iZotope Workshop at Emerson College
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It’s the new year’s resolution time where many people look at setting goals such as eating healthier, exercising more, or to stop procrastinating as much. While some stick with it others give up within the first month or so. Some people don’t believe in setting resolutions while others like myself set new goals any time of year, especially when I feel like I have achieved a previous target. For me, as part of setting new goals, it is helpful to look back on the past year.
2017 brought a lot of change in my career and life. What I decided early on in the year it was time for a career change. I wasn’t unhappy where I was, but I had felt like I had achieved my goals and needed a significant change to continue to grow as a person and in my career. So, I started the job hunt which resulted in a move later in the year. I was pretty lucky to have a job line up quickly, found great housing fast, and had a family to help me with all the transition.
As with any change though, there were things I would end up having to give up and things that would inevitably change even though I didn’t want it too. I wouldn’t see my friends every day and eventually lose touch with some. My surroundings would be unfamiliar for a long time, and I wouldn’t be the expert in my new position until I learned it and so much more. Many of these changes I expected, while others I did not.
For instance, some friends change a lot faster when you move unexpectedly. I need to keep reminding myself that lifelong friends will always stick around – near or far a great friendship will last any distance. Meanwhile, getting out and joining clubs or groups will create new friendships closer to home which could also open new possibilities and new experiences. It is incredible how people are connected and meeting one new person could lead to networking connections for even more positive changes down the line.
As for learning my new job, that will take time, and I am just going to have to get used to that. Each organization runs differently and has different goals. Even though the jobs are similar the people, venues, and events are different. It will take time to work through all the differences and changes as well as to improve it with my experiences and skills.
I never expected that doing sound would become mostly absent from my life. I hoped by changing my job would have become fun again by having a new environment to work in and new things to learn. Diving back into sound is essential to me. I will work towards it one step at a time, so I can change the phrase “I use to do sound all the time” to “I do sound all the time.” It will be an uphill challenge as I rebuild relationships, learn new technology, and balance it all; but it is one I am sure looking forward to!
Even with the things that have gone according to plan and the others that have not I would still make the changes I did because through these experiences I will only grow as a person and be ready for future opportunities to come. So, my goals for 2018 are to continue running with the change I started in 2017, see where all of it is going to take me this year, and get back into sound. All different kinds of goals can create a fun and challenging year. What are your sound goals for 2018?
Attend the first meeting for 2018 for the Philadelphia Chapter of SoundGirls and find out what is in store for the organization and our local chapter in 2018. Meet other women in the industry. What do you want to learn about, have access to, or do this year with SoundGirls? Share your ideas and experiences with other women in audio engineering.
A tour of World Café Live Downstairs will follow the meeting for anyone interested in learning about their system. Open to any members of SoundGirls and new people interested in joining. SoundGirls is open to anyone who has a desire and drive to succeed in professional audio and is open to any gender, age, or experience level. Find out more at www.soundgirls.org.
Many business owners in our industry experience the same growing pain: there’s a struggle between doing the work you love and the demands of a business growing larger than you can manage. There’s a learning curve to business, and if you’re not prepared, it’ll cost you work, relationships, and most importantly, money.
In my first years in the field, I watched multiple businesses crumble up close. One studio went into bankruptcy because the owner made some poor choices. Another studio I worked for laid off most of their staff in one day. As I saw this, I was also faced with the reality that I would probably have to run my own business someday. I decided to take a couple of business classes at a local community college and found them so helpful that I completed a business certificate and went freelance shortly after.
Since standard business courses aren’t typically part of the arts/audio school curriculum, here’s a rundown of some useful classes and their application in the field.
Introduction to Business – this trains you how to think in terms of business and business opportunities. Before this, my boss and co-workers seemed more like friends than business colleagues. In actuality, decisions have to be made sometimes based on what’s best for the business.
An intro to business class will likely teach how to write a business plan. This is important if you have any interest in growing a company beyond a “lifestyle business” or plan to find investors or funding for your business. (A lifestyle business is where you have a comfortable income and lifestyle but not trying to expand the business to the max it could be. Most freelancers in the audio industry fall under lifestyle businesses.)
Entrepreneurship – An entrepreneur is someone open to taking more risks than the average business owner. This course was terrific for learning how to look for problems that need solutions, and how to turn those solutions into a business.
Accounting – An accounting course will teach skills like how to track spending, make and manage invoices, and business budgeting. The vital skill from a standard accounting course is learning how to make and read financial statements. A “profit and loss” statement and a “balance sheet” will give you an overview of how healthy your business is financially.
In retrospect, I would have looked for an accounting class specifically geared towards small business, not for accountants in training.
