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So You Need a Diverse:

The express guide to recruiting a more heterogeneous workforce

As someone who has spoken and written about diversity in the workplace quite a bit (https://soundgirls.org/how-to-find-the-best-candidate-for-the-job/, https://soundgirls.org/the-financial-case-for-increasing-diversity-in-live-audio/), I find it really encouraging to see more and more efforts to hire a wider variety of people in our industry. However, like anything that’s (somehow, still) in its early stages, I’ve seen quite a few missteps and realise that a lot of people need some more guidance on best practices. I also understand that most hirers are extremely busy, especially in the post-lockdown rush of live events, so I will get right to the point and then expand on the steps after.

The whys and wherefores of building diverse workforces is a massive and often messy subject that is beyond the scope of this article. Maybe your company has come to the conclusion that it’s the morally right thing to do, maybe you’ve seen the positive effect it has on profits, maybe you’re doing it for the kudos or maybe a client has specified that they want certain types of people on their jobs and you personally think it’s political correctness gone mad. Whatever the reason, the bottom line is that you need to find different people to who you usually hire. For the sake of brevity I’m going to call these people Diverses, but do remember that individuals are not diverse, only groups of people can be diverse. Diversity and the benefits that come with it can only be achieved in the collective when everyone’s differences and strengths are combined. So how do you find them?

  1. Write your job ad, describing the skills you are looking for in a candidate, not their intrinsic characteristics like gender, race, sexuality, or socio-economic background.
  2. Post the ad where lots of the type of candidate you want are likely to see it.
  3. Choose someone suitable from the applicants. If there isn’t anyone suitable, go back to steps 1 and 2 and see what you can improve so you can find the right person for the job.
  4. Don’t tell anyone that they did/didn’t get the job because of their intrinsic characteristics (because they genuinely didn’t. You can find someone who is Diverse and also the best person for the job). If unsuccessful applicants push you for a reason, just say they weren’t a good fit for the role. Our industry is so idiosyncratic that this can be true.

That’s it! Does it sound familiar? It’s the same technique that’s been widely used in our and other industries for decades if not centuries. The only difference is this time it’s benefitting underrepresented groups instead of the established majority.

Bonus content

If you have the time to explore this topic in more detail, here are my unscientific opinions and extra tips:

Choosing your words:

Advertising that you need (or are being *forced* to hire!) a Diverse is not helpful. From the job posts I’ve seen, this just spawns a whole bunch of “is this legal?”/devil’s advocate arguments that achieve very little. Besides, this often isn’t legal. The UK Equality Act 2010 states that you can only use positive action in recruiting when you already have applicants of equal merit, so you need to leave applications open to everyone in order to find the best person for the job. If the best or joint best candidate happens to have a characteristic that you’re looking to recruit, then great, but you can’t prevent people from applying or hiring a less suitable applicant just to fit your diversity goals. Affirmative action in the US is a bit different but you could still end up in a tricky legal situation if you’re explicitly recruiting people because of their protected characteristics.

Specifying certain characteristics that you want can be problematic. In the era of publicly tagging friends under job posts, you risk inadvertently outing individuals as gay or trans, for example. Quite a few are difficult to prove anyway. Are you going to ask applicants for evidence that they’re homosexual? That their parents were poor enough to count as coming from a ‘disadvantaged’ background? Is one type of Diverse more desirable than another? Having a shopping list of protected characteristics that you want in candidates feels like you’re treating them like commodities rather than humans, which is surely what we’re trying to leave firmly in the past. You need to find the sensible middle ground between Pokémon-style ‘gotta catch one of each type’ and “Oh but all these middle class, straight, white men have such different personalities!” You should be looking at varying your crews in as many ways as possible, without artificially enforcing quotas or defining people solely by intrinsic factors that they can’t change. It can be a challenge but it is worth it in the long run.

If you’re worried that too few Diverses will apply for the role, you can say that everyone, including (I would not recommend saying ‘especially’ because it’s still implying that they’ll get unwarranted preferential treatment) XYZ type of person is encouraged to apply. If the rest of your diversity policy is effective enough, for example advertising roles widely and having a reputation for an inclusive and supportive work environment, you shouldn’t need to do this step anyway. Often just saying that you value diversity itself is enough to show people from underrepresented groups that it’s worth applying. The best way I’ve seen of dealing with this is Britannia Row Productions’ diversity statement that they include at the end of every job post (https://www.britanniarow.com/careers). It is simple but effective:

“We’re building a diverse, inclusive team

You’re welcome at Britannia Row wherever you’re from and whoever you are. We know that sometimes, people don’t apply for a job because they don’t have every single skill listed in the job’s requirements. So if you’re interested in a role here and believe you could be a good fit, we encourage you to apply.”

Another aspect of publicly saying that you want a Diverse is that people will assume that the successful candidate got the job because of their Diverseness alone. This can make the Diverse question their abilities and value as a person and can give license to bullies to throw it in the Diverse’s face at every opportunity. I know quite a few people who won’t apply for jobs with this kind of wording because they, understandably, don’t want to be seen as just a box ticker, and want to be hired for their competence in the job.

