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Living the Dream

This April I opened my first Broadway show: The Outsiders. It was a whirlwind, an adventure, and it was incredible: working on Broadway, on a show of my very own! This was something I’d dreamed of doing since I was a twelve-year-old middle schooler who stumbled headfirst into theatre and decided it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

The highs were breathtaking: parties to celebrate our milestones, press events for morning and late-night shows, getting 12 Tony nominations when we had no idea what to expect with this jam-packed season, a Tony watch party where we celebrated as we won for Best Lighting, Best Sound (!!!), Best Direction, and practically cheered ourselves hoarse when they announced that The Outsiders won Best Musical.

Even better, my parents were there to support me for some of those moments. Having them there on Opening Night made me appreciate my own milestone in a way I would have missed without them there. They were my reminder that this was something special, that not everyone gets to do this kind of thing. Not only working on Broadway but achieving a childhood dream.

Some so many people knew that little girl with dreams of Broadway and when they found out I was mixing Outsiders, the grown-up me received a steady stream of congratulations and “Aren’t you just thrilled?!” as I was going into shop prep, then load in, followed by tech, and previews.

Most of the time my reactions were less than excited. Those old friends were thinking of the glamour of a dream come true as I stared down the reality of months of long days, endless stress, and fatigue of every kind. There were countless mornings when I groaned as my alarm went off before there was even a hint of light on the horizon. Load in days where I looked around the room with a sigh as I realized that I was once again the only woman on the crew, or that there were so few of us that you could count it on one hand.

One of our tech/preview days I had food poisoning and decided to suffer in silence instead of telling anyone, giving myself the excuse that no one else knew how to mix the show. So I spent any downtime during that morning work call and afternoon rehearsal with my head on the console or heading to the mercifully empty women’s bathroom in the downstairs lobby, hoping I could get to a state where I wouldn’t feel the need to mix with a trash can next to me. (Thankfully, I was functional for the show.) That was smack in the middle of six weeks working six 14-16 hour works days (80+ hour work weeks for those of you doing the math at home) before we made it to Opening.

It wasn’t easy or glamorous. But was it worth it?

Absolutely.

Maybe not the food poisoning. That I definitely should have called in sick for.

But the rest of it? 100% worth it.

There’s this thought in our culture that the highest goal we should aspire to is one where we don’t actually do anything, we’re always having a good time, and nothing is difficult. The adage that “if you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life.”

The irony is that the exact opposite is true. But this thought lingers, so when things get hard, it causes so many people to doubt themselves until they give up. It’s not easy to slog through long days at work and come home in sweat-stained shirts with dirt ingrained in the creases of your palms.

It is easy to let doubt creep in when we’re confronted with things we don’t know or people who’ve been doing this so much longer that they make it look effortless.

When we’re starting to learn, we fall into the trap of thinking that obviously we aren’t doing something we actually love, because if we really loved it it wouldn’t feel like work, it wouldn’t feel difficult. We wouldn’t be banging our heads in frustration as we tried to solve problems because if this was actually our passion it would be effortless.

The reality is when you enjoy your job when you’re passionate about your work, and you love what you do, you’ll work harder than you ever have in your life. You’ll throw a project in the trash because you’ve tried absolutely everything, then come back and pull it out because you’ve thought of one more way you might be able to make it work. You’ll go the extra mile to organize your workflow, clean up the cable runs, double double-check everything because you’re proud of what you’re working on.

There’s an energy around a show when people are excited to be there. Where everyone wants to be a little more ambitious because they know that the whole can be so much better than the sum of its parts.

I was incredibly lucky that The Outsiders was one of those projects. From the first day, you could tell that everyone was ready to make some magic with this show. That drive and dedication to say “I have an idea” or try a hundred different solutions to scenes that “weren’t quite right” until we found the one that fit (or realized we’d had the best one along) made our show something special. It’s likely one of the reasons we won Best Musical, even with amazing contenders where so many people thought that Hell’s Kitchen had it locked, Illinoise would break the mold, Suffs would have its rallying cry or Water for Elephants would wow with its incredible acrobatics. Our passion shone through every corner of the production and people have responded to that in amazing ways, which is really what you hope for. The nominations and the awards are incredible recognition, but nothing makes the long hours and the stresses of tech worth it like hearing an entire audience gasp or seeing people leap to their feet night after night, knowing we got it right.

The jobs like that where you can point to something tangible and say “This is amazing, this is why I’m here” make it easy to justify why we chose this career, but what happens when you’re not there because you love the show?  Not all pieces are “art.” Sometimes you just have to pay the bills.

When that’s the case, look to the intangibles that will help you in the future. Does this job give you more experience, better connections, or open up other opportunities? If the answer is no, it may be time to look for something else. If it’s yes, remind yourself of that when you feel exhausted and frustrated. You can’t see it now, you can’t hold onto it, but this temporary moment becomes an essential building block for a stronger foundation down the road.

Dirty Dancing was one of those shows for me. I was there to learn how to be an A1 because I wanted the Les Mis tour going out the next year. Dirty Dancing is entertainment: you’re going to have a good time, but it’s not going to change your life. I worked with wonderful people who are lifelong friends, but I had no illusions that I was going to be artistically fulfilled on that tour.

