After seeing several recent articles and social media posts promoting good ear health, I realised that I was long overdue for a hearing test so promptly booked myself in with an audiologist to get a check-up at my local Specsavers hearing centre. The NHS covers hearing tests here in the UK, and so they are funded and available to all who require them. Whilst I am eternally grateful we have this service, I found the process of the test rather unpleasant, baffling in its design, and felt it left me with more questions to research myself than it had answered.
The Hearing Test
The exam started with a series of questions regarding medical history, hearing concerns, work, and lifestyle. I told the audiologist my concerns and was met with a weird scoff and strained line of subsequent questions when I answered my profession, making it an uncomfortable start. Maybe she was having a bad day, or had found musicians and engineers to make difficult patients? I can only wonder. Next, a photograph was taken inside each of my ears, which is called an otoscopy, and then the photos were brought up onto a computer screen to show the ear canal. Once those were out the way with no problems, the headphones went on in the soundproof booth, and the hearing test started.
Pure tone audiometry (PTA) is a test that measures the hearing threshold. Pure tones are played in each ear, and the responses are measured – in this case, by pushing a button each time I could hear a sound. The test starts with one ear: a frequency is played loudly, and then the same frequency is played slightly softer, again and softer again several times. This is then repeated in the same ear with the next tone. PTA measures audibility thresholds and has a “normal” average range but does not identify all hearing loss, and therefore some question its accuracy. The average levels refer to the average of hearing threshold levels of the tones used in the test, which are typically 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz. Headphones are changed during the test from being on the ear as you would normally wear them, to a different set which is placed slightly behind the ear onto the bone of the skull. The process is repeated on the other ear, with the click response being the only interaction from the patient to the audiologist during the test.
Questions arising from the test
The strange thing to me about this method is the lack of the element of surprise – the interval time between the diminishing volume tones was quite rhythmic and predictable, creating absurd existential doubt over the tones reality versus expectation. I had gone in with no real memory of my last hearing test and had thought it would be more similar to an eye exam in the way that new pictures and letters are introduced to the eyes for the first time with no way of cheating your way through, and there’s a continuous back and forth interaction with the optometrist. The lack of interaction meant that there was no opportunity to discuss whether there was a different experience in each ear or anything else that might have cropped up during the test. It seemed quite odd not to have any dialogue, and the decision not to randomise the tones in frequency, volume, and ear was the thing that surprised me, rightly or wrongly.
I was brought out of the booth and greeted with fine results, but unfortunately, it was not the cause to celebrate you’d imagine; I was told that my concerns raised back at the very beginning of the test were either:
not real and were in my head, or
due to a brain problem.
The audiologist explained to me that her role only studies the signals as far as the ear and that the signals to the brain from the ear are the jurisdiction of another doctor. The test was over, and I wondered how older or more confused patients might be dealt with at this point.
What to do if you are facing hearing loss
Hearing impairment is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a hearing loss with thresholds higher than 25db in one or both ears. Loss at this level at one or more of the previously mentioned frequencies in the PTA test can guide an audiologist to the specific diagnosis and treatment.
If you’re curious to get tested but are unable to arrange an exam in person, there are various online sources with recreations of PTA tests you can do to discover if you are in the “normal” range or have any areas of concern you’d like to understand better. As with most things, though, prevention is better than the cure and looking after your hearing should be a priority. While I’m not working with stadium rock levels of loudness every night, safety measures are so crucial for those working in potentially damaging environments.
Moulded earplugs and IEMs are a big but worthy investment for both prevention and treatment to stop further damage occurring. Whilst I’m not affiliated with any companies myself, I have peers who collaborate with businesses who provide IEMs and earplugs to them in the way of sponsorship deals, which can be a great and mutually beneficial way to help with the cost of necessary ear protection.
Since my hearing test, I’ve been pleasantly surprised in my research to find there are rolling schemes in the UK such as the Musicians’ Hearing Health Scheme which provides access to specialist hearing assessment and bespoke hearing protection, partnership with Help Musicians UK and Musicians Hearing Services. These tests are with musician-specialist audiologists and include regular check-ups and bespoke hearing protection, all at a massively subsidised rate, making hearing health and treatment both accessible and affordable.
