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The Problem with Being Called Bossy

 

I was recently listening to an episode of The Guilty Feminist podcast titled ‘Being Bossy with Carrie Quinlan.’ It is quite possible you are already rolling your eyes due to the use of that awful B-word. Every woman and young girl has been called bossy at some point in their life, and the connotation that comes with it is not a good one. I love this podcast and this particular episode piqued my interest. Being too emotional was also brought up, which might evoke a second eye roll from some readers.

I want to get straight to the point on why these kinds of terms and phrases are awful and damaging. The word bossy and leader are two very different words. Each elicits different feelings, have separate definitions, and can be seen as opposing. You want to be one and not the other. Although, if we look at these words through a feminist lens, we can see a problem. Though these words are different, they are often applied to people who are synonymous. Men are rarely called bossy, while most female-identifying people can attest to being called it at least once in their lifetime. I don’t want to make any blanket statements. The word bossy is often reserved for women and girls who are exhibiting leadership characteristics.

It is incredibly discouraging, and I have been labeled it so much more with each leadership role I have taken. Six-year-old Sarah was bossy, and sometimes twenty-four-year-old Sarah can be a bit hot-headed. However, when it comes to my work as a designer and engineer, I try my hardest to represent myself in a confident and professional manner. When I am told I am bossy or overbearing, I take it as a blow to my work ethic and how I am managing my role as a leader or project manager. This is simply not the case.

Then there is you are being too emotional phrase. I am going to share a personal story of why this phrase is detrimental. Especially to those who work in an artistic industry and are passionate about what they do.

A few years ago, I was presenting design work I had done for a play that I felt a deep connection to. It had female lead characters that represented power and inspiration. Which are all the things I love in a story. I felt confident about the work I had done, but when it came time to present, I was overly concerned about appearing too emotional and being seen as unprofessional. This was the first time in my educational career where this idea and fear had materialized. I was finally able to show my feelings and connections for my work and the script, but I had not gotten over that fear that momentarily held me back. It is devastating that I perceived my emotions for my work to be unprofessional and therefore felt like I could not be myself and represent the design that I loved.

This is a problem. Being told you are too emotional is a problem. These are words and phrases that have no place in a professional or educational setting. It creates pitfalls for our young professionals who will have to deal with this for the rest of their lives. It is sad, it is discouraging, and it can also be sexist. Women can be leaders, men can be emotionally invested in their work, and vise versa. I implore you to consider this as a participant in the music and audio industry. I beg you to think about those who these phrases affect and how they stifle ambition and creativity. I ask that you leave these words at the door.

This is a brief commentary on my feelings in regard to these issues, but the conversation does not end here. Having these discussions and the ability to talk about concerns and experiences like mine helps our industry become stronger, more inclusive, and more supportive for its members. Organizations like SoundGirls and W.A.M. are wonderful resources when it comes to looking for a sense of support and community where you can have these kinds of conversations. I would also like to extend my email; sjcalver@mtu.edu; if anyone wishes to continue this conversation with me personally. I have a narrative project in development surrounding issues related to female-identifying people and one small portion of that narrative will talk about being bossy and too emotional.

I will say it again in case anyone did not hear it the first time. Women can be leaders, men can be emotionally invested in their work, and vise versa.

 

Pandemic Fatigue 

 

 

With 12 million event industry professionals out of work, everyone is pivoting as fast and as much as they can. With COVID, plus the election, searching for work, physical distancing, zoom call upon zoom call and so much more this has created a new kind of fatigue. Pandemic fatigue.

Many of us are used to extremely long hours, physical labor, and having to adapt on the fly, which means many of us don’t know how to stop, slow down, or how to wait it out; especially having to do it for 6 months plus straight.  Some days I feel more tired than I ever did on a 5-day show run. Self-care in times like these are extremely important.  I know I’ve written about self-care before, however, as 2020 drags on self-care continues to look different for everyone and becomes even more important.

Maintain a routine if you can build a new one if you need to.  I had to build a new routine, otherwise, I found myself not getting dressed and watching way too much tv. A few of the things I have added to my routine are volunteering, cooking/baking, reading for fun, and hanging with my nephews more. Other things you could add are journaling, a new exercise routine, DIY home improvements, or exploring your city.  Build a routine to avoid depression and anxiety. At the same time, it’s ok to give yourself a break and let yourself off the hook; there is a lot going on.

This new routine is about finding a new balance. We are on an informational and emotional roller-coaster. Take a mental break from the news and social media – re-read your favorite childhood book series or start a new one. Explore that park you always drove by, but never stopped at.  Find folks to socialize with who understands what you are going through. Find people who understand you may be emotional. That you might need to adjust the days’ plan due to how you’re feeling or an opportunity you need to follow up on. People who will support you in any way you need. A support system or network in these times are very important and so are the people you lean on when you need to. Find a balance in your routine that provides motivation, but allows you to adjust if things just don’t feel right. Develop your support network too.

Also, if you’re like me you’re on a new and very tight budget.  I had to redo my budget to cut out any ‘frivolous spending’ aka anything extra and fun. Maintaining my living expenses have become a huge concern and point of stress. I probably went a little overboard, cutting anything not needed right away which took a lot of fun activities off the table early. Now that I have rebalanced my budget ensuring I can make ends meet I find I desire to put some of the fun items back in all the while thinking I have to make sure I’m filling my rainy-day account because who knows what unexpected expense could pop up. Luckily my support network reminded me it’s ok to treat myself once in a while too. It is ok to buy that one dinner out or get that new piece of gear.  Try that new food truck that opened down the block. Buy the new shoes you’ve been needing but avoiding.  Yes, the budget is tight but again self-care is important. Find a balance that can be maintained and develop your routine around it.

Develop a routine that includes self-care and a support network. We’ll need to continue to prepare for the long run as we all know our industry will not open up overnight. This is going to take time, patience, and a lot of support.  Find joy where you can, stave off the fatigue, anger, and fear as needed. Rely on your network and your routine to make it through this because we will make it through and we will be stronger as individuals and a stronger industry once we get to do what we love again.

