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Tips For Indie Artists Outside Major Music Cities

I recently moved back to my hometown from Los Angeles to kickstart my music career, which I’m sure sounds counterintuitive. Aren’t you supposed to move to the major music city, not away? Before I left for college, I was so ready to leave my hometown and explore music scenes elsewhere. However, after I quit my full-time job this year to be an independent artist, I decided to go home to save up money and work in a space where my creativity can flourish. If you’re a developing independent artist who either by choice or by chance lives in a small town or outside the likes of Los Angeles, New York, or Nashville, I want to share with you some ideas I have about making the most of your musical environment from my own experience.

Connect with your local music community.

The main challenge I’m facing now that I’m outside of Los Angeles is remote networking. I miss attending my friends’ and colleagues’ performances and connecting with other independent artists who follow a path similar to mine. Even though the music scene in my hometown is different, there are still opportunities to network with other artists. Here, many restaurants and non-profit groups host large community-building events that often have live music, so I can attend these events and meet local musicians this way. Many gigs around me require musicians to play mostly covers for long periods, which can be really exhausting, especially if you are trying to share original music in a non-acoustic genre. Even if this style of gigging isn’t something you want to do, it’s really easy to use the Facebook Events tab, add your location, and find these gigs in your area to attend. I’ve found that supporting other musicians at gigs while I’m working on recording and producing at home keeps me inspired and reminds me of how loved the live music scene is in my hometown. I also feel that bonds with local musicians lead to a unique, lifelong support system.

Set up a remote rig

I think setting up a small home studio no matter the quality is essential, even if you’ve just got a USB microphone, your laptop, a DAW, and some headphones. If you don’t intend on producing, you can still keep track of new ideas you have and you can seamlessly send off recordings or demo tracks to producers or industry professionals to work with remotely. I recommend looking for good beginner bundles on Sweetwater to get you going in the right direction. I’m a firm believer in investing in long-term gear, so I think it’s best to find an affordable starting place and then build on your home setup if you want to. You can isolate your sound for recordings by using closets and blankets to reduce room noise. While I hope to work with mixers in the future, I’m currently a one-woman recording studio with my bedroom setup. I can easily record my vocals, arrange MIDI tracks in my DAW, mix on headphones and speakers, and send off my prints to a mastering engineer. Even though I’m home, I’m still putting out new singles on Spotify and other streaming platforms with my rig.

Get on TikTok

If you’re like me, then the idea of making a video of yourself makes you cringe. I’ve avoided posting myself, video content, and ultimately my music on social media for most of the time I’ve been making music. Something I’ve learned recently is that just like performing in front of a live audience, taking videos of myself for TikTok takes practice to build confidence. Something else I’ve learned in the past year is that confidence isn’t absorbed from others, it’s generated within yourself when you take risks and do the things that scare you. Posting on TikTok scares me, but it is the largest audience for musicians, producers, and artists of all kinds right now. As independent artists, it is vital for us to adapt to the changing industry. So I’ve followed some tips I’ve learned from other friends who post regularly on TikTok and am developing some consistency and some confidence! It’s not every day I can really get myself to make a video, so a few days throughout the week when I’m really grounded, I will make a few videos at a time to have multiple to post for the week. Besides clips of my music, I share insight on my songwriting, recording, and production process, and I like to keep the material as authentic as possible so I can engage with an audience that is similar to me.

When I first moved back home, despite my determination to start putting out music, I was fully expecting to feel isolated from the entire music industry for a while. With an open mind, I feel more akin to the music industry than I expected. I know that being in a small town and shooting for the stars can feel hard when it seems like all the stars are concentrated in a big city or on a different coastline. However, as independent artists, we have the power to use all the incredible resources around us and step into the spotlight.

Designing With Vocals: Part Two

Part One Here

I just released a new song this month called “This Time” and thought it would be a great opportunity to expand on my tips for sound designing with vocals. Similar to my last release, I recorded all the lead vocals and harmonies in Pro Tools with a temporary instrumental track and click track for timing. I used iZotope RX9 and Melodyne to clean up and tune the vocals using AudioSuite and committing Melodyne. I automated the lead vocals and adjusted the balance of the harmonies before exporting the tracks into Ableton. For this session, I exported sums of the harmonies and backing vocals in order to focus on the production elements of the song in Ableton and not obsess over the balance of the vocals. It also makes it easy to manipulate groups of harmonies together since I’m exporting from one DAW to the other.

The main sonic element of the breakdown of my song is a multilayered “ah” vocal that carries throughout the section and sounds like its own synth. I did most of my design work with this sum of vocals, starting with the use of iZotope’s Stutter Edit in the intro of my song. This was my first time using this plug-in, and it was a bit intimidating when I first opened it up. I focused on manipulating the “rate” and “step” parameters under the “stutter” section to get some interesting patterns to combine with an opening low-pass filter as the intro of my song. I followed a helpful YouTube tutorial in order to get started and found a great preset to work off of called Delay Filter Build. In the picture below you can see I kept the parameters simple but found a great effect with it that ties the intro of the song to the breakdown.