What that show did do for me was pack a massive amount of learning into a very short time. I’d had the option to stay on Phantom, potentially move up when the A1 left, and then learn as we moved the show every 2 weeks. Instead, I encountered a lot of raised eyebrows as I took a smaller tour that moved multiple times a week. It was the harder, more labor-intensive option, but it was the right one. In one year I moved Dirty Dancing more times than I would have in three or four years on Phantom and got better that much faster at being an A1. Anytime I felt confused or ready to call it quits, I reminded myself that this was working towards a goal, this was a stepping stone and a temporary situation as I learned and improved.

When you don’t have a concrete goal in front of you (or forget that you do), you have a tendency to fall into the trap of self-doubt and wonder what all the hard work is actually for.

I’ve run into some new stagehands who’ve looked at me, already dejected when they’ve barely even started, and said “I don’t think I can do this.” To those people, I tell them to give it time and we’ll talk again in a few weeks. To give themselves the space to learn how to do the job and how to ask questions. So far I’ve yet to have anyone come back to me and still feel like they’re floundering.

This has also come up in troubleshooting. Now, I’ve reached a point where I can troubleshoot most problems over the phone without having to look at the gear. When I remotely pinpoint the problem I usually get a frustrated sigh of, “How do you know that?!” I try to remind them that I have over ten years of experience. Ten. Years. Over a decade of yelling and grumbling at gear while I searched through menus or looked up user manuals. I’ve learned the most likely fails and the best questions to ask to narrow down the possibilities, but that took time. A lot of it.

Those who aren’t plagued with self-doubt tend to veer in the opposite direction and just want to skip to the “easy” part. They want to go on tour, but not one-nighters. They want to be a designer, not an assistant. They want to work on Broadway, not the smaller Off and Off-Off Broadway shows. These are the people who forget that cheat codes are best left in video games. The jobs that get your foot in the door will prepare you one hundred times better for that future dream job than getting dropped in the middle of that amazing gig with little experience and no network to act as a safety net.

Shows don’t get easier, they just get bigger. Bigger budgets, higher stakes, less margin for error. Yes, on The Outsiders I don’t have to move from theatre to theatre, so the physical labor is less, but the shows where there hasn’t been a producer, director, choreographer, composer, or other creative in the house are few and far between. There is a microscope constantly on this show and it never lets up.

Even now, some people hear that I moved to the city last year and think it’s a Cinderella story that I already have my own Broadway show. I remind them of the time I spent on tour. Ten years that gave me the skills to stay calm under pressure, to develop systems that make me efficient, and a habit of responsibility so my designers and creatives know that I will take good care of my show. I wouldn’t be able to handle this show if I hadn’t had all the practice over the years on smaller ones.

The jobs that seem overly difficult or thankless are usually the ones that do the best job of preparing you for your future. The days that you question if you can do this are the days you start figuring it out. It’s not always easy or fun, but it’s necessary. Dream jobs require a lot of work not only to get to them, but to be in them, and that’s what makes them worth the journey. Let’s be honest, most of us who end up in this industry would be terribly bored without a good challenge anyway.

Aligning Professional Paths With Our Values

Working in an unpredictable industry and an unstable economy can sometimes mean that we say “yes” to every job and gig that comes along, without much further introspection. When rent is due, the bills keep coming in, and taxes are relentless, it can be challenging to objectively look at the path we are on and honestly reflect upon whether we’ve lost our way.

I recently saw a quote with an analogy about understanding your worth, which said:

“A bottle of water is 50 cents at a supermarket. $2 at the gym. $3 at the movies and $6 on a plane. It’s the same bottle of water. The only thing that changed its value was the place. So, the next time you feel your worth is low, maybe you’re just at the wrong place”.

This brought up memories from many years ago; I had been reading a job advert, and as I made my way through the specifications and company values, I was surprised to see a long list of attributes that I considered to be my negative quirks and flaws. These traits were making my life increasingly difficult and hostile in the role I was in at the time, and I had started to view myself in a distorted way as a result. It was a real wake-up call that I’d become stuck in a harmful rut with my work and wasn’t where I wanted to be. Although it was difficult to acknowledge, it was a brutal reminder to go where you are celebrated, not tolerated.

The Impact of Environment

A 1984 study by Roger Ulrich discovered that hospital patients recovering in rooms with a view of nature recovered considerably better, and had a much higher survival rate than patients with a view of a brick wall. Subsequent research has found that creating safe conditions that include being within easy reach of the nurses physically and having access to a call button, having privacy and peace, as well as the view of nature, impacted recovery even more positively. Although this might seem obvious and intuitive if we apply these criteria to our working environments, these ideals can seem like a luxury when we are juggling multiple roles to get by, are seeing through the end of a contract, or are struggling to line up the next gig.

Workplace toxicity impacts both physical and mental health, and it’s well-documented by medical professionals. In the Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD explains that “Chronic stress can lead to depression, heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses.” So, perhaps we should consider the environments in which we work and reside far more carefully, and view them as less of a luxury and more of a necessity.