Also, a little PSA

Don’t forget to look for and utilize your local resources for help, many counties and states have assistance programs in place – food shelves, health insurance help, budgeting assistance, or even resume creating and job finding support. Use these systems, they exist for this specific reason and there is no shame in using them to make it through.  These resources can help relaxed financial or job worries and help bring peace of mind during these times.

And take care of your mental health.

 

 

Get Your Head in the Game

Gamify your mental health to get through the tough times

For any number of reasons, our mental health can take a hit from time to time. It can sap all our motivation, and toxic productivity culture (What Is Toxic Productivity and How Do I Avoid It?) and social media crafting (Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy) can exacerbate our feelings of inadequacy. Just keeping on top of daily tasks can feel impossible. However, there are ways to readjust our approach in order to help us feel better about ourselves and still achieve plenty without being overwhelmed.

Mental health is health

We have come a long way in being able to talk openly about mental health, but the attitude that it is separate from physical health, or not real because “it’s all in your head” is still out there. Your brain is an inextricable part of your body. Mental health is health, and there are varying types of illness, levels of severity and various ways to treat it. I like to think of the advice in this post as similar to physiotherapy: it might cure mild symptoms, alleviate more serious ones, or just take the edge off. It can work in conjunction with medication but is no substitute for professional help. I am by no means an expert. These are just methods that help me and hopefully will help you if you need it. Much like physiotherapy; if it makes you feel worse, stop and speak to a medical professional.

We’re all a little disappointed that we aren’t Beyoncé

The most important thing to bear in mind is, as the above Wait But Why article outlines, happiness = reality – expectations. When your mental health is suffering, you need to strip everything right back and start again. The key to happiness (or at least contentment in this context), much like the unofficial motto of some venues I’ve worked in, is to “lower your expectations”. If you’re trying to take over the world but you can’t even bring yourself to get dressed, you’re just going to make yourself feel awful. Be honest with yourself about what you can achieve. Yes, you have the same number of hours in the day as Beyoncé, but you haven’t had a small army of people working for you since you were sixteen. Shut that hustle culture noise down, now is not the time for it.

Stop comparing yourself to others altogether. Your hyper-productive friend won’t know if you mute their Facebook feed about the qualifications they’re getting, the sourdough they’re baking and the Arabic they’re perfecting. Most social media feeds are biased towards the better aspects of life, so you’re comparing your every day to their highlights, and it’s toxic. However, being kind to yourself doesn’t mean you should take the rest of your life off. If you truly can’t get out of bed, ok, try again later. If you can and you just don’t want to, you’re only cheating yourself. Self-care doesn’t always mean indulging yourself. It also means doing the challenging things that you know are good for you.

Plan ahead

Being told to plan ahead might not sound like the most useful advice if you’re already struggling, but if you can, do it. Humans are bad at making good decisions in emergencies. Paradoxically, a cocktail of hormones shut down the brain’s higher functions during the fight or flight response and 80-90% of people freeze or carry on like nothing’s happening during life-threatening situations (What not to do in a disaster and How to survive a disaster). It’s very difficult to form new neural pathways during this response, so the people who do the best are ones who have visualized a plan for what they would do in case of emergency and can fall back on that memory. “Typically, survivors survive not because they are braver or more heroic than anyone else, but because they are better prepared.” This is why I always, always, consciously think through the path to my closest emergency exit every time I board a plane, and why it’s good to have a plan for when you might struggle with your mental health.

Of course, bouts of mental illness are less immediate and longer-term than something like a plane crash, but we are still undergoing stress and operating at reduced capacity. Add in the decision fatigue that our always-on, infinite-choice culture causes and our willpower can disappear. Putting coping mechanisms in place beforehand can help you to deal with it better from the start. I highly recommend everyone read up on cognitive behavioural therapy, whether you experience mental health issues or not. It can really help you understand your mind’s processes and take control of your thoughts and beliefs and could help you to help someone else who is unwell.

You can put together an emergency kit, with vitamins, healthy food with a long shelf life like tinned fish or frozen prepared vegetables, mementos from happy times and anything else that will get you through the day. If you can, automate your recurring payments and put plenty of reminders in your calendar for appointments, deadlines etc. so you don’t have to worry about remembering it all. Knowing you have everything you need to get by will leave you with more energy and focus for the important stuff when things get difficult.

Come up with a list of default decisions, so you don’t have to agonise over inconsequential things when brainpower is at a premium. If you don’t want anything in particular for breakfast, it will be cereal. If you don’t know what to wear, make it jeans and the t-shirt that’s at the top of the drawer. You don’t have to go full Steve Jobs on this (Steve Jobs Always Dressed Exactly the Same. Here’s Who Else Does), but if you don’t have any strong feelings about something, just do the default until you do. There are more important things to think about.

Make a Scotty schedule

“Find something small that you can control, and put steps in place for a positive outcome that you can look forward to. Artist: JM Nieto”

I’m a big fan of the Scotty Principle, especially when it comes to dealing with clients at work: named after the engineer from Star Trek, the idea is you generously overestimate how long a task will take, for example finding a fault in a signal chain. This allows extra time for any unforeseen complications or further issues, and if it is a straightforward fix you seem like a miracle worker. I don’t see it as dishonest, just realistic. People are much happier about a twenty-minute delay if they thought it would take half an hour than if they were promised ten minutes. You can even do it to yourself: instead of trying to smash through your entire to-do list in a day and feeling like a failure when you don’t manage it, really think about how long each item takes, then allow 50%-100% more time. If you finish early, great! More time for something else. If not, you’ve still achieved what you set out to do. If you continually find yourself falling behind, just increase your estimates next time.

Following on from the default decisions approach, make a loose default day plan, but don’t worry if you don’t stick to it. If something comes up you can still be flexible, but it’s much easier to do something if it’s already scheduled in than if you have to think about what you should do and persuade yourself to do it. You’re more likely to go to the gym on a Wednesday morning if Wednesdays are gym days than if you wait until you spontaneously feel like working out. If you’re anything like me, that day might never come.

