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SoundGirls FOH Tuning Workshop – Los Angeles

This  workshop covers various Front of House system design and scenarios. Topics include designing the PA, software prediction, coverage over SPL, time alignment, sub-woofer configurations, and coverage gaps. This is an intermediate course and will help professionals to hone their skills.

Designing  your  PA  

Using  Prediction  Software  accurately  

Coverage  over  SPL  

Time  Alignment  

Subwoofer  configurations  

Filling  the  gaps  of  coverage

About Ivan Ortiz

Ivan Ortiz is an audio veteran, with over 18 years of experience in professional audio – gaining his education working for a small sound company that specialized in Latin acts while attending Full Sail. After he graduated he headed to the west coast – taking an internship at Rat Sound Systems and his “can do attitude” led to weekend work with several Los Angeles based sound companies. Ivan would go on to tour as a system tech for Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World, Pepe Aguilar and toured for several years as a monitor engineer for My Chemical Romance, Gavin DeGraw, and multiple fill in gigs for other bands as FOH or MON Engineer.

Ivan would go on to work for LD Systems in Houston Texas working the Houston Rodeo as Monitors Engineer for the event for five consecutive years. While working for LD Systems Ivan also had the opportunity to work on national televised events as the A1 for NCAA Final Four, NCAA Sweet Sixteen, Houston’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, before returning to Rat as shop manager and all around Tech Master.  Ivan is now the Technical Resources Manager at Rat Sound Systems.

 

Los Angeles – Live Sound Workshop

Here’s your chance to gain knowledge in live sound in a professional environment

In this class, you will learn:

Instructors

FOH Instructor – Amanda Davis: L.A.- based FOH engineer for Janelle Monáe, Tegan & Sara, and Ella Mai

Monitors & Production Instructor – Whitney Olpin: Monitor Engineer for Melody Gardot, Lauryn Hill, Fitz, and The Tantrums, Sublime with Rome, Marian Hill, X-Ambassadors, and Walk the Moon.

System & Stage Patch Instructors – Emily Pearce and McKenzee Morley: Both Emily and McKenzee work for Schubert Systems

Backline Tech: TBA

Karrie Keyes – Monitor Engineer for Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder and Executive Director for SoundGirls will be on hand as well

Registration

Register Here

Schedule

Day One

Day Two

 

FOH Lisa Affenzeller – Chasing the Magic

Lisa Affenzeller is an independent FOH Engineer, who works mainly with Heavy Metal bands, such as Butcher Babies, TesseracT, Kobra & the Lotus, Devin Townsend Project, Overkill, Annihilator. She has been working in the industry for over ten years.

Growing up Lisa had always wanted to work and be a part of live shows “Every show you do has that little magic that lies within that kicks you, and you know that you love what you do.” She had a love for music growing up, although she never had much interest in actually playing an instrument. Lisa would attend SAE in Vienna and graduate with a degree in Music Production and had the full support of her parents. She says, “they love the technical aspect of my job as well as the traveling.”

After graduating she moved between a few cities across Europe before ending in Hamburg, Germany. Lisa would make ends meet with office work, stage managing, soldering, anything to get a chance to mix some smaller shows or opening bands. Allowing her to start working in small and mid-sized clubs all over Repperbahn and give her confidence in mixing live sound. It would also put her in the right place at the right time.

Starting in the clubs taught Lisa the ropes. First, she interned, then assisted, and then got to mix a few bands. From there she would start working at various clubs where she learned system engineering, mixing FOH and Monitors, stage managing, patching. And maybe more importantly how to put in long hours, fix broken equipment, and how to deal with artists and characters from all over the world.

Lisa would find herself in the right place at the right time and was able to start touring on the club level where she would learn how to mix on every possible console and PA, and how to get it set up quickly, and sound good. Although she found it intimidating at first, she now finds it fun.