Murthy’s framework outlines five essentials people require in the workplace, which are grounded in human needs, and are universal across industries and roles. While a toxic culture is defined by disrespect, non-inclusivity, unethical practices, cutthroat competition, and abuse, the inverse is outlined in the five essentials for workplace mental health and well-being.

Moving On 

Hatching an escape plan can take time when factoring in the nuances of our circumstances, such as how much or how little help we have in our network, and ways in which we might need to realign and heal from the impact of the toxicity. When appreciating the idiosyncrasies of a niche, tight-knit industry or of freelance work, there is often no one person or organisation available for support and advice. Lauren Florko Pd.D. recommends in Psychology Today that finding solace beyond the professional environment is a crucial first step. Florko writes:

“In extreme cases, where a toxic work environment persists, and internal resources are scarce, seek support outside of work. This can be found through career coaches, therapists, health practitioners, and/or spiritual or religious leaders. Creating a robust support system beyond the office can provide the necessary resilience to endure and, if needed, make a strategic exit.”

Acquiring the tools to move on successfully requires not only a fresh start in the external world but also inner work to find cognitive closure. Harvard Business Review recommends therapeutic exercises for processing the experience, implementing self-care in the form of forgiving your past self, and using the knowledge you now have to propel you forward:

“Self-compassion goes a long way to rebuild your confidence, as does taking your power back through constructive action that strengthens your sense of self. Put what you learned from your last role to good use by clearly communicating your boundaries and expectations.”

Aligning with Culture and Values

When we’re looking for our next client or role, aligning with culture and values is key to meeting our five essential needs as outlined by Murthy, but what does this mean, and what does it look like in reality?

Understanding your core values is integral to making the best choices in all areas of life. When we live in alignment with our values, we feel happy, and when we live out of alignment, this is when we struggle, because inwardly we know that something is wrong.

While we all hold many values, our core values are our most highly prioritised, top 5. It can be useful to go through a list and narrow down which are important to you.

 

When we have our core values, it then helps to look at how we can live by these values through our actions, and identify where we might be out of alignment, both personally and professionally. What do these values mean to you by your definition, on a micro and macro level, and are they specific instances, or more of an experiential sensation?

By following this process, we can become aware of where and what we would like to change in our lives and seek out those values in both our behaviours and in the actions of others. Being mindful of our core values when researching and meeting new clients, collaborators, and companies from the outset is useful for keeping us on the path we wish to follow.

Our core values may naturally move and change over time, however, if we keep them in mind as we go through life, it is much easier to notice when things are out of alignment sooner rather than later and adjust accordingly.

The Art of Trying

As of June 11th, I will have been officially in my “post-grad era” for ten months. Ten months consisting of moving home (and then back to Nashville, where I went to college), nearly 700 job applications (just on LinkedIn), four internships (only one paid), three part-time jobs, 20+ sound credits on international TV shows (streaming on Disney+, Cartoon Network, and Netflix), and ultimately, one girl behind it all who is just… trying to make it work.

Hint: that girl would be me.

If there’s something I’ve learned during this almost full year of figuring life out, it’s that 1) despite having six seasons, there just aren’t enough episodes of Sex and The City, and 2) there is most definitely an art to “trying to make it work.” I am currently making my way through Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, and though the topic is touched on throughout the book, Week 8 specifically emphasizes reclaiming your time, energy, and strength as an artist by simply trying things out for the sake of doing them. It’s easy to come up with excuses as to why we can’t or shouldn’t pursue our desires: too young, too old, too out of shape, too busy, too broke, too scared. However, Cameron stresses that as creative beings, none are the real reasons. Like Carrie Bradshaw, I couldn’t help but wonder: have we lost our ability to try for trying’s sake?

Let me elaborate. I believe our inability to follow our dreams might lie in the fact that we are too attached to the comfortable, familiar anxiety of thinking about the thing rather than doing the thing and being faced with the truth of a real outcome.

In other words, we’d rather not try and not know than try and fail.

This belief resonated with me as a young woman pursuing a career in the entertainment industry, specifically in audio. As I’ve navigated the last 10 months, it’s been so easy to blame my lack of progress on several things. I’m too young and inexperienced. I should be grateful just to be given a chance at anything, so I need to avoid speaking my mind or taking up space just to keep the opportunity. I’m too busy juggling multiple jobs. I’m too focused on trying to keep myself afloat. But if I’m honest with myself, the real reason is that oftentimes, I don’t think that I’m good enough.

The beautiful thing about being this young and inexperienced is that right now, I have nothing to lose. When you’re at the bottom, the only way to go is up. And if I take a second to evaluate where I’m at, things are quite wonderful. I’ve had some great professional opportunities, and though they haven’t yet landed me the full-time gig I’ve been hoping for, I’ve learned a lot about myself and the industry I’m pursuing. I’ve been able to spend more time at home in Texas with my family, which at this point in life, you don’t often get to say. I’ve also been able to live with my friends and chosen family now that I am back in Tennessee. I have freedom with my schedule and can take on smaller opportunities that arise, like flexible sound design gigs or working on friends’ films and projects. What I thought were gaps in my “grand plan” are looking more like stained glass than a shattered mirror, and in the cracks, I’m finding time to dedicate to trying. As I said, there’s a real art to it, and slowly but surely, I feel like I’m picking up the skill.

