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Prepare your Track for Mastering

Getting a track mastered can be a daunting experience if you’ve never done it before. You may be asking yourself, what file type should I send? How much headroom should I leave? How will I know when the mix is done? You will be your mastering engineer’s best friend if you spend a little time making sure your track is properly prepared for mastering – and this guide is here to help!

Be Happy with the Mix

Now, this may seem like an obvious one. But being happy with a mix doesn’t necessarily mean that you like the way it sounds. It needs to meet certain criteria so that your mastering engineer can work their magic. This could mean checking your mix in Mono and crossfading track edits if you hear any pops or artifacts. Also, check the levels on each individual channel and make sure they’re not too hot.

Label, Label, Label

It’s good practice to label your tracks correctly and to keep your mix organised. One example of doing it is TrackName_Artist Name_MixVersion.wav

How much Headroom?

This can sometimes depend on your engineer and what they would like. Some prefer working with no peaks over -3dB or -6dB and some ask for peaks to be below -1dB. The best thing to do is ask. If you can’t find the answer on their website, shoot them an email and ask what their preference for headroom would be.

It Will Sound Good In the Master.

Never subscribe to this way of thinking. Make sure you are as happy as can be with your mix, as mastering isn’t a quick fix to solve a bad-sounding mix. My general rule is if the mix is bad – the master will be also.

Metadata

Make sure you send your mastering engineer all of your Metadata that you would like embedded in the track. This can include correct spellings of your Artist Name, Track Name, Album Title, ISRC code (if you know it).

What to send

Send a .wav file with a sample rate of 44.1 or higher and the ideal bit rate of 24bit.

Notes are Your Friend

It’s good to give notes early in the process of what you want. I would also include some examples of songs that are similar to your track to give the engineer a clearer idea of what you want.

At the end of the day, it will make the mastering process a lot smoother if you have done the preparation work beforehand. This will lead to fewer issues and hopefully a wonderful experience for both engineer and artist.

Rachel Field—Studio Owner and Mastering Engineer

 

“If underrepresented people trying to get into any industry—or neighborhood, or anything else for that matter—allow that type of [discriminatory] environment, it’s going to be an unwelcoming environment. If you allow it to push you out and not pursue it, the representation will never improve…I stayed until this point, a year from now I might be like, ‘F*** that, it’s too hard.’ On that note, I can’t fault anybody for not sticking it out. It can be really brutal, but it’s also super rewarding.”
-Rachel Field

Rachel Field is a co-owner and mastering engineer at Resonant Mastering in Seattle, Washington. In addition to her expertise in mastering, Rachel also has experience (over her 11 years in the industry) working as a recording, mix, and live sound engineer. Rachel’s credits include acts such as Eddie Vedder, Brandi Carlile, Pearl Jam, Thunderpussy, Whitney Mongé, and more.

Career Beginnings

Growing up in a musical family, Rachel was immersed in music from a young age. Until 2009, however, she had not realized that pursuing a career in audio technology was a possibility for her. This changed one day due to an important conversation with a friend. As she puts it:

“I had been waitressing most of my adult life and was looking for something else to do but was pretty uninspired by other options. Over breakfast, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who had just come from a recording session. They were describing the techniques the engineer used to mic up the drum kit and at that moment I was like… that’s what I want to do. That sounds amazing. It hadn’t even occurred to me that audio could be a career until that moment.”

Having found her new passion, Rachel began asking her musician friends how one could get into the industry. After some research, she decided to enroll in the audio program at The Art Institute of Seattle (a private, for-profit school that closed in 2019). Still working as a waitress to support herself, Rachel decided to go to school part-time so that she could manage work and classes.

Once in school, Rachel quickly began pursuing professional audio work. She was able to break into the industry by partnering up with a friend, saying yes to as many opportunities as she could, and networking. She explains this in detail below.

How did you break into the professional side of the industry?

“I would tag along [to sessions] with my friends as a fly on the wall for a while, but after I got into school I networked and teamed up with another student there. He was more experienced than I was, so together we were able to team up and start working around town in studios and taking on whatever we could get our hands-on.

“We did live remote recording a couple different ways: we pieced equipment together and reached out to live club sound engineers that were doing shows for some of the bands we were friends with and started working that angle a little bit.

“The other thing to is if anybody had come around from the industry—this is where the networking comes in… you know, people come around looking for fresh engineers to help out, so being around and saying yes to those things was something that kept me pretty busy.

“I also took on internships wherever I could. I interned at a studio called Fastback Studios [in north Seattle]. That was a really great internship—I learned a lot there about session flow, different approaches to recording albums, and different ways studios could be configured as far as gear goes.”

How did you manage your time? It sounds like between school and work you were pretty busy.

“I was working a waitressing job, going to school part-time, and then had sometimes two internships going and freelance work. It really was a grind for a couple years straight. There was probably a solid two or three years where I didn’t do anything social or anything just for fun. I had to be really on it with my calendar. This is not an exaggeration… I had to put showering on my calendar, that’s how packed everything was.

“It was hard. I really wanted to be in this industry and not waitressing, and I think that reflected in how hard I worked to get there.”

Gender-Related Barriers

Regardless of how hard Rachel worked and how dedicated she was to her craft, she (like many people coming up in audio) faced gender-based discrimination.

What gender-related obstacles or barriers have you faced? How have you dealt with them?

“I came into this industry pretty naïve—I had no idea that it was so male-dominated and at times outright misogynistic, but I learned that pretty quickly. There are examples at every turn and on every level of running into gender bias and unnecessary disrespect. Running from the assumption that I can’t do a very basic thing or I couldn’t possibly know things that are technical. Being presumed to be the engineer’s girlfriend…

“On one of the earlier projects I was part of, I got plenty of personal remarks about my body constantly, all day, day in and day out. I almost walked away. I still, to this day—over a decade later, now as the owner of my own studio—am often presumed to be the secretary or the assistant to my male business partner. It happens enough and never the other way around.

“You walk into anything having to prove yourself [when you’re a woman], whereas when you’re a dude and you walk into something, there’s this presumption that you’re an expert already.”

You mentioned that you considered walking away. What made you stay?

“I did almost walk away. I almost walked away completely, multiple times. In some of my frustrating moments, one conversation I had with somebody in particular really sticks out. I called an old friend of mine who I’ve known for a long time, and I think I was venting to her and talking about how I just wanted to leave and walk away from this project and this career path altogether. She told me, ‘No, stay. Just stay. Whatever you have to do to stay, if you need to laugh it off or you need to yell at them about it, just figure out how you can stay.’

“Her words really stuck with me because if underrepresented people trying to get into any industry—or neighborhood, or anything else for that matter—allow that type of environment, it’s going to be an unwelcoming environment. If you allow it to push you out and not pursue it, the representation will never improve. I guess that’s one of the things that helped me stick it out and keep going in the face of it. I thought, ‘Well OK, today I’m going to tell you to f*** off, tomorrow I might laugh about it with you.’ Whatever I had to do to be able to tolerate it and see another day in the studio, that’s what I did.”

Have you noticed progress on gender equity since you began your career? If so, what has changed?

“It’s gotten so much better just in the last 10 years, so much better.

