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Dedication and Perseverance – Meegan Holmes

Meegan Holmes has worked in live sound for over 25 years doing everything from system teching to mixing monitors and FOH. She is now in Global Sales for one of the largest sound system providers in the world, 8th Day Sound – Los Angeles. At 8th Day Sound Meegan can utilize her years of experience in sales and account/project management, as she held a similar position at Delicate Productions for over 18 years.

With a mother who is an artist and a father who is a musician, chances were high that Meegan would end up working in the arts. Meegan says her parents “were always supportive of whatever I wanted to do and they never discouraged me from pursuing my goals. In many ways, it made me both fearless and a bit stubborn.” At age 13, Meegan was exposed to live sound and event production when she volunteered at a summer stock theater. She would spend many evenings through several summers, painting sets, hanging lights and speakers. It was there Meegan learned all about theatrical mic technique and live mixing from the FOH engineer. From there Meegan would go on to attend California Institute of The Arts, where she studied Sound Design and Music Composition.

After about 18 months at CalArts, Meegan realized that she was not going to make it as a musician and started to think about how she could still be involved in music and not have to perform. It was evident to her that bands would always need crew and if she chose a path on the tech side, she would always have a job. ”I loved the experience that I had with the technical aspect of live production when I was younger, so it was an easy transition for me to make and one that I do not regret.” During her junior year, she started working as a stagehand with LA Stagecall. While working for Stagecall, she would make friends with the guys at Delicate Productions, which eventually led to Delicate hiring her as a stage tech for a tour.

While Meegan does not believe that attending an audio program or obtaining a degree is necessary, it will most likely benefit you. “CalArts gave me a chance to try varying aspects of audio, not just live production. I tried designing and mixing for film, television, and animation. I spent time in the recording studio on campus; I used the first version of Protools. None of that excited me, but a live rock show did. I don’t think a four-year private university is mandatory. Where I grew up in Connecticut, we weren’t given an option to ‘not go to college. I had to apply to at least four and pick one. I chose an art school. Honestly, going to college gave me the hunger to learn, the networking skills to get a job and the discipline to keep it. Keep in mind; there are many successful people in our industry that do not have any continuing education at all. If you already know someone that can help you get involved in the industry, great but if you don’t, attending some education program might be the only way to get some contacts to help launch your career.”

Meegan’s first tour was Lollapalooza 1997, (back when it was still a tour), as the stage/patch tech. “The tour was a lot of hard work; I started my day with flying/ground stacking PA. Once the band risers were up, I would start mic’ing up the seven bands. I’d re-patch between each and only get sporadic breaks to eat lunch and dinner. After the show was over, I took down the PA I had installed in the morning. My trouble-shooting skills improved by 100%. I learned how to be a strong member of a team (not only the audio crew but the other departments as well), we all worked together to execute the show.”

From there she would go on to mix FOH and monitors for various smaller acts, such as Soul Coughing, Tenacious D, The Melvins and God Lives Underwater. The majority of her road experience has been as a monitor or system tech on tours with Natalie Merchant, Natalie Cole, TOOL, Queens Of The Stone Age, Linkin Park, Basia, and Gorillaz. She even had a brief stint working as a production assistant on Limp Bizkit “I just wanted to try something different, I loved working with the PM on that tour, but I missed being on the audio crew.” Her favorite thing about touring was being paid to see the world, but the disconnect from her life at home was taxing.

Touring would no longer become an option prompting Meegan to seek local full-time work with Delicate. Over time she would start to assist in crewing shows, eventually leading to working as an onsite Project Manager for the more complex shows. Meegan says she “developed a knack for dealing with some of their more challenging clients. After learning the onsite leadership skills and all about dealing with personnel, I just had one last piece to learn, the money. I was promoted to account management in 2013 where I learned pricing and client management on an entirely different level. It was not a difficult transition to make. I spent a lot of time on-site with Delicate’s clients, building relationships with them. Also being on-site, I developed stronger relationships with the crew, bands and event producers. Creating these relationships gave me the opportunity to represent the company beyond email and phone calls. I learned a valuable lesson about how relationships drive our industry. Clients liked dealing with me; they did not care where the equipment came from, they wanted the service, attention, and dedication that I had to offer.”

After 18 years, Meegan felt it was time to move on as she says “Account Management showed me a lot. It also showed me the limitations at Delicate as well. I knew I needed to move on to take my career to the next level. I needed something slightly different and challenging. I interviewed with several different companies. Initially, I was interviewing with 8th Day to take on some of the 30+ festivals they do in the U.S. each year. After my interview, the plan changed, and I was asked if I was interested in starting the west coast operation of the company.

So start she did, with a small pile of gear stored in a warehouse owned by one of 8th Day’s clients. Meegan worked alone with the support of the Cleveland office and freelancers that she knew in Los Angeles. “At the time, I did much of everything, sales, crew, trucking, prep, loading and unloading the gear. I don’t think anyone (including myself) knew how quickly we’d grow here. We hired more full-time personnel and moved into our own warehouse last August. I spend most of my days, now that we have more personnel, doing quotes for shows and tours, conference calls and attending site visits and meetings, hiring crew for our shows here in LA and keeping up with the warehouse maintenance and needs. I spend time on show site, I still feel like nurturing personal relationships is a crucial part of my job.”

When hiring crew Meegan says she looks for “someone that is willing to do any aspect of audio, patching the stage, FOH/monitor tech, RF tech, and mixing. This versatility is beneficial if you plan to work for sound companies. If someone specializes in something, we have less work for them of course but sometimes being the best RF technician brings you more work. Keeping a positive attitude, being reliable, honest and having a good sense of humor are all necessary traits. We can teach you the technical side of the things you don’t know, but we cannot teach you to have integrity. Spending time as a stagehand, working in a warehouse or working in a venue learning how everything goes together is beneficial, especially if you are starting out.”

Meegan’s long-term goals are to help build the 8th Day’s business here in Los Angeles and to use her position to help others achieve their goals in the industry.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I contacted two audio companies when I graduated from college; the first told me “we don’t hire women for touring positions.” The second told me “we don’t hire women because we find we have to pick up their slack.” These were literally the only two tangible barriers I experienced, and both happened in 1993.

How have you dealt with them?

I never stopped wanting to work in the industry and have always worked hard. I never made a big deal out of gender or my education; I let my work speak for itself. Either people wanted to work with me, or they didn’t. I kept a positive attitude and tried to have fun regardless of what I was doing. I never said ‘no’ when I was asked to do something like pull feeder or load or unload a truck.

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

Get ready to work and prove yourself. Nothing comes easily to anyone, and there will always be someone smarter, stronger, and more experienced than you. Stay humble and open to learning from anyone and everyone you are around regardless of age, gender, race, or experience level. This applies to both technical and interpersonal skills.

Must have skills?

Patience. Drive. The willingness to learn. A strong knowledge of signal flow and troubleshooting.

Favorite gear?

Equipment that can handle the wear and tear of road life.

Parting Advice.

