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Is Music The Language Of Connection?

Scientific studies have shown that many effects of music can be seen in the brain. Multiple observations have demonstrated some interesting findings on the bodies and minds of listeners and performers alike, leading to the question: “Is music the language of connection?” 

Group Singing and Emotional State

Group singing is one such area that has been studied; results showed that participants benefited from feeling calm, experienced an elevated mood, and the release of bonding hormones, with effects that could be likened to the results of meditation. Additionally, scientists from Berkeley found that on top of the mental benefits we already know music can bring, there are social and physical effects on singers, such as feeling emotionally close to others, and a reduction in physical pain:

“Results showed that feelings of inclusion, connectivity, positive affect, and measures of endorphin release all increased across singing rehearsals and that the influence of group singing was comparable for pain thresholds in the large versus small group context.”

As far back as the Hippocratic philosophy in Ancient Greece, art therapy was used in the treatment of illness and in “the improvement of human behaviour”. The use of art therapy does seem to be experiencing something of a resurgence in some areas today in the treatment of children, notably in adults with dementia. In the UK, there have been initiatives gaining popularity in this field, such as the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Singing for the Brain’ campaign, whose community choir brings people together to participate in music. They explain:

“Evidence shows that music can help improve and support mood, alertness, and engagement of people with dementia, with research* showing that musical memory is often retained when other memories are lost; music can help people to recall memories due to the nature of preserved memory for song and music in the brain.”

Understanding that singing is a universal tool that can be beneficial to memory, mood, breathing, posture, and muscle tension, and creates a sense of well-being and connection, surely we have to question why we are not placing more importance on this relatively simple activity. And while using music therapy for the sick is commendable, why are we waiting until someone is unwell to implement it, rather than using it as prevention and sustenance?

In UK schools, the opportunity to study music history and participate in performances, creative compositional activities, and learn an instrument, are becoming increasingly elite pursuits. The denial of access to music for every child in state school seems to be the ongoing initiative of the current government. Some private schools are even taking it upon themselves to share their resources, opening the doors of their concert halls to the local state sector. Warwick School in England is one such institution that has kindly offered education support to local schools through Warwickshire Music Hub. The reporting in The Big Issue explained:

“The facilities in Warwick are exceptional: there are many music teachers beavering away with nothing but a bunch of ukuleles. The contrast in music resources can be stark. The recently updated National Plan for Music Education (NPME) places much of the responsibility for delivery on individual organisations through the hub system that was created when the NPME was unfurled in 2011. Luckily, there are those who are taking the initiative, despite government indifference.”

It bears repeating that if we know there are such huge benefits to the brain, body, and spirit from music, and we use it as an actual treatment for the sick, it feels unethical to consciously withhold this from some select members of our society.

Enjoyment and Synchronization

A 2020 study in the journal NeuroImage observed that when audiences listened to a musical performance and enjoyed it, the brain activity of the performer and the perceiver synchronized together. Additionally, I found it interesting that the paper referenced several studies that had come before:

“Previous neuroimaging studies also found that brain-to-brain synchronization is involved in behavioral synchrony, emotional contagion, and verbal/nonverbal communication. In general, interpersonal neural synchronization might be the neural basis of synchronized movement, emotional resonance, and shared understanding (Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2019).”

This took me back to watching a pub gig in a country where I’m proficient in around ten words of the language. As the singer worked the crowd, getting every one of us to clap and sing along, taking a line here, and a hook there on the mic, it soon became very apparent that not only was I, not a native speaker, but there was also a deaf lady in the audience.

What happened next was a rallying of forging connections through the music; the singer adapted what he could to include everybody, not only pulling out an Elvis number in English for me to join in, but by “signing” with gestures to describe the lyrics, employing the deaf lady’s partner to interpret here and there, and by taking her hand to feel the vibrations as he sang to her.

As we applauded her, (in sign language, this is like the “jazz hands” motion, with the arms up at a 90-degree angle) she looked around at us and fought back tears of happiness. After the show, we couldn’t address each other with words, but shared a knowing smile, and a moment to acknowledge and appreciate the connection created by the language of music.

The Brains of Co-Creators

After skimming the surface of the studies and pondering the many emotional ramifications of musical connection, I began to wonder what happens to the brain when we create music together. Band and musical working relationships are often emotionally charged, but is the creative relationship measurably different scientifically?

If we know that ‘trauma bonding’ exists, then what happens when we experience something intense, but mostly positive with another, where we make something tangible together out of nothing but our feelings? It is my suspicion that while we can feel everything on the spectrum from happy and free, to cold indifference, to hoping karma rains down on some past relationships, the connection between co-creators is a unique one, unlike any bond we have with an old friend, lover, or colleague.