Some of the challenges Lisa has faced while touring are gear breaking or failing. She says, “it sucks for sure, but it happens to the best of us, and it can happen at any time. It’s just a matter of how you deal with it and how fast you can troubleshoot, and that – again – comes with experience.

She elaborates “One time I had a massive show stopper happen on a big club show in Germany during a tour through Europe. One of the photographers in the pit accidentally broke one of the main Cat5e lines, and I was using the spare CAT5e connection to run my show on 96kHz (which, in hindsight, was super unnecessary). I had no backup and after six songs into the set and the cable broke, more than two-thirds of my input channels were not passing audio anymore — almost a total blackout. After we found out what exactly had happened, the audio team and I rearranged the patch together. We trimmed down the channel count and moved on with the show on a spare CAT5e line that we had with us.
I overcame the situation by staying focused (luckily during that time I had so many shows under my belt already I could remain calm), the team effort within the crew, support from my tour manager and indeed a lot of love and understanding from the fans around me. One of the guys in the audience even thanked me and bought me a drink.”

Lisa also finds festivals bring unique challenges. “Very often you don’t get a soundcheck and sometimes even just a 20-30min changeover time in which you have to set up the stage and line check the show and then go for it and fix a solid mix in the first couple of minutes of the show. It’s stressful for sure and challenging, but it’s possible. The upside to festivals is enjoying the other acts and getting to hang out with roadies and friends from around the world.

What do you like best about touring?

The fans, for sure! And also, the bonding you experience when you work and travel with a terrific group of people is priceless.

What do you like least?

White bread & cheese.

What is your favorite day off activity?

Exploring local bars & restaurants!

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I think the biggest obstacle that I have faced in my career was my constant fear of failure and lack of trust in myself.

How have you dealt with them?

I have been fortunate with having had people in my life who believed in me more than I did and gave me chances. There might be a grain of truth in it when they say you have to work twice as hard being a woman, but when you do, and you cut your teeth on it, and you are willing to make some sacrifices, it’s absolutely worth it in the end.

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

You will eventually need to take that leap of faith and leave your safe haven back home to enter the touring world.

It sounds like a platitude, but you have to believe in yourself, it’s really true. You will work with a lot of shitty bands, and you will have a lot of bad shows, but you will also have A LOT of perfect shows, and they will love you for it.

You will make mistakes, and you will learn from them. Your ability to troubleshoot will get better, and so will your confidence. You will hit rock bottom, and you will stand up again. And before you know it, you’ll become a kick-ass sound engineer.

Must have skills?

Apart from the obvious, such as knowing your gear, I’d say being communicative is a big plus. And confidence & thick skin.

Favorite gear?

DiGiCo SD Series
DPA 4099 & 2011
Waves SSL G-Master Bus Compressor
Waves C6 & F6
Waves H-Delay
MANLEY Voxbox
BAE 1073
JH Audio In Ears
And a very special shout out to my Leatherman and my pink Peli

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Profiles of Women in Audio

IEM Maintenance & Troubleshooting

The Glamour Starts Here

Special thanks to Josh Thomas for all his help with writing this article.

 

A few years ago, I went to a talk about mixing for in-ear monitors (IEMs), given by one of the top monitor engineers in the UK, Mr. Justin Grealy. As someone who mainly worked in-house, but had to accommodate more and more acts turning up with their own IEM systems, I was intrigued to learn as many tips and tricks as possible to give artists great mixes. I was not expecting most of the hour to be taken up with all the different ways to get earwax out of an IEM. Some were admittedly genius – hairdryers were mentioned at one point – but I didn’t understand at the time just how important good IEM hygiene and maintenance is for a successful mix. No amount of volume, pretty effects or space-creating trickery will make up for the sound being muffled by a wall of wax, or cutting out because of dirty connections.

IEMs can be the biggest purchase you make in your early career, so it’s worth taking the time to find the right ones for you. If you need them to work with the same act regularly, try to get the same make and model as they use (or the main person uses if they all have different ones). The goal is to get as close as possible to what they hear. Discuss with management whether their budget will cover part or all of the cost.

