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Petra Randewijk – Live Sound & Recording Engineer

Petra Randewijk is an independent sound engineer based in The Netherlands. Petra has been working in audio for 21 years, and she is currently on tour with Imogen Heap as the FOH Engineer. The world tour is heading to the U.S. & Canada in May and June.

Petra originally got interested in studio sound, while recording a demo with a band she played in when she was fifteen. “I wasn’t the best musician and didn’t enjoy a lot of what being a musician is about, like standing on a stage with people staring at me, but being in the studio sparked something. 
I wanted to study music technology to get a job in a studio, but didn’t get in at first try, so to gain some experience I decided to try and do some live work, or at least try and have people explain to me how all the sound equipment works.”

She would go on to study music technology and graduated as a composer for theatre and dance. She would learn live sound by just doing it, and while she wanted to go into the recording side, she would find the excitement of live sound addictive.

“I got my start at with a local PA company who provided sound for the local venues where I went to see bands and also played as a musician. They had an anarchistic way to organise themselves and a focus on equipment, to build it, repair it and take it apart in general for educational purposes or just the fun of it. What I learned there was that there is not one way of doing things, and whatever you do, it’s never good enough.”

Petra has in the past worked with international touring band Jungle by Night, a nine-piece Dutch instrumental band.
 She also works with other Dutch groups and occasionally will take on the role of TM/FOH.  When she is not on the road, she works at Doornroosje in Nijmegen and with local sound companies, where she will take on the roles of FOH, Monitors, Patch whatever needs to be done.

She also owns a small studio “where I record a mixture of bands in different styles. Doing this also helps me for live shows because, in the studio, there is way more time to talk with and understand musicians and how they feel about their sound. In live sound, it’s tough to do that, as musicians can never hear the end result of what you are doing during a show. So the conversation is always about hearsay or at the best you discuss in vague terms what we are doing. And I do believe this can help to better amplify and put across artist creativity and emotion, which is in the end what I think doing sound is all about.”

On the current Imogen Heap Tour, which is a mix of live shows, talks, workshops, and exhibition for Creative Passport, this is a different way to tour and Petra shares with us what life is like.

Yes, it’s indeed a bit of a weird one, compared to what people might be used to for touring. But for me, it keeps it interesting, and it is never dull. A week (sometimes shorter) differs in every city. It is done this way, because the tour is also set up to showcase the Creative Passport, and on the road talk to music makers all over the world on their point of view and needs on this. Creative Passport is the digital container to hold verified profile information, IDs, acknowledgments, works, business partners and payment mechanisms, to help get music makers and their works, linked and open (data) for business.

We also have Mi.Mu glove presentations, tech talk ones. For this, we use part of the same setup as in the shows. These talks are informative because Imogen explains how the things she does with the gloves actually work. This is a good talk which was recorded, and it also discusses Creative Passport.

My main focus as a sound engineer are the live shows, which are with Imogen, Guy Sigsworth, and four other excellent musicians on stage playing guitar, drums, cello, and keytar. The setlist contains Imogen Heap songs and Frou Frou songs.

The basis of the setup for the live shows is an A&H Dlive mix rack, which has a Madi card to communicate with Imogen’s computer through optical Madi and an RME madiface. It sends audio to Imogen which she can process, such as vocal, but also other instruments. It receives 20 input channels, as well. The full input list is 32 channels, and ambient mics, and all channels are split into FOH and Monitor channels. All musicians are on in-ears, and they take care of their own monitor setup with the help of an iPad app. This took a bit of getting used too, but we used the setup at all the pre-production rehearsals.

Whenever possible, we are sponsored by d&b to use Soundscape. For this, I added a Dante card in the Mixrack to send all channels. Soundscape is d&b’n new immersive sound system and amazing to work with. It can make everything sound very natural like its directly coming from where the musicians are standing. But there is also a whole new world to be discovered, the possibilities to use it for effects and electronic sounds. That makes it so much fun. And because it receives OSC to control the sound objects, Imogen can directly move sounds in the room with her Mi.Mu gloves.

There are intimate evenings with Imogen Heap, which are only for the people who helped start up this tour from day one as an enabler. There she talks about her songs and then plays using just a grand piano and vocal. The audience can ask for their favorite songs to be played, which makes the shows different every time.

Heap’s live shows feature both solo performances by the artist, as well as an electronic duo with Frou Frou collaborator Guy Sigsworth. The tour is also the first to showcase Heap’s innovative Mi.Mu gloves.

Can you explain the Gloves?

The Mi.Mu gloves are controllers. They come with excellent software that registers hand postures, movement, and relative location. With them, and the software, you can control everything you could want. It can output MIDI and OSC, and you can connect it to anything compatible. Imogen controls all the music that comes from her computer, running Ableton. They can do starts and stops, make drum loops, scroll through samples, as well as control effects as loops, harmonizers, delays, and reverb. Anything, is possible, although, it is the same as with other instruments, it does get complicated to keep track of all the movements you need to do. It’s always awe-inspiring to watch Imogen do all that.

You are touring with d-Live and Soundscape.  Are you touring with other production?

We are traveling with a Dlive rack, but still, need to get the surface locally supplied. We get great touring support on this from A&H and d&b is sponsoring Soundscape, whenever possible. Other than that, I am carrying a set of mixed microphones and DI’s. Nothing big, just my personal favorites.

