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Copyright in the 21st Century

 

As we know, March 2020 has been a strange time for most of the world due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Subsequently, the music industry at large has been extremely quiet, but before the outbreak and lockdown rules became widespread there were several interesting events and technological advances relating to music copyright law.

The start of March saw the current Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” legal battle rage on into its sixth year, with the band winning their latest appeal for a new trial – the group Spirit had previously won a case that ruled Zeppelin’s famous opening arpeggio riff had infringed the Spirit 1968 song “Taurus”. While it seems this particular feud may be far from being over, it was closely succeeded by another high-profile case days later.

Stairway to Heaven:

 

Taurus:

Following a previous lawsuit in 2019 that ruled Katy Perry’s song “Dark Horse” had copied the ostinato from Flame’s 2009 track “Joyful Noise”, the verdict was overturned on 17th March by federal judge Christina A Snyder. Judge Snyder stated:

“It is undisputed in this case, even viewing the evidence in the light most favourable to plaintiffs, that the signature elements of the eight-note ostinato in “Joyful Noise” is not a particularly unique or rare combination.”

While news of the judge’s decision to overturn the verdict came as a surprise, the sentiment of Snyder’s statement resonated with most musicians who had listened to the songs in question – you can read my comparison and analysis of the 2019 trial here

The latest Katy Perry development felt like a “win” for good musical sense, but where do we go from here? What might the future hold for common sequences and regularly used traditions of composition? Damien Riehl and Noah Rubin think they might have some influence on this – the duo has developed technology that is working to find the answer to the eternal question “Is the number of melodies in this world finite?” As there are only a finite number of notes, can they only be arranged in so many ways?

Rubin is a musician and programmer as is Riehl, who also happens to practice law. Together they have created an algorithm that writes 300,000 melodies per second to disc as a MIDI file, thus automatically copyrighting them. The data set parameters for measuring the melodies use a range of one octave (incorporating a major and natural minor scale), and counts up to 12 individual note values for the length of the melody line, as this range works well for the conventions of pop music.

The two big questions arising from this technology lead us to ask whether the pair have infringed on every existing song there’s ever been, and will the songs of the future infringe on them? Riehl says no to the latter – the intention of creating this technology is to put the findings into the public domain to make the world better and “keep space open for songwriters to be able to make music”. The technological parameters of the algorithms’ range are expanding and developing all the time – the pair are currently working with a pitch range of 12 chromatic notes which means that in terms of genre this covers more than pop music, such as classical and jazz melodies. Riehl is sure that one day the technology will be equipped to use “100 notes and every rhythmic and chordal variation in the future”.

From Riehl’s expert legal view the repercussions of this technology could be ground-breaking in ensuring creative freedom exists for composers; he believes the copyright system is broken and needs updating, explaining that the average legal fees for these cases are in the range of $2 million-plus a fee to the original songwriter. The consideration of whether the accused had access to hear the original song in question would still be taken into account, as would the idea of conceding that songs can be “subliminally infringed” without ill intent.

In explaining the mathematical programming element of the algorithm, Riehl borders on the metaphysical as he shares the findings that we have a finite number of melodic combinations available to us and that “melodies to a computer are just numbers – those melodies have existed since the beginning of time and we are only just discovering them”.

It’s an interesting juxtaposition that this new technology is strangely aligned with the ancient concept that we pluck or channel our ideas from an unknown aether where they have always existed. Who knows, but maybe we can find some comfort and feelings of connection with something bigger than ourselves as we work through these solitary times.

You can download all the music created by Riehl and Rubin plus the algorithm programme code at http://www.AllTheMusic.info

The Perfect Bedtime Story

I like many of you, hit the “buy” button immediately once Women in Audio by Leslie Gaston-Bird was published.  A textbook about us, for us, and most importantly, by us!  Reading a textbook has never been this empowering. Well, given my other SoundGirls articles, it is in good company.  SoundGirls has an assortment of them in their lending library. However, I did not buy Women in Audio solely for myself, I also bought it for my daughter, Ripley.  Having an audio engineer as a mother should not be an anomaly. Audio engineering is akin to any other profession, dependent on skills, knowledge, and passion.  We are starting early! What better way to introduce her to the world of audio than with a bedtime story?

At eight months Ripley has a literal appetite for books, therefore we started by only reading the first chapter together.  We will get to the other chapters in time. In similar fashion to many textbooks, Gaston-Bird begins hers with the history of the subject at hand.  Naturally, Lady Ada is the first entry. Lady Ada is the matron saint of computer programming, but I was surprised to find out she suggested the congruence of music and technology.  No wonder she is also a staple when it comes to Women in STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics) literature. It will not be Ripley’s last encounter with her.

