Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!
It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org
SoundGirls is honored to be part of EIPMA.
SoundGirls wants to thank April Tucker and Jett Galindo (our EIPMA representatives) for all their hard work getting EIPMA off the ground!.
EIPMA is a national organization of experienced, working professionals offering career guidance for individuals seeking craft and technical careers in the entertainment industry. EIPMA is a collaboration between multiple entertainment industry organizations including: American Cinema Editors (ACE), Audio Engineering Society (Los Angeles Section) (AES), Avid, Cinema Audio Society (CAS), Hollywood Professional Association (HPA), Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE), Recording Academy, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers® (SMPTE),SoundGirls, Visual Effects Society (VES)
EIPMA’s opening event for teachers will be in May 2019 (in Los Angeles) with school events starting Fall 2019.
When deciding to create my student radio show, I knew it would be different from the majority of others. I wanted to do a one-hour evening show, with a range of music genres and for it to be presented in a mixture of English, French, and Spanish. Thus, Sobremesa was born.
The technique I used to plan my show was introduced to me by Chris Sawyer (BBC Radio 1 producer) at the Student Radio Association conference (SRACon) in 2015. Chris explained that using a pie chart image to prepare a radio show is a simple and effective technique. It splits the show into separate timings and allows you to appropriately plan an adequate number of songs and features. You can divide the pie chart into as many different sections as necessary.
For example, a standard one-hour show would consist of the news being played on the hour, followed by an ident specific to my show. I would then play an energetic, well-known song to lift listeners’ moods. I would introduce myself and the topics to be covered and some of the artists to be played, followed by some international music. Various idents and promos would be played throughout the show, advertising the station and other programs. I had many features, including one called ‘Concertation’ in which I would discuss in French a live concert I had seen and rate it out of 10. The chats and features were organised into segments of 20 minutes in English, 20 minutes in French and 20 minutes in Spanish. This was adapted depending on guests and my general confidence for a specific language on the day! There would be a handover and a news bulletin at the end of the show.
I would plan the playlist the day before my live show. Checking lyrics for profanity and offensive language, especially in languages other than English was key. Song length variations also had to be meticulously noted to be able to have enough time for a hand-over at the end of the show. Often when switching between languages and genres of music, seamless transitions can seem impossible. It is also challenging to contribute to the consistency of a radio station when the shows are so different. However, I think this adds diversity and interest when there are many shows with different themes. For example, a Tuesday evening on XpressionFM went from a country music show to a language-based program, to the Tuesday Night Sports panel. This considerable variation certainly made for an exciting Tuesday evening on Exeter’s student radio.
I mixed up my languages many times on air, forgetting a word in one language, therefore trying to say it in another. I found that explaining my faults, laughing off errors and reiterating that I am not bilingual made the show welcoming, friendly and encouraged others to practice their language skills. I learnt how to change and adapt conversations based on the language level and experience of guests.
Planning ahead was incredibly important. You can’t make up content for a radio show on the spot, or you can, but it’s much harder! This format tested my language skills, and one of the reasons I chose to produce and present a multi-lingual show was to practice speaking French and Spanish in a more fun and exciting way. Lots of students at Exeter study languages, therefore it is appealing to listeners, and I love discovering new music in languages I both do and don’t speak
I tried to find new music each week, asking friends for recommendations, talking with international students, using YouTube and researching soundtracks from European TV shows. I also played music from Spotify playlists and new album releases. The genres ranged from old school classics to throwbacks, to feel-good music and I alternated between male and female artists. This was not a huge focus, but a general rule followed at the BBC is to alternate voices and sounds. If I ever found myself playing four boybands in a row…I knew I needed to change it up
SoundGirls Members have the chance to receive a 1000 euro scholarship provided to SoundGirls members from Mix With The Masters. There are two scholarships available for the week-long session with Leslie Braithwaite (Cardi B, Rick Ross, Pharrell Williams..)
This is a week-long seminar valued approximately at 4,000 euros and includes lectures and workshops, accommodation within the mansion, catering (breakfast, lunch, dinner) the fitness room, swimming pool and shuttles from Avignon to the studio.
You must have an advanced understanding of audio and work as producer/mixer/engineer to attend Mix with the Masters.
private bedroom, on site within the mansion for 6 nights
Full-board accommodation with meals prepared by gourmet chefs on-site
Return shuttle services from Avignon to Studios La Fabrique
Unlimited drinks and snacks throughout the week
Approximately 50 hours in the studio with the guest speaker
One-on-one time between you and the master to assess and work on your own material
Professional photography done throughout the week, including portrait shots of you with the Master
Hundreds of full-resolution photos shared with you afterwards via download link, to keep and use as you please
A certificate of completion issued on behalf of Mix With the Masters and Studios La Fabrique, signed by the Master if you wish
Exclusive MWTM merchandise given only to seminar attendees: embossed Moleskine notepads, pens, mugs, t-shirts, USB keys and stickers.
Use of the La Fabrique swimming pool, garden, fitness centre, and scenic walks
Nearby access to the enchanting town of St. Rémy de Provence
About LeslieBraithwaite
Leslie’s impressive list of GRAMMY awards include TLC’s Fanmail (Best Rap Album), Brandy and Monica’s single, “The Boy is Mine” (Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group), Outkast’s Stankonia (Best Rap Album), Pharrell Williams’ G I R L (Best Urban Contemporary Album) and “Happy” (Best Pop Solo Performance, 2015) . He’s still based in Atlanta today, where he continues to craft his signature sound and grow his admirable résumé.
