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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

Pitch Perfect

Interview with Engineer & Producer Missy Thangs

Bitch Boss vs Boss Bitch

Internet Round-Up

The Grammys Celebrated Women. So, What’s Next?

A day in the life of Emily Lazar, Grammy-winning mastering engineer

We Need Women To Break Through The Glass Ceiling In Music Production To EQ The Gender Imbalance

Cinema Audio Society Elects Karol Urban As President

SoundGirls Jett Galindo and April Tucker interviewed about SoundGirls and The Recording Academy’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiative.

“Part of what Sound Girls is trying to do is just show that, ‘Hey there’s other women out here doing what we’re doing. We exist and we’re doing the job well,’” Tucker said.

“It’s a matter of representation,” Jett Galindo said. “Just seeing themselves on these websites, on the Academy Awards, on the Grammys, succeeding…it reminds them that it’s doable.”

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

Viva La Muxer – SoundGirls Volunteers

SoundGirls and SoundGym

Music Expo – Miami – Representation on Panels –

Austin One World Theater – Demo & Tour

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

Bitch Boss vs Boss Bitch

Bitch Boss

The first time I was responsible for a big project, I messed up. Big time. I was tired and working two full-time jobs. The crew were volunteers; it was film school. I was a graduate supporting the production as a producer, production manager, catering, transportation, landlord, and a million other things. There was a lot of pressure to make it work. I completely lost it with the cast & crew one day when the mother of a child actor found a fresh roach (not the bug common to Florida) on set. Things were very tense after that, and no one had a positive experience on that shoot. I learned the hard way how to handle situations on set, but the damage was done.

Being called a bitch is hard. I’ve been called that name many times by my mother, by crew members, by supervisors, students, boyfriends, etc. Notable versions include: “stupid white bitch” and “low key bitch,” the latter is still a joke at work. It’s a default (read: lazy) response when a woman behaves in a way that makes someone else uncomfortable.

Self-reflection has led me to better understand my reactions and behavior. Was I making the other person uncomfortable purposefully? Was that comment snarky or rude? Yes, that person might have been a raging dick, but does that mean I need to match that behavior to make a point? The answer is no. Sometimes we lose our cool, I have been there, I will probably be there again. I’m a redhead; I’m feisty, I’m not nice. Does that make me a good supervisor? Absolutely not. We all need to be held accountable for our behavior, especially on the job. We are all pieces of a puzzle; we work together to make a bigger picture. There is not a situation where it is acceptable to be demeaning, patronizing, or harmful to another person. That’s not who we are, and it’s not what we would allow others to behave toward us.

“All people should be treated equitably and respectfully, regardless of their various identities. No matter how acclaimed, revered, or supported one’s art or one’s level of authority is, no one is above being held accountable.” -We Have Voice Collective 

Boss Bitch

I look up to women who take no shit with grace. Confidence and respect are key. A Boss Bitch is confident, respectful, and assertive. This is the crucial difference between bitch boss and boss bitch: respecting others. We do not need to put others down to reach our ambitions. Remember there is a difference between being nice and being respectful. I’m not suggesting that we need to be nice to not be called names. Respect and positivity are the paths to success, empowering yourself and those around you. Easier said than done. This is my personal struggle every day, the choice to use my voice for positivity, to have a goal to be better. As an educator, I strive to be a role model for my students, to show them rather than just tell them what’s right or wrong.

Some people find confident, independent women intimidating. Good. Often women in male-dominated industries have to work harder to get to the same place as their counterparts. Many of my friends are Boss Bitches. They worked hard in their education and career, and they have confidence that I envy.  Their career satisfaction is based on their achievements, not the perception of others.

“Bitch is a derogatory term; we shouldn’t use it at all.” Of course, it is, of course, it is inappropriate. I’m not suggesting that it is acceptable to refer to anyone in such a way. Bullies who patronize and demean others are out there; we may be guilty of it ourselves at times. Feelings of positivity and community are not often part of our industry, as we always seem to be competing against each other. This is detrimental to us as workers, as teammates, and as humans. It’s our responsibility as role models, leaders, educators, to be the better person. To demonstrate how we expect others to behave on the job. We can be tough, knowledgeable, experienced, snarky, and still be great leaders.

