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Three Ways to Ruin the Call

In my opinion as an experienced hiring manager, there are three ways someone could quickly ruin their chance for work with an organization.  Someone could even ruin their chances before the event start. So, as you may be looking to get a new gig or join a new crew, I advise not making these three mistakes.

No call, no show

If you no call, no show – it is a clear sign to a hiring manager that you cannot balance your schedule and you’ve proven to be unreliable. You won’t be hired back. Plus now you’ve just left the team in a lurch, one person down.  If you can’t fulfill your commitment, let your contact know immediately. Also, make sure that you communicate in advance if you know early enough and even consider providing contact names of others who might be able to fill your spot. Most of all, if it is short notice when you’re unable to get to the shift, make sure to have a strong reason as to why.  The hiring manager could consider you again in the future if you have a valid reason and are apologetic regarding the situation. If they never hear from you, you’ll never hear from them again.

Negative attitude

If you arrive at a first gig with a company or group and immediately are negative, you are stepping out on the wrong foot right away. It takes a lot of energy to create a crew and negative energy even from one person can bring everyone down. Being negative is a way to not get invited back. We all know events and production is tough work, and the schedule rarely allows for enough time to get it done reasonably. Adding a negative air to the situation does not help.  Approach a new environment with a positive go-getter attitude. Take a minute to analyze how the crew works together and see how you fit into the program. This will help you connect with the crew as well as be remembered as a positive force and someone the crew would love to work with again.

Don’t act like a know-it-all

Acting like a know, it all can also ruin the call. Face it – no one likes a know-it-all, so don’t be that person.  If you can offer advice or experience to help with problem-solving a situation, by all means, contribute your ideas. However, as a new person to the crew, you are not going to know it all, and these actions can be off-putting to the existing crew.  Offer advice where you can and make sure to ask questions along the way. Each crew will do things slightly differently, so if you aren’t sure, there is no harm in asking. Especially if it is going to save you and the crew time in redoing something later.  You’ll also develop relationships with the crew faster by communicating and working with them, then trying to prove you know everything.

Each person has earned their spot on the crew, work with them to earn yours as well. Make sure to show up on time, be ready for what the day will give you, and ask questions along the way.

 

 

Vocal Production 101

When I listen to my older productions, some of my first recordings on Logic, one thing that sticks out a lot to me is the vocal. This happens a lot when I listen to “young producers”—people interested in making records and being in charge of the record making process, as opposed to those that make demos and want to find a producer to collaborate with. The vocal rarely sounds as good as it could, and it often goes unnoticed.

Before continuing, I want to mention a few things, even if they seem obvious to some. First, not all music is vocal-centered. There is music with no use of voice at all. There is music with the use of vocal samples which are treated as a riff similar to how one might treat a guitar part. There is music where the voice and instrumentation are treated as two parts with equal status which weave in and out of each other.

I would also like to acknowledge that the approach to recording vocals varies greatly according to the style of music and production. One would approach recording the featured soloist of a choir very differently from how they would approach recording a singer and her acoustic guitar, and differently still is the approach one would take to recording the vocal for a pop song…and even in pop, there is a big difference between a Selena Gomez vocal and an Adele vocal. When I say “recording” here I am referring to both the engineering process (type of microphone(s), mic placement, use of compression and EQ) as well as the vocal production process (type of performance from the vocalist/s, approach to comping, approach to tuning*, approach to layering, i.e., how many Selenas are we really listening to in the verse versus the chorus; are they singing the same notes or are they harmonizing; are they all natural or are they effected in different ways and playing more autonomous roles? etc.)

I have yet to come across any reading or class that goes into depth about these styles and processes, which is surprising because it is something all listeners of music experience. We know quality when we hear it, and I think most musicians are genuinely interested in the record making process. Even if they would rather be playing, they understand it is to their advantage to know something about making records. I’m sure there are Tape Op articles about people who specialize in vocal production, and there may be a class in a university somewhere that touches on vocal production in all of its complexity (let me know! I’m curious to learn how they cover the topic!) Mostly though, I think many producers and engineers learn it by way of doing, which is fine. But what about those of us who aren’t assistant engineering (yet)? Can we study this as a subject and not as a specific recipe?

Here is a basic overview of vocal production. Depending on your level of experience, it may be worth watching a few YouTube tutorials on comping and tuning in your specific software. Vocal production is super fun, but it’s also tedious. It’s not for everyone, and it takes lots of practice. I hope with this jump start you are encouraged to give it a shot, dig in deeper, get some new skills under your belt and create dope vocals!

