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The Importance of the Cover Letter

College may or may not be in person where you live this semester but that doesn’t mean school isn’t starting soon. As students prepare for Zoom or in-person orientations this August I encourage you to consider looking for places you may want to intern at or be employed at after school. While you may have your resume prepared and it is important that you do, do you have the cover letter to complement it? Recently when talking to my peers I realized that while most people talk about the importance of having your resume prepared, they don’t realize how important a cover letter really is! So why is it so important? If it is as important as a resume, how do I begin? Well…let’s talk about that!

The Importance of the Cover Letter

Resumes are important because it’s a look at what your qualifications are for the position that you are after. However, it’s no joke that if you are considering a highly sought-after job (like a top-liner for instance), you are competing with dozens – possibly even hundreds – of applicants. The ones looking over your application are having to scour through all those applications and resumes, and will likely only have the time to briefly review yours. The goal of the employer is to find the best-fit candidate, while your goal is getting hired. The cover letter is that extra life to make you more than just a name on some paper – it makes you a person. The cover letter is a brief introduction about you, your background, education (if any), and experience ( if any). With a cover letter, you are more likely to join that narrowed-down pool of candidates.

How to Write a Cover Letter With Experience 

If you have some experience already, say off a mentorship, internship, or job(s) you have done then a cover letter will be a breeze for you!

Let’s look at an example of one cover letter for a foley artist.

Firstly when finding out who to address – do your research before you apply. This is a no-brainer, if you want the job you make sure you know everything that you can before you apply. Maybe you need to email in your resume and cover letter, or maybe you are applying on Indeed/ a job site. In the case, you know the hiring manager’s name refer to them in a formal tone. In the case you do not, you could use the name of the venue or location of the job. Here’s a start :

 

Dear (Insert name)/ John’s Studio, 

I am currently a college undergrad majoring in film at the University of Jane, I am seeking the opportunity listed on Indeed as foley artist. 

I have experience in film in post-production, working on multiple foley stages around the northeast and abroad. Some films I have been credited to are Vampires Eight, Jakie John, and Horseshoe Mountain. My responsibilities included ____ and ____. I feel I am the best fit for the job due to my experiences working as a foley artist and my ability to work well under tight deadlines. 

I seek an environment that challenges and is proactive in bringing stories from page to screen, I identify with the values of your studio and I feel that John’s Studio is the perfect environment for me to flourish creatively as I look to work with your establishment for the next five years and so on. 

I hope to connect with you at your earliest convenience to discuss my qualifications further. 

I appreciate your time and consideration and hope to be hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Josephine Doe

In this example, Josephine addressed the studio they wished to work at, explained their education and experiences, and explained why they would best fit the studio environment. The best way to write a cover letter is to be formal, but authentic.

KEEP IN MIND! 

STAY AWAY FROM!

Writing a Cover Letter With No Experience

If you do not have job experience yet and want to apply, how should your cover letter look?

Well, most of the tips for the top portion are applied here as well, however, you will have to lean more into how you can benefit the company.

For example, let’s use Josephine again.

 

Dear (Insert name)/ John’s Studio, 

I am currently a college undergrad majoring in film at the University of Jane, I am seeking the opportunity to intern at your establishment under your foley department. 

I have managed our college fall festival and worked well with collaborating with others to create an entertaining experience, and throughout the project, I exhibited strong leadership and time-management skills. I recognize that working with strict deadlines is imperative to the position and I am prepared to work overtime if necessary to see the projects asked of me to completion. 

I seek an environment that challenges and is proactive in bringing stories from page to screen, I identify with the values of your studio and I feel that John’s Studio is the perfect environment for me to flourish creatively as I look to work my way up to joining the staff as a foley artist with hard work and dedication.

I hope to connect with you at your earliest convenience to set up an interview,

I appreciate your time and consideration and hope to be hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Josephine Doe

In this example Josephine doesn’t have the film experience written out in the first example, however, Josephine is able to relate a personal story to the position. From explaining their experience managing the festival they demonstrated leadership skills, resiliency, and management capabilities. They show they can collaborate with others to get work done, and that they see themselves with John’s Studio, establishing their timeline.

While considering places you may want to intern or apply for jobs this fall consider writing a cover letter, it might help bring you to places you dreamed of being.

More Resources on Resumes and Cover Letters

The Poem of Fire… Symphony No. 5

 

A few years ago, I had the fortune to work for a while in Japan, a country I have known for a long time, during my stay I visited MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: teamLab Borderless, is a digital museum full of works with images, lights, sound and objects that invite you to get lost in its labyrinths and live multi-sensory experiences that make us awaken the imagination and the senses. For those who have not been able to live any of these experiences … imagine entering a building with many rooms where for seasons they make audiovisual works representing nature using technological digital means in each of the rooms, the first memory that comes to mind is to enter a dark room, walk on a narrow corridor that takes you to a network suspended in space … I felt little vertigo for the transparent and unstable but since I settled it was very nice and comfortable!, after this the lights begin and the music I began to see flashes of different colors moving around me it is as if I were inside a galaxy, inside an infinite tunnel … this was amazing in a second it transported me to another world. What if you had these experiences in your day to day …? What if we could see colors when we hear sounds? Can color be a sound? Can the touch of a surface cause an emotion that makes you sad?  Can a smell or taste make us feel cold? Can something have a sharp taste?

 

Creation

In 1910 the Clavier á lumère was created, a keyboard-like instrument by which each note produced a beam of light with a color corresponding to a chromatic scale visualized by the composer and pianist Alexander Scriabin, this great artist had a vision of sharing and transmitting to the audience what he felt multi-sensorial, I mean seeing colors through sounds.

Scriabin, composed Prometheus: The Poem of Fire (Symphony No. 5), in this orchestral work, the Russian composer added a piano, a choir and the Clavier á lumère where by means of the beams of light projected on the stage, he showed and towards feeling to the audience the colors that he saw when listening to the music, that is, that they could perceive sensations comparable to his own, or as he described it “a powerful psychological resonator in the listener”.

Synaesthesia

Neurologically the explanation that I liked the most was the one shared by Richard Cytowic, where he tells us that synesthesia is a fundamental attribute of mammals, we all have it but only some people are aware of this and each individual can develop it with greater or lesser intensity, he also explains that most brain processes work at the subconscious level, although there may be cases that reach a higher level of consciousness, in any case, this experience remains in the unconscious of the person, so in short, the only difference between synesthesia and a person who is not, is that the former is aware of their synesthetic experiences.