If you need them for one-offs or working in-house, get the best quality that you can afford. It can make a massive difference to what you hear, and so how well you can react and make subtle adjustments in a mix. Generic IEMs are cheaper and quicker to buy than a custom moulded pair, but getting a custom fit will properly seal the IEMs against the ear canal, which helps with isolation from external noise and provides a better bass response. If possible, go to a local IEM dealer and demo a few different ones before you decide. Remember, you want the ones that will reproduce the signal most accurately, not the ones that sound nicest (e.g., if the pair you have are rounded off in the higher frequencies, your mixing could sound too harsh to people who have IEMs with a flatter frequency response).

Regular cleaning of your and your clients’ IEMs is essential. Small grains of dirt on an IEM can make their way into your ear, scratch the delicate skin in the canal and lead to infection and swelling. Dirt, sweat, and wax can block the drivers’ tubes, corrode the connections and even end up in the tiny and sensitive electronics, causing damage. I would like to say if you take good enough care of them, they can last you a lifetime, but custom moulded IEMs should be replaced about every four years. The shape of your ear canal changes subtly throughout your life, so after a few years, the fit won’t be as exact and will stop forming a seal. Specialist gels like Auragel or foam wraps like Comply can help to form the seal again, but they are only a stopgap solution. Once you notice your IEMs loosening it’s time to get a new pair, from a new fitting, not the measurements the IEM company may have kept on file (these are for replacing lost or damaged IEMs).

The central part of cleaning IEMs is removing wax from the tubes that lead from the drivers to your ears. Your IEMs should come with a loop of wire with a plastic handle for this, but if they didn’t, or you lost it, or the wax is further down the tube than it can reach, there are a few do’s and don’ts you should bear in mind.

First, be gentle. Keep a close eye on what you’re doing and be careful not to damage any filters or circuitry inside the IEM. Don’t use anything that might break off and get stuck in the tube! Mechanical pencils look kind of perfect for this task, but they are a terrible idea. Also, avoid using anything pointed or sharp, like a needle. You could scratch the moulding, making tiny grooves where more wax and dirt can build up, and potentially where bacteria can fester. Using a loop, optionally followed by a specialist earwax vacuum, is the way to go. I try as much as possible to hold the IEM upside down, so any wax that gets dislodged falls out instead of further into the tube, and I use a gentle scooping motion, at an angle, to get behind the wax and bring it back out instead of risking pushing it further in. Compacted wax blocking a driver can render an IEM useless, and it can be costly and time-consuming to send back to the manufacturer to fix. I then clean the outside of the moulds with alcohol swabs.

 

Cleaning an IEM with an earwax vacuum, nozzle inserted at an angle

 

If one ear keeps cutting out, look at the connections between the cable and the IEM. It might merely be loose, but check that there isn’t any green or black stuff at the pins or in the socket. Black is most likely dirt, but green is corroding copper, usually caused by sweat. Cleaning this off with a cotton bud (Q tip) dipped in alcohol or contact cleaner (being careful not to let any liquid get into the body of the IEM) can fix this, but you need to prevent it happening again. Leaving the IEMs to air out after use, keeping a small sachet of silica gel in the case, and checking them regularly can help. If the owner likes to wear their IEMs in the gym, tell them, it’s time to invest in standard earbuds, or it will become a costly habit!

Two different brands of IEM with their respective cables. On the left, the socket is recessed into the casing where two dots can be seen, on the right, it is the area in black. There is no evidence of dirt or corrosion.

 

If the ear connections are fine, the minijack connector or belt pack socket might be dirty or corroded and can be treated in the same way. The minijack has to be fully seated for both ears to work. If the right side is intermittent, but the left is fine, the jack might be pulling out of the socket slightly, so the right side’s ring no longer makes a connection. Leaving more slack on the cable or taping it in place should help. If it isn’t the jack, gently wiggle the cable as you’re sending signal, to see if there’s a weak spot. IEM cables can get abused, being yanked and pulled during costume changes, snagged on door handles, crushed in their cases. It is wise to carry spare cables for each type of IEM you have so you can swap them out straight away if there’s a problem. Don’t wait until you need one, because it can take weeks to get them, especially at busy times of the year.