Following chronologically is a variety of entries going beyond computers and music:  there are acousticians, entrepreneurs, engineers, and activists. By placing each side by side one can get an understanding of how society and technology pushed the industry forward.  Leslie Gaston-Bird is clear with the reader that Women in Audio only scratches the surface of women who influenced the audio industry.  In limiting how many to include, the reader wins by discovering audio pioneers from around the world.  What stood out to me was this invisible thread that seemed to connect some of the women together. Labels, bands, and engineers would move in and out of various circles and connect with one another.  Women supporting women.

In addition to the inspiring stories, the “Fun Facts” section added context and definitions to prepare me for future “why” tirades.  The eidophone caught my eye with its depictions of sound waves, and the Deliaphonica game sucked me in. “Not So Fun Facts” is just as important in bringing attention to the realities that many of us face.  Telling the whole story means having both sides. Reading those sections to Ripley was difficult, and though she will not understand for a while, I am not going to gloss over them. Gaston-Bird also highlighted the delicate balance of celebrating achievements without adding gender identity as a caveat to success.

Just after Ripley and I finished the section on motherhood (a topic that is currently resonating with me), I was surprised with a special treat.  I did not realize that in the UK Mother’s Day is in March! Leslie Gaston-Bird recorded a video of herself reading that section.

Currently, Ripley mainly enjoys the pictures, but that will change with time.  We are going to keep reading Women in Audio until the cover falls off.

 

A Note on Saying Thank You

When I was 16, I was hired for my first front-of-house position. In my new role as “person in charge” I quickly began noticing all of the little obstacles that seemed to appear each night. They had been present before, of course, but never so obvious. The way that bands assumed anyone in the room except me was the sound engineer. The flashes of surprise that crossed their faces upon being pointed my way. The way I was talked over, dismissed, or needed repeated requests to get things accomplished when the same request from a male coworker was heeded immediately. The questions I faced about my knowledge of audio sometimes turned into full interrogations. I had known that I would face challenges like these, but the relentlessness was getting to me.

Then, a few months after being hired, I did sound for a math rock band called TTNG. They walked in, immediately accepted that I was the sound engineer, and didn’t question my competence. They listened to me and treated me kindly, as an equal. I didn’t feel like I needed to prove anything to them. It was refreshing. Although I didn’t realize it at the moment, after the show I started to see just how much their respect for me had meant. How it had given me hope. And I decided to send them a message saying exactly that.

This started a habit. I now do my best to acknowledge bands that stand out for being exceptionally nice or easy to work with. I want them to know that I noticed and appreciated their behavior, and tell them thank you for making my job that much easier. If I can’t do this in person, I’ll usually send a message a day or two after.

I feel very strongly that it’s important to pass on these thank-you notes because it’s often underestimated how much weight a band’s attitude can have. How simply being friendly and rolling with the punches makes or breaks stressful situations, and makes all the difference between a rushed soundcheck being doable or downright miserable. I’ve managed to make lasting connections, friendships and may have even gotten my foot in the door to touring by doing this.

So if someone has made a good impression on you, don’t hesitate to let them know. You never know what might come from it.

 

 

Beth O’Leary – Baking a Cake on a Moving Tour Bus

Beth O’Leary is a freelance monitor engineer and PA tech based in the U.K. She has been working in the industry for 11 years and is currently working as a stage and PA tech on the Whitney Houston Hologram Tour. She has toured as a system tech with Arcade Fire, J Cole, the Piano Guys, Paul Weller, a tour featuring Roy Orbison as a hologram. She recently filled in as the monitor engineer for Kylie Minogue and just finished a short run for an AV company in Dubai.

Live Sound was not her first career choice, as Beth was originally attending university for zoology. Although she has always been passionate about music. She remembers the first festival she attended “I remember the first festival I went to (Ozzfest 2002 – the only time they came to Ireland), and the subs moving all the air in my lungs with every kick drum beat. I thought that was such a cool thing to be able to control. When I heard about the student crew in Sheffield it made sense to join.: Join she did and it was there she learned “ everything about sound, lights, lasers, and pyro in exchange for working for free and letting my studies suffer because I was having too much fun with them.”

Her studies did not suffer too much as she graduated with a Masters’s in Zoology, but she would go on to work as a stagehand at local venues, eventually taking sound roles at those venues as well as a couple of audio hire companies. Even though she had no formal training, she would attend as many product training courses for sound and few focused on studio works. She says at the time “real-life experience was more important than exam results when I started, I think it’s changing a bit now. But, it’s still essential to supplement your studies with getting out there and getting your hands dirty.”