Whether you’ve been in the industry for years or, like me, are just starting out, I encourage you to take the time to evaluate both your past and present. I’m almost positive that if given the opportunity, you’ll be able to provide a much fuller list of accomplishments, big and small. And the great news? If you’re not where you want to be, if you aren’t feeling fulfilled, if you find yourself off track from your goals, you can always try again. And I don’t just mean in your career.

Pick up the brushes and start a watercolor painting.

Grab a pen and paper and jot down a few pages for that memoir you’ve been wanting to write.

Sit down and find an old clip from a movie you love and redesign the SFX.

Have a favorite artist who releases the raw stems for their songs? Set aside an hour or two to remix them.

You don’t need a perfect, finished product.

Stop thinking about what could happen.

Try.

And just like that, the process goes from daunting to invigorating.

Like any kind of art, to get better at “trying” requires practice. And the truth of the matter is you won’t ever really be good at trying, just better at accepting the outcome. If I recall, it was also Carrie Bradshaw who noted that “life gives you lots of chances to screw up, which means you have just as many chances to get it right.”

But hey, you’ll never know until you try.

Photo courtesy of HBO MAX

SoundGirls L-Acoustics Grants 2024

SoundGirls L-Acoustics Grants

L-Acoustics is offering 4 grants for courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program. The Education Team has structured the grants to relate to certain job profiles to help the recipient advance their knowledge and skills in their respective fields:

These grants focus on offering access to in-person training via our packaged seminars. For in-person attendance of courses, hotel accommodations are included with the grant. Grant recipients are responsible for any additional travel expenses. If the recipient is unable to attend an in-person training, the recipient will be offered online training options instead. 

Prospective candidates must be members of SoundGirls and have until September 1, 2024, to submit their application. Winners will receive notification of their award by September 30, 2024, and an announcement will be made via the website and social media. Candidates can only apply for one choice of grant.

The recipient can choose to attend the courses at any time within the 1-year time frame starting from the time of being informed of their award.

System Technician Grant

This grant consists of enrollment to the following courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program:

This grant aims to empower the trainee to learn how to mount, rig, cable, and connect a L-Acoustics system.

It also aims to give the learner knowledge of:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1 year of access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

Apply Here

System Engineer Grant

The recipient requires prior completion or concurrent enrollment to System & Workflow, or previous completion of System Fundamentals. This grant consists of enrollment to the following courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program:

This grant aims to empower the trainee to learn how to design and calibrate a L-Acoustics system. It also aims to deepen the learner’s understanding of:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1 year of access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

Apply Here

L-ISA Grant

The recipient requires prior completion or concurrent enrollment to System & Workflow, or previous completion of System Fundamentals. This grant invites the recipient to attend all the L-ISA-focused courses from L-Acoustics Education:

This grant empowers the trainee to design, implement, and calibrate a L-Acoustics L-ISA system. This grant also empowers the trainee to prepare, encode, and control objects in a L-ISA mix as well as create a mix in L-ISA when walking up to a L-ISA system with or without preproduction. It also aims to deepen the student’s understanding of:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1 year of access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

Apply Here

System Expert Grant

This grant consists of enrollment to the following courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program:

This grant aims to empower the trainee to advance their understanding in system optimization as well as learning about:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1 year of access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

Apply Here

Finding Your First Post-Grad Job in Audio

Landing your first post-grad job in the audio industry can feel overwhelming. Despite the plethora of advice from seasoned professionals, recruiters, and company websites, the nuances of the audio industry remain somewhat elusive. This landscape is evolving, shaped by the enduring effects of a global pandemic, the integration of AI into creative domains, and most recently, the impact of the Hollywood strikes. Whether you’re an Audio Engineering graduate, a freelance enthusiast, or just starting your audio journey and feeling daunted, I’ve decided to use my first blog here with SoundGirls to offer advice from my own experiences to help you step confidently into the professional audio world.

Before we get started, allow me to introduce myself: I’m Grace Usleman, a recent graduate of Belmont University with a degree in Audio Engineering as well as double minors in Voice Performance and Music Business. My passion lies in Foley Art, ADR, and all facets of post-production sound. The following advice stems from my personal journey as a young woman navigating the professional audio-sphere. While my immediate goal is securing a full-time post-production position, I trust these insights can assist you in your journey as an audio professional no matter where you’re starting from.

In the realm of professional audio, the job search doesn’t always fit the conventional mold. You won’t often find quick movie gigs or live tour positions listed on platforms like LinkedIn. Yet, exceptions exist—my most recent internship at a post-production studio was found through Handshake. While browsing these sites is beneficial, relying solely on them for your dream job might fall short. Therefore, my first piece of advice: Networking is key. Craft a portfolio website showcasing your work and consider carrying business cards for chance encounters with individuals who might align with your aspirations—be it running live sound for a local venue or working as an ADR recordist, you never know who is just around the corner!

Networking might seem daunting, but when done well, it’s about building meaningful connections, learning from mentors, and refining your professional skills. Personally, networking has placed me in rooms with intelligent, empathetic individuals eager to share their experiences while simultaneously valuing mine.