 

Further building on the breakdown of “This Time,” I wanted to incorporate the nostalgic feeling I get from 2010’s House music like some of Calvin Harris’s earlier hits for example. I have all the synths and background vocals side-chained to a four-on-the-floor kick to give it this floating effect. Adding the previously mentioned “ah” vocal layer into the sidechain to make it more emotive and flowy was a much faster process for me since I summed those vocals into their own stereo track when I exported out of ProTools. All I had to do to cover this technique was use the default compressor plug-in in Ableton and activate the side chain. I made a separate muted track that followed the kick pattern so I could control when the sidechain was occurring throughout the song and isolate it to that section. I set this as the key to the sidechain for the vocals and synths and adjusted the attack and release times according to to feel. Some people like to find the length of one beat in the particular tempo they are using and set attack and release times based on those calculations. I have tried this before but generally find that it doesn’t always feel the way I want it to, so I just make sure I’m using the same sidechain parameters for all my tracks to keep it clean. In the image below you can see how I use this with an auto filter and a phaser to transition the vocal layers from the last chorus into the breakdown.

 

 

In my last blog on vocal designing, I used Simpler’s classic option to create a sampled melody from one of the lyrics in that song. For this song, I created a sampled vocal melody again with Simpler, but instead, I used the slice option for a more typical EDM-sounding sampled vocal. First, in ProTools, I took a chunk of the lead vocal and processed it with iZotope VocalSynth for autotune and formant shifting effects. I used this processed vocal in the breakdown as is, and I also added it to a MIDI track with Simpler on to create a new melody. With the slice option, I could map out the different notes of the existing melody, so I could control the rhythm and choppiness of those notes. I preferred this method far more than just using the one-shot method in my last song because I actually made a unique melody with it that diverged from the song’s original melody. This technique was also really intuitive to navigate and utilize and (honestly) made me feel like a real producer for maybe the first time…

 

 

I love using vocals to add effects and elements to my productions, and I’ve found that I’m really developing my own skills as a producer as I search for more exciting ways to express my recorded vocals. I hope to share more tips and tricks with my future songs as I discover more.

Mid-Side: The Perfect Microphone Rig for Podcasts & Radio

Podcasts are a booming industry, and there is much room to increase production value even further. Recording the subject is always priority number one. By adding to that priority and recording rich audio, it is likely that you will increase your listenership by having an experience that immerses the listener. For those podcasts that are conducting interviews outside or on location rather than in a studio, there is a sophisticated yet simple recording setup: the mid-side rig!

Think of mid-side recordings as customizable stereo. You record two channels, bring them into your DAW, and work some encoding magic to create a file with adjustable stereo width. From a storytelling perspective, you get your subject, or interviewee, in the center and also an immersive stereo ambience. Long used in music and field recording, there are many opportunities to make podcast production shine with this versatile technique.

Microphones & Accessories

The “mid” is a cardioid, hypercardioid, or supercardioid mic, and the “side” is a figure eight mic. (Caveat: there are variations with omni mics as the mid, which generally make for a wider stereo field.) The mid mic captures your subject in your center channel, and the side mic, which is aimed 90 degrees from the source, captures the environment.  Whether you choose a hyper or supercariod mic depends on what you are capturing. A supercardiod mic makes for a wider stereo image when you encode it later. And, despite hypercardiods being more directional, I personally tend to favor the supercardiod pattern for recording people in the field. A subject can afford to be a little more off-axis, ensuring that if the rig is not aimed 100% perfectly, there will still be a good capture of the subject.

The two sides of the figure eight mic are 180 degrees out of phase, so a positive charge on one side of the mic’s diaphragm creates a negative equal charge on the other side. The front of the mic (the plus side), is pointed to the left, while the rear (or negative side) is pointed to the right.  In the past, I have used a Sennheiser MKH 50 for the mid and an MKH 30 for the side. They are sturdy and sound great! In live concert situations, I have seen engineers use AKG 414s with the polar patterns set accordingly. The important thing is to avoid phasing by correctly lining up the mic capsules. In the pictures below, the MKH pair has the mid mic positioned so the top of the grill is behind the bottom of the side’s mic capsule. The mid of the 414 pair is facing “north-south” while the side is positioned “east-west.”

As far as physically rigging it up, I’ve personally used a Rycote pistol grip and blimp specifically made for mid-side recordings with the MKH mics. For interviews in the field, definitely use a pistol grip (or some kind of shock absorption) and wind protection that will fit your setup.

Examples of mid-side setups.

My recorder has a mid-side setting!

Don’t use it. Record each channel straight mono because you will encode the recording later! Leaving the work for your DAW keeps your stereo width customizable, which is the beauty behind mid-side recording. Record each mic to a single track.

Where the Science Happens

All pictures provided are of ProTools, but everything you need to do to master your recordings are basic functions of any DAW. After you import your recordings, make a third track. Copy the audio from the side mic to this track.

Flip the phase of the copied audio. Here, I’ve done it with the Trim plugin.