Working with an artist like Imogen, who is at the forefront of new technology for music and musicians, both in helping to develop it and/or using it, makes it possible and maybe even needed to keep looking for new ways to make things easier and/or better. So I am now working to check if we can integrate KLANG’s 3D monitoring system in the setup, and using it to follow the glove movements.

This keeps me challenged to keep learning and trying out new things all the time, which for me makes this tour amazing.

How large is the crew for the show?

As for the crew, we are traveling with Imogen’s PA, a Nanny, the Mycelia head of operations, who also helps with the show setup, me, and a backline tech/general tech/driver. We all have a bit of a mixed-function description, as Imogen’s PA and the Mycelia head of operation also shares TM duties. My function besides sound is also PM. And one of the musicians also helps out with production and does the stage design. In general, we all make sure that everything that needs to be done gets done.

What do you like best about touring?

I love seeing new places and meeting wonderful people everywhere. And that every day is different. I feel I am at my best when everything has to be done on the spot, and maybe even is a bit chaotic. I sometimes even find myself thriving in chaos. (And smiling in the middle of it)

What do you like least?

Hanging around at airports.

What is your favorite day off activity?

Doing some touristy stuff, seeing the surroundings. Trying local food, when there is a vegetarian option available.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

The sound world is tough in general, and you do need to have a thick skin. I started at the end of the nineties when everything seemed even a bit rougher. More yelling, more making fun of people mistakes and all was never good enough. Being slightly insecure already, this didn’t help me. 
I can’t tell for sure if it was especially harder because I was a woman, I did get all the ‘you aren’t rock n’ roll enough’ ‘are you the sound guy’s girlfriend’ ‘this sounds rather good, did your boyfriend mix it’ and more of that stuff. 
It’s all small stuff, but together, it’s a constant reminder that I am less trusted by sight as my male colleagues. But to be honest, I had the same lack of trust in myself, so I may have been my biggest obstacle.

I didn’t meet a lot of women doing sound in the first ten years, so everything seemed personal instead of about gender, which maybe made it harder to get around it.

But I know I’ve seen a lot of guys leave as well.

How have you dealt with them?

I made it through the first part by being stubborn. Taking all the crap and just kept on going. Also, I didn’t know that there was any other option. After a while, people gave me more responsibility and opportunities to do things on my own, and in my own way, which worked better for me.

One day I decided I wasn’t going to take being yelled at from anyone anymore. So I started talking back, asking why people thought it is okay to do that, or stopped working with people and at places that got me down. I just found the best space for me. 
It took a lot of years to get to this point. Realising at least some of it wasn’t personal really helped me, and a place like SoundGirls is amazing to discover that. 
The SoundGirls community also told me to stop complaining about needing to know twice as much as my average male colleagues to be taken equally seriously. But just go for it.

In the end, gaining knowledge is never a waste. So I am still trying to learn as much as possible. Taking courses, asking questions, learning every day.

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

Don’t forget things are rarely personal. Things people say are more about themselves as they are about you. Having said that doing sound is also never about you, but about the music being made on stage. And how to bring that to the audience as much as it is intended to be.

And if you lose a gig, don’t dwell on it, there are always more gigs, and sometimes it’s just someone else’s time. The best way to deal with this is to keep going and get other gigs, preferably things that fit especially for you. But to establish that you mustn’t be afraid to take an honest look at yourself too. 
And never forget to stay your own person in the whirlwind off the rock and roll, it’s the best person you can be.

Never forget to broaden your musical horizon, because if you work in sound, this can never be wide enough. Every kind of music has his own sound ideas and sometimes even rules. And every new thing you discover can give you new information you might be able to use in the next show. So don’t be afraid to listen to music outside of your comfort zone.

Must have skills?

Stubbornness, patience, always staying relaxed, and a lot of curiosity.

Favorite gear?

For live, I am at the moment pleased with my d-live rack and the Allen and Heath d-live series in general. If I could bring one thing, this would be it. It has amazing possibilities with getting audio in lots of directions. Great sounding internal fx and compressors, and very easily flyable. And also very useful to do recording sessions on location. 
For in the studio, my favourite piece of gear is a Schoeps MK4 microphone, which makes everything it records sounds amazing.

 

The Ethel Gabriel Scholarship

Applications for 2021 will open on June 1, 2021.

We are proud to recognize Ethel’s contributions to the music industry and for paving the way for future generations of women working in music production.

In honor of Ethel Gabriel, SoundGirls will be awarding two $500 scholarships to members pursuing a career in the recording arts. These scholarships will be awarded in August 2021 and can be used for educational training and university programs. The scholarships are open to all members of SoundGirls.

SoundGirls is currently in production on a new documentary about Ethel Gabriel’s career and impact. For more info visit EthelGabrieldoc.com

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Any member of SoundGirls that is attending or plans to attend educational programs in Professional Audio. There is no age requirement and includes college programs, trade schools, seminars, and workshops. Applications are open to all genders and non-conforming genders.

HOW TO APPLY

The application includes two short essay questions:

  1. Why you are applying for this scholarship;
  2. How has Ethel Gabriel inspired you? (400-600 words, please.)
  3. Application opens June 1, 2021 – Apply Here

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION

The essay submission deadline is 12:00 midnight EDT July 30, 2021. The scholarships will be awarded in August 2021, and paid to scholarship winners. Scholarship winners will be required to send proof of enrollment in the educational program to SoundGirls or scholarship money must be returned.

SELECTION PROCESS & NOTIFICATION

The SoundGirls Board will review essays and will notify the winners via email.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

The scholarship funds awarded can be used for educational programs related to professional audio. Scholarships are non-renewable. You will need to submit proof of enrollment in a program.