Credits:
Pharrell Williams, Outkast, Björk, TLC, Jay Z, Madonna, Ludacris, Young Jeezy, Akon, T.I., Monica, Michael Jackson, Cher, Mary J. Blige, 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., GRAMMY Awards for Best R&B performance by Duo or Group – Brandy and Monica The Boy Is Mine (1999), Best R&B Album – TLC, FanMail (2000), Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group – TLC, No Scrubs (2000), Best Rap Album – OUTKAST, Stankonia (2002), Best Urban Contemporary Album – Pharrell Williams, GIRL (2015), Best Pop Solo Performance – Pharrell Williams, Happy (2015)
Program
The process of greatness fostering greatness has long been recognized and is the reason why master classes are organized. The Mix With The Master’s seminars is part of this tradition, offering an exchange of in-depth first-hand studio experience and knowledge that is unparalleled and not available anywhere else. Each seminar is conducted by one of the world’s top music mixers and producers, ready to share their professional secrets with a select group of a maximum of 14 carefully-screened, professional-level participants, who come from all over the world.
One factor that contributes to the enormous success of the seminars is that all tutors support the general MWTM ethos, which is about the love of music, music technology and wanting to help others. Participants also are in part selected on displaying similar, positive attitudes. The fact that the seminars last a full week is another major contributory factor because it offers tutors the time and space to go into real depth, and the participants the opportunity to spend a prolonged time watching a master at his peak, and to ask any question they can think of.
The tutors share exclusive, insider-information on any subject: detailed technical knowledge, how to run sessions, how to handle artists, how to manage a career, the right attitude, how to remain successful, and more. The tutors also assess the work of the participants, by listening to their mixes and mixing recording sessions that they bring, and providing extensive feedback to each participant on where they are at, and how they can get to where they want to be. This is invaluable and offers participants wanting to become world-class professionals in their own right a unique advantage.
Another primary factor in making the MWTM seminars exceptional is that they take place at La Fabrique, a large, comfortable, high-end recording studio located in a picturesque historic building, surrounded by huge, lush grounds, and set in the south-east for France in one of the world’s most beautiful environments. The secluded and idyllic location offers the participants and tutors a lot of space to relax and recharge, far away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and the all-demanding intensity of their regular professional environments.
Because the courses are residential, the participants and tutor work, eat, socialize, and sleep in the same environment. While tutors, and participants, will at times opt to retire to their private quarters, there is ample opportunity for social interaction outside of the studio environment. Participants interact extensively with each other and the tutor, making it easier to assimilate the intangible qualities necessary to be successful at the highest level—presence, focus, social skills, intelligence, creativity, the right attitude, and so on.
In short, for seven days participants can experience mixing with a master in both senses of the phrase, mixing and interacting with them. Get more information about Studio La Fabrique
Mary Shipman Howard
Mary Shipman Howard was one of the earliest known female recording engineers and one of the earliest women studio owners (in the 1940s). Mary worked with great musicians and composers of the era such as Glenn Miller, Arturo Toscanini, Charles Ives, and Samuel Barber.
From Audio Record Feb. 1948
Mary was born in 1911 in Hartford, Connecticut to an affluent family who supported the local arts. She played viola but got arthritis at an early age. In an interview with Vivian Perlis (part of the OHAM Charles Ives collection), Mary said, “Since I always loved acoustical, mechanical things – the process of translating a sound wave into an electrical impulse and back into sound – I got really into recording.” Mary was intrigued by records, and she bought a recording machine and started learning about record cutting on her own.
NBC Years
NBC Symphony Orchestra 1944
She came to New York in 1940 and applied for an engineering job at NBC. At the time, women weren’t allowed in the union, so Mary was hired as a secretary. When NBC became short on staff during World Word II, the union decided to let women engineer. Mary was the only woman at the NBC studios for around six months, but it didn’t take her long to make a name as a master recording engineer.
Her first assignment was Glenn Miller, whose music she liked even though she had a classical music background. She was assigned to recording sessions for Toscanini at RCA. There was a union deal between NBC and RCA which required an NBC studio engineer to be at RCA Victor. Mary couldn’t work, but the RCA Victor engineer couldn’t work without her there. Mary said (in her Perlis interview) she “didn’t do anything except sit with my eyes falling out of my head, and my ears dropping off.” Mary worked with Toscanini for eight years.
Mary Howard Recordings
Mary Howard Recordings record; Photo from Discogs
While Mary was at NBC (around 1945-46), she started a small studio in the same building she lived in called “Mary Howard Recordings.” It was three blocks from NBC (37 East 49th Street), and she worked at the studio part-time. She left NBC after the war (because of the long hours). But, by then, she found her studio was in high demand. She told Perlis, “I had all the best Ampex equipment, and I was the first private person ever to own a Scully lathe. Nobody else could afford it. I couldn’t afford it, either, but I got a loan from the bank. It was wonderful fun while it lasted, and the most fun were the people who suddenly, by word of mouth only, came to have me make recordings for them.” Time Magazine even did an article about Mary and her studio in 1947.