“Women coming up in the industry are proving they can be just as capable as men (duh!). Also, I think there is more awareness among people in the industry that there needs to be a concerted effort to fix the imbalance and allow an opportunity for women.

“When I say there’s been a lot of change and it’s a lot better, I do mean that, but it’s still nowhere near balanced. This is a hard industry for anybody to break into and then add in all those other [gender-based] challenges and labor on top of it, it can be pretty discouraging.

“I stayed until this point, a year from now I might be like, ‘F*** that, it’s too hard.’ On that note I can’t fault anybody for not sticking it out. It can be really brutal, but it’s also super rewarding.”

Advice for Up-and-Coming Engineers

Because of the barriers, she has faced, Rachel always tries to stay available for people (especially women and gender-expansive folks) coming up in the industry. She loves sharing the lessons she has learned with the next generation of audio engineers.

Do you have any advice for people looking to break into the industry?

“I have a couple key pieces. First of all, networking is very important. Also, make sure that when a door of opportunity opens, you’re ready to walk through it. Always be preparing, always be upping your skills, always be honing and working on whatever you can.

“I would say that what worked for me really well was to stay honest about where I was at with my skill level…Don’t be overly humble, stay confident in what you do know and what you can do, but it’s best not to be dishonest about things you cannot do. For example, if an engineer invites you to be an assistant, do all the things you can do and be confident, but if there’s something you can’t do, don’t pretend you can and not do it or do it incorrectly—that can just be a bigger problem.

“I’d also say it’s really huge to stay open-minded about what path your audio career will take you down: explore live sound, explore recording and studio work, explore field recording or foley or post-production and all those things. Diversify your skillset so that you can be ready to walk through those opportunity doors.

“I didn’t really have mastering as a goal, it’s just that I was ready to walk through the door when there was an opening at a mastering studio…It turned out to be my favorite thing.”

In your opinion, are there any must-have skills for people working in audio?

“In situations where you’re working directly with artists and clients, people skills and communication skills are huge. Something I learned pretty quickly was that all of my restaurant experience, all that customer service experience, was going to be hugely beneficial. Being able to organize and keep a running to-do list at all times and making sure my communication with people was clear and diplomatic—being able to communicate things without ruffling feathers and making everybody feel all groovy was really huge.

“Even more basic than that, just remembering that it’s somebody’s art and your job is to help them make it.”

Career Now

Rachel and many others like her do indeed make a living helping artists make art. This is definitely Rachel’s favorite part of her job. Like any job, however, there are some aspects that are not so rewarding.

Have you experienced burnout with your work or is it something you’ve always kept the love for?

“I think for me the burnout comes more with all the other stuff that has to be done outside of the actual engineering work—the administrative work. The emailing to me is the big albatross… it’s a lot more than I ever imagined it would be. Especially as people start working on smaller projects: there’s more projects and more people, which makes it more administrative work per studio hour.

“That’s where I get my burnout, but if you don’t email you can’t book new work!

“That’s why a lot of engineers if they’re busy enough to warrant it, will get management. That way, future bookings can continue without impeding the current work process… I haven’t gotten to that quite yet.”

Speaking of getting to things, are there any long-term goals you have for your career?

“I have a really amazing, great client base of independent artists, a lot of whom are local to the Seattle area. I absolutely love that and what I would like to add to that are some more major label projects.”

Impact of COVID-19 on Business

One thing that has recently been getting in the way of many people’s goals is COVID-19. Rachel was candid about the impacts of the pandemic on her business and the music industry in general.

If you don’t mind sharing, how has your business been impacted by COVID-19? Have you been able to keep working throughout the pandemic?

“A lot of our work was already done remotely so yes, definitely, we were able to continue working. One of the things that did happen though was that as tours and live music got cancelled, a lot of our clients’ income stream dried up. They had valid concerns of whether they could afford to go through with their sessions, so we lost a lot of booking from that. We also master live, sort of bootleg shows as well. A lot of dates were on the calendar for that kind of work that also disappeared when tours disappeared.

“So we did make it through… we did OK but we suffered a pretty big hit to our workload and income.”

How have you seen the industry as a whole change because of COVID-19?

“When gigs first started getting canceled I was working on ‘Art Zone’ with Nancy Guppy [a TV show that airs on the Seattle Channel and is dedicated to showcasing local artists]. I was working on set training to be the audio person for that show, and the audio engineer that was training me did that work regularly and was crew for live touring work. They got the notification that their next 3 months of income evaporated [because tours were cancelled] while I was there, and it was just a really sobering moment. There isn’t a lot of money flow from other sources in the music industry besides live shows.

“I think, for what I do, my day-to-day is pretty much the same, only it’s just alone and there’s a lot more email. Otherwise, I have observed a lot of people really questioning how hard they want to work to stay in an industry in which it’s so tough to make it…[Asking themselves,] ‘is it really worth it?’ and where’s the threshold of ‘this is an expression of my art’ versus ‘this is my business, this is my living.’ I think people have sort of had to step back and reexamine that for themselves.”

Final Thoughts

One closing question: what is your favorite piece of gear?

“Right now I’m super into my newest piece of gear which is an Undertone Audio UnFairchild—I love its tone and versatility.”

Thank you to Rachel for generously sharing her experiences and insights! To find out more about her, please visit the links below:

https://www.rachelfieldaudio.com/

http://www.resonantmastering.com/

 

Women in Audio — Recognising All Roles

March 8th marked International Women’s Day. Social media, as ever, was buzzing with details about conferences and events celebrating women’s achievements in various fields.

One such event caught my eye. It was a panel discussion about the barriers and challenges faced by women in audio (particularly radio and podcasts), and how we can make the industry more inclusive. This, of course, is a topic that’s very close to my heart. But I was dismayed to see that every woman on the panel was either a radio DJ or a podcast host. There wasn’t a single producer, editor, engineer, or sound designer. No technical or “behind the scenes” role was represented.

Of course, it’s important to hear the perspectives of on-air talent. All women in audio, regardless of their specific roles, are fighting for recognition in a male-dominated industry. But this is exactly why we need to hear those other perspectives too. In focusing exclusively on hosts/presenters, the organisers of events like these are only giving one side of the story. They’re overlooking women in other audio roles whose experiences and insight are equally valuable, which is ironic considering women in audio as a whole tend to get overlooked anyway, hence the need for conversations about inclusion in the first place.

That’s not to say women with hosting experience can’t also produce or edit. I started out presenting radio shows in college and have also narrated documentaries and hosted podcasts. However, my first love is producing/editing/mixing audio. It’s what I trained to do during my Master’s in Radio Production, and it is my job first and foremost. I know of many women in radio who juggle presenting and producing, and plenty of podcasters who edit their own content. But it would be nice if more of these panels included women who are not the voices we hear on the air, but rather the silent superheroes making sure what we do hear sounds amazing.

I see parallels with women in the music industry. As I sat down to write this blog, I had just finished reading a wonderful book by Christine Feldman-Barrett called A Women’s History of the Beatles. In one particular chapter, she writes about how, for women pursuing careers in music in the 1960s, singing was considered a more “feminine” (and therefore acceptable) occupation than playing an instrument or songwriting. To this day, I think we have a tendency to overlook women musicians (who don’t sing) in favour of women vocalists (who don’t play instruments). It’s a similar story in radio and podcasting. Those whose voices we can hear usually receive more recognition than the people working behind the scenes.