Don’t limit yourself! If you tell someone that you only mix FOH, then you’ve just limited yourself, and you’ve made it harder for someone like myself, to hire you or recommend you for a tour. Do not be afraid to fail; it means you tried. If you are not happy with your job, do everything you can to change that. We spend much of our lives working, and if you don’t love your job 90% of the time, it will affect your entire life. Have fun, be safe and do not give up on your goals, sometimes they might take a little longer to achieve than you want but the wait will be worth it.

More on Meegan

The SoundGirls Podcast Interview Meegan Holmes

Getting What You Give: Inside The Career Of Veteran Audio Professional Meegan Holmes

NAMM – Meegan Holmes

Meegan Holmes on Roadie Free Radio

Wrong End of the Snake – Meegan Holmes

The Pandemic Series THE ROLE OF AUDIO COMPANIES IN TOURING — PT.6 — 4/21/20

Showmakers – Meegan Holmes

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

Beckie Campbell – Versatility and Passion

beckie-1Beckie Campbell is the owner of B4MediaProduction, a growing production company, supplying anything from small corporate set-ups and medium to large concert system set-ups. Being versatile, Beckie also works as an independent contractor to several companies around the US. Beckie’s experience  in the audio field is comprehensive, having the ability to work as Production Management, FoH/Monitors, and as a PA/System or monitor tech.

B4MediaProduction works with an impressive list of regular clients including the City of Orlando, PennellChing Development (Corporate events), Hibiscus Festival/New Year’s Eve Bash/Freedom Fest(Florida Festivals) and Next Level Productions and Promotions (Concerts and Festivals).

Raised in McMillan, Michigan, Beckie’s interest in music started when she was a kid. She remembers locking herself in her uncle’s jeep and listening to Three Dog Night on an 8 track as loud as she could. She would close her eyes and visualize being on stage with them. She was just five years old! She would also sit in the living room with her ear up to her dad’s stereo listening to old Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings records until she could pick out every instrument and sound. Her aunt and uncles would go to concerts all the time and bring her back heaps of concert swag. Beckie remembers the feeling of wearing a new REO Speedwagon shirt, and jamming out to Tina Turner on her Walkman, all the while dreaming of being backstage with them.

When Beckie turned 18, she started working at a radio station doing on-air concert announcements and interviews with artists at festivals. This experience showed her another side to the business, and all she could think of was that she couldn’t wait to run sound. Beckie attended every concert event she could between the ages of 18-25. After several years of this, Beckie returned to school with the aim of getting a degree in live sound engineering. Beckie attended Full Sail University graduating in 2001 with a degree in Show Production. After graduation, she interned as a tech in a Mega Church in Orlando, and six months later they asked her if she would be interested in becoming their Technical Director. Beckie took that role on full-time and continued to freelance around Orlando. Eventually, Beckie moved beachside to Florida to run FOH for another church.

Since starting B4MediaProduction, she has worked all over the United States as a Monitor Engineer, FOH Engineer, Stage Manager, and Production Manager. She is in a position now where she is called weekly asking if she can fill in for others on their tours, as well as for festival work and corporate gigs. B4MediaProduction have a mix of systems available from small QSC K systems and JBL Eon systems for the corporate gigs and a D.A.S. Aero 8 line array for middle-of-the-road stuff. The business is continuously building its inventory and has its sights set on either L-Acoustics or a d&b rig for the next purchase. Beckie says these are her favorite PA’s to mix on.

When touring, she loves the fact that she gets to play with many different pieces of gear. She has many favorites depending on the gig and budget. For a console it would have to be Midas Pro series, Microphones: Shure ULXD series for vocals with Neumann KMS105 capsules or SM68, saying her new favorite all-around application mic is Heil Pr 30, & PR 31BW. d&b, L-Acoustics, or Meyer rigs are the favorites for cabs. Beckie still has an old-school Lexicon PCM90 verb and says she loves it so much – it will be with her till she dies!

Beckie is known for her experience and her ability to step into many roles. She has been in the live sound arena for the past 16 years and has an impressive resume that showcases her versatility within the industry. In addition to providing systems and working as both FOH and Monitor Engineer, Beckie works as a production and stage manager. Her list of clients is extensive; from Amy Grant, Nicole Nordeman, Ellie Holcomb, The City of Orlando Parks and Recreation, Blue Mountain Brandon Heath Tour, and numerous local events and festivals.

Her advice if you are looking at becoming a FOH or Monitor Engineer is that it helps to know your microphones, DI’s, and mic techniques. If becoming a Production Manager is your thing, then communication skills go a long, long way in this job. Learning proper ways to communicate with different personalities and learning to actively listen and ask questions is essential.

beckie-3She loves seeing new places and meeting new people, but she says “my favorite thing is about 1 minute before the show when the house lights are going dark and you can feel the anticipation in the air from the crowd and then when the first sound hits and everyone goes nuts. “Nothing in the world like that feeling”!  Her least favorite things are cold showers at festivals and people with bad attitudes saying “Everyone has a bad day now and again, but if this is not in your blood or your passion and it’s just a job to you it will quickly weigh on you and everyone you’re around”.  

When on tour her favorite day off activity is going anywhere there is water (swimming, kayaking, hiking, sitting by a river or ocean, etc.) She likes to visit places she has never been to and have little adventures and try new foods. She also enjoys the occasional peace and quiet once in a place she has never been to before. If a day off is near family one of her favorite things is to visit nieces and nephews.  Or just a day with Netflix, a bag of chips, and an ice-cold beer.

During her career, she has faced her share of obstacles – while just doing her job. She tells me she has run into a few guys (mostly old school ones) that refuse to let her do things based on the fact that she is a woman. Beckie hears the little comments here and there and finds that at times, they have treated her like a clueless child. For example: being on the ramp hearing comments like “hey this is super heavy and you shouldn’t be here”, or, “do you even know how to run sound?” “Is there a manager or someone who knows what they’re doing here?” Over the years Beckie has learned to deal with these issues as they arise with pure grit and determination and when they see that she doesn’t just give up and walk away, they realize that she CAN handle anything just like a guy and accept her into the pack with open arms.

Beckie shares some good advice about gaining respect from your peers saying “I tend to show what I can do and not run my mouth about it. I have run into the occasional jerk that is just old school in the way they think, and there is nothing I can do to change that. I have found more often than not that even the guys who don’t think I can do it to start with, watch and see and notice that I can and then they too come around. Even the guy who asked me “Is there a manager or someone who knows what they’re doing here?” came back to me after the show and apologized profusely for thinking I wasn’t aware of what I was doing and said “I am sorry for not giving you the chance you deserve, you work harder than most guys I have worked with and you really know your stuff”

Being professional and friendly goes a long way. Beckie says that as a female in this industry it can be hard to break into work but by keeping your head in the game, networking and making contacts, and generally being a nice person that you will never lack for work. Being pleasant and communicating properly without being a jerk, or having her defenses up, helps toward being treated as an equal member of the team. There are always exceptions to this rule, but by following her own advice, Beckie is still working and making it in this industry saying your character will take you much further than your mouth.