“It appears that where #BitchBoss is clearly an indication of frustration #BossBitch is a term of endearment. Isn’t language fun?

It’s like racquetball! For your mouth!” – Chris Traeger, Parks and Recreation

 

Interview with Engineer & Producer Missy Thangs

Missy Thangs is an engineer, producer, songwriter, and keyboardist based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thangs is currently a house engineer and producer at The Fidelitorium, an amazing and unique studio (complete with guest house!) located in Kernersville, NC, about 90 miles west of Raleigh. Throughout her career, Missy has had the opportunity to work with bands like The Avett Brothers, Ex Hex, Ian McLagan (Small Faces), The Tills, Las Rosas, and Skemäta. Thangs has been a prominent member of the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill (aka The Triangle) music community since the early 2000s, having performed with The Love Language, Toddlers, No One Mind, and Birds of Avalon. Missy has helped shape the sound coming out of the region not only through her songwriting and musicianship abilities but also from the sound she has crafted in production roles.

What first opened you up to the idea of becoming a recording engineer?

I grew up around pop music; my dad is a pop music freak. He had thousands of CDs and records and was way into MTV when it first came out. There was always music on, and my dad’s happiness was sort of funneled through music, so it was such a part of growing up. He was my informer. He was playing everything from Weird Al Yankovic, to DEVO, to Bowie, to Melissa Etheridge — non-discriminating. If it was a good song, had a good melody, and sounded good, he was all about it, and I think I got a lot of that from him.

I think on a real deep psychological level I’m trying to recreate that feeling. Hearing and making sounds that are exciting and make you feel really good. Often those sounds are big and colorful or raw; those are the things that stand out in my memory. So, it wasn’t listening to music from the perspective of how it was recorded; it was more the way music made me feel that got me into the recording aspect of it.

I hadn’t considered recording as a career until I was in college. I was studying meteorology and French at UNC Asheville and looking for something more. I came across the Recording Arts Program, and I remember looking at the course catalog and feeling like it resonated with me. I was like, “What have I been doing?” I want to be in music, and I want to record music, and so I just jumped into that program.

What was your program like at school at that time? Were you learning ProTools at all?

The program was really small; I was the only woman in my graduating class of 25. We started out on an old Tascam 24-track tape machine and an ADAT machine; then we got the first ProTools in maybe 2000 or 2001, which was the start of working on DAWs for me. As soon as we got ProTools, I was like, “Great!” I didn’t use tape or ADAT at all after that. I instantly felt familiar with and comfortable on the computer.

At that point, had you recorded at all as a musician in the studio, or did you just dive in once you started school?

No, it wasn’t until after I was in the program that I started meeting a lot of other musicians. I started playing in a band called Piedmont Charisma, and that was when I had my first recording experience as a musician. We recorded at a super small space in downtown Asheville. It wasn’t around for very much longer after we recorded there. This was before Echo Mountain was in town and there wasn’t much in terms of recording studios. In school we went to a CD processing plant, we got to visit Bob Moog before he passed away, and we went to a voice-over recording studio, but I hadn’t seen a real sexy recording environment ever, and I was like, “What am I going to do?”

It makes sense that you decided to pursue music for a while if you didn’t quite have the resources to jump into something immediately.

That’s right. I was self-taught in recording up until college, and I didn’t have a really strong relationship with any of my professors, so I was kind of on my own, trying to figure out how to get good sounds and how to run a session. I had some friends and colleagues I had made along the way to bounce ideas off of, but I wish I had sought a mentor or someone to talk to. The idea never really crossed my mind.

You moved to the Triangle after school and gradually started playing in more and more bands, and as your career took off, you had the opportunity to record in bigger studios. Was there anything that you took away from your time as a musician in the studio at that time that you think about now when you’re engineering?

Definitely. My abilities to empathize with how the musicians feel and how to anticipate their needs are tuned in, and I think that is everything. For example, I can understand the feeling of having a bad headphone mix, an inner-band conflict, or not being able to get the right take. My past experiences inform the way I handle all those things.