Break it down

Once you’ve laid the groundwork, you can take each day as it comes. Treat it like a game to keep yourself motivated: give yourself points for every single thing you achieve. Start with the absolute basics. Are you still here? Good. You’ve already won the game for today. Anything else you do is a bonus. If you ever feel that you might not be here tomorrow, talk to someone. I know it’s hard, but it will help. Take your friends who keep posting those “I’ll always listen” statuses up on their offer. You might think that they don’t mean you, or you’d just be wasting their time, but I guarantee you they do mean you and you are worth their time. If you don’t know anyone you can reach out to, call, or message a mental health charity or suicide helpline. Talking to you is exactly what those people want to do, that’s why they’re there.

Next are the bonus rounds. There’s a technique in weightlifting called “training to failure” you keep doing reps of a challenging weight until you can’t lift anymore. Used in moderation, it’s one of the most effective ways to build muscle and improve strength. Using a weight you can lift comfortably will only ever maintain your current strength, you need to keep pushing yourself to grow. The nice thing about this technique is that failure is not only expected but an integral part of the approach. You just see if you can do one more rep, and if you can’t you’ve completed the exercise successfully.

So when it comes to your daily life, break everything down to the smallest components possible. Getting started can be the hardest part, but it’s much easier if the task is tiny. Don’t tell yourself you’re going to do all the admin that’s been building up, don’t even aim to clear all your emails. Start with sorting one email. Then see if you can do another, and keep going until you reach your limit. You might be surprised by how much you can trick yourself into doing. Break your time into smaller chunks too. If you wake up feeling terrible, don’t write the whole day off straight away. Leave it an hour then try again. If you can’t face a task, do something else and come back to it maybe twenty minutes later. If you find your energy dipping, put on some inspirational music like this playlist, look at some cute kitten photos or whatever you need to give yourself a boost, then try again.

When you’re done, don’t berate yourself for not doing more, congratulate yourself for how much you did do. I find keeping a “done” as well as a “to-do” list much more motivating than just deleting stuff from my to-do list. It helps to keep track of everything you’ve achieved instead of it disappearing into the ether, leaving you disappointed by how much is left on the list. Much like training to failure, you shouldn’t push yourself to your limit for every single task. Use it in moderation and combine it with rest periods where you go a bit easier on yourself. You’re in this for the long haul, you don’t want to burn yourself out. Don’t forget that there is absolutely no shame in asking for help, too. Your loved ones will probably be glad to have something practical that they can do for you.

Points mean prizes

Ms Pac-man, by NES–still-the-best.

Gamification is a very effective tool for making things more fun and engaging. Earning points can give you little dopamine hits throughout the day and motivate you to make progress you might not otherwise have made. Apps like Zombies, Run! and Superbetter turns exercise and mental health improvement, respectively, into games to help users, but you can make your own one up tailored to your situation. Set yourself small short-term goals and larger long-term ones, while remaining realistic about your capabilities. When you reach a goal, reward yourself accordingly. If you finish your day’s tasks on time, give yourself an hour playing a video game. If you get a month-long project done, treat yourself to a night at the movies. Try to base your rewards around things you have healthy relationships with. If you have an emotional dependence on spending money don’t promise yourself a shopping spree because it will just make you feel worse in the long run. Pre-portion your incentive (one ice-cream, $20, one hour watching TV), and then enjoy it guilt-free, because you know you budgeted for it and you’ve earned it. Having something to look forward to is a great motivator too, and can make you feel better about the future.

Keep going

When you’re playing a game, it’s tempting to compare your current score to your personal best and try to beat it. If you have the drive to do that today, that’s great, but you shouldn’t expect to earn a higher score every single day. Rest is an integral part of growth and just as important as pushing yourself. Getting fewer points than usual doesn’t mean you aren’t progressing. If a car slows down it’s still getting closer to its destination. Don’t get overwhelmed by the situation and give in. You don’t have to be better than yesterday, you just have to be better than now. And if you can’t do that now, you can try again later. You will get there just the same.

An introduction to FlexPitch in Logic Pro X

A great way to make your vocals stand out is to make sure each note is in pitch and the volume is consistent throughout. A simple and inexpensive way of doing this is by using Logic Pro X’s built-in Flex Pitch and Time.

To start with click on the show/hide flex when your vocal is opened.

Once you’ve enabled Flex you want to select Flex Pitch from the list of options.

Once this has been selected you will now see the vocal take appear as a range of blue rectangles which corresponds with the note being sung or played. To make sure the note is in perfect pitch double click on the blue rectangle. If you want to make sure multiple notes are tuned at the same time highlight multiple sections and double click on a note.

With Flex Pitch you not only can adjust the pitch of a note but its Gain, Vibrato and Pitch Drift. You can do this by hovering the mouse over a note and dragging up or down on one of the circles that appear above and below the note.

The Gain adjustment in particular is a useful tool. For instance, if there is a note/word that is quieter in a phrase than the others you can easily adjust the gain to make that particular note louder.  See examples below.

Once you have tuned your vocal to your particular taste, hopefully, you will now be able to hear a smoother, more in tune vocal performance. Flex Pitch is a great tool if you have limited time to record perfect vocals but still want that precision in the take.

 

 

The Lowdown On Mixing – Re-recording mixer Jacob Cook

DIALOGUE

When we mix an episode of animated TV, we always start with the dialogue. I usually start by setting reverbs for each scene, then mix the dialogue line by line to get it in spec and sounding natural throughout the show. Any panning, extra processing or additional reverb is also added at this time. The dialogue serves as the anchor for the rest of the mix, so it’s very important to get this locked in before adding any other elements!

MUSIC

Next, we add in the music and ride the levels throughout the show. I’ll dip it for dialogue when necessary and boost it to help keep the momentum and add excitement.

BACKGROUNDS/AMBIENCES

Then, I’ll mute the music again and mix the backgrounds and ambiences. By mixing these without the music we ensure the scene will sound natural when the music isn’t playing. Then I turn the music back on and foley is next, meaning footsteps, hand pats and movement tracks. Like music and backgrounds, the levels will vary show to show and client to client depending on preference. I’ll set an overall level and ride faders when needed throughout the show, adding panning when necessary.