The majority of the people Beckie has dealt with are at first a little hesitant about a female in charge of their event, but they quickly realize Beckie knows her stuff and does the job with excellence. She then becomes their go-to person for events and has a steadily growing list of returning clients.  

beckie-4Beckie has great advice for other women and young women wishing to enter the field. She says “Stick to your guns, remind yourself that there are others like you who have been doing this a long time and that you too can accomplish anything you set your mind to. Be responsible, if you mess up – you mess up, no one is perfect all the time. Stay humble, not one of us knows it all, and it’s ok to ask someone. Stay close to some seasoned professionals and ask lots of questions and take their advice. Above all never think you have arrived. You’ll always have something to learn. Our business is growing and advancing all the time with new gear and new ways to do things – continue to learn!”

Up until July this year, Beckie also taught part-time at Full Sail University. She remembers having a class of 12 students (both guys and girls) and asked them if they were hoping to tour and be on the road. Beckie says she was excited when 8 of the class raised their hands and 6 of those were women. She left Full Sail on a friendly note and has a great relationship with them which means she can reach out to the teachers to help fill in some intern needs. Beckie hires some of the students for events she does locally so that they can gain more exposure. Beckie is currently training a young woman, taking her on a job to Ohio. Beckie says “We are making a difference in the industry and I am grateful for those who have paved the way in our industry. We SoundGirls ROCK!”

beckie-2Her long-term goals are to continue growing her production company and staff to give the next generation more opportunities to tour and do gigs. She would like to develop successful, affordable training camps/sessions for church production technicians to teach them the proper way to do things. One day Beckie will purchase a beach home, find a hot single sugar daddy and (gasp) retire with a beachside bar/live music venue and bartend in her old age.

Last words from Beckie are that she loves SoundGirls.Org and the opportunity it’s providing for young women to feel accepted and encouraged in this business as well as intern and learn. When Beckie started out, she was not aware of other women working in the industry. She knew there must be other women somewhere, but she never saw any or worked with any.  The first woman she ever met was in the ’80s, and she was the drummer’s girlfriend who happened to tech with the band. When Beckie attended Full Sail, she was the only girl in the class.
Beckie is passionate about encouraging others and helping to be part of a growing community that strives to educate and help each other become better at what we do and says she will see you on the road!

2019 Update from Beckie:

“I am currently out on the road as the FOH engineer for the Indigo Girls, I have been incredibly blessed to be able to tour with such an accomplished team of people and to be welcomed into their camp. They are absolutely amazing and so talented. I love that after all these years they are still so down to earth, but professionals. It’s a great team of people and I am honored to work alongside of them all. I am running a Digico SD10 and Waves server (both new toys for me) so it has been challenging and rewarding at the same time.

I am about to step into a full season of corporate gigs with my company, B4Media Production. We will be all over from Dallas to Manhattan to Naples and Orlando, FL. in September. I am advancing these shows and building them now while out on the road with IG. So it has been a fun summer so far, and busy season is about to start. I am looking forward to what the road holds when busy season in Florida is over and I am currently looking for the next tour I can join when that time comes. I love to tour and be out there, but also love to train and build our business at home, so being able to do both this year successfully has been a super huge deal and very rewarding. I am still training church tech teams and doing SoundGirls expos and meet-ups when I am home. All things I love to do! I even got some beach time with the nieces and nephews this summer, and I am currently sitting by the pool with an ice-cold beverage while writing this, so all in all, life ain’t bad.”

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Profile by: Toni Venditti

Toni Venditti is the director of G.V. Productions that provides PA and Lighting equipment and is based in Sydney, Australia. She also is a senior industry writer for the CX Network and a contributor to SoundGirls.Org. Toni has worked in audio and lighting for over 25 years.

Kirsty Gillmore – A Diverse and Rewarding Career

kirsty3Kirsty Gillmore is a London-based sound designer, sound engineer, voice demo producer, and voice actor. She started working as a sound engineer in 2000 in her home country of New Zealand. She has had a diverse career since that start, working across a variety of fields including music, post-production, broadcasting, theatre, opera, and live sound.

Musical since the age of five Kirsty was always part of the choir and orchestras at school. As she grew up, she played around with recording technology using cassette players and her mum’s record player. One of her favourite toys was a Casio PT-1 Synth and Kirsty credit’s this with an endearing love of vintage synths! After secondary school, she applied to study for two degrees in music and arts at the University of Auckland in New Zealand because it seemed like the logical choice. At this time. Kirsty wasn’t aware that studying sound engineering was an option until the second year of her degrees.

While playing viola in an outdoor production of Macbeth she struck up a conversation with the composer about a gig they had both been to and how it could have been improved by changing the mix. It was the first time she had thought about what went into making that music and sound happen, and it grabbed her. It was around this time that Kirsty decided that she didn’t have the talent to make it as a solo musician and the only other career option that seemed to have a clear path for music graduates was teaching. Kirsty was already teaching and didn’t consider this to be a lifelong career at this stage of her life. Being a sound engineer gave her an entirely different career path and a way of using her musical training without being a musician.

After that conversation in the mid-1990s, Kirsty spoke to a lot of sound techs and sound engineers, all had learned on the job by attaching themselves to particular bands. At the time, it was a pretty closed shop, exclusively male, and Kirsty couldn’t see a way in. She started looking into courses when her composer friend suggested a course that a friend of his had done. In the ’90s in New Zealand, there were only two institutions that offered sound engineering courses, so Kirsty applied to the one with the best reputation, the Music and Audio Institution of New Zealand. She almost had to decide on studying stage management and technical theatre, as she had been involved with theatre all the way through university, but the only technical theatre course in the country was brand new and didn’t cover sound. She spent two years training as a sound engineer, mostly in music production and also synthesis, live sound, post-production, radio sound, electronics, and sequencing. In her second year, Kirsty did a placement at a post-production studio and was offered a trainee role, which then led to a freelance position.

Her first job after graduating from the Music and Audio Institution of New Zealand was as a freelance ADR & Dubbing Engineer at Native Audio in Auckland, New Zealand. One of Kirsty’s jobs as a dubbing engineer was for a series of English-speaking children’s programmes that were dubbed into Maori. At the time in New Zealand, there weren’t many opportunities to work in sound and in 2002 Kirsty made the decision to move to London, UK. She threw herself into the local scene and applied for any audio job she could find and surprised herself by getting a job within the first month as an audio archivist at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

For the next eight years, Kirsty built her experience working in various roles at the BBC where she learned about sound for speech-based radio, TV and online.  By 2010 her job had somehow become entirely administrative, and she was pretty unhappy, so when the opportunity for a redundancy came along, Kirsty took it and went back into freelance work.

By the end of 2010, Kirsty had set up her company, Sounds Wilde and spent the next year doing various freelance sound jobs in post-production, live sound and theatre before deciding to focus on theatre, voice acting, and voice production. Currently, Kirsty is looking to expand into sound design for games, which works well alongside voice acting work and directing for voice acting. She is also interested in more composition work.

Kirsty is a big believer and advocate of educating yourself both formally and with ongoing training. Her initial formal training gave her a solid understanding of the basic concepts and a common language for sound, but she finds that since she has been working in sound, she has consolidated these concepts, and it’s allowed her to build and expand her knowledge. Kirsty says there are topics she covered in her formal training which she only now really understands. In the past few years, Kirsty has done short courses on mixing for musicals, radio production and various aspects of theatre sound.