Getting the word out

A major contributor to the “old boys’ club” aspect of our industry is that one of the main ways people land jobs is through word of mouth. Lots of roles are never openly advertised; the hirer will just think of who they like and find the first person on that list who’s available. If no one’s available, the people on the list might recommend their friends. It’s not hard to see how this results in an insular, homogenous workforce. Of course, the nature of live events means a large proportion of roles are filled by freelancers, often at the last minute, so companies don’t have the time and resources to put into recruiting for these jobs that they might for full-time positions. Long, challenging days and spending nearly all our time in very close proximity to each other also means that it is important that people work well together, so it is understandable why personal recommendations are highly valued. It’s also a more reliable way to judge aptitude for the job than formal qualifications, in a field where real-world experience and quick thinking are essential.

So how can we reconcile these factors? Companies need to start treating their freelance call list more like their full-time employees. Recruitment needs to be an ongoing process and not left until the last minute when everyone’s too busy to think about it and desperate to fill a role. If you do the work to have a balanced, varied talent pool, you’ll have options if a client suddenly demands to have a certain type of Diverse on their crew rather than having to specifically advertise for them, which can backfire for the reasons outlined above. This also means that you have the time to take a chance on people who you might not be sure about because they don’t have the personal connections that others do. You can put them in a junior role at a quieter time of year, or give them a chance to shine while there’s a more senior colleague present to support them, to see how they fare.

Where you advertise is as important as how you advertise. If you post in the same old places you’ll get the same old candidates. As a rule of thumb, if a forum seems quite ‘bro-ey’ or cliquey, it’s unlikely to have that many members from underrepresented groups. Seek out online groups and directories that represent certain communities, visit schools and places of worship other than your own to encourage more young people to join the industry, and see if there are local employment schemes that are looking for collaborators. If you’re struggling to think of places to find Diverses, you could ask other Diverses whom you already know, but please acknowledge the work they are doing to help you.

The best candidate for the job

As previously mentioned, you shouldn’t give someone a job they aren’t ready for just because they’re a Diverse. It is usually illegal, it breeds resentment in other people and it sets them up to fail, further compounding prejudiced people’s beliefs about that type of Diverse’s suitability for the role. It also implies that you don’t believe that there are any Diverses out there who are qualified, which is almost never true. If you aren’t getting applications from a wide enough variety of people, cast your net wider (or – whisper it – pay better).

On the other hand, what makes someone the ‘best’ person for a job can be highly subjective. There is more to suitability for a role than qualifications and experience. They could have a great attitude, get along well with the rest of the team, bring new perspectives and cultural knowledge (a major benefit of diversifying your crew) and have the people skills that a degree in audio can’t teach. When assessing applicants, bear in mind that a Diverse might have less experience than a non-Diverse of the same age because they have been discriminated against already, systemically or personally. Don’t put them in a role that they can’t handle, but don’t perpetuate the cycle of discrimination by presuming non-Diverses are better because they have more experience. It takes time and effort but getting to know candidates better than what their resumé can show can pay off massively over time. Surprisingly, interviews are actually quite a bad way to do this (https://vervoe.com/predict-job-performance/). From reading the literature and going through some interviews myself, it seems that they’re great for finding people who are good at interviews, but not necessarily good at the job. ‘Job auditions’: asking applicants to do practical tasks as they would at work, are a much better predictor of long-term performance. It has also occurred to me that it is the most conscientious employers who are making the effort to be more inclusive and formal with their hiring practices, including inviting people to interview, instead of straight-up offering jobs to the usual suspects. Paradoxically, this ends up as an extra hoop for the Diverse to jump through, while the boys club carries on as usual.

Tick a box, get a medal?

Sorry to say it, but you don’t get special recognition for doing what we all should have been doing all along. Don’t boast about how you hired a Diverse and put photos of them on your company website to show how woke you are. Finding the best candidate for the job and the benefits that come from diverse crews (a wider pool of knowledge, higher productivity, and profits, etc.) is reward enough in itself. Keeping these people is as important as recruiting them in the first place, and making them feel like a freak show or a charity case is not the way to do it. The best way to avoid accusations of tokenism or box-ticking is to hire as many different types of people as possible, so it becomes normal to work in diverse teams. Hiring one Diverse, or one Diverse at a time, is not enough, and being the only ‘other’ in the workplace is a very, very lonely place to be. It also makes it much easier for bullies to undermine them and convince them that they have nothing to contribute except their Diverseness. The way to get the best work out of your crew is to build them up and value them for what they each bring to the table, wherever they’re from and whoever they are.

Lisa Kacos: Producer, Educator, and Musician

Through a virtual workshop she led in 2020, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lisa Kacos helped me to understand music theory in the most practical terms I had ever heard. This is a specialty of hers, honed through decades of musicianship as well as academic study. She holds both a Bachelor of Composition in Music Theory as well as a Masters in Music Theory with a pedagogy emphasis from Michigan State University. She currently leads interactive online workshops such as the forthcoming Music Theory for Producers Workshop held April 30th through Omni Sound Project, where she is a core faculty member for 2022, as well as a popular Rhythm for Songwriters course. Previously, she has taught at her Alma Mater MSU, Grand Rapids Community College, and at SAE Institute – Nashville. As a musician, she writes and records her own music and has played with Outer Vibe, Samuel Herb, Violet LaVelle, and Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls. For the 2021 Omni Sound Project “Four Track Challenge,” she contributed tracks and stems from her original song “Losers Club” to be manipulated and remixed by fellow audio engineers, both established and aspiring.

What is your background in music and how did you first realize you could have a future in audio?