SOUND EFFECTS

Lastly, I bring in the rest of the hard sound effects.  These are organized into food groups such as mono effects, stereo effects, whooshes, toon, etc (shown in the photo below). Again, how these are mixed varies show to show. This is an oversimplification of the process, but this is the basic sequence I follow.  I usually wrap up with a few watch downs in 5.1 and stereo to make adjustments and take one last look at mix notes from the client.

Screen+Shot+2020-09-16+at+3.13.46+PM.jpg

What do you look for in a good mix?

It is important that the mix supports the style of the show. Something with a lot of action should feel exciting and have a dynamic mix. An educational preschool show needs a mix that will help direct the viewer’s focus correctly and highlight the information being presented. I also think a good mix supports the story and doesn’t distract the audience. It is important that the sound is helping support the narrative and storytelling style.

Do you have any technical/creative prerequisites you think would be helpful for a mixer?

You definitely need to be an expert in Pro Tools. Understanding all of the ins and outs of writing automation through all the various parameters is essential. A strong basis as an editor is a good start here, but it helps to push into the mixing workflow and familiarize yourself with things like preview mode, latch prime in stop, surround panning, VCAs, grouping and plug-in automation. The best way to learn about these is get your hands dirty. Read the manual or some tutorials and start mixing.  You will quickly learn where you can speed things up and the benefits of the different automation modes.

Creatively, the best thing you can do to prepare is to watch a pro work and learn how they approach each mix. I learned all of my mixing skills and techniques from watching Boom Box Owners Kate and Jeff mix and adopting their methods. Once I understood what they were doing and why I worked to get faster and developed my own techniques and style!

Referencing other shows and films is also a great way to get ideas and help your mixing improve. Critically listening to a mix on TV or in a theater can really surprise you, and I would recommend paying close attention to how the music and sound effects levels change throughout a film.

What do you wish you would’ve known before becoming a mixer?

Probably that it’s OK to not be able to hear EVERYTHING all of the time. It took me a while to really understand this, and it’s definitely fundamental.  It’s important that the mix doesn’t sound cluttered through the whole show with an abundance of unnecessary sound. Editors cut for complete coverage, but as a mixer, it is your entire job to decide what sounds or music are most important for the audience to hear at each moment, and not overwhelm them with sounds that don’t support the story the filmmaker is telling in a scene.

Also Latch Prime in Stop, which lets you write automation without playing back. When I first started mixing I probably wasted a lot of time writing panning and volume automation in real-time that could have easily been done in a half a second when stopped.

What would you say the hardest obstacle is when it comes to mixing?

As I mentioned in the previous answer, the hardest obstacle is determining where to direct the viewer’s attention and how best to accomplish that. It can be extra challenging when you consider how much time, effort and creativity went into each sonic piece. The sound effects editor may have spent all day creating an amazing glowing steady for the magic orb in the background, but if the characters are having an important story conversation, it is not the time to feature those sound effects. You may really love the cello melody in this particular scene, but you know the audience needs to notice the distant explosions that draw the character’s attention off-screen. You make hundreds of these types of decisions during a mix and learning which direction to take things can really make or break the final product.

Hopefully, Jacob’s insight gives you a better understanding of mixing! If you enjoyed this post, you should also check out Jeff’s mixing post about the technical side of mixing:

DEMYSTIFYING THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF MIXING

WRITTEN BY JACOB COOK – RE-RECORDING MIXER, BOOM BOX POST

 

Escapism in Entertainment

 

For the past several months I have had trouble with writing blogs or creating anything at all. We even took a short break from recording the podcast. I thought we’d be done with this by now, but I see that was an optimistic viewpoint in my pessimist attitude. I feel like Americans have let the world down with collectively selfish behaviors. For those of us who have been staying at home, wearing masks, avoiding others it feels like it was all for nothing. My logical mind tells me that if we didn’t try, it would have been far worse, but it is so bad with so many dead that it’s hard to imagine. This blog is more of a self-reflection than the posts that I try to make with helpful tutorials or access to resources. Forgive me for that, and hopefully find comfort if you empathize with me that you are not alone. For nearly 100 years Americans have turned to films to escape a dismal life, and with this pandemic and the closures of movie theaters, I have found little comfort aside from watching movies at home.

I have always been a fan of disaster, apocalypse, post-apocalypse, and general horror films. Having lived through an actual scenario of a global pandemic has shuttered the fantastical ideals. I found myself putting on films like Outbreak (Petersen, 1995) and Contagion (Soderbergh, 2011) the first weekend that we were home from work back in March. While putting it on I think “why are you doing this to yourself?” We seek guidance when there is so much unknown, and even fictional stories can help process real-life events. Some of us are smart and logical enough to understand fiction from reality, but others are susceptible to paranoid stories with little backing.

I remembered seeing Contagion in theaters and enjoying the methodical research that was presented. I was home from working overseas having just traveled to 11 countries in 6 weeks. I was in so many airports, hotels, buses, taxis as well as working on a cruise ship. Just weeks before I was a FOH engineer mixing for 1200 people every other day and this movie felt far-fetched. We were smarter than that. The film stayed with me for a while after seeing it but what resonates now is a subplot about a conspiracy-theorist blogger in the film that I recall feeling out of place. The conspiracy-theorist blogger feeds paranoia by posting videos promoting a “cure” (hydroxychloroquine, anyone). His viewers flock to a pharmacy to stock up on homeopathic forsythia and even have altercations after the stock runs out. I still have trouble understanding how seemingly competent people can get caught up in fake news and end up hoarding toilet paper and taking random medications, but they showed it almost 10 years ago in this film (minus the TP, that’s a 2020-special). It took almost a decade and a pandemic between viewings before I realized just how powerful it was.

We’ve survived summer and this is still going strong into autumn while the country opens more public spaces. Many people are still out of work. I hope that the public will see the impact that our industry has on the economy. They’ll remember going to live shows and going to the movies fondly. When it’s open, will they still come? I have to be (cautiously) optimistic about the future of the entertainment industry. I can’t imagine a life permanently without music, movies, plays, musicals, drag shows. Drive-in concerts and movies are cute and all, but I live in Florida and air conditioning is necessary year-round. I look forward to future films. Some of the best films ever made were developed during times of strife. Consider the 1970s following the Vietnam War, when horror films redefined the genre: The Exorcist, Suspiria, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Jaws, and Carrie, to name a few. Historically, this brutal time will inspire writers and producers to create. We will have work and our entertainment industry back.