It’s a problem that also applies to the radio industry generally, regardless of gender. I’ve come across many people who believe that the presenter just turns up and does the show. They don’t seem to realise how much work goes into putting it all together, and how many other people it often takes to make that happen. The question I was asked most frequently about my work in radio was: “Do you have your own show?” When I explained what I actually did, their eyes would glaze over.

In my experience, it’s hard enough for producers, editors, sound engineers, etc. to be recognised as it is, without also being excluded from important discussions about women in the industry. We’re all doing equally important work, whether we’re behind the mic or not, so let’s celebrate that.

 

Pop Music Production as a Post Sound Edit 

 

Since I’ve started to produce my own music again, I’ve been investigating ways to break out of some of my existing producer habits. As a visual learner, I tend to get lost in how MIDI events graphs look, and how different instrument regions or clips are placed next to each other and layered. I often end up with instrumental tracks that sound really flat and lack dynamic, movement, or any exciting moments.

While working at Boom Box Post, however, I’ve experienced the workflow of post-production sound edits that really contrasts with the workflow I’ve developed for music production. It’s an organized and serial process that is more efficient than the abstract and intuitive approach I take in producing. In looking to progress my production skills without falling back into the same habits, I thought it would be interesting to fabricate a method of producing music as a post-production sound edit. This could offer a more linear perspective on producing my songs since music in its most basic form is sound over time. This is how I would break it down.

In order to imagine my song as a post-production edit for a film or TV show, I need a story source that functions as the “picture” so I can spot it and reference my “editorial” against the narrative. For me, this material clearly comes from the lyrics which offer visual imagery and tell the story in each song. In fact, when I started approaching a new song in the works, I used markers in ProTools to spot lyrics that seemed particularly important and should be matched by a valuable moment in the sound.

One part of a sound edit that I’m very familiar with and that offers strong foundations is the background edit, which involves room tones for indoor spaces or wind and birds for outdoor spaces, for example. While backgrounds can be a very quick and painless part of the editing process, they offer valuable sonic information on the setting and location of a show. When I think about what would function as the “setting” of a song, the first element that comes to mind is the harmonic arrangement or chord structure. Harmonies in a Pop song support the melody and the emotional tensions of the lyrical story. One habit I have is loading my session up with multiple layers of synthesizer pads or comping instruments that provide similar harmonic information. However, when I look at these tracks through the lens of a background edit, I remember what happens to many background tracks during the mixing stage of a show: they get automated very low in the mix and often many layers get muted. In reality, there is so much going on in a mix that only essential backgrounds are needed, and the rest are just taking up space. I often find that when I get to the mixing stage of a song, the layers of harmonic information I have in the song will load up the mid-range and leave no space for the vocals that share the same frequency range.

The lesson I can learn from background edits as it translates to my producing is this: just take the essentials.

Since I’m thinking about what is essential to the song, I can’t ignore the vocals, which are the meat and cheese of most of my recordings. This post-production analogy is pretty straightforward, as dialogue holds a vital role in the sound edit. Dialogue and vocals drive the story and typically call for crystal clear recording and editing. It’s important in both cases that sound effects or other instrumentation is not overshadowing them. While this may seem obvious, one thing I noticed while spotting my song lyrics was the moments when the words said something that a certain instrument or sweetener couldn’t. This happens in visual media too, and sometimes the way that something is spoken or the choice of words hold strong on their own without support. The dialogue edit teaches me to stay aware of the most irreplaceable spoken or, in this case, sung, moments in a song.

To continue, in a post-production sound edit, Foley quite literally gives more information about the movement happening in an episode and offers a little bit of insight on the characters too. A large monster might have a heavy footstep while a small child would have a softer one, for example. While Foley is generally mixed at lower levels than dialogue and sound effects, there are moments in a show or film where the camera might change perspective to show foot movement, and then Foley has the chance to shine. I imagine the Foley of a song to be the sweeteners that drive a song from one part of the arrangement to the other. I tend to lack support from sweeteners in my production, yet I notice it constantly in current Pop songs that I reference. When I mapped out some of the lyrics and the arrangement in ProTools, I took notes of where a sweetener could come in to prepare the listener for the next part of the song and shift the perspective a little. In music, this could be a reverse cymbal or a massive bass drop that cuts into the rest of the instrumental track. These moments can provide a good chunk of the dynamic that I am missing in my production.

The last part of a sound edit I want to explore in music production is the sound effects edit. If dialogue is the meat and cheese of a show’s sound, then sound effects are the bread and butter. Impactful or detailed effects builds can give viewers clear insight into what is happening at each moment in a show. In Pop music especially, the rhythm, particularly the drum and bass parts are similarly the bread and butter of a song, providing detail and sonic experiences from moment to moment. Something I notice from my drum and bass creations which tend to be the most robotic and repetitive element of my production is that I am not considering what each part of the rhythm is doing at any specific point in time. I tend to see rhythm as MIDI notes along with a graph, which results in instrumentation that is sturdy but not taking care of the music or the song as it moves through time and space. I think that seeing each collection of drum parts and bass as its own “sound effects build” in each measure or group of measures would offer a more linear image and encourage patience as I’m making my tracks. The beat can loop at certain points, but how is it helping the song if two sets of four measures are expressing different emotions in the lyrics? If there were two explosions on screen, for example, and one was right next to the characters and destroyed buildings, it wouldn’t sound like the explosion off in the distance on a rural hill. Drum and bass deserve the same kind of awareness.

Ultimately now that I’ve mapped out this explorative connection between two departments of sound that I love, I’m excited to see how each one can influence the other. In this instance, I’m observing the development of a song in a new format that can yield the results I always want but struggle to achieve.

 

Thoughts On War and Peace and Music

Well, this month’s blog sees the start of spring which is normally a time when our attentions turn to thoughts of renewal, growth, change, and maybe a time for getting out more, even travel:

 

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour

Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages),
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende 
Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.		 When April with its sweet-smelling shower
Has pierced the drought of March to the root,
And bathed every vein (of the plants) in such liquid
By which power the flower is created;
When the West Wind also with its sweet breath,
In every wood and field has breathed life into 
The tender new leaves, and the young sun
Has run half its course in Aries,
And small fowls make melody,
Those that sleep all the night with open eyes
(So Nature incites them in their hearts),
Then folk long to go on pilgrimages,
And professional pilgrims to seek foreign shores,
To distant shrines, known in various lands;
And specially from every shire’s end
Of England to Canterbury they travel,
To seek the holy blessed martyr,
Who helped them when they were sick.

Thus wrote Geoffrey Chaucer at the start of his Canterbury Tales in the 14th Century.

Now, wouldn’t it be nice if, after more than two years of suffering Covid 19 and all that it has entailed, we could look forward to a real flowering of our humanity and our art, and be out and about more freely?  The UK recently lifted its travel regulations to allow people to fly in and out of the country.  But… Ci mancava solo quello, as we often say in Italy.  That’s all we needed: a war!  So, as nice as it would be to inhabit Chaucer’s mindset; after two years of often crushing and depressing living, adapting to life in the face of a worldwide pandemic, I ask myself: when is this all going to end?