Through the early years of Kirsty’s career, she didn’t have much support, in fact, asking for support was actively discouraged in the jobs she held in the first five or so years of her career. Kirsty found that everyone was just expected to get on with their jobs and learn through mistakes. While Kirsty never had a mentor, (though she would have really loved one) there were people whose work she admired like Nigel Godrich, an English record producer, recording engineer and musician best known for his work with Radiohead, Butch Vig, an American musician and record producer, who is the drummer and co-producer of Garbage and also Sylvia Massy who, at the time was the only female producer, mixer and engineer Kirsty knew of. Massy is recognized for her work on Los Angeles’s alternative metal band Tool. When Kirsty started to specialise in post-production, she found she definitely admired the work and career of Leslie Ann Jones.

In her studio, Kirsty has Focal CMS50s as monitors, (which she loves). Kirsty does all her mixing in the box and in doing it this way – she doesn’t need a console.  Her main go-to mic for voice-overs currently is an AKGC414 and for software, she uses ProTools for most of the recording and mixing she does, Ableton is used for looping and Qlab and Ableton are used for the theatre sound design work. For theatre sound, Kirsty prefers DiGiCo desks (with the theatre sound “T” software) and definitely DPA mics!

kirsty2Kirsty has had her share of discrimination and is a prime example of self-belief and determination to come out the other side. Discussing how she has been accepted in a male-dominated field, Kirsty will tell you she has been discriminated against too many times to count.

Thankfully, the more experienced Kirsty became, the discrimination issues seem to be fewer. She is not sure if the climate is changing or if her body of work speaks for itself but says it’s nice not to have to deal with it as frequently.

Looking at what’s ahead for Kirsty seems pretty exciting. In her studio, Kirsty is looking to invest in more mics. She is interested in what Advanced Audio can offer as alternatives to the Neumann U47 and U87. She is also looking at replacing her soundcard soon and is hoping to trial a Focusrite Claret with Thunderbolt, and the equivalent from Apogee as well.

Hopefully, there will be more international opportunities. After years of working in London Kirsty is looking forward to working at least a few months next year in her home country of New Zealand both as a sound designer and sound design tutor. She would also like to expand into game sound design and develop a composition portfolio, as well as taking on more voice-over directing opportunities.

Kirsty’s message is about being consistent, persistent, and open to opportunities.  She says “It’s great to have your heart set on a particular career in sound but don’t be put off if that doesn’t pan out at first. Once you know the fundamentals of sound, you can apply them to lots of different career paths as long as you’re willing to learn and take the time to meet people and build relationships. Technical skills are obviously imperative, but it’s your people skills that will get you the job. You’ve got to be prepared to hustle and find the opportunities; the jobs won’t come to you. Don’t be afraid to sell yourself, be proud of your achievements and confident in your skills while being open to learning from others”.

By Toni Venditti

 

On the Go With Jessica Berg

Music has played a prominent role throughout Jessica Berg’s life. From an early age, she was often singing solos in choir and performing with her cousin’s bar band near the family cabin in northern Minnesota. At age 14, Jessica began playing guitar and writing songs with her best friend, one of which they recorded for a class project, and this began Jessica’s fascination with the world of audio technology.

In high school, she would often hang out at a friend’s recording studio, and another friend gave her a Tascam four-track cassette recorder. During her senior year, Jessica began performing at open mic nights and was featured as a solo artist on a local radio station’s weekly program, “MN Homegrown.” For Jessica’s high school graduation gift, her dad brought her to a studio in the mountains of Colorado to record a three-song demo. Soon after that, she joined a band and began performing around the Minneapolis-St. Paul area both as a solo artist and in bands, all the while practicing and learning the art of four-track recording.Jess Performing Early 2000s (Minneapolis, MN)

In 2002, Jessica decided to pursue her passion for audio and enrolled at The Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis, MN. Within her first year, she was offered a live sound gig working with Le Cirque Rouge Burlesque Cabaret Troupe. Jessica says, “Working with this group was the best way to cut my teeth in live sound. It was a theater-type crew, who rarely stuck to the script, and I was often working on crap gear that I had to make sound good. Sometimes I even ran lights. Everyone got paid off the door. It was awesome.” Working with the cabaret troupe led to another live sound gig working with Cuban jazz group Charanga Tropical. Both clients had shows regionally, so Jessica had the opportunity to work in a variety of situations with two very colorful and talented groups.

While still in audio school, Jessica began interning at A440 Studios, one of the last large studios operating in town and negotiated a paid assistant engineering gig for regional rock band Skywynd’s “Escape Plan” album. “The lead engineer had a young child at home so that he would leave every night around 5 or 6 and I’d take over. We were tracking to 2” tape and transferring into ProTools. I was in heaven,” she says.

Jessica also interned with legendary promoter Sue McLean, and would get paid work as a runner on her shows. Around this time, she also began running sound at The Dakota, one of the top 100 jazz clubs in the world. Jessica remained on the house audio crew until she moved to Los Angeles in late 2013. “It’s an international listening room – Meyer had tuned it, it was intimate, and many shows were so attentive you could hear a pin drop,” she says. “I’ll always love that room.”

Not long after graduating from audio school, Jessica would become the dub room engineer at a top voiceover studio, Voiceworks (now Audio Ruckus.) Since the studio operated nine to five weekdays, the owner offered up the keys, and Jessica would bring in her clients in during off-hours. She was also on the call list with the Local 13 IATSE stagehand union for a year or so.

In 2006, she became the full-time Concert & Events Coordinator for the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, running four outdoor venues with over 220 shows between Memorial Day and Labor Day, including large community festivals and other park events throughout the year. Jessica says, “I walked into a 122-year-old tradition that had been a bit neglected, and I was determined to help nurture and fix it. Gear was broken, figurative duct tape left everywhere, people were unhappy. I was given a file box with a stack of papers and a bag of keys, a Motorola phone, an office in a historical building, and told to ‘go’ – so I did.” Over the next three years, Jessica helped raised support from within the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, built a strong team of seasonal sound engineers, worked with local community groups to purchase new audio gear and introduced the concept of allowing Music in the Parks sponsorships to the organization’s Board of Commissioners.

During this time, Jessica also served as a board member of the Jackie Lee Robinson Foundation, who was one of the original founders of IPR, and in cooperation with the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board and other professional audio companies, helped to start the Ideawerks recording studio educational program in the parks. The program is free for youths aged 12-17. After her third season of running the Music in the Parks, Jessica decided to move on. Today, the Minneapolis Music in the Parks program has never been stronger and brings joy to thousands of people every summer.

During her time in Minnesota, Jessica received certification in Festival and Event Management through the University of Minnesota Tourism Department and was introduced to the Head of Production for the WeFest and the 10K Lakes festivals in Detroit Lakes, MN. The WeFest is the largest camping and country music festival in the nation. Jessica would start out working as a stagehand and work her way up to the Backstage Production Assistant. She was in charge of backstage production parking and would run sound for the VIP area near the backstage area, post- main stage show. Jessica has continues to work these festivals and says “We are like a big family, and I have learned what it takes to run a huge, multi-act, multi-day show. It reminds me why I got into the business in the first place – I love that crew.”