I don’t want a zoom movie, please. We’ve suffered enough already.

 

 

Ay Ay Ford Wesley – A Love for Audio and The Bigger Picture

Ay Ay Ford Wesley is an independent engineer working in both live sound and production and post audio. She is a co-owner as well as the head engineer with her husband of Sound Signature LLC. She is a graduate of Full Sail University and has been working in audio since 2011. But her love for music audio started in her early years.

She credits her two uncles with nurturing her love of music. They were both in bands and when she was growing up she would attend their concerts. She credits her Uncle Schiavone for the majority of her interest in music, he was in a band called Fighting Gravity and she had all his albums and just loved seeing him sing his heart out on stage. It made her want to be part of that world.

Ay Ay fell in love with audio during her teenage years, when she was working towards becoming the next Brandy. She would write, record, and mix her own music using Cakewalk Music Creator. Learning the software allowed her to be creative with her music and opened her eyes to producing and mixing. She remembers being in love “ with every little element of music and wanted to be that person that balanced everything and added cool effects to make it even more interesting. From there I researched more about what that was called and I found schools that focused on that craft. It became real to me. I went from wanting to sing like Brandy, to wanting to mix her next album. It’s still a dream of mine.”

Her path to audio started with her love of music, to writing and recording her own music and then one day she visited a recording studio and realized that there was a whole team involved in making an album, she met the recording engineers and saw the gear and she was no longer interested in singing. From there she would enroll in Full Sail University to study recording arts but would be introduced to live sound “I had a month of live show production, and discovered this world of concerts and live events and became intrigued. AND THEN my last month of school for my Associates’s degree, we focused on production sound, sound design and post sound mixing and I absolutely loved it! So my initial interest in audio was through music and recording, then it morphed into live sound and concerts and then evolved into post sound and mixing for films and animations.”

She started working live sound in 2011 with PSAV. She says that they were a great stepping stone but she says “ you had to motivate yourself and push yourself to advance through the company.” Motivated she was, pushing herself, learning every piece of gear they had in their inventory, taking on challenging and higher profile gigs.

“I would see other seasoned technicians who would be called in to do the bigger, more complicated and higher profiled gigs and I wanted to be like them. Also, the fact that there weren’t a lot of women audio techs made me stand out and work harder to prove myself. I know people have their opinions about this company, but I really have to give it to the manager that hired me. He asked me where I wanted to go in the company, I told him I wanted to be a top-notch audio tech and he made a way for me.”

During her years at PSAV, she learned that mistakes are going to happen and that they are the foundation for learning and growing. She also learned that there are so many people on the production team that often they do not understand the role of the audio engineer. “ I’ve learned to make sure you are in those production meetings so that you can be aware of any conflicts or issues that may arise during set up and show.”

She also had some really great mentors “Michael Coates was the man that gave me a chance and allowed me to navigate and learn all I could about anything audio. He also put me on complex shows and allowed me to grow. Also, an amazing audio engineer named John Beckstoffer let me shadow him various times during my first few years with the company and he would always give me advice on gear and mixing techniques. He is a person that you could just tell he loved to mix and he loved teaching people. When I started my freelance career and was looking to work on more concerts and tours, I have to give so much credit to Amanda Davis who is an amazing audio engineer! What an inspiration! She has been there to guide me and give advice and she has opened doors for me to work on some big concerts that have taken me across the world.”

Ay Ay’s long term goals are to focus on and continue to build Sound Signature LLC. She hopes to land a contract with a production company for an episodic series or for audiobooks. Of course, during COVID she is looking for more work she can do at home and building a solid foundation for her company to remain profitable, especially for when she decides to expand her family. We are positive she will be successful.

What is a typical day like?

My days vary depending on what type of gig I have.

If it’s a concert I’m mixing for the day, I am up early, packing my pelican with anything I think I may need for the show. I’m listening to the artist on the way to the venue to get my mind and my ear ready to mix and I usually show up to show site super early to have a moment to go over the PA set, mixers (whether I’m running FoH or Mons) and to walk the stage and do my own preliminary tuning and sound check. When the show starts, it’s all about the show! When the show ends I thank God for a wonderful show and help with loadout.

If I’m working as a production sound mixer for the day, I am up early, packing my pelican and making sure I have my sound bag charged and packed. The same applies, in that I will show up to the production location early to get a feel of the area, although I would have joined the production team during the location scouting. If I’m there early enough, I’ll go over the script again, and perhaps get some ambient sounds or room tone while it’s quiet. When filming starts I’ll be working, getting the best possible sounds from my boom and lavs and when the day wraps, I hand the DIT my drives, as well as a sound report and I, head out. Always thankful for the opportunity.

If I’m working from home as a post sound mixer or sound designer, then my day is a little more relaxed. I’ll get up, eat breakfast, get all my social media habits out the way (lol) and go down to my little mix studio at my home and load the session files and either get mixing or if it’s a sound design project, I’ll have my arsenal of microphones and go out and about to capture some sounds that pertain to the project I’m working on.

When I don’t have any work for that day or week, you can find me watching videos on other sound engineers or watching gear review videos and phantom shopping (window shopping) online for future upgrades and such for my home studio.

How do you stay organized and focused?

I make lists of everything I need for a particular gig. I find it therapeutic and a great practice to pack bags and cases the night before, have my show files updated and saved on a drive and have snacks and drinks packed. That way the morning of the show, I’m not doing any last minute things. My mind can just be calm and clear before the storm.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

I really enjoy being part of the bigger picture. I love mixing a concert and seeing the audience having a wonderful time and the artists on stage feeling that energy. Whether you’re mixing FoH or Mons, they may be two different worlds but the goal is the same and that goal is to have a fun and successful show. I love the creativity behind any of the audio gigs I pick up. From production sound with hiding mics in places to pick up clear dialogue, capturing sounds for atmospheres and soundscapes, or creating sounds for certain parts of the film, it just pushes you to be creative. In post sound mixing, you can work at your own pace and you have the freedom to build this soundtrack of sounds that help tell the visual story. At the end of it all, when the film is shown at festivals or posted online, to read the comments and see people really enjoying the work, that is what I enjoy most.