The day he died, John Lennon gave an interview speaking fondly of Paul McCartney. The pair had actually reconciled by 1976, despite their explosive disbanding six years earlier. John had said:

“He’s like a brother. I love him. Families … certainly have our ups and downs and our quarrels. But at the end of the day when it’s all said and done, I would do anything for him. I think he would do anything for me.” — 8 December 1980 interview with Dave Sholin

It was clear there was still a great connection between the two, and the last time the pair met in person, Lennon’s parting words to McCartney were, “Think about me every now and then, old friend.”

It’s a pattern that can be seen throughout the music world – Stevie Van Zandt speaks of his brotherly friendship with Bruce Springsteen in his autobiography, stating that despite separating and uniting musically several times over the years, they only had three real arguments. With a lack of bitterness, and more of a “Eh, what you gonna do?” laissez-faire attitude in the book’s tone, Van Zandt’s affection for Springsteen shines through.

It’s funny how when the music stops and time rolls on, it doesn’t matter whether life took you in different directions, you simply grew up or had the mother of all disbanding experiences – the bonds run deep. We can be separate from our music friends for years and still cheer for them from afar when they meet a nice partner and find happiness, and it can feel like a punch to the gut when we hear hard times have befallen them.

If our brains literally synchronize, and we feel a measurable connection in a musical environment, and these memories will be the last to go, then perhaps the supposition that there’s more to it isn’t completely un-scientific. The often-quoted man of science Carl Sagan once said, “For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.” It’s something I think about every now and then.

8 Reasons To Work In Audio

 

Look around the audio industry and you’ll find an abundant number of people who are passionate, motivated, inspired, dedicated, hardworking, and often obsessed with their craft! What are some of the reasons that make working in audio so great, and worth dedicating a career and a substantial amount of your life’s hours to?

For the love of music

Most people love music of some kind, and working in recording or live sound gives you the opportunity to work with it every day. Some sound engineers begin as musicians but don’t want to pursue a performing career, and others find that audio may offer a more stable income working in music than working as a musician – though many people are able to do both. Being paid to listen to music is a dream for many people!

Flexing your creative muscles

Getting to sculpt sound, making creative decisions on musical arrangements or sound design, deciding where elements should sit in a mix, develop new audio software and hardware – audio engineering can be an endlessly creative field. An advantage for many people is developing the skills to be able to produce their own music or creative content.

Creating content or experiences that move people

Sound is a powerful tool for telling a story or creating a mood or atmosphere – a film without sound wouldn’t have half the emotional impact. There’s a great satisfaction to be felt when a client is thrilled with their finished song and it goes out into the world to be enjoyed by many listeners, or you’ve perfected a live mix and everyone in the audience is jumping euphorically to the beat!

Working with interesting and inspiring people

Working in this creative industry, you may get the opportunity to do sound for musicians you greatly admire or work closely with a variety of film industry professionals, or people innovating in the field of audio. You’ll likely often meet a variety of different people on projects or events, and be able to share your knowledge as well as learn from them.

Variety in the job

In many roles in the audio industry, no two days are the same: you might be working in different venues or locations, working with a variety of music or film genres, solving diverse problems, or working with varied equipment and people. There are continuous advancements being made in audio technology which will motivate you to keep learning… you’ll probably never be bored!

Combining art and science

Audio is a fantastic avenue to explore artistic and creative aspects alongside technological and scientific elements. You can develop a unique skill set that allows you to bridge those two sides, and facilitate communication between people in the artistic and scientific fields.

Diverse career paths

There are many career paths to explore within audio – recording studios, live sound, film, broadcasting, podcasting, theater, research and development, education… the list is endless. There’s always a possibility to train further, transfer your skills and try working in a different field of audio if you need a change.

Travel and work in different locations

The possibility to travel and explore new places is an exciting drawcard for several roles in the audio industry. Whether you’re an audio engineer on a cruise ship, touring with a band or show, or filming on location, you may have the opportunity to see places you wouldn’t have otherwise visited, and get to know a variety of exciting locations and people.

A huge thank you to members of the excellent Soundgirls and Hey Audio Student Facebook groups for sharing what they love about working in audio. I highly recommend joining these groups for terrific audio tips, interesting discussions, and inclusive community support from fellow audio professionals and students.

Image attribution: Image by storyset on Freepik

Creating Your Mission Statement as a Creative Entrepreneur

As a creative person, it can be a pretty big shift to think like a business owner. Entrepreneurial instincts aren’t exactly natural for all of us, just as musicality isn’t as natural for some as others. As I’ve worked with artists, songwriters, musicians and creatives of all kinds, I’ve found that creating a “mission statement” of sorts can get the ball rolling into a disciplined music business that is an authentic reflection of who you are.

“Authentic” is a word that’s a bit overused these days, however finding and embracing your authentic self as a creative entrepreneur in today’s world is perhaps the most important part of your journey to finding success. As an artist, it is what will draw fans to you and keep them there. As a music producer or audio engineer, authenticity builds trust and loyalty with your clients. As a songwriter, telling stories from a place of authenticity will keep your music fresh and relatable.