As if all this were not enough, a combination of personal losses pushed me into a deep depression; something I’ve not really been bothered by before.  As a result, I felt nothing, nothing gave me joy and, therefore, I did nothing.  Well, that’s not quite true.  I worked hard with the feminist group Non Una di Meno in preparation for International Women’s Day 8th March, which we called Lotto Marzo, not a day of celebration but a day of activism to remind the world that there are still many battles to fight and to win.  A short clip of an event during our march in front of the main railway station of Turin, the theme, in this case, was women’s health issues.

 

Video Player
1. NUDM
0:20

This is our war; our fight for gender equality. 

 

The other war: what is it for?

Carla Lonzi, in her Manifesto di Rivolta Femminile of 1970 said: War has always been the specific activity of man and his way of displaying his virility.

Virginia Woolf, in her Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid, said: in The Times this morning—a woman’s voice saying, “Women have not a word to say in politics.” There is no woman in the Cabinet; nor in any responsible post. All the idea makers who are in a position to make ideas effective are men. That is a thought that damps thinking and encourages irresponsibility.  Apart from a few notable exceptions, this is still the case today.

Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid by Virginia Woolf.  https://newrepublic.com/article/113653/thoughts-peace-air-raid

It’s hard to believe that one man, could have really contemplated a war in Europe after all the slaughter, bloodshed, and suffering of two world wars.  It really is beyond belief.

I’ve just started listening to Apple music and came across Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, which I hadn’t listened to in a long time.  Now I admit that I am often easily moved to tears by things, but it was just the intersections of what I’m seeing and hearing in these last six weeks that got me, yet again.  We are lucky to be women, working in music, which is such a powerful life force.  On the other hand:

 

The man that hath no music in himself,

Nor is not mov’d with concord of sweet sounds,

Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;

The motions of his spirit are dull as night,

And his affections dark as Erebus:

Let no such man be trusted…

From The Merchant of Venice – William Shakespeare

 

 

Turin has had a sizeable Jewish community.  Around the streets of the center, we often see these brass plaques set into the pavement outside the entrances of where these people used to live.  You’ll notice that they are slightly raised so that you cannot fail to notice them.  They are in memory of the Jews who were taken from their homes in Turin and deported to Auschwitz in Poland; as an aside, Poland has been taking its share of refugees from neighboring Ukraine.  Anyway, look closely at what happened to the Valabrega family: mother and father were assassinated within two months of being in Auschwitz, while their daughter Stella, who was only 20 years old when she was deported, survived.  I shudder to think how a young woman in such dire circumstances would have managed until the end of the war.  I mean, is this really happening again?

Back to the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, and I remember when working in a Primary School in Oxfordshire, using part of the third movement, which is beautifully sung by one of my favorite sopranos, Dawn Upshaw, as a dance movement for a very talented young girl.

This very short text held such significance for me as I leave my ‘Black Dog’ and come into the light:

Mamo, nie płacz, nie.

Niebios Przeczysta Królowo.

Ty zawsze wspieraj mnie.

Zdrowaś Mario.

No, Mother, do not weep,
Most chaste Queen of Heaven
Support me always.
“Zdrowas Mario.” (*)

The text is a prayer inscribed on a wall of cell no. 3 in the basement of “Palace,” the Gestapo’s headquarters in Zadopane; beneath is the signature of Helena Wanda Blazusiakówna, and the words “18 years old, imprisoned since 26 September 1944.”)

(*) “Zdrowas Mario” (Ave Maria)—the opening of the Polish prayer to the Holy Mother

Yes, this one moved me.

https://open.spotify.com/track/4iCn374fZg5UbGD1xFNo1m?si=8c599225c4264cf6

 

The good news is that Helena survived, she was rescued by a group of partisan fighters who took her into the hills and reunited her with her grandmother.  She later married and had five children…  I just couldn’t find out what happened to her

And what about my own personal war, or it seems like that, nine months after separation from my Mexican girlfriend, having arrived back from Mexico with just four suitcases, it still feels like a battle to free myself from the memory of this manipulative control of me and my life.  Over these last nine months, those brilliant writers of the Autostraddle website have helped me understand and accept the new realities.  I came across this in one of the articles and it chimed with me…

I loved her. We built a world together. When we broke up, that world disappeared.

I think about this all the time. How a relationship is its own time zone. How we build worlds with the people we love, and we are the only people who inhabit them. And when something ends, those worlds disappear. It’s not like love is a static place we bring new lovers to every time we feel it. Love is a creation that occurs between the people feeling it. To love someone new is to agree to travel somewhere that doesn’t exist yet together. Love is a brand-new place we choose to go every time.

This also helped…

So, all of the sadness of this last month has contributed to getting little music done, but it also made me rethink my projects.  I had talked myself out of the Song Cycle since I didn’t quite feel ready for such a huge undertaking and started rethinking the instrumental piece since I had already a bit of material prepared.  However, the unforeseen happened: I awoke one morning after having just dreamed of the poet Sylvia Plath.  I was supposed to be taking her photograph while she was sitting casually on the arm of a large armchair wearing a dark olive green cocktail dress.  At this point, I have to declare that I knew about Sylvia Plath and had read a few of her poems, but I had no idea of what she looked like.  My dream Sylvia had a small petite face, slightly pointed chin, and short hair.  So, my first mystery question is, why Sylvia Plath?  Anyway, I had to rearrange some cushions behind her, and when I was in front of her, she looked at me and kissed me on the lips, I kissed her back; it seemed the appropriate thing to do.  And the dream ended there.  When I looked for photographs of her, I found this one which is more or less as she appeared in my dream.  So, my second mystery question is how could I dream of her likeness if I had never seen her before?

 

Sylvia Plath

 

Anyway, I felt pleased and flattered that she had resolved my lack of motivation after a month-long bout of depression.  Since Sylvia Plath kissed me, I felt honor-bound to set one of her poems.  I’ve chosen Edge written six months before she sadly took her own life; she was only 30.

As a long-term sufferer of ADHD, I oscillate between procrastination and impulsivity.  That being the case, it began to dawn on me that I might do better working in a different way.

Anyone who has read my very first blog will know that returning to create Experimental music after 40 years of being busy with life, was a daunting prospect for me.  Reading the posts and seeing what my sisters are doing, gives me ‘imposter syndrome’ big time.  Especially since my technological capabilities in music production were forty years behind.  So, as I create, with a different artistic sensibility, aware of how tastes and style have changed in my chosen field, and as I try to get used to and manage the newer and more complex technologies, I face a dilemma.  Do I work through the many videos on Reaper, Logic Pro, or whatever?  Or do I avoid my tendency for ADHD-induced paralysis and start the creative process of working out how that pig of a DAW works as I go along?

And the answer is…Edge ILYSP.  I so much want to create this loving piece for a special person who was taken from us far too young. So that’s what I’m doing.  Logic Pro will yield her secrets as I go along, asking her very gently from time to time, how do I…?   Or I can use the ‘press all the buttons until something happens’ method; the ‘undo’ button is conveniently placed at the top of the Edit panel.