By her mid-twenties, she wanted to expand her skills and start working for bigger audio companies. After a lot of silence or “join the queue” replies to her emails asking for work experience from various companies, she met some of the people at SSE at a trade show. She would learn that they are really busy over the festival season and said she was welcome to come to gain experience interning in the warehouse. She remembers arranging to intern for three weeks “I put myself up in a hostel and did some long days putting cables away and generally helping out. A week in, they offered me a place as stage tech on some festivals. I’m pretty sure it’s because one of their regulars had just broken his leg and they needed someone fast! I then spent most summers doing festivals for SSE. After a few years I progressed to doing some touring for them. I now also freelance for Capital Sound (which became part of the SSE group soon after I started working with them!) and Eclipse Staging Services in Dubai, amongst others.”

Can you share with us a gig or show or tour you are proud of?  

I baked a cake on a moving tour bus once, I’m very proud of that…

Apart from that, I used to run radio mics for an awards show for a major corporate client. Each presenter was only on stage for a couple of minutes, but the production manager didn’t like the look of lectern mics or handhelds, so everyone had to wear headsets. Of course, we didn’t have the budget or RF spectrum space to give everyone a mic that they could wear all night, we needed to reuse each one three or four times. I put a lot of work into assessing the script and assigning mics in a way that would minimise changes and give the most time between changes. I then ran around all night, sometimes only getting the mics fitted with seconds to go. I always made sure to take the time to talk to the presenters through what I was doing (and warned them about my cold hands!) and make sure they were comfortable. I did the same show for about five years and was proud that the clients, most of whom were the top executives for a very large corporation, were always happy to see me, and asked where I was by name when I couldn’t make it. Knowing that the clients appreciate you is a great feeling.

Can you share a gig that you failed out, and what you learned from it: 

I was doing FoH on a different corporate job, the first (and last) gig for a new company. I had terrible ringing and feedback on the lav mics. It was one of those rooms where it will still ring, even if you take that frequency out wherever you can. I worked on it all through the rehearsal day, staying late and coming in early on the show day, trying to fix it. I did most of the ringing out while the client wasn’t in the room, so as not to disturb them. I asked the other engineers in other rooms for advice, and probably followed my in-house guy’s lead a bit too much. I figured he knew the room the best of anyone, but in hindsight, he wasn’t great. The show happened, and the client was smiling and pleasant, but it definitely could have been better.

Afterward, I got an email from the company saying the client had complained to them about my attitude. I was devastated. I had worked as hard as I could, and I pride myself on always being as polite as possible! I realised too late that from the client’s point of view, they saw an issue that didn’t get fixed for a long time, and they didn’t see most of the work I put in or know what was going on. I learned that it is so important to take a couple of minutes to keep your client in the loop and let them know you’re doing your best to fix the issue, without going overboard with excuses. It can be hard to prioritise when you’re so focused on troubleshooting and you don’t have much time. I still have to work on it sometimes, but it can mean the difference between keeping and losing a gig.

What do you like best about touring?

The sense of achievement when you get into a good flow. So few people realise how much work is involved. For arena shows, we arrive in the morning to a completely empty room, we bring absolutely everything except the seats. We build a show, hopefully, give the audience a great time, then put it all back in trucks and do it all again the next day.

What do you like least?

When the show doesn’t go as well as it could. There’s no second take if something goes wrong that’s it and you can’t go back and change it. It’s quite difficult not to dwell on it. All you can do is make sure it’s better next time.

What is your favorite day off activity? 

I love exploring the cities we’re in. My perfect day off would be a relaxed brunch with good coffee, then a walk around a botanical garden, a bath and an early night. Rock and roll!

What are your long-term goals?

I need variety, so I’d like to stay busy while mixing it up. Touring and festivals, music and corporate shows working with different artists and techs. I’d also like to get to a position where I can recommend promising people more and help them up the ladder.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I think one of the major barriers in the industry is people denying any barriers exist. I was told I needed a thicker skin, to toughen up, everyone has it rough. Then after years of keeping my head down and working hard, I saw how my male colleagues reacted to words or behaviour that didn’t even register as unusual to me anymore. Their indignation at what I saw all the time really underscored how differently they get treated.

Thankfully I have done plenty of jobs with no sexism at all, but it can be frustrating to get told I don’t understand my own life. Just because you don’t see what you consider to be discrimination, doesn’t mean it never happens. It can be particularly disappointing when young women are outspoken about how sexism isn’t a problem, ignoring the groundwork set by the tough women who came before them.

I have also struggled a lot with a lack of self-confidence, which can really put you at a disadvantage when you’re a freelancer. You need to be able to sell yourself and reassure your client they’re in safe hands, so I’m sure the self-deprecation that comes naturally to me has held me back.

How have you dealt with them?

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt as much as possible. Whether I misunderstood their intentions or they’re honestly mistaken, or they genuinely don’t want to work with a woman, all I can do is remain professional and courteous and do my job to the best of my ability. A lot of the time we get past it and have a good gig, and if we don’t I know I did all I could. I take people’s denial of sexism as a good sign, in a way. It shows it is becoming less pervasive and I hope the young women who are so adamant it doesn’t happen are never proven wrong.