Final thoughts
In the last few weeks, I’ve learned that PTA is possibly not the most suitable or in-depth method for testing musicians’ hearing, although it gives a good benchmark to pinpoint severe hearing loss. I’ll definitely be visiting a musician-specialist for my next appointment, for the bedside manner as well as the knowledge. In matters of health, I do sometimes worry that complacency is encouraged, and if possible, my advice would be to visit a specialist and get a second opinion if something feels ‘off.’ There are experts, sponsorships, and schemes actively working to help look after musicians and engineers, and I for one am comforted knowing they’re out there taking musicians’ health seriously.
To find out more about getting specialised hearing assistance in the UK, including tests and ear protection visit:
Learn the basics of Electricity and Stage Patch, and Putting together a Gig Bag.
Electricity
This workshop will cover the Basics of Electricity. What you need to know on the gig – Not a bunch of theory, but what we need to know for gigs. There are two basic aspects of working with electricity. One is to move enough electrical power from point A to point B to adequately energize the equipment that requires it. The other is to do it safely. Sometimes, these two factors will be in conflict with each other, usually because of budgetary restraints Large wire and cables are needed to move a lot of power, and they are expensive to purchase and install properly, but small, cheap gangs of “extension cords” may seem to get the job done, until a plug or receptacle burns out, or a cable catches on fire. And therein lies the potentiality for serious problems.
Stage Patch
Stage Patch is the most important job on a gig. You will learn how to properly wire a stage, learn how to make input lists, festival patches, and best steps to becoming a patch master.
Gig Bag
What’s in your Gig Bag: Learn what tools you should have in your gig bag.
Ivan Ortiz is an audio veteran, with over 18 years of experience in professional audio – gaining his education working for a small sound company that specialized in Latin acts while attending Full Sail. After he graduated he headed to the west coast – taking an internship at Rat Sound Systems and his “can do attitude” led to weekend work with several Los Angeles based sound companies. Ivan would go on to tour as a system tech for Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World, Pepe Aguilar and toured for several years as a monitor engineer for My Chemical Romance, Gavin DeGraw, and multiple fill in gigs for other bands as FOH or MON Engineer.
Ivan would go on to work for LD Systems in Houston Texas working the Houston Rodeo as Monitors Engineer for the event for five consecutive years. While working for LD Systems Ivan also had the opportunity to work on national televised events as the A1 for NCAA Final Four, NCAA Sweet Sixteen, Houston’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, before returning to Rat as shop manager and all around Tech Master. Ivan is now the Technical Resources Manager at Rat Sound Systems.
SoundGirls FOH Tuning Workshop – Los Angeles
This workshop covers various Front of House system design and scenarios. Topics include designing the PA, software prediction, coverage over SPL, time alignment, sub-woofer configurations, and coverage gaps. This is an intermediate course and will help professionals to hone their skills.
Ivan Ortiz is an audio veteran, with over 18 years of experience in professional audio – gaining his education working for a small sound company that specialized in Latin acts while attending Full Sail. After he graduated he headed to the west coast – taking an internship at Rat Sound Systems and his “can do attitude” led to weekend work with several Los Angeles based sound companies. Ivan would go on to tour as a system tech for Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World, Pepe Aguilar and toured for several years as a monitor engineer for My Chemical Romance, Gavin DeGraw, and multiple fill in gigs for other bands as FOH or MON Engineer.
Ivan would go on to work for LD Systems in Houston Texas working the Houston Rodeo as Monitors Engineer for the event for five consecutive years. While working for LD Systems Ivan also had the opportunity to work on national televised events as the A1 for NCAA Final Four, NCAA Sweet Sixteen, Houston’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, before returning to Rat as shop manager and all around Tech Master. Ivan is now the Technical Resources Manager at Rat Sound Systems.
Los Angeles – Live Sound Workshop
Here’s your chance to gain knowledge in live sound in a professional environment
In this class, you will learn:
The basic components of a live sound venue
Gain an understanding of the signal flow of live sound, from source to speakers
Understand the role and duties of a live sound engineer
Practice sound check and mixing for a concert
Practice working with signal processors (compressors, gates, effects)
Have access to program various digital consoles (Availability depends on inventory SD10, SD12, SD9, Profiles, SC48, M32, X32
Instructors
FOH Instructor – Amanda Davis: L.A.- based FOH engineer for Janelle Monáe, Tegan & Sara, and Ella Mai
Monitors & Production Instructor – Whitney Olpin: Monitor Engineer for Melody Gardot, Lauryn Hill, Fitz, and The Tantrums, Sublime with Rome, Marian Hill, X-Ambassadors, and Walk the Moon.
