 

Volunteer for Sound Check Xpo 2019

SoundGirls is accepting volunteers to help with running our Booth. Load in is April 27th, and volunteers will receive a pass for the conference.

Volunteer here

Sound Check Xpo is an international trade show which attracts a large number of DJs, musicians, decision-makers and technical experts from all over the world. It focuses on innovative products and services which help in the growth of the music industry.

 

 

A Snowy Story

As many of you know, I live in Minnesota. Right now, this year at least, we have what seems to be a blizzard every other day. Over 30 inches of snow in February alone and as I write this blog everything is shut down due to 50 mph winds causing the roads to be covered with huge snow drifts. Yes, this is the time of the year I regularly ask myself why I live here and desperately hope for sun and temperatures 30 degrees warmer.  However, as Minnesotans, we also embrace our winter wonderland with events like the winter carnival, or the national pond hockey tournament. This year, I found myself out in the cold and snow setting up for something completely different.

I got to experience an event of a lifetime. Not an event due to its pomp and circumstance or the people on stage, but an event that challenged everyone in many and new ways. One of those ‘We did that’ moments and to top it off this event had all leadership positions steered by women, and it was all for a woman! This post isn’t about the content of the event, or who it was even for. It’s a story of the accomplishment of women leading the way and overcoming the snow and cold obstacles of a Minnesota winter.

I was the production manager for this event, and it happened to make it into the national spotlight. Of course, the spotlight was what happened on stage, but it’s still pretty awesome to do an event that keeps living on after the moment. I also get to look back on it and say – wow, we did that! While also saying wow, why did we do that?

Day one was the location mapping. It was cold, windy, and cloudy, but the overnight snow had stopped, and it was just a matter of commuting through the fresh 6 inches to get to the site to clear the spaces for the staging and tents.  This was a short quick meeting, where we marked out the primary locations and then directed the plow drivers where to clear the snow. The entire setup was based on the backdrop the location provided — a stunning image of the landscape and the city skyline.

Day two offered a whole different outlook. The sun was out! But anyone who lives in the Midwest knows this means even though it looks nice outside, it’s really, really cold.  This day just happened to be -9 degrees with a wind chill making it feel like -34. We layered on the clothes, drove our cars as close to the setup as possible and got to work. This day our goals were to get all the stages up, a couple of truss structures completed, and some heating units ready for the event. Well with the weather and cold temperatures we only completed 2/3rds of what we desired, but it was time to call it a day to make sure everyone stayed safe. No frostbite on my watch!

Day three was the best day we had out of the four when it came to the weather. Although still chilly, it had warmed up a few degrees, and the wind had died down.  We caught up with our schedule for the most part. The power was run, the PA was in place, lights ready to go, and the tents finally had heat! Although we would still have a lot to do the next morning, this day felt really accomplished. No matter what this event was going to happen!

Day four, event day, brought a bit of a surprise — 6 to 8 more inches of snow. From the moment we stepped into the park it was snowing and did not stop until we closed the last truck at the end of the night and let me tell you, road cases don’t roll anywhere in the snow!

The morning started with a bit of a rush as people were showing up extremely early! We were in a park so there was no way to keep the crowd away and we just watched and laughed as people cross country skied through the event area. At least some people were enjoying the fresh snow! With the early crowd came the urgency to get everything remaining done that much faster.  We had over 500 feet of matting to lay, stage decks to make sure weren’t slippery, a PA to finalize, and lighting to focus. So, we got to it, but as the hours passed, we started to notice our stunning backdrop was fading behind low clouds and snow.

We achieved the goals for the day, but not without having to adjust or tactics to keep everything working.  The L2 became a local celebrity with his acquired leaf blower to keep the snow off the stage. The A2 sound checked face first into the stage to help us ensure limited damage to the podium, and the stage tech became the person laying sand down everywhere to minimize the slippery conditions, all while the A1 was doing everything in their power to make sure the PA kept running.

Things were so busy at the time; I didn’t even consider the level of the feat we had accomplished.  As I look back on the event I couldn’t have asked for a better team. Everyone just jumped in when they saw something that needed to be done. The duties became something miles away from technology, but that didn’t matter as we all worked together to ensure the best event we could for our client. It was amazing!