I’m still working on my self-confidence. I try to remember that the client needs to trust me to relax and have a good gig themselves. I aim to keep a realistic assessment of my skill level. I used to turn jobs down if I wasn’t 100% sure I knew everything about every bit of equipment, for the good of the gig. I then realised that a lot of the time the client wouldn’t find someone better, they’d just find someone more cocksure who was happy to give it a go. Now I’m experienced enough to know whether I can take a job on and make it work even if it means learning some new skills, or whether I should leave it to someone more suitable.

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

Be specific when looking for help. If you want to tour, please don’t ask people “to go on tour”. Pick a specialism, work at it, get really good, then you might go on tour doing that job. When I see posts online looking for “opportunities in sound”, I ignore them. What area? Live music? Theatre? Studio? Film? Game audio? What country, even? Saying “I don’t mind” will make people switch off. People looking to tour when they don’t even know which department they want to work in makes me think they just want a paid holiday hanging out with a band.

Most jobs in this field are given by word of mouth and personal recommendations. Networking is an essential skill, but it doesn’t have to mean being fake and obsequious. The best way to network is to be genuinely happy to see your colleagues, and interested in them as people. And always remember you’re only as good as your last gig. You never know where each one will lead, so make the effort every time.

People who run hire companies are incredibly busy, and constantly dealing with disorganised clients and/or very disorganised themselves. Don’t be disheartened if they don’t reply when you contact them. Keep trying, or get a friend who already knows them to introduce you so you stand out from the dozens of CVs they get sent every week. Make it easy for employers. You are not a project they want to work on. Training takes time and money. They don’t want to know you’re inexperienced but eager to learn. Show them how you can already do the basic jobs, and have the right attitude to progress on your own.

Must have skills?

Number one is a good work ethic. You can learn everything else as you go along, but if you aren’t motivated to constantly pester employers until they give you a chance, turn up, work hard and help the other techs, all the academic knowledge in the world won’t help you.

Being easy to get on with is also essential. We can spend 24 hours a day with our colleagues, often on little sleep, working to tight schedules and people can get grumpy. Someone who can remember all the Dante IP addresses by heart but is arrogant and rude won’t go as far as someone who can admit they don’t know things, but is willing to ask questions or just Google it, then laugh at themselves later.

Staying calm under pressure, communicating clearly and being able to think logically are all needed for troubleshooting.

Anyone who tells you that having a musical ear is determined at birth is just patting themselves on the back. Listen to music, practise picking certain instruments out and think about how it’s put together. Critical listening can be learned and improved, even if you have to work at it more than some others.

Favorite gear?

Gadget wise, I love my dbBox2. It’s a signal generator and headphone amp in one and produces analog, AES and midi signals so it helps with so many troubleshooting situations and saves so much time.

I use my RF Explorer a lot to get a better idea of the RF throughout a venue and can use it to track down problem areas or equipment.

As far as desks go, I don’t have loyalty to a particular brand. They all have their advantages. I still have a soft spot for the Soundcraft Vi6 because that’s what I used in house for years. DiGiCo seems pretty intuitive to me and has a lot of convenient features. I spent most of the last year using an SSL L500. It sounds fantastic and has a lot of cool stuff to explore.

Parting Words

It can take a long time to break into this industry. I had been doing sound for nine years before I went on a tour, and then didn’t do much touring again for a couple of years after that. You have to be tenacious and patient. However, if you find yourself in a situation where you aren’t progressing, or the work environment is toxic, leave. As a freelancer, you shouldn’t rely too heavily on one client anyway. And that’s what they are: clients. When a friend pointed out these people aren’t your bosses, they’re your clients, it really helped me to change my approach. I now rely less on them for support, but I’m also free to prioritise favoured clients over others. Live sound can be rough around the edges, but there’s a difference between joking around and bullying. There’s a difference between paying your dues and stagnating. If you’ve been in a few negative crews it can be easy to believe that everywhere is like that, but it isn’t. Keep looking for the good ones, because they do exist.

The SoundGirls Podcast – Beth O’Leary: Freelancing, blogs, and sexism

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

Navigating through Coronavirus

The outbreak of coronavirus is impacting us all. Whether you’re a freelance musician or salaried employee the virus has shut down multiple sectors leaving many worried about the future ahead. In spite of this, and I by no means want to make light of a very serious situation, I have prepared some links to some things that can help those working in the music industry.

Moog + Korg 

These companies have offered up some free apps for a limited time and both are available on the App store.

AVID

If you use products like Pro Tools and Sibelius, Avid has said ‘As an added measure to assist our community in adjusting their workflows to accommodate COVID-19 virus precautions, Avid will be providing temporary licenses of our creative tools to customers at no charge.’ 