What do you like least?

For live sound, I hate when things go to hell lol. I HATE having a bad show, it’s such an awful feeling because it doesn’t matter if it’s not my fault, I still feel horrible. Whether it’s a lack of a soundcheck or the band shows up minutes before the show begins and I’m scrambling to get the lines up, or I’m working as BOTH the FOH and monitor engineer when there should really be two separate people doing the job (yes….there are companies that cut corners like that). Sometimes there are shows I have worked on and there hasn’t been any communication between the company that’s putting the show on and the artists that are performing, so I haven’t gotten a stage plot or an input list or anything.

Unprofessionalism and sexism are also what I despise in this industry. It literally takes a team to put on a production, we are all working together to accomplish a single goal. What does it matter that I am a woman? Why are you shocked that I know what all those buttons do? And the gossip, sometimes it just turns me off. Why get offended when I take my lunch breaks at my console so I can check to make sure my outputs aren’t muted and that there aren’t any surprises before the show instead of sitting in the break area talking about…nothing? That really happens. The annoyance of it all.

What’s your favorite part of touring?

I have worked on two tours in my freelance career and I really liked advancing the show, as it pertained to the audio portion. I loved being in contact with the production companies and show venues to make sure they’ve received all of our needs and requirements. Instead of relying on someone to communicate with the other side of the tour, I did it and it allowed me to be calm and know exactly what we were walking into and what gear would be there at the venue. Any changes that were made I was one of the first to be aware of it. I’d have to say I liked that the most out of anything.

What do you like least?

With those two tours being my first major tours, there was still a lot I was learning as I was on tour and with that, I was so anxious and nervous. I didn’t like how anxious I was on those tours. I was so focused on perfection that I could barely enjoy the countries I was in. I was scared to make a mistake and I just kept to myself. I was a wreck haha. There wasn’t a production manager, I advanced my own gear, lighting advanced their own and the tour manager managed the tour so I was learning as I was going. Honestly, the anxiety I had on those tours really made me not want to tour anymore, but of course, if I’m asked to go on tour in the future, I’m pretty sure I’d say yes lol.

What is your favorite day off activity?

Playing video games. Specifically Elder Scrolls Online.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

When I first started freelancing, and I wanted to get in with an audio warehouse or a touring house to learn more about concert touring and building audio racks, I faced a lot of barriers as I didn’t have the “qualified” experience to work at one which blew my mind because I was wanting to work there to learn more and gain experience. My resume wasn’t “impressive” enough and I slowly realized that it’s more of who you know that could get you in the door of certain facilities. Also, marketing yourself as a freelance audio engineer was a huge obstacle as I didn’t know how to “show” my work and experience without it being a list of concerts and shows I’ve worked on my resume.

How have you dealt with them?

I’ve always believed that there are multiple ways to get to a goal. If I was met with rejection from one company I would move on and pick up a gig with another. I would also pick up gigs as the audio assistant or the stagehand in order to meet people and network. To promote myself, I created a website and an audio-focused Instagram page and started documenting my shows. I got a lot of exposure that way and now use those pages as a sort of portfolio. I’ve gotten gigs from just my Instagram page which is cool.

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

Have fun and learn all you can! I truly love everything about the audio industry and the technology is ever-changing and advancing and it’s our job to keep up with it. This is such a great industry to be a part of. I would also advise women to be very aware of some challenges they may face along the way. Depending on what part of the audio industry you decide to pursue, you will (it’s inevitable) encounter sexism. You’ll meet people who don’t believe in you and who thinks a man is a better fit for the job. Please don’t let these people deter you. There’s a reason why you’ve chosen this path and you should pursue it with an open mind and an open heart. Your best weapon is your knowledge of the industry and its technology, which ANYONE can learn. Your drive and motivation should be what keeps you moving. Also, the most important advice I can give is to surround yourself with others that are also pursuing this journey. Join sound engineering groups, go to trainings and conventions, meet people and network, see if you can shadow an engineer on a show, which is a great way to learn!

Must have skills?

Troubleshooting is a must. It’s great to have flawless shows, but you need to know what to do and how to pinpoint a problem when things go wrong. Also, understanding the power requirements for gear and acoustical engineering also helps!

Favorite gear?

I love my Whirlwind PA-1 personal headphone monitor. I use it as a cable tester and to check outputs. Also, my laptop/Ipad and network routers. It’s so helpful to be mobile when tuning a system or checking levels, tuning stage monitors, or doing line checks and monitor requests for musicians.

Sound Signature LLC was founded in 2018 when Ay Ay and her husband Marcellus realized we had more than enough live, production and mixing experience between them to open up shop. Sound Signature LLC covers live gigs, production sound mixing gigs and post sound gigs. Sound Signature LLC is proud to have had the opportunities to work on such projects as:

“Cycles“- Directed by Kathrine Street, which is currently making its’ rounds in the Independent Film Festival circuits.

“Loving Byron“- Directed by Deante Gray, which made its’ rounds in the Independent Film Festival circuits back in 2019.

“Comrades In Arms: The Manila American Cemetery”- Directed by Joshua Colover of Aperture Films, this documentary has been posted on the American Battlefield Monuments Commisions’ Youtube page.

“Harriet Tubman: Soldier of Freedom”- Directed by Joshua Colover of Aperture Films, this short film is posted on the MarylandDNR Youtube page.

To learn more about Sound Signature LLC please visit www.soundsignature.productions . To learn more about Ay Ay’s  sound adventures, please visit www.audio-ayay.com .