It was time for the big moment, the reason we had all been out there working for four days in the snow, wind, and cold. And even though the event didn’t go off without it hitches. Only one person (me) slipped in the national spotlight; luckily only the front row watched me slide down the stairs!

In the end, the event took place, with the location and weather turning into a major contribution to the event. The speech was delivered and broadcasted to the world with over 3,000 people in the park with us all while it snowed the heaviest it had all day.

Our mission was complete, the crowd began to disperse, we began attempting to wrap the frozen cables, and to get the snow out of the lights and PA. Everyone was happy with the results and we were all ready to go home to get warm.  It was around 8 p.m. when we closed the last truck and bid farewell to our snowy patch of land. The snow had stopped falling and our stunning backdrop was finally visible! The event was a success, the weather didn’t defeat us, however, I hope my next outdoor event happens in the Bahamas!

It was really amazing to accomplish this event. Something I had never done before and all with some wonderful women leading the way!

 

Intern with Amanda Davis and Jess Jacobs

Shadowing and Hands on Experience with Amanda Davis and Jess Jacobs. You will be working alongside Amanda and Jess for load in, set up, and load out. You will be wiring up the stage under the guidance of A1 and A2 for an R&B US tour, 3 piece band. Must know how to wrap and lay cable. Great learning experience! This is open to SoundGirls members 18+. You will be responsible for your own dinner.

Apply Here

Dates:

3/7 – Montreal

3/9 – Boston

3/11 & 3/12 – Brooklyn

3/13 – Baltimore

3/15 – silver spring MD

3/16 – Baltimore MD

3/18, 3/19 – Atlanta

3/20 – Orlando

3/21 – Fort Lauderdale

3/24 – Houston

3/26 – Dallas

3/27 – Austin

3/28 – San Antonio

 

Women & The Grammy For “Producer of The Year, Classical”

The Grammy for Producer of the Year, Classical (originally Classical Producer of the Year) was introduced in 1979. This particular category distinguishes itself as the first technical award where a woman was nominated on the ground floor, during the category’s inaugural year.

That woman was Joanna Nickrenz.

Not only was Nickrenz the first woman to receive a nod in Production (Classical Producer of the Year – 1979), she’s also the first woman I’ve found on record to be nominated for a Grammy in Engineering (Best Engineered Recording, Classical for Edgard Varése’s “Percussion Music” – 1974).

A classically trained pianist, Ms. Nickrenz took a strong interest in the recording process during her first studio sessions. This led to her taking an assistant position at Elite Recordings, where she worked as an editor, producer, and eventually full partner to Elite founder, recording engineer Marc Aubort. Records made under the Aubort/Nickrenz umbrella carry a legacy among audiophiles as being some of the best orchestral recordings ever produced.

Affectionately dubbed “Miss Razor Ears,” Joanna was fiercely dedicated to preserving the integrity of the score. She was known to admonish musicians if they played any part of a work incorrectly or dared to improvise. When she passed away in 2002, her urn was humorously engraved with an oft-used corrective phrase: “What’s written is also nice.”

Ms. Nickrenz received 8 Producer of the Year, Classical nominations and won the award twice. In 1983, she shared the win with Aubort. In 1996, she was the sole recipient. She was additionally nominated in 1984, 1986, and 2001, but did not win during those years.

If she is indeed the first woman to break through the Grammy glass ceiling in both production and engineering, how is it that Joanna Nickrenz doesn’t even have her own Wikipedia page? Why can’t I find a single photograph of this pioneering lady?

(SoundGirls let’s get her a Wikipedia page – Editing SoundGirls into Wikipedia)

Women account for around 14% of those nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical. A total of eight Grammys have been handed to women in the category’s 39-year history.

Five of these trophies have gone to Judith Sherman.

Nominated a whopping 12 times, Judith is a major contributor to the catalog of recorded classical music. She got her start as a broadcast engineer at WBAI-FM in New York City, working up to positions as a producer and musical director. She started her own production company, Judith Sherman Productions, in 1976. She is the second woman to be nominated for a Grammy in Engineering, receiving a Best Engineered Recording, Classical nod in 1990.