Jessica would go on to work for IPR as an Academic Coordinator and become a founding member of the Twin Cities Mobile Jazz Project non-profit organization, bringing jazz music and education to youth into underserved communities throughout the local region. She would also return to school and receive a BS in Media Business. She never stops learning and seizes the opportunities presented to her.

As a graduation gift, one of Jessica’s closest friends in Los Angeles bought her a one-way plane ticket and offered her a place to live. “I knew I wanted to spread my wings and get out on the road more. I loved what I was doing in Minneapolis and the people I worked with, but it is the biggest small town you could ever be from. I figured I’d give it hell for two years and see what kind of magic I could stir up,” she says. So after breaking the news to her jobs and making sure they weren’t left high and dry, then releasing an album/love letter to her Minnesota life, giving away her furniture, and shipping a couple of pallets of boxes via Amtrak, Jessica flew to Los Angeles on Halloween in 2013. “It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” she says. “As many wise mentors have shared – in this industry, if you either have a job or a place to live, you gotta make that leap.”

Soon after landing in Los Angeles, Jessica discovered SoundGirls while searching the term “sound girl” on the Internet. It was too much of a coincidence that she had started her website soundgirlproductions.com a year earlier, in honor of the endearing nickname given to her by fellow Dakota crew. Not only that, but Jessica had been involved with a few different “women in music” groups in Minneapolis, and she feels none had emphasized live sound in the way that SoundGirls.Org does. “I felt like I found my tribe,”

Quadron Tour 2015

Quadron Tour 2014

Jessica would check out the site almost daily and one day, a job post flew by on my Facebook feed. It read – “TM/FOH needed ASAP…” and included an email address. I responded right away and two hours later I was in a meeting at the Avalon in Hollywood, where an upcoming concert was in pre-production.

The woman hiring for the TM/FOH position brought me on as her PA for the Avalon show to see how we would work together. When the Avalon concert was over she said, “OK you’re hired, we’ve got a lot of stuff to do!” I was on the road as TM/FOH with Quadron less than a week later, opening for Mayer Hawthorne. It was a dream come true.”

That one gig has led to the next two-plus years of mostly touring work for Jessica, and the woman who originally hired her became a mentor. When she got back from the Quadron tour, Jessica worked as a Project Manager at Biz 3 (a publicity company) for about six months, while running sound at a couple of local LA clubs and doing one-offs working with her mentor.  Jessica applied and got on the call list with a stagehand company, which has led to a variety of different gigs throughout Southern California when she is off the road.

Dr. John

Dr. John

In late 2014, Jessica was offered a gig to be Dr. John’s tour manager during his US/UK Winter 2015 run. In the interim, Jessica accepted the gig of TM for Waka Flocka Flame. These two tours took up most of 2015, minus a six-week stint running monitors and working on the audio crew at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center.

After returning from Dr. John’s tour, Jessica knew she wanted to reconnect with the SoundGirls community and signed up for the group’s SSL Live Training at Rat Sound.  She is excited to be volunteering with a growing organization and community that is achieving its mission – to help empower the next generation of women in audio, expanding opportunities for girls and women in the audio and music production fields, and sharing resources and knowledge through cooperation, collaboration, and diversity. Jessica shares, “SoundGirls is truly a haven for women in our field. I feel so fortunate to have found our community. The supportive vibes and being able to relate to each other is huge. It also led to my first paid touring gig out of Los Angeles, which has led to pretty much all the other gigs I’ve had since I left Minneapolis!”

Saint Motel Tour Crew

Saint Motel Tour Crew

As of late, Jessica is continuing her professional adventures in the freelance TM/FOH/MON world, mainly as TM with Phoebe Ryan. She also works on audio crews with a few production companies when home in the Los Angeles area. While her career is a primary focus, Jessica said that this year she’d like to pick up her guitar a bit more, sing a little louder in the car, remember to take five-minute dance parties when needed, and help our SoundGirls.Org community continue to grow and evolve on a global scale.

What do you like best about touring?

Time and space seem to shift, and there’s a lot of magic that happens in that flow.  The key is to not resist it.  Touring reminds me to live in the moment and make ‘em count.  What I like best about touring is that I get to work on my feet, literally and figuratively – tapping into all my life skills, knowledge and intuition to help make some really cool stuff happen in the moment.  I’ve also met some amazing people while working on the road, and I’ve been fortunate to have worked alongside some incredibly talented industry professionals along the way.  As an engineer and musician, for me personally, there are no other jobs that allow for such an exercise of the heart and mind quite like the ones in the touring industry.  There is always something new to learn.

What do you like least?

Being on tour can feel like living in a bubble.  It’s important to stay connected to loved ones while on the road and take time for self-care.  Post-tour depression is a real thing.

What is your favorite day off activity?

TMs don’t really get days off.  I usually enjoy my off days playing catch-up on life and work, finding some healthy food, maybe get a mani/pedi, and taking a walk in some nature if I’m lucky.  Sleep!

What are your long-term goals?

Health, happiness and love 🙂  To keep learning and evolving.  To master the SD5 and do a stadium tour.  To help make a difference every day, no matter how big or small.    

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I’ve definitely felt the challenge of having to prove my worth as an engineer and tour manager – which, being highly competitive fields, felt more like an educational lesson than any kind of obstacle.  Either I was learning or I was teaching someone else.  I dug in, took initiative, asked questions, got up in there with the rest of ‘em, pulled my weight, sweat, smiled, and kept a positive attitude throughout.  Was it easy?  Hell no.  But it has absolutely been worth it.  The uncertainty of a sustainable career in the beginning of my journey was an obstacle of sorts as well, since everyone needs to eat and have a place to sleep at night.  

How have you dealt with them?

I eat obstacles for breakfast.  We wouldn’t be worth our salt as engineers if we didn’t.  Every day on the job we are faced with creative problem-solving situations and asked to find the solution.  Whatever perceived barriers or obstacles I’ve faced, I simply try to not put too much energy into the problem and instead focus on the solution.  In the beginning of my career I worked whatever jobs necessary to survive and kept a low overhead, so that I could work with good people and take advantage of industry opportunities to further my skills.  Perseverance, connecting with my network of supporters, and my belief in myself carried me through the tough days.  Same goes for tour managers.   

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

Do it!  It’s a life-long adventure.  Prepare to be in it for the long haul.  Be patient with yourself and ask lots of questions.  There are a significant amount of men in the industry who are supportive of women working in the field – don’t let the haters ruin it for all the good ones out there.  Embrace your gifts and talents and everything unique that you bring to the table.  Remember that women scientifically have better hearing than men.  You’ll have to passionately pursue your education, whether formally or in the real world because nobody is just going to hand it over.  Stay hungry.  Keep an open mind and explore all the possibilities.

Must have skills?

Must have skills include: a positive attitude, showing up on time, perseverance, having a solid understanding of signal flow, training your ear to hear different frequencies, time management, ability to take charge when needed, ability to troubleshoot technical issues, and/or find resources, remaining calm under pressure, and being able to maintain a professional demeanor.  I think working in the service industry is the best way to prepare for working in the field, as you learn almost all of these skills but especially how to work with different kinds of people.  Learn how to solder.

Favorite gear?