Step 0 is basically, decide what kind of vocal you are going to make. If you are recording a group of vocalists, decide if you want to record them together or separately, ask yourself why (sometimes the answer will be obvious). If you are recording a solo singer with some layers and/or background singing, it helps to do a little research and have a few existing recordings to use as a reference for the sound you are going for. It rarely works to have only one reference; it is more useful to have a few and create something from a place of cross-pollination. I’ve noticed that after years of being inspired by others’ vocal production techniques, I often don’t need to listen to be using something as a reference in order for it to be playing that role—it is just part of my tool belt.

Step 1. Use the best mic and preamp possible.

Step 2. Listen to who you are recording.

What is interesting about their voice, from a sound perspective? Is it booming and loud? Does it crackle on certain vowels? Adjust your EQ and compression settings to best capture these elements you want to emphasize.

Step 3. Now listen to them again from a performance perspective.

Does the way they inhale before this one phrase feel intentional and emotionally compelling, or is it sloppy and distracting? Do you believe what they are singing? Is there consistency in their intonation/pronunciation, and how much consistency do you want there to be, AND WHY?

Step 4. Record the parts you need in a space that sounds good.

Get as many takes as you need to composite a solid main vocal. Do the same thing for a double of that main. It’s nice to have a quality double on hand for when you might decide you want to use it. Grab an octave down or octave up from the main if possible. If it’s not possible for the singer, but you want the option, grab another double. You can use a pitch shifter in your DAW to fake an octave up or down (or to play with and effect in other ways, such as a vocoder sound tucked away behind the main vocal for some added texture). Grab any background vocals you want, and remember that sometimes its fun to record these with the vocalist/s further away from the mic than they were for the other parts. Grab any harmonies you want. Record harmonies until you have too many harmonies recorded. You can take some away later. If you want, record your vocalist singing ad libs through the entirety of the song, at least one time through (three is the magic number here).

Step 5. Make good comps.

A good comp contains the best moments from all of the takes. It checks all the boxes of a good vocal recording—quality in fidelity, quality in performance, a lens into the singer and their ability to use their voice as an instrument and/or story-teller.

Step 6. Tune with integrity.

Don’t knock it ’til you try it!! Tuning with integrity adds a beautiful glistening sheen to a vocal, and is absolutely necessary if you want to make pop records. Yes, even the best singers of today are tuned, but with integrity. What does this mean? It means we use tuning to emphasize the things we worked on in steps 2 and 3. If a vocalist sang a word in a way that was so amazing that you want to use it, but is off-pitch in a distracting way, you can adjust that specific word. Take care of those instances, and then treat the rest with a light setting.

Step 7. Create a rough mix (or a real mix if you are a mix engineer too!)

Your references will come in handy here as you will want to communicate the desired final result to whoever is mixing your record.

Get your relative volumes in order. How loud do you want your harmonies to be in relation to your main? Get your textures in order. Are there any effects like reverb or delay that you would like to add? Are there some harmonies that you thought you liked, but you realize now the song sounds better without them? Compare yours to your references. What work do you still have to do to make it stand up next to them? Do what you can. Push yourself. Then save up for your next piece of gear so you can make even more music!!

*There is quite a bit of literature on the history of Autotune, it’s relation to the vocoder, and how artists like oft-cited Cher and Kanye have used extreme settings for specific effects. What we don’t see as much of is a practical, reasonable description of the role tuning plays in the record making process for many, many producers who do NOT use it in extreme ways. I guess the latter isn’t all that interesting for people who don’t work in music…

GIRLSCHOOL New York 2018

With a production crew of all-women sound engineers, production managers, and lighting designers GIRLSCHOOL challenges the status quo.

GIRLSCHOOL is a music festival and creative community-based in Los Angeles, whose mission is to celebrate, connect, and lift women-identified artists, leaders, and voices. GIRLSCHOOL LA 2018 is where the viral video of Fiona Apple performing alongside Shirley Manson in a homemade “KNEEL, PORTNOW” shirt took place.

GIRLSCHOOL is coming to New York City. October 6-7 and will take place at, Industry City Courtyard 1/2 (274 36th Street) in Brooklyn. Founded by Anna Bulbrook in response to how few women she saw onstage in the alternative rock and festival worlds, GIRLSCHOOL has grown into a vibrant network of women-identified artists, leaders, and voices who have formed an empowering and visible community for one another while supporting women and girls.

