Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

Join Us

Giving Up Wasn’t a Choice – Freelancing in Bollywood

 

I come from a family of bankers, doctors, and engineers & therefore have always considered myself to be the black sheep of the family as I’m more inclined towards Art, People & Culture. When I was seven years old, it was my father who discovered that I had a fascination for sound and musical instruments and had me join piano lessons and thus I started training in Hindustani Classical Music.  As a kid, I was an average student when it came to academics, had no extraordinary talents or goals. But I religiously stuck to music. It was my only solace, and I practiced and yearned to learn more every single day.

Towards the end of high school though, my parents were worried about the fact that I wasn’t doing well in my studies and hence decided to talk me out of pursuing music in the long term. They talked about the reality of this competitive field and that how hard it would be to succeed, especially for someone who personally knew no one belonging to her area of interest to mentor her. I abruptly quit studying music. All those years, I blamed my parents for talking me out of doing something I loved. I also hated Myself for accepting that maybe, I really wasn’t good enough.

After finishing junior college, the idea was to get into any STEM field, but I knew that I’d drop out midway because I had no passion for those subjects. Neither wanting to waste my time nor my parents’ money, I started researching about music schools in India, came across a private institute that provided a bachelor’s degree in Mass Media with specialization in Sound Engineering and decided to opt for it. All my three years as an undergraduate in sound school, I was the only girl in an entire batch of around 70 students. I knew right from the beginning that if there weren’t any girls to even study this subject, I wouldn’t find many when I actually start working in the profession, either. That didn’t dim my love for Sound, though. It was uncharted yet engrossing territory for me. I was learning something entirely new, the technical aspects of sound and music; as to what goes on behind-the-stage – beyond all the glamour – in this artistic field; what it takes to brilliantly record a song track for millions to listen to, later on; and how sound adds to the visuals and brings an entire film to life! I mastered my digital software (DAW)/outboard gear skills and also began composing and producing music of my own. I did a number of internships alongside my course, including one in my college itself. I did have a few clashes with my male batch mates, but I was fortunate enough to have to best faculties to guide and support me.

After course completion, I returned to Bombay  – the Hub of the Indian Mainstream Media, Music and Film Industry. My parents asked me to look for a stable 9 to 5 regular day job. It was quite a task for me to explain to them that odd long working hours and erratic schedules are a part of this Field. I had the skills and the talent, but I lacked contacts and networks. My first job, which was at a popular TV Channel, lasted for not more than three months. The head of the sound department told me that he thought I was in this field just for Hobby and that I “should get into other mass media field such as Print like most women until I got married and then I wouldn’t have to work further.” Also, working night shifts was risky, and hence I was, in a way, a liability. I decided to quit.

Why should I let anyone else dictate my future goals? I joined another studio, again for a very short period, as the owner didn’t believe that I’d succeed as an audio engineer and wanted me to work full-time but unpaid, under the name of exposure and experience. If I did get a good opportunity because of my skills, guys would claim that it was because “I was a woman” or that competition was less. What they didn’t gather was that as a female, I had a whole bunch of other challenges and issues to tackle, that they did not. Neither did I experience any sort of compensation or leniency because of my gender, nor was I expecting any. Another studio told me that I was aggressive, manly, and less feminine; a brash talker who lacked female creative input. How does one co-relate Creativity and gender roles, I wonder!

The idea of working for someone else was something that I completely started to abhor and also be scared of. I started questioning myself and having second thoughts that maybe I should go look for a less male-dominated field where I didn’t have to face such constant misogyny and be surrounded by the clichéd stereotypes and hackneyed ideas. My relatives and other acquaintances who knew nothing about my field also suggested the same.

But what if I experienced similar scenarios everywhere?

I was so done with the system and the field that I was jobless for months. I even sold off my piano and guitar – my only prized possessions – out of frustration, because they were a constant reminder of something I could achieve but chose not to, anymore – Creating Music.

One day, I got a call from an acquaintance who wanted to know about my field for their daughter. I was flabbergasted. Was I to say that this field wasn’t for women even if they had the passion for it? Wouldn’t that make me an accomplice in patriarchy?