In the “authentic only” environment we have today, posers or fakers are relentlessly called out, and then inevitably, virtually crucified. That being said, the driving force behind finding your authenticity shouldn’t be fear, but a desire to find your place in this musical landscape and to find the people who feel they belong there with you; to create your own world and invite your “people” to join you. This is the very foundation of being a successful creative today.

Yes, there is still room for showmanship and even gimmicks, as long as it’s an extension of who you really are. I just had an interesting conversation with an artist about this. I was convinced he was making a choice with his branding that was confusing and off-putting. By the end of our conversation, I “got it”. I could clearly see that what wouldn’t work for most artists was perfect for him, as it reflected his rebellious spirit and a virtual finger to the establishment. He sold me on it because his feet were so solidly planted in his “authentic” self that I could see without a doubt that he wasn’t simply being stubborn, but was completely confident in who he is and has a clear vision of how he wanted people to experience his brand.

Finding who we are can be a process of digging, questioning, discovering, and peeling back layers. It should always start with these four questions:

Take about 20 or 30 minutes to sit with these questions without distraction. Brain dump your answers with no filter on a piece of paper or note app.

Now, shape the answers to these questions into your official mission statement. Your mission statement should only be a paragraph long, not a full-page essay. If writing isn’t your skill set, ask for some help. Also bear in mind that it doesn’t have to be perfectly written, only that we the reader should have no questions about who you are, what you stand for, and what your “mission” with your music is.

Going forward, every move you make (on social media, in your fan newsletter, in your youtube engagement, or wherever) as a creative should align with your mission statement. If you contradict yourself one too many times, your fans will detect this lack of authenticity and lose interest. They may even question why they liked you in the first place. This should make it easy for you! You never have to worry about what someone else is doing or what the current trends are. Just Be YOU!

 

Review of The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic

Jessica Hopper wanted me personally to read  The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic, and you, too.  In the afterword of the 2021 edition, she notes how essential it is to create and consume media outside the culturally accepted norm.  Female critics like Hopper provide a much-needed perspective on artists that would otherwise go undervalued.  It is empowering to read reviews from a feminist view, and the reader uses their purchasing power to uplift the author.

Hopper puts pieces of herself in the reviews.  We see her growth from fangirl to respected writer and her journey from Midwest suburbia to Chicago to Los Angeles and beyond.  We see the music that shapes her worldview and the music that breaks its boundaries.  Her path is both similar to her peers and uniquely her own.  Hopper’s story could be yours, and that is what makes this collection powerful.  She is a mentor through text.

Not every review is written with a feminist focal point.  However, when her sharpened pen targets the masculine majority opinion, there is no mercy.  No genre is safe: punk, country, rap, and rock.  Hopper champions women forgotten and maligned.  Her piece on Rolling Stone‘s editorial department highlighted those who blazed the path that Hopper would later trek.  There’s enough meat for a Hidden Figures treatment of their story.

In both the afterword and throughout the collection, Hopper reaches out to women in all parts of the music industry.  From fan to artist she says thank you, I hear you, keep being you.  We need each other to build a better industry.  If there’s no space for you in the pit, elbow your way in and stay there, and bring your squad.

ExpoSoundcheck – SoundGirls

The Fight for the Baton and Gender Equality

 

The iconic scene of a woman bringing a chair in the middle of a concert to watch and learn the conducting of an orchestra by a famous male conductor, and then being expelled from the place, showed me how bravely this woman tried to pursue her dream. This scene could be from a movie today, but it happened almost 100 years ago, in 1926, in New York, and the woman portrayed was Antonia Brico in her biographical film “The Conductor” (2018), which I highly recommend.

Antonia Brico was one of the world’s first female conductors, and throughout her career, she faced significant discrimination and obstacles because of her gender. Born in the Netherlands in 1902, she immigrated to California with her foster parents in 1908, where she showed an early talent for music and began studying piano at an early age.

A Remarkable Contribution

One of her greatest contributions to the fight for gender equality was the founding of the Women’s Symphony Orchestra in New York in 1934 to demonstrate that women could play in any category. The orchestra’s success attracted the support of Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady of the United States at the time.

 

Antonia Brico at Alte Philharmonie in Berlin, 1930

 

She conducted several prestigious orchestras in the United States and Europe, but despite all her efforts and recognition by other means, she was never the principal conductor of any of them, one of the greatest disappointments of her life.

Breaking the Baton

Decades after Brico’s breakthrough in gender equality, women are still underrepresented in conducting and composing roles and often face barriers and discrimination in their careers.

In recent years, organizations and initiatives have been established to support and promote female conductors, such as the Women’s Philharmonic. Women still make up less than 10% of conductors worldwide. One such renowned conductor is Marin Alsop, who in 2013 became the first woman to conduct the Last Night of the Proms in the United Kingdom. It was after attending one of the famous Leonard Bernstein concerts, Young People’s Concerts, with her father, that she began to develop her interest in conducting. Alsop has spoken about the challenges she has faced as a female conductor, including the need to prove herself more than her male counterparts. In 2021 her story was told in a documentary also called  “The Conductor” (2021).