SoundGirls supports GIRLSCHOOL and has staffed the last two Los Angeles festivals with women in production roles and sound engineering. SoundGirls has also worked with GIRLSCHOOL to provide women just starting out the opportunity to work alongside veterans in internship roles at the festival.

SoundGirls will once again be staffing and providing internship opportunties for GIRLSCHOOL New York.

If you would like to be involved – please email soundgirls@soundgirls.org with GIRLSCHOOL NY in the subject line and provide a cover letter, resume, and position you would like to apply for. We look forward to working with Anna and GIRLSCHOOL to make this Festival a success.

 

 

 

 

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

July Feature Profile

Catherine Vericolli – Owner, Operator, and Manager of Fivethirteen

The Blogs

The Sound of Steampunk

The Perfect Moment

Leyla Kumble – Founder of Girls are Loud

SoundGirls News

Seeking SoundGirls For Music Expo – Nashville

SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund

Shadowing Opportunity w/Guit Tech Claire Murphy

Shadowing Opportunity w/ FOH Engineer Kevin Madigan

Shadowing Opportunity w/ ME Aaron Foye

Letter for Trades and Manufacturers

https://soundgirls.org/scholarships-18/

Shadowing Opportunities

https://soundgirls.org/event/bay-area-soundgirls-smaart-overview/?instance_id=1316

https://soundgirls.org/event/bay-area-soundgirls-sept-meeting/?instance_id=1317

Round Up From the Internet

Why I Fought the Sexist Gear Community (And Won)

 

 

Engineer, Producer and Writer Steph Marziano

 

SoundGirls Resources

Directory of Women in Professional Audio and Production

This directory provides a listing of women in disciplines industry-wide for networking and hiring. It’s free – add your name, upload your resume, and share with your colleagues across the industry.

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

Seeking SoundGirls For Music Expo – Nashville

“A female presence at these events isn’t just symbolic; it also sends an important message to the audience.”At these events, there are people who are called upon to speak, to take up space, to say ‘here are the experiences that got me here,'” “It’s about who shows up and who speaks and who can project authority.” Radhika Parameswaren, professor at the Indiana University Media School.

SoundGirls has been working to make sure we are represented across the industry. We have been working in partnership with Music Expo to make sure women are featured on their panels, masterclasses, and educational sessions.

We need SoundGirls members to step up for the upcoming Music Expo – Nashville event. The event is on September 22 and we want to make sure women are featured and represented. If you would like to be involved with the event, please get in touch with us at soundgirls@soundgirls.org.

We are also seeking a volunteers to run a SoundGirls booth.

SoundGirls Members receive free admission email us for a coupon code.

 

The Sound of Steampunk

Creating a Flying Machine for an Audio Drama

One of the things which I love most about sound design for audio drama is the opportunity it can bring to create entirely new, fantastic sounds. Sounds for creations or beings that don’t exist in our world.

Having worked in sound design and mixing both for short films and voice-based productions, I’ve always thought that creating the sound of imaginary beings or machines for audio drama is both more freeing and more challenging than for visual media. You’re not tied to a physical representation and the obligation to be able to hear everything you see, but you only have audio to “sell” the creation to the listener. Using a processed version of a crocodile combined with your pitch-shifted voice might work brilliantly as the roar massive bear creature in a game, but in an audio drama, the listener may find it hard to believe that sound came from a bear.

I’ve just finished sound designing and mixing the second season of a steampunk audio drama. The writer/director had included several imaginary beings, creatures, and machines in the script, so from the get-go, I knew I would need to dedicate some time to breathing aural life into these creations.

One of these, and probably my favourite to work on, was the fixed-wing flivver. The writer described it like this:

“The flivver is a homage to an early fictional airplane, from H.G. Wells’ ‘The War in the Air.’ It’s more or less like a biplane but powered by different technology – in this case, probably including an aetheric battery – so its turbine whine would sound different. It might also be in some ways less and in other ways more advanced in terms of the aeronauticals.”

This description gave me a starting point for research and sourcing of raw material. I’d be looking at early 20th century biplanes and whatever an aetheric battery was – more on that in a minute.

