The Five Percent

Shawn Holden recently received an Emmy for her work on the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian.” Holden is a production sound mixer on the series, and she, along with Re-Recording Mixer Bonnie Wild and Scoring Mixer Chris Fogel, won the Emmy for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation for their...

Mary Shipman Howard was one of the earliest known female recording engineers and one of the earliest women studio owners (in the 1940s). Mary worked with great musicians and composers of the era such as Glenn Miller, Arturo Toscanini, Charles Ives, and Samuel Barber.

Some of the most crucial and groundbreaking work has been done by women operating under the Classical umbrella. Seeing that the Recording Academy is pushing #WomenInTheMix and that March is Women’s History Month, the accomplishments of these producers should be loudly celebrated.

Lillian Shedd McMurry was one of the earliest woman record producers and owner of Trumpet Records. She was influential in the development of blues music particularly through her recordings of Sonny Boy Williamson II and the discovery of guitarist Elmore James. Lillian was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1998.

Missy Thangs is an engineer, producer, songwriter, and keyboardist based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thangs is currently a house engineer and producer at The Fidelitorium.

Shannon Deane has been working in post-production sound for over 15 years. Shannon has been working as a freelance engineer for the last ten years, and her specialties are sound design, editing, and mixing for film, TV and new media. She owns, operates and works as creative director and ninja for DeaneCreative.

Robin’s interest in live sound started when she was told “it was something that “girls” couldn’t do, and I was confident it was a language I could learn to understand – especially coming from a music background. Then I started to do it and fell in love with it.”

Arica is a systems tech at Sound on Stage in San Francisco. “I want to be able to make people experience music the way that I do with that same feeling where it lights your brain on fire. I figured the best way to shape people’s experience was to be on the technical side of...

Berenice Hardiman is a veteran of the industry having first been inspired after seeing Pink Floyd at the Liverpool Empire, which was her very first concert.  “I immediately knew that I wanted to be part of whatever that “thing” was that I had just witnessed. Now Bernice is FOH Engineer and Tour Manager for Midge...