I can report a minor success yesterday, as I tried to combine two tracks into one (regions as Logic Pro tells me).  In Audition, I would have selected them and then a ‘mixdown’ to a new audio clip.  But Logic Pro is a child of Apple and likes to do things her way and in her language.  ‘Track stack’ didn’t work for me, and I still don’t know what it means, but having heard someone else talk about bouncing tracks, I thought I’d give it a whirl.  And yes, she was kind to me: gave me a new combined track, leaving the two originals in place.

…it began to dawn on me that I might do better working in a different way.

Yes, and this was it: start the creative process, because all the software, plugins and modular synthesizers have no point unless they allow me to be authentic in the creative process, and what could be more authentic than lovingly enshrining in music, the writing of the poet who had just kissed me?   So, since I know in my head that which I seek, I have to seek the ways to create it and, as so often happens during experimentation, we find something else that is better or can be combined or helps us understand: where to next…

One example is my experimentation with MAX MSP.  Although I don’t remember the detail, these BEAP modules are virtual versions of the EMS VCS 100 modular analog synthesizer I used in the University of East Anglia’s recording studio.

I decided that I wanted some simple electronics and thought that a couple of sine wave oscillators would give me sounds that were not too dense.  So, I patched together three variations of pairs of sine wave oscillators, experimented with settings to create frequency modulation at various registers, and then recorded them on three separate tracks in Logic.  Through further experimentation, I now know that I could combine tracks 7 and 9, using automated volume and panning to create shifting sounds within the drones.  Track 8 proved less suitable for this piece – this is the middle patch of the MAX MSP patcher.   since oscillator 1 feeds directly into oscillator 2 the changes are more dramatic.  Incidentally, I shall probably rerecord the FM oscillator tones, but at least I do that with a better idea of what I want to achieve and what is possible.  The third patch on the right proved to be my favorite: four oscillators in pairs, each going into the left or right of a stereo output gave me a lot of variation in gentle steps, which I like.  For further experimentation, I may want to pass the sine waves separately or in combination through a filter (maybe a notch filter) to modify the sounds further, making changes as I record.  As good as Max is it would be very difficult to control in live performance through a trackpad for example, though I have seen some artists using other triggers.

 

MAX modular synth

 

The Logic Pro screen illustrates to an extent, the use of a DAW in the compositional process.  In respect of composition, especially with .wav audio sources, my first love, Audition is intuitive and gives me the sensation of working with tape back in the late 70s; it even has a virtual razor blade and, just like the tape days you can move the tape head back and forth by hand until you hear (as well as see now) the point at which you want to splice; Logic Pro doesn’t allow this, or at least I haven’t found a way to do this yet.  However, in the absence of getting my hands on a real chamber organ, Logic pro has a remarkably good midi version.  I chose the Baroque organ in preference to the others for my ostinato since it has a nice ‘reedy’ sound and I thought it sounded a little out of tune at one point, which I like.

 

Logic Pro

 

This next screenshot, in praise of Audition, shows one of its strengths at the stage of treating audio samples. This is a separate waveform editor (I’m sure that Logic Pro has one hidden away somewhere, waiting to be discovered) with the waveform above and the spectral view below. I’ve zoomed in enough to make a splice and you’ll notice that the play head is a little way ahead of the waveform and yet, as I move it backward and forward by hand, I can hear the first sound, so this is where I could splice, for example.  You’ll notice at the top left-hand corner that you can switch between waveform editor and multitrack view very easily. So, for processing physical sounds this would be my preferred option still.

 

So, in answer to my question from my first blog in January: I’ll be writing about trying to juggle working between Audition, Reaper, Max MSP and maybe Logic Pro… or is it ‘make your mind up’ time?  It looks as if I have settled on both Logic Pro and Audition, even if I am still undecided about which to use for the final mix, with MAX MSP for sound synthesis.

So, despite April’s sweet showers engendering growth and renewal, we are still stuck with unresolved Covid 19, the senseless war in Ukraine: ci mancava solo quello! Non Una di Meno’s war with the patriarchy will be a long one: as Virginia Woolf said: All the idea makers who are in a position to make ideas effective are men. That is a thought that damps thinking and encourages irresponsibility. We in NUDM just think that men shouldn’t be in charge of so many important things, especially if it involves armaments. Then there is my own personal battle to move on after personal losses this is gradually resolving itself, and dedication to creating music helps a lot.

“You know, a heart can be broken, but it still keeps a-beating just the same.”

Fannie Flagg, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Café. I tell myself this regularly and yes, it’s still a-beating.

So, just like the weather in Turin which is looking sunny and spring-like for the next few days, I’ll put these darker thoughts behind me and indulge myself in my musical setting of Edge.

I love you, Sylvia Plath.

And let’s not forget that Helena escaped from the Gestapo’s headquarters in Zadopane and that her indelible mark inspired a remarkable piece of music.

Love to you all from a sunny Torino

Frà

Superbia_ Will it Happen?

Superbia – set in a world where people are devoid of emotions and glued to their TV screens, one man “defected” as having emotions finds a music box that may have the power to bring change.

Seeing as you clicked your way onto this article let me give you the short answer: it is definitely possible, but as of this minute I don’t see it being produced. So the straight answer, for now, is, well, no.

Now if you want to stick around for the long answer, get comfy! Maybe see about a cup of coffee or some herbal teas – comfortable? Great!

Jonathan Larson is one of the most influential individuals in my music journey. I can vividly remember a younger Kim watching RENT on DVD every weekend, by six I had practically had Maureen’s lines verbatim. He drew from the raw realities of the human condition and our lives and yet shared such a positive message, yet his time was so short, He would die just as RENT was opening in 1996 due to an aortic aneurysm at the age of 35.

To get Superbia released you would need to get permissions from various sources, but most importantly the Larson family, and say you got the permissions much of the script would need to be reworked, So while it is possible it isn’t happening right now as of the publishing of this article.

If you ask my opinion, anything John Larson will be a success. Take the relatively-recent Netflix movie musical Tick Tick Boom. Directed by Lin Manuel Miranda and written by Larson it follows John’s journey and eventual rejection of Superbia, along the journey we meet friend Michael and John’s girlfriend, Susan. The movie is based on the reworked version of the original 1991 performance performed by none other than Johnathan Larson himself. The 2021 movie is generating traffic, people are curious about Superbia, and despite a couple of songs you can find on Youtube not much is out there. You could request access to the workshop recording in the Library of Congress, but not everyone can just go and do that for various reasons. So what’s the option here?

It has been over 25 years since the death of Larson. He has impacted hundreds, possibly thousands of lives. I don’t want to live with regret by not saying what I think needs to be said, all of Larson’s work should be released in some format. RENT and Tick Tick Boom had their chance in the sunlight, and while I’m not naive to the fact that Superbia may need work – I think it is worth it… if we give it the chance it deserves.

If you agree with me, tell people Johnathan Larson’s story. Have them watch RENT and Tick Tick Boom, tell them about Superbia. The more people know that Superbia is real and are interested to see and hear more the better.