Synesthesia makes us experience sensations from different senses at the same time before a single perceptual stimulus. According to the Royal Spanish Academy of Language, the word synesthesia comes from Greek and is formed by the union of the words “syn”, which means union, and “aísthesis”, which translates as sensations, so we could define it together as “United Sensations”.

It is important to mention that this condition is usually manifested by the appearance of colors and shapes linked to the senses of hearing, smell, taste or touch, although there are also other rare ones, such as the touch-mirror, in which the synesthetic experiences the same sensations as another person he is seeing at that moment. For example, if the other person feels pain, the synesthetic also feels it.

In the case of music, melody has the power to provoke sensitive reactions in the human being, capable of reviving images, places, situations, memories, people and on the other hand, in the art of smells, a fragrance can make us visualize a memory, a situation or a specific fact.

Speaking of the history of classical music and art, we find many cases of composers, writers, and synesthetic painters, as is the case of the composer Richard Wagner and his peculiar way of writing scores with the colors that represented the sounds he heard. On the other hand, this is the case of Oliver Messiaen, one of the most important composers of the twentieth century, lover of the sound of birds, his synesthesia allowed him to see colors through sound and vice versa, Massiaen made countless references to light, color and visual in some names of his compositions. His condition took him so deep that he said…

“One of the great dramas of my life is telling people that I see colors when I listen to music, and they don’t see anything, nothing at all. That’s terrible. And they don’t believe me. When I listen to music I see colors. The chords are expressed in terms of color for me. I am convinced that one can express this to the public.”

We could stay a long time talking and citing many experiences of a wide variety of artists with this condition who have delighted us with magnificent works, but I would like to delve a little deeper into how people with this condition associate the senses specifically with sound and/or music. In general, synesthetic people automatically associate a color with each note, including the different tones, but a very interesting feature is that they will always associate the same musical tonality with the same colors or same color tonality. The difference lies in each synesthetic individual, that is, each person with this condition has its own association, that is, that one hears a note and sees the same color always, another synesthetic person can see the same or a different one, but always the same associated with each note or tone.

What happens with people who are not synesthetic, is that these associations between colors and music do not occur automatically, so they are variable because they can be influenced by various factors such as mood, or associations based on childhood learning modified by memory, although in general, most people already have certain associations such as bass sounds with dark colors and lighter colors when hearing higher sounds.

 

How is it that the frequencies of sounds and smells affect human behavior differently? High frequencies would incisively influence cognitive functions, such as thinking, perception, or memory. The average frequencies, in neurovegetative processes, such as heart rate, or in the emotions themselves, while low-frequency sounds would influence motor behavior.

Dr. Septimus Piesse who was a noted French perfumer and chemist created a unique way to combine smell and sound. Matched a particular note or sound with a particular smell. Starting with the Do1 of the key of F in 4th line, that is, 3 octaves below the central C, Dr. Piesse assigned to the bass notes, heavy odors, and to the sharpest, penetrating odors. Combinations of several notes, in turn, result in a chord. Piesse, produced a combination or mixture of different aromas generating a harmony of smells, from there emerged the “Odophone” (Perfume Organ), an impressive instrument which looks like an organ but instead of emitting sound when the keys are pressed, it gives off smells. It would be an unimaginable experience to be able to hear and feel the music through aromas.

 

In the same way that there were synesthetic builders of instruments, who in their manufacture not only sought the sounds of greater purity but also gave off “aromas” and “colored lights”, there are composers with the same synesthetic condition that is clearly reflected in their work, as in the case of the Austrian composer Franz Liszt, in 1842, when he was Kapellmeister (maestro di cappella) in Vienna, he used to ask his orchestras “A little more blue please, this tone requires it” or “a deep violet, please… not so pink”, in passages that he considered more appropriate to be interpreted with a color.

 

Human behavior is wonderful the more sensitive and creative you are, you can feel and experience very intense sensations, this makes me reflect on the importance of being the person responsible for transmitting a piece of music to the public. As monitor engineers, for example, we are constantly faced with very peculiar explanations of how “musicians listen” and how they refer to specific sounds or sensations, it would be a challenge to work with a synesthetic person and be able to transport you to that world of smells, colors and sounds that music awakens.

 

Bibliographical references:

-The Synesthetic Composer: Oliver Messiaen

– Scents & Sensibility: Perfume in Victorian Literary Culture

– Synesthesia: music and color

– Synergy Between Art and Science

 

El Poema del Fuego… Sinfonía nº5

 

 

Hace algunos años tuve la fortuna de trabajar un tiempo en Japón, país que conozco desde hace mucho, durante mi estancia visité MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: teamLab Borderless, es un museo digital repleto de obras con imágenes, luces, sonido y objetos que te invitan a perderte en sus laberintos y vivir experiencias muli-sensoriales que nos hacen despertar la imaginación y los sentidos. Para aquellos que no hayan podido vivir alguna de estas experiencias… imagínense entrar a un edificio con muchas salas en donde por temporadas hacen obras audiovisuales representando la naturaleza utilizando medios digitales tecnológicos en cada uno de los cuartos, el primer recuerdo que me viene a la mente es entrar a un cuarto obscuro, caminar sobre un pasillo angosto que te lleva a una red suspendida en el espacio… sentí un poco de vértigo por lo transparente e inestable pero ya que me acomodé fue ¡muy agradable y cómodo!, después de esto comienzan las luces y la música comencé a ver destellos de diferentes colores moviéndose alrededor mío es como si estuviera dentro de una galaxia, dentro de un túnel infinito… esto fue increíble en un segundo me transportó a otro mundo.

¿Que pasaría si estas experiencias las tuvieras en tu día a día…? ¿Qué tal si pudiéramos ver colores al escuchar sonidos? ¿Puede ser el color un sonido? ¿Puede provocar una emoción que te provoque tristeza el tacto de una superficie? ¿Puede provocarnos sensación de frío un olor o un sabor? ¿Puede algo tener un sabor agudo?…

La creación

En 1910 fue creado el Clavier á lumère, instrumento parecido a un teclado por el cual cada nota producía un haz de luz con un color correspondiente a una escala cromática visualizada por el compositor y pianista Alexander Scriabin, este gran artista tenia una visión de compartir y transmitir a la audiencia lo que él sentía multi-sensorialmente, me refiero a ver colores por medio de sonidos.