Or that I was a failure? This made me question further –

What message or example does this lay for the women of the younger generation who decide to get into this field and find themselves in the same predicament? They’d have no one to look up to or guide them. They too would feel similarly lost and decide to quit. And the gender ratio in our field would, yet again, remain uneven.

Hence giving up wasn’t a choice. I refused to start believing what everyone else had to say about me, just yet. I decided to get back into the field as a freelancer and started working on small-scale projects on Sound Design, Dubbing, Sync-Sound and also began conducting guest lectures & fun workshops on music programming, theory, arranging and production. For someone who had just started out on their own again, after a long hiatus due to personal setbacks, Struggle, competition, unstable money, and lack of projects was truly a messy phase. But with more and more work projects and practical experience, recognition came my way.

People are still surprised to see a woman working behind the Console. Some artists seem to be more comfortable with it. Especially female musicians or actors, who claim that they can be themselves and not at all feel intimidated as they do around male engineers. Now that’s a compliment! Work done with ease and devoid of any sort of limitations brings out the best results. I believe in promoting diversity, inclusion, gender equality, and defying all kinds of stereotypes that surround men and women, both. It’s high time we move past conservative gender roles. Women are much more than shopping and accessories.

Women can be nerds; women can be gadget freaks & women can be Audio Geeks too!

No one should judge a person/an employee by the way they talk or walk or by what gender, race, or class they belong to, but only by their skills. “Am I getting the job done and am I getting it done Right? Am I bringing quality output to the table?” is all that should matter. The most significant work ethic that everyone should adopt, no matter what field they belong to, is that there has to be boundaries between one’s personal & professional life and everyone should try and respect them. I’m so, so grateful to the few good men who have been a consistent support and have helped me with their tremendous insights and knowledge with regards to not just the field but the business and politics behind it. No gender is superior or inferior. We shouldn’t tear each other down and instead be open to work as a collective, share ideas, create, innovate & inspire. And thus, I encourage and hope that more and more women opt for unconventional career paths, have an undeterred approach towards their goals, and also help their fellow female co-workers along the way.

As for me, my journey has just started, and I still have a long way to go and a great deal to learn.


Priyanka SE, Bombay IN: Based in Bombay, India, Priyanka SE is an audio engineer and music producer who’s been working as a freelancer in the Bollywood Industry on versatile mainstream and indie media, audio and music projects for the past five years. She has a distinct taste in music, irrespective of the genre and language, especially Blues, Jazz, Sufi, Indie, Folk Fusion, and Film Scores. Apart from that, she’s also an avid reader, an amateur writer, and Equal Gender Rights activist.

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/priyanka.se/

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/priyanka-se
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/priyankactk651

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

September Feature Profile

https://soundgirls.org/foh-lisa-affenzeller-chasing-the-magic/

The Blogs

The Importance of Reference Tracks

One Is Not Enough: Understanding Bias in the Audio Community

Us VS Them?

SoundGirls News

Opportunity to Shadow Sound & Lights National Tour

AES Exhibits-Plus Badges for SoundGirls Members

NAMM 2020 Badges for SoundGirls Members

Accepting Applications for SoundGirls Bloggers


We just got some new merch in. Long Sleeves, Onesies, Toddlers, Gig Bags, and Canvas Totes. Check it out Here

Internet Round-Up


 

Sisters of Sound Podcast – Grammy Nominated Engineer Simone Torres


 

 

Women in Sound MARTA SALOGNI Studio Engineer + Producer: Bjork, Holly Herndon, Bon Iver


 

Congratulations to our U.K. Chapter Director, Scholarship Chair, and general badass Leslie Gaston-Bird for Writing Women in Audio. You can pre-order your copy and we will be adding a few copies to our Lending Library.
Women in Audio features almost 100 profiles and stories of audio engineers who are women and have achieved success throughout the history of the trade. Beginning with a historical view, the book covers the achievements of women in various audio professions, then focuses on organizations that support and train women and girls in the industry. What follows are eight chapters divided by discipline highlighting accomplished women in various audio fields: radio, sound for film and television, music recording and electronic music, hardware and software design, acoustics, live sound and sound for theater, education, audio for games, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality as well as immersive sound.
Women in Audio is a valuable resource for professionals of all levels, educators and students looking to gain insight into the careers of trailblazing women in audio-related fields and represents required reading for those looking to add diversity to their music technology programs.