System & Stage Patch Instructors – Emily Pearce and McKenzee Morley: Both Emily and McKenzee work for Schubert Systems
Backline Tech: TBA
Karrie Keyes – Monitor Engineer for Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder and Executive Director for SoundGirls will be on hand as well
Bryony October – Tolerance, Patience & the Ability to Remain Calm
Bryony October is an independent live sound engineer who started touring when she 15. She has toured as a merch-seller, catering assistant, and backline tech before moving into live sound. She has been working in live sound for the last 20 years.
She got her foot in the touring world, by writing to her favorite band, The Levellers, and asked if she could do her work experience placement at their fan club. Bryony explains that this “was before the days of the internet/Facebook social media etc. so fan clubs were how bands and fans interacted. You would join your favourite band’s fan club, and they would send you special releases, a fanzine, and you could buy t-shirts from them directly.” The only problem was she did not post the letter, believing that The Levellers would think the proposition was ridiculous. Luckily for Bryony, her mother posted the letter, and to Bryony’s surprise, they wrote back and invited her to their recording studio in Brighton. Her Aunt and Uncle happened to live in Brighton, and she packed up her bags to spend the week mailing t-shirts and fanzines and making photocopies of the newsletter. The Levellers would invite Byrony back during the summer holiday at which time they brought her on tour for a few days. Bryony at the age 15, got a taste for what life on a tour bus was like, and was hooked. She would set her sights on tour managing, as she did not have technical skills.
From their Bryony, who always took an interest in music, took a module in music technology as A’level music (A’levels are the exams you take that get you into University when you’re 17/18.) This was the late 90’s, and Music technology was a very new thing to be taught at Universities. Bryony remembers that “there was not Pro Tools yet-we used Cubase, and it was the first year the UK had ever run such a module as part of a formal music qualification. Suffice to say I was the only girl in the course. Unfortunately, the teacher left after the first year as the course was in its infancy and not very structured or easy to teach, so it didn’t work out for me, and that knocked my technical confidence.”
She studied Philosophy & Critical Theory with Film/Television making and she joined the Student Union technical crew. This was when Bryony realized she had an aptitude for audio technology. “I think once I was in the live context that I was used to being around with the Levellers’ tours that the technical side of things began to make sense. The University Student’s Union had once been a gig on the old university touring circuit and had a Turbosound Floodlight Pa system, and Soundcraft analog consoles at both ends of the multi as well as a great selection of Shure mics. Unfortunately, the club scene had taken over as student’s preferred night out, so we didn’t get many bands through anymore, but I worked many an hour in the union with two channels of DJ which gave me a lot of facetime with the console just fiddling around. As soon as I told the Levellers’ FOH engineer that I knew the rudiments of how a Soundcraft console worked, he got me mixing any support act that came through on the Levellers’ tours. From there, I started to make contacts with all these young up-and-coming support acts who asked me back to mix and tour manage their smaller level tours.”
She also continued to tour The Levellers as a merch assistant. On the first day of the tour “ the main merch guy told me I needed to get up at 9 am to watch the merch boxes get loaded in and sit with them all day until he came in at 3 pm to make sure no one stole any t-shirts. There was no way I was going to just sit there with the hive of activity around me, so I asked the Levellers’ FOH engineer if I could help with the PA. My musical background pulled me more towards an interest in sound more than lighting, and I didn’t like the look of all the ladders and climbing in the lighting department!”