Scriabin, compuso Prometeo: El Poema de Fuego (Sinfonía nº5), en esta obra orquesta, el compositor ruso añadió un piano, un coro y el Clavier á lumère donde por medio de los haces de luz proyectados en el escenario , mostraba y hacia sentir al público los colores que él veía al escuchar la música, esto es, que pudieran percibir sensaciones equiparables a las suyas, o como el lo describía “un poderoso resonador psicológico en el oyente”.

Sinestesia

Neurológicamente la explicación que más me gustó fue la que comparte Richard Cytowic, en donde nos dice que la sinestesia es un atributo fundamental de los mamíferos, todos lo tenemos pero sólo algunas personas son consientes de esto y cada individuo lo puede desarrollar con mayor o menor intensidad, también explica que la mayoría de los procesos cerebrales funcionan a nivel subconscientes, aunque puede haber casos que llegan a un nivel de conciencia mayor, de cualquier forma esta experiencia permanece en el inconsciente de la persona, por lo que en resumen, la única diferencia entre un sinestesia y una persona que no lo es, es que el primero es consciente de sus experiencias sinestésicas.

La sinestesia nos hace experimentar sensaciones provenientes de diferentes sentidos a la vez ante un solo estímulo perceptivo. Según la Real Academia Española de la Lengua, la palabra sinestesia proviene del griego y está formada por la unión de los vocablos “syn”, que significa unión y “aísthesis”, que se traduce como sensaciones, entonces podríamos definirlo en conjunto como “Sensaciones unidas”.

Es importante mencionar que esta condición usualmente se manifiesta por la aparición de colores y formas vinculados a los sentidos del oído, el olfato, el gusto o el tacto, aunque también existen otras más raras, como la tacto-espejo, en la que el sinestésico experimenta las mismas sensaciones que otra persona a la que está viendo en ese momento. Por ejemplo, si la otra persona siente dolor, el sinestésico también lo siente.

En el caso de la música, la melodía tiene el poder de provocar reacciones sensitivas en el ser humano, capaz de revivir imágenes, lugares, situaciones, recuerdos, personas y por otro lado, en el arte de los olores, una fragancia nos puede hacer visualizar un recuerdo, una situación o un hecho específico.

Hablando de la historia de la música clásica y el arte, nos encontramos con muchos casos de compositores, escritores y pintores sinestésicos, como es el caso del compositor Richard Wagner y su peculiar forma de escribir partituras con los colores que le representaban los sonidos que escuchaba. Por otro lado, esta el caso de Oliver Messiaen, uno de los compositores más importantes del siglo XX, amante del sonido de los pájaros, su sinestesia le permitía ver colores por medio del sonido y viceversa, Massiaen hizo un sinnúmero de referencias a la luz, el color y lo visual en algunos nombres de sus composiciones. Su condición lo llevó tan profundo que decía…

“Uno de los grandes dramas de mi vida consiste en decirle a la gente que veo colores cuando escucho música, y ellos no ven nada, nada en absoluto. Eso es terrible. Y ellos no me creen. Cuando escucho música  yo veo colores. Los acordes se expresan en términos de color para mí. Estoy convencido de que uno puede expresar esto al público.”

Podríamos quedarnos mucho tiempo platicando y citando muchas experiencias de gran variedad de artistas con esta condición quienes nos han deleitado con obras magníficas, pero me gustaría profundizar un poco más en como las personas con esta condición asocian los sentidos específicamente con el sonido y/o a la música.

En general las personas sinestésicas asocian automáticamente un color a cada nota, incluyendo las diferentes tonalidades, pero una característica muy interesante es que siempre asociarán la misma tonalidad musical con los mismos colores o misma tonalidad de color.

La diferencia radica en cada individuo sinestésico, esto es, cada persona con esta condición tiene su propia asociación, es decir, que uno escucha una nota y ve un mismo color siempre, otra persona sinestésica puede ver el mismo u otro diferente, pero siempre el mismo asociado a cada nota o tono.

Lo que sucede con las personas que no somos sinestesicas, es que estas asociaciones entre colores y música no se producen de manera automática, así que son variables porque se pueden ver influidas por diversos factores como pueden ser el estado de ánimo, o asociaciones basadas en un aprendizaje de la infancia modificadas por la memoria, aunque en general, la mayoría de las personas ya tenemos ciertas asociaciones como por ejemplo, sonidos graves con colores oscuros y colores más claros al escuchar sonidos más agudos.

¿Cómo es que las frecuencias de los sonidos y los olores afectan de diferente forma al comportamiento humano?

Las frecuencias altas influirían de forma incisiva en las funciones cognitivas, como sería en el pensamiento, la percepción o la memoria. Las frecuencias medias, en procesos neurovegetativos, como el ritmo cardíaco, o en las propias emociones; mientras que los sonidos de frecuencias bajas influirían en la conducta motora.

El Dr. Septimus Piesse quien fue un notable perfumista y químico francés, creó una manera única de combinar olor y sonido. Igualó una nota o sonido determinado con un olor en particular. Comenzando por el Do1 de la clave de fa en 4ª línea, es decir, 3 octavas por debajo del Do central, el Dr. Piesse asignó a las notas graves, olores pesados y a las más agudas, olores penetrantes. Las combinaciones de varias notas, a su vez, dan lugar a un acorde. Piesse, produjo una combinación o mezcla de aromas diferentes generando una armonía de olores, de ahí surgió el “Odophone” (Órgano de perfume), un instrumento impresionante el cual pareciera un órgano pero en lugar de emitir sonido cuando se presionan las teclas, éste desprende olores. Seria una experiencia inimaginable poder escuchar y sentir la música por medio de aromas.

De la misma manera que había constructores sinestésicos de instrumentos, que en su fabricación no sólo buscaban los sonidos de mayor pureza, sino que también desprendieran “aromas” y “luces de colores”, hay compositores con la misma condición sinestésica que se refleja claramente en su obra, como el caso del compositor austriaco Franz Liszt, en 1842, cuando fue Kapellmeister (maestro de capilla) en Viena, acostumbraba a pedir a sus orquestas “Un poco más azul por favor, este tono lo requiere” o “un profundo violeta, por favor… no tan rosa”, en pasajes que él consideraba más apropiado interpretarse con un color.