I’m admittedly not a gearhead, but I do love working on a large-format analog console.  Don’t get me wrong – flying around on a digital console has its own particular merits and brand of swagger.  However, having everything all laid out in front of me has a definite charm and feels like I’m working from a different place in my brain.  My other favorite gear would have to include the SM57 and SM58 microphones – because if you can’t do a show using only these microphones then, well, I don’t even know.  Sometimes that’s all you got to work with.  I love em for their strength and reliability.  An xlr sniffer/sender cable tester will become one of your best friends.  My favorite tour manager gear is my portable printer, hands down.        

 

What is a Sound Design Associate?

A Sound Design Associate works closely with the Sound Designer and Director, undertaking much of the work. It can include finding music and sound effects dictated by the Sound Designer and Director, maintaining the paperwork, and assisting the Sound Designer in cuing the show. The Sound Design Associate may also work with the Sound Board Operator providing instruction, and assistance in making changes to the cues during rehearsal.

Each designer has their way of doing things and being able to be the associate for more than one Sound Designer has been an invaluable education. It puts me in a unique and privileged position, as I get to see different techniques and how they are used by excellent designers. Did I mention I also get paid.  It’s interesting to see how another designer programs a cue list, sets up a system, or interacts with the rest of the design team.

The role is very different depending on the designer I’m working with. Sometimes I handle all the paperwork and translate the designer’s ideas into a spec sheet for a hire company. Sometimes I’m taking care of the SFX while the designer is looking after the system, and the band or the reverse situation can happen. I tune the system and work with the operator on the desk while the Designer is creating the soundscape.

I have recently been the Sound Design Associate for John Leonard. I’ve been John’s Sound Design Associate on more than one occasion, and it is always an excellent opportunity to learn from someone who is well respected and has been doing this a long time. 

My Approach to being a Sound Design Associate

I usually am hired as an associate when a Sound Designer I have worked with before has production periods that overlap, or if there is a big project that needs to be produced in a short time frame.  Designers can hire an Associate, and they can take on more than one production. An Associate will be their representative and manage the designers’ interests in their absence.

There may be days of Tech or Preview that the Designer cannot attend and I will represent the Designer. In this case, the Designer needed someone to look after the show from Preview 1 to Press night.  I went to a couple of run-throughs and I sat with John during tech to get a feel for Johns and Iqbul Khan’s (the director’s) vision for the production.  I then took over the lead after preview one.

As an Associate, I think it is important to remember this is not my show. I may have artistic input, and if the director asks for something, I will work hard to make it happen. But I always keep the designer aware of any changes I have made. When working with John, he always gives me a free hand, but I do remember I am representing the reputation of another designer as well as my own.Looking across to the Musicians Gallery

For the recent production of Macbeth, there were a lot of changes after the first preview. John trusted that I would make the necessary changes and also keep him in the loop, providing detailed notes. Although being an associate isn’t the lead role in the design process I find learning from and being exposed to different techniques a deeply satisfying experience.

More on the job duties of a Sound Design Associate

Mind the Culture Gap

The classroom fell eerily quiet. There’s a first time for everything. I had just announced to my top set year 7 (11 and 12-year-olds) science group that I was leaving in two weeks’ time to work as a senior sound and broadcast technician at a new opera house in Muscat, Oman. I had a few slides prepared on my PowerPoint presentation to show the geographical location and a few tourist snaps of the desert with camels. A sea of blank faces and open mouths starred at me. After what felt like a lifetime, Alfie piped up with,

‘Oman is the only country in the world to begin with O… Miss’.

In retrospect, I should have been more equipped to answer the barrage of questions to follow,

‘Will you have to wear a burka?’

‘Can women drive a car there?’

‘Will you have to eat goat?’

Much to my amusement, the questions in the staff room were not dissimilar at break time. And so began the start of the most extraordinary chapter of my working career.

Five years ago, The Royal Opera House, Muscat was the first opera house to open in the Middle East. His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said came to power in 1970 and has since transformed the country; building roads, schools and infrastructure. As part of his vision, Sultan Qaboos instructed the building of the opera house and hence the introduction of international arts and culture to the people of Oman.

The opera house essentially runs as a ‘Festival’ with our programming department booking a diverse selection of productions over the season. Last season this included opera from Vienna Opera House, ballet from English National Ballet, the Buena Vista Social Club, Maher Zain and Chinese Dragon Acrobats.

The sound and broadcast department is comprised of ten specialists, recruited internationally, including three Omanis. Between us, we speak six languages. As expats, we are contracted to train our Omani colleagues as part of a national ‘Omanisation’ programme. In day-to-day work, this presents itself as training ‘as we go’. Due to the importance and urgency of Omanisation, I have been lucky enough to be part of developing a skills-based competency framework. Although not strictly part of my job description, I have found immense satisfaction in delivering effective new training methods. Needless to say, this is now starting to be rolled out across other departments.

Having been a teacher I am aware of the sometimes subtle differences between hearing and understanding. Communication is a constant challenge within our team. A task that would be straightforward in a small sound team at home suddenly becomes a logistical (and health and safety) nightmare. Some of the practical ways in which we overcome these difficulties include employing translators, colour coding nearly everything, clear and concise labeling, and a work environment that lends itself to open team discussion. As you can imagine, the technical experience between us is immense and we are always learning new skills and different ways of doing things from each other. Diplomatic solutions are always only ever a conversation away.

It is all too easy to forget the enormity of our jobs here during our hectic season. The careful balance between respecting the Omani culture and delivering iconic opera and ballet from around the world is a constant. For example, in our department, we need to ensure that music is not playing during prayer times and that subtitles are provided in Arabic. Abiding by local customs and traditions is of utmost importance if we are going to have any hope of engaging with our audiences.

Family is an absolute core value here and an Omani will always put them first. For the expats who work here, this can be a hard pill to swallow. Our own cultures are often far from this ideal. Rehearsals can be called off at the last minute if there is even the slightest chance of rain. Many of our Omani colleagues live in villages many kilometres from Muscat and flooding wadis (normally dry river beds) can mean perilous journeys or even areas that are totally cut off for a few days. Situations like this in the West would be unspeakable. I’ve known colleagues in London to sleep in the theatre rather than stop the show during snowstorms! Likewise, if a family member needs assistance, work will be sacrificed.

Despite the searing temperatures and daily challenges of working in this diverse environment, I feel incredibly blessed to have my eyes opened to the reality of life in the Middle East. Western media is a bombardment of negativity towards this part of the world, hence the bizarre array of questions from my students and fellow teachers. Our opera house is a beacon of inspiration.

 

Interview with Producer/Engineer Te’

The percentage of women continues to rise within working occupations across the globe, tech and the music industries both being included. But with women only making up 5% of music producers and engineers in the music industry, we continue to set the bar high by taking control of our own careers and using that hustle muscle to achieve success one goal at a time.

Producer Te’ is among that 5% within the music industry. A natural-born hustler who has set herself up for success. From songwriting to producing to engineering. She has done work with the likes of Anthony Hamilton, Matt Linsech, Jason Gilbert, Teddy Riley, Atlantic Records, Capitol Records, and more. Over the years Te’ has been open, honest, and willing to guide me in the right direction within my own career. I had the opportunity of interviewing Te’ touches on her journey thus far, being a woman in the music industry, favorite gear, and more.