More on Ay Ay on The SoundGirls Podcast

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

The First Step to Marketing Your Music You Probably Aren’t Doing 

Over the past few years, I’ve been researching the marketing side of music to be of more value to the artists I work with. Heaven knows I’ve been avoiding the world of “marketing” for the same reasons you have….it’s HARD! It’s hard because there are so many fears attached to it:

It’s expensive 

What do you actually spend your money on; ads on socials? Ads on radio or print? Billboards? Your grandma’s book club? What??

You don’t want to be annoying 

You are afraid of the negative comments that are bound to come

You’ve tried it before and all you get back in return are crickets and you just can’t bear to hear any more crickets…

Right? 

So after a gazillion workshops, conferences, books and articles I’ve delved into these past few years, I think I finally figured out the one main component that most artists are not embracing or taking seriously.

Branding

By now you’ve heard this term thrown around but let’s talk about what branding really means, how to find yours and why it is the very first thing you should be thinking about before you even start creating your music.

Over and over again, artists I work with ask me toward the end of completing their EP or album or single, “Ok, so now how do I get it out there”.

Get my music out there. 

I have come to hate this phrase, even though I know it’s harmless and it feels as though there’s no other way to say it. But to me, it’s the same as saying; “I want to go to Japan. Will you drop me off at the airport and then I’ll wander around and hope that someone puts me on a plane that is heading to Japan?”

We all know this will never in a million years work but I can’t think of a better analogy than the scenario of putting all of your time, resources and energy into the creation of music and then “hope” that it will be listened to by millions and create a sustainable career.

Perhaps it’s because there are still some long-held myths out there about being discovered in a coffee shop (the story is true for a few out of millions maybe). Perhaps it’s the fault of the reality shows that seemingly catapult a few into superstardom (and we forget about the fact they are casting a reality show and millions and millions of talented artists have auditioned and are never pushed through to the actual show because they don’t fit what casting directors are looking for). Whatever the reason, the truth is that most artists I observe are creating, crossing fingers, closing their eyes and “hoping” they’ll hit a target.

So, let’s talk about branding. I am not a branding expert, nor a marketing expert. So I am compiling notes and thoughts from quite a few resources which I will be linking you to at the bottom of this blog. Be sure to check out these amazing resources that are available to you, most for free!!

According to Stephen Linn of Amplify Entertainment, branding is one of the 3 Artist Development Buckets that you need to focus on to have the best chance for success in the music industry. The other two are the business side (creating an LLC, registering with a PRO and with Sound Exchange, etc.) and the Digital Footprint (following, content, audience, etc.)

“Branding is what people say about you when you’re not in the room”, states Linn. I think that’s a powerful statement because it’s scary. Linn also explains that you can’t control it but only influence it. Your brand secures your identity and makes you unique in a very crowded space.

Exercise time! 

Take out a piece of paper, notebook or your digital notepad.

  1. List 3 to 4 words that describe your personality. Using these words, create (or hire someone to create) your;
  2. Logo
  3. Photos
  4. Clothing style
  5. Fonts
  6. Wardrobe (on and off stage, yes they can and should be different)
  7. Everything about you that you are going to share *as an artist 

*Remember, you are not obligated to share every detail of your true personality with the world, only those parts you want them to see. Even if you are enhancing some qualities or hiding others, you are in control of what influences your brand. If you don’t want people to know that you personally have an obsession with collecting mini tea sets, then pull all photos of that down from your social media and pray that doesn’t get out. OR, you could embrace it and make that part of what you share. 

  1. Write down your Mission Statement aka Elevator Pitch. The concept of an elevator pitch is if you only had 30 seconds to describe you, who you are and what your music is like as well as who it will appeal to, you should have this concise and clever summary memorized. Avoid statements like “unlike anything you’ve heard before” or “the best music you’ve ever heard” or some other egomaniac statement. I once heard music described as “It sounds as if Keith Urban and Taylor Swift had a baby and it was raised in San Diego”. You can tell what that would sound like, right?? Be clever!
  2. Define your vision. What do you see when you see yourself as successful? Will you be performing to a stadium full of fans? Will you be living comfortably as a songwriter? What does success look like to you? Spell it out in detail.
  3. Make a list of all of your favorite products, hobbies, restaurants, social spots, etc. Brand Extensions and/or partnerships can become part of your brand. Not only this but brand partnerships can become a source of income for you as well as a way to extend your reach. If you have a hobby of skateboarding or yoga or kickboxing or knitting or

have a love of Hallmark movies, include this as part of your brand. You will be able to connect with people with similar interests who may not have otherwise come across you and your music. This approach can also prop you up into the visual space for the brands you use and love to actually see you.

  1. Make a Brand Binder. This is for you and your team and not for fans or the public. The Brand Binder will include;
  2. Personality traits you narrowed yourself down to in the above exercise b. Phrases, thoughts, statements, quotes that you find inspiring and represent who you are and what matters to you
  3. Mission Statement and Elevator Pitch
  4. Vision
  5. Brand Elements
  6. Colors
  7. Fonts

iii. Pictures 

  1. Logo (variations, colors)
  2. Look and feel (mood/aesthetic) using pictures
  3. Offstage wardrobe using pictures

vii. On stage wardrobe using pictures 

viii. Any other pictures or swatches of material that add to your brand 

  1. Include your list of products, hobbies, restaurants, etc. for potential brand partnerships

I like the idea of having a physical binder for this but you could also use something like Pinterest or Trello to organize your Brand Binder.

You might be asking, after you have gone through these exercises and put your Brand Binder together, “Ok, now what?”

Your next step is

  1. Creating Brand Awareness. 

This. Is. The. Hardest. Part.

Honestly, I think creating your brand is really fun. I mean, who doesn’t like talking about all the things they love and creating a visual presentation of it? Brand Awareness is something that takes time. Remember, the Brand Binder is for you and your team, not your fans. It will guide every decision you make about what photos are best, what album cover looks best, what should I post on social media, etc. It is not a substitute for the business of bringing awareness to your brand.

So be patient. Building Brand Awareness is a marathon and not a sprint. Stay “On Brand”. Create Consistently. Contribute Always. 

While you are at it, collect email addresses and give something back in return (free download, private invitation to live streaming event, etc.)