Bryony toured with the Levellers as backline tech/pa tech mixing any support acts that came through without an engineer until 2002 and then moved into just mixing foh with a bit of TM-Ing with smaller acts which she had met when mixing the support acts on the Levellers’ tours. Bryony says they were”the band’s no one would have heard of like Clearlake, the Crocketts, Captain and then a band that supported Clearlake called Delays started to take off and employed me just as foh.” Delays would take her on an international tour and helped to build Bryony’s reputation as a FOH engineer. She then went on to work the Noisettes a female-fronted pop act in the UK and then with Foxes another female-fronted UK pop act. Bryony has also worked with the acclaimed singer-songwriter Laura Marling, legendary 80s singer Billy Ocean, and her main artist Katie Melua whom she also does some production advances for. She is also the FOH/TM for Ward Thomas.
For the love of analog
I started mixing a few years before the advent of digital consoles, but by the time I had got to a level where I was touring my console, it was all digital. I always promised myself that when the right tour came up, I would take an analog desk and racks of lovely old outboard, but it didn’t happen until 2018. The tour was Katie Melua with the Gori Women’s choir. I have never been so excited or so proud to have been a part of such a tour and take out that package of gear. It was a brave and bold move as it simply isn’t the done thing anymore. Many venues don’t have space at FOH anymore, and local crews are not used to handling such a large and heavy console. It is also a completely different mixing experience, and some people would say much more limited, which it is in a way. I see it as ‘real mixing’ because there are no snapshots or recall and you have to really listen to what you are doing instead of pulling out frequencies on a visual display. I had the BEST time, and we had nothing but positive reviews and endless streams of people complimenting the sound both to me at foh, in social media feedback to Katie and the show reviews. Legendary producer William Orbit came to 2 of the shows and told Katie that it was in the top 10 sonic experiences of his life!
Live Sound Challenges
Probably one of the most challenging and yet rewarding experiences came about because of the familiar story of lack of time and money going into an extremely high-pressure situation. I’ve worked with the singer Foxes since 2012, and she got booked for the Coldplay US stadium tour as support with about three weeks’ notice back in 2016. The budget was extremely tight, and our monitor engineer wasn’t available for the tour. We had been touring Soundcraft consoles all year and were not set up in any way for the Digico SD7s that would present themselves for this tour. We only had one day’s rehearsal so it made (time and budgetary) sense that I should set up the band’s in-ears at the same time of building my FOH mix.
It was a significant risk, but I knew having been on stadium tours before that we would not get any soundcheck time for sure on the first day, if at all during the tour. So I had to make something meaningful to start us off in the space of a day’s rehearsal. We hired a Digico SD7 console, and I set about building and then rehearsing a combined FOH and monitor file for the band. They are all on in-ears, so it required some delicacy, but I knew the band very well at this stage. They had taken a long time to settle into having a separate monitor engineer when we reached that stage, having had me mix from FOH for such a long time they liked the very live sound they would get with me just setting their mixes and leaving it.
I went to the hire company to set up the desk file the day before which was a lifesaver time-wise and spent a good 12 hours swearing at the sd7, wondering how anyone with remotely chunky fingers ever got anywhere. Then I remembered I had a touch screen nib on the end of a pen in my bag …it’s the small things. It seemed crazy on the face of it, setting up such an unfamiliar console for both FOH and monitors when you are going into a hundred thousand capacity gig and handing the monitor file over to a stranger. But I was so determined, and it was incredibly important on a professional level that we go into that show looking up together. It was a case of just using everything I knew about the band and the way their sound works but also keeping things as simple as possible. I think that’s a good rule in all high-pressure situations. The fact that they all trusted me already was a huge bonus.
The rehearsal was going swimmingly for several hours until the SD7 dual-engine fell over and started doing some quite random things beyond my at that stage limited understanding of its brainpower. Alas, it was late on a Sunday by this point I couldn’t get a hold of anyone for tech support, so again after much swearing, I had no choice but to move on to the rehearsal room Avid console, so we could at least finish the rehearsal. Then it was a case of hoping for the best when we arrived on-site the next day at the first Coldplay show. Not ideal!
Thankfully on the day both files loaded and line checked no problem so when the band stepped out onto the stage at the Met Life Stadium with no more than a line check everything came together beautifully, and they had the gig of their lives. I also had one of the most awesome live mixing experiences of my life. It was akin to the old analog festival days where you weren’t quite sure until the band stepped out on stage. Hats off to the incredible systems engineers from Wigwam who looked after us on that tour and made all those stadiums sound amazing. All those years of having to mix monitors from foh finally paid off. I was born to mix in stadiums, though.