I think it’s so important to be a recording engineer and also be on the other side of the glass. Sometimes you forget what it’s like to get that nervous feeling while in the band; everyone’s staring at you from the other room, waiting for you to get the right take. It’s a good reminder of how to be while you’re leading a session and how to treat the people you’re working with.

Making a record with people is such a vulnerable experience. It’s so essential for the vibe to be dialed in and everyone to be as close to the same page as possible.

Yeah, everything about this job is about people and vibe. When you are working with a group of people or one artist you are constantly picking up cues on their mood and working with that information and trying to get the best out of them. That’s so much of our job! From bringing people a cup of tea or telling everybody to take a break. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, but the musicians don’t need to know that; it’s not what they’re there for.

You work with a lot of bands at the Fidelitorium doing live-tracking sessions, do you think this is due to your experience of the music you listened to growing up or the bands you’ve played in, is it the nature of the studio, or a combination?

The community that I live in and play in is so intermingled. Everyone is in everyone else’s bands and supports each other, and a lot of people in this community are just here playing music because it’s our lives and it’s what we want to do. My network has sort of facilitated my sound in a way. A lot of people that I’m working with I know personally, and we’ve only got three days, and it’s a five-piece band, and they have a small budget, so we have to make it work. What’s happened as a result of it is that I’ve sort of cultivated this sound for fast-moving sessions. It’s like; you’ve got to track live because we don’t have time to do it any other way!

Then again, the studio does play into that because The Fidelitorium has a large, wonderful sounding room and you can get easily full band in there. There are also a ton of opportunities for isolation so you can get everybody in the space comfortably. It allows me to work quickly when I need to.

What’s happening to me is that my friends, or friends of friends, are hearing a record I did and are reaching out and saying, “Hey I like what you did with this band, we want that sound.” And the way I got that sound was with a quick turnaround live-tracking session. I’ve dabbled in lots of different genres and recording styles, but that’s sort of what I’m doing right now.

It seems like work has been consistently finding you then, which is a positive thing! Do you ever find yourself having to look for work or grow your network in that way? What is that process like for you?

I’m pretty shy; it’s really a lot of word of mouth. There have been one or two bands that I’ve gone up to and been like, “I want to record your band!” But, word of mouth is really everything. A lot of my clients come to me because they’ve heard really great things about other friends’ experiences, and their friends come to me and take a chance with me. It’s really humbling, and a lot of times I can’t believe it. I’ve been really lucky so far, at some point I think I’m going to have to step out of my comfort zone and figure out how to reach new people!

You are now a house engineer at the Fidelitorium, owned by musician and engineer Mitch Easter (REM, Game Theory, Let’s Active). Are you alone a lot in the studio or do you have opportunities where you’re learning directly from Mitch?     

Mitch has been my one true mentor. He took me in when I was really down on the industry and taught me what he knows and let me go. I go to him often with questions, and he usually Mr. Miyagi’s me, but every once in a while he offers me some direct advice. I want him to tell me all his deepest mixing secrets, but he’s like, “Who cares? Do your thing!”

I like that idea a lot. I read another article with you where you mention something along the lines of, “the bolder the color, the bolder stroke, the better… there’s no rule in the book.” Can you talk about how this philosophy informs your approach in the studio?

I’m always game for chance or making decisions based on how I feel, versus what’s technically correct. I try not to overthink things, and I’m not afraid to mess up. I think that’s the foundation of where I sit. Being fearless. I want to turn a head. I want people to hear the music from these bands I’m working with and be like “WHAT is that?!” And I think part of that is making bold sounds and being dangerous. It’s not always easy to do, but that’s what I’m striving for.

What should we be paying attention to that you’ve just finished working on? What are your goals for the year?

Well, my main goal for this year is to get back into the studio after having a baby!

A pretty big deal, haha.

I’ve got a lot of cool projects on the horizon! There’s a really talented woman named Reese McHenry I’ve been working with; her record will be out in April. I’ve also been working with this band called Pie Face Girls for a few years that are getting ready to return to the studio to finish a record. And another band I’m going to be recording in May. I’m really excited about – just stay tuned for that, haha.

I’ve worked with many groups with all guys over the years, and I’m finally working with more and more women, and I love it; it’s a nice change of pace. I love everybody I’ve worked with, and I try not to think about it either way, but I have noticed this year that I’m working with more women in the studio and it’s been a really good corner to turn!