Pan the original side recording track left, and the copied one right. These two channels now represent what your side mic was hearing.
Your mid-track is your mono-center channel. Bring up the volume of the side channels — you start to introduce a stereo spread! The level of the mid channels affects how wide the stereo image is, which is why I enduringly call mid-side recordings “customizable stereo.” The lower the side channels, the narrower the stereo image. The higher the side channels, the wider the stereo image.

The Listener Benefit

There is a technical benefit to mid-side recordings other than ear candy. On stereo systems such as headphones, listeners will hear stereo ambience. On mono systems (such as a single bluetooth speaker), because the phase on the side copy gets flipped, when the audio gets summed to mono, the original audio cancels the copy out. The recording sums to mono automatically. Changing the phase relationship gives control over how the mix sounds on the distribution side.

Recording with the mid-side technique in the field is a serious consideration because it is an easy way to create immersion for your podcast. Try it on your next interview!

The Sound of “Silence”

 

Did you know that not all silence or room tones are made equal? While I would never advocate listening to things loudly, you do need to make sure you are listening loud enough to hear certain issues in your room tone. This was a mistake I made when I first started. Part of my first job archiving and restoring for the Metropolitan Opera with LongTail Audio (RIP) was to audition (listen to) the tapes as we transferred them. This had several motives. One– to make sure all the music was there (so that means we used a score), and Two– to document any noises or grave issues with the sound (heavy use of markers).

Because I was a newbie at things like this, I was super paranoid about damaging my hearing. I knew I was going to be listening on headphones for 8 hours or more a day, so naturally, I tried to make sure I didn’t overdo it. But, when you first start, everyone is watching your work (as they should be). And one of the main things that I was missing was dropouts. Dropouts happen in analog tape with anything from tape damage to the age of the tapes to how they play back on the machine. This is what they look like if you view the spectral content.

 

By looking at it, you would think it’s impossible that you wouldn’t hear this. (To be fair this picture is probably a digital dropout which means you lose everything even for a few ms). But a lot of times, the dropout doesn’t manifest like a loss of programming. Sometimes it’s a momentary drop of tape hiss. Sometimes it actually sounds like a thud.

 

 

The good thing is there are ways to fix them if you have programs that can interpolate – like Izotope RX’s Spectral Repair or Cedar, etc. But my main point of this blog is that you need to be able to hear them.

The engineer that trained me on this job was someone I really admired and looked up to, I-hua Tseng. She was an amazing engineer who left us too soon, and I’m happy that I had the opportunity to work and learn from her. What she told me was to focus on the hiss. Most artifacts would jump out at you, but if you focus on the hiss, any momentary change or loss of signal will also jump out at you since your ear becomes accustomed to the noise floor. So your ear will detect a change if there is a loss. Your ears are amazing, so make sure you use them to their full capacity!

This brings me to the next important piece of “silence” which is room tone.

Do you know that not all room tone sounds the same? We worked with an entire folder of different room tones to fix things when they were needed. We had mono room tone, stereo room tone, dark room tone, bright room tone, room tone from the 70s, 60s, 30s, 40s, Dolby encoded, not. (Feeling like Bubba Gump here, but you get the idea) Anytime we ran into a good length or room tone, we would cut and export and drop it in the folder for the future.

Why would you need room tone? Because you don’t always go to digital black after something ends. Let’s say you’re in between movements of something or the tape ends and the room tone cuts off abruptly so you just need a little more to create a nice fade out, these are some of the reasons you would need room tone.

As I said, not all room tones are equal. The reason we had folders of room tone is that sometimes the programming wouldn’t contain anything you could work with. In this case, you would find the one that matched the best, and crossfade that into the other. And listen, sometimes you couldn’t find a perfect match, so instead of fading the existing room tone with another not as closely sounding one, you just replace it with the new one. It’s like trying to match navy and black; if you can’t get them to match exactly, you will notice. So just stick with one.

Did you know you also need room tone in podcasting? If you have a reporter who was done a lot of field recording, you also need room tone. Sometimes the interviews are done in less-than-ideal environments, so once that interview is edited, you’ll need room tone so that the noise floor doesn’t drop right away. This may seem tedious sometimes if there is a lot from this interview, but it does wonders when you are listening to a podcast and you don’t have someone’s quote just cut off because there is not a nice smooth fade. You can help your producers by asking them to ALWAYS record room tone any time they are out in the field reporting. This way you’re not scrambling to fake and create things out of nothing.

This may seem like a no-brainer and you’re now questioning why I’m even bothering to write this blog, but you would be surprised how much sloppy room tone I’ve heard and/or received. Creating a nice unnoticeable room tone to the listener is an art – an art many people in this industry take for granted because they think they should be doing more important things. But even something as small as room tone should be done with care.

 

Above I said we would look for a good length of room tone when we found and save that. That’s because if you grab less than one second and loop it if there is one tiny little bump, it will look like the above. And anyone will hear that. It sounds like a rattle or even a weird stutter sound effect (which may be cool in your pop track but not here). The fact that someone sent this to me to finalize says to me this person was not listening at a level that you could hear this OR this person only listened on speakers. I know in our field people constantly tell you to listen on speakers and “mixing on headphones is a no-no,” but critical listening really is better on headphones (IMHO). I *always* listen to my work and my mixes with headphones at some point – usually at consistent intervals just for checks and balances.