Effective networking hinges on etiquette. Respect others’ time and effort, whether at a job fair or over a coffee meeting. Likewise, acknowledge your own commitment and enthusiasm, too. Gratitude goes a long way—express your thanks promptly and graciously. And don’t hesitate to follow up! A polite message reaffirms your interest and often reignites connections that might have been overlooked or, frankly, forgotten.

Avoid the temptation to apply to every available job. I fell into this trap immediately post-graduation, tirelessly crafting custom cover letters for positions I wasn’t truly passionate about. It drained my energy and didn’t yield any productive outcomes. Instead, I recommend writing personalized messages to professionals in your field of interest, which can be far more rewarding both practically and emotionally.

Tailor your resume for each application. Take time to understand the company, its projects, and its employees. Who knows, maybe you share a  mutual connection that you might use to launch an introduction! Your diverse experiences—school projects, personal work, summer jobs—contribute to a skill set desired in the audio industry, and can be tailored to each new set of job qualifications and requirements. When I first started applying to internships and short-term positions in college, I was nervous that my lack of experience would be seen as undesirable. However, being fresh and ready to learn made me a sponge for knowledge, and gave you the opportunity to express open-mindedness and interest in exploring many facets of a position, company, studio, etc: flexibility is a needed asset, especially in professional audio. Chances are, you probably have more experience than you think.

These pointers are intended to ease any worries as you embark on your professional journey in the audiosphere—whether a recent graduate, transitioning from another industry, or carving your path as a freelancer. It’s easy to lose sight of your worth and feel discouraged, but your skills are invaluable in this industry, and your efforts won’t go unnoticed.

Thank you for reading. You can find more insights on audio to come on my blog here at SoungGirls.org. Wishing you the best in networking, building your portfolio, and pursuing your dreams in audio!

SoundGirls L-Acoustics Grants Awarded

SoundGirls L-Acoustics Grants

Congratulations to the 2023 SoundGirls that have been awarded L-Acoucstic Grants. We wish you all the best and thank L-Acoustics for providing these grants.

System Technician Grant

Sage Tichenor

System Engineer Grant

Katlyn Manktelow

L-ISA Grant

Victoria Hofflin

System Expert Grant

Sonia Andrea del Carmen Gutiérrez TREJO

SoundGirls L-Acoustics Grants

SoundGirls L-Acoustics Grants

 

L-Acoustics is offering 4 grants for courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program. The Education Team has structured the grants to relate to certain job profiles to help the recipient advance their knowledge and skills in their respective fields:

These grants focus on offering access to in-person training via our packaged seminars. For in-person attendance of courses, hotel accommodations are included with the grant. Grant recipients are responsible for any additional travel expenses. If the recipient is unable to attend an in-person training within 4 months before the grant expiration date or the recipient demonstrates a financial hardship with attending an in-person training, the recipient will be offered online training options instead. 

Prospective candidates must be members of SoundGirls and have until September 1, 2023, to submit their application. Winners will be announced on the website and social media by September 30, 2023. Candidates can only apply for one choice of grant.

The recipient can choose to attend the courses at any time within the 1-year time frame starting from the time of being informed of their award.

System Technician Grant

This grant consists of enrollment in the following courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program:

System & Workflow 

Establish your role in the L-Acoustics ecosystem and align your practice with the latest tools and state-of-the-art workflow

K System of choice (K1, K2, K3, Kara II, or Kiva II) or L2 Training

Recognize the standard configurations of the benchmark Kx or L2 system and gain hands-on experience rigging and listening to them.

L-Acoustics System Implementation

Advance your skills in implementing a safe and functional L-Acoustics system and prepare it for calibration.

This grant aims to empower the trainee to learn how to mount, rig, cable, and connect an L-Acoustics system.

It also aims to give the learner knowledge of:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1-year access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

APPLY HERE

System Engineer Grant

The recipient requires prior completion or concurrent enrollment to System & Workflow, or previous completion of System Fundamentals. This grant consists of enrollment in the following courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program:

Soundvision

Learn the most advanced software functionalities for 3D venue modeling, system simulation, and line source optimization.

Drive System

Master the configuration, control, and monitoring of an L-Acoustics system from the source output to the loudspeaker inputs.

M1-P1 Measurement & Tuning

Learn how to record measurements with the P1 processor and how to perform a loudspeaker system tuning with the M1 software.

This grant aims to empower the trainee to learn how to design and calibrate an L-Acoustics system. It also aims to deepen the learner’s understanding of:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1-year access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

APPLY HERE

L-ISA Grant

The recipient requires prior completion or concurrent enrollment to System & Workflow, or previous completion of System Fundamentals. This grant invites the recipient to attend all the L-ISA-focused courses from L-Acoustics Education:

L-ISA Technology

Start your immersive journey with an overview of the L-ISA Technology from loudspeaker system design, object-based mixing, immersive audio algorithms to project workflow.

L-ISA Loudspeaker System

Master key system engineering steps in planning and deploying L-ISA systems: loudspeaker system design, implementation, and calibration. The grant allows access to online or onsite training for this course.