What advice do you have for any new or up-and-coming engineers?

Get out there, play in bands, go to shows, and immerse yourself in your musical community! Collect as much gear as you can. Get inside of getting sounds, being experimental, and not being afraid to mess up. Hit up your friends and start asking to record people. I feel like that’s basic knowledge, but it’s an important reminder!

Connect with Missy:

 

Pitch Perfect

Using Pitch Shifter in Your Mix

If you’re looking to enhance your mix or simply just want to experiment with some effects, pitch shifter is a great place to start. The effect has been used for many years in dance music although it is slowly creeping into some major pop songs as well.

If you’re new to plugins and effects, a pitch shifter simply does what it says on the tin – it will raise or lower the pitch of your audio signal.

So why might this be of interest to your mix or project?

Well, I believe it can be a simple way to add depth and development to any style of music you’re creating.

The first technique is to add a pitch shifter effect under a main vocal. This can be quite effective for a second verse in a song as it allows the track to develop. This can be done by duplicating the vocal and adding the pitch shifter to this track and then adjusting the effect to the setting you prefer.

If you want to add more bass to a track, this is an excellent way of doing just that. By pitch-shifting the vocals down and playing around with the volume and panning, you can get quite a nice bass sound without doing very much at all.

You can also add pitch shifter to your instrument track. This is a great way of experimenting around with your instrument in a mix and who knows you might find the perfect sound that blends well with the music you’re creating!

You can chop and change this effect to benefit your mix in whatever way you find necessary. The great thing about pitch shifter is it is an easy way to change the sound of a track without really putting in much effort. So, if you’re looking for a way to spruce up a mix you have lying about perhaps add in a pitch shifter to a few of the tracks.

 

 

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

Editing SoundGirls into Wikipedia

Knowing your Limitations

Persistence is Key

Internet Round-Up

The Grammys Celebrated Women. So, What’s Next?

A day in the life of Emily Lazar, Grammy-winning mastering engineer

We Need Women To Break Through The Glass Ceiling In Music Production To EQ The Gender Imbalance

Cinema Audio Society Elects Karol Urban As President

SoundGirls Jett Galindo and April Tucker interviewed about SoundGirls and The Recording Academy’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiative.

“Part of what Sound Girls is trying to do is just show that, ‘Hey there’s other women out here doing what we’re doing. We exist and we’re doing the job well,’” Tucker said.

“It’s a matter of representation,” Jett Galindo said. “Just seeing themselves on these websites, on the Academy Awards, on the Grammys, succeeding…it reminds them that it’s doable.”

SoundGirls News

https://soundgirls.org/event/orlando-soundgirls-social-5/?instance_id=1457

https://soundgirls.org/event/melbourne-soundgirls-meet-and-greet-beth-oleary/?instance_id=1462

https://soundgirls.org/event/houston-soundgirls-social/?instance_id=1459

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

Viva La Muxer – SoundGirls Volunteers

SoundGirls and SoundGym

Music Expo – Miami – Representation on Panels –

Austin One World Theater – Demo & Tour

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

A More Inclusive Industry

Events

Sexual Harassment

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

Jobs and Internships

Women in the Professional Audio

Member Benefits

Persistence is Key

“People can tell you no, but it’s up to you whether you listen to them.”

One subject few people talk about is the immediate situation after leaving university, especially for those who want to work in media. Yes, it is excellent if you get a place on a Graduate Scheme straight away in a large London based company, but this option is not for everyone (believe me, I’ve tried). You can’t force yourself into a job you don’t want to do. But what if you don’t know what you want to do? I took inspiration from Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac, who I saw speaking at Teignmouth Pavilions in May 2016 as part of BBC Radio 1’s Academy. She decided to list the three most important things to her to help her decide future job prospects. For her it was: Music, Friends and Creativity. (Hence her successful radio career and additional music projects). Mine are:

  1. Languages
  2. Travel
  3. Media

They can be vague; they can be specific, as long as it gets you thinking!