The good news is that if you do this right, you will attract fans outside of your regular circle of friends and family without spending a dime on advertising. You can also build brand awareness while you are creating music in the studio! As a matter of fact, that is great content to share as part of your brand building! 

Make defining and building your brand the priority now and see how it changes things for you in 6 months or a year.

This blog was originally published on Becky Willard’s website Vox Studios

Here Is A Story Called: Applesauce Takes All Day

2008  Woodbury VT

When I looked up the clock read 12:37.  My appointment was at 1 o’clock, more than an hour away.  Every single surface (kitchen, personal) was, if not covered, certainly touched by something that came from an apple.

Ring Ring.

“Susan, I’m so sorry.  I started my applesauce early this morning and thought I’d be done by now, but it’s nowhere near finished.  Could we please push our appointment back?”

She chuckled.  “Let’s reschedule.”

“Oh no!  I really think I can make it.  Just…later.”

“Ah, Willa, when will you learn?  Applesauce takes all day.”

2020 Oakland, CA

 

Time didn’t stop for me with Shelter-in-Place.  Something much more nonlinear happened.  Is still happening.

A  musician and a bodyworker by trade, those professions went up in a puff of shit-green smoke.  As business fell away, so did busy-ness.  For some months I managed to fill the action back up, anyway.  Frantic.  Until one day it proved untenable.  The day before that I had awoken in such panic I actually wondered if I was about to have a heart attack.  “Willa, you can’t go on like this; it’s going to kill you.”

The next day it nearly did.  Not a suicide attempt, but the unequivocal point arrived at which everything had to stop.  It stopped for me.

In a way, something did actually die.

I canceled everything – there wasn’t any faking it, I could barely talk – and sat there.  Sat there in my garden.  Sat there on my couch.  Sat shotgun while my honey drove me down the coast to sit on the sand and look at the water.  Walked from room to room like an old dog that won’t bed, wondering what to do if not doing what I normally do (biting off more than I can chew), what to be if not being as I normally am (heinously, proudly, productively driven).

I developed a touch of what felt like agoraphobia – not for being outside (I could manage the grocery store) but for real interactions with people I knew.

In general (even pre-’Vid) it’s really challenging for me to process emotions near people.  It feels like stopping my car in the intersection to check the oil – dangerous and rude and focus-pulling.  No, far preferable to drive into the wild where it’s me and the crows and then inspect the planetary gears where no one’s going to ask me about it until I’ve done what I’m doing and the grease is off my hands.  (Fine to have some on my jeans, though – sexy.)  To be clear, what I mean by “process” is “feel.”  It’s actually hard for me to feel strong things in the company of other people.  The feeling comes up, I access it largely cognitively, and then I put it somewhere for filing, labeled “feel this later.”

Then I accidentally on purpose mostly usually misplace the file.

Which means when I’m feeling a lot, it’s really hard to be around people.  Particularly close ones, because they See me and if I’m trying to have a feeling I don’t want to be Seen.   (This can wreak unparalleled havoc.  It’s viscerally confusing and piercingly painful to whoever is close to me: “You seem to be having a strong personal experience, but you’re unable to warm to communication and have maybe turned to stone of some nature.”)  I’m still learning how to both feel strongly and relate simultaneously, in proximity.

Which premise, it may be obvious to you, dear reader, but was not until recently obvious to me, is predicated on feeling in the first place.  So: not misplacing the file.  Fully, completely, feeling.

Three months into this “I’ll be right there, I’m just gonna pretend to rest a minute” hiatus, my back went out.  Sweet day, feeling pretty stable, donuts (Boston creme and plain yeasted), went to sleep early…woke in the night unable to move.  Physically idiopathic.  Emotionally crystalline.  I hadn’t gotten still enough, yet.  So my bodysoul wrote a poem called, “That’s Cute, But Your Ass Is Mine.”

I lay on my back for three weeks.  Tectonic pieces began to move.  Foci shattered, blew away in the wind.  “That thing you thought mattered?  Hilarious.”  Shadows came into focus.  Buried Memories came up to speed, like turning the quiet hall corner into a well-lit kitchen.  Stolen Sadnesses.  Ungranted Forgiveness.  So.  Much.  Rage.  Rage at others, Rage at my own repeated, dragging self-betrayals. Rage, which turns out is just Grief in tight clothing.  Grief that made clear why people sing about drowning in tears, the waves of it so unremitting I couldn’t locate the surface to get air, sand in the eyes, hair in the kelp.  Awe so shameless my atoms danced with the atoms of the leaves on the pear tree outside the window.  Undoing.  Unmaking.  Stillness.

Some hours I lay there, breathing.

Feeling.

There was literally nothing else to do.

“Where could this be going?”  But there was literally nowhere else to go.

Thich Nhat Hanh describes meditation in this way: when we Sit we are as apple juice that has been allowed to rest; the particulate matter settles and the juice becomes clear.  (See?  It really is an essay about apples.)

Because I had slowed down some – even dramatically – I had thought I could “make it to the 1 o’clock appointment.”  But slow enough to hear myself think wasn’t yet slow enough to hear myself feel.

And that may well take all day.

Susan Comen, of the applesauce story, is a writer, musician, educator, homesteader, and bio-geometrist in Middlesex, VT.  She’s also a voice of great, smiling reason.

She would – and I would join her – encourage you to pace yourself honestly and kindly, in these times more than ever.

Willa Mamet: Singer and songwriter, Willa was born in a trunk and raised by performers of all kinds. She’s made music since about that time, singing irrepressibly and playing piano and guitar. With her musical partner, Paul Miller, she recorded two albums, East Hill Road and Let Somebody Love You, both of which won the VT Times Argus “Tammy” Album of the Year in 2013 and 2015. Her next album will be born in Spring 2020. Meanwhile, she plays out sola, with Miller, and other beloveds, bringing her unique blend of rapier tongue and honey heart to her audiences. Hear the voice that Patti Lupone calls, “Heartbreaking. Musical. Contemporary and ancient.”

Willa lives in Oakland, CA, with her beloved upright, her uncle’s guitar, a whole lot of elderberry bushes, and her six-pawed cat. She travels. A lot. For music.

Read Willa’s Blog

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