QUESTIONS?

Any questions on the scholarship essay can be directed to soundgirls@soundgirls.org.

About Ethel Gabriel

Photo: Democrat & Chronicle Dec. 13, 2013

Photo: Democrat & Chronicle Dec. 13, 2013

Ethel Gabriel may be one of the most prolific music producers you’ve never heard of. Ethel had a 4-decade career at RCA starting with an entry-level job and rising up to become the first female record producer for a major record label and an executive role in A&R.

During her career, Ethel produced over 5,000 records and worked with a wide variety of artists on RCA’s roster including Elvis Presley. Ethel was willing to take risks – such as producing the first digitally-remastered album or working with artists who brought new types of music to the mainstream. Her credits include everything from mambo to easy listening to rap.

Ethel’s Background

Ethel was born in 1921 in Pennsylvania. She started her own dance band at age 13 (called “En and Her Royal Men”) where Ethel played trombone. She originally wanted to go to college for forestry (at the encouragement of her father) but women were not allowed into the program. She decided to attend Temple University (Philadelphia, PA) and study music education.

A relative helped Ethel get a job at RCA’s record plant (in Camden, New Jersey) to help pay for tuition and expenses. Ethel’s first job included tasks like putting labels on records. She was promoted to record tester where she had to listen to one out of every 500 records pressed for quality. She learned every note of the big hits since Ethel had to listen to them over and over.

Ethel would hang out at the nearby RCA recording studios (and brought her trombone with her to play between sessions). She got to play with some major artists for fun and also learn how the engineers and producers worked. She also spent a lot of time in the studio as secretary to the manager of A&R at the time, Herman Diaz, Jr. Ethel got to produce her first session (with bandleader Elliot Laurence) when Diaz called in sick and asked her to do it.

In 1955, Ethel convinced her boss, Manie Sacks, to sign Perez Prado to RCA’s label. She produced his record, Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White, which became a worldwide hit and helped bring the mambo craze to the US.

She was with RCA during the creation of their Nashville studios, the signing of Elvis, and their transition from mono to stereo.

Through Ethel’s career, she was willing to take risks and experiment with new technology or music. In 1959, Ethel launched Living Strings, a series on RCA Camden’s label that ran for 22 years.

In 1961, she produced Ray Martin and his Orchestra Dynamica, the first release using RCA’s “Stereo Action.” In 1976, she was executive producer of Caruso,’s A Legendary Performer, the first digitally-remastered album. The technology used by Soundstream Inc (lead by Thomas Stockham) has gone on to be widely used in audio and photography restoration and Stockham’s work on the Caruso album was the basis for a 1975 scientific paper. In 1975, Ethel gave a chance to then-unknown producer Warren Schatz, who produced RCA’s first disco album, Disco-Soul by The Brothers.

Ethel also helmed RCA’s Camden label (designed for budget records). Camden was struggling when she took over in 1961 and had a sales volume increase of 100% over two years. Camden went on to become a multi-million dollar label under Ethel’s watch. Some of RCA’s major artists even asked to be released on the Camden line over the flagship RCA label because of Camden’s success.

During her career, Ethel received two RIAA Platinum records and 15 Gold records (over 10 million record sales) and her albums continue to sell. Many of these were repackages or re-releases where Ethel put her expert eyes (and ears) on song selection and label redesign. One album she re-packaged, Elvis’ Christmas Album, was the first Elvis record to reach Diamond (10 million sales). Ethel said of creating special packages (in Billboard Magazine Sept 5, 1981), “It’s like second nature to me. The secret is that you know the market you’re trying to reach. You can’t contrive a special record. It has to be genuine and full of integrity because people know the difference.” Ethel re-issued albums for nearly every RCA artist (including the Legendary Performer series, RCA Pure Gold economy line, and the Bluebird Complete series).

Towards the end of her time at RCA, Ethel asked the company to fund a women’s group for lectures and seminars. She wanted to help women learn to become executives. Ethel said she felt like a mother to some of the women she mentored (Ethel was married but did not have children). She wanted to teach skills like how to network, how to dress or behave. Ethel also became involved with Women in Music, one of very few groups available to women in the music industry at the time. In 1990, Ethel publicly spoke out against the “boys club” in a Letter to the Editor of Billboard Magazine (Oct 6). She said, “Yes, there are ‘record women’ in the industry – and they have ears, too!”

Ethel also worked with many artists and ensembles in the studio during her career including Chet Atkins, Caterina Valenti, Marty Gold, Los Indios Tabajaras, Teresa Brewer and the entire Living series recordings. She said of working with artists, “There are times to ‘harness’ artists and times to ‘push.’” Ethel said her most helpful qualifications to do the job were “her knowledge and love of music and her ability to make difficult decisions and hold to them.” (Cincinnati Enquirer August 18, 1983)

Ethel was not promoted to Vice President at RCA until 1982, over 40 years into her career. Many colleagues said it was long overdue. The following year, she won a Grammy for Best Historical Album (for co-producing The Dorsey/Sinatra Sessions). After leaving RCA, Ethel remained in the industry where she worked as president and vice president to smaller record labels.

 

 

Creative Self-Marketing Ideas for the Audio Professional

As studio owners, Jeff and I get tons of requests for advice regarding how audio professionals can either kick start or amp up their careers. In an industry that doesn’t necessarily post jobs on a website, use recruiters, or have a standard interviewing process, how are talented creative people supposed to get their foot in the door? There are so many different ways to answer these questions, but at least one large chunk of this is personal marketing.