You do learn to look (listen) out for these things, so nowadays after having done this for 15 years, I can identify them quickly. But it’s important to train your ears. Whether it’s identifying anomalies or learning what 250 hz sounds like, invest in your craft – and by invest I mean your time! Not everything has a price on it. The better you are at hearing things, the better engineer you will be.

This was a great tool when I started: Golden Ears by Moulton Laboratories. They were several CDs (lol CDs) that had exercises to train you to identify different frequencies, EQs, and different processing. (Someone also conveniently uploaded some to Soundcloud here, so get your listen on).

Nowadays there are lots of A.I. ways to create room tone. Izotope RX10 has Ambience Match which generates and matches the noise floor. But make sure you listen to your room tone, don’t settle because you’re in a hurry. Having attention to detail and seamless editing will set you apart from everyone else.

Annlie Huang: Music Editor for Television & Mix Engineer

 

Annlie Huang is a Los Angeles-based music editor for streaming content at Marvel Studios and an independent mix engineer. She began her journey by obtaining a B.F.A. in Performing Arts Technology and a B.S. in Sound Engineering from the University of Michigan, and she has since become a consummate professional with vast experience ranging across the spectrum of film sound production and post-production. Her credits include Mulan, Frozen 2, Avengers: End Game, and most recently Moon Knight and She-Hulk. Even with her film and television work amassing, Annlie still takes on mixing projects for musicians she admires when moved. I first became aware of Annlie’s work and story when she presented at WAMCon LA in 2019 from a soundstage at The Walt Disney Studios, where she worked as a mix tech at the time. Her steady confidence and presence in that space stayed with me. With her newborn baby by her side, Annlie answered the following questions via correspondence just a week ago.

You have previously worked in ADR and re-recording and have most recently served as assistant music editor on many projects, including some of my family’s favorite Marvel shows! How have these past roles prepared you for your current work?

Probably the biggest benefit of having been in different roles is learning the different language & lingo that people use in different departments & crafts (and subsequently understanding what other people know & don’t know). So many of the crafts that go into filmmaking are so highly specialized that effective communication can be a bigger challenge than people realize. Once you’re able to translate between disciplines & departments, you kind of gain a new superpower that opens up a lot of relationships, ideas, and possibilities for better teamwork — and ultimately a cooler product.

Additionally, I think that in any collaborative process or art form, it always helps to know what the views, concerns, and work of other crafts are, and how they fit into the bigger picture. It’s like a sports team: I imagine a center forward might perform better at their role if they’ve tried out playing defense or goalie before and understand what the field looks like from all different positions.

I don’t know of many other art forms that require as much collaboration and as extensive a pipeline of different artisans, technicians & facilitators all coming together than that of film production. Ultimately, all the elements of a movie or TV show have to work together. The sound has to support the picture, the mix has to support the story, the color has to support the mood, etc.  Knowing what goes into other parts of the filmmaking process, and what their challenges, capabilities, limitations, and viewpoints are, makes it possible for me to perform my job in a more supportive & comprehensive way.

To be more specific, for example, it’s extremely helpful to me and my team that I have a deep and detailed understanding of what goes on during the re-recording process since ultimately everything we do in music editing needs to be delivered to the re-recording stage and flows down to them. Of course, you can be a great music editor with very little understanding of what happens after you pass the music off to mixing, but if you know what can be possible in the next step of the process, and how to set up your own work/sessions to make certain ideas possible, it opens up the door for a lot more creative conversation and cool ideas to be entertained.

When you spoke at WAMCon LA in 2019, I was so struck by your story path to a career in audio. I would love to hear a bit about that journey again.

I was classically trained from the age of 3 on violin & piano and performed competitively throughout high school. I didn’t have much of a life outside of school and music performance and by the time I went to college, I had come to really dislike the whole cycle of practice, performing, being judged and critiqued, and the pressure that came with it. So I took a 180º turn and pursued a pre-med track for 2 years before realizing that I still really missed music and being creative. I was lucky that the university I was attending had a Music Technology program, which was still not that common at the time. I thought “This is perfect, I can still work on music but not have to perform!” So I started taking freshman intro classes as a junior, and eventually transferred majors. I realized pretty quickly that I was completely out of my depth when it came to music production since I had had minimal exposure to popular/mainstream music and had no idea how to approach it or talk about it, (for context: I had no idea what the typical instruments of a rock band were or any of the parts of a drum kit. I couldn’t even ID a Beatles song at that point), so I gravitated toward the idea of working on sound for film since it can tend to be much more grounded in everyday life — and, of course, I had watched movies growing up. Unfortunately, my school didn’t have a sound-for-film program or any classes, so by the time I graduated, I still had pretty limited knowledge of how film sound really worked. I moved out to LA and started out in the very typical manner of being an unpaid intern for a small post-production facility (cleaning kitchens, and bathrooms, refilling coffee machines, doing supply runs, answering phones, sorting mail, etc.) before being hired on by them to do a little bit of everything: audio editing, video editing, subtitle timing, DVD authoring QC, ADR loop counts, etc. While working there, I came across a job posting for the international/foreign language department at Disney, which I was eventually offered. While in that department, I worked closely with the head of post-production sound for the studio, who eventually offered to take me on as a trainee in his department, which allowed me a path to join the Motion Picture Editors Guild — the labor union for film post-production — which is how I ended up on the re-recording mixing & ADR stages (still one of my favorite places to be in the world!). Eventually though, due to personal considerations around lifestyle & family planning, I realized that I couldn’t stay on the stage long-term, and looked at moving into audio editing. I settled on music after talking to various amazing colleagues & veterans in both sound (dialogue & sound effects) & music editing, and here I am!