Spotify

Spotify has pledged $10 million dollars to musicians impacted by the coronavirus. Spotify has said to have created a feature for artists to link donation pages to their profiles.

Musicians Union, PRS, MusiCares 

These companies have all released financial support to those severely struggling in some way or another. If you are a member, you will have likely received an email. If not more information can be found on the respective sites.

Alternative Work + Training

If you are able to, there are a lot of online courses and SoundGirls has a great directory. Sites like Fiverr and People Per Hour are a great way to offer services whilst stuck at home.

You can find a detailed list of financial, educational, and jobs here

I hope some of these small ideas can help and remember the important thing is to stay safe. This too shall pass.

 

3 Easy Steps to Cutting Classic Cartoon Sound Effects

At Boom Box Post, we specialize in sound for animation.  Although sonic sensibilities are moving toward a more realistic take, we still do a fair amount of work that harkens back to the classic cartoon sonic styles of shows like Tom and Jerry or Looney Tunes.  Frequently, this style is one of the most difficult skills to teach new editors.  It requires a good working knowledge of keywords to search in the library–since almost all cartoon sound effects are named with onomatopoeic names rather than real words like “boing”, “bork”, and “bewip”–an impeccable sense of timing, and a slight taste for the absurd.

I used to think that you were either funny or not.  Either you inherently understood how to cut a sonic joke, or you just couldn’t do it.  Period.  But, recently, I began deconstructing my own process of sonic joke-telling and teaching my formula to a few of our editors.  I was absolutely floored by the results.  It turns out, you can learn to be funny!  It’s just a matter of understanding how to properly construct a joke.

WHAT NOT TO DO

Before I get into what to do, I think it’s important to point out what not to do.  When editors start cutting classic cartoon sound effects for the first time, they pretty much always have the same problem.  They stumble upon the Hanna-Barbera sound effects library and find some really funny sounds.  Bulb horns–those are always funny!  Boings–hilarious!  Splats–comic genius!  Then, one by one, they start sprinkling these in whenever they feel there’s a dull moment.

Let me say this once: A single funny sound effect is almost never funny.  It’s like blurting out the punchline of a joke without the setup.

Here’s an example of a joke: Someone stole my Microsoft Office and they’re going to pay.  You have my Word.  

I know this is a super lame joke… but it is a joke nonetheless and if you told it at a party, you’d probably be rewarded with an awkward groan/chuckle.  Cutting just a single bulb horn at a random moment is like yelling out “Microsoft Office!” in the middle of a party and expecting people to laugh.  It’s just not funny.  Cutting cartoon sound effects is not the artform of adding “funny” sounds randomly into a visual work, it’s the art of telling a sonic joke.  And to tell a joke, you need three parts: the introduction, the setup, and the punchline.  If you want to go one step further, you can add a bonus part: the tag.

AN EXAMPLE OF JOKE CONSTRUCTION IN PROGRESS

Love him or hate him, this video example of Jerry Seinfeld talking about his process in writing a Pop-Tart joke is very illuminating.  There are many different elements that go into how funny your joke will be perceived to be.  They are things like: how incongruous are the words (or sounds) to each other, how surprising is the punchline at the end, how well were elements from the setup woven back into the punchline, how well did you captivate your audience by the “story” of the joke.  With that in mind, it’s not hard to see why it would take two years to craft the perfect Pop-Tart joke.

Watch the video here.

ANATOMY OF A JOKE: THE INTRODUCTION

When telling a joke, this is your first sentence.  It lets the audience know where you’re starting.  In the case of Jerry’s Pop-Tart joke, this is when he starts talking about breakfast in the 1960s being composed of frozen orange juice and toast.  From this, we understand that this is going to be a joke about breakfast.

In sound, the importance of the introduction is all about timing. Take a Mickey and the Roadster Racers that one of our editors, Brad Meyer, and I worked on.  There was a sequence where all of the characters were driving around and Goofy was holding a stolen diamond.  It was incredibly valuable and he was nervous to be mistakenly caught with it and possibly taken for the thief.  At one point, he abruptly came to a stop, the diamond flew out of his car and landing in a Ferris wheel bucket.  The Ferris wheel then began to turn around, and the two characters (one good guy and one bad guy) scrambled to enter the bucket with it.  Up they went with the diamond to the top when it, of course, slipped from their hands, bounced down the spokes of the Ferris wheel one by one, and then landed neatly in Goofy’s car at the bottom.

In this sound design example, choosing the point at which we kick off the joke is key. Like I mentioned earlier, if we just sprinkle cartoon sound effects in whenever anything slightly “toony” happens in the visual, it’s not really a joke.  We’re just shouting funny-sounding words at a party.  Instead, we need to choose an exact moment to begin the joke.  That moment would be when the diamond flies out of Goofy’s car.  We chose a simple sail zip whistle to kick this off, and a glass clink when the diamond landed in the bucket. Those two sounds were our introduction to the joke. Keep in mind that from this moment, our goal is to make all of the following cartoon sound effects create anticipation leading up to the final “punchline” effect.