Marin Alsop at São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra in Brazil, 2017

 

The legacies of Antonia Brico and Marin Alsop, along with other pioneering women in classical music, serve as a source of inspiration and motivation for those who seek to break down barriers and promote greater diversity and inclusion in the music industry.

Through their talent, dedication, and perseverance, non-male conductors are changing the face of classical music and paving the way for future generations of anyone following their dreams.

So, if you want to make a difference in the music or audio industry, remember to get your chair and find your place in the crowd so you can be heard.

With love,
Lydia Guía

Daychia Sledge – Sound Engineer and Designer

 

Daychia is an Audio Engineer mixing  Front of-House & Monitors for various artists and television networks including ABC DISNEY, NBC UNIVERSAL, and VIACOM.  She has been working in audio since 1995. She works as a freelance sound engineer in both live and recording arts. At ABC Tamron Hall Talk Show she is the current  FOH engineer and Floor Audio Lead and at NBC she works on the Late Night show mixing Monitors, or the Amber Ruffin Show Mixing FOH/ Monitors.

Daychia discovered audio after graduating from high school and was looking for a career path in the music business as a rapper. Her mom wouldn’t let Daychia pay the local studio unless she learned to operate the equipment first, so she would enroll in school for audio engineering (Audio Recording Technology Institute in Hauppauge, LI New York) and learned this was a viable career path. “Eventually I didn’t care too much about rapping anymore,  I was head into the books and learning audio, studying frequencies to train my ear so I could ring out a stage like I saw other engineers doing when I interned at the Apollo Theater.”

Career Start

How did you get your start?   

I ate, slept, and drank audio for the entire year I was in Audio classes…  I studied frequencies in my sleep literally,  I let a frequency CD play overnight so I would naturally hear an fz and know what it is on stage ringing.  I worked hard and broke a sweat every gig as a good friend and mentor from Apollo named Ollie Cotton told me was my key to success in this business… he was right because every time I worked someone I didn’t know was watching, and later hired me.

I got my start from the internship at Apollo Theatre, working on Showtime at the Apollo and every Weds night for Amateur Night. I did that for a few years,  then I kept sending my resume out to TV stations and eventually one day I got the call to work at CBS for the Ananda Lewis Talk Show.

At the time it was just starting off, and she apparently wanted to hire a woman audio engineer. So they went calling around NY city to find women audio engineers who actually had some experience.  I happened to be working Amateur Night at the Apollo the night they called Mike Jenkins head of Audio at the time at Apollo, and he was standing right next to me when they asked him Do you know of any experienced sound woman in the city? LOL…He looked over at me with the phone on his shoulder and said “Actually Im standing next to one right now “I went in the next day for an interview and that was the start of my television audio life.

What did you learn interning or on your early gigs?

I learned everything from soldering cable,  fixing speakers in the middle of a Naughty By Nature Tour, to Mixing Loud Vocals for Rappers with NO FEEDBACK… and I am still always learning til this day, more and more techniques to give my artists what they want to hear in their sound.

Career Now

What is a typical day like?

Well,  that’s interesting I don’t really have a typical day. I don’t think I really know what that is…  but I can tell you this much. If I’m in town ( New York)  it’s mostly because I work at Tamron Hall three days a week, on those days, I get up at 3 am.  Meditate, do Yoga sometimes,  get dressed, and head out by 5 am to be on set and working ready for Tech check and rehearsals by 7 am.

We do a live on-air show at 10 am, so from 7 am till about 9 am I am tech checking, then fixing up my music playlist for the day to fit the show content. Then we let in the audience, and I pump up the music for the Comedian and host to get the crown jumping with,  Tamron comes out live on air from 10 am to 11 am on ABC.   We break for lunch and come back to do a 2nd show that is taped.

I get off and try to beat the NY afternoon traffic back home to Westchester NY.  Then when I get home,  I usually have work to do for my Artists’ upcoming shows, prepping show files, or updating riders. I could be organizing the engineers I have in my recording studio with clients coming into the studio. I may be doing ALL of the above until I crash out to sleep.

Now if I am on the road doing a one-off show it’s pretty much the same routine,  except I just show up for soundcheck,  go back to my hotel room and work on other projects, come back do the show and then crash out to bed,  hopefully not an early lobby call the next day.

If I am on tour, Kinda the same deal.

How do you stay organized and focused? 

Prayer,  Yoga,  and Meditation daily.

What do you enjoy the most about your job? 