SoundGirls Co-Director Tiffany Hendren on Roadie Free Radio

 


SoundGirls Events

Ableton Live for Anybody – 4 Session Online Course

New York SoundGirls & Female Frequency present Live Show Workshop

Bay Area Chapter Monthly Meeting

Alberta SoundGirls Chapter Social

Colorado SoundGirls Chapter Social

AES SoundGirls Events

SoundGirls Alberta Chapter – Field Trip


SoundGirls Opportunities


SoundGirls and SoundGym

Sound Particles Licenses Available

Meyer Sound Supports SoundGirls


SoundGirls Resources


Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund

Letter for Trades and Manufacturers


Women-Owned Businesses

SoundGirls Scholarships 2021 Now Open

Events

Sexual Harassment

https://soundgirls.org/about-us/soundgirls-chapters/

Jobs and Internships

Women in the Professional Audio

Member Benefits

AES Exhibits-Plus Badges for SoundGirls Members

AES Exhibits-Plus Badges

Your Exhibits-Plus VIP Link/Code: AES19SOUNDGIRLS

The Exhibits-Plus badge is a Free ticket to getting into the AES Exhibition – the nation’s largest collection of professional audio manufacturers exhibiting their products and latest technologies – plus you can attend many Special Events including the Project Studio Expo, Live Sound Expo and more. Best of all, Exhibits-Plus badges are completely FREE for those who register in advance.

Register Here

SoundGirls Events During AES

The Importance of Reference Tracks

While mixing and how to use them.

One of the first things I do when I schedule a time to record a band is asking them what albums, and songs they like the sound quality. I ask so I get a good idea of what they might be *subconsciously* looking for in a mix or master. Then I will ask, “What would you like your reference track for the mixing process to be?” I ask these in two separate questions because what you like and what’s right for a mix of a particular song can be two different things. I want to have options, so when I go to pick a reference track- I am picking one that’s right for the song, and that the band will like too.

Reference tracks are essential because often while mixing, your ears can lose perspective. A reference track is helpful to have this happens; you can play the track and compare it to where your mix. Once you’ve done that you can hone in on anything that isn’t where it needs to be in your mix- and with a specific goal in mind you can get it where it needs to be because of the reference track.

Now, to utilize this correctly, you have to do it right. You don’t want to just download your reference track from Youtube and upload that wav file into Pro-Tools. You also don’t want to use an MP3. When using a reference track, you want to get the rawest and uncompressed version of the track you can find (WAV file). Another thing, you need to know how your reference track translates onto different sound systems. Listen to the track in your car, at your house, on your laptop, on your headphones, in your parents’ car…you get the point. Then do the same for YOUR mix. Listen to it everywhere you can, so you know exactly what to fix when you sit back down at your computer to do revisions.

You can use plug-ins to help you compare the track to your mix. Magic AB is my favorite. It’s straightforward to use. You upload both tracks, one is A, and one is B. Then you level the two songs out, so your ears aren’t being tricked because one mix is louder than the other (Hello, Fletcher Munson), and then you just click between A and B to compare your reference track to your mix! Easy as that!

I hope this helps your mixes grow as it helped mine when I discovered how to use reference tracks! As always, you can send me examples of your mixes, or even email me just to chat about how you noticed a difference in the process after you started using reference tracks at virginia@backbeat365.com.

 

Opportunity to Shadow Sound & Lights National Tour

SoundGirls Members have the chance to shadow and assist with load in, set up, and load out with Loreen Bohannon Monitor Engineer for. Our members who work in Lighting also have the chance to shadow. National Touring Artist will be disclosed upon acceptance.