El comportamiento humano es maravilloso definitivamente entre mas sensible y creativo seas, puedes llegar a sentir y experimentar sensaciones muy intensas, esto me hace reflexionar la importancia que existe en ser la persona responsable de transmitir al público una pieza musical. Como ingenieros de monitores, por ejemplo, constantemente nos enfrentamos con explicaciones muy peculiares de cómo “escuchan los músicos” y como se refieren a sonidos o sensaciones especificas, seria todo un reto trabajar con una persona sinestética y poder transportarte a ese mundo de olores, colores y sonidos que despierta la música.

 

Referencias bibliográficas:

-El compositor Sinestésico: Oliver Messiaen

– Scents & Sensibility: Perfume in Victorian Literary Culture

– Sinestesia: música y color

– Sinergia Entre Arte y Ciencia

 

It’s Not Just A Phase

 

Understanding Phase Relationships in Constructive and Destructive Interferences

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound? If an engineer walks between two loudspeaker systems and says it sounds “phase-y,” is there really a “phase issue”? What does that even mean?? In the world of audio, music results from the amazing amalgamation when science and art combine together. Descriptive terms often define subjective experiences whose origin can either be proven or disproven objectively using tools such as measurement devices that utilize dual-channel FFTs (Fast-Fourier Transforms). The problem that we audio engineers face when dealing with the physics of sound is that we deal with wavelengths in orders of magnitude from the size of a coin to the size of a building (see my blog on acoustics here for more info). How two different waveforms interact depends on many factors including frequency, amplitude, and phase. Not to mention what medium they are traveling through, what atmospheric conditions exist, and more…The point being is that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer because most of the time the answer is frequency and phase-dependent. When two correlated audio signals at the same frequency combine, do they really create 6dB of gain from summation? Well, the answer is…it depends.

Back To The Basics

Before we go any further, let’s talk about what comprises a complex waveform. In 1807, Jean-Baptiste Fourier wrote in his memoir On the Propagation of Heat in Solid Bodies [1] his theory that any complex waveform can be broken down into many component sine waves that, when reconstructed, form the original waveform. This theory would be known as a Fourier Transform [1]. The Fourier Transform forms the basis of the math that allows us to perform the signal processing in dual-channel Fast-Fourier Transforms, which in turn allow us to take data in the time domain and analyze it in the frequency domain. Without going too far down the rabbit hole of FFTs, let’s take what Jean-Baptiste Fourier has taught us about complex waveforms and know that by analyzing examples from simple sine waves, we can apply the same concepts to the behavior of more complex waveforms, but layered together to create an end result. The question then becomes what happens when you layer these simple sine waves together?

Let’s narrow our focus from complex waveforms to sine waves and first define some basic terminology such as constructive and destructive interference. When two correlated waveforms, whether it be discrete values of an electronic signal or a mathematical representation of air oscillations, combine together to create an increase in amplitude of the combining individual waveforms, it is known as constructive interference.

Figure A

When the two correlated signals combine to form a decrease in amplitude, this is called destructive interference. In the worst-case scenario, with enough offset in time or a polarity reversal of one of the individual waveforms, the waveform results in complete cancellation.

 

Figure B

Figure C

What’s important to note in these graphics is that both waveforms have the exact same frequency and amplitude (for the sake of this example 1000 Hz or 1kHz), but the difference is their offset in time or polarity. In Figure A, both waves start at the same time with the same amplitude so that the sum results in constructive interference which we audibly perceive as a +6dB increase in amplitude. In Figure B one wave starts at time zero while the other starts with a 0.0005s offset in time, this results in a phase offset of 180 degrees (don’t worry we will get into this more) which results in theoretical perfect cancellation of the two waveforms. Similarly in Figure C, the two waveforms start at the same time zero, but one wave has a polarity reversal where the one form starts at the crest of the wave and the other starts at the trough of the wave. This also results in a theoretical perfect cancellation, but it is important to note that a polarity reversal does not involve any offset in time. It is a physical (or electronic) “flip” of the waveform that can result from situations like having the + or – leads on a cable going to an opposite terminal on an amplifier, or pins 2 and 3 on one side of an XLR reversed compared to the other side, or the engagement of a polarity reversal switch on a console, etc. It is also important to point out that we are talking about the effects of time offset versus a polarity reversal in simple sine waves. In these cases, the destructive effects cause the same result, but as soon as we talk about complex waveforms we can definitely tell the difference between the two because there is more than one frequency involved.

So we have reviewed the basics of how waves interfere with one another, but we still haven’t explained what phase actually is. We have only talked about what happens when two waves combine and in what circumstances they will do so constructively or destructively.

In The Beginning, There Was A Circle

In order to really understand what we are talking about when we are talking about phase, we are going to dive even further back into our basic understanding of sound. Not just sound, but how we represent a wave in mathematical form. Recall that sound, in and of itself, is the oscillation of molecules (typically) air traveling through a medium and for us humans we perceive the oscillations moving the organs in our ears at rates between 20Hz to 20,000Hz (if we are lucky). We represent the patterns of this movement in mathematical form as sine waves at different frequencies (remember what Fourier said earlier about complex waveforms?). Because of the cyclical nature of these waves, i.e. the wave repeats itself after a given period, one period of the wave can be thought of as a circle unwound across a graph.

A sine wave can be thought of as an unwound circle

This concept blew my mind when I first put these two things together. The magic behind this is that many cyclical behaviors in nature from light to quantum particles can be represented through wave behavior! WOW! So now that we know that a wave is really just a circle pulled apart across the period of a given frequency (more on that to come!), we can break up a circle in terms of degrees or radians (for math and formal scientific calculations). Conversely, we can indicate what position at a particular point along that waveform is in terms of degrees or radians along the circle. This is the phase at that given position. In the analog world, we talk about phase in relation to time because it took some amount of time, however small, for the waveform to get to that particular position. So how do we figure out what the phase is at a given time for a given frequency sine wave? Time for some more math!