Is there an area of audio you would still love to explore?

I’m currently, I think for the first time in my life, in an area of audio that I think I can stay in for a long time. I love everything about the balance of the role of music editing, and I think it fits my personality and priorities really well. This comes after a LOT of exploration and misfits. As you mentioned above, I’ve tried out a lot of other roles to arrive here: boom op, production sound mixer, ADR, re-recording mixer, dialogue editing, music mix engineer, tracking engineer… Although I have limited to no direct experience in the roles like foley, live sound, or mastering, I know from theory & observation that I’m more than happy leaving those to other experts! I do still absolutely LOVE mixing music & re-recording mixing, but I end up pouring so much heart & passion into those that I like to keep it to select projects that I believe deeply in and am particularly excited about. I guess I should also mention that I’m married to an audio plug-in developer/DSP engineer, so I also get to have a front-row seat in the peanut gallery to the process of creating audio software, which is super fun & interesting!

I guess my one bucket list item in regards to audio right now is to learn to love playing again. I’d love to learn to play a band instrument & just play for fun, which is not something I did before, and I have some unlearning to do, in terms of withholding judgment & just enjoying the process & the music!

What piece of gear or plug-in have you found to be most essential in your work?

This is such a hard question… I have so many pieces of gear & plugins that I love, but I’d have to say I probably place the most value on a good pair or properly set up studio monitors. For mixing, we have the ATC SCM50s, which are an absolute game-changer. I really love critically listening to music & mixes on those (in addition to working on them). For music editing, I’m on a pair of Klein & Hummel O300s (now owned by Neumann), which are super smooth & pleasing. I love working on those since they’re less fatiguing when I’m mostly making content choices and not critical listening/mix decisions for that work.

When you have the time to take on an independent project, what are you most drawn to?

My love & passion for working in music/film is because I think it’s an extremely powerful medium. It has the power to make people feel and experience situations and emotions they otherwise wouldn’t have exposure to or be able to: from fantastical made-up universes that setup the subtext of parallel issues in our own lives, to gripping documentaries that brutally shed light on realities of our world, to feel-good comedies that help people get by from one week to another or bring people closer together. There are certain albums that have gotten me through the highest and lowest times in my life or made me feel deeply connected to someone radically different from me. Storytelling is such an important and essential part of communication and human connection, and I love the form it takes through the craft of music & film. So when it comes to taking on independent projects, I go absolutely bonkers over the artists and works that say something that I think the world should hear — whether the message is beautiful & gentle, loud & brash, heartbreaking, or uplifting. There are so many people with such interesting & unique things to say, that if I can help focus or enhance that message and shepherd it as acutely and potently as possible into the world through great, compelling, sound, that’s what I get really excited about.

Tell us about your audio community.

As I mentioned above, I’m quite lucky to be married to an audio badass. My husband is an all-around guru about most things audio and has encouraged and supported me aggressively as I found my own path. We talk about audio all day, from new gear and what studio upgrades we want, to new & old technologies, listening to old and new music together — both casually & critically — new plug-in features, differences between film audio & the music industry, room acoustics… etc. I rely on him for brutally honest mix feedback, fresh ears on music edit options I put together, and a second opinion on generally everything, while he asks me to beta test their company plug-ins and listen to his mastering revisions. Outside of that, I have a few select veteran colleagues in the film industry that have taught me basically everything I know. I’m forever indebted and grateful to them and they’ve also become dear friends. Lastly, there’s the amazing & wonderful world of women in sound! Through organizations like Omni Sound Project, Women’s Audio Mission, and Soundgirls, I’ve been able to connect with so many amazing and rad individuals who love audio & sound as much as I do! I absolutely love how supportive and positive the entire community is, and I’m proud to be able to say I’m an active member!

I remember a workshop of yours in which you showed back-to-back clips of the brontosaurus scene in Jurassic Park with and without the score. It’s amazing what a difference the music makes! Do you have any other favorite examples of the score making this kind of impact? Something you’ve seen or something you’ve worked on?

Oh, man… I’m woefully indecisive and so, so bad at picking favorites. There are so many film & tv moments that totally just deflate if you take the music out, whether subtle or dramatic… music can really set the tone & emotion, so much, of anything!!!

With all that you have achieved, what dreams remain for you?

Well, I just started my own little family (last week!), which while not an easy task in any context, has its particular challenges in this industry. I’m so lucky that the team that I’m on is very supportive, but I really hope there’s a future where women don’t feel so much like they need to decide between career and family. Aside from that, I just look forward to working with great teams and inspiring individuals on projects that move people!