I love knowing how it all works… especially when I’m the one who made the input list or had some sort of hand in planning it all out technically on paper,  then watching it all come together at the Venue.  With crew members, I probably never met before.    I also really love it when I get to mix the music of artists I love and used to grow up singing in my shower.   Never would have dreamed in a million years in my showers I would be mixing their music.   I love mixing what I used to hear and wondered how they made it sound that way. Now I get to mix it and make it sound like the record that I know and love all too well.

What do you like least?    

Sometimes when you think you have found a sort of music family,  and you get so close to artists and band members,  then all of a sudden new management comes in and just fires everyone and brings in their own people.  Just like that, your off looking for another gig/family.

If you tour what do you like best?   

Traveling and seeing how other engineers do things around the world.   and mixing the music for any audience,  even if they don’t even speak English,  to hear them singing the songs is amazing.

What do you like least?  

Not having family with me to share it with.  Especially U.S. Holidays that aren’t celebrated elsewhere.

What is your favorite day off activity?   

I actually want to change this now at this time in my life,  up til now,  I have always pretty much worked on my days off.   Working on my studio business, website, etc … but I never really have days off. I have come to realize now I need to take some.

What are your long-term goals?

To develop my business MixWellWorld.com to be big like Clair Brothers Audio.   So I can provide careers for upcoming engineers and techs… and I can retire knowing I did that.

What obstacles or barriers have you faced?  

In the beginning, I struggled with certain concepts in pro audio, like for example, INSERT POINTS, I couldn’t understand how two signals could be carried up 1 Insert cable that way…. It was mind-boggling for quite some time.  I used to draw it out a million times so I could see it in my mind’s eye to grasp the concept.  I want to say I realized back then,  it was a hard concept for me to grasp at first because girls for the most part aren’t raised with electronics, or encouraged to take things electrically apart and put them back together. This is something boys are more encouraged towards, so I had to really awaken that part of my brain. Which is why I slept with the frequencies at night to train my brain to them.

Then during one of my first big gigs my biggest obstacle used to be Mixing Loud Vocals in a wedge mix without feedback. I learned from working with Chaka Khan and especially from her Singer Audrey Wheeler Downing,  she made me get good at it!   It was the hardest thing but now I can do it in my sleep.

My next barrier has been learning about business management,  financing of the equipment, and how to generate and create sales campaigns.

How have you dealt with them?  

Taking classes whenever possible either in person or online for business development and ALWAYS audio courses.   I still sign up for Digico classes, and Yamaha classes anytime I can make it work in my schedule.

Advice you have for women who wish to enter the field?  

I would tell them the same thing I was told “ Always break a sweat “  Work hard,  Be honest,  if you don’t know how to do something,  pray,  find the book, and study it…  ASK QUESTIONS…  you can get it.. and once you get it,  find what works for you to get the job done.

Must have skills?   

Know your Frequencies.  Have a good understanding of signal flow. Listen to the artist and listen to the record… make it sound like the record.

Favorite gear?  

DIGICO  but Avid S6L is starting to slide up my favorites list these days too.

Five Days In The Life

 

We often are asked the question “What’s a normal day in your life in this industry?” Well, that’s a difficult question to answer because every day is so vastly different, and hardly anything goes as initially planned. As an example of this, I’ve taken the opportunity to write about my recent trip to France for work and the five days spanning that trip. Everything from getting up and going to the airport for the travel day, to a rather unexpectedly long day, and everything in between. It should be stated that I wrote about this trip specifically because it gives insight into how the industry, in general, can be, as well as what it is like being new to an established crew and the only woman on that crew.

Day 1: Wednesday

The alarm goes off but you’re already up and getting dressed. You could barely sleep the night before because you know how travel days are and what is to be expected: Everything will go wrong. Teeth brushed and you double-checked everything to make sure nothing is left behind (something is always left behind). The bag that you’ve already packed the night before is grabbed right before you head off. The cab meets you on the street and drives you the 25 minutes that it takes to get to the airport. Normally this would have taken longer, but there’s no traffic at this time in the morning. Thank the driver as the door closes, rush through security checks at a snail’s pace, check your watch to see if you have time to grab a coffee or something on your way to the gate (you don’t), do the awkward half-run/half-speed-walk straight to your gate, board the plane, get the announcement that the plane will be delayed in taking off by at least an hour and no one is allowed to leave the plane. It’s not even 7 am yet. You finally arrive an hour and a half later than you needed to be. Go through the security checks again and find your ride. Try to memorise all the names of the performers and their specialties that your new colleague is throwing at you, drive an hour and a half to the studio where the orchestra recorded what they’ll be performing this weekend, and spend about three hours in the studio listening and re-listening over and over again. Back in the car to drive another hour down the road to the warehouse where the orchestra has mock setups so everything can be perfectly presented on an actual stage. After a quick tour of the place, you spend the rest of your day going through the setup and asking questions (always ask copious amounts of questions). Dinner out is a quick pizza with the guys on the tech crew. Back to the warehouse around midnight and finally to bed where you see the guys were kind enough to make it for you with bunny sheets and a pillow. Thanks, guys.