Three Important Formulas in Sound

If you can imprint in your brain three formulas that can be applied to sound for the rest of your life, I highly recommend remembering these three (though we will only really go into two in this blog):

1/T=f or 1/f=T

1/period of a wave in seconds (s) = frequency (in cycles per second or Hertz (Hz))

or

1/frequency of a wave (Hz) = period of a wave (in seconds)

λ =c/f

wavelength (feet or meters) = speed of sound (feet per second ft/s or meters per second m/s) / frequency (Hz)

**must use the same units of distance on both sides of the equation!! (feet or meters)**

V=IR (Ohm’s Law (DC version))

Voltage (Volts) =Current (Amperes) x Resistance (Ohms)

The first equation is very important because it shows the reciprocal relationship between the period of a wave (the overall duration in time for one cycle to complete) to the frequency of the wave (in cycles per second or Hertz). Let’s go back to the example from before of the 1,000Hz sine wave. Using one form of the first equation T=1/f we find that for a 1,000Hz sine wave:

1/1,000 Hz = 0.001 s

The period of a 1,000Hz sine wave is 0.001s or 1 millisecond (1ms). We can visualize this as the amount of time it takes to complete one full cycle and travel from 0 to 360 degrees around the 1,000Hz circle as 1ms or 0.001s.

 

1,000Hz sine wave with a period of 1ms

 

The thing is, in most scenarios, phase doesn’t have much meaning to us unless it’s in relation to something else. Time doesn’t have much meaning to us unless it’s in relation to another value. For example, we aren’t late for a meeting unless we had to be there at noon and it is now 2:00 pm. If the meeting had no time reference, would we ever be late? Similarly, a signal by itself can start at any given position in-phase/time and it’s just the same signal…later in time…But if you combine two signals, one starting at one time and the other offset by some value in time, now we start to have some interaction.

Since we now understand phase as a value for a position in time along the period of a waveform, we can do a little math magic to figure out what the phase offset is based on the time offset between two waveforms. Let’s take our 1,000Hz waveform and now copy it and add the two together, except this time one of the waveforms is offset by 0.0005s or 0.5ms. If we take the ratio of the time offset divided by the period of the 1,000Hz waveform (0.001s or 1ms) and multiply that by 360 degrees, we get the phase offset between the two signals in degrees.

(360 degrees )*((time offset in seconds / period of wave in seconds))

(360)*((0.0005)(0.001))=180 degrees

That means that when two copies of the same correlated 1,000Hz signals are offset by 0.5ms they are offset by 180 degrees! If you combined these two at equal amplitude you would get destructive interference resulting in near-perfect cancellation! Knowing the frequency of interacting waves is only part of the picture. We can see that the phase relationship between correlated signals is equally important to understanding whether the interference will be constructive or destructive. It should be noted here that in all these examples we are talking about combining correlated signals of equal amplitude. If we have an amplitude or level offset between the signals, that will affect the summation as well! So how do we know whether a phase offset or offset in time will be destructive or constructive? Is it arbitrary? The answer is: it depends on the frequency!

Understanding Phase In Relation to Frequency

Remembering our 1,000Hz sine wave has a period of 1ms based on using the formula for the reciprocal relationship between frequency and period, let’s find the period of a 100Hz waveform:

1/f=T

1/100=0.01s or 10ms

That means the period of a 100Hz wave is ten times longer than the period of a 1,000Hz wave! A time offset between two copies of the same frequency wave at equal amplitude will have phase offsets dependent on their frequency because of their different periods. For example, the 0.5ms offset between two 1,000 Hz waveforms results in a 180 degree offset, but if we do the math for the same offset in time between two 100Hz waves,

(360 degrees)(0.0005s/0.01s)=18 degrees

That’s only an offset of 18 degrees! Will an 18 degree offset of two correlated sine waves at 100Hz have a constructive or destructive effect? (Remember for the sake of simplicity we are assuming equal amplitude for these examples). In order to understand this, let’s look back at a basic drawing of a sine wave:

Figure D

So here is the really cool part: much like we can use a sine wave or a circle to represent the cyclical nature of the period of a wave, we can also use a sine wave to describe the relationship between identical waveforms as well! Or rather we can use a sine wave/circle to describe the phase relationship between the two waves as an offset between the two waveforms because the effects are also cyclical in nature! We just went through the math of how different time offsets equate to a different phase relationship depending on frequency, so if you were to look at the effects of a time offset across a spectrum of frequencies, you would see a cyclical waveform of that phase response itself as it changes depending on the frequency! It’s like a sine wave inception!!

In Figure D we see the markings for phase along the waveform or unwrapped circle as we learned earlier. We have also learned that these positions in time will change depending on the period/frequency of the waveform. Visually we can see as you approach 90 degrees on the sine wave, the slope of the wave increases up until roughly the 60-degree point where it begins to “flatten” out. This means if we were interpreting this as the phase response between two correlated signals, the resultant wave would still be increasing in amplitude. The summation of two identical, correlated waveforms at this offset will still result in addition. From +6dB when there is 0 degree offset since the two waveforms begin at the same time, up to 3dB at 90 degrees. Yet after 90 degrees, the slope begins to decrease, indicating that when we combine two identical waveforms with an offset in this range we begin losing summation and enter destructive interference until we reach 180 degrees, which results in theoretical perfect cancellation. As we continue our journey along the period of this waveform, we continue with destructive interference to a lessening degree until the trough of the waveform “flattens” out again at 270 degrees where we again have reached +3dB summation. After 270 degrees we increase in amplitude until we reach 360 degrees at which point we have made it all the way around the circle and the entire period of the waveform to 6dB of summation again. Merlijn Van Veen has a great graphic of the “wheel of phase” on his website that offers a visual representation of the relative gain (in decibels) between two identical, correlated signals as indicated by their phase relationship [2].

What this means is that whether two correlated signals will combine to form a destructive or constructive resultant waveform will depend on their frequency, amplitude, and phase relationship to one another. It’s easy to extrapolate that as you start talking about complex waveforms interacting, you are managing multiple frequencies at different amplitudes so describing the phase relationships between the interactions becomes more and more convoluted.