ANATOMY OF A JOKE: THE SETUP

In Jerry’s Pop-Tart joke, after introducing us to the idea that he’s talking about breakfast, he continues his setup by us about the downside of all of the prevailing breakfast foods of the 1960s.  Then, he announces the arrival of the Pop-Tart, likening it to the arrival of an alien spacecraft, and he and his friends were like “chimps in the dirt playing with sticks.”  As he points out–in that phrase alone, there are four very funny words: chimps, dirt, playing, sticks.

The setup is the story.  It takes us on a journey and gives us all of the elements we need to pull together the punchline.  But, notice that the more incongruous the elements of the setup, the better the punchline comes off.  What do breakfast, aliens, chimps, dirt, and sticks have in common?  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  This is exactly why it’s a great setup.

In sound, the idea is the same.  You kick off the joke with something that makes sense (like a sail zip for an item flying into the air).  In the example of the scene from Mickey and the Roadster Racers, we cut completely incongruous cartoon sounds for the landing of the hero and villain in the bucket (timpani hits), followed by a spin whistle for them scrambling to grab the diamond.  Then, when they got to the top, we cut different pitched glass “tinks” (ascending in pitch with each one) for the diamond falling and hitting spokes of the Ferris wheel along the way. Not only are all of these sounds funny on their own, but they are funnier because they are so different from one another.  Also note that these sounds, although different from one another, continue to build tension leading to the next moment.

ANATOMY OF A JOKE: THE PUNCHLINE

In the Pop-Tart joke, Jerry gives the punchline of wondering how they knew that there would be a demand for “a frosted fruit-filled heatable rectangle in the same shape as the box it comes in, and with the same nutritional value as the box it comes in.”  And he goes on to wrap it up by telling us that in the midst of hopelessness, the Pop-Tart appeared to meet that need of the people.  This punchline works because it harkens back to the introduction when Jerry tells us of the dire state of breakfast choices in America.  The people were in need, and a savior appeared.

In our sonic cartoon example, we did the same thing.  We started with an introduction of a sail zip, then lead to a whole batch of incongruous sounds that built anticipation, and then, as a punchline, we used a reversed sail zip to lead us to the final glass clink of the diamond falling into Goofy’s car.  Thus, the joke was bookended.

ANATOMY OF A JOKE: THE TAG

In Jerry’s example, he talks about wanting to develop an additional end to the joke when he ties in the “chimps in the dirt playing with sticks” with the Pop-Tart punchline.  This would be the tag.  In a cartoon, it might be one final sound at the end of the gag that really finishes it off, like two slow eye blinks from another character who just watched the joke take place.  When you see these visual “tags,” be sure that you always consider them part of the joke as a whole and keep the sounds part of the same family.

FINALLY, FARTS

Because you made it to the end of this incredibly long blog post, you shall be rewarded!  So, here is a video of my favorite comedian, George Carlin, telling fart jokes.  Being that we work in animation, we at Boom Box Post love nothing more than a good old-fashioned fart joke.  If you want extra credit, you can analyze this bit to see how the intros, setups, and punchlines work together.  Or, just sit back and enjoy the smell….

Watch the video here. 

This blog is a repost for Kate Finan at boomboxpost.com. Check out the original post here which includes audio clips.

 

 

Side Hustles for the No Work Drought

As freelancers, we’ve all experienced dry weeks or months and are often struggling to find work to fill in the gaps.  The wave of the dreaded Coronavirus has only pushed this drought into high gear. Many of us rely on events that include large gatherings of people, or feature people that have traveled from other countries that may have a larger amount of confirmed Coronavirus cases, so when those events are canceled, so are our paychecks.

Over the years I have tested out different side hustles, so I thought I would share the list of things I’ve tried.  There are really millions of weird little side jobs out there, so, no, I did not just Google that for you, I’m giving you a list of only things that I’ve personally tried and liked.

Too Good To Be True

First and foremost, do not bite on any “quick cash” listings.  Remember what your mom always said: If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.  Remember how I said I’m only sharing personal experiences? Yeah. This is one of them.  And by “one” I mean an embarrassing number. I’m not going to list the specific listings, because I’m not here to put anyone on blast, but just remember that any job worth doing will take some work to get to the good part.  If it’s easy, it’s sleazy. You have my permission to use that.