Sales – This class was learning how to sell but not in a “door-to-door salesman pressuring you into something you don’t want” kind of way. Sales is about recognizing your strengths and what you have to offer and learning how to present that to people who may need it. It’s been a helpful skill to have when meeting potential clients or pitching/bidding on a project.
Helpful takeaways
In our field, the odds are that you will be a freelancer/contractor at some point in your career. Business knowledge and skills are necessary for survival. If you have taken a freelance or contract gig, you are already a business owner.
Before taking business classes, I assumed if my business grew I could hire someone to run it (or teach me how). That mindset is harmful to a business. A lot of business decisions revolve around money, so it’s crucial to understand your financials. A good accountant can help you get so far, but he/she probably won’t help you set rates or know the going rate of an assistant. A lot of this can be learned on the job – but ultimately the learning curve (and any mistakes made) cost you money. When you’re first getting started freelance every dollar counts
SoundGirls & Schubert Systems will be hosting a workshop to learn about the Klang 3D In-Ear Monitor System.
What will be covered
You can find more information on the Klang 3D In-Ear System
SoundGirls this a chance to win a spot at Mix with the Masters with Sylvia Massy. This is a week-long seminar valued approximately at $4,500 and includes lectures and workshops, accommodation within the mansion, catering (breakfast, lunch, dinner) the fitness room, swimming pool and shuttles from Avignon to the studio.
You must have an advanced understanding of audio and work as producer/mixer/engineers to attend Mix with the Masters.
You are responsible for Travel to France.
The upcoming session will take place Feb. 27 – March 5, 2018
You can purchase a raffle ticket for $10 (you can purchase more than one to increase your chances)
We will draw a winner on Jan. 20th
We are also holding a second raffle that is free to enter for a chance to win a 35% discount of Mix with Masters with Sylvia Massy. You can enter here.
You are responsible for Airfare to France
Sylvia Massy is an American entrepreneur, music producer, mixer and engineer, writer and artist in the United States. Massy is perhaps best recognized for her work on 1993’s Undertow, the full-length double platinum-selling debut for Los Angeles rock band Tool and her work with System of a Down, Johnny Cash and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Massy started out in San Francisco circa 1985 as a producer, engineer, and mixer for Rat Music. This led to her producing the punk band Verbal Abuse for Boner Records, engineering two projects for metal band Exodus and co-producing the Sea Hags independent album with a young guitarist Kirk Hammett, who had just finished the « Master Of Puppets » album with thrash metal group Metallica.
Towards the end of the 1980s, Massy moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles and took a job at Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. At Tower, she met the members of a Buffalo, New York band named Green Jello (later known as Green Jelly) and helped them record their debut independent album. After finally getting on staff at Larrabee Sound in West Hollywood, she was hired by Zoo Records/BMG to produce Green Jello’s major label debut, which featured members of a new Los Angeles group called Tool. On Green Jello’s « Cereal Killer » album, the voice of Tool singer Maynard James Keenan is heard on the song » Three Little Pigs,» as well as Tool drummer Danny Carey playing on the album. This began a relationship Massy would have with the band Tool that would span two records: Opiate and Undertow.
During her time in Los Angeles, Massy was also an engineer, producer or mixer on recordings from a diverse group of internationally-known artists, including Aerosmith, Babyface, Big Daddy Kane, Bobby Brown, Prince, Julio Iglesias, Seal, Skunk Anansie, Paula Abdul, Ryuichi Sakamoto and many more. She worked with manager Gary Kurfirst on Irish rock band Cyclefly for Kurfirst’s Radioactive Records.
At Larrabee Sound, Sylvia connected with producer Rick Rubin and would work with him on several projects spanning seven years.
From 1994 until 2001, Massy’s vintage Neve 8038 console and other specialized recording equipment occupied Studio B at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California. Besides Massy’s own work at Sound City, several other successful projects were recorded on Massy’s equipment during these years, including albums by Sheryl Crow, Queens Of The Stone Age, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Smashing Pumpkins, The Black Crowes and Lenny Kravitz. Massy’s equipment is visible in many scenes of Dave Grohl’s « Sound City Movie ».
Massy engineered and mixed several projects for veteran producer Rick Rubin, including Johnny Cash’s album Unchained, which won a Grammy award for Best Country Album in 1997. With Rubin, she also recorded Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Slayer, Donovan, Geto Boys, The Black Crowes, Danzig, and System of a Down’s debut album. In the ’90s, Massy also produced many popular artists, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sevendust, and Powerman 5000, which featured guest appearances from Rob Zombie and actor Malachi Throne from Star Trek fame. In 1997, Massy co-produced engineered and mixed Foo Fighters, Björk, Patti Smith, Sonic Youth and others for the Beastie Boys’ « Tibetan Freedom Concert » in New York with Adam Yauch and producer Pat McCarthy. Massy produced an album in the mid-nineties for young rising star Pauley Perrette who went on to play the part of Abby Sciuto in the NCIS television series.