So to recap

You will work the entire show under the supervision of Sound and Lights, You are expected to show up on time and stay until load out is complete, and you will be provided meals. Only two people per shows will be chosen (sound and lights).


Apply Here for Sound

Apply Here for Lighting

NAMM 2020 Badges for SoundGirls Members

 

SoundGirls has a limited number of NAMM Badges for Members. Passes are on a first come – first served basis. Please do not ask for a badge unless you are 100% sure you will be attending. NAMM takes place in Anahiem, CA – Jan. 16 thru Jan. 19, 2020.

The NAMM Show is a TRADE-ONLY event and not open to the general public. SoundGirls has been generously granted several badges from our friends and sponsors in the industry. If you attend, you will be attending as a guest of one of these companies and representing SoundGirls. Please review the SHOW POLICIES and make sure you agree to the terms before accepting the badge.

SoundGirls will be hosting events throughout the week and hope our members can join us for some or all of the events. Stay Tuned.

Badges will be given on a first come first served basis.  Please register your request for a NAMM Badge. Registration will close on Nov. 20, 2019. You must be a member of SoundGirls.  SoundGirls is not responsible for any travel, lodging, or other expenses.

Request Badge Here

Accepting Applications for SoundGirls Bloggers

Blog for SoundGirls

Are you passionate about the industry, do you want to share your experience and knowledge with the SoundGirls Community?  Then you may want to become a blogger for SoundGirls in 2020.  Our bloggers volunteer for a year of blogging (can be extended into 2021) and choose how often to submit blogs (once a month, every two months, or four blogs for the 2020 year)

If you are interested, please apply here


Things we are looking for in our bloggers

Although we are mainly looking for people who can write well, are organized, and passionate.  All areas of audio & music are welcome to apply. We look forward to welcoming you into our community.

Industry Knowledge

Not only is understanding the industry from a concept/fundamental standpoint important, but having real life experiences is essential for any great blogger.  Having real-life experience allows you to share those experiences, learn from those experiences, build relationships, and learn things that are not taught from reading a book.  Personally, we would rather hire someone with five years of experience in the trenches, than someone who has four years of classroom style training.

Passionate

Great bloggers must be passionate about what they are writing about.  We believe if you are writing about things you are not interested or knowledgeable in, it will show in your writing and to your readers.  People who are passionate about a topic or industry find it much easier to write about things that others with similar interests would enjoy.  Long-term, you have to LOVE what you do.

Writing Background/Experience

Of course, if you have a writing background or you have acquired good writing skills through years of experience, it will help keep your blogs to be engaging and more enjoyable.  Using proper grammar, descriptive verbiage, and compelling headlines can keep readers engaged in your content longer.  We think overall if you are naturally a good writer, it will allow you to create high-quality content much easier and more efficiently.

Organized

A great blogger should be very well organized.  It will be important to plan and manage your writing schedules.  Like running your own business or planning your week for your full-time job, blogging should be no different.  Brainstorming blog ideas and creating a writing schedule all need to be organized to maximize your work schedule.

If you fly by the seat of your pants (as many people do) and are disorganized, it will most likely lead to inefficiencies in your blogging.  You can also find yourself so consumed with daily tasks, that your content quality suffers because you are just trying to rush through the writing process to get something out.

Strong Work Ethic

Having a strong work ethic turns good bloggers into great bloggers.  Someone that is able to stick to a schedule, exceed personal goals and expectations, and push themselves, will stand out from the crowd.  Many bloggers are writing for their own blog so it is not exactly a situation where they are getting paid for each post they write.  So it takes a person with a strong work ethic to see the long term benefits and keep pushing themselves to consistently produce great content.

Network/Industry Reach

A blogger that has a large network and is known in the industry will make it much easier to promote their content.  As we all know, even if you write great content, you still need to promote it.  If you have built personal relationships with industry veterans, it can help earn credibility personally and for your blog.  If you can shoot a few messages and e-mails to key people in the industry who you know will promote your content to their networks, that can be extremely powerful.  Essentially you are leveraging your network and industry reach to promote content, gain feedback, and even help contribute to your blog.