 

Day 2: Thursday

Up at 7 AM. Shower in a bathroom full of men giving you a hard time because you’re the only girl, but eventually they leave and you finally have some privacy.

 

 

Breakfast is whatever you can scrounge and a cup of tea. Time for setup and powering everything on for the 9 AM first sound check and rehearsal at 11 AM. Your lunch break rolls around 1 o’clock and it’s family style. Everyone sits around the large table and luckily there’s wine (viva la France!). Back to another rehearsal at 2 o’clock sharp. Dinner is suggested around 8 that night after we’re practically at each other’s throats and had enough. We go out for dinner and more banter at 9 PM. The usual debrief over food helps ease everyone’s minds and stomachs. It is back to the bunker beds close to midnight.

Day 3: Friday

You’re up at 6:30 this time to get some alone time in the shower. One of the guys comes in at 7 on the dot but you are already dressed and about to head out of the bathroom. You’ve found some bread and cheese for breakfast and sit at the communal table to go over yesterday’s notes. It’s raining outside. There is so much to prepare for the show tomorrow to make sure everything goes smoothly and tensions are a little high between techies and performers. Everyone got up and joined the table by 8 AM and the first sound check was at 9 with the first rehearsal at 10 this morning. You’re going to try recording today’s rehearsal.

Mother Nature has other plans for your day…

At exactly 11:30, the power goes out due to the storm and you haven’t hit the save button in the last hour… FUCK! Your coworker thinks that because of the cover of the dark, this is a great time to slap your ass, and you repay him with a harder slap across his face. By 12:30, everyone (mainly the boss) has finally agreed that the power isn’t coming back on anytime soon. The remaining people come in from their extended smoke break and lunch is served around 1 in the afternoon. Power still isn’t restored after everyone is done with lunch, so the tech crew decides now is a great time for another extended smoke break and to show you the town in the pouring rain. At least there’s a castle nearby.

 

 

You get a call around 3:30-4 that power was restored so you head back and see how bad the damage was. You spend the rest of the rehearsal doing damage control before the first truck needs to be loaded. Shut down and final loading of the second truck before everyone goes out for dinner that night around 9. The usual debrief over food and drinks. Back at the warehouse and the performers leave on the tour bus at midnight sharp. You head up to bed and pass out immediately.

Day 4: Saturday

The screaming alarm goes off at 5 am. In the shower, dressed and tea in hand by 5:45. You go to the communal table where a new friend is waiting for you. At some point, the guys bought you a small stuffed animal. Final check to make sure you are not forgetting anything in the bunker room. You and the rest of the tech crew are in the van and leave at 6:30. The Head of Audio plays the show over Bluetooth so you and he can go over notes and highlights of the show. An hour and a half up the road to the venue the show is at today. Arrive at the concert hall at 8. Breakfast is provided by your hosting venue: muffins, coffee, tea, etc. Set up and the push for getting gear from the truck begins at 8:30. Someone’s foot gets run over by a flight case at 8:35. Lighting, video, and sound attempt to work together as best as possible. Risers are raised, then lights are flown, and then hard patching begins. But you notice the audio snake isn’t long enough for the venue. Why did no one check this? You compromise and have the FOH mixing console in a slightly awkward area and decide to mix the show from the tablet. Everyone has worked up an appetite and lunch is served around 1, a type of gumbo-style dish with stewed beef, rice, potatoes, and wine. It helps you prepare for the first sound check at 2. The dancers and performers finally decide to join the fun and come to rehearsal after making it just in time for the lunch break. The show somehow starts magically on time and it goes really well. Then, it happens. The audience won’t stop demanding an encore, and the company boss gives in (at the protest of the entire crew) and runs the whole show again, with intermission. The second unexpected show ends at 2 am and you still have to load out. The dancers and performers disappear sometime around 3:30ish in the morning (no one saw them after they took a second smoke break), and it’s just the tech crew left to break down the set and load trucks. You finally finish the load out at 6:30 in the morning. You have a plane to catch in four hours, and the airport is an hour’s drive away. Do you opt for a little sleep, or act like a zombie for the rest of your extended day?

Day 5: Sunday

You opted to stay awake and one of the guys agreed to give you a ride to the airport since it’s on his way back home. You’re in the car and on the way to the airport at 7 am. After traffic and getting petrol, you arrive a little later than intended but still with plenty of time to get through security and the boarding process. You rush through security checks at a snail’s pace, check your watch to see if you have time to grab a coffee or something on your way to the gate (you don’t), do the awkward half-run/half-speed-walk straight to your gate, board the plane, get the announcement that the plane will be delayed upon arrival due to weather in the local area and that no one will be allowed to leave the plane. The travel day begins, and the circle of techies touring life continues…

Who’s Who?