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to only apply for jobs I want not to waste my time. But which advice should you follow? You don’t want to seem too desperate. Do more applications to the same company equate to more chance of being noticed? Below I have screenshotted all of my unsuccessful BBC applications (not sure I should be highlighting this!), but it shows my dedication and persistence. Maybe it’s not meant to be. Maybe I haven’t figured out the system yet. Maybe I should start looking elsewhere. It is essential to learn from each rejection. Every problem/rejection/failure is an opportunity. I have some friends who keep a “rejection” folder on their desktop. I don’t (it would take up too much space/memory lol). I choose to move on, forget about it and find an alternative opportunity or make a note to apply again in the future, or apply to a different department or location.

There is conflicting advice about application forms. Some say quantity over quality, apply for as much as possible. Others will suggest spending time on making one perfect application. There are pros and cons to both. Find out which method you prefer. I always look for short application forms, a quick CV upload or a click on LinkedIn. It can get tiring when you hear nothing back for months. But something will stick. I was given this advice from a career mentor at the University of Exeter who had previous work experience at the BBC and YouTube.

I also somewhat believe that everything happens for a reason in some cases. One opportunity can lead to another. For example, during a week of CBBC TV Drama work experience, I was advised to join the Facebook page: ‘People looking for work in TV: Runners’. I applied for many opportunities on this page, one of which is a European placement in a creative industry. It was a job that would involve languages, travel, and media. Was it luck that I found it? Would I have found it anyway? I’ll never know.

Another important aspect of finding the perfect media job is networking. Whether that be via email and LinkedIn or in real life. I keep a handwritten book of contact details of people who have interviewed me, employers I’ve met at events, graduates I’ve spoken to at Careers Fairs and professionals I’ve been in touch with through mentoring programmes.

One piece of advice I have kept with me is: “BE GOOD AT EMAILS.” I was told this by Tim Johns (BBC Radio 2 Producer) at the Student Radio Association Conference (SRACon) in April 2015. At first, I didn’t understand how you could be bad at emails, but this simple but practical and essential advice has led to opportunities such as interviewing artists and authors and working live music events.

Potential tips for good emails

I follow inspirational CEOs in various creative industries, from Steven Bartlett (Social Chain) to Zoe Sugg (Zoella). Whoever inspires you, it could be in an unrelated industry; it could be a cheesy Instagram account, it could be a friend – whoever it is, continue to be inspired by their online work.

 

It seems that millennials are reclaiming the word “hustle.” It’s not a word I had used before but have found myself saying it more recently when explaining stories of job applications. Especially in media and freelance work, the word “hustle” is great to explain the process of finding a job.

I also think it is important to realise that some (not so great) short-term jobs do provide key skills that could be needed in the future. It’s hard to imagine, but many successful people look back at catering jobs, bar work and retail positions as the most important work they did in terms of learning, social skills, time management, and HARD WORK.

WHERE ELSE TO FIND ME:

Making a Case For Audio School

Why I Think It’s a Good Idea.

It’s the time of year for application deadlines and acceptance letters. I have noticed a lot of discussions lately about whether it is worthwhile to enroll in school for audio engineering.

Institutionalized education can be a great way for many people to learn and while there are many audio schools to choose from, it can be overwhelming to figure out which one may be right for you. These are my unendorsed opinions on why I think you can benefit from an education in audio engineering.

Schools tend to publish their graduate job percentages as a tool to gain prospective students’ interest.  Follow some easy tips that may help you to look beyond those numbers and find out what a good audio school can really offer you.

Facilities:

A good audio school can help connect students with current and widely used technology. They will offer hands-on training in the most common DAWs (digital audio workstations) and other software, mixing consoles, outboard gear, microphones – you name it. Look for a school that provides use of and education in the most current versions of these tools.

Curriculum:

It could be argued that you can learn the same, if not more, from independent sources than simply from attending post secondary school. If you consider yourself highly motivated there is a plethora of information available online for learning new skills, refresher courses and tools to advance beyond ‘beginner’. However, what a good audio program can provide is a curriculum specifically designed to help you understand both the technical and the professional intricacies of a career in audio.  Some programs may be more specific than others (ie: music production vs. audio post) and If you are unsure of where exactly your interests lie within the audio industry, look for a program that offers a broad curriculum. Gaining knowledge over many subjects will help you find the one that you are most passionate about.