And Now Comb Filters

So now that we have come back from this world of mathematical representations of real-world behaviors, how can we actually apply this to the real world? Recall from the beginning of this blog the example of the engineer walking between two loudspeakers and declaring it to sound “phase-y”. Here is where we can finally understand what the engineer is hearing by using our new understanding of what phase actually means to describe the audible peaks and dips of the comb filter. A comb filter results from the combination of two wide-spectrum signals with some offset in the time domain. In fact, any change in level or phase relationship between the two correlated signals will affect the severity of the comb filter. Let’s imagine that the engineer is listening at a position equidistant from the two loudspeakers that are spaced equal distance apart from their acoustic centers and both have fairly wide dispersion patterns. For the sake of relative simplicity, we will make them directional point sources with a pattern wide enough to fully overlap each other. Let’s then imagine that both loudspeakers are playing the same identical broadband pink noise signal to both loudspeakers. With both loudspeakers playing identical signals at identical time, the engineer should hear an additive 6dB of summation from the two signals adding together. If one of the speakers gets pushed back roughly 1.125ft or gets 1ms of time delay added electronically via the DSP, the engineer will hear the resultant comb filter at the listening position. There will be a 1,000Hz spacing between nulls of this comb filter. We can figure that out using two of our handy physics equations from earlier. For the time offset of 1ms:

f=1/T so 1/0.001s=1,000Hz

And if we physically pushed back the speaker about 1ft, we can use the formula for wavelength to find the frequency:

Wavelength = speed of sound / frequency

or in this case, by doing some algebra we can rewrite that as:

Frequency = speed of sound / wavelength

The speed of sound at “average sea level”, which is roughly 1 atmosphere or 101.3 kiloPascals [3]), at 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), and at 0% humidity is approximately 343 meters per second or approximately 1,125 feet per second [4] (see more about this in my blog on Acoustics). If we calculate this using the speed of sound in ft/s since our measurement of the displacement is in feet, we again get the resultant comb filter spacing of 1,000Hz:

1,125 ft/s / 1.125ft = 1,000Hz

Both equations allow us to predict or explain anomalies that we hear. These equations allow us to understand how to calculate the general behavior of comb filters! Now we can take this one step further by talking about subwoofer spacing.

There is a common trope in live sound of spacing subs within a “quarter-wavelength apart”. Using our knowledge of how the phase relationship between two correlated waveforms will be frequency-dependent, we can understand on a basic level (without taking into account room acoustics and other complex acoustical calculations) how if you take a critical frequency say of 60Hz and use that as your “frequency of interest” if you stay within 60 degrees of time offset between the two subwoofers, they will still result in summation to some degree at that frequency.

The truth is that understanding the interactions of complex waveforms involves not just doing these calculations based on one frequency of interest. We are dealing with complex waveforms composed of many different frequencies all in orders of magnitude different from one another with behavior that changes depending on what frequency bandpass you are talking about. Not to mention also including the interactions of room acoustics, atmospheric conditions, and other external factors. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but by breaking down complex waveforms into their component sine waves and using the advancements in technology and analysis tools to crunch the numbers for us, we can use all the tools at our disposal to see the bigger picture of what’s happening when two waveforms interact.

Endnotes:

[1] https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201003/physicshistory.cfm

[2] https://www.merlijnvanveen.nl/en/study-hall/169-displacement-is-key

[3] (pg. 345) Giancoli, D.C. (2009). Physics for Scientists & Engineers with Modern Physics. Pearson Prentice Hall.

[4] http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-airpressure.htm

Resources:

American Physical Society. (2010, March). This Month in Physics History March 21, 1768: Birth of Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier. APS News. https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201003/physicshistory.cfm

Everest, F.A. & Pohlmann, K. (2015). Master Handbook of Acoustics. 6th ed. McGraw-Hill Education.

Lyons, R.G. (2011). Understanding Digital Signal Processing. 3rd ed. Prentice-Hall: Pearson Education.

van Veen, M. (2019). Displacement is Key. Merlijn van Veen. https://www.merlijnvanveen.nl/en/study-hall/169-displacement-is-key

 

Work/Life Balance and the Importance of Mental Health

 

In these work-from-home times, they can be challenging. What a lot of people don’t mention is how important mental health is. Some employers or clients will treat you like garbage and expect you to act on their every beck and call. Especially when you’re new to an industry. I’m a freelance sound designer and I’ve had my fair share of clients who call me at 2-4 AM asking me why I’m not working on their film. Calling me while I’m grocery shopping on the weekend or seeing a post of mine at 10 PM on social media stating I’m seeing a movie and they’re flabbergasted I’m not working on their film 24/7. That’s an unhealthy relationship and they don’t always tell you that creating boundaries, even as a freelancer, is important. It may seem like you need to please every client of yours, take every client, or if you deny them or create a boundary, there is the fear of never getting work again. I’ve been in that position. But, all those all-nighters can take a toll on your body, your mental health, and so much more.

Freelancing is a delicate situation sometimes

You’re the one in constant contact with the client or director and you don’t have a studio to back you up or protect you. Jobs ebb and flow and sometimes you don’t know when the next job will come. But, mental health and rest is important. Even if you’re just starting out in the industry. It’s not worth it to wear yourself out on the free projects or low-budget films where a director can’t make up their own mind of what they want. I used to cave into the demands of clients and as I’ve gotten older, those all-nighters are getting harder and harder to do. I spoke to friends and decided that yes, I need some time to myself. Take a vacation after a project is done, even if it’s for a day.

Laying down boundaries

With directors that I won’t answer during certain times of day (I need to sleep!), and that it’s okay to lay down the ground rules: that maybe their budget won’t get them the level of work they wanted. Appease them sure, but also tell them upfront what they’re in for. That one person can only do so much in a certain amount of time. We’re not miracle workers with magic buttons to fix all their audio problems. It’s okay to tell them that what they’re asking for is unreasonable. That rushing out something overnight can cause problems in the long run. I’ve found that even with the most toxic of clients if I’m clear with my communication and even ask for a day extension, they’ll happily grant it. Remember, you’re working with the director and helping make their vision come true. It’s not your film. It’s a collaboration but you also must think of yourself and your body. Get outside and take a walk, get some sun, chill out with your favorite movie, book, or video game, phone a friend. Their project isn’t worth killing yourself over it. Take breaks from your computer and take breaks from hearing the same audio over and over. If you lose out on that client, did you really want to work with them again if they don’t even allow a mental health day for you? If you’re overstressed, you’re not going to perform to the best of your abilities.

Work/life balance is a hard thing to achieve in the world of film. Anytime I ask for advice on it, it seems to be one of the hardest questions to answer. Also remember that each person is different, and each person’s idea of work/life balance is different. These bits of advice may not even work for you! They call at 3 AM and it’s not an emergency, it’s okay to not pick up the phone. They can wait till you wake up. Keep open communications or maybe even put it in your contract that way they can’t go back on it later if it were just said verbally.

Take care of yourself!

5 Free Essential Plugins for Music Production

 

Often with music production, external plugins and software instruments can get quite expensive. There is a vast number of synths, vocoders, compressors, etc. on the market but I’ve decided to list my top 5 essential plugins that are FREE!