 

This is a blog I should have written years ago. But better late than never, right? So 20(!) blogs in we’re finally getting to some theatre basics: who’s who in the world of theatre audio. I’ve touched on some of the jobs in other blogs, but today we’re going to hit all of them. After all, you can’t be what you don’t know, so let’s make sure you know what your options are!

The sound team is usually comprised of

The Sound Designer

The designer is in charge of the big picture: creating a design concept, communicating with directors and designers, and delegating to their team. What their exact duties are in relation to their team will differ from team to team depending on the skill sets of each person. Some designers are composers (those tend to do a lot of plays since the music for a musical is done by someone else) or are more focused on the design aspect of creating soundscapes or effects. Others are more involved with the technical side of things: the gear, the system, etc. Either way, designers will specify the gear they want to use (console, speakers, mics, processing, etc) and collaborate with the director and other designers on the artistic scope and special needs of the show.

The strengths of a designer help determine who they look for while creating their team. Most designers end up working with associates or assistants that have complementary skills. If they’re more creative, they might work with someone who can provide insight into what gear can accomplish what they want to do. If they’re more technical, they might want someone good with coaching a mixer or creating sound effects.

The Associate Designer

The associate acts as the designer when the designer isn’t around. They have worked with the designer before (usually on multiple projects), know how to set things up to their liking, and the designer trusts them to take care of projects on their own. They might have started as an assistant or a mixer with that same designer and they work closely with the Production Audio to get the sound system put together and installed.

Sometimes a designer has multiple associates. When we teched the Les Miserables tour, the designer, Mick Potter, had three tours teching at the same time: Les Miserables, School of Rock, and Love Never Dies. Each tour had an associate to get the sound system loaded in and tech the show. Mick split his time between the three shows, trusting his associates to get everything ready and roughed in, scheduling his time so he could be at each show for their mission-critical moments like Quiet Time (when the sound system gets tuned) and Cast on Stage (the first day the cast is onstage in mics for tech). The associates could go to him with questions when he wasn’t there, and he didn’t have to actually be in three places at once, even though it very much seemed like he was for that month. As you can see, with multiple projects going at the same time, having an associate that they can trust is absolutely essential for a designer.

The Assistant Designer

The assistant’s job is very similar to the associate. However, while an associate can act in the designer’s stead, the assistant typically has to get permission before making changes. The division of labor depends a lot on the dynamic and skill sets of the team, especially if there’s both an associate and an assistant on the show.

The Production Audio

This is a job I talked about in detail in another blog when I was in Production for a tour. Production is in charge of taking the system specified by the Designer and turning it into a reality, accounting for every connection, cable, piece of gear, nut and bolt, and loading it (or installing it in Broadway’s case) into the theatre.

Advance Audio

The advance position is found on larger tours that need extra people to load in, but not during the show run. An advance crew usually has at least an Advance Carpenter, Electrician, and Audio, but may also have a person for rigging, automation, or other specialties. They get to a venue before the show-to-show crew (the ones that run the show) and start loading in. When I was on the most recent Phantom of the Opera tour, our advance crew started in the theatre on Monday while we were loading out and traveling to that city and we’d join them and continue loading in Tuesday and Wednesday, then they’d leave on Thursday. On tours like Aladdin, the advance load in lasted several days before the show-to-show crew arrived, which isn’t surprising when you consider they had a magic carpet to set up!

 

The Mixer (A1)

This is what most of my blogs focus on, especially the first one, but in brief, the mixer’s job is to run the show, blending vocal and instrumental mics to execute the Designer’s concept for how the show should sound. They are the head of the sound department which involves contacting the shop if there is a problem with gear, making sure the department (deck and local audio as well) have everything and all the information they need, and on tour talking to future venues and developing a plan for load in.

The Deck Audio (A2)

The A2 is responsible for running the deck track (mic swaps, handoffs, etc), maintaining microphones, and troubleshooting mid-show, and they will mix the show on a regular basis to act as a cover for the A1. (In NYC, sometimes there is a “non-mixing” A2, which means there is another person, not in the building on a day-to-day basis, who’s trained on the mix.)

Other jobs

Depending on the needs of the show, other positions may come up. Sometimes there are so many sound effects that the mixer can’t run them and accurately mix the show at the same time, so an Operator position is created for someone who is designated to run effects for the show. Or there might be lots of live instruments played onstage so an Instrument Tech is added to the show and may fall under the sound department.

That may not seem like a lot of people at a glance, but it can make for a lot of moving parts, and knowing who to communicate with for a given problem is key. So, who do you talk to when you have a question? During prep in the shop or tech in the theatre, it’s easy to get anyone’s attention because you’re all in the same room. Once the show is up and running and Design and Production have left the building, who’s your go-to now?

On tour my main point of contact is the associate; they’re usually accessible to double-check on things or so you can pick their brain. They end up being a natural choice because you end up spending the majority of your time in tech with them anyway.