One of Mary’s clients was composer Charles Ives who asked her to do all his recordings of rehearsals and broadcasts. Ives would get letters from people asking how to interpret his music, and he would send them a recording instead of explaining it on the phone (part of Mary’s job was labeling and sometimes mailing). Mary had other clients who recorded for personal use or came to the studio for late-night listening sessions (like William Schumann and Alan Hovhaness).
In 1947, Mary started releasing her own commercial recordings under the MHR label. Artists included The Herman Chittison Trio, Ethel Waters, Lucille Turner, and Dale Belmont.
Over time, her studio grew to have multiple engineers and additional staff. Donald Plunkett, an engineer who worked at Mary’s studio, described her in an interview (with Susan Schmidt Horning):
Mary was very unique. She was a musician who understood musicians and understood a good deal about recording and how to marry the two – both the personalities of the musicians and the temperament of recording equipment.
Musicians are few and far between in our business . . . She had two portable recording lathes and a station wagon and did a lot of recording of prominent musicians.
Van Eps Cutting Head
Mary was featured in Audio Record Magazine in 1948. At the time, some of the studio’s recording equipment included Van Eps lathe, Allied Cutting lathe, Presto 1-D Heads, and Langevin 101-A Amplifiers (the preamps and program amps were Langevin).
When asked what they do to ensure good recordings, Mary showed her technical expertise and a strong understanding of audio:
“We are of the opinion that a compact, consolidated recording and control room, combined adjacent to and visible to the studio is the best method of recording. With this setup a recording technician can actually ‘ride gain’ but what is more important can see what actual level is imposed on the disc. We feel that the term ‘riding gain’ is a poor description of the operation involved. The more dynamics achieved in a fidelity recording, even if the frequency response is limited, the more the sound originating in the studio will be approximated. We feel that too much emphasis can be put on the word ‘fidelity’ and that some of the pre-emphasized and over emphasized high frequencies often result in a sound unpleasing to the ear, which after all is the final judge.
Recording information about cutting characteristics, recording head designs, styli and quality of response equipment is easily obtained. These all enter into the final results. Unfortunately, the interest and ingenuity of the recordist has often been overlooked. Recording is not a dull craft at all if engaged in all its technical phases. There seems to be a prevalence in large organizations for specialization – cutting technicians, studio technicians, maintenance, etc – which often results in poor recording because of lack of interest or information in all phases of the recording operation. If interest and enthusiasm were carried all the way through the recording organization, and management, perhaps time might be found to raise the general recording standards in America. We have tried to incorporate these methods in our operation and have had success… or some such thing.”
Leaving the Business
Mary closed the studio in 1955 when she grew tired of being in the city. She tried to split time in and out of New York, but it eventually seemed silly. She wanted to spend time outdoors, garden, and “try to make weekends meet.” (Perlis interview) She married Edwin Pickhardt (date unknown) and changed her name to Mary Howard Pickhardt.
Dog Breeder
American Kennel Gazette Dec 1963; Ch. Sabbaday Echo Best of Breed
After her recording career, Mary became a breeder of pugs under the name Sabbaday Kennels (named after the street her home was on in Connecticut). Her pug, Ch. Sabbaday Echo, won best of breed in 1963. Mary was recognized by her colleagues for her commitment to the breed (including helping give the national pug exposure).
Ch. Sabbaday Echo. Photo by Evelyn M. Shafer; Courtesy of AKC Library and Archives
She was active with the Pug Dog Club of America and Mary (and her husband) were respected judges at dog shows across the US. Sylvia Sidney, a stage and screen actor who owned and showed pugs said in the New York Times, “Mary was probably the best breeder and exhibitor of pugs on the Eastern seaboard.” Sylvia mentioned one of Mary’s dogs was on the cover of the American Kennel Gazette (likely the December 1963 issue; the pug on the cover was not identified).
In a tribute by the Pug Dog Club of America after her death, it was said Mary “was a tremendous supporter of all Pug clubs, an outstanding judge of Pugs and a woman of great courage.”
Mary died in 1976 (at age 65). She had a son, Arthur Shipman Howard, and four grandchildren.
Select References
Plunkett, Don Interview by Susan Schmidt Horning. 09 Feb. 1999. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
The War Gave Mary Howard Her Big Chance to Make Good in Recording; She Did – And How! Feb. 1948. Audio Record (by Audio Devices, Inc.)
Pickhardt, Mary Shipman Interview by Vivian Perlis. (Washington, CT; Sep 24, 1969). Oral History of American Music Collections Guide: Charles Ives, Yale University Library.
Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!
It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org
How often do you go through your handbag, backpack, work bag, etc. and clear out the trash? Receipts, smushed snacks, melted lipstick tube, random hardware and batteries, 800 sharpies (but I never have one handy somehow? These are some things I pulled out of my bag last week. Imagine the car or trunk situation…So. Much. Trash.
How often do you clear out your downloads folder, desktop, or trash on your computer? If you do this more than once every couple of years, cheers to you! For the rest of us animals living in digital filth, we need to get our lives sorted. Digital clutter is just as troublesome as the water bottles next to your bed or in your car. They once served their purpose, but now they are taking up valuable space. Maybe it’s one of those nice Nalgene ones, and you want to wash it and keep it to use again. It’s not going to do any good for you buried under the other bottles that you haven’t touched in weeks/months/years.