My first experience with music was 6th-grade band. I chose the trumpet, and I still play all the time! I’ve since learned drums, voice, piano, and ukulele. I decided to study music theory in college because I’m fascinated by the way music fits together. I have a Masters of Music Theory with an emphasis on how to teach it, and I was fortunate to have some wonderful mentors along the way. I’ve probably played over 1,000 shows with a band called Outer Vibe, and we always made our own records in our own space, so I spent many years observing the recording process. In recent years I’ve started working on music more independently, and I really enjoy the power of the producer’s chair, digging into the recording and production of my music, and calling my own creative shots.

You are a highly educated music instructor. How did you feel about your academic experience? Are there things you try to emulate — or do differently — as an educator yourself?

I loved college. It was a time when I really grew as an individual…, especially while working on my Master’s degree. My background is basically a 50/50 split between classical music and rock & roll. I would go to class and study/practice during the week, play shows and make records with the band on the weekends. When I moved to Nashville, I started teaching music theory for producers at an audio college (SAE Institute) and started thinking about music theory more liberally, noticing the differences in the way we practice and apply theory to classical music compared to popular music. I find myself constantly evaluating my lessons and tailoring them to best suit the group I’m teaching, whether it’s college students or a virtual workshop, or a private lesson. I want people to get the very most out of my classes, and to be able to successfully apply it to what they do. Bach and Mozart might be turning up their noses from their graves, but I don’t really care. I want to encourage people to make their music the way it best captures what they want, and if they write parallel 5ths into their chord progressions, who cares? They wrote a damn song. They win.

Your “Rhythm for Songwriters” course is one I hope to take someday. How did you discover this was a need in the songwriting community?

In 2020, I (along with the rest of the world) found myself working remotely, teaching courses on Zoom. I started joining my friends and fellow artists/educators Allie Moss and Bess Rogers as guest teachers with their songwriting community “Thinking Outside the Blocks,” offering virtual rhythm and drum-related classes in addition to what they were already teaching. We all noticed that the rhythm classes seemed to fill a void for many of the group members – songwriters have a tendency to focus on chords and melodies, and maybe forget to consider the important role rhythm plays in their music. We charted out some ideas for the course, and I’ve spent the last year creating and teaching it. I cover everything from time signatures to strumming patterns to drum programming, with tons of other stuff packed in there.

During your online classes I’ve taken, I’ve noticed that you have some excellent gear and cozy, cat-friendly space for recording. Tell us about the evolution of your home studio and your intentions for it moving forward.

Thank you! I’ve spent the better part of my life hanging around the studio environment, but I never actually had my own workspace until recently. My husband is a guitarist and engineer and always ran the band’s HQ and made our records. I used to be more of a fly in the wall in sessions, trying to stay out of the way, but I loved the environment and was very intrigued. He has always encouraged me to dig into recording so I can make my own music anytime I want without needing to wait for help. So, again, a silver lining of the past few years. We spent our time stuck at home converting a room in our house into my studio and workspace. All my instruments are finally in one place, miked and ready to go. We made the acoustic treatment. We made cables. We researched gear. We went to Home Depot a thousand times. And I started digging into the parts of the audio world that most interest me – capturing performances and producing songs. It’s also a teaching studio for virtual workshops and classes, and a great co-write and private lesson space. I am part of Omni Sound Project’s core faculty for 2022, so I am often planning workshops and YouTube tutorials for them. I love creating content, and in addition to making music and tutorials, I also make short videos just for fun. In the past few years, I’ve written and demoed dozens of songs, and my next plan is to finish and release my favorites. Oh, and my cat (his name is Sir George Martin, or Marty for short) is definitely a supportive assistant, but I have to shut him out while I teach classes, otherwise, he likes to show off by climbing my bass traps.

What are a few of your favorite recordings that keep inspiring you to do what you do?

I’m always inspired by Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” album, especially from a singer/songwriter’s perspective. And lately, I’ve been revisiting some 90s rock albums like Everclear’s “So Much for the Afterglow.” Great songwriting and performances and tons of energy. One of my all-time favorite bands is Muse (my favorite album is probably “Black Holes and Revelations”). I respect how they always stuck to their guns with their creative decisions. They also pack in a massive yet tasteful sound with just 3 people.

The recordings that most inspire me are the ones where you can hear clear as day that the artist means what they say and are giving it their all. To me, it’s not about making things perfect, it’s about making something meaningful, capturing it, and sharing it with the world. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. And the beautiful thing is that everyone does that differently, with their own voice and character and message. I like albums and look forward to making one for myself, a complete and cohesive work of art where everything is there for a reason and tells a story through the natural ebb and flow of life and experiences. I understand the focus on singles these days, but I prefer albums.

Thank you, Lisa.

Lisa Kacos will be leading the workshop “Music Theory For Producers” on Saturday, April 30th, 2022, through Omni Sound Project.

USITT/TSDCA Sound Documentation Recommended Practice

A multi-year collaboration of members of the Sound Commission of USITT and Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA), this comprehensive document is recommended for all practitioners of Theatre Sound in both professional and educational theatre.

The information which a sound designer or engineer must communicate to others has grown in complexity over the years, and today’s sound professionals are often responsible for communicating information about system components, interconnections, physical positions, digital routing, network configuration, radio frequency configuration, and more.

This document presents a recommended practice for sound system documentation. It is not a comprehensive collection of graphic symbols, terms, and necessary paperwork, but is a flexible framework of document forms and practices for practical communication. The information which designers and engineers must communicate can be represented in many forms; this document will identify and describe several of the most common. Neatness, clarity, and legibility of these documents are top priorities.