Mix With the Masters Scholarship Available- Craig Silvey

SoundGirls Members have the chance to receive a 2,000€ scholarship provided to SoundGirls members from Mix With The Masters.

There is one scholarship available for the week-long session with Grammy and Multi-platinum Producer/Mixer Craig Silvey. (Travel and remaining tuition balance not included)

This is a week-long seminar valued approximately at 4,000€ and includes lectures and workshops, accommodation within the mansion, catering (breakfast, lunch, dinner) the fitness room, swimming pool, and shuttles from Avignon to the studio. (Travel and remaining tuition balance Not Included)

You must have an advanced understanding of audio and work as producer/mixer/engineer to attend Mix with the Masters.

Session Dates: May 20 -26, 2022

Apply for the scholarship here

Deadline to apply is April 17th

You are responsible for Travel to France and the remainder of the balance to Mix with the Masters.

Session Includes

  • private bedroom, on-site within the mansion for 6 nights
  • Full-board accommodation with meals prepared by gourmet chefs on-site
  • Return shuttle services from Avignon to Studios La Fabrique
  • Unlimited drinks and snacks throughout the week
  • Approximately 50 hours in the studio with the guest speaker
  • One-on-one time between you and the master to assess and work on your own material
  • Professional photography done throughout the week, including portrait shots of you with the Master
  • Hundreds of full-resolution photos shared with you afterward via download link, to keep and use as you please
  • A certificate of completion issued on behalf of Mix With the Masters and Studios La Fabrique, signed by the Master if you wish
  • Exclusive MWTM merchandise given only to seminar attendees: embossed Moleskine notepads, pens, mugs, t-shirts, USB keys and stickers.
  • Use of the La Fabrique swimming pool, garden, fitness centre, and scenic walks
  • Nearby access to the enchanting town of St. Rémy de Provence

About Craig Silvey:

Craig Silvey is a London-based record producer and mix engineer from the Bay Area of northern California.

He first set foot in a recording studio as the keyboard player of a high school band. The facility was owned by his bandmate’s father, who allowed the use of his equipment but wouldn’t go as far as operating it for the group. Silvey was keen to accept the challenge.

He soon became an apprentice engineer at Russian Hill Recording in San Francisco, taken under the wing of George Massenburg. In the early ‘90s, Silvey progressed to working at Skywalker Sound for Lucasfilm, where he got involved on records and movie projects for Mariah Carey, Linda Ronstadt, Jennifer 8, and Rising Sun.

In 1994, he co-founded Toast Studios in San Francisco, where he worked with a diversity of artists including R.E.M., Money Mark, and Suzanne Ciani. In 1998, Silvey moved to London, basing himself initially at Konk Studios and then The Garden. His reputation as a top-flight mixer began to grow as he completed landmark projects such as Portishead’s ‘Third’ and Arcade Fire’s ‘The Suburbs’.

He has since mixed records by Arctic Monkeys, Bryan Ferry, Florence + The Machine, The National, and Noel Gallagher. As a producer, he has worked with Baxter Dury, Bear’s Den, and John Grant.

Program

The process of greatness fostering greatness has long been recognized and is the reason why masterclasses are organized. The Mix With The Master’s seminars is part of this tradition, offering an exchange of in-depth first-hand studio experience and knowledge that is unparalleled and not available anywhere else. Each seminar is conducted by one of the world’s top music mixers and producers, ready to share their professional secrets with a select group of a maximum of 14 carefully-screened, professional-level participants, who come from all over the world.

One factor that contributes to the enormous success of the seminars is that all tutors support the general MWTM ethos, which is about the love of music, music technology, and want to help others. Participants also are in part selected on displaying similar, positive attitudes. The fact that the seminars last a full week is another major contributory factor because it offers tutors the time and space to go into real depth, and the participants the opportunity to spend a prolonged time watching a master at his peak, and to ask any question they can think of.

The tutors share exclusive, insider information on any subject: detailed technical knowledge, how to run sessions, how to handle artists, how to manage a career, the right attitude, how to remain successful, and more. The tutors also assess the work of the participants, by listening to their mixes and mixing recording sessions that they bring, and providing extensive feedback to each participant on where they are at, and how they can get to where they want to be. This is invaluable and offers participants wanting to become world-class professionals in their own right a unique advantage.

Another primary factor in making the MWTM seminars exceptional is that they take place at La Fabrique, a large, comfortable, high-end recording studio located in a picturesque historic building, surrounded by huge, lush grounds, and set in the south-east of France in one of the world’s most beautiful environments. The secluded and idyllic location offers the participants and tutors a lot of space to relax and recharge, far away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and the all-demanding intensity of their regular professional environments.

Because the courses are residential, the participants and tutors work, eat, socialize, and sleep in the same environment. While tutors, and participants, will at times opt to retire to their private quarters, there is ample opportunity for social interaction outside of the studio environment. Participants interact extensively with each other and the tutor, making it easier to assimilate the intangible qualities necessary to be successful at the highest level—presence, focus, social skills, intelligence, creativity, the right attitude, and so on.

In short, for seven days participants can experience mixing with a master in both senses of the phrase, mixing and interacting with them. Get more information about Studio La Fabrique

 

 

Maria Grever: The Most Famous Unknown Person You Know

 

Around two years ago, I discovered Maria Grever. She was a Mexican composer whose career started around the early to late 20s and continued up until her death in 1951. If you google her, you will find the same impressive stats. She composed around 800 songs (some places say 1000). Not only contemporary songs for the big movie houses – Paramount, MGM, Fox, but she wrote musicals, operas, and here’s where the light bulb will go off for some of you: She is the composer of “What a Difference a Day Makes”  Is your mind blown yet? Mine was. What a Difference a Day Makes is one of my favorite songs, so why didn’t I know a woman, a Mexican woman, had composed this song in 1934? And so I began a quest to learn everything I could about her.

It was very random how I happened upon Mrs. Grever. My son who at the time was two years old was Face-Timing, my mom, a lot during the pandemic. She was singing this lullaby whose melody was familiar to me, but I don’t ever remember singing it. My son has this crazy ability to retain melodies and lyrics, so I had to dig around the internet for the lyrics so I could sing them with him. I eventually found it, Te Quiero Dijiste aka Muñequita Linda – music and lyrics by Maria Grever. I remember being excited it was a woman, but Grever didn’t automatically say Latina to me. When I realized she was Mexican, I became obsessed. If you’ve been following along with my blogs, you’ll know that my parents immigrated from the Dominican Republic. So that whole, “If you can see it, you can be it?” Right there! A Latina in NYC with two kids in the early part of the 20th century. What a discovery!

So who was Maria Grever?

Maria Joaquina de la Portilla Torres was born in 1885. (You’ll find various dates online, but according to official sources and public records, this is the most accurate). She was half Spanish and half Mexican and spent most of her childhood traveling back and forth between Spain and Mexico. She was a child prodigy. It’s documented she wrote a simple Christmas carol at the age of four. Nothing official, but it showed she had talent from a young age. She studied with Claude Debussy and Franz Lehar; her parents were supportive of learning from the best. They were a wealthy family, so they had the means for her to travel. Once her father passed, the family moved permanently back to Mexico. Maria Joaquina was about 15 years old.