Storage & File Management
Digital workflow is everyone’s unique language for how they keep their files organized. I use an assortment of applications to suit my coworker’s personal tastes. Some prefer Google Docs, Dropbox, iCloud, Evernote. This makes personal digital asset management difficult because I have to keep items in different places to suit those people. Right?
I keep it simple and consistent. I use iCloud for nearly all of my personal and professional files. If my computer or phone were to get stolen, I could remotely wipe it and still have all of my files in the exact way I like them. I separate my files into very specific categories and file structures (see photo). If I need to share a file with someone, I can either email it to them or share a link (Dropbox). I don’t have backups of anything, really. They are stored in the cloud, and I access them remotely from that server. This means all of my files across my phone and computer are the same! This is possible without using Apple products, Google Drive works the same way (For the most part). Google Drive is incredibly slow, and I don’t like the way it stores video files. I’m not a fan of Dropbox, although I know many people prefer it. Exclusively I use Dropbox at work to share video files with people.
Templates
I do the same thing every month at work. Grading student projects, video processing, lectures, schedule, etc. I make folder structure templates, call sheets, rubrics, multitrack recording session templates, tech riders, inventory, invoices, etc. Bonus points for any apps that link directly between my laptop and my phone. I have a desk, but our campus is spread out so often I am walking or driving between buildings and I don’t always want to haul my office with me, so the phone apps are integral for me. iCloud and Evernote both make it easy to keep and load templates.
This might take a little more time if you are starting from scratch, however many of these applications have awesome looking templates built in that you can quickly adapt to your preferences. You can also take any document you already have created and save it as a template in most of Apple’s built-in software (keynote, pages, numbers, etc.). Evernote allows for custom templates, but that’s going to be in the upgraded account.
Evernote is especially awesome. The free account gives you access on two devices. It functions as a word processor, PDF storage, document scanning, web clipper, voice or FaceTime memos, and a ton of other neat things. It’s also easy to collaborate with other people, I was introduced to it when we used it organized our rundowns, ideas, topic lists, links, etc .for our podcast.
Physical Media
Physical media, such as hard drives, flash drives, CDs, etc. are all still completely valid forms of storage. My files are stored in the cloud, and honestly, at this point, I trust it more than I trust myself not to break or lose a drive. I process video using a laptop at work, so I need hard drives to process and store those files. I upload the compressed version to Youtube or Dropbox. That’s my workflow, and obviously, you will have your own process. Files on a hard drive won’t be as up to date as working files you use daily or weekly. Drives also fail, so unless you’re spending money on RAID storage, you can lose all of your backups anyway (also assuming you are responsibly backing up daily). SSDs have a limited number of write cycles. There are tons of points in both columns of cloud vs. hard drive, but daily workflow wise I am going to use the cloud as much as possible to protect myself from myself.
A Snowy Story
As many of you know, I live in Minnesota. Right now, this year at least, we have what seems to be a blizzard every other day. Over 30 inches of snow in February alone and as I write this blog everything is shut down due to 50 mph winds causing the roads to be covered with huge snow drifts. Yes, this is the time of the year I regularly ask myself why I live here and desperately hope for sun and temperatures 30 degrees warmer. However, as Minnesotans, we also embrace our winter wonderland with events like the winter carnival, or the national pond hockey tournament. This year, I found myself out in the cold and snow setting up for something completely different.
I got to experience an event of a lifetime. Not an event due to its pomp and circumstance or the people on stage, but an event that challenged everyone in many and new ways. One of those ‘We did that’ moments and to top it off this event had all leadership positions steered by women, and it was all for a woman! This post isn’t about the content of the event, or who it was even for. It’s a story of the accomplishment of women leading the way and overcoming the snow and cold obstacles of a Minnesota winter.
I was the production manager for this event, and it happened to make it into the national spotlight. Of course, the spotlight was what happened on stage, but it’s still pretty awesome to do an event that keeps living on after the moment. I also get to look back on it and say – wow, we did that! While also saying wow, why did we do that?
Day one was the location mapping. It was cold, windy, and cloudy, but the overnight snow had stopped, and it was just a matter of commuting through the fresh 6 inches to get to the site to clear the spaces for the staging and tents. This was a short quick meeting, where we marked out the primary locations and then directed the plow drivers where to clear the snow. The entire setup was based on the backdrop the location provided — a stunning image of the landscape and the city skyline.
Day two offered a whole different outlook. The sun was out! But anyone who lives in the Midwest knows this means even though it looks nice outside, it’s really, really cold. This day just happened to be -9 degrees with a wind chill making it feel like -34. We layered on the clothes, drove our cars as close to the setup as possible and got to work. This day our goals were to get all the stages up, a couple of truss structures completed, and some heating units ready for the event. Well with the weather and cold temperatures we only completed 2/3rds of what we desired, but it was time to call it a day to make sure everyone stayed safe. No frostbite on my watch!
Day three was the best day we had out of the four when it came to the weather. Although still chilly, it had warmed up a few degrees, and the wind had died down. We caught up with our schedule for the most part. The power was run, the PA was in place, lights ready to go, and the tents finally had heat! Although we would still have a lot to do the next morning, this day felt really accomplished. No matter what this event was going to happen!