I read a lot in my spare time, and I love to get my brain working with business books of all kinds. Unfortunately, I’ve found personal marketing books tend to be, in my opinion, relatively useless for those of us in the sound field. They seem to be full of tips either so obvious that they’re painful (Make a website! Write an amazing resume!) or filled to the brim with antiquated business advice (Make sure you have professional business cards!).

So, I thought that I would put together a few interesting ideas that I’ve seen people use to creatively market themselves in the field of audio. Here they are!

Offer to write member interviews for your industry guild’s publication.

I know a mixer who did this years ago when she still lived on the east coast and was attempting to jump-start her career. She interviewed tons of top mixers in a thoughtful and engaging way. Then, when she decided to take the plunge and move to Los Angeles, she already had a bevy of contacts who had personally interacted with her. She never would have gotten to know all of those top industry professionals if she hadn’t volunteered her time for her industry magazine. To this day, whenever I’ve heard her name mentioned in passing, everyone is always quick to say, “Oh, you know her, too? Everyone knows so-and-so! She’s so amazing!” She put in the hard work upfront and it paid out tenfold in the long run.

Offer to write articles for an online professional magazine.

In this case, you can really present yourself as an industry influencer and/or technical expert. I mean, how amazing would it be if a potential employer googled your name, and fifteen plugin reviews from a top online audio magazine came up with your headshot and byline? You would definitely appear to be a cut above the rest. This is a great way to absolutely crush your SEO. If you go this route, you may want to prepare a spec piece to give them a sample of the kinds of things you would like to produce. Also (added bonus!), don’t be surprised if writing interesting product reviews also results in offers to try out new plugins for free! This is a great way to build your audio arsenal and your online brand.

Engage with your community on social media.

Follow sound professionals you admire on Twitter and comment on their tweets. Join some audio Facebook pages (I love Game Audio Denizens, Sound Girls Private, and Professional Freelance Sound Mixers) and comment on posts. Like your favorite studios’ Instagram pics. People love to feel connected, and it’s easier than you might imagine to feel like you “know” someone after you’ve interacted a few times on social media. This is the virtual version of hanging out in the right room. If you’re there long enough and you make your presence known (in a non-annoying way), you will inherently be seen as belonging. I would caution you to start small with commenting and liking, then move on to posting when you’re more confident. Definitely, don’t just jump in and post every day. That’s like crashing a wedding and then hopping on stage to give a speech.

Volunteer at a non-profit that involves your prospective clients or co-workers.

I’m a member of the non-profit group Women in Animation whose mission is to advance women in the field of animation. Their current goal is to reach 50/50 (men-to-women ratio) by the year 2020, which is absolutely amazing! You might ask why I’m into Women in Animation rather than SoundGirls, which has a similar goal but for the audio field. I’m actually in both, but the distinction is extremely important: I’m involved in the animation group for my personal/business marketing and the sound group for my own enjoyment.

That’s because when your aim is personal marketing, you want to put yourself in the “right room.” And that means a room with the people who can get you work, which is very different than a room filled with your peers. Boom Box Post does sound for animation, and we’re hired by animation studios. So that means that the main place I need to network is with animation professionals. For freelance sound editors, that might mean going to guild events to connect with new supervising sound editors. For mixers, it might mean attending a charity golf tournament sponsored by the post department of one of the big studios. The most important thing is to write down the top three people/job titles that could help you to find work, and then brainstorm places that those people might be.

Start your own professional networking group.

I know a few people who have done this. This can mean putting together speakers for a quarterly professional panel discussion, or maybe just setting up drinks at a local bar for like-minded audio professionals.  Whatever it is, you can put yourself on the map and meet a lot of amazing people along the way. If you’re facilitating networking and/or learning opportunities for others, chances are that one day they will want to reciprocate the investment you made and help you out. Plus, you’ll get to have a fantastic time along the way!

Start a Lunch & Learn club.

Jeff and I came up with the idea of holding monthly “Lunch and Learn” sessions a few years back, and we’ve been blogging about it ever since! Every month, we get our team together for lunch, and then one person gives a demonstration of anything at all at which they consider themselves an expert. This can mean using a certain plugin, cutting a slo-mo sequence properly, using Soundminer to the max, etc. It’s a great way to keep everyone both learning and teaching, and also gives the team a go-to person should they ever have questions on the topic in the future.

Since beginning to blog about this, we’ve had numerous people tell us that they’ve started their own Lunch and Learn at work. We absolutely love this! Keep the good karma going and share your knowledge.  Lunch and Learns not only show everyone involved in the best light as creative professionals, but they also give everyone a chance to invest their time and energy in helping those around them. And an investment in others is always something that can pay dividends down the line when those same people are in a place to hire you, recommend you, or even just walk your dog when you’re on vacation!

Start a virtual freelancers club.

If I had to guess, I would say that the number one group of people Googling “self-marketing” are freelancers. It’s hard to know where to start in making connections and positioning yourself correctly for a fab career in the future when you work from home and rarely interact with others. If you don’t get a lot of time with peers, starting a freelancers club is a great jumping-off point in marketing yourself!

For most professions, a freelancers club usually means meeting up once a week with other freelancers at someone’s home or a coffee shop and working in the same space so that you can be a little more accountable regarding how you spend your time and also get to feel like you have co-workers. Obviously, the need for a desk full of audio gear doesn’t exactly make this practical, at least in its usual incarnation.