Topics covered in this document include System Block Diagram, Plan and Elevation View drawings, Hookups, Routing Tables, RF Tracking Sheets/Schedules, IP Schedules, Rack Drawings, and Custom Panel details, Com System Block Diagrams/Hookups, Power, Cable Labels, and additional Schedules.

TSDCA and USITT offer a special acknowledgment of thanks to the authors of this document for their tireless efforts:

  • Josh Loar, Senior Consultant (AV): Charcoalblue
  • Mike Backhaus, Sound Supervisor: Yale School of Drama / Yale Repertory Theatre
  • Brad Berridge, Director of Sound Operations: Feld Entertainment, IATSE, USA 829
  • Nicholas Drashner, Audio Experience Engineer: BoomCloud360
  • Sam Kusnetz, Independent Sound & Projection Designer, USA 829
  • Joanna Lynne Staub, Independent Sound Designer & Audio Engineer, IATSE, USA 829
  • Brad Ward, Senior Associate: Auerbach Pollock Friedlander

These recommendations were written with the intention of updating the previously documented standards, published by USITT in 2008.  The new recommendations were authored with the collaboration of working professionals from various outlets and institutions.  They do not suggest any substantial change to current documentation practices, but rather organize protocols presently in use with the intention of better educating new members of the Sound and Audio Community.

Download here:

USITT/TSDCA Sound Documentation Recommended Practice

Documentary Sound Mixing in a War Zone Webinar

Documentary Sound Mixing in a War Zone Webinar

 

Please join SoundGirls for an online conversation “Documentary Sound Mixing in a War Zone” with Xenia Vinogradova, a Kyiv-based Sound Mixer, who will share her experience about what it’s like being part of a documentary film crew in Ukraine right now, and what she’s doing to help first responders on the ground.

May 1st at 11 AM PDT

Register and Post Your Questions Here

Moderated by Leslie Gaston-Bird and joined by panelists Xenia Vinogradova and Iryna Kucherenko

Xenia Vinogradova is a production sound mixer/ sound editor, living and working in Kyiv, Ukraine. In 2015, she graduated from Kyiv National University of Theater, Cinema, and Television with a Master’s Diploma in the specialty “Sound Engineering in Film”.

Since launching her career in the film industry, Xenia has been taking on various roles in creating sound for moving pictures: recording audio on location and working as a studio recording engineer; editing sound at the post-production studios, working as a music editor and sound designer. Her works include “Cenzorka”by Peter Kerekes, “Mountain Breeze” by Julia Kochetova, “Au Revel” by Sieva Diamantakos. Currently, Xenia continues to live in Ukraine, working as a production sound mixer in the war zone with various film and media productions.

Iryna Kucherenko is a Ukrainian-born Angeleno working as a production sound mixer and audio supervisor for television and documentary productions. She has been working in audio since 2009, after graduating from the Vancouver Film School Sound Design for Visual Media Program.

Her work experience provides another perspective on working with subjects affected by war. Iryna’s entry into reality television started with “Surprise Homecoming”, a show that helped US veterans stage surprise returns from deployment for their families. Among Iryna’s notable documentary credits is “Dalya’s Other Country” by Julia Meltzer, which follows the life of a teen Syrian refugee whose family fled to Los Angeles, California.

Iryna is also a part of the Safe&Sound Ukraine initiative that is working to provide essential communication devices to Ukraine.

Safe&Sound Ukraine

A fundraising project aiming to purchase encrypted digital walkie-talkies and satellite phones for Ukrainian war medics, volunteers, and evacuation coordinators.

This is a unique case when the power of the sound community can help save lives. Since its launch, Safe&Sound Ukraine has partnered with more than 20 sound- and filmmaking-related manufacturers, businesses, and communities all around the world (such as LASoundMixers, AMPS, CAS, Gotham Sound, K-Tek, Lectrosonics, and many more), and has already supplied 14 locations across Ukraine with life-saving, secure means of communication.

Hiring Bias

Heather Augustine – Photo Credit Brian Kinnanman

There’s been a decided shift in hiring practices coming back from COVID

Shows and companies are more focused on transparency and trying to reach a wider pool of people, which is wonderful for both reducing the amount of nepotism and increasing the diversity of the industry. However, no system is perfect. I was talking with a friend and colleague not too long ago and he told me he was worried that he would get passed over for jobs because he was a white male. Which, honestly, is a completely legitimate concern. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but think:

Now you might understand

Now you send in your resume and wonder if yours will get set aside because of factors intrinsic to your identity that you can’t change. That someone less qualified might get hired over you because they fit what the designer or producer wants to see.

Welcome to our world

I routinely get asked by local crews if I’m the audio assistant or the stage manager or the *insert traditional women roles here.* It’s never meant with any malice, but the bias is there. When locals tell my assistant and I how great it is to see an all-women road crew on audio, it’s because they almost never see one. I can count on one hand the number of local audio heads I’ve worked with who were women. There’s only been one local audio crew that was all women, and that was only because the male local assistant had to call out for a medical emergency. For reference, that’s out of working with 200+ audio crews of 4-8 people over 8+ years touring across the USA and Canada.

But now we’re trying to level the playing field

Does it suck that in that attempt we’ve thrown off the balance in the opposite direction? Yes. Absolutely. Is the goal that the industry can eventually get to an equilibrium where work ethic or skill are the determining factors for hiring and not skin color, gender identity, or other biases? Also yes.

So, to the white men in the world who are wondering how they’re going to compete in a system that now seems rigged against them, here’s my advice. It’s something that every woman and minority has had to live by their entire careers: You have to be better. You have to work harder and improve more than the people around you to prove yourself competent. You have to be so good at your job that people will hire you despite your skin color or your gender.