You can find her on Instagram as @shigwastudio and see her credits listed on IMDB.

Thank you, Annlie!

Kylie Grace Snyder – Forging her Own Path

Kylie Grace Snyder is a reformed singer-turned-audio and media engineer working on staff at the University of Michigan’s Duderstadt Center as Technical Lead for Media & Studio Arts. She loves building complex integrations between analog and digital systems, primarily in studios, and talking about her experiences as a trans woman.

Kylie got her start in audio at age 13 participating in choir and band and by the time she got to college, it was the only path she wished to pursue. She received a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University in Gender Studies, with minors in Digital media and English, and a nearly-complete degree in Music Engineering Technology from Ball State University, and a Master’s Degree in Science in Music Technology from Indiana University. She is also a classically trained vocalist.

Career Start

How did you get your start?

Primarily doing freelance work throughout the midwest. I managed to land a 9-5 not long after graduating college (luck) where I was helping run a major audio website at the time. So thankfully my writing experience came in super handy. After a number of years doing that while freelancing I decided to get my master’s degree, as I was very interested in working at a university (turns out it was for the safety :), and that eventually led me to where I am now.

What did you learn interning or on your early gigs?

To not overreach with perceived knowledge. You’re not going to know everything, but despite how it may feel, you’re not supposed to. Not knowing something is wildly acceptable so long as you ask for help.

Career Now:

What is a typical day like?

These days they’re relatively chaotic, though nothing like my days of running shows, but in general, most days are relative chaos. I spend a handful of hours in various meetings depending on the day (production meetings, admin, IT, etc.) and completing various related tasks (expense reports, demographics data, purchasing, etc.). The best days are those where I’ve been pulled into the studios to help with a challenging issue (PSU blowing up, network abnormality, or even just QC that doesn’t make sense) as I feel most directly connected to the job. In essence,  I do my best to support my team through the various technical challenges they may face.

How do you stay organized and focused?

I promise to let you know when I figure it out 🙂 Realistically, for me, it’s my calendar which I live and die by. Over the years I’ve found that to be the best mechanism for coping with my ADHD as lists, etc. are wildly nebulous and don’t provide the accountability I need. For me, it’s all google calendar.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

Learning new things and solving unusual problems. Once the technology is working I’m wildly disinterested and would prefer to hand the task off to staff. Finding the problem, however, is a supreme joy for me as my brain finds troubleshooting to be an endlessly fun game of logic puzzles.

What do you like least?

Meetings and paperwork. They’re absolutely terrible. However, the studios don’t keep running just through enjoyable gigs, so it’s helpful to remember that even the most mundane administrative task can have a material impact on facility operations.

What is your favorite day off activity? 

Relaxing with loved ones, hiking, and playing video games.

What are your long-term goals?

Oh, that’s a good one… I often toy with the notion of getting a Ph.D. but I also muse a lot about getting an MSW and trying to help people. What I’ll surely wind up doing, as it tends to be my pattern, is keep learning new things and expanding my skill set.

What obstacles or barriers have you faced?

We’ve reached a few challenging questions. My early career was spent as someone who presented as masculine and I didn’t have any issues. I’ve experienced some harassment at work now that I’m out, however, in general, I have a really safe workplace. The real barriers have been global – dealing with bigotry and the politicization of who I am as a human. That really sucks and wears thin some days but I try to be brave.

How have you dealt with them?

The issues I’ve experienced have occurred at 9-5 jobs so I followed the appropriate channels to address them through HR.

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

That’s a really difficult question as I only started transitioning in 2021 which was long after I had an established career. That said, I think the most universal advice I can give is to be authentically yourself. Not everyone is going to like that person, however, nothing good comes from being what another person wants. Also, stand up for yourself and others when things are wrong / feel bad even if it’s scary. Nothing changes if people aren’t told how they’ve misstepped.

Must have skills?

Knowledge of IP networking and the ability to troubleshoot

Favorite gear?

I have a handheld Sencore SP395 and a DSO Shell handheld oscilloscope that are still my first go-to’s for mobile testing. They aren’t terribly exciting but they’ve gotten me out of more jams than I can remember.

 

 

Things I learned During My First Semester of Teaching

This semester I taught my first class. The topic? Theatrical Sound Design. I learned a lot from teaching this class. Some were surprises and others were more reaffirming than new knowledge. As a way to reflect on some of these observations, I would like to share them with my readers.

How each student is different

This might seem like an obvious fact, but it still came with some surprises. At the beginning of the semester I sent out a survey that included the question “how do you like to learn/learn best?” This took some time when researching the varying learning styles. I wanted to include as many varieties as I could find. What I learned about my students is that most of them do not like to learn through a linguistic approach, such as reading. Whereas I do. Most of us shared a desire for a kinaesthetic approach. This pushed me to incorporate as much hands-on learning as I could. I found that tailoring my teaching style to the class made me feel more confident and challenged me as a teacher.