For the first few moves on tour, I’d have the Associate check the preliminary speaker prediction I did, then review any adjustments I made once we were in the theatre. Once they felt comfortable that I knew what the Designer was looking for and could make informed choices on my own, they would check in less and less, unless I asked for input on something specific. They also got copied on the advance email I sent to my A2 before we loaded into a new city which had the plan for the venue, any special thing we might have to take care of, or if it would be a normal day.

They are also the contact for any comments or concerns that pop up in addition to the questions. Some examples are if there are audience complaints and you need some help figuring out which adjustment to make, or if the actors or management have requested something that will change the design of the show. One common request I’ve run into is actors asking for vocals to be put in the onstage speakers. This is usually something that is decided either in or well before tech and isn’t in the mixer’s purview to change. That gets sent to the associate either as a “can we change this?” or “please respond so someone higher than me on the food chain has reiterated that we can’t, and we can end this conversation.”

If the Associate needs to involve the Designer, they will. Other than that, the Designer might stop by on occasion, maybe every 6 months to a year, to check in on the show (in which case I’ll also include them on my advance emails for that load-in). Other than that, they may not have much to do with the day-to-day of the show.

If I have system or gear-specific questions, I’ll usually ask the production audio, since they’re the ones that built the system and spend a lot of their time around the gear. On tour, they might not have much to do with the show once it’s up and running, but in NYC you might contact both the associate and the production audio with questions. They might also be involved in finding people to sub on the mix or the deck track and figuring out training schedules.

One thing to mention is pay. Ideally, associates and production are paid what’s called “weekly” which is a weekly fee, past whatever salary or flat fee they got for production and tech. This is paying for their continued time and assistance to keep the show running and answer questions. However this isn’t always the case, so that’s something to keep in mind. If my associate is being paid weekly, but production isn’t, I might send my question to the associate first to see if they can answer it before asking production to spend time on something they aren’t getting paid for. Oftentimes, they are happy to help regardless because they want you to be successful and their name is still on the show, but some people may be protective of their time if they aren’t being directly compensated for it.

While we’re talking about communication, let’s touch on other departments that we regularly need to talk to

If I need to address something that involves the actors, but isn’t related to music, I’ll talk to the PSM (Production Stage Manager). They are the glue between all departments, managing the company’s schedules, communication, and on top of that running a show. Notes usually go through Stage Management so they know what’s going on and what to watch out for. From sound, our notes are usually simple: it could be that an actor’s mic placement was out of place, the A2 has adjusted it, but then the actor put on incorrectly the next show.  Or someone has changed a line or blocking that affects how or when I take a cue. This communication goes both ways: they’ll let me know if someone’s sick and might need a little help in their big moments, or if there’s trouble hearing something musically onstage and can I see if there’s anything I can do at the board to help?

Anything music-related will go to the MD (Music Director, who usually conducts the show). They’re your link to the musicians as well as the actors. If an instrument consistently sticks out where it’s not supposed to, or you need an actor to give you a little more in a quiet bit of a song, you can go to the MD with notes and they will be able to pass it along or work with the actor on the note if it’s a reoccurring technical problem in their singing.

Someone in the pit, besides the MD, will be designated as a Keyboard Tech. They are there to help if there’s a problem with the software controlling the patches for the keyboards. For sound, as long as we’re patched in correctly, we’ve technically done our job. We’ll never be asked to tune the timpani or restring a violin. However, keyboards are an exception where the instrument and the gear are so intertwined that we might be asked to help the Tech troubleshoot, even if it isn’t directly our responsibility. On the other hand, when we’re checking out the system during the preshow and test the keyboards, we would call the Music Tech to help if there’s a problem that a re-boot or some simple troubleshooting doesn’t fix.

For other issues, usually departmental or personnel, you go to the Head Carpenter or the Steward. The Head Carpenter is the head of the crew, submits payroll, sends out schedules, coordinates and oversees local and show labor on load in and out on a tour, etc. They are the ones you go to with logistical questions that involve special situations or the local crew, setting up work calls, or helping if there’s an issue among crew members. The Steward is there to answer questions about the contract and help if there ever seems to be an overstep or inconsistency.

Returning back to the sound team to wrap it up: interdepartmental communication is some of the most important. The A1 is the head of the department, so gets official communications like performance reports and is likely to be the first point of contact for notes. If the information is necessary or even just helpful, the A2 should know about it. The A2, on the other hand, gets most of the informal communication. They’re backstage, so they’re the ones within earshot if someone needs to pass along a quick note if Wardrobe has heard that one of the actors will be calling out for the evening show, or if there was a last-minute change in the schedule and the official email hasn’t gone out yet. Communication is always a two-way street, and an open policy keeps both parties well-informed and valued.

Sound is one of the few departments that touches every single other during the show run. Between com/video, mics, and music, we cover it all. Which means there can be a lot going on at any given point. Hopefully, these guidelines will help if you’re ever unsure who to talk to!

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