This is what our world has looked like for decades. It’s not fair, it’s not nice, it’s just the reality. When you know the biases work against you, you have to make yourself stand out. It’s just that historically minorities have been dealing with subconscious bias, whereas now the shift is to balance hiring with conscious choices.

So now, to the non-white, males in the room, remember that working to correct those biases won’t happen overnight

Just because the hiring scales have tipped in favor of women and POC doesn’t mean that everything has magically shifted. In most cases, a white man will still be assumed competent until proven otherwise. However, a woman or POC, especially those in the earlier years of their career, will still have to prove themselves capable before they’re considered qualified for the job and not just someone the producer was looking for to check off a box on their diversity list.

I know was hired for my first tour as an A2 because I was a woman. I got pushed to the top of the (likely very short) list of women because I was the A1’s girlfriend. The fact that I came well recommended by my references and with an education from a well-respected college program was probably taken into consideration, but I’m well aware I was not truly hired for my skills or experience that first time around. Even later on in my career as an A1, there are times I’ve suspected that my resume floated to the top of the pile because I was a woman and the fact that I was qualified for the job fell (a hopefully close) second.

Thinking you’ve been hired for reasons other than your qualifications quite frankly sucks. You walk in the door already feeling like you’ve got something to prove and thanking that there’s a thin margin for error before people might start whispering behind your back about how you really got the job.

The advice that’s resonated with me for most of my career is: It doesn’t matter who (or what) got you the job. You’re the one that keeps it. I’ve never regretted taking the opportunities that were given to me in large part because of that advice and I used the chance to prove I had the skills (or could learn whatever I needed to) to carry my weight. Sure, the first job I got was based on factors I’d like to think are irrelevant, but through that, I started to build a reputation based on who I was and the work I did, and that travels faster and reaches further than any bias.

This is an industry where we all leverage whatever advantages we can to establish ourselves. We get a leg up based on who we know, where we live, or even being at the right place at the right time. Don’t feel bad for taking advantage of an opportunity that is placed in your path, regardless of why. I know I wouldn’t be where I am in my career without help from a very large number of people and quite a bit of luck, which I then strove to back up with hard work.

Again, it doesn’t matter what or who opened a door for you. Your willingness to step through gets you into the room and your willingness to work and learn is what keeps you there.

Música y Sonido. Parte 2

Encuentre la primera parte aquí

¿Los profesionales de audio también deben ser músicos?

Mi respuesta directa sería que no, algunos de los mejores ingenieros de audio de la industria no son músicos. Pero si quieres mi consejo como música y como ingeniera de sonido, aprender algunos conceptos básicos sobre música no te hará daño.

Ser ingeniera de sonido trabajando en proyectos que involucren tratamiento musical como grabación, edición, mezcla, etc., requerirá que tengas y desarrolles unas aptitudes y conocimientos básicos sobre música que te permitirán tener un mejor desempeño en tu trabajo. Esto significa que, incluso si no eres músico, deberás tener buen oído para la música: reconocer el notas, reconocer qué instrumentos musicales están tocando, reconocer si los instrumentos musicales están desafinados, reconocer los patrones armónicos y la forma de una pieza musical, reconocer y seguir ritmos y patrones rítmicos, ser sensible a las dinámicas.

Profundicemos en cada tema:

Reconocer y seguir ritmos y patrones rítmicos.

El clic:

Cada pieza musical tiene un pulso llamado tempo, que sigue una marca de metrónomo medida en pulsaciones por minuto (bpm). Si hay una partitura disponible, esta marca de metrónomo se indicará en la parte superior izquierda de la partitura. Puede indicarse con números o con términos musicales en italiano que darán una pista sobre el tempo. La mayoría de las veces, será necesario para las grabaciones y/o presentaciones en vivo configurar el clic en tu DAW o software de música. Dependiendo de la solicitud del músico, el clic puede configurarse para seguir el tempo o subdividirse, asegúrate de estar familiarizado con la configuración del clic en el software antes de realizar tu sesión.

Compases y compases:

Los pulsos o tiempos se agrupan en compases, y pueden variar dependiendo de la música, los compases también pueden cambiar dentro de la misma pieza musical. El número de tiempos en un compás puede ser 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. Los compases también se pueden configurar en tu software, aparecerán como un número con dos dígitos: un número en la parte superior que indica cuántos tiempos que hay dentro del compás y el número de abajo que indicará el tipo de notas utilizadas dentro del compás (blanca, negra, corchea, etc.). Conocer el compás te ayudará a contar compases y a seguir patrones rítmicos, también te ayudará a ubicar partes específicas en una pieza musical. Pero también permitirá al músico identificar conteos de barras y pulsos.

Compases y tiempos fuertes:

Cada compás tiene tiempos fuertes y débiles que le dan a la música patrones rítmicos memorables. Por lo general, el primer tiempo es el tiempo fuerte del compás, esta característica se puede configurar en el software para que los compases puedan tener diferentes acentos, niveles y sonidos para cada tiempo, ayudando a los músicos durante su interpretación. Conocer todos estos ajustes a la hora de configurar el clic, los compases y la línea de tiempo de tu sesión es fundamental.

Anacrusa:

Comprender el término anacrusa es útil cuando necesitas anticipar grabaciones o ejecuciones musicales en vivo. Si escuchas este término, significará que la música comenzará con una nota o un grupo de notas que preceden al primer tiempo fuerte. Su principal característica es que la anacrusa es un compás parcial antes de que comience el primer compás de la música.