There were also several facts that became even more cemented in my mind. A student’s reception to being taught and absorbing information is a sliding, varying scale. Some students are not receptive to being taught. Trying to teach someone who does not want to be taught is the equivalent of trying to teach a brick wall. This feels like a disappointment to me and difficult to not take personally. If you are anything like me, finding ways to challenge this intrusive thought is important as an educator as well as an individual. Remind yourself of the students who are open to you and want to learn. This doesn’t even have to be exclusive to your students. It could be a friend or peer you are imparting knowledge to.

Remember, each student is going to be different. They bring their own motivations into the classroom.

Teaching taught me how to break bad habits

I am naturally a very empathetic person and it serves me well as an educator. However, I can often have very high expectations. Not just for myself, but for others I work with. This can sound like a decent characteristic to have. Most people desire quality. However, it is very easy for me to project expectations onto people without discussing them. This is where things can get difficult. Teaching new students has taught me how to challenge this bad habit. Most of my students are first-years or students from outside the department, so expectations need to be flexible. The goal is to strengthen the creative mind with a focus on sound design. I have noticed that this flexibility and understanding has allowed me to enjoy my work more.

Teaching this class has given me the opportunity to enjoy what these students bring to the table while also having healthy expectations for them. This is something I need to practice and strengthen for myself when working with peers and colleagues. So not only has this been good for the relationship I have with myself but also when working with others. Any creative mind can think like a sound designer…As I mentioned before, my class is not exclusively for audio students. I have several students from the school of music, Lighting, and Scenic designers, and a whole row of Stage Management students. Every single one of them is capable of being a sound designer and hopefully, this class has proven that to them. Yes, there is a lot of learning beyond this statement that comes with being a sound designer, but
at its core has a sense of creativity and willingness to question possibilities. This idea wasn’t a big surprise to me, but more of a surprise to some of the students. I remind students that stretching the creative process and considering how other design elements work with yours can only strengthen you and your design. And for many individuals that have already been reflected in their work.

How often my students surprise me

And this leads me to how often I am impressed by these hard-working individuals. Reading design statements from Lighting students that consider every emotive shift and how sound can enhance that. Stage Managers detail each sound cue in their cue sheet. Listening to students answer questions and apply their understanding to discussions with their peers. These are moments I appreciate and carry throughout my busy week. They still come as a little surprise and hope that doesn’t go away.

How difficult it is to teach the mechanics and physics of sound

Teaching others felt like an opportunity to relearn and strengthen preexisting knowledge. This is especially true for topics I struggled with during my first year as a sound student. It can be really challenging to teach a topic that you don’t enjoy or don’t feel confident in. However, I looked at this as an opportunity for me. Any videos, articles, and demonstrations I found for lectures were also learning material for myself. I think a lot of people will agree that the physics behind sound is not their first choice when picking a topic to be excited about. What I learned from teaching it myself was that I had a far more successful lecture if it had hands-on elements. This wasn’t a lecture I could rely on to read from slides and have them take notes. What this meant was there was a lot of drawing on whiteboards, recap/what do we know quizzes, and lots of what-if experiments that I demonstrate within a DAW. This included hearing/sine sweep tests, summation, and cancellation of sine waves, the doppler effect, as well as how the Haas effect works. I found that having a recap at the start of each class period really helped me know what I needed to resolidify in my teaching. I also did a brief quiz at the end of each lecture. It wasn’t worth more than 10 points and had a max of five questions. I used these quizzes as a way to evaluate what I am teaching well and what needs to be gone back over. This felt like a great use of quizzes because it wouldn’t ruin the student’s grades if they didn’t do well. It was easy points for them and a great way for me to check my teaching as an educator.

Always wait a slightly uncomfortable amount of time until a student speaks with thoughts/observations/or questions. Someone will always break the silence and it often leads to a bigger group discussion or someone has the same question. I learned this trick from several professors during my undergrad. It was something I told my students on the first day of class. I consider this engagement with lectures and discussions to be crucial for the learning process. And oftentimes it will lead to a larger group discussion with like and differing opinions. It is a way of sharing information that goes beyond me lecturing the information to students in front of me. Most first-year students have a very busy schedule. So this was also an opportunity for them to get to know their peers. Our department is small and knowing like-minded people to work and learn with can be pivotal for some students. I think that is why a momentary uncomfortable silence for students can actually be really helpful for their overall learning experience. Maybe slightly cruel and
uncomfortable, but worth it.

As we move into the last few weeks of this semester, my students know to expect awkward pauses and will speak their thoughts more openly. This characteristic was taught to me early on in my education and it’s gratifying to see it being instilled in others. I can see its positive effects on students who regularly engage and ask questions. Teaching this class was the highlight of my semester and will be bittersweet to finish out the class in December. It reaffirmed my love for teaching and being a big nerd about audio and sound design. I don’t think this will be the last audio class that I teach, but it was an excellent first experience.

To my students, thank you for such a lovely and laugh-filled semester

Learning and Networking at the AES Convention

 

After a three-year hiatus of in-person gatherings due to the pandemic, the long-awaited 153rd Audio Engineering Society convention took place on 19-20 October in New York, with additional events before and after, and to be followed by an online event on 26-27 October. If you’ve never been to one, what can you expect at an in-person AES convention, and is it worth going to? Here’s an overview of my own experience and opinions.