I also knew that I’d have to consider how the flivver sounded from different perspectives. Reviewing the scripts, I noted that I needed six different variations:

– distant perspective, external (heard in the distance from a rooftop)

– close perspective, flying flat, internal (seated in the aircraft)

– close perspective, steep climb, internal (seated in the aircraft)

– close perspective, circling, internal (seated in the aircraft)

– close perspective, leveling out, internal (seated in the aircraft)

– medium perspective, departing, external (heard from the perspective of outside the aircraft as it departs)

My first piece of research was the sound of early 20th century biplanes. The purchase of high-quality sound library recordings was beyond the budget of the production, so I turned to YouTube as the most likely place to find any recordings of this kind of aircraft. As you’d expect, most videos were from airshows, which meant additional wind noise, crowd walla and applause and occasional commentary.

The amount of noise present in the videos wasn’t too much of an issue. I didn’t want a modern(-ish) biplane sound to be too present in the final sound as the technology didn’t match the steampunk aesthetic. But, I did need enough of it so that the flivver was easily aurally identifiable as a flying machine. It took a combination of finding enough of the right sound, and some careful editing and noise reduction.

After a lot of listening, decided that the sound of the Bleriot XI was the best fit for the base layer of the flivver sound:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkJymMK33Zk

 

Next, I needed to add a core engine sound – an engine powered by an aetheric battery, no less. Aetheric energy, as I discovered, is based on a theory developed in the late 1800s by Nikola Tesla, which proposed that the human race could harness the power of the ether (a space-filling medium present all around us) as a source of energy. Ether theories lost popularity as modern physics advanced, so the sound of an aetheric battery is now as speculative as the original theory.

However, there is an invention of Tesla’s that’s still used today to demonstrate principles of electricity and whenever you want to do impressive high voltage displays: the Tesla coil. In the absence of any concrete idea of what aetheric energy might sound like, this seemed a reasonable, and suitably steampunk, alternative. I ended up using a pitched sound of a medium-sized Tesla coil, with an ascending version for when the flivver is climbing. To suggest the kind of mechanics that we associate with steampunk technology, I finally added the sound of a vintage sewing machine.

When I sent the first draft of the flivver to the writer, he felt something was missing – “a sort of insect-like aspect described by Wells, where he talks about the craft’s resemblance to a dragonfly:

“Parts of the apparatus were spinning very rapidly, and gave one a hazy effect of transparent wings.”

I tried various insect whines and flutters and eventually settled on adding the sound of dragonfly wings.

Here’s the finished sound

And in the context of the drama

My next audio drama design and mixing project take me to medieval Europe, which is quite a change of pace! But I hope I’ll be revisiting the world of steampunk audio drama, and its fascinating design opportunities, again soon.

The Perfect Moment

In the last couple of weeks, I have had some really good and interesting conversations with sound engineers, musicians, family & friends about waiting for the right moment. It seems that no matter what career path we have taken in life, we seem to have one thing in common.

We think that we one day will feel like we are ready, but the truth is; we never will feel like we are. There always seems to be an excuse to why we should not do something because we do not feel confident enough.

I would never have gotten to where I am today if I was waiting for the perfect moment, that moment when I would feel ready. Even now, I still feel like I am not ready, but I now also know that I probably never will be! Because how else will we learn if we do not challenge ourselves and throw ourselves into the deep end?

I have done FOH sound at so many gigs where I just felt like I was not competent enough. However, I said yes, I went for it because I knew that I otherwise would not learn and get to where I wanted to be, and I wanted it so badly. And in the end, I was competent enough, because otherwise I would not have been offered the job in the first place. I think we all know a little bit more than we give ourselves credit for.

Being confident is a struggle. Especially when you are young. But at some point, you have to start trusting yourself and your abilities, because if you do not trust yourself, well then, who will? The only trust that I carry with me every day is that I know that no matter what happens, I will come up with a solution. It does not matter how, but what does matter is that at the end of the day, I do my job and I make it happen.

Let us start making excuses for why we should do things and not wait for the ‘right’ moment. Take a leap, trust your knowledge and admit your flaws. Know what you need to work on, put yourself out there. Take that chance and make it happen. If you feel insecure, that is OK, we all feel insecure at times. But that does not mean that you do not know what you are doing. That does not mean that you do not have the ability to make something happen. Do not wait around for that perfect moment, just do it.

 

Leyla Kumble – Founder of Girls are Loud

As a consumer of music you may not pay attention to how many artists playing on the radio, or on your Spotify list are women.  It may not come to mind to ask yourself if a woman produced your favorite song, or if it was a woman who engineered the album of your favorite band.

But, if you are a woman trying to make a successful career in the music industry, those statistics matter.  A lot.