Day four, event day, brought a bit of a surprise — 6 to 8 more inches of snow. From the moment we stepped into the park it was snowing and did not stop until we closed the last truck at the end of the night and let me tell you, road cases don’t roll anywhere in the snow!
Day One
Day Two
Day 4
The morning started with a bit of a rush as people were showing up extremely early! We were in a park so there was no way to keep the crowd away and we just watched and laughed as people cross country skied through the event area. At least some people were enjoying the fresh snow! With the early crowd came the urgency to get everything remaining done that much faster. We had over 500 feet of matting to lay, stage decks to make sure weren’t slippery, a PA to finalize, and lighting to focus. So, we got to it, but as the hours passed, we started to notice our stunning backdrop was fading behind low clouds and snow.
We achieved the goals for the day, but not without having to adjust or tactics to keep everything working. The L2 became a local celebrity with his acquired leaf blower to keep the snow off the stage. The A2 sound checked face first into the stage to help us ensure limited damage to the podium, and the stage tech became the person laying sand down everywhere to minimize the slippery conditions, all while the A1 was doing everything in their power to make sure the PA kept running.
Things were so busy at the time; I didn’t even consider the level of the feat we had accomplished. As I look back on the event I couldn’t have asked for a better team. Everyone just jumped in when they saw something that needed to be done. The duties became something miles away from technology, but that didn’t matter as we all worked together to ensure the best event we could for our client. It was amazing!
It was time for the big moment, the reason we had all been out there working for four days in the snow, wind, and cold. And even though the event didn’t go off without it hitches. Only one person (me) slipped in the national spotlight; luckily only the front row watched me slide down the stairs!
In the end, the event took place, with the location and weather turning into a major contribution to the event. The speech was delivered and broadcasted to the world with over 3,000 people in the park with us all while it snowed the heaviest it had all day.
Our mission was complete, the crowd began to disperse, we began attempting to wrap the frozen cables, and to get the snow out of the lights and PA. Everyone was happy with the results and we were all ready to go home to get warm. It was around 8 p.m. when we closed the last truck and bid farewell to our snowy patch of land. The snow had stopped falling and our stunning backdrop was finally visible! The event was a success, the weather didn’t defeat us, however, I hope my next outdoor event happens in the Bahamas!
It was really amazing to accomplish this event. Something I had never done before and all with some wonderful women leading the way!
Women & The Grammy For “Producer of The Year, Classical”
The Grammy for Producer of the Year, Classical (originally Classical Producer of the Year) was introduced in 1979. This particular category distinguishes itself as the first technical award where a woman was nominated on the ground floor, during the category’s inaugural year.
That woman was Joanna Nickrenz.
Not only was Nickrenz the first woman to receive a nod in Production (Classical Producer of the Year – 1979), she’s also the first woman I’ve found on record to be nominated for a Grammy in Engineering (Best Engineered Recording, Classical for Edgard Varése’s “Percussion Music” – 1974).
A classically trained pianist, Ms. Nickrenz took a strong interest in the recording process during her first studio sessions. This led to her taking an assistant position at Elite Recordings, where she worked as an editor, producer, and eventually full partner to Elite founder, recording engineer Marc Aubort. Records made under the Aubort/Nickrenz umbrella carry a legacy among audiophiles as being some of the best orchestral recordings ever produced.
Affectionately dubbed “Miss Razor Ears,” Joanna was fiercely dedicated to preserving the integrity of the score. She was known to admonish musicians if they played any part of a work incorrectly or dared to improvise. When she passed away in 2002, her urn was humorously engraved with an oft-used corrective phrase: “What’s written is also nice.”
Ms. Nickrenz received 8 Producer of the Year, Classical nominations and won the award twice. In 1983, she shared the win with Aubort. In 1996, she was the sole recipient. She was additionally nominated in 1984, 1986, and 2001, but did not win during those years.
If she is indeed the first woman to break through the Grammy glass ceiling in both production and engineering, how is it that Joanna Nickrenz doesn’t even have her own Wikipedia page? Why can’t I find a single photograph of this pioneering lady?
Women account for around 14% of those nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical. A total of eight Grammys have been handed to women in the category’s 39-year history.
Five of these trophies have gone to Judith Sherman.
Nominated a whopping 12 times, Judith is a major contributor to the catalog of recorded classical music. She got her start as a broadcast engineer at WBAI-FM in New York City, working up to positions as a producer and musical director. She started her own production company, Judith Sherman Productions, in 1976. She is the second woman to be nominated for a Grammy in Engineering, receiving a Best Engineered Recording, Classical nod in 1990.
Though she’s established a long and fruitful legacy, Ms. Sherman remains a force to be reckoned with to this day. She has been nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical for the past five years in a row.
Being prolific seems almost a prerequisite when you look at the women in this category, most of whom have been nominated multiple times.
Robina G. Young has received ten nominations for Producer of the Year, Classical. Marina A. Ledin has received eight. Young and Ledin have not yet crossed the stage to collect a trophy, but they show no signs of slowing down. 2006 winner Elaine Martone has managed over 1500 projects and offers a staggering biography. Nominee Elizabeth Ostrow is still going strong on a career spanning over 40 years. Anna Barry, who has over 500 recordings in her discography, was recently tasked to be the official recordist for the Royal Wedding. The late Patti Laursen was another important trailblazer, producing the first digital recordings made by Capitol Records in 1979.