But, I love the idea of starting a Slack channel or using other e-workplace software to create a virtual freelancers’ club. We all need other people to bounce ideas off of, get tech support from, bullshit with, and (most importantly) share stupid .gifs about things like our bad lunch habits and Golden Girls obsession. So go ahead a get e-out there! Having a set small group that you always interact with will make your workday much more enjoyable, eventful, and help you to bond with others who could help to vouch for you in the future.

A Simple Method for Recording Drums

Recording drums is an important part of any project but the process can often seem quite daunting. Often in-studio pictures feature an abundance of microphones on and around the kit, suggesting that you might need a lot of equipment to get the job done.

However, one simple method of recording drums that is highly effective is the Glyn Johns method.

It uses only four microphones and is relatively easy to set up.

What you need

Overheads

First, begin by placing one overhead mic about a metre (3 or 4 feet) above the snare. The microphone diaphragm should be pointing down at the kit. Then take your second overhead microphone and place it to the right of the drummer (so the microphone diaphragm is facing the Hi-Hat). Then measure the distance so that it’s the exact same measurement from the first overhead mic (so about a metre). Pan the two mics in the mix and you should get a nice balanced sound.

*The image shows the distance of the microphones but not the correct diaphragm placement

Snare + Kick Drum

The snare and kick drum microphone placements can be played around with until you find a sound you like. Often with kick drum mics you can place the microphone inside the drum or have it set up on the outside.

Overall this is a great and relatively easy way to record drums.

 

Impostor Syndrome in Creative Industries

This month’s blog topic is not directly related to audio. Yet it relates to our work and everyday life. It is a topic I have been thinking a lot about lately and one I hope others find educational or can relate to.

One evening, I was talking to a good friend about work and our successes. I’ve had some important accomplishments recently, and I was telling her how I felt undeserving of the recognition. I feared that soon, someone would point out how I didn’t know what I was doing. She said, look up impostor syndrome.

As defined by the Cambridge Dictionary, impostor syndrome “is the feeling that your achievements are not real or that you do not deserve the praise or success.” Great, I thought. There is a word to explain how I feel, but why do I feel this way? As I began looking into this, I’ve learned more about the syndrome and myself.

Impostor syndrome was introduced in a 1978 research paper by Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Ament Imes titled “The Impostor Phenomenon in High Achieving Women.” From the abstract: “Certain early family dynamics and later introjection of societal sex-role stereotyping appear to contribute significantly to the development of the impostor phenomenon. Despite outstanding academic and professional accomplishments, women who experience the impostor phenomenon persist in believing that they are really not bright and have fooled anyone who thinks otherwise.” Clance and Imes aimed their research at how the syndrome affects women, yet further studies have since shown that many men also suffer from the phenomenon. Why do so many of us feel this way?

I believe that part of it, for me, is confidence and insecurity. I understand deep down that I know what I am doing, but there’s that subconscious nagging jerk tapping me on the shoulder saying “But you don’t really understand this thing. Everyone else understands it and will figure out soon enough that you don’t.”

In creative industries, it’s especially tough as your work is very subjective, yet constantly scrutinized. When you get positive feedback you think, that must have just been luck. And of course, there can be negative comments from people jealous of your successes that help crush you even further.

I try to push myself through these moments of insecurity by doing the things that feel uncomfortable.  Writing these blogs, for instance, is not a comfortable thing for me. No matter how well I write a blog, someone is going to point out a mistake and figure out that I don’t actually know what I’m talking about. And why would anyone want to read what I have to say, anyways? I persist because positive feedback fuels my confidence in my knowledge, and negative feedback fuels my pursuit of knowledge and growth even further.

If this subject interests you as well, I encourage you to check out Valerie Young at http://www.impostorsyndrome.com. She has some great resources in her blog that may help you understand and work with your impostor syndrome. (I found this one particularly helpful: https://impostorsyndrome.com/are-creative-people-more-susceptible-to-impostor-syndrome/)

 

I Have Confidence in Me

 

So, let them bring on all their problems – I’ll do better than my best

I have confidence they’ll put me to the test – But I’ll make them see I have confidence in me

I Have Confidence, from The Sound of Music: Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1965

To succeed in audio, having the right amount of confidence is key. I struggle with a lack of confidence, and this post will mostly deal with how I counteract that. However, if you think you’re god’s gift to sound, you might want to take a minute to reflect on whether that’s true too, especially if your bragging is overcompensation for low-esteem. Being realistic about your abilities, and having a mindset somewhere between Marvin the Paranoid Android from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the average Pop Idol contestant is the goal.

Plenty of aspects of this job can knock your confidence: as a freelancer, it’s easy to constantly compare yourself to others. As I mentioned in my last post, social media can be toxic; when all you see is the best aspects of your peers’ lives, it’s easy to think you’re lagging far behind. If office workers get stressed out and jealous any time there’s a promotion to compete for; we can feel that way for every gig. “Why did they put him on that show?” “Why did they think she’d be good for that role?” “Why didn’t they ask me?” The politics of who gets hired are many and varied, and if you try to make sense of it or take it personally, you may well end up sobbing in a corner. Even if you try to abstain from it, your colleagues might loudly and rudely question your abilities for you, either to make themselves feel better or to advance their careers. Having the confidence to get on with your job and show them why they’re wrong to doubt you are the best way to fight back.