Though she’s established a long and fruitful legacy, Ms. Sherman remains a force to be reckoned with to this day. She has been nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical for the past five years in a row.

Being prolific seems almost a prerequisite when you look at the women in this category, most of whom have been nominated multiple times.

Robina G. Young has received ten nominations for Producer of the Year, Classical. Marina A. Ledin has received eight. Young and Ledin have not yet crossed the stage to collect a trophy, but they show no signs of slowing down. 2006 winner Elaine Martone has managed over 1500 projects and offers a staggering biography. Nominee Elizabeth Ostrow is still going strong on a career spanning over 40 years. Anna Barry, who has over 500 recordings in her discography, was recently tasked to be the official recordist for the Royal Wedding. The late Patti Laursen was another important trailblazer, producing the first digital recordings made by Capitol Records in 1979.

Women in production have fared much better in the Classical division than in the category’s Non-Classical equivalent, with the percentage of wins landing at about 20%. The percentage of women who’ve won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical is still zero.

Though popular music will always have better PR, some of the most crucial and groundbreaking work has been done by women operating under the Classical umbrella. Seeing that the Recording Academy is pushing #WomenInTheMix and that March is Women’s History Month, the accomplishments of these producers should be loudly celebrated.

I invite you to dive deeper into the stories of the women nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical. Personally, I’ll be ensuring that Ms. Nickrenz finally gets her Wiki page. If anyone out there can find a picture of her, I sure would be glad to finally see it.

JOANNA NICKRENZ

1979 / 1983* (winner) / 1984 / 1986 / 1988 / 1996* (winner) / 2001

JUDITH SHERMAN

1990 / 1993* (winner) / 1994 / 1997 / 2007* (winner) / 2008 / 2011* (winner) / 2014* (winner) / 2015* (winner) / 2016 / 2017 / 2018

ELAINE MARTONE

2006* (winner) / 2014

ROBINA G. YOUNG

1993 / 1998 / 1999 / 2001 / 2002 / 2003 / 2004 / 2007 / 2008 / 2016

MARINA A. LEDIN

1999 / 2003 / 2007 / 2010 / 2012 / 2013 / 2015 / 2016

ELIZABETH OSTROW

1989 / 2018

PATTI LAURSEN

1989

ANNA BARRY

1994

 

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

February Feature Profile

https://soundgirls.org/shannon-deane-post-production-engineer-and-stunt-car-driver/

The Blogs

Not Your (Grand)Parents’ Dream Job

Five Things I’ve Learned About Editing from Mixing

Staying Tough & Moving Sideways

Internet Round-Up

‘Together we can change things’: Revisit Olga Fitzroy’s inspirational MPG Awards speech

The award-winning engineer and mixer addressed industry diversity and the challenges facing self-employed audio professionals.

BBC sparks sexism row after story describing British Oscar nominee Nina Hartstone as ‘sound editor mum’

 

SoundGirls News

https://soundgirls.org/event/bay-area-chapter-1st-mondays-meetings/?instance_id=1451

https://soundgirls.org/event/pittsburgh-soundgirls-at-calu/?instance_id=1463

The Studio Side – An Evening with Bob Horn

https://soundgirls.org/event/new-york-soundgirls-soundcheck-workshop/?instance_id=1478

https://soundgirls.org/event/los-angeles-soundgirls-march-social/?instance_id=1474

https://soundgirls.org/event/detroit-soundgirls-spring-meet-greet/?instance_id=1477

https://soundgirls.org/event/glasgow-aes-soundgirls-theatre-sound-assembly/?instance_id=1472