 

LABS by Spitfire Audio

Spitfire audio makes some incredible virtual instruments that sound extremely realistic although they can be more on the expensive side. However, they have released a virtual instrument collection called LABS that is completely free to download and new sounds and instruments get uploaded regularly. LABS is super easy to use and there is a huge range of different instruments available and they are compatible with any DAW so I recommend checking them out.

Komplete Start by Native Instruments 

On the topic of virtual instruments, Native have released their own package called Komplete Start.  They have over 2000 sounds and you get everything from drums and synths to unique sounds and textures. It’s a really great deal if you’re just starting out or even just want some more instruments and sounds on your roster

Valhalla DSP

Valhalla makes some incredible reverbs and delays but did you know they also offer some free stuff? The Valhalla Space Modulator, Freq Echo, and SuperMassive can be downloaded instantly from their website and they are super easy to use. Each with its own unique quality sound you can definitely add this to any track to add space and depth to your mix.

Iota Mini by AngelicVibes

Now if you’re into beat making or even producing electronic or hip hop music this is the plug-in for you. It’s really easy to use and comes with some remarkable pre-set sounds. You can make an entire track just from this one plugin as it contains drums, keys, guitars and more.

Fresh Air by Slate Digital 

The final free plug-in is from Slate digital and it’s called Fresh Air. Now Slate says that this is a high-frequency processor and it really does give your track a bit of air and lift in the higher frequencies. I like to use it on vocals it can sound very nice. It has a great way of just opening up the sound so definitely give it a try.

Hopefully, you will find at least one if not all of these plugins useful. Happy producing!

 

Maud

Location:
Norway

How did you become a producer?
It took me some time to realise that I actually could be in charge of all the creative processes of making my music. I don’t think anyone told me this growing up, at least no one really encouraged me to do this on my own. At some point, I was tired of not finding the «right» producer, as well as not being able to explain how I wanted my music to sound, and that’s when I decided to learn how to produce my own music.

What advice would you give students either going into school or just graduating about getting a job in this industry?
As we all know, the music business is very tough and the competition is hard. The best thing you can do is stop comparing yourself to other artists or producers. Try to only focus on your own path and achievements. It’s easy to get frustrated when things aren’t working out in the beginning, but remember that everything is a part of the process. If a release doesn’t turn out the way you expected, or you don’t get the attention you wanted, that doesn’t mean your whole career is at stake.

What are the major qualities required to be a good sound engineer in your opinion?
As a sound engineer, I think it’s important to respect the vision of the artist you’re working with, while also increasing the quality of the song or product you’re working on. In this case, I’m both the producer and sound engineer, and when I’m creating music I usually produce and mix at the same time. To me, these roles complement each other.

What is your recording/producing philosophy?
Being a producer is not only about knowing the technical stuff, it’s also about knowing your artistic vision and staying true to that all the way.

What producers/engineers inspire/inspired you?
Grimes, Wondagurl, Oklou, Anetha & Smerz

Renee Goust – Re-Sister

A bilingual album by, for, and about women that represents us in Mexican and American folk genres

 

In early 2020, Renee Goust received word that she was selected as a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Women’s Fund. Even before it was announced, Renee and I were already discussing how we were going to record this album – an album of all women. On March 12th, 2020, the news was made public:

If that date looks familiar, it’s because at least in New York City, this was the day where the entire city shut down. The city that never sleeps was in fact going into a deep sleep. What did this mean for us? A complete revamping of what was going to be an album recorded in a completely different way from what she had done in the past. 

The Backstory 

Renee and I met through my husband. They played a gig together, and we became instant friends. Renee being a more techie artist than I’d worked with in the past, we instantly began discussing microphones, techniques, and how we’d work this album once she got the funding. 

We would record this album as live as possible. This meant all musicians together on one day, as isolated as possible, but playing together. If you’ve been reading along with me, you’ll remember that I worked for a long time in live concert recording in classical and jazz. I’ve adapted a lot of that to how I record any genre. I find recording live lends itself to some of the best performances from musicians. The vibe, they feed off each others’ energy and it’s something that is hard to replicate in overdubs. Not to say you can’t get amazing recordings in other ways, as we’ll see, but if I have a choice…

So Renee and I discussed the plan. She and the musicians would rehearse for a couple of weeks, and we would go into the studio and knock out each tune in no time. 

The Best-Laid Plans

When the lockdown started we had no idea how long this would go on, but we knew that she had deliverable deadlines once she got the grant (which were pushed back a couple of times for obvious reasons). So at first, we said, no problem, we’ll do it later. 

Then, two pretty big realizations happened. 

So, we were forced to make new plans. 

We had several pre-production talks. Many of her musicians had fled New York City. This meant not only were we not recording altogether, but we would have to outsource many of the musicians recording in other locations. 2020 was the year of realizing remote recording can and will work. We made a very detailed excel mapping out who needed to record where, dates for those files to get to me, and we chose a week to block out a studio in New York City and record the bulk of everything we needed with a few days sprinkled after to get our main vocals recorded.

Why did we choose to do it all in a week? Because by this time we were in late summer, the city was still heavily shut down, but as each month passed, the closer I was to having a baby. That meant making a schedule to meet protocols for cleaning and sanitizing between musicians coming in to record and not leaving any surprises because anything we missed could mean derailing the deadline. 

We chose October since it left time for Renee to get her charts together, for the musicians to rehearse, but also leave time to do things in post. I would be about 8 months pregnant which felt a little safer in terms of how we would manage risks with the pandemic.

How it All Went Down

The drums for Resister were all recorded at Gamma Studio in Mexico. I personally don’t like to micro-manage other engineers (because I know what it feels like). The only notes I gave was the more mics on the drum kit the better – something I learned from the great Bobby Sanabria, drummer, and educator who mic’d every single bell for a total of 18 tracks on just drums (another story for another time). 

Our marathon week of recording in person was done at The Buddy Project in Astoria, Queens.

 

Aside from it being a super comfortable space, I lived close by, and since the pregnancy was a risk factor, it was very convenient. We tracked bass, all guitars, clarinet, piano, accordion, percussion, and vocals. And guess what, we even had another pregnant musician. (due the exact same day!)

 

 

We left absolutely nothing to chance. We didn’t work overtime. We had lunch.

And we met every deadline. Because we were organized.

 

Every musician was extremely professional

 

Recording Separately

The caveat with recording every instrument separately and receiving files remotely is… THERE. IS. A. TON. OF. EDITING. Like a lot. 