Internships:

Internships are arguably the best way for a less experienced person to find their way into the industry. Most of the time, these internships are unpaid, though recently there has been legislation put in place to oppose unpaid internships. One workaround for businesses to utilize unpaid internships is if they are part of an educational curriculum. Therefore, finding a school that requires an internship as a part of their program may help a student get that foot in the door. Of course, there are some businesses that will offer an internship regardless of education and there are some that will even offer paid internships. Also, a program that requires a co-op or internship will often have aides in place to help support the student, prepare their resumes and even help them find and apply for a work placement so consider that to be a great bonus!

Staff:

The program professors have been selectively picked by the institution for their expertise and experience. Most often, those professors are still active in the industry outside of teaching. Opening a window to the industry is definitely a perk for students in audio school. Your professors will be able to share the most useful information to ensure student success after school. They may also offer connections to their own industry contacts, which can prove to be highly valuable when you are entering the workforce.

Networking:

Apart from your professors, there is another group of people who you will be able to add to your network connections:  your classmates! Making strong connections with your classmates is great while in school, but even more amazing when they become your peers in the industry. There is no telling what benefits will come from these relationships.

Not all schools are created equal. I hope this information gives you the tools to begin your search for the right audio program. There are many resources on the Soundgirls website to help you on this journey as well – whether you decide on institutionalized education or not.

School is not for everyone. Some people are successful at learning on their own, some are not financially able to afford post-secondary education. There are many successful folks in the industry without a degree or diploma in audio. Knowledge is key to working in the industry but so is your drive and attitude. If you want to succeed, be a good person, have a good work ethic and never stop learning

 

Knowing your Limitations

As we are still at the beginning of the new year, it is now we should look at those new year’s resolutions that we made, our dreams that we want to become real and the goals we would like to achieve.

It is the time to evaluate what we need to get on with, to achieve our dreams and our goals. It is time to take a good hard look at yourself and your knowledge, time management, and work-life to see what can be improved.

Knowing your limitations is a good start for example; what is limiting your chances to achieve your goals? What does it take to get from point A to point B?

What do you lack to get to where you want to be?

Say you want to become the most celebrated pianist in the world, what does it take to get there? Take a look at your practising routine, are you putting in enough hours to become the greatest pianist in the world? Are you utilising your own time in the best way possible to be the most effective when practising? Are you already the greatest pianist in the world but no one knows it? Well perhaps then less time needs to be spent in front of the piano and more time in front of people networking.

This applies to any industry; if we want to improve we need to face the hard fact that we have limitations and flaws. We will always have weaknesses but that does not mean that we can not work on them and improve.

Give yourself some honest and constructive feedback, but do not talk down to yourself. Do not be upset with yourself because you are not getting something straight away. It is hard to admit your weaknesses to yourself, but we have to do it if we want to improve.

Do you know where point B is?

It is easier to follow a route if you know your destination. It is easy to get sidetracked if you do not have a north star to guide you and to keep you motivated. Want to work on a big festival stage? Absolutely, but maybe that big festival is point C.

So you start working at your local one-day festival. You can not get to point C if you have not been going through point A and B first.

The ability to achieve something is only limited by a lack of knowledge. You need to study to improve your understanding, but then you need to put that study into practice.

There is only so much you can learn in a safe and comfortable environment. You have to put yourself outside your comfort zone to improve and to learn from real life experiences. It is so important to be able to work under pressure and to find opportunities to fine-tune your skills.

As well as knowing your limitations, you will need to learn and respect your strengths. For some, not acknowledging your strengths is a weakness. You have got to be confident in your knowledge, you have to tell yourself ‘You know what, this is what I am good at’ and use that to your advantage and balance it out with your weaknesses.

If you struggle to see your weaknesses and strengths then ask a good friend; what are my strengths? In what areas do I need to improve? Be open to feedback from others as they see you in a different light than you do. Being open to critique can be incredibly difficult for some, but it will help you to be able to improve your skills.

Now is the perfect time to sit down and write it all down. Aim high but be realistic, some goals might not happen this year, but that does not mean it will not happen in the future. However, getting to know your limitations will put you on the right path towards your dreams and goals.