SEO Knowledge

Having basic SEO knowledge is a plus for any blogger.  Bloggers who understand the benefits of good keyword research, how to promote content, and maximizing the potential of each post, will gain a larger readership in a shorter amount of time.

Goes Against the Grain

To be a great blogger, you need to sometimes go against what everyone else is doing and do something that is away from “the norm”.  Coming up with unique ways to stand out from the crowd is a way that great bloggers get found.  It could be a post, design-related, new way of promotion, unique content delivery, or something that has never been done before in the industry.

Social Butterfly

Generally, bloggers spend a good amount of time on social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.  Being active on various social networks and engaging with people on a regular basis will help bloggers get noticed.  If you are consistently promoting other users content, those users will begin to notice and return the favor.  If you read other industry blogs and leave thoughtful comments or even personally contact the blog owner, this is all important for building your network and getting noticed.

A plus for a great blogger would be being a power user on social bookmarking sites like Digg, StumbleUpon and Reddit.  If you have the ability to promote content and others in the community, notice and promote it as well.

Enjoys Sharing and Helping

Great bloggers genuinely enjoy helping others.  Many bloggers blog because they want to showcase their knowledge in the industry.  Of course, that is part of why people blog, but it should not be the only reason.  Gaining satisfaction out of helping others in your industry is a trait that all great bloggers have.  Taking the time to personally reach out to someone asking a question or for thanking someone who leaves an intelligent comment on your blog is going above and beyond.  It shows that you do care about what others are saying.

One Is Not Enough: Understanding Bias in the Audio Community

The studio owner skimmed my resume and nodded several times. He glanced up at me, back down at the resume, and then carefully set it back on his desk.

“Your credentials are great. The chair of the Sound Recording Department recommended you very highly, and we have a close relationship with him. So, we will hire you… We will hire you, but you won’t last. We will make sure of that.”

He paused, and I waited for an explanation.

“We don’t hire women. Studio policy,” he stated matter-of-factly.

Unfortunately, he was right: I didn’t last. I worked as hard I could imagine meticulously recording patch bay settings and outboard gear levels, setting up drum kits, moving gobos that were many times my weight, and carefully calculating my mic placements. I silently fought my way to being one of the studio’s best assistant engineers. All the while, my shifts were cut, I was offered up as entertainment to the clients and was goaded with sexual comments and sometimes worse.

After a long year of staying simply to prove the owner wrong, I quit. I had realized that by remaining there, I was succeeding only in making myself miserable.

That was my first experience in the industry.

Luckily, that kind of overt discrimination is rare even in an industry that is so male-dominated. For the most part, over the course of my ten-year-plus career, my co-workers have been my biggest supporters and have often become close friends.

Thus I would like to discuss something much more prevalent and subtle than overt discrimination: bias. By this, I specifically mean the assumptions that we make about any group as a whole based on our own previous interactions with members of that same group.

Fei Xu, a development psychologist who has researched this phenomenon, has reported that this is a natural instinct, even a necessary one. This innate human talent for using our past experiences to make assumptions about new things has helped us throughout our evolutionary existence. We have come to recognize that if a new animal has sharp fangs, it is likely a predator and not a friend. We have come to categorize small, round, red things as berries and have then innately known that they will be sweet and a stupendous source of energy. This ability to categorize based on our past experiences has single-handedly lead to our continued survival on Earth.

Unfortunately, it has also led to bias. Our evolutionary programming tells us to trust our previous experiences and draw natural conclusions based on them. Thus, our experience tells us that on the mix stage, the men are most likely the technical employees and the women the clients. It tells us that at sound industry award shows, the men are the nominees and the women are the wives and girlfriends.

As a supervising sound editor, I was once asked to add a Dolby E-encoded printmaster to my deliverables for a project. I had not encountered this request before, so I read up on the process and then made an appointment with our layback department to discuss it. When I showed up for that meeting and began to ask technical questions, the engineer responded to each one starting with the phrase “Tell your boss that he should…” Clearly, it had not occurred to him that I was the boss.