Lack of confidence can sabotage you while you’re in the middle of work. We often have to deal with complex issues while sticking to tight deadlines. We can’t wander off, read up on the topic then come back the next day feeling educated and refreshed; the gig has to happen today. And of course, what every sound person dreads: the announcement that there are “technical issues.” The entire audience turns around as one to stare at the front of house, even if it’s a dodgy connection on a guitar pedal. You didn’t even see that bus coming before they threw you under it!

A healthy level of confidence (not to be confused with arrogance) is essential to remain resilient and effective in the face of challenges. It benefits the gig, your career, and your well-being. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is often recommended to treat depression and anxiety, but I think it can help everyone. Courses are freely available online and from your local library, and they help you to get perspective on things and break out of negative thought processes. For example, if you lost out on a job, imagine what you would say to a good friend if they were in your situation. You deserve as much faith and respect as anyone else, telling yourself you’re worthless or unemployable is not constructive.

I have referred to this blog post about caring about the opinion of others before, but I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say it changed my life: Taming the Mammoth: Why You Should Stop Caring What Other People Think. The main point to take away is that people are far more interested in themselves than you, and it’s a waste of time to worry about what others think of you. Let’s take a classic rom-com cliche as an example: you pass a group of people who all smile at you. Wait, why did they do that? Are they just happy? Are they smiling at something behind you? What if they’re actually sniggering at you because you have something stuck in your teeth?

As you can see from the Punnet Square of Embarrassment, there are four main possible scenarios, and in each of them worrying that you have something stuck in your teeth achieves nothing. We all have teeth. We all eat food. Stuff sometimes gets stuck in our teeth; no one cares. If they are laughing at you, you can pity them for wasting their time caring about something so inconsequential. For a bonus tip: very occasionally, I go for a walk and pretend that anyone looking my way is simply awestruck by how incredibly amazing I am. Obviously, that isn’t the case, but it lifts my mood and makes me laugh anyway.

The Punnet Square of Embarrassment. Pink denotes a waste of all your energy to worrying, purple denotes a waste of some energy, and in the blue area, no energy is wasted.

Of course, messing up at work is a bit more important than dental greenery, and laughing it off like you don’t care is not the approach to take. The principle remains the same, though: it happens to everyone, even the best engineers in the world have bad days. By all means, learn from what happened and plan how to prevent it from happening again, but then brush yourself off and move on. Dwelling on it can ruin your focus for the rest of the day and lead to more silly mistakes.

A great way to have confidence is to genuinely have a solid understanding of the topics at hand, and I recommend learning all you can at every opportunity. However, no one can know everything about every piece of equipment, every band, every venue. It can take a bit of experience to know what’s normal to know, and what isn’t. If you’re not sure of something, don’t be afraid to admit it; we’ve all been there, and it’s how we all learn. Everyone needs to ask the internet, a friend, or a manufacturer’s tech support for help sometimes. It isn’t a sign of failure; it’s part of the job.

Finding a happy medium in self-confidence, and having an accurate idea of your competence is a constant growing exercise. Discuss it with colleagues you trust, as it is often easier to gauge from an outside, more experienced perspective. Ask for input from several sources, so you aren’t unduly influenced by one opinion. Knowing your worth can reduce stress at work, reassure your clients and colleagues, help you when negotiating pay and lead you ever closer to your goals. It also encourages you to help others: only people who are afraid of competition hoard their knowledge. People who are confident in their abilities are happy to share and raise everyone up, which increases their confidence too.

Being A Musician Makes Me A Better Sound Designer and Engineer

I have been a musician for almost my entire life.  At four years old, I could sing every word of Annie without skipping a note.  When I was in the third grade, I got a piano for my birthday and started the first of many private lessons.  In the fourth grade, I started playing the viola in my school orchestra. I don’t usually count that as one of my instruments because, in orchestra class, I was more interested in talking to my best friend, who played the cello and sat right next to me.  Because of this, I never learned how to read alto clef fluently, and so I faked the viola until I was in the 7th grade and had to quit when my rouse caught up with me. In the 6th grade, I started playing flute and piccolo in the school band. In the 8th grade, the jazz band needed a tenor saxophone player, so I did that for a year since it was a smooth transition from the flute.  Somewhere in middle school, my dad got me a Fender California Series acoustic guitar, and in high school, he got me a Gibson SG. I can play the guitar well enough to be entertaining at a campfire. I was a music major in college, and while there, I took private piano and flute lessons. Most of my music school friends were percussionists, so halfway through my college career, I started taking private percussion lessons, and somehow became the principal percussionist in Campus Band.  So, as you can see, I have a pretty diverse background in music. Music has driven every of my life decisions. So why, when I started my studio recording private lessons, did I not want to play any music?

My degree is in Commercial Music.  My focus in that area was on engineering and producing.  As part of this focus, I was required to write, record, and produce a song once a week.  I would then have a one-hour lesson where my professor would respond to my latest creation.  The expectation was that I would absorb these notes, and my next project would be better. The thing is, it took me a while to get better because I did not want to write or play my own music.  For some reason, once I began the Commercial Music program, I decided I only wanted to be an engineer and producer, and I did not want to be a musician anymore. I asked my professor if I could hire musicians to play for me.  I told him I would do two lessons a week instead of one; I just did not want to play anymore. He did not bend–not even a little. Then he told me something that I have never forgotten. It’s a phrase I use with my students all the time.  He said, “My engineers are not just button pushers.” He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, and he is a fantastic trumpet player. He has a wealth of musical knowledge, so it frustrates him when sound engineers don’t feel the music the way he does.  He told me a story about a sound engineer that worked for him in the past. He said this guy did not have a musical bone in his body. He was a button pusher. Mics would come on; mics would go off. That’s it. My professor decided that he did not want anyone coming out of his program to perform like that.  I fought it for a while, but eventually, I gave in, and I’m glad I did. It was the best decision I ever made.