Teaching

 The longer you have been working on your craft, the more you can start to call yourself “an expert in your field.”  I don’t say that out of vanity, it’s what I was told when I started teaching without having an education degree. I landed a band director job straight out of college, and when I reminded those that hired me that I did not have an education degree, they said that was ok because I was considered “an expert in my field” and as long as I could pass a test for an emergency teaching credential, I would be good to go.  That test, by the way, is definitely the easiest academic-style test I have ever taken. I easily passed. For me, that teaching job was a full-time job, not so much a side hustle. It did, however, help me land my next teaching job, which only required 20 hours p/w of my time. I got to extend my emergency credential, and this time, I was also serving as the Resident Sound Engineer of a theatre in the same city. Teaching classes those 20 hours per week gave me some financial stability, and really helped keep my own knowledge and education sharp.  That same year, I also taught piano lessons, flute lessons, and voice lessons out of my home. Currently, I am an adjunct professor at a CSU. I teach one class two days per week, and it is just a really great source of steady income.

Teching

I live near a casino, and for the past three years, I have been working as an audio technician in the showroom that brings a new live act 1-2 times per week.  I love it. I love it because I can come and go as needed, so when I’m designing a show for theatre, I don’t stress. I also love working at the casino, because every week I set up a different console, or watch a different FOH engineer, and I always learn so much.  The kind of side hustle that keeps you learning is definitely the best kind.

Online

There are many online job opportunities, but the one that I tried and really liked was rev.com.  This is a transcription service, so being able to type quickly and accurately is key.  Bonus for having great ears, because some of the files you are transcribing are really poor audio quality.  You choose how often you work, but once you’ve chosen a project, you have a time limit in which it needs to be completed.  There are resources that help you out, so if you get stuck on an impossible sentence, you basically just send up a flare, and help is on the way.  As I said, good things don’t come easy, so there is a bit of a ramp-up to this job. You have to pass a typing test, and then you have to take several jobs that will only make you a few dollars each but will also only take 10-15 minutes to type.  Once you’ve earned your keep, you can start choosing jobs that will bring you more like $50-75 and (if you’re pretty decent) should only take 1-2 hours to type. Best of all, no face mask or Clorox wipes needed!

Whatever your side hustle, remember that it should stay on the side, so don’t pick up something that makes you buy a bunch of new equipment or requires a ridiculous amount of time.  Do try to find something that’s fun, keeps you learning, and most importantly, brings the $$$! Cheers and Happy Hustling!

You can find a list of side hustles here   

 

How to Make Tech Easier: Be Prepared

 

In my last blog, I talked about what goes into mixing a Broadway-style musical, and there’s a lot to do. For almost every production you work on, you’ll be expected to mix the show mostly line-by-line with some dynamics and (hopefully) few mistakes from day one. Having a smart layout for your DCAs and a clear script can be the difference between an incredibly stressful or a delightfully smooth tech process.

Once you have the script, first things first: read it. The entire way through. If you don’t have a good idea of what’s going on from the beginning, the rest of the process is going to be guesswork at best. Next, go through the script again, this time with an eye out for where scenes might go; either where a natural scene change happens in the script, or where there are more actors talking than you have faders. (The number of DCAs you’ll have is usually 8 or 12, determined by the console you’re using. DCAs are faders in a programmable bank that can change per scene so you only have the mics you need or can consolidate a group, like a chorus, down to one or two faders.)

There are two common ways of programming DCA’s. The first is a “typewriter” style where you move down the faders in order for each line and if you run out of faders, you take a cue and go back to the first fader, then repeat (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, CUE, 1, 2, 3, etc). This is very useful in larger scenes where characters have shorter one-off lines and you quickly move from one character to the next. The second approach is where each principal actress and actor is assigned to a constant fader (Dorothy is always on 1, Scarecrow on 2, Tin Man on 3, Lion on 4, etc), and will always be on that fader when they have dialogue. In shows where you mostly deal with a handful of reoccurring characters, this is friendlier to your brain as muscle memory brings you back to the same place for the same person each time.

As an example, let’s say we have 8 faders for dialogue and take a look at “The Attack on Rue Plumet” from Les Mis (if you want to listen along, it’s the dialogue from the 2010 Cast album for the 25th Anniversary production):

 

A typewriter approach to mixing would assign DCAs in increasing order each time a new character speaks (first lines are highlighted):

By the time we get to Marius, we’re almost out of faders, and there’s a natural change in the scene when Thenardier’s gang runs off and Valjean enters, so it works to take a cue between those two lines and start over with the DCAs.

But Les Mis is an ensemble show that’s centered around a core group of principals, so assigning characters to designated fader numbers is another option. If we’re mapping out the entire show, we find that Valjean, as the protagonist, ends up on (1), Marius, the main love interest, on (2),  and Cosette and Eponine can alternate on (3) as they interact with Marius most frequently, but usually aren’t in scenes together. Thenardier could go a couple of places: he leads in scenes like “Master of the House” and “Dog Eats Dog,” but in scenes with the other principals, he typically takes a secondary role, so we’ll put him on (4) in this scene. The chorus parts, Montparnasse, Claquesous, Brujon, and Babet (first lines are still highlighted below), are easiest to put in typewriter style after Thenardier since they only appear once or twice in the show, so don’t have a designated fader number.