What sparked your interest in audio technology? You have graduated with a business degree and were self-taught, something had to ignite a passion in audio.

Coming from a family of musicians and singers, music has been instilled in me since birth.  As I got older, I became intrigued by the creative process and found myself reading the liner notes and researching how the music was being made.  When I was 13 I got my first keyboard/workstation and taught myself how to compose & arrange instrumentals.  In my freshman year of high school I was introduced to composing with computers and synthesizers and began making tracks on the Cakewalk program.

Many get there break into the industry with one aspect first. Did songwriting lead to producing, producing to engineering.. vice versa or did everything kind of evolve together? What was your specific process?

I definitely started writing first.  I thought I was a rapper back in the day, so I would have notebooks full of raps, but never had any tracks to put the words to.  When I started making beats my passion for composing/arranging evolved, but now it all goes hand in hand.  I later bought Pro Tools and taught myself how to use it.  I thought I was the shit, but my mixes were horrible back then lol.  All in all, when people would come to record with me they would leave with a full record.  I would have the tracks already prepared and when the artist got there, I’d write the song or co-write it with them.  In some cases I would make the beat from scratch.

What obstacles have you faced and overcome building as a woman in Tech/Music business? 

There was only one situation that stands out.  I was applying at a major recording studio to be an engineer and I was told that they didn’t hire female engineers.  According to them, from past experiences, females were just too emotional. I knew it didn’t have anything to do with me personally, but I was definitely dealt some unfair cards in that situation.  In hindsight, it was a blessing because I wouldn’t want to work for a facility or brand who generalizes or has a stereotypical mindset. I just kept it moving to the next opportunity. Overall I am received well in my field. I am grateful.

How has technology affected the way you book and work with your clients?

Creatively, technology gives us more options and freedom to experiment until we get the sound that we need. There are no limits. From a business perspective it’s great because of social media, it allows us to expand our brands and attract new clientele.

As an engineer and producer do you take on work for hire gigs or are you employed with different labels?

If it’s an engineer gig, the producer will call me in for a session either with the artist or for a songwriting session.  If I’m writing/producing I tend to work with anyone who is working on a major project.  My management will book me a session with the artist, or the producer will call me in for a writing session to write for a specific project.

Do you own your own recording studio? If so what is your favorite piece of gear within your space?

I float around between different studios in LA, but I do have a small home set-up for when I need to work on material outside of the studio. My favorite piece of gear is probably the LA2A as far as compressors go….and I love love love the Telefunken U47 mic! From my experience, it sounds clean and clear on almost every voice.

Do you play any instruments? Or do you use more technology-based gear to create?

They say once a drummer always a drummer, although I am rusty now, that is my first instrument.  I can maneuver around the keyboard enough to get the idea out. When I am producing or co-producing I like to bring in live musicians to play on the record. Although the digital world is great, I believe music still needs to have an authentic feel and bringing in live musicians achieves that.

Analog vs. Digital? What’s your outlook?

Both. With digital, your creative aspirations are endless, but as I mentioned before, I like my music to have an authentic vibe like the music I grew up listening to in the 90s, and that’s where analog saves the day. Blending the two together is the perfect match in my opinion. You have to know both, there are still some things that can’t be imitated, so being able to go back to the original source is crucial. But definitely need both.

What are your top five best moments in your career so far?

Wow I don’t know if I have five yet, considering my career is just beginning.  

One is definitely being able to write, work and build a relationship with the legendary Teddy Riley.  I grew up listening to him and his work, especially Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” album which is my favorite album of MJ.  It’s a huge honor to work with the man whose name was in the credits of the albums I was listening to and influenced by growing up.  His stories about the music business are not only fascinating but extremely insightful and informative.  I’m truly grateful.

Two would be meeting Trakmatik of Roc Nation; working with and watching him achieve greatness is inspiring.  It’s a beautiful thing to witness someone close to you reach higher levels of success and inspire the next generation behind us.

The third, I’m going to have to get back to you on as my career progresses. Lol

What advice would you give to upcoming engineers and producers on staying up to date with technology and entrepreneurship?

Study the people that have come before you in your field.  They’ve already laid the blueprint to success.  Learn what they did and then add your own flavor to it to make it unique.  Stay up on current trends but focus on creating what the next sound might be.  Don’t be afraid to take risks because you never know what your ideas may lead to. On a more philosophical note, don’t allow any negativity or adversity to deter you.  You were already born to be great.  Always live within your elite self.  Stay true to that and you will prosper and live the quality of life that you deserve.  You will have doubters, but you will also have supporters and admirers that you are inspiring and may not even know it, so don’t quit.  Be the example, you never know who is watching and using you for inspiration.

Te’ was one of the first people I reached out to when I had the idea of starting a blog. She motivated me when things didn’t go as planned. She always reassured me that I can obtain success, ONLY if I wanted it bad enough. Thank you, Te’ for always being a positive influence. I hope we both can inspire someone else to follow their dreams. Until next time, I encourage all of you to fight against the odds and go for what you want. No matter what career path you choose, don’t let anything hold you back #BeGreat 

 You can follow producer Te’ journey on Instagram via @officialte & on Twitter via@_itsTE_

 

A Brief History of Theatre Sound Consoles with Autograph Sound

Last Monday the Europe Chapter of Soundgirls.org had the opportunity to learn about theatre sound from one of the top names in the business: Autograph Sound.

Autograph has been at the forefront of theatre sound in the UK, and internationally, since the early 1970s. Before this time, theatres dictated the sound of every show. Their sound equipment wasn’t designed specifically for theatre use, and as there was no consistency in the sound systems between theatres, one show could sound very different in different theatres.

In the late 1960s, the music industry started to hand over production of their live shows to other companies. Around the same time, Andrew Bruce, who was Head of Sound at the Royal Opera House in London, noticed a need for theatre shows to sound the same in each venue – for each show to have a sonic “signature.” As Peppe Mallozzi, Sales Engineer for Autograph explained, this idea formed the company’s name: once a signature becomes recognised, it becomes an autograph.

Autograph Sound Recording was founded in London, U.K. in 1972 by Andrew Bruce. Theatre sound technology of the time centred on fixed input consoles, like the Trident Fleximix, a live sound console that was used for the production of A Chorus Line in London, 1976. But the requirements for musical theatre sound differ from sound for live music shows. In a very general sense, where the driving factor for music shows is often volume, the primary consideration for theatre sound is clarity, of dialogue as well as songs.

Manufacturers caught on and started producing consoles to accommodate the new specific requirements of theatre sound. Theatre sound took a step closer to achieving the clarity that its engineers desired with consoles like the Midas TR, used for Cats in 1981. This console had an output matrix, which allowed you to split a signal to different speakers to achieve all-important high-frequency coverage, crucial for hearing dialogue and singing with absolute clarity.

By the 1980s, shows were getting bigger and designers needed more inputs, outputs, and more flexibility. In 1982 Autograph commissioned a console from British company Cadac for Little Shop of Horrors at the Comedy Theatre (now the Harold Pinter Theatre), London.

From this first console, christened “The Coffin” for its shape, Cadac’s analogue console have remained in use in theatres up until the present day – Wicked, at the Apollo Theatre in London, will be the last big show to use an analogue Cadac console.