Reconocer patrones y forma de una pieza musical:

Forma:

La estructura de una pieza musical se conoce como forma musical. Familiarizarse con los diferentes tipos de formas pueden ayudarte a organizar tu sesión de manera eficiente. Encontrarás frases musicales, estructuras armónicas, progresiones de acordes, modulaciones, patrones rítmicos dentro de la música que te ayudarán a la hora de reconocer diferentes formas. Una buena manera de familiarizarse con ella es escuchar y leer sobre diversos estilos de música para que pueda identificar qué forma está presente en la pieza musical. Para la música popular, los elementos de forma como el coro, el puente, etc., pueden ser más familiares para identificar, sin embargo, para otros tipos de música, entrenar tu oído es la mejor manera de hacerlo.

Un excelente ejemplo de un tipo de forma muy distinguido es el blues básico: la forma de blues es de 12 compases y su progresión de acordes es muy distintiva porque el acorde I es un acorde dominante, así como el acorde IV, y los músicos han tomado el patrón básico I7-IV7-V como para ser utilizado en el mismo. Se pueden estudiar otras formas como Binaria (AB), Ternaria (ABA), Rondo (ABACA) o (ABACABA), Arco (ABCBA), Sonata (Exposición, Desarrollo, Recapitulación), Tema y Variaciones para que pueda identificarlas mejor para su sesiones

Progresión de acordes:

La mayor parte de la música escrita se basa en escalas y tonalidades. Cada nota de una escala se identifica como un grado. La secuencia y el orden de los acordes basados ​​en estos grados de la escala se denomina progresión de acordes. Los acordes principales son I, IV, V y algunos géneros musicales populares tienen progresiones de acordes distintivas que se pueden identificar fácilmente, como la progresión I-IV-V-I utilizada en la mayoría de las canciones pop. Debido a la variedad de tonalidades y escalas que pueden estar presentes en una canción, las progresiones de acordes pueden ayudarte a identificar la forma de una canción y el género, reconocer frases y temas fácilmente, y ubicar partes musicales para ayudarte a obtener una mejor comprensión del tema musical.

Cadencia:

Como parte de las progresiones de acordes, la forma en que finaliza un tema, frase o idea musical estará acompañada armónicamente por al menos dos acordes que se reconocen como una cadencia. Esta cadencia da una sensación de resolución y se puede clasificar en muchos tipos. Una de las más fáciles de reconocer será la cadencia perfecta que va del acorde V al acorde I donde la nota de bajo es la nota principal (tónica) de cada acorde. Ser capaz de reconocer cadencias durante grandes piezas musicales puede ayudarte con tu proceso creativo mientras mezclas, etc.

Se utilizan algunos otros elementos musicales que te ayudarán a comprender lo que sucede en una canción

Un riff es un patrón de notas que se repiten a lo largo de una pieza musical. Los riffs no se repiten inmediatamente y generalmente se encuentran al final del verso en una canción o en el coro.

Groove, un término tomado de los músicos de jazz, a menudo se refiere a un sentido rítmico de cohesión empleado en una rutina o estilo de práctica musical.

Solo es una sección de improvisación donde actúa cada instrumentista, el orden puede ser predeterminado o no. Los solos se interpretan en forma de tema y el número de vueltas se denominan estribillos.

Los fills son frases melódicas o rítmicas improvisadas, tocadas entre frases del tema.

Un vamp es una figura, sección o acompañamiento musical que se repite hasta que se da la señal para la siguiente sección.

El interludio es un arreglo pre-escrito que sirve como transición entre secciones o solos.

Los breaks son interrupciones momentáneas del discurso musical mientras se mantiene el tiempo. A veces, un solista podría tocar durante el break.

Entrenando tu oído para identificar instrumentos y notas:

Si nunca has escuchado un instrumento que está a punto de grabar, solo pídele al músico que te explique cómo se toca y cualquier otro detalle que te interese saber, pídele al músico que toque el instrumento frente a ti para que puedas escuchar, camina a su alrededor y encuentre el mejor lugar para colocar un micrófono para grabaciones o amplificación.

Afinación:

Identificar instrumentos desafinados puede ser complicado y requiere mucho entrenamiento, por lo que la mejor manera de proceder es recordarle al músico antes de las grabaciones y de vez en cuando durante largas sesiones, que verifique su afinación siempre que sea posible.

El tono o las notas son la forma en que el oído humano entiende la frecuencia en la que cualquier fuente produce una onda de sonido. Cuanto mayor sea la frecuencia, mayor será el tono y viceversa. Los instrumentos musicales pueden producir diferentes rangos de tonos dependiendo de su construcción. Cada nota musical producida por cualquier instrumento tiene una frecuencia relacionada medida en (Hz) que luego se interpretará como un tono o nota específica (do, re, mi, fa, sol, etc.)

Se pueden encontrar muchos recursos en línea para ayudarlte a entrenar tu oído y aprender sobre instrumentos musicales y teoría musical. Si te interesa profundizar en estos conceptos consulta:

Aprende sobre orquestación, escucha cada instrumento musical en una orquesta, su construcción, rango de tonos, consejos, trucos y más:

https://andrewhugill.com/OrchestraManual/

Aprende teoría musical:

https://www.teoriamusical.net/lecciones

Mejore las habilidades básicas de escucha, como la detección de frecuencias (Soundgym ofrece suscripciones a miembros de SoundGirls):

https://www.soundgym.co/

 

Music and Sound. Part 2

Find Part One Here

Do professionals in audio need to be musicians too?