The mix script for this approach would look like this:

 

Here, Thenardier (4) is still right next to his cronies (5), (6), (7), and (8), but is also right next to Eponine (3) for their bits of back-and-forth. The scene change still ends up after Marius’s line, as it’s a natural place to take it, and Cosette replaces Eponine on (3), getting ready for the next scene “One Day More,” where Marius (2) and Cosette (3) will be singing a duet, with Eponine (4) separated, singing her own part.

With this particular scene, neither approach is perfect, as all the characters have multiple lines (and not in the same order every time), but either one would be a legitimate way to set it up.

Typically, you’ll use a combination of both approaches over the course of a show, with one that you default to for scenes that could go either way, like the example. Personally, I like to use a spreadsheet where I can see the entire show and get an overview of what the mix will look like. This makes it easier to spot patterns or adjust potentially awkward changes in assignments. (The colors for major characters in the examples are just visual aids that I added for this blog.)

For example, here’s a layout that’s mostly typewriter. Characters may stay on the same fader for connected scenes, but overall the assignments go in order of lines in a scene:

 

As another example, there is a core group of four actors that are in almost the entire show and a couple of reoccurring supporting roles, so using a designated fader for those characters works much better. There are times that the pattern breaks for a scene or two to switch to typewriter, but largely everyone stays in the same place:

 

Once you have the DCAs planned out, you can start to format a mixing script. The first example from Les Misérables gives a basic version of that: putting numbers next to lines for the DCA assignments, notes for where cues will go, but you will also eventually add in-band moves, effect levels, and other notes.

Personally, I like the majority of my information to be in the left margin, and if I have enough time I’ll retype the script into my own format so I can mess with it as much as I want. My scripts look like this (I thoroughly enjoy color coding!):

 

Each show might have slight differences, but the broad strokes are always the same: cues are in lavender boxes with a blue border (for cues taken off a cue light, the colors are inverted, so blue box with lavender border), band moves are in purple, vocal verb is green, red are mic notes as well as DCA numbers, and yellow is anything that I need to pay attention to or should check.

Here’s another example and an explanation from Allison Ebling from her script for The Bodyguard tour (she’s currently the Head Audio on the 1st National Tour of Anastasia):

 

“One is the top of show sequence which had to be verbally called and on Qlite due to the fact that it was a bit jarring for audiences. (LOUD gunshots and all the lights went off without warning, our preshow announce was played at the scheduled start and downbeat was 5 [minutes] after.) 

The other is a sequence in the second act where I took one cue with the SM, and the rest were on visual. It also has my favorite Q name ever… ‘Jesus Loves a Gunshot.’

I also like reading my script left to right, so I usually end up reformatting them that way.”

And another example and explanation from Mackenzie Ellis (currently the Head Audio on the 1st National Tour of Dear Evan Hansen):

“Here are some from my DEH tour script [Left], and some from the Something Rotten [Right] first national tour, both of which I am/was the A1 for. Both scripts were adapted from the Broadway versions, created by Jarrett Krauss and Cassy Givens, respectively. 

Notes on my formatting:

 

As you can see, there are different styles and endless ways to customize a mixing script. How you arrange or put notations in your script is purely a personal preference, and will constantly evolve as you continue to work on shows. As a note: not only should you be able to read your script, but to be truly functional, it should be clear enough that an emergency cover can execute a passable show in a pinch.

At this point, you have your script ready and a solid plan for how the show will run. If there’s still time before tech, you can start practicing. Practice boards are becoming more and more popular and are incredibly helpful to work out the choreography of a mix. Casecraft makes one that is modeled after the DiGiCo SD7 fader bank. Scott Kuker (most recently the mixer for Be More Chill on Broadway) made a custom, travel-size board for me a couple of years ago that I absolutely love. It immediately became an integral part of learning the mix for both me and my assistants!

I highly recommend getting one if you’re career plans involve mixing theatrical shows, but if you don’t have one, there’s the tried and true option of setting up coins to push as makeshift faders (pennies tend to be a good size, but some prefer quarters). Whatever method you use, the point is to start getting a sense of muscle memory and timing as you work through the show. It also gives you an opportunity to work through complicated or quick scenes, so you get a feel for the choreography or can even look at adjusting the DCA programming to make it easier.

After prepping a script and getting in some practice, walking up to the console in tech doesn’t seem as daunting. If you’re well prepared, you’re able to keep up and adapt to changes faster. Plus, if you’re self-sufficient at the board, your designers can trust you to mix the show and take more time to focus on their job of getting the system and the show the way they want it, which will help you in the long run.

 

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