Women in production have fared much better in the Classical division than in the category’s Non-Classical equivalent, with the percentage of wins landing at about 20%. The percentage of women who’ve won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical is still zero.
Though popular music will always have better PR, some of the most crucial and groundbreaking work has been done by women operating under the Classical umbrella. Seeing that the Recording Academy is pushing #WomenInTheMix and that March is Women’s History Month, the accomplishments of these producers should be loudly celebrated.
I invite you to dive deeper into the stories of the women nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical. Personally, I’ll be ensuring that Ms. Nickrenz finally gets her Wiki page. If anyone out there can find a picture of her, I sure would be glad to finally see it.
Lillian McMurry – Record Producer & Owner of Trumpet Records
In 1949, Lillian Shedd McMurry heard a record that changed her life. A woman with no prior experience in the music industry started a record store, record label, and recording studio where she produced, promoted, and engineered songs – many of which became rhythm and blues classics. Some of her artists went on to hit records and career success such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Elmore James, and Big Joe Williams. At its peak, Lillian calculated Trumpet Records to be the fifth-largest independent record label in the US.
She was born Lillian Shedd in 1921 in Purvis, Mississippi. During the Great Depression, Lillian’s family experienced extreme poverty. For years, they couldn’t afford a radio, so the family entertained themselves by singing together. She had seven male cousins who were like brothers to her. Lillian, a self-described tomboy, could “whip any three” of her cousins.
At age 13, she worked part-time after school. She graduated high school with experience in bookkeeping and secretarial work. In the early 1940s, she worked the counter at a pharmacy from 7 am to 10 pm 7 days a week, and was later promoted to manager. She met her future husband, Willard McMurray when she inquired about a beautiful concert grand piano for sale in his furniture store. The two were married in 1945 and had a daughter, Kathryn Vitrice, in 1947.
Willard and Lillian purchased a hardware store in 1949 (at 309 Farish Street in Jackson, Mississippi) with the plan to turn it into a furniture outlet. It was located on the boundary of white and black businesses and entertainment districts. While sorting through what was left behind in the building, workers came across a stack of unsold 78s (at the time, you could find records for sale at hardware stores in addition to grocery stores, service stations, and beauty parlors). One of the workers put on a record, Wynonie Harris’s recording of “All She Wants to Do Is Rock,” and Lillian was transfixed. “’It was the most unusual, sincere and solid sound I’d ever heard,” she said. ”I’d never heard a black record before. I’d never heard anything with such rhythm and freedom.’”
The workers (one who was a part-time bassist) knew these “race” records could only be ordered from wholesale houses in New Orleans. Lillian was going there on business soon and asked them to help make up a list of records to buy. In New Orleans, some of the distributors laughed at Lillian’s lack of knowledge but still told her where to get the records. She asked Willard if they could turn the store into a combination record and furniture store and he agreed.
Record Mart
The store had a sign that said Record Mart and the record shelves were on the walls (the center of the store had furniture for sale). She quickly sold out of her new records and the stock the workers had found. Lillian advertised three hours a day on a local radio show that featured a lot of music aimed at the black audience (R&B, blues, and gospel music). Lillian then expanded to the mail-order business, growing to as many as 1,500 orders a day. Most of the orders were coming from rural areas which had no record shops.
Record Mart also had listening booths which brought customers to the store to listen to new releases. Vocal groups would come in to hear new releases and sing along. This was the first time Lillian heard a live black vocal performance. Marc Ryan says in his book, “Trumpet Records: An Illustrated History with Discography”:
In the segregated society of Mississippi, it had been possible for Lillian McMurry to live nearly thirty years without having heard live or recorded black music. Segregation worked both ways, and the places where black musical forms flourished were pretty much off limits for whites.
Trumpet Records
The success of record sales at the store and her encounters with local musicians made Lillian want to create her own records. 28-year-old Lillian formed Trumpet Records and its parent company, The Diamond Record Company (DRC). Her first two signed artists were black gospel groups she met in the store (over time, word traveled that Lillian would audition walk-in talent at Record Mart). On April 3, 1950, Lillian produced her first recording session with a local group called the St. Andres Gospelaires. The session was at a local radio studio (WRBC). Lillian signed a second artist, the Southern Suns, to an exclusive contract on May 30, 1950, and had their first recording session at WRBC the next night.
Even with her lack of experience, Lillian already had the instinct of a producer. She went looking for local country, western, and blues artists to expand the label. While she didn’t have any marketing data to know it would sell, she saw how Hank Williams’ records performed at Record Mart (she had never heard of Hank Williams until the prior year when her workers wrote up the list of records for her to buy). Lillian arranged for a recording with Kay Kellum, a well-known local singer-accordionist, and paired him with two brothers she heard on the radio (Sam and Westley Tolars who played bass and fiddle).
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Lillian heard about a blues singer who played the harmonica (or the “harp” as it’s known in the blues circle) and tracked him down in a neighboring community. Sonny Boy Williamson had been performing locally and on the radio for almost 20 years. They signed a contract in December 1950 and in January they recorded the label’s first hit, “Eyesight to the Blind.” The recording was at Ivan Scott’s Radio Service Studio in Jackson. He used one microphone and a direct-to-disc recording process.