I always prided myself on being a great editor, but after this year I could probably do it with a sandwich in my hand and not even listen to it. (Kidding). Working with a schedule like this meant there wasn’t a whole lot of time to edit between sessions. We did build time in, but as the week wore one, we ran out of time. It was more important to take advantage of beautiful mics and studio space because as much as it would suck on the back end, we could in fact edit later.

 

 

And edit we did. This has nothing to do with musicianship, it’s just when people don’t play together, regardless of a click, they aren’t going to get into the same groove. Even if they’re overdubbing – to some extent – there will be editing involved. Every layer you add on top of something that hasn’t been edited or comped makes even more work.  As in the tune in the photo, we recorded a lot more than we needed and then had to sit down and produce the track, looping, and editing what we needed for certain sections. There is of course beauty in not over-editing, but you really can’t get around it when you record separately.

 

 

Ready to Mix

We got what we needed.  We’re now in December. Countdown to giving birth T – 27 days. Our game plan was to get everything prepped for mixing. All tracks locked, so when I was ready post-birth, I could mix. Renee’s original release date was September 2021, so we had time with the exception of her first single, Diosa, which would release in February. Plenty of time, but there are 8 tracks to prep before the engineer is completely out of commission for at least 6-8 weeks or more. 

So priority number one before Christmas:

Diosa

What Actually Happened

Diosa is the biggest track on the album. 72 tracks. A combination of electronic and acoustic instruments. Real drums with electronic drums, flugabone, trumpets, tuba, congas – 2 features with one recorded in Mexico sliding into home base on December 15th. 

Our original goal was to have this mixed before I had the baby. We were making progress, but it was now Christmas week. We were out of time. I submitted a “working mix” to Renee to give her an idea of where we were. Was that a good idea? Probably not. Sending working mixes tend to backfire because it stresses all parties out. But, at the time, I thought let me give her an idea of where we are. It is much better in some scenarios to explain being late than to submit something incomplete.

So what happened? I got a very nervous voice memo about what we were going to do because she wasn’t happy with the direction we were going. And she was right. It wasn’t even worth giving notes. So at 3:30 am, from the hospital before being admitted for induction, I wrote Renee an email to give me two weeks post-birth to recover a bit, and I promised to take this to the finish line. I will note here that I actually wanted to pass it off because I didn’t think I could do it. I knew the first weeks’ post-birth are a cluster fuck, but my husband encouraged me to finish.

And so, two weeks after giving birth. I did in fact get Diosa to the finish line.

 

 

Perspective

Sometimes a bit of space from the thing you’ve been killing yourself to do is good for you. Renee decided to move up her release date of the album, so we moved our mix dates accordingly. That meant a lot of rushing and rushing doesn’t necessarily yield the results you want. At one point, we hit a wall. And instead of rushing towards that finish line, we had a conversation where we both acknowledged that neither one of us was enjoying this process. We were both trying to meet unrealistic deadlines, and it was time to come to terms with that. We stepped back. I brought in an assistant to help me with 2 tracks (thanks Taylor Pollock).

The two tracks we had left for the end were two of the other big tracks – left for the end due to things beyond our control. Our Anthem, boasting 48 tracks, a featured artist in San Francisco, and a massive amount of guitars, wasn’t gelling. A mix of rock, folk, and surf guitar, this was one of my favorite tracks on the album, and I was so excited to work on it. I desperately wanted it to sound good. But, I was so tired at this point; I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working. 

So once we took the time and space to do things right, I took another listen and decided to mix the track in mono. Mono helped me identify the problem spots, the tracks that were conflicting with others. Once I found a place for everything in mono, I popped my A/D into stereo, and everything started to fall into place. We hit our deadline.

The Bigger Picture

Resister was mastered by Margaret Luthar out of 1979 in Nashville and was released on May 29th, 2021. I always say I gave birth twice this year. One to Isabel, and another to Resister. 

The most important thing to me about this album was what the album actually meant. Sure, it was an album of all women and non-binary folks. And yea, it was an album of feminist content uplifting women’s voices. 

But the bigger picture was what happened behind the scenes. It was an album of women SUPPORTING other women. There were so many opportunities for Renee to walk away and complete this album with someone else, but she didn’t. Her engineer got pregnant, and she saw it through until the end. And the only way this business can continue to uplift women is by supporting them no matter what. 

This album will always be special to me because I did it very pregnant and mixed it with a newborn. Did you know that in the ‘60s, labels were hesitant to sign women artists and groups because of the fear that they would get pregnant and not finish out their contracts? 

Look at how far we’ve come. We can, actually, do it all.

 

Resister Credits: 

 

With support from The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office & The New York Foundation for the Arts @madein_ny and @nyfacurrent 🙏🏽

 

Tips for Touring

 

Within the past couple of months, life has started to pick up, and start dates for live events seem more and more like true beginnings and not the “fingers crossed!” of last year. But after a year and a half, the landscape looks a little different. People who had been on the road for decades suddenly had extra time at home and realized that they didn’t want to head back. Others who were on the cusp of starting their careers can finally see opportunities pop up and are ready to hop on the road.

If you’ve never been on tour before, here are some tips and tricks to get you started. (For clarity’s sake, I’ve only toured in the theatre world. I would assume that some of this translates to concerts, but I’m not saying that it absolutely does.)

Most of the tour advice boils down to: don’t be an idiot and don’t be an asshole

If nothing else, remember that. So much of our life is dealing with different personalities, across departments, the touring company at large, and your local crew. If you and the people around you are pleasant to work with, your day gets immediately better. So, keep in mind:

Moving on to the nuts and bolts of touring

When you start a new tour, you’ll have a couple of weeks of shop prep when you head up to the NYC area and get all the gear (speakers, console, com, processing, RF, cables, etc.) and put it all together.

This also applies to cases. If you can, color code labels according to the case’s destination

 

As you start moving the show, another set of organizational skills comes into play. You develop a flexible routine, which sounds like an oxymoron, but the reality is that there will always be a few cities thrown in the mix where things just won’t be able to follow the usual plan. However, the individual tasks in your routine should retain a flow that you follow as much as possible.

Finally, some general housekeeping tips

I’ll say it again: if you follow nothing else on this list, don’t be an idiot and don’t be an asshole. Some common sense and a positive attitude go a long way in an industry that is so much smaller than you think.

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