Now I’m a sound designer for theatre, and my musicianship helps inform many of my decisions.  I know to push the music during a big musical swell or interlude. I know that a little reverb in the back makes a small orchestra sound more prominent and lusher.  I know to fade down to underscoring, and I know to gracefully fade up to transition music. It’s not something I think about. It’s something I feel in my body, and my hands just follow.  I know it’s easy for me to say though. I’m a musician, and I have been for most of my life. So what if you’re not a musician? What if you can’t read music, you’ve never touched a musical instrument, but you are a sound engineer?  You don’t have to be a musician to be musical. You don’t have to be a musician to feel the music in your body, and I have a few exercises to help bring the music out of a non-musician’s soul.

First, make playlist of ten songs.  These should be some of your favorite songs, and if they’re contrasting genres, even better.  Next, get some headphones, and head to a quiet room where you can be alone. If it doesn’t creep you out too much, turn off the lights.  Now put on your headphones, and listen to your entire playlist. Note the parts that give you the warm fuzzies, or make the hair on your arms stand up, or force tears to flow from your eyes.  What is happening musically in those moments? Did the instruments crescendo? Was there a vocal effect? Did the reverb ring out after the final note? What about that music made it an experience as opposed to an exercise.  Remember that stuff, and carry it with you into your next gig.

After you’ve done the headphones task, do it again, but this time listen through the best speakers you have access to.  Even if that’s in your car, that’s ok. Listen to the same playlist, and remember those spots you loved. Keep your hand on the volume knob, and gently follow the musical line.  Turn up the volume slightly with that swell. Fade it back down when the line does. This will start to help you attach your warm fuzzy feelings to your technical hands. This is an exercise I love, so I always encourage people to do make multiple playlists and practice this regiment often.  It really does help train your brain and your body to work together.

Another great exercise I like to have my interns and students work on is shadow mixing a movie.  My suggestion is to choose a few movie musicals like Les Miserables, Moulin Rouge, or literally any Disney movie.  Now, sit on your couch, and put 8 pennies on the coffee table in front of you.  For the first movie, keep your pointer and middle finger on your right hand on two of those pennies.  Those are your music faders. Just like the volume knob exercise, move those penny faders with the music.  If you want to add a level of precision, mark a piece of paper with decibel markings to put under the pennies and keep track of the relationship of your pennies to unity.  Do not note things like “Now I am at -10, now I am at -12.” Once you start relying on the numbers, you stop using your ears, and they are your most valuable tool. The muscle memory and relationship between your ears and fingers is what is most important.  After you’re comfortable with the music, watch the movie again, and this time, assign characters to the other 6 faders. This part you will probably have to practice scene by scene, and if there are more than 6 characters per scene, you can assign groups to one DCA, or penny, in your case.  So now, you just repeat the process but adding vocals. When you hear voices get big, follow them with your pennies, and keep doing what you were doing on the first round with the music. If you’re going scene by scene, try filming your hands, and repeat the scene twice. Do your hands have basically the same relationship each time? Are there long stretches of time where you have forgotten to consider music changes? Review the footage, and repeat the practice. The next time you are mixing or designing a show, you just might find that your natural inclination will now be to enhance the musical line with subtle fader movements, thus giving an otherwise flat sound some body and life.  This will be the difference between an acceptable show and an impressively beautiful show.

 

The Simple Home Studio Kit

Creating and recording music can be a daunting task if you don’t have any prior knowledge of production. From aspiring music producers to seasoned musicians, the art of recording your music can become quite a difficult undertaking very quickly.

So, to combat this, I thought I would compile a range of equipment that I believe to be great for beginners and anyone wishing to record on a budget.

The Right DAW

A DAW is short for Digital Audio Workstation. To put it simply, it is the software you use to record and mix your music. There is a wide variety of different DAW’s out there, and each producer has their preference for a multitude of various reasons and depending on what they require.

My advice is to start simple. If you’re new to music production, software like Pro Tools, Logic and Ableton can seem extremely daunting.

If you’re a Mac user start with GarageBand. It’s free and is very much a simplified version of Logic. If you have a Windows computer, try Audacity. They are both mapped out in a way that it is straightforward to begin recording some tracks you can then transfer this knowledge to more complex DAW’s.

The Interface

I have used many interfaces, and the one I find recommending most to beginners is the Scarlett 2i2.

It is a USB audio interface and has everything you need to start recording: two line/mic ports, 48v phantom power (some microphones require this power to operate), can record 192kHz /24-bit sample rate.

Overall it’s the perfect compact recording device and comes in at around $160/ £100.

A Microphone

Microphones, for me, are the hardest to recommend. It depends so much on a person’s preference and what they want to record. More specifically what sound they want to achieve. But, if you need a place to start, I recommend the MXL 770.

It comes in at around $72 / £90, and I believe it to be well worth the money. It’s impressive, to say the least. It’s not perfect, but it certainly can give microphones worth triple the price a run for their money.

I hope you find this information helpful and just remember there is no perfect set up. I am always updating my kit and trying out new things. It’s what keeps you creative as a producer.

 

What’s In Your Go Bag?