Viva La Muxer – SoundGirls Volunteers

SoundGirls and SoundGym

Music Expo – Miami – Representation on Panels –

SoundGirls Launches Initiative for Members Working in Production Sound

Shadowing/Mentoring/Internship Opportunities

https://soundgirls.org/shadow-foh-ld-on-amanda-palmer-tour/

Shadow TM Erika Duffee – Canada

https://soundgirls.org/soundgirls-mentoring/

SoundGirls Resources

Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund

Letter for Trades and Manufacturers

Women-Owned Businesses

SoundGirls Scholarships 2021 Now Open

Events

Sexual Harassment

https://soundgirls.org/about-us/soundgirls-chapters/

Jobs and Internships

Women in the Professional Audio

Member Benefits

Not Your (Grand)Parents’ Dream Job

Working toward a career goal in entertainment comes with a lot of baggage. Movies depict a certain sequence of events, ads promise a kind of instant gratification, and our elders say they were able to work their way up the ladder, buy a house, pay for college for the kids and retire. Never mind that movies aren’t real, that ads are intended to manipulate (at worst) and influence (at best) our spending habits, and that the jobs our elders had no longer exist. In spite of widespread understanding of these facts, our careers are still prodded and picked at by well-meaning friends, family, and even other creative professionals. The unspoken assumption is that there is a correct way to build a career and that if you do it that way then you will predictably meet a series of milestones on your course of upward growth.

Maybe there was a golden era of the American workplace in which upward growth was essentially frictionless. My grandfather started at IBM in the 1960s as a computer engineer and worked for 30 years, during which time he bought a house, supported a family of four, put two children through four-year college programs, saved for retirement, and had access to legitimate health benefits. It wasn’t easy, but his job did make it all possible.

My grandparents on my dad’s side, 1982, on the last day of their first international trip. Their oldest child (my dad) had just graduated from college, a state school which they were able to pay for, and their youngest was 15 and stayed with her grandmother. This was the first of many trips they have taken over the years since their kids have grown up.

The people I know whose careers fell on a similar timeline to his have similar experiences. But the years before this “gold era” were similar to how things are now: people with socio-economic advantages are able to move upward at a fairly rapid pace, and everyone without socio-economic advantages is able to exercise upward mobility only after figuring out how to catch up. The college student with a job that pays her rent does not have access to the same opportunities as her classmate whose rent is paid by his parents so he can attend an unpaid internship for a semester.

I mention this because we now live in a free labor economy. Companies and individuals in power positions have a bad habit of bullying workers for free labor, even when it’s technically illegal. Perhaps this fear mechanism was born out of the crash of 2008 (when many of the people in power positions were still in college), or perhaps we are becoming exponentially shameless in our power hunger, with each passing year putting greater distance between the richest and poorest among us and more attention is given to the loudest people with the greatest number of followers. It is money and popularity, not skills and experience, that are winning in the job market right now.

So what can we do to combat this?

Prioritize fair pay in your business. Even if you are relying on the generosity of a friend at the moment, make it a priority to pay them what their work is worth as soon as you are able to.

Name your price and back it up. I hope you never have to experience someone in the music business bullying you, but it can happen to anyone. Someone will tell you that they can get someone else to do it for free. Often this is just a negotiation tactic. You’re worth more than nothing, so make a case for you over this imaginary free laborer. (One exception to this rule is when you are being generous to a friend!)

When money is tight, consider an exchange of skills instead. Are you an audio engineer who wants production experience? The more that you develop your skills the more bartering power you will have when you want to acquire new ones.

Jordan Cantor engineering and I producing at Killphonic Studios in Los Angeles last year. We are in our second year of her engineering me in exchange for me engineering her.

Communicate. This is very important. Your communication style will be different from other peoples’, and will likely evolve over time. You want to be as clear as possible. With experience, you’ll be able to read situations quickly and avoid problems before they become too big to solve.

Decide what your values as a business owner (and/or colleague) are, and resolve to never be lazy about upholding them. If someone you work with is not meeting those standards, don’t be afraid to talk about it and challenge them to do better. (The flip side of this is, obviously, that you must live by these standards as well!)

It is my hope that through the shifting tides of our current economy, we develop new and effective ways to uphold fair business practices. I’m always curious to hear from others about their experiences doing this (positive and negative), so please feel free to leave comments or email your stories to me at elanabellecarroll@gmail.com!

Killphonic Studios

X