It turns out Sonny was not the artist’s real name – he was an escaped convict who needed a new name. Sonny recorded hits for the label including “Dust My Broom” and became one of Trumpet’s most successful artists.
In 1951, the label got the news that all of their masters, which had been sent to the Master Record Company in Chicago, were lost in a fire. Lillian powered forward by finding a new firm to handle her mastering and getting her artists back in the studio to re-record songs.
Lillian had high standards in the studio. She recalled 120 rejected takes on one title. Since Ivan Scott’s studio was direct-to-disc, they couldn’t edit, and a new disc was required for each take. Whether it was a balance issue, audio problem, or an artist’s flaw in performance, Lillian only wanted to release the best.
Lillian was honest and direct with her artists. In a later letter to Joseph Curtis Almond (after he skipped a session), she said, “We are very disappointed with your slow tunes . . . Your voice is cracked all through; you blast and then drop your voice, and the whole dark vocal comes out a mess. . . If you had come to Jackson as planned on Thursday, we could have put you on the mike and corrected anything that was wrong with the songs or your voice; then you could have rehearsed from Thursday until Sunday.” She told Sherman “Blues” Johnson in a letter, “You are about the nicest guy, and we do appreciate your attitude. .We are not discouraged, and we don’t want you to be. . . I’m going to give you a swift kick in the pants next time I see you if you don’t keep on trying.”
Recording to Tape
Bill Holford, ACA Studios
A year into operations, Lillian discovered Bill Holford, a recording engineer who owned the Audio Company of America (ACA) in Houston. Bill was willing to work remotely and worked with analog tape (new technology at the time) which gave the ability to edit takes. Bill was an Oklahoma native who trained in the Air Force (where he learned electronics) during World War II. He had a 1948 Raytheon four-channel mixer and an Ampex 300 mono recorder. Lillian booked him in December 1951 for a marathon series of sessions (four days, three nights) and scheduled nearly all of her contracted talent. The sessions were booked at the local Musicians’ Union Hall.
With Bill busy setting up mics and Lillian doing last-minute preparations, they didn’t notice what was going on with the union folks at the hall. At the time, Mississippi was one of the most openly segregated areas of the entire country, and the musician’s union had a ‘whites only’ policy. According to Marc Ryan, “Lillian had naively assumed that the union would welcome such a flurry of activity for the Jackson musicians. As a relative novice in the recording field, she had little knowledge about the attitudes and policies of the rank-and-file white leadership towards black musicians. When the union bosses finally sized up the situation, turmoil erupted.”
Lillian and Bill captured a few tracks while the union bosses bothered the black musicians waiting to record. “I wasn’t going to have those musicians harassed,” she said in Ryan’s book. “They got so nasty that we just moved our equipment out.” She quickly located a vacant club hall, the Cedars of Lebanon, and rented it for the rest of the sessions. Ryan wrote, “Beset with coffee nerves and talking herself hoarse; the crusading producer forged on into the third night, then the fourth day, of the marathon. Holford, ever calm and self-possessed, aided and comforted by his wife Kay, kept the reels of his Ampex rolling as the final round of recordings built to a remarkable climax.” In the end, they had 42 usable takes and Lillian was confident there were hits in the bunch.
Lawsuit
In January 1952, Lillian received news that “a pair of big shots from Hollywood” were in the Jackson area trying to sign artists by promising fame and fortune. Many of the artists the Bihari brothers (Jules and Joe) were going after were Trumpet artists – with no regard to their Trumpet contacts. Lillian quickly contacted a lawyer and the local Sheriff. The Sheriff issuing a restraining order to the Bihari brothers during a demo recording at a local nightclub. Trumpet artist Lonnie Holmes was about to audition when the Sheriff came in. The session ended, and the Biharis were served papers to appear in court. Diamond Record Company was suing Modern Records for “inducing artists who were under exclusive contract” and asking $1 million in damages.
The lawsuit made national news and the case was in the courts for over two years. In 1954, a judge ruled in Lillian’s favor. The Biharis were guilty of “violating a state statute forbidding willful and knowing interference between parties of an employment contract.” The damages awarded were a disappointing $2,500 and the Biharis continued to record with one of the artists they took from Lillian, “Mister” Elmore James. Lonnie Holmes, the artist whose audition, was stopped, had his contract voided and his first Trumpet release (which was about to ship) was canceled. He never recorded again.
Moving Ahead
Lillian continued to look for new talent and sign new artists. The Southern Sons recorded some tracks with the Argo Singers, an all-female gospel group based in Chicago.
Their first session was at the RCA Victor Studio in Chicago then one at Universal Recording (while Bill Putnam was still based in Chicago).Lillian held Gospel concerts at some of Jackson’s small theaters and used that to help promote the label and the store. These shows were advertised on local radio and usually had a full house.
On the country music side, Lillian was gaining recognition for her ear for artists. Producers from MGM and Capitol started to call her to talk shop and market trends. After Hank Williams’ death in 1953, she recognized a hole in the market and arranged sessions with existing and new Trumpet artists. She helped shape part of the early Rockabilly sound with artist Joseph Curtis Almond.