L-ISA Live Mixing

Create an immersive live mix, directly from your desk input channels or from an original left-right mix.

L-ISA Preproduction

Learn and experience the preproduction process of an L-ISA live event from the studio to the venue, anticipating the constraints of the large scale.

This grant empowers the trainee to design, implement, and calibrate an L-Acoustics L-ISA system. This grant also empowers the trainee to prepare, encode, and control objects in an L-ISA mix as well as create a mix in L-ISA when walking up to an L-ISA system with or without preproduction. It also aims to deepen the student’s understanding of:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1-year access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

APPLY HERE

System Expert Grant

This grant consists of enrollment in the following courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program:

Variable Curvature Line Source

Perfect your understanding of line source behavior to optimize your mechanical design and use of electronic settings. 

Loudspeaker System Calibration

Develop a comprehensive approach to calibration in the entire workflow of a project.

This grant aims to empower the trainee to advance their understanding of system optimization as well as to learn about:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1-year access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

APPLY HERE

Creating Your Mission Statement as a Creative Entrepreneur

As a creative person, it can be a pretty big shift to think like a business owner. Entrepreneurial instincts aren’t exactly natural for all of us, just as musicality isn’t as natural for some as others. As I’ve worked with artists, songwriters, musicians and creatives of all kinds, I’ve found that creating a “mission statement” of sorts can get the ball rolling into a disciplined music business that is an authentic reflection of who you are.

“Authentic” is a word that’s a bit overused these days, however finding and embracing your authentic self as a creative entrepreneur in today’s world is perhaps the most important part of your journey to finding success. As an artist, it is what will draw fans to you and keep them there. As a music producer or audio engineer, authenticity builds trust and loyalty with your clients. As a songwriter, telling stories from a place of authenticity will keep your music fresh and relatable.

In the “authentic only” environment we have today, posers or fakers are relentlessly called out, and then inevitably, virtually crucified. That being said, the driving force behind finding your authenticity shouldn’t be fear, but a desire to find your place in this musical landscape and to find the people who feel they belong there with you; to create your own world and invite your “people” to join you. This is the very foundation of being a successful creative today.

Yes, there is still room for showmanship and even gimmicks, as long as it’s an extension of who you really are. I just had an interesting conversation with an artist about this. I was convinced he was making a choice with his branding that was confusing and off-putting. By the end of our conversation, I “got it”. I could clearly see that what wouldn’t work for most artists was perfect for him, as it reflected his rebellious spirit and a virtual finger to the establishment. He sold me on it because his feet were so solidly planted in his “authentic” self that I could see without a doubt that he wasn’t simply being stubborn, but was completely confident in who he is and has a clear vision of how he wanted people to experience his brand.

Finding who we are can be a process of digging, questioning, discovering, and peeling back layers. It should always start with these four questions:

Take about 20 or 30 minutes to sit with these questions without distraction. Brain dump your answers with no filter on a piece of paper or note app.

Now, shape the answers to these questions into your official mission statement. Your mission statement should only be a paragraph long, not a full-page essay. If writing isn’t your skill set, ask for some help. Also bear in mind that it doesn’t have to be perfectly written, only that we the reader should have no questions about who you are, what you stand for, and what your “mission” with your music is.

Going forward, every move you make (on social media, in your fan newsletter, in your youtube engagement, or wherever) as a creative should align with your mission statement. If you contradict yourself one too many times, your fans will detect this lack of authenticity and lose interest. They may even question why they liked you in the first place. This should make it easy for you! You never have to worry about what someone else is doing or what the current trends are. Just Be YOU!

 

What You Want To Say In Your Resignation

 

Everyone has worked with a venue, or a crew, or even just one person where it would be so satisfying to colorfully tell them to shove it and then walk out the door for the last time. As satisfactory as that would be, realistically the majority of us in this industry will put up with a lot before we make that move. Everything from insane overtime hours to being overwhelmingly underpaid. Here’s the thing that no one is going to say, or at least not out loud:

It’s perfectly okay to want to tell someone to shove it.

Plenty of people, though everyone puts up with a lot, want to tell someone at some point to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. But how do we avoid screaming that in their face during a load out at three in the morning when there are still two more trucks to be loaded and five more cities on the tour lineup? That is just one of the difficult parts of this job and too uncommonly not talked about. Many people outside of this industry wonder why so many of us inside of it doesn’t even mention quitting around our coworkers. This is mainly because, like so many other workplaces, the moment you mention something of that nature you become a target. You are the new target of rumors, and tour managers become curious if they’ll have to find a replacement, festivals wonder if you’re going to walk out in the middle of a show, and production coordinators examine every little thing you do from that point onward. Some places go as far as to fire you before you have the chance to quit so they can control the narrative of what happened. These are just a few of the many reasons why this subject is so rarely talked about. So we’re going to talk about it now.

Though there are some out there who might read these next assorted paragraphs and think, “No way that actually happened.” I can assure you all of these scenarios actually happened to me.

“I QUIT!”

 

We all have our breaking points, every last one of us. For some, it takes a long time after mastering the art of a fake smile and a courteous nod while sleep deprived. While others, take only one long weekend and a few inconveniences. Wherever on the scale you are, just try to remember that you made it this far.