The next step for Autograph was to develop consoles with Cadac for use with any show. This lead to the A-type, used for Les Miserables in London in 1985, which was succeeded by the J-type and E-type. These consoles included automation, using an external computer to send cues to trigger the central VCA section of a console, with VCAs and programmable control groups becoming standard. Early automation was the start of something that became important for theatre sound: being able to operate a show from a central area on a console instead of running up and down a lot of channels.

As shows became bigger, other areas of automation and being able to save settings for individual scenes became crucial, as operators found they struggled to adjust settings manually for expanding numbers of performers. Bruce and his colleagues were also under pressure from producers to find a smaller alternative for the large analogue consoles that took up valuable seat space.

In the early 1990s, Bruce was approached by Soundcraft, a console manufacturer who was exploring the development of a fully assignable digital console for theatre sound. Bruce wanted a console that could digitally save EQ settings, scene snapshots and had the option to save volume levels (or not). Their collaboration led to the Soundcraft Broadway, the first digital theatre sound console.

The Soundcraft Broadway could control analogue input and output racks and be installed for the 1996 production of  Martin Guerre at the Prince Edward theatre in London but never used. Continual bugs and repeated failures with the networking technology of the time meant it couldn’t handle the requirements of the show, and a J-type Cadac replaced it. Soundcraft abandoned its digital theatre console project soon after.

Back at Cadac, analogue consoles were still being produced with digital automation. However, there was another company with an eye on the digital console market: Soundtracs, producer of analogue consoles for studio and live sound since the 1980s. In 2002 the decision was made to launch a new brand focussed on digital consoles for live events. The new company, DiGiCo, and a new digital console, the D5 Live, were launched almost immediately.

James Gordon, the founder of DiGiCo, had already spotted the potential need in the theatre sound market and approached Andrew Bruce directly to develop theatre sound-specific software for the new DiGiCo console. Three months and a lot of research and development later, they launched the D5T: a digital DiGiCo D5 console with “T” (theatre) software, specifically designed to meet the needs of large-scale musical theatre shows. As computer automation control changed the game for theatre sound engineers twenty years earlier, theatre-specific software like T-software took it to a whole new level.

Anyone who has worked on a major West End or Broadway musical knows how complex the sound can get. Thirty-plus performers, all with radio mics, who need to be heard with perfect clarity solely or in duos, trios or choruses that change with every scene. Speaking one minute, singing the next, and wearing a hat (which completely changes the sound of a mic) one minute after that! Every line must be crystal clear for every audience member, no matter where the actors are on stage. And that’s all before you get the musicians involved.

It’s a big ask for the designer to make sure the balance of every one of hundreds of cues is perfectly calibrated. Let alone for the sound operator to set levels, EQ and FX for all actors in one scene, then change it all again with a moment’s notice for a new scene, with a new set of performers.

Theatre-sound-specific hardware and software like the DiGiCo consoles with T software were developed to meet these challenges. They allow for controlled and accurate line-by-line mixing, where each mic is only live when lines are sung or spoken, by pulling groups of channels into the central VCA section. Control of the channels is placed right under the operator’s hands, saving them from to running up and down a long console riding faders for individual channels

They also allow an operator or designer to save settings for individual channels in individual scenes (or even multiple “snapshots” in a single scene) and recall them in an instant. And going one crucial step further – to save different versions of the same channel, with varying settings (“aliases” in DiGiCo terminology), to accommodate understudies playing the same roles, and hats!

As Peppe says, “no one waits for sound.” When a director suddenly decides to jump from the big chorus dance number in Act 1 to the intimate duet between the leads in Act 3, Scene 2, or they suddenly want the lead actor to wear the hat they wore in the very first scene, they don’t want to wait for the sound operator.

Back in the 1980s and even the 1990s with the ability to save only a limited number of settings, jumping between scenes and changes to positions or costume would have meant a break for the company as the sound operator reset everything manually. Now, it’s a matter of a few clicks. What used to take weeks of technical rehearsals can be conquered in a few days.

Many thanks to Peppe at Autograph Sound for putting on a great day for our European Chapter members. We look forward to the next one!

 

Being The Boss (Even When You Aren’t) – Part 1

 

boss

Have you ever had a boss that you absolutely despised?
Someone unorganized, impatient, and short-sighted?
Didn’t make you enjoy your job, did it?

A quality leader can make or break any business or project. As the boss, you are the face of the team. What your team does reflects on you, and vice-versa. If you’re unorganized, or don’t know your crew, or have no goals, how can you expect to lead anyone anywhere? A leader needs to have many positive qualities in order to be successful.

Get to Know Your People

You don’t need to remember your technician’s great-aunt’s birthday to know them. Learn their strengths, weaknesses, what they enjoy about work and what they don’t, who they work well with, etc. It also doesn’t hurt to get to know them outside of work-themed bullet points. Are they married? Do they have kids? What do they like to do outside of work? Get to know them as human beings, instead of just employees or teammates.

Some of my worst managers knew a lot about me personally but nothing about me professionally, so they didn’t place me where I needed to be. Others were familiar with me professionally but not personally, so they weren’t sympathetic to anything that may have been happening outside of work. Find a balance. You don’t have to be best friends, but you should at the very least acquaint yourself with them on a basic level.

Push Them

growthAn important part of any job is growth opportunity. Without growth we are stagnant and begin to lose interest in learning. When I stop learning, I get bored and enthusiasm dies, which causes my performance to suffer. Even if you aren’t 100% comfortable letting them do something, let them do it. Watch over them, supervise, make sure they don’t destroy something or kill someone, but let them dive in. Sometimes, being thrown to the wolves is how some of the most valuable learning happens.

Personally, I love being pushed past where I thought I could go. I find this idea especially important for young women because we so often tell ourselves we aren’t good enough or aren’t ready for something when we are. Each person deserves to learn and grow as a human and as a fellow worker in the industry. With that being said, it’s a fine line between pushing them to succeed and pushing them right off the cliff. If you place your team members in situations they can succeed in, not places they’re bound to fail in, you have that much less to worry about.

Communication

directionLike all relationships, communication is key. I cannot stress this enough. If you don’t efficiently communicate with your team, your leadership means nothing. Part of communicating well has to do with knowing your team, as we discussed before. Some people respond well to straightforward directions (i.e. “go there,” “do this,” “do NOT do that”). Other people need a little bit of an explanation (i.e., “go there because”, “do this while”, “this causes that”). Some people work in an entirely different way. You should know how each of your team member’s understands tasks best. I can tell some of my team members a very general idea of what I need to be done and they can fully transition that into a finished task. Some of my other team members need an exact list of every single thing that needs to be done to finish satisfactorily.

Another part of communicating well is listening. Communication is a two-way street, you know! Make sure that you hear your crew, and that they know you are hearing them. I ensure that everyone is comfortable coming to me and asking a question or asking for advice. I would much rather answer the same question 10 times than have someone go in confused or accidently irreparably damage something. If a crew member needs to know something, or they’ve got a problem with a co-worker, or an outside client is acting disrespectfully, I want to know. We can’t fix or address what we don’t know. Open communication lines.

Next blog will continue part two of this series on how to be an effective leader!

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