Music, like a lot of industries, is a male-dominated field.  More specifically in the areas of songwriting to sound engineering,  less than 7% of these areas are employed by women. But, make no mistake that these numbers certainly do not reflect the number of women who are experienced and capable of creating music.

Meet Leyla Kumble.  She is the creator of Girls Are Loud, a collective of female-identifying instrumentalists that provides solo songwriters with the resources they need to record all aspects of their song live – including studio space. Founded in 2016, Girls Are Loud makes its home in the heart of Los Angeles giving a positive space for artists to collaborate and network with other women. Kumble, who learned to play guitar at a young age, has worked in artist development for quite some time, so she knew that creating an organization for women to feel welcomed and appreciated was needed.

I recently talked with Leyla Kumble to learn what inspired her to create this unique and important collective.

MA:  What year did you start Girls Are Loud, and where did it originate?

LK: I started Girls are Loud in May 2016 in LA. It was born out of an idea I had in college for Stax-like recording, itself a product of a deep love of jazz, a desire for more time to be in studios, and a bunch of friends who were good at music but needed the helping hand of a collaborator. In 2015, when I started delving deep into the history of women’s rights issues and growing curious as to why they’re absent from a lot of studios or don’t feel comfortable in them, it tipped me into going a little further with the company idea and making it into a fully women run and populated endeavor.

MA:  Please share a little bit about yourself. Do you have a background in music?  Do you play any instruments and/or sing?

LK: I grew up listening to Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel, and Queen, and started to really get into music when I began playing guitar when I was 8. I’m by no means confident or perhaps talented enough to be a musician full-time, so I put my heart into A&R. I loved finding artists who needed a little bit of development but were on the cusp of something brilliant. I love working with an artist to develop their songs and it’s something I’ve done when interning in studios, A&R and management companies. I interned in A&R for three years and when I got my first job, I worked with film composers at WME, the talent agency. It was there I met more session musicians and instrumentalists.

MA: How have Girls Are Loud impacted the music community for women since its inception?

LK: What I’ve found to be the most rewarding is that through Girls Are Loud, I’m introducing female musicians to each other. I’ve watched friendships form and collaborations emerge because of those introductions. I’ve heard artists and instrumentalists talk about how much more relaxed and comfortable they feel when they’re not the minority in the room. It’s also been fun to give female musicians opportunities they wouldn’t have been able to get on their own. The amount of times I’ve heard an artist say, I’ve always wanted a female drummer but didn’t know one…

MA:  What are some of the most memorable artists/event projects you’ve worked on so far?

LK: We’re still in the proof-of-concept stage. We’ve worked with three artists and the one I personally was really excited for was our second session with Georgia Nott from the band Broods. I grew up in New Zealand – where she’s from – so it was lovely to champion someone from my home in LA, but also I’ve always been such a huge fan of Broods so I was excited to work with her.

MA:  Do you have anything exciting for Girls Are Loud coming up that you would like to share?

LK: We just signed our first artist, Adetola (video below), so that’s an exciting step forward. I am now embarking on investor rounds to build this into a sustainable record label and that’ll determine how long we stay around!

https://youtu.be/XwVutJFrd4Q

 

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

July Feature Profile

Catherine Vericolli – Owner, Operator, and Manager of Fivethirteen

The Blogs

Finding that Job

Phase and Comb Filtering

La fase y el filtro de peine

Editing Sound Girls into Wikipedia

Grow Your Ears for Music

SoundGirls News

SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund

Shadowing Opportunity w/Guit Tech Claire Murphy

Shadowing Opportunity w/ FOH Engineer Kevin Madigan

Shadowing Opportunity w/ ME Aaron Foye

Letter for Trades and Manufacturers

https://soundgirls.org/scholarships-18/

Shadowing Opportunities

SoundGirls Expo 2018 at Full Sail University

https://soundgirls.org/event/bay-area-soundgirls-smaart-overview/?instance_id=1316

https://soundgirls.org/event/bay-area-soundgirls-sept-meeting/?instance_id=1317

Round Up From the Internet

Daniella Peters, Director of Sales and Management at Rat Sound Systems Inc and SoundGirls Productions

 

 

Leyla Kumble Is Set Out To Prove It’s A Women’s World With Girls Are Loud

 

SoundGirls Resources

Directory of Women in Professional Audio and Production

This directory provides a listing of women in disciplines industry-wide for networking and hiring. It’s free – add your name, upload your resume, and share with your colleagues across the industry.

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

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