The majority of the time when working live events if you are freelancing, or touring on contract, you don’t always need to turn in a resignation. It is commonly presumed that you are leaving at the end of the show/festival/contract/etc. These are some of the best times, mostly because immediately after the contract/festival/show is completed the crew party follows directly after. Your troubles fall away as each new drink is ordered and PM turns to AM.

 

 

But when you are in need of telling someone who pushes paperwork more often than you push road cases, how do you professionally explain to them that you are sick of seeing everyone every hour of every day of the week for ten months out of the year?

If you work somewhere regularly and at least get along with most of the people there, you don’t want to potentially strain that professional relationship. So sticking both middle fingers in the air as you are walking out for the day probably isn’t the best idea no matter how tempting it sometimes is. Or if you’re the regular venue staff and want to tell your boss that you’d rather be living from a truck on the road than deal with them for another day.

Everyone has three resignations: the one they know they aren’t going to send, the one they think they might send, and the one they actually end up sending. The one I ended up sending to one of my previous employers may surprise you…

You Aren’t Going To Send That

It’s another very late night, everyone is in need of some sleep, the guys have been giving you a hard time all day, and there were a few screw-ups in the show… We have all had that day and we’ve all wanted to tell everyone after that day that when we left we were not coming back. So instead of listening to the voice of reason in the back of your head, you start thinking of your ultimate way to rage quit.

Maybe you just leave in the middle of the show with a wicked grin across your face and force the rest of the crew to figure it out on their own. Maybe on the travel day, you switch flights to go to Greece instead of the next city in the lineup and call your boss from the plane while planning in your head which scene from “Mamma Mia!” you’ll reenact first. Maybe you get the god mic out and give everyone that piece of your mind that you have locked away just for special occasions like this one and rip everyone a new one.

 

Whatever your ultimate rage quit scenario is, it’s good to type it out. This first resignation letter/fantasy you sort of want to play out is one that you know you aren’t going to end up sending. That is the one that is just for you. It is such a good feeling knowing no one besides yourself will ever see it. You can be as creative and harsh as you want. You can call everyone out for every little thing that has gotten on your nerves, even if at the time it wasn’t a big deal. You can make it an even bigger deal in this rage-quit daydream. So go ahead and use every part of your imagination. You can use every curse word in the book, and even come up with some new ones while you’re at it.

When I was typing out my fantasy resignation letter, it literally started with “Please consider this my most informal notice of resignation from this shithole of a venue called _____ and everything to do with it henceforth. This includes but is certainly not limited to:” and then I proceeded to type out everything that I despised about the place. I misspelled things, I vented about the faulty equipment that everyone had been begging the higher-ups to replace for years, and I raged on for 2 pages about the constant sexism in the workplace. I got it all out of my system and laid it bare on a once-blank page.

This first resignation letter isn’t supposed to be sent to anyone. Not even your coworkers who you think might find it funny because let’s face it, they might find it funnier to send it to your boss for you. This first resignation letter is to get all of your frustration about the work, and all the bullshit that comes with it, out of your system so you can have a clear head about what you actually want to say when it comes time to press the big SEND button. You don’t want to make you quitting about one thing, like your boss having the expectation to constantly reach you at all hours of the day and night with no assistance to your phone bill, when it’s really something entirely different, like getting a better job opportunity. This is more therapeutic than anything, but our keyboards and laptops have heard worse coming from us when ProTools crashes.

Professional tip: remember to delete that one.

You Might Actually Go Through With It

Your phone rings, it’s your boss. You just left a shift and have been in your car not even ten minutes on your way to a nice hot shower. He tells you to be on standby because one of the guys on the crew wanted to go home early so you might have to come in and finish the loadout that’s scheduled to go until six the next morning after just getting off a 13-hour day and you’re already scheduled to work another 15 hour day tomorrow starting at eight in the morning. Now you might have to work it on no sleep. He calls you again almost two hours later with the good news that you don’t have to finish the loadout. So you celebrate by popping open your email and a half-empty bottle of something. After your first swig straight from the bottle, because who needs to bother with a cup at this point, the anger boils in your stomach and starts coming through your fingertips as you type faster with each sip. After finishing off the bottle that voice in your head gets louder, “You can send that one, it’s good enough.”

As women, we are held to an often unspoken standard in this industry. We don’t get away with throwing documents around because we forgot to save the show file or making lewd comments at our male coworkers because they dressed sharply for the company dinner instead of work blacks. This unspoken standard is carried through even to our resignations. It’s looked down upon us if we send a quick half-bottle-of-something-in-us text late at night saying we’re not coming in tomorrow or finishing several weeks of 18+ hour days and being mentally and physically drained so we type a one-sentence email. There is always going to be a better way to phrase something, or a nicer way, or whatever and you’re going to be expected to always do them. But there are times that you’re just done. Unfortunately, most of the time, you can’t show that through your written words.