She hired top musicians for some recordings including B.B. King, Little Milton Campbell, and Joe Willie Wilkins. Even though the city of Jackson’s musician’s union had segregation requirements, she refused to adhere and mixed black and white musicians. Lillian said later, “Because we recorded some black blues and spirituals, I was treated rather ugly sometimes by certain people… I acted like a lady, as a businessperson, and that’s the way it should have been.”
Lillian’s devotion to her artists went outside the studio, too. She offered everything from encouragement and advice to money management and cab rides. She got notified by the police that artist Bobo “Catfish Slim” Thomas had been in jail for eight months. The year prior, Lillian had loaned him an amp and a guitar to write a b-side to a song, and he hadn’t been heard from since. Lillian wasn’t concerned about the broken and muddy guitar and amp the police were returning to her. She was more concerned that Bobo didn’t have a single hearing in eight months. She hired a lawyer for him for $125 (for perspective, a 125-mile taxi ride would cost you $6 at the time). Lillian was at the trial where she spent two hours in a room behind the judge’s bench trying to talk Bobo into pleading “not guilty” so the judge would let him go. A couple of years later, Lillian sent her family doctor to check on Trumpet artist Willie Love as his health was failing. She visited Willie in the hospital in his final days, and DRC paid for his funeral.
Recording Studios
Lillian tried a few tape-based studios once she made the jump from recording vinyl. She connected with Sam Phillips, engineer, and owner of Memphis Recording Service (where Marion Keisker worked). Lillian knew that Sam’s interest was the blues and trusted his instinct and sent some of her artists for sessions at his studio. She also continued to send artists to ACA in Houston. But, eventually, a new idea came about: The furniture store. In the summer of 1953, Lillian’s dad built the Diamond Recording Studio (designed by Bill Holford of ACA) in the 309 building. The Record Mart ceased operations.
Ryan’s book explains her gear:
She bought a new Macintosh pre-amp and amplifier, a big Altec Lansing monitor, RCA 77 DX and 44 BX microphones, and a Magnecord tape deck. She had mattresses hung on the walls and ceiling, covering them with huge theatre drapes for acoustical effect.
Lillian began experimenting as an engineer, using her observations from being in sessions with engineers like Holford and others. Ryan said,
She discovered the wisdom in recording everything “flat”, with no “echo”, which could then be added later as needed. She studied balance, striving always to keep the voice “out front.” With her usual dynamism, she soon was obtaining professional standards in her temporary studio in the furniture store. The first DRC studio session to be released on the Trumpet label was Jerry McCain in October 1953.
Lillian engineered tracks at the studio such as Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Red Hot Kisses” and ‘Lucky’ Joe Almond’s “Every Day of the Week.” Most (but not all) of DRC’s catalog starting DRC 185 were recorded by Lillian.
The End of Trumpet
By the end of 1954, the DRC was losing money, and Lillian’s enthusiasm was starting to dwindle. Willard’s furniture business was subsidizing the studio in hopes a new release would be a big success and help put the studio and label finances back on track. It had been nearly two years since Trumpet had a big hit. The label faced a number of struggles – unfaithful artists, the failure to find new artists that could grab hold of the market, distributors that took merchandise on advance then went bankrupt, and other distributors that ignored invoices completely.
At the same time, R&B music was starting to reach the mainstream. The major labels were enveloped by it. It wasn’t practical for Lillian to release music for local consumption but competing with the majors was going to be a challenge. Lillian, in a fight to the end, started Globe Records in an attempt to reach a new market (she also engineered all the recordings, as well).
Trumpet was done (in 1955). But, the growing debt of the organization lead to fewer recording sessions. Lillian even traded away Sonny Boy’s recording contract to their pressing plant, Plastic Products, to cancel a huge debt. The last recording was Lucky Joe Almond on St. Patrick’s Day in 1956.
Ryan says in his book, Lillian “had grown from a musically naive dilettante to an accomplished professional, whose tiny label had blossomed to become, for a few years at least, the second-largest independent label based in the South. To have remained in the field into the second half of the decade would have required a greater stake than the McMurrys were willing to gamble. The furniture business was still booming, and there was certainly no need to pursue the chimerical forms of fame and fortune that tantalized so many of DRC’s contemporaries.”
Lillian continued to keep the books and sell off old record stock for years at the furniture stores. She kept Globe Music, the publishing company where most of Trumpet’s catalog (and some unreleased tracks) went. She kept protecting her business-like in 1963 when a record-producer reissued some of Sonny Boy’s Trumpet recordings without Lillian’s blessing (she immediately sued the label owner). Federal copyright did not protect sound recordings until 1972. She protected her artists, too, who she diligently paid royalties on-time for years.
The rights to many Globe and Trumpet releases were sold to other labels (major and small). In 1985, the remaining masters and rights were donated to the Centre for the Study of Southern Culture (at the University of Mississippi in Oxford).
Lillian was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1998 (one of a few record producers at the time to have that honor). She died a year later at age 77.
In 2007, Lillian and Willard McMurry were posthumously honored with a historical marker at 309 Farish Street in Jackson. It was the first record company in Mississippi to achieve this type of recognition. Unfortunately, the site of the studio has since decayed – but Lillian’s most important contribution to the music industry will live on.
Further reading/listening
Ryan, Marc. Trumpet Records: an Illustrated History, with Discography. Big Nickel Publications, 1992.
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