AES conventions normally take place twice a year: one in North America and one in Europe. If you’re a member of the AES, you get a discounted convention ticket. Conventions are very affordable if you’re a student member; if not, the admission price might be considered a little steep, coupled with travel and accommodation if you don’t live in the area. However, the opportunity to learn, network, explore industry products and innovations, and be inspired can make it a very worthwhile expense.

This year’s NYC convention took place on two floors of the huge and well-equipped Javits Center and was co-located with the NAB show – very handy for those interested in both audio and broadcasting. The Exhibits part of the AES convention consisted of an enormous array of booths and rooms displaying audio industry-related products and services, everything from microphones and hardware to software, acoustics and communications systems, and much more. It’s a fantastic chance to see and hear gear up close, ask questions, form relationships with manufacturers and sellers, and learn about the latest innovations in audio.

One of my favourite parts of the convention was the Tech Program and Training. In several rooms at the side of the exhibition hall, in addition to a couple of stages in the hall itself, a huge number of seminars, panel discussions, and presentations took place covering all manner of topics: studio recording, live sound, music production, post-production, networked audio, spatial and VR audio, broadcast and streaming, game audio, product development and more. Via an app, you could read about each seminar and presenter, and plan which sessions you wanted to attend. It was such a great learning opportunity; my only complaint was that there were so many terrific sessions going on at the same time, and I wished I could be in three places at once!

This year the AES also introduced a new format of hands-on learning workshops, where participants could bring a laptop and headphones and have access to audio materials sent by the presenters beforehand. Some of these workshops were more successfully interactive and hands-on, while others were similar to a normal seminar, with the limited number of participants allowing for more interaction and questions. This is definitely a great format for learning, and hopefully, AES continues with it and encourages presenters to include exercises for attendees to work on during the workshops.

For student members, there was a series of valuable events and sessions such as the Education and Careers Fair, the Student Recording Competition, and the Recording Critiques session. Meanwhile in other lecture rooms throughout the day, research and technical papers on a diverse field of topics were presented. Additional events included networking spaces, keynote speeches, and a film screening. Attendees staying on in New York could sign up for a tech tour to various venues the day after the convention – I was able to attend a tour of the famous Power Station studio at BerkleeNYC, a terrific experience that included witnessing a 3D music video recording.

It’s important to mention that thanks to the hard work of the members of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, AES is making great strides in diversifying the audio community and creating inclusive opportunities for all races, genders, physical abilities, ages, and nationalities. Here’s a Soundgirls article about the Diversity and Inclusion Guidelines for AES conventions and conferences. It’s great to see the attendees of conventions becoming more diverse each year!

A huge benefit of attending the AES convention is the opportunity to network and meet others both in your field of audio and in other fields. This is something extremely valuable in a career path that thrives on connections and relationships with colleagues and clients. With so many brilliant people from the industry in one space, it’s the perfect opportunity to go up and introduce yourself to presenters, educators, industry colleagues, and people whose work you admire. People are very approachable and really happy to talk and share advice and contacts.

In conclusion: yes, the AES convention is absolutely worth attending! There is so much learning to be had, inspiration to be soaked up, networking to be done, and innovation to be marveled at. Hopefully, the AES will be able to return to holding a longer 4-day event in the future. The enthusiastic atmosphere, positive sense of camaraderie, and veritable passion for audio at this year’s New York convention gave me a huge dose of inspiration and motivation to keep doing my best, and boosted my excitement and gratitude to be working in the amazing field that is audio!

 

Ancient Acoustics

Have you ever wondered about the sounds our ancestors heard?  Digging deeper into the questions surrounding ancient noises is archaeoacoustics.  Archaeoacoustics is the study of humans’ relationship with sound and music that incorporates ethnomusicology, archeology, and acoustics.  A related field is music archeology, which focuses more on ethnomusicology in ancient and pre-history.

Beyond the natural soundscapes that still exist today, researchers are able to study what our ancestors noticed via rocks.  In the famous painted caves of France, the paintings are concentrated in areas of exciting echos.  Other caves display similar relationships.  Stonehenge and Chichen Itza are civilizations creating monuments that incorporate interesting acoustics on purpose.  For Stonehenge, the circular arrangement of the stones and their spacings add intrigue to the ceremony.  The Mayans built Chichen Itza’s staircases with acoustics in mind using reverberation to mimic a sacred quetzal call when someone clapped.

From the sounds they heard came the music they created.  Anne Kilmer, an Assyriology professor poured over clay tablets with ancient languages written in cuneiform to find some of the earliest written songs.  In 1972 Kilmer and a few colleagues created an interpretation of a written song that is believed to be a cult hymn.  This hymn was preserved in its entirety for over 3,000 years.  What makes this song remarkable is that it uses harmony, a concept thought to be a much newer invention.  The lyrics even match the harmony, with the melody left as an afterthought.  Kilmer and her fellow researchers knew this discovery would fascinate musicians and have published sheet music for the Mesopotamian lyre, as well as recordings for the casual listener.

 

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