A guide to building your audio tool stock

Picture this:  You’ve just gotten a call for a contract you can’t turn down, but the gig is tomorrow morning in a city three hours away at a company that is new to you.  What do you bring? What will they already have? Is it worth it to load your car with all of your worldly possessions? To ease the stress of staying prepared while still trying to not turn into that cute little junkyard monster from the Labyrinth (where my 80s babies at), I’ve prepared a list of my favorite tools of the trade.

This is my go-bag.  There are many like it, but this one is mine

Alright, so my go bag isn’t a bag at all, it’s a case.  My case of choice is the Pelican 1510 Case, and I purchased mine for half price on nalpak.com.  Because I am obsessed with Konmari Method organization, I also use a divider that is specifically made for this case.  I also have the mesh zipper lid storage attachment. What can I say? I love boxes, bags, and compartments. I prefer the Pelican to a soft tool bag because I can throw it around, leave it outside, dunk it in a pool, and my things will all stay safe inside this watertight, crushproof, dustproof, lockable case.  It’s also the FAA maximum carry on size and features a retractable extension handle. Plus, you can put rad stickers on it. That’s the mark of a real pro.

If you can’t duck it, you might as well…pony up and buy a real roll of tape.   

That tape is gaff tape, the tape we all know and love.  I regularly work with a few companies that always have a steady supply of gaff tape in all colors and sizes, so it threw me off the first time I took on a job at a company that had no gaff tape to offer!  In a pinch, I have been able to find gaff tape in local camera shops at a ridiculous marked-up price, but generally speaking, the best place to find gaff tape is on the interwebz. I order all of my tape from shop.bmisupply.com, and I’m able to curate my tape box with different colors, widths, and even different kinds of tape.  My standard gaff tape of choice is 2” black. I also always make sure I have a few colors of electrical tape and a roll of white console tape.  All of this can be purchased through the aforementioned vendor.

Testers, testers, one, two, one two…

When starting a new gig, you never know what kind of system you’re going to walk into. You would also be surprised at how often the house crew answers your questions with a shrug of the shoulders, so it’s probably going to be on you to test all that ails you.  I never leave home without my dbx CT3 Cable Tester. This is, hands down, the best cable tester I have ever had. It supports testing of DMX, Speaker Twist, XLR, DIN, RJ45, RJ11, TRS, 1/8”, Phono, and BNC.  I still haven’t told you the best part. This thing splits in half so that you can check connections that are on opposites sides of the building! If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is. I also carry my whirlwind Qbox everywhere I go.  This will satisfy all of your TS/XLR testing needs, but also features a wee little speaker so you can send signal through your line and hear it out of the QBox. This comes in really handy for running monitor lines ahead of receiving speakers or setting up a line out for a video live feed.  I got both of these little lifesavers from fullcompass.com.

Microphones, adapters, and cables, oh my!

Ok, it’s not up to you to provide all of the gear for a space unless that’s what you’ve been hired to do, but, again, you never know what little odds and ends they might be missing.  I learned the hard way that it’s a good idea to keep a little stash of adapters with me; XLR M-M and F-F, TRS, NL4, BNC, and RCA barrels, and BNC-RCA. I also keep and spare XLR and TRS cable, a DI Box, and a SM58….just in case.  Trust me on this; I have been the hero many times for having one of these available.

I hate labels, except when I need them.

The only things I love more than compartments are printed labels.  I love how uniform they look, and I love how easy it is to read them in low light situations.  I’ve been carrying around the Brother P-Touch I picked up from Office Depot 8 years ago, and it’s never led me astray.  #Protip on applying printed labels to anything: Always use a piece of electrical tape under the label. When you’re ready to change out that label, you’ll need a lot of time and patience to peel that thing off tiny piece by tiny piece unless there’s a hearty strip of electrical tape underneath holding it all together.  You know what else you can label? Your pelican.

Tools!  

This is where I sometimes go overboard.  I have packed and repacked my go bag so many times because I guess I think I’m solely responsible for building a mansion when I get called for a load-in.  Surprisingly enough, I’ve never been asked to do so! When I’m able to think logically about packing tools, I pack a cordless drill/driver (mine is a Milwaukee M12), a pack of various bits, a precision screwdriver set, an Allen set, a crescent wrench, a headlamp, and a soldering iron with all necessary accessories.  Also, never leave home without your multitool. Mine is the Leatherman Wave, and I love it with all my heart. I don’t know where it came from; I got mine from Santa several years ago.

Safety First

Again, I tend to go overboard because what if I end up on the Titanic and I’m the only one that has any medical experience from all of my viewed episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, and I don’t have a suture kit or a defibrillator with me?!!!  Y’all are learning so much about me today. So obviously none of those things are going to happen at your gig, so really, just make sure you have what you need to stay safe. A small first aid kit, your earplugs, sunblock, and some work gloves should do it.  Maybe a mobile CT Scanner. But that’s it.

All of the other things

Don’t forget the things that make your job go smoothly.  Do you need in-ears on this gig? What about headphones? Flash drives are always useful.  A snack? An emergency twenty-dollar bill? I like to be a problem solver, so if I have something I think will be useful to another department in a pinch, I might pack that too.  My go bag has a few shackles rolling around in there, a safety cable, a small mixed box of screws, various apple adapters, and an IEC.

At the end of the day, your go-bag inventory is entirely up to you, but this is what works well for me.  I got to the point where I had some things in my car, some things in my closet, some things I would leave at various sites I would frequently work, and that just was not doing it for me.  Having everything in one super stickered-up, the rad little case is definitely my aesthetic. Give it a try; you won’t regret it.

 

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