What do you like best about touring?
I love the escapism, the fact you get to run away with the circus for a living. This can be a double-edged sword as you can run away from anything difficult in your personal life and you can avoid committing to anything at home with the excuse that you will be taking off again soon which has long term implications on your personal life. But the camaraderie and feeling of being part of a team are unbeatable as well as the incredible places you get to travel to and the music and audiences you get to experience whilst being paid for it!
What do you like least?
The lack of job stability, structure or protection, particularly at the outset of your career, can make you feel very vulnerable at times, making you feel like you have to say yes to everything and work all of the time, which is a vicious circle. Sometimes it forces you to compromise or behave in a way that can be detrimental to your values or mental health to keep everyone around you happy because you think that’s how you will keep your job. It can take a long time to be confident enough to say no.
What is your favorite day off activity?
Getting a massage or finding a local yoga or pilates class, then finding a great local restaurant and using the hotel pool and Jacuzzi to reeeeelax
What are your long-term goals?
My current long-term goal is to fit having a family in without completely compromising my career, which I am not ashamed to admit, terrifies me. I feel a great responsibility to the women coming behind me to help normalize the idea that women can be mothers and also have a career in live music.
What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?
I have had it said to me on more than one occasion over the years that so and so big artists ‘just won’t have a girl’ mixing foh when I have been put forward, but I think this perception issue is dying thankfully. Alas, in my case, because I am a bit older, I certainly feel like my opportunities have been limited compared with some of my male contemporaries
How have you dealt with them?
I have completely ignored it, risen above it, kept going, driving forward, taking on bigger and better projects, being ambitious, and saying YES even when out of my comfort zone. At the same time, I have been vocal about women working in the industry and supportive of organizations like SoundGirls so that women mixing sound is normalised.
The advice you have for women who wish to enter the field?
Be clear about the career path you want to take. By all means, work in a few different roles at the very start, but make a decision about which department you want to work in and stick to it. I hear lots of people trying to multi task-do lights, sound, video, tour management, but I think that is a recipe for long term low end-work rather than high-end specialism and it has held me back working as a TM/FOH. Specialize and stick to your guns, getting as much experience as possible in your chosen field only. By all means, take on merch or something similar to get you on tour in the first place, but once you are getting paid work in your field, stick with that, and push forward. Don’t compromise.
Must have skills?
Tolerance, patience, and the ability to remain calm
Favorite gear?
I am an analog console junky; I love the MIDAS XL4 and Heritage series consoles. My outboard rack contains a BSS901 Dynamic Eq, Empirical Labs Distressor, and Roland SDE3000 delay.
Parting Advice
I guess the most important thing to me at the moment, having done nothing but tour for 20 years is to encourage the younger people coming up behind me to make sure they hold on to work-life balance and be super aware that doing this for a living is a MASSIVE compromise on your life. Despite what it might look like from the outside-especially for women when it comes to relationships and family. It’s so easy to run away with the circus and keep running, but it doesn’t do your mental health any favours later down the line. We are seeing a lot in the press and on social media about mental health these days and having tragically lost so many high profile artists to suicide and drug overdoses in recent years, people in live music circles people are finally beginning to talk and open up about the negatives of what is perceived as a very glamorous. So I think it’s really important that young people are made aware of the negatives, not just the positives, and given the tools to keep a balance. I think we must keep fighting for better conditions and more structured work arrangements as much as is possible.
With Halloween just around the corner, I wanted to explore the spooky ambience of radioactivity. Nuclear radiation is a common mysterious force in science fiction and horror films. Its manifestations are generally physical sensations, like heat, or mutations rather than sonic phenomena. However, there are fascinating sounds and ambiences that are connected with nuclear radiation.
Nuclear reactors are inherently spacious concrete buildings. It takes concrete walls several feet thick to block the most penetrable of nuclear radiation from escaping to the outside world. These make for excellent reverberation chambers. At the decommissioned B-Reactor in Hanford, Washington, a local vocal group, has taken advantage of that. They have created a concert showcase about the Hanford Site and the Manhattan Project (of which the B-Reactor was initially built for), and are performing inside the building. Nuclear Dreams is composed by Reginald Unterseher, performed by Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, and was commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the B-Reactor.