My straight answer will be no, some of the best sound engineers in the industry are not musicians. But if you want my advice as a musician and as a sound engineer, learning some basics about music won’t hurt you.

Being a sound engineer working on projects that involve music treatment such as, recording, editing, mixing, etc., will require you to have and develop some aptitudes and basic knowledge about music that will allow you to have a better performance at your job. This means, even if you are not a musician you will need to have a good ear for music: recognize pitch and tone, recognize which musical instruments are playing, recognize if musical instruments are out of tune, recognize harmonic patterns and form of a piece of music, recognize and follow beats and rhythmic patterns, be sensible to dynamics.

Let’s go deeper into each topic

Recognize and follow beats and rhythmic patterns

The Click:

Every piece of music has a heartbeat called tempo that follows a metronome marking measured in beats per minute (bpm). If a music sheet is available, this metronome marking will be indicated at the top left of the music sheet. It could be indicated by numbers or by musical terms in Italian that give you a hint about the tempo. Most of the time, It will be necessary for recordings and/or live performances to set up the click on your DAW or music software. Depending on the musician’s request, the click can be set to follow the tempo or subdivided, make sure you are familiar with setting up a click on your software before you run your session.

Bars and time signatures:

Beats are grouped into bars, and they can vary depending on the music, bars can also change within the same piece of music. The number of beats on a bar can be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. Bars can also be set up in your software, it will appear as a number with two digits: one number at the top that indicates how many beats there are inside the bar, and the bottom number that will indicate the type of notes used inside the bar ( half, quarter, eight, etc.). Knowing the time signature will help you with bar counting and following rhythm patterns, it will also help you to locate specific parts in a piece of music. But it will also allow the musician to identify bar counts and pulses.

Strong beat:

Each bar has strong and weak beats that give music memorable rhythmic patterns. Usually, the first beat is the strong beat of the bar (known as downbeat), this feature can be set up on the software so bars can have different accents, levels, and sounds for each beat, helping musicians during their performance. Knowing all these settings when configuring the click and timeline of your session are essential.

Pickup:

Understanding the pickup term or anacrusis is handy when you need to anticipate music recordings or performances. If you hear this term, it will mean that the music will start with a note or a group of notes preceding the first downbeat. Its main characteristic is that the pickup is a partial bar before the first bar of the music starts.

Recognize patterns and forms of a piece of music

Form:

The structure of a piece of music is known as musical form. Familiarizing yourself with the different types of forms can help you organize your session in an efficient way. You will find musical phrases, harmonic structures, chord progressions, modulations, and rhythmic patterns within the music that will help you when it comes to recognizing different forms. A good way to familiarize yourself with it is to hear and read about diverse styles of music so you can identify which form is present in the piece of music. For popular music, forms elements like chorus, and bridge can be more familiar to identify, however, for other types of music training your ear is the best way to go.

One terrific example of a very distinguished type of form is basic blues: Blues form is 12 bars and its chord progression are very distinctive because the I chord is a dominant chord as well as the IV chord and the musicians have taken the Basic I7-IV7-V chord to be used in it. Other forms like Binary (AB), Ternary (ABA) , Rondo (ABACA) or (ABACABA), Arch (ABCBA), Sonata (Exposition, Development, Recapitulation), Theme, And Variations can be studied so you can identify them better for your sessions.

Chord progression:

Most music written is based on scales and keys. Each note of a scale is identified as a grade. The sequence and order of the chords based on these grades of the scale is called a chord progression. The primary chords are I, IV, V, and some popular music genres have distinctive chord progressions that can be identified easily, like the progression I-IV-V-I used in most pop songs. Because of the variety of grades and scales that can be present in a song, chord progressions can help you identify the form of a song and the genre, recognize phrases and themes easily, and locate musical parts to help you get very creative.

Cadence:

As part of the chord progressions, the way a musical theme, phrase, or idea ends will be harmonically accompanied by at least two chords that are recognized as a cadence. This cadence gives a sense of resolution and can be classified into many types. One of the easiest to recognize will be the perfect cadence that goes from V chord to I chord where the bass note is the main note (tonic) of each chord. Being able to recognize cadences during large pieces of music can help you. With your creative process while mixing, etc.

There are some other musical elements used that will help you understand what’s happening in a song

A riff is a pattern of notes that are repeated throughout a piece of music. Riffs do not repeat immediately and are usually found at the end of the verse in a song or in the chorus.

Groove, a term borrowed from jazz musicians, often refers to a rhythmic sense of cohesion employed in a routine or musical practice style.

Solo is an improvisation section where each instrumentalist performs, the order can be predetermined, or not. Solos are performed in the form of the theme and the number of turns are called choruses.

Fill are improvised melodic or rhythmic phrases, played between phrases of the theme.

A vamp is a repeating musical figure, section, or accompaniment until the cue for the next section is given.

An interlude is a pre-written arrangement that serves as a transition between sections or solos.

Breaks are momentary interruption of musical discourse while time is maintained. Sometimes, a soloist could play during the break (solo break).

Training your ear to identify instruments and pitch

If you have never heard an instrument you are about to record, just ask the musician to explain to you how is it played and any other details you might be interested in knowing, ask the musician to play the instrument in front of you so you can hear it, walk around it and find the best place to place a microphone for recordings or amplifications.