 

Editing SoundGirls into Wikipedia

Why is editing a Wikipedia article so important?

First of all, Wikipedia is the modern equivalent of an encyclopedia; it is the first stop in finding an answer. With over 5.6 million articles in the English language, it is one of the most comprehensive collections of knowledge available. Currently, there are very few female Wikipedia editors and a very small percentage of female-related articles. Art+Feminism is looking to change that by training new Wikipedia editors (it could be you or me or anyone). They are not the only ones either. Wikipedia has its own group of Wikiprojects dedicated to providing female-related articles.

Editing an Article

While I had not formally edited a Wikipedia article before, I was vaguely familiar with their style and guidelines, so I thought I would try my hand in becoming a Wikipedia editor and share my experiences with SoundGirls. I had some knowledge of formatting and citing in the Wikipedia style, but I also made sure to keep several tabs open of Wikipedia’s helpful tutorials.

Wikipedia requires strict standards in sources, citations, and sentence structure. There is a lot to keep in mind when writing an article, and so Wikipedia has tutorials and templates to copy from. Self-promotion is not permitted when creating an article. Therefore, sources cannot be a personal website or an IMDB page. Bias is also frowned upon, which means many controversial articles are locked from the fledgling editor.

Often new editors are guided to almost complete topics, ones that only need cleanup in citations or a couple of extra facts.  Many niche articles are plagued with improper citation and writing flags. From there, an editor can build up their chops before turning to a completely new article. Focusing on pre-existing articles also helps with the moderating backlog that is a constant problem for Wikipedia.

Creating an Article

Even knowing all of this, I still decided to create a completely new article.  I wrote about Karen Lam, a female film director, and producer, known for her horror short films and for promoting other women in film.  While I did meet her briefly, I have no professional association with her, and therefore I had no conflict of interest with which to color the tone of my article.  She had been interviewed several times in local and national magazines, and her films had won several awards. This meant that she was relevant and documented enough to have an article based on her. I, the lowly blog writer, still early in my career, do not have the right credentials to have a Wikipedia article, and so it goes. As an added bonus, a film directed by Karen had its own article already and therefore referenced my subject. An article that is not referenced by anything else is an orphan, which often suggests the irrelevance of the topic.

Not including the time it took to research her, I was able to write my article and submit it for the first time during the Art+Feminism event, and within minutes I received my first error flag. I had cited IMDB for awards won by my subject, and so I updated the article, took out a few awards that were only listed on IMDB, and put a new award mentioned in a reputable press release. I did not hear back for a month and a half. My article was then finally approved.

Wikipedia Advice

  • When first delving into the land of editing, start with a pre-existing article or your “personal sandbox.”
  • Take your time, and learn the ropes of syntax and citation.
  • If you do desire to write a new topic, then find several print sources as well as reliable internet sources.
  • An image is nice, but not necessary.
  • Conflicting facts between reliable interviews do happen, if you are unsure of a fact, then do not include it.
  • Avoid topics that you are connected to, either with heavy emotional bias or professionally.
  • Know that errors get noticed quickly, but positive responses are slow.
  • Errors are not permanent but instead are a learning experience.
  • Finally, your article is always open to change and grow, so if you want to update anything, give it a shot.

Wikipedia was made to be edited by the public, and it can be another tool to grow the influence of women in media and to break the glass fader.

Where to Start

In my prior article on Wikipedia editing, I focused on the basics of choosing a Wikipedia article topic and the reason for writing them.  Through this article, my goal is to give you a few definitions and resources in other ways to make women more present in the online encyclopedia.  For further tips and ideas, you can view my Wikipedia profile (Lyrelyrebird), which I formatted as a hub for SoundGirls looking to start their Wikipedia journey.

Green Articles and Red Articles

When a Wikipedia article already exists, any link to the article is blue in color while any link to a non-existent article is red.