In 1907, she married Leon Grever, an American businessman, and they had four children, only two of which survived past childhood. Maria Grever was writing some music in Mexico, but in 1916, everything changed as she took her two children to New York City. Leon stayed behind for work. This is right in the middle of the Mexican Revolution, so you can imagine it was a difficult moment in history to travel. The Mexican Revolution was primarily a civil war, but the United States got involved. So there was a lot of tension between the U.S. and Mexico. Nevertheless, Maria Grever arrives in the big apple, an immigrant, a woman, and a single mom (sort of).

Remember this is 1916, women still didn’t have the right to vote. And even when they did in 1920, Maria Grever was still an immigrant. If you do some digging, her leaving Mexico is documented as having fled due to political instability during the Revolution. But New York City isn’t a random target as an artist – especially a talent like Maria Grever. You went to New York City because you want to make it here. Because that’s where Tin Pan Alley was. Because that’s where the record companies were. Because everything was happening here. There was no internet then; you had to be physically here. So as I began to research, I started to piece together so much more. I’ll get to that a little later.

For now, here are some more facts on Maria Grever

She started performing in NYC fairly quickly. The earliest Newspaper clipping I found was from 1919 in the New York Tribune. It’s a review of a performance at the Princess Theater.

Newspapers.com Spanish Soprano plays Recital

 

She’s getting her name out there, not really performing her music just yet, but as anyone who is a musician knows, the best way to get heard is to make a name for yourself. And that she did. According to a book written by Maria Luisa Rodriguez Lee titled Maria Grever: Poeta y Compositora, she was writing between 1920-25, but the manuscripts have been lost. The first song to really make international headway, is a bolero titled “Jurame” published by G. Schirmer in 1926. Getting your song published was a big deal back then, since sheet music ruled the industry. It was basically the MP3 or LP of the day.  The song gets picked up at a music shop by a famous Mexican tenor, Jose Mojica, and he releases his recording of the song in 1927 which fully establishes Maria Grever.

https://archive.org/details/78_jurame_jose-mojica-maria-grever_gbia0034799a]

From there she begins to get published with more frequency. She wrote “Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado” in 1934 which was translated into English by Stanley Adams as “What A Difference A Day Makes.” This gets recorded by some of the biggest artists of the time – even artists like Bing Crosby

At this point, she joined ASCAP in 1935 and was a very active member according to newspaper clippings. Here she collaborated with some of the biggest lyricists of the day to translate her songs. Lyricists like Raymond Laveen. (Note just for translation! Maria Grever wrote all of her music AND lyrics!) Her biggest hit was “Ti pi Tin” released in 1938 translated into English by none other than Raymond Laveen.

 

 

It spent 6 weeks on Your Hit Parade which was that time’s Billboard Hot 100.

NYPL Horace Heidt sensation

Ti pi tin is actually fascinating because despite the success Maria Grever already had at that point, the publishers didn’t want to publish it. So Maria Grever created her own publishing company, Portilla Music publishing. What do you do when someone says no? You do it yourself. In the book by Rodriguez Lee Maria Grever is quoted as having said:

I had such a strong faith in the song, but the publishers thought I was crazy. I have been 20 years before an audience, and as a sensitive artist, I feel the vibrations of the public. I knew this song would be a success. So I published it myself (Lee 59)

Courtesy of New York Public Library. NBC Research Clipping Files, Maria Grever.

At this point, Maria Grever was everywhere. She’s sought out by the big movie houses and starts composing for them. She’s getting radio play all over the country.

Radio Transcripts

She’s performing at Carnegie Hall, and in 1941 she writes the music for a Broadway Musical called “Viva O’Brien” The producers spent something like $80,000 on this musical – which in inflation translates to $1.5 million, but the play bombed. It was not open for long. The only thing that didn’t bomb was the praise for the music.

The new and outstanding personality of the production appears to be Marie Grever who wrote the music… Her dance numbers are lively and original and I suspect you will be hearing a good deal from her songs. [New York Daily News October 10, 1941]

In 1944, her song, Te Quiero Dijiste, the lullaby I discovered, was picked up for a movie called Bathing Beauty starring Red Skelton and Ester Williams. The tune, renamed as Magic is the Moonlight, is used throughout the movie as the theme, not just a part of the soundtrack, and it was a commercial success. She translated songs for Cole Porter. She even developed a program to teach singers Spanish through song – helping them with their diction. Maria Grever really did it all.

Courtesy of New York Public Library. NBC Research Clipping Files, Maria Grever.

At the end of the 40s, she suffered a stroke which left her paralyzed on one side. She traveled to Mexico in 1949 to receive honors, the medal of Civil Merit, and the Medal of the Heart of Mexico. She remained active until her death in 1951 and in 1952 was declared Woman of the Americas by the Union of Women of the Americas. Mexico made a biopic about her in 1954 starring a very famous Latina actress of the time, Libertad Lamarque whose album in 1956 titled Libertad Lamarque “Canta Canciones de Maria Grever” or Songs of Maria Grever was a huge success. In 1959, Dinah Washington recorded her most famous cover of “What A Difference A Day Makes” and that earned a Grammy for Best R&B Performance that year. It was Washington’s first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Maria Grever also has a scholarship named after her in Mexico City.

But who was she really? What I learned through my research

As a person, Maria Grever is somewhat of a mystery. In working on her story for PRX’s Latino USA, I was able to locate her family which was in and of itself a journey to find a living relative who would have enough information to speak about her.

“She was sort of a mystery … But even then, comparing stories that my father understood with stories that my tio understood, there were either gaps or completely different stories,” Stuart Livingston

Stuart Livingston, her great-grandson, works in the music industry. He told me that the family lore was that a well-known group of entertainers came to Mexico and convinced her to move to New York City. This tiny piece of information regardless of documentation or not changes her trajectory quite a bit. In the early 20th century, it was known that people traveled to other countries to mine talent, so it is possible that it’s true. The Maria Grever narrative then becomes, an aspiring composer leaves for New York City with her kids to make it in the big apple. Regardless of if her husband supported her endeavors, or what kind of support he may have given her in the early years. Once she was in NYC, she did it alone.

“You know, she had left Mexico, she left her husband behind. She was a single mother in a time where that was certainly not who you were supposed to be. And she was pursuing a career which was not the perceived right way for a woman to act,” Stuart Livingston

Maria Grever never reunited with her husband. Stuart says it was clear there was a separation. And in my research of public records, they very clearly never lived together again. So for someone like Maria Grever to achieve everything you read above, imagine the hustle she had to do. There are newspaper clippings from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle which say “Maria Grever is the busiest woman in all New York.”

She had to be in order to survive because if you know New York City, it really hasn’t changed all that much and she had two kids to feed. This was 100 years ago, when wiring money wasn’t a thing. Where it would’ve been very difficult for Leon Grever to send her money. So it was up to her to make ends meet.

“She oftentimes sold her music as opposed to keeping ownership and collecting royalties. It was due to her genius that she was able to make it work” Stuart Livingston

Maria wrote so much music that is not tied to her name because she did buyouts. That is why the number you find across the internet is so vast. According to Stuart, they have only about one-seventh or one-tenth of her music in her catalog that collects royalties.  Nevertheless, it’s still an impressive body of work.