Sylvia Massy will be conducting her second MWTM seminar from February 27 to March 5, 2018.
The process of greatness fostering greatness has long been recognized and is the reason why master classes are organized. The Mix With The Master’s seminars are part of this tradition, offering an exchange of in-depth first-hand studio experience and knowledge that is unparalleled and not available anywhere else. Each seminar is conducted by one of the world’s top music mixers and producers, ready to share his professional secrets with a select group of a maximum of 14 carefully-screened, professional-level participants, who come from all over the world.
One factor that contributes to the enormous success of the seminars is that all tutors support the general MWTM ethos, which is about the love of music, music technology and wanting to help others. Participants also are in part selected on displaying similar, positive attitudes. The fact that the seminars last a full week is another major contributory factor because it offers tutors the time and space to go into real depth, and the participants the opportunity to spend a prolonged time watching a master at his peak, and to ask any question they can think of.
The tutors share exclusive, insider-information on any subject: detailed technical knowledge, how to run sessions, how to handle artists, how to manage a career, the right attitude, how to remain successful, and more. The tutors also assess the work of the participants, by listening to their mixes and mixing recording sessions that they bring, and providing extensive feedback to each participant on where they are at, and how they can get to where they want to be. This is invaluable and offers participants wanting to become world-class professionals in their own right a unique advantage.
Another primary factor in making the MWTM seminars exceptional is that they take place at La Fabrique, a large, comfortable, high-end recording studio located in a picturesque historic building, surrounded by huge, lush grounds, and set in the south-east for France in one of the world’s most beautiful environments. The secluded and idyllic location offers the participants and tutors a lot of space to relax and recharge, far away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and the all-demanding intensity of their regular professional environments.
Because the courses are residential, the participants and tutor work, eat, socialize, and sleep in the same environment. While tutors, and participants, will at times opt to retire to their private quarters, there is ample opportunity for social interaction outside of the studio environment. Participants interact extensively with each other and the tutor, making it easier to assimilate the intangible qualities necessary to be successful at the highest level—presence, focus, social skills, intelligence, creativity, right attitude, and so on.
In short, for seven days participants are able to experience mixing with a master in both senses of the phrase, mixing and interacting with him.
RSVP Here
It’s the beginning of January which means it’s the beginning of a new year. Year-end lists and New Year’s resolutions abound. As corny as it sometimes feels, the end of a year and the beginning of a new one really is an excellent time to take a step back and reflect on yourself.
In this modern capitalist society, we are not taught to trust ourselves. Someone else is the expert on our happiness and success and how to get there, and there is always something missing that we need to purchase to become truly fulfilled.
But instead of thinking about how we can keep changing ourselves, let’s look at what we’ve already accomplished and how we have already grown. First, ask yourself: what is you? We sometimes forget that we are not defined by just our career, or only our relationships, or just our health. We can become so focused on one aspect of ourselves that we fall out of step in other areas. But each piece contributes to the whole. YOU are your current life, your goals (your future life), your relationship with yourself, and your relationships with others.
If you have cultivated a healthy home life with yourself, a partner, a dog, a child, a friend, or a family member, this is something to be proud of.
If you are in a business or creative partnership with people or a person with whom you trust and are inspired by, this is something to be proud of.
If you meet new people who excite you and make you want to get better at what you do, this is something to feel good about.
If you actively engage with your creative process, you should be proud of the love and respect you are showing yourself.
If you actively support someone else’s creative journey, however deep into it they may be, you should be proud of the love and respect you are showing someone else.
If you actively engage in your professional skillset and continually work toward greater mastery and new perspectives, this is something to be proud of.
If you mentor those that can learn from you, in any capacity, this is something to be proud of.
If you have open and honest conversations about money, business practices, gender gaps, race, and the ways you can participate in change for good, this is something to be proud of.
If you have ever wanted to quit, but you didn’t, this is something to be proud of.
We have a lot of work ahead of us. We have songs to write, bands to form, sounds to record, albums to make, stages to mix, setups to design, decisions to make about futures we hope to have. We have girls wanting to learn the ins and outs of an industry we know is uncomfortable for women to work in, and fortunately, they can learn in an environment that is vastly more comfortable for them than it was for us. There are so many more steps forward we will make. But today, please take a moment to acknowledge all of the steps you have already taken to make this industry, this world, your life, and the lives of those around you, a kinder, more loving, and inclusive place. Let’s keep it up!