Wikipedia red link

It is tempting to search for these “red” articles and start a page from scratch, and many people do, but Wikipedia is littered with pages that have only the bare minimum of word count and are lacking in proper sources.  Internally, Wikipedia rates articles based on their quality with green designating a “good” article. It takes time and effort to turn an article “green.” New articles and major edits must be approved by veteran editors, and any mistakes or errors are flagged for fixing.  Once everything is finally up to snuff, then the article is slated for a final review and approval before the green designation is assigned. Even then, if the article is about a living person, the article might need babysitting for updates as time passes.

Green articles are great examples for templates and guides in editing articles needing TLC. One cannot feasibly memorize every code trick that Wikipedia has available, so use others’ insight to your advantage. For example, when working on an article about a sound designer, find a page of a more well-known designer or even a cinematographer and see how that article formatted things like filmography and career highlights. I use copy and paste frequently, and Wikipedia encourages it. Consistency is part of why Wikipedia is a respected first stop in researching any topic.

This is also a good approach when working on a “stub” article (one that is too short or needs more verified information) or working on a poorly written articles.

What will you see on a pre-existing article?

Once you are logged in, the top of every Wikipedia article will show several tabs such as “Edit” (where the magic happens), “View History” (an edit log), and on the other side is “Talk.”

Wikipedia top bar

Talk Pages

The talk page is a mini-forum where collaborating editors can communicate page plans and goals. This is also where error flags are discussed in more detail. More established articles often have many notes on edit histories and unverified content.  If one is not respectful of the talk page, then an edit war may occur. An edit war happens when a segment of an article is repeatedly changed by two or more editors. If changes to the article are malicious, the article gets locked. Many of the most popular articles in Wikipedia are locked to prevent these occurrences.  The best way out of an edit war is to step back from the article and reevaluate it again through the talk page at a later date, but there are ways to request dispute resolutions if one of the feuding editors is acting in bad faith.

Categories

Articles are grouped by way of Categories. A page is assigned to categories and you’ll see an article’s assigned categories at the bottom of it’s page.

Wikipedia categories

Categories with enough articles have subsections called Subcategories:

Wikipedia subcategories

An article will reside in an appropriate subcategory whenever possible before populating the main Category.  As with articles, it is better to start with existing Categories before creating new ones. Parent Categories (more general groupings) with too many children can make a topic more confusing than it has to be, and articles can be overloaded with related topics.  In my opinion, because adding Categories is a simple task, it is better to save it for future edits when the main Category becomes too unwieldy.

Lists

Wikipedia list example

Lists can be confused for Categories, but they have one large difference. Categories apply to every article they can be used for, but Lists are reserved for the best examples of a subject matter.  Another difference is that Lists are a type of article (it can be edited like a page), while a Category is not an article.

I would also caution that due to their formating, Lists inherently cannot be “good” articles, and should be deemed as a lower priority.  I have mentioned both Lists and Categories in my user page as edit ideas, but please prioritize the existing ones before making new ones, and use my talk page if you have any questions or ideas.

User Page

A user page is your personal page, similar to a profile page (but functions like an article where you have to build it yourself). Not every user page look the same, and some users ignore their pages altogether.  There are a few rules on what should and should not go on a user page:

If you are unsure about having a user page, then ignore it, you are not required to edit it.

Sandbox

After you create your Wikipedia account, you get space for both a user page and a sandbox page.  Like a sandbox in real life, the sandbox is where you can play/practice using Wikipedia and get familiar with how it works.  Wikipedia encourages you to create and test your new article ideas in the sandbox before adding it to the main encyclopedia.

A note on languages

While I and the majority of the rest of Wikipedia editors are English speakers, Wikipedia is an international encyclopedia. Nearly every language is represented, and many popular articles are written in all languages. That means there are editors for those languages, and resources for those editors to follow language-specific styles. If you are comfortable in a language and want to edit in that language, go for it. Be aware that some articles may not exist in English, and your sources should be in the language you are editing in.

WikiProjects

WikiProjects are groups of like-minded editors who have a passion for a particular subject matter.  The broader a subject matter, the more editors working together and the more resources the project has to work on specific articles.  Often the WikiProject pages are full of templates and tips for turning articles green and are great places to frequent as a new editor. My favorite resource is their list of high-priority articles, or articles that are either close to completion or are of more prominent subjects.  I suggest Women in Red and Women in Green but have links to other WikiProjects on my user page.

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