 

This letter that you typed with two hands on your keyboard while somehow managing to have a hand on your chosen bottle-of-something, the one you think you might send, that one is more complicated than it initially lets on. More often than not, when you are leaving a place, there are reasons and issues that need to come to light as to why you are leaving. Sometimes it’s several smaller issues that add up over time, like not having a fan while working an outdoor gig when it’s over 100 degrees F outside. While other times it’s big issues that could have been avoided from the beginning, like never receiving a schedule more than twenty-four hours in advance. But do you put these in your letter, or do you let them slide and be more courteous?

This notice requires sleep and seeing how you still feel about it at a later time. When I was typing out my “maybe” notice, I brought up real issues that needed to be addressed. I tried not to place the blame directly on anyone but I did name a few people who had the power to change things and who were outright choosing not to.

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for some companies to withhold a last paycheck if you “complain” in your notice to leave. Should a company choose this action, you always have options. If you’re part of a union, you have someone in your corner 100% until you are paid. You can also get a lawyer involved if you feel this might be dragged out, and include that the company will have to pay for the fees.

You Did It!

This is it. This is the final one that conveys your breaking point loud and clear yet also portrays that you’ve kept your head squarely on your shoulders through the thick and thin of everything. At least most of the time.

 

When I typed my “final” resignation it wasn’t nearly as long as the first. In all truthfulness, it was only about a paragraph. I started it with kind words explaining that I had decided to take a better opportunity elsewhere that was going to further my career in ways I didn’t believe possible in the position I was in at the time at the company. I made it clear that I enjoyed my time there and I thanked them for everything they had taught me up to that point. As I prefer to do, I listed a few reasons why I was leaving that I thought needed to be addressed whether I was there to witness it or not as well as gave a small list of things I would have stayed for. I always do this in case the employer wants to give me a better offer than what I am leaving for so they know exactly the standard I’m set towards to keep me around. Some places give you these things, and some don’t. Try to see either option as good because you can either leave for something more desirable than what you had, or you can stay for a preferred proposal from somewhere you are already familiar with.

If they decide to agree to what you are asking for to keep you, then you need to remember something:

You actively sought out a better opportunity for a reason, and just because they are willing to offer you what you ask for doesn’t mean you are obliged to take it.

This resignation, the one you are finally set on and the one you decide to hit the SEND button on, should be the most professionally worded of them all. Typically you would want to keep it short, and to the point. Maybe your final letter doesn’t have to be a full paragraph. Maybe yours needs to be longer though. Perhaps you have found a better venue/company/crew/pay/etc. or just cannot pass up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Whatever the reason is that you are leaving, where you currently are should be made aware of it.

On your last day, wherever it ends up being, be sure to flip them off once you are in the safety of your car where there are no cameras.

Which Did I SEND

Alright, as promised this may surprise some of you while others are not as much. While justifiably I had good reasons to send my rage quit letter, I didn’t think it got the clear point across. Yes, there was obvious sexism in that work environment but ranting on about it for two pages was a bit much for a resignation letter. I gave it a long thought to send my “maybe” letter and eventually put some of it in the final email as there were things I believed needed to be addressed and known. In the end, I actually sent two resignation letters.

Here they are for you.

One of the letters that I sent was of course to my at-the-time boss and the HR department. At the time of sending that letter, I was working in a venue that had an HR department that everyone was supposed to be able to contact directly. I have copied it for you (in case you need an outline for yours) and have taken obvious names out.

Here’s the first:

Unfortunately, I believe this company may not be the best fit for me. The company in itself has many opportunities for a person to grow in their skills and career. However, those opportunities have not been given to me in the appropriate circumstances and are now risking my personal safety. After six months of being employed, I still do not have access to vital information such as my work email, laptop, advancement paperwork, etc. This is not due to my lack of trying to obtain these things. When I have asked for necessary information about shows, it is often not given until the time of load in or even after. A schedule is too often not sent to anyone until late the night before, too commonly after working 12+ hour days, then criticised when we do not immediately answer these late-night texts. Due to all of these reasons listed above, and more, I truly regret to tender my resignation and notice. I have enjoyed working here and with everyone on my team, but I do not foresee these issues being resolved as there has been little to no change in them during my time here already. My last official day with the company will be the end of this week so I may continue to work elsewhere for a better opportunity. I wish the best for every one and thank you for this opportunity that I’ve had while here.

The Second

The other letter that I sent was actually addressed to everyone on the production team as I felt they deserved a more in-depth understanding as to why I was leaving so quickly. These were people that I had worked alongside every day, and though some of the work conditions we were put through were horrible, these were people that went through it all with me together as a team. I thanked them for trying to make me feel part of the team from the start, as not everyone from the venue and in valuable positions made such efforts. I explained the reasons why I was leaving so soon and said that I hoped they understood. Some of the team were aware of the constant sexism and things I had been put through as the only female on the team. Others were either unaware or turned a blind eye, which didn’t help matters in the long run. Most of the production team came to find me on my last day and congratulated me on the new opportunity.

Leaving a team you are familiar with and have grown accustomed to can be difficult. This is a group that you have put effort into and trust and countless long hours. It is not uncommon to eventually see people you know later in your career in one aspect or another. Sometimes you return to a venue you once worked at while on tour, or sometimes you’re in a brand new city to find someone you once worked with who has recently moved there. The industry is ever-changing, including which people are in what positions.

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