I did not correct him, and perhaps I should have. As uncomfortable as it made me to have him assume that I was someone’s assistant, I knew that his responses were not ill-intentioned. This was a case of an honest mistake based on actual real-life experiences. Most likely, he had never personally encountered a female supervising sound editor.

Furthermore, women are not immune when it comes to bias. I, too, have found myself wondering who that new producer is only to find out that she is, in fact, a sound editor or mixer. We all live in the world as it is, and our minds create the necessary assumptions to accommodate that world. We are not bad people for this. We are simply people.

As you can imagine, it is difficult to not only exist but thrive, in an environment that finds my pure existence to be a surprise. Add to that the constant visual reminder that no one else looks like me, that I am “other,” and you will understand the force of impact that this has had on my professional life. This impact is purely facilitated by numbers, not the environment. As long as there are so few women in audio positions, this issue of bias will remain.

So what should we, as an industry, do? The answer should be obvious: hire more women. Previously, I had thought that there was a general lack of women in the industry because young women were not pursuing audio engineering in school or as a career. However, since becoming a partner in a post-production sound studio of my own, I have been inundated by resumes, requests for coffee meetings, and emails asking for advice from the exact set of young women which I did not previously think existed. Not only are they there, but they are hungry for careers.

So, my request to you is twofold:

First, I ask that you do something scary. I ask that you create a situation in which you will be “the only one.” Put yourself in a position where you are a willing participant in a situation where everyone else is different than you. Go to a mommy and me yoga class, attend a service at a Sikh temple, drive to East Cesar E Chavez Avenue and spend an afternoon chatting with the shop owners and eating at a restaurant. It is important that you do this alone.

You will most likely feel out of place and isolated as if everyone is looking at you even when they aren’t. Those feelings underline the fact that as welcoming and accepting as any environment is, it is impossible to feel completely at ease when you are “the only one.” I challenge you to understand that one woman in a company or even in a department is not enough to claim diversity or to dispel ideas of gender inequality or workplace discomfort.

That brings me to my second request: I ask that you do your best to help women find a place in the audio community. If you are in a position to do so, interview more women when you have a job opening. Suggest female candidates to your boss. Answer LinkedIn requests. Give career advice. Brush aside the idea that your assistance may be misconstrued as a romantic interest. If there were more women, young female audio engineers would surely contact them to ask for coffee meetings and phone calls (a fact made evident by my now-flooded inbox), but for now, you are their best chance for an inside perspective.

More resources for A More Inclusive Industry

See the original post here.

 

AES SoundGirls Events

This is a schedule of SoundGirls Events taking place during AES 2019.  Stop by our booth or join us for brunch. We look forward to meeting our members.

Mentoring Sessions at the SoundGirls Booth

Stop by the SoundGirls Booth for one on one mentoring with Industry Veterans.  Enter for a chance win to SoundGirls Swag, Become a Member, and hear about all the benefits available to SoundGirls Members.  Booth schedule subject to change and mentors will be added.

October 16th – 4:00 to 4:45 pm

SoundGirls Present: What it Takes to Have a Successful Career in Audio

October 17th – 5:30 to 7:30 pm

SoundGirls and Lady Happy Hour! Join us for AES Happy Hour

October 18th 4:00 to 5:30 pm

Sound Girls Mentoring

October 19 – 11:45 to 1:45

SoundGirls Brunch

And Don’t forget WAMCON presented by Women’s Audio Mission

October 18 – 20 WAMCON

Don’t miss this immersive experience with award-winning music producers, recording engineers, songwriters, podcast producers and audio professionals involved in making the music and media you love most! This event is perfect for aspiring producers and engineers as well as musicians and students interested in the recording, music and podcast industries.

To date, WAMCon has been presented in cities around the country like New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Boston, in collaboration with such partners as Dolby Laboratories, Disney Animation Studios, Universal Music Group, Capitol Studios, YouTube, The Recording Academy, iZotope and more.

*WAMCon participants receive a free EXHIBITS-PLUS badge to AES New York 2019 using the code AES19WAM at http://www.aes.org/events/147/registration/?vip=aes19WAM

 

 

X