Isolation and silence also surround nuclear sites. They are built away from busy urban centers, and often the wildlife reclaim the nearby land. Irradiated animals inside nuclear tanks do not decay, and their sunken remains haunt silently. Above ground, the radiation does little to change their regular habits. Humans interacting with the radiation often are enveloped in silence, either by their limited viewing capabilities via closed-circuit monitors or even by way of the radiation itself. Journalist Igor Kostin of Novosti Agency, who was first on the scene at Chernobyl, recounted that when he opened the helicopter window to get a better camera shot, he heard nothing. Not helicopter rotors, not wind, just nothing. In his words, “deafening silence.” It is possible that what happened was a physiological response, similar to what brain cancer patients experience during chemotherapy.
Then there is an eerie sense one feels at not being able to perceive the danger that they know exists at the nuclear sites. The Chernobyl television series encapsulates this with its score. Quiet drones pulse in time to sirens and are accented with distorted static. Hildur Guðnadóttir’s compositions accent the tension and the panic of the unfolding disaster and subsequent cover-up. The muted dynamics of the score allows the magnitude of the visuals to hit with more power. It is only disaster itself that causes the noise. Wailing sirens and alarms, and the static of Geiger counters create a constant cacophony that follows explosions. Beeps from monitoring machines and sparse clicking of dosimeters are the soundtrack to a normal functioning reactor, not of a meltdown.
When building up the sound design of your nuclear-centric haunted house (or is that just me) remember the reverb, silence, and eeriness of the real thing. The trick-or-treaters will feel isolated and on-edge. Have a Happy Halloween.
Networking to Your Next Position
My job has taken me to many different places lately, where I’ve met many types of people and worked with many various organizations and labor groups. Often, I encounter people who would like to break out of their current role to work for the businesses or tours they’ve met along the way. Frequently there are questions of how to take the next steps to reach their goals. Here’s some advice.
Be eager and helpful
This will make a huge impact. You will leave a lasting impression; I guarantee it. This is your first step into new opportunities. Leave a positive impact by jumping in on any task. Help with the ‘bad’ jobs like feeder, decking, and barricade. Keep volunteering for tasks all day and when completed, ask what’s next; even better if 2 or 3 tasks can be passed to you at one time and you complete them all well the first time.
Listen and Respond
Listen to the directions given and respond, letting them know you understand what you are being asked. This is super simple to do. Statements such as “I got it, no problem, or anything else I should do?” provide responses that let the leader know you are listening and jumping on the tasks at hand. Of course, make sure, you are completing these tasks to the best of your ability and if you are not sure exactly what’s being requested, ask questions. Then follow through letting the leader know that the project is done.
Follow-through
Contact them, submit your resume, if possible, stop by the office to talk outside of a job site, seek them out separately from an event. We are going to be respectful of those we partner with. Sometimes you have to actively engage, question, and work your way toward the crews you want to be a part of. You will need to step out and ask for a meeting. Find an appropriate time to ask some initial questions onsite and follow up later. Get the person’s name, role, and ask a bit about their company and if time allows to tactfully ask about their hiring process. Then when you’re not in the middle of a show, ask for a meeting or employment opportunity. You’ve already made your impression. They’ve already experienced your work ethic, and you’ve proved you follow through. This has a considerable impact on the decision-making process and could give you better chances.
If they don’t hire you, ask for constructive feedback. Be prepared to hear what you don’t want to hear but take that feedback to improve and move forward. Also, be prepared for the company to have concerns about poaching you from their partner and burning a relational bridge with a group they rely on. This is a hard thing for companies to navigate. In the end, it is your choice who you work for, but companies and groups may need to tread lightly sometimes. Help them by tactfully making your intentions and plans know to all parties involved to not burn any relational bridges yourself.
Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read Our Quick Round-up!
It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org
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Moulded earplugs and IEMs are a big but worthy investment for both prevention and treatment to stop further damage occurring. Whilst I’m not affiliated with any companies myself, I have peers who collaborate with businesses who provide IEMs and earplugs to them in the way of sponsorship deals, which can be a great and mutually beneficial way to help with the cost of necessary ear protection.