Tunning:

Identifying instruments out of tune can be tricky and it takes a lot of training so the best way to proceed is to remind the musician before recordings and every once in a while during long sessions, to check their tuning every time possible.

Pitch is how the human ear understands the frequency at which a sound wave is being produced by any source. The higher the frequency the higher the pitch and vice versa. Musical instruments can produce different pitch ranges depending on its construction. Each musical note produced by any instrument has a related frequency measured in (Hz) that will then be interpreted as a specific pitch or note (c, d, e, f, g, etc.)

Many resources can be found online to help you train your ear and learn about musical instruments and music theory. If you are interested in going deeper into these concepts check out:

Learn about orchestration, listen to every musical instrument in an orchestra, their construction, pitch range, tips, tricks, and more :

https://andrewhugill.com/OrchestraManual/

Learn music theory:

https://www.musictheory.net/lessons

Improve core listening skills like frequency detection (Soundgym offers SoundGirls Members Subscriptions to the service):

https://www.soundgym.co/

 

Mental Health – Let’s Get Open

I remember when I was young, playing “Barbie Idols” with my best friend after school. We would dress the dolls up as our favourite artists and sing our hearts out while playing our CDs as loud as our parents would allow. We always imagined we were Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. These women were our idols, and we couldn’t get enough. Fast track a few years ahead and you had the tabloids freaking out about Britney’s public mental breakdown in 2008 when she shaved her head.

I remember it being the most absurd thing I had ever heard a celebrity do – granted, I was still a kid! It just didn’t make any sense to me. I think at the time, the notion of talking openly about mental health was so out of reach for the majority of the world – and even more so for women celebrities. At the time I had no idea that the outbreak Britney was experiencing was because she was really struggling. People joked about her breakdown. They judged her, made memes, and called her crazy. And this showed me one thing…

A broken system

Women in our industry are under so much pressure. Celebrities must face their entire lives being publicized. The whole world judges their every move. They are expected to keep up a certain look to sustain their sexual appeal to the masses (because apparently, this is a valid form of identity – belch!) and when they buckle under the pressure, they are not held. They are not given grace. They are not supported.

I mean if you have watched Amy Winehouse’s documentary “Amy”, you witness a beautifully talented human being go from following a dream to being torn apart. Drugs, addiction, pressure from producers and fans, and her father refusing to support her decision to go to rehab because he claimed she was fine. She was a woman struggling in an environment where the extent to which she was seen and heard, was only at the level of how much she could make the men around her rich.

Now I don’t want to throw feminism down your throat, but what I do want to say is that the more we as women (whether we are in the music industry or not) get open about our mental health struggles, the more we can inspire others to do the same before they reach breaking point. In this way, we can collectively move toward creating an environment that is conducive to healing from, coping with, and managing mental health issues. I am inspired by the number of women musicians in the industry who are beginning to talk more openly about their mental health issues and see this as steps toward a healthier and more “normal” approach to mental health struggles.

Just to name a few, we have Selena Gomez opening up about her bipolar, Lady Gaga getting honest about her PTSD, rape, and anxiety, Demi Levato speaking about an eating disorder.

What women like this show me is this

Even if the world says you need to look, be, or feel a certain way, you do not have to conform to those expectations. It also shows that being honest and open about your struggles humanizes you and allows others to feel more confident in speaking about their issues. Personally – my very open discussion is around the fact that I had bulimia for 15 years. I still manage my eating disorder recovery daily. I also struggle with severe anxiety and ADHD. I experience insecurity and have problems with expressing my anger without internalizing it. I was date raped in my early twenties, abused drugs and alcohol heavily, attempted suicide, and even went to rehab.

But these days, if you were to meet me, you wouldn’t ever think that these things have happened in my life. I have some people call me the “happiest person they’ve ever met”. A colleague once said to me “Your life was probably handed to you on a silver platter because of how optimistic you are about everything.” (haha if only they knew!)

The reason I reached this space was that I got open. I started talking about my struggles and became willing to do something about them without shame. I started reaching out to people who had walked the same path. I sought support, put it into action, and radically changed my life. These days I work as a coach for people who struggle with eating disorders, mental health issues, and addiction and it’s all because I let my fear of being judged aside and said: “Hey, I’m not okay”.

So, I encourage you to think – are you getting open about where you’re at? Are you seeking transformation in your life? Are you willing to put your fears aside and reach out? If not, what are you resisting? What is the underlying fear of speaking up?

No matter how afraid you are, there are ALWAYS people who are willing to listen, guide, and support your journey.

So, speak up. Not only for yourself but to inspire others around you to do the same. Feel free to contact me if you are ever struggling and need direction in your mental health journey.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Calling All Crows and #HereForTheMusic has launched Sexual Violence Prevention online training.

A 90-minute training geared toward music industry professionals, but open to all, as well as a shorter, 75-minute music fan-oriented training for live music experiences. Purchasing access gives you 30 days to complete any course.

Stories of sexual violence in the music industry have been coming to the surface at an alarming rate, even during this pandemic. We’ve received requests for help coming up with new policies, codes of conduct, and language to share in solidarity.

In response, we created a Here for the Music pledge so that music industry professionals can make a public commitment to taking an active role in making the music industry safer. From this pledge to our Sexual Violence Prevention and Response online training, we’re building resources so that as touring and festivals return, we can rebuild our industry in a way that is safer and more inclusive.

Share the pledge and our Here for the Music campaign with your favorite artists, venues, and festivals using our digital toolkit.

 

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