Her family is also quite impressive. Her son, Charles Grever, created Grever Music Publishing which became Grever International and housed a huge Mexican music catalog. It was because of the weight of Maria Grever’s name that they got that catalog. Her grandson, Bob Grever, was known as a Tejano music giant and was one of the biggest players in the Tejano music scene. He signed Selena Quintanilla when she was 12 years old (yes that Selena). His company, Cara Records, eventually joined Zomba records in the aughts, which was part of the powerhouse that brought you all your favorite boy bands – yes I mean Nsync, Backstreet Boys…oh yea and a young Britney Spears. Stuart Livingston was a partner of the label that took over the Fania records catalog, the Motown of salsa records. Her legacy and ear for music lives through them.

Why she is important

Maria Grever is important because she reminds us that women really can do anything. We all know how hard it is to work in the music industry today, and Maria Grever did what she did in a time when she had one sliver of the freedoms and rights we enjoy. She not only dealt with difficulties as a Mexican in New York but as a woman on top of that in an industry notoriously dominated by men. Men like Irving Berlin, Gershwin, Ernesto Lecuona from Cuba, and Carlos Gardel from Argentina. She was the first Latin American woman to receive international acclaim in the early part of the 20th century. We need to see people like her – people who have an accent, who left home, and who became one of the top composers of her time. Maria Grever’s story needs to continue to be told, and the only way that’s done is by keeping it present through the generations. If the stories of men in this business throughout history can be told, then we can certainly find the space to continue to keep Maria Grever’s legacy alive.

Working on this story connected a lot of dots for me. When I first moved here, I was doing a lot of archiving and restoration. So one of the first places I went to piece together her story was my old boss. He specializes in really old restoration projects – analog tape,  lacquer discs, even metal discs. We had conversations about RCA/Victor, how the old recording industry worked, the classical music industry at the time, and what it was like at the beginning of the 20th century in NYC. And that wasn’t the end of my overlap. Towards the end of my production, I was looking for permissions for a song that ended up being owned by Sony/BMG. The song was on this album that my husband found a mint condition LP of (because he’s really good at finding that sort of thing).

A lot of Maria Grever’s catalog is owned by Universal Music Group (all of that is searchable through ASCAP or on allmusic.com), but this particular version of the song, “Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado” was not. I started checking out the liner notes and details and realized it was RCA/Victor, and I had a vague memory of it becoming part of Sony. So I called up my old boss because we used to do (and he still does) tons of projects with Sony. And the person we used to interface with was in the department that works with licensing! When I emailed he had said he had recently wondered what I was up to, so it was a pretty big full-circle moment. It just goes to show that you really never know where you’ll end up. Sometimes it’s not the job you thought you’d end up doing, but you have to trust that in the end, the dots will connect.

Working on the Maria Grever story was so much more than just telling her story; it was an opportunity to really pull all of the pieces of everything I’ve worked on since I arrived in NYC together. As a mom in New York City, who oftentimes feels overwhelmed in this industry, it made me feel super proud to see another Latina who may have walked the same streets I have. I saw her running around to sell her sheet music, trying to get published, trying to have someone hear her out.

I’m so thrilled to share her with you. You can read more about her life in Maria Grever: Poeta y Compositora by Maria Luisa Rodriguez Lee. And I encourage you to check out the podcast on latinousa.org and hear from her family, more about her life and her legacy.

 

Audio Education – That Doesn’t Break The Bank

I’d love to go back to school for audio, but I owe a lot of money to the federal government. Okay fine, it’s student loan debt. For a long time, I felt like that huge and haunting sum meant that I could never pursue an education beyond the degrees I already hold. Debt, lack of funds, an overabundance of responsibilities: they all present very real barriers for many of us wishing to acquire new skills. But we can access the internet. And thanks to some incredible free and low-cost organizations that exist to empower women/gender non-conforming folks and allies in the recording industry, I have been learning to competently record and mix music for myself and others, no FAFSA needed.

Women-led organizations

 

Women’s Audio Mission

Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) was the first resource I encountered when I began looking to grow my skills in audio, and it remains dear to me. A nonprofit based in San Francisco/Oakland founded by Terri Winston, WAM offers courses, internships, an afterschool program called “Girls on the Mic,” recording/mixing/mastering services at their women-owned and run studio, and more. I’ve studied all of their on-demand online curriculum, from the science-based SoundChannel content to their YouTube channel WAM Everywhere. Most of the gear that I own I’ve purchased upon their recommendation. The virtual and in-person conferences I’ve attended have introduced me to new perspectives and, in some cases, new-to-me creative fields within audio. Perhaps more importantly, they’ve introduced me to others with similar goals who have become both friends and collaborators since. There is a small annual fee associated with membership, but it’s more akin to the cost of a t-shirt than a textbook, and the perks more than justify the expense.

Omni Sound Project

After having taken classes through WAM, Lisa Machac became inspired to form a community for women+ in Austin, TX, where she lives, and Omni Sound Project was born. The pandemic brought that effort to the virtual sphere, and they now host online one-hour Intro Courses as well as three-hour Workshops. They also offer Signal Gain, a week-long event held in November consisting of panel discussions and other learning opportunities. Omni Sound Project’s classes and events are either no cost or inexpensive, and membership itself is free. Additionally, course attendance may even bring you into possession of a fine piece of equipment courtesy of an Omni sponsor — I myself have been the recipient of a Lauten LA-220 microphone, which I treasure. The real gift at Omni, though, is the highly approachable and experienced faculty. I’m proud to say that one core faculty member, Jam Phelps, has both mixed songs for me and mentored me as I’ve been learning to mix on my own.

Mix Like a Girl

Other than Jam, I have found an excellent mix mentor in Mix Like a Girl founder Caridad Espinosa. During periodic and affordable hour-long sessions with Caridad, I have learned what to listen for in a mix and how to improve the quality of my own recordings through her honest, specific feedback. In addition to private lessons, Mix Like a Girl has offered group courses, including their Summer Boot Camp, Vocal Production Course, and The Art of Film Scoring and Post. They are currently working on a comprehensive guide, created entirely by women, that will explain recording, mixing, beat making, and mastering in beginner-friendly terms.

SoundGirls

It would be ridiculous to write a blog about affordable education in audio in which I don’t mention the very organization I’m blogging for: SoundGirls, co-founded by Karrie Keyes and Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato! You need only click around a bit to see what an amazing resource SoundGirls is, from its newsletter to its virtual conference to articles my fellow bloggers contribute to this website. Really, that just scratches the surface of what it offers. There is so much more. And if you’re reading this but hesitating to commit to membership, there’s no need — it’s free!

Editors Note – Michelle Sabolchick Pettinatio has developed an online course Mixing Music Live and SoundGirls members received 50% off, email us for a discount code. soundgirls@soundgirls.org

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it’s a worthy start. At the very least, it’s a bit of direction in the rudderless realm of the internet. At best you’ll embark upon a path, follow it with ever-increasing satisfaction, and look back to see that each step has brought you where you’ve always wanted to go: into mastery and the arms of an affirming audio community. And with far less debt.

You can find more options for audio education here

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