If the above steps don’t fix your problem, it might be an issue with the pack or radio frequencies, which is outside the scope of this post. If one ear has lost a big chunk of its frequency spectrum, or it sounds like it’s distorting at low levels, one of the drivers might have blown and will need to be sent for repair. Another reason to keep an eye on your bandmember’s pack volume levels and to mix responsibly!

There are all types of little gadgets and supplies you can keep with you to help with IEM maintenance and troubleshooting. IEMs and hearing aids have a lot in common, and it’s worth checking out audiologist suppliers as well as IEM specialists for things like cleaning loops, ear wax softener and earmould stetoclips (like a stethoscope for hearing aids). Always have plenty of alcohol/anti-bacterial wipes to hand, and thoroughly clean each piece of equipment between IEMs with a new swab to reduce the potential for cross-contamination and general grossness.

Whether the thought of dealing with other people’s earwax turns your stomach, or like me, you find cleaning IEMs strangely satisfying; it does more than keep your equipment at its best. It’s always good to get a reputation for being helpful and useful, and you can spot potential problems before they develop. It’s much easier and safer to deal with issues in your downtime than halfway through a show. It can also be an excellent opportunity to start the conversation with clients about anything they’ve noticed about their IEMs but hadn’t thought to mention, or how they’re dealing with volume levels and looking after their hearing in the long term. For example, increased earwax production can be the body’s defense against sustained, overly loud listening volumes. Showing that you’re interested in their hearing health now and in the future, and willing to go the extra mile, can cement your relationship and improve trust and communication, which will do more for your mixing than any effects unit ever could.

Should You Stay or Should You Go?

Imagine you’re catching up with a dear friend. They tell you how their partner calls them names, makes mean comments about their appearance, gets angry at them if they don’t do the chores right. You’re shocked; you ask why they don’t break up with such a nasty person, and they stare at their shoes and mumble something about their partner being right: they are terrible at washing dishes and could do with losing a few pounds. You almost laugh at how ridiculous that is, because you know they’re wonderful and deserve so much better. You want to get them to wake up and walk out like you’re sure you would in the same situation.

So why do we allow ourselves to be treated like this in the workplace? Not every day is going to be a walk in the park, but far too often, we find ourselves in toxic work environments that make us miserable. We know that we need to be tenacious to succeed. When we’re the new person, we need to get our head down and work hard, do the crappier jobs, and don’t take the teasing (that seems essential to the running of our industry for some reason) too personally. But there comes a point where the initiation period ends, and if you’re still the butt of every joke and being told you’re useless by most of your colleagues, you might begin to believe it. Perhaps it’s more insidious than that: your boss has reasons for why other people keep getting the jobs and promotions, even if they’re less experienced. Your coworkers might not yell at you, but they’ll roll their eyes and have hushed conversations that stop suddenly when you’re around. You might even work in several places with similar atmospheres, so you think this is normal. Dreading going to work and feeling worthless is not normal. Or at least not inevitable.

If you find yourself in this situation, the first step is to take stock of what is actually wrong, and how you feel about it. If you love the work, but there are a couple of things that make it difficult, talk to a friend or trusted colleague for a less emotionally invested perspective. Your coworkers might genuinely think you like the nickname they gave you or didn’t realise how much the joking was getting to you. If that doesn’t improve things, or the problems are systemic, try raising it with HR if you have an HR department or your boss/head of department/tour manager. Try to discuss it calmly, relying on facts more than feelings as much as possible, and approach it with the goal of making the work environment better for everyone both now and in the future. A reconciliatory approach will be better received than an accusatory one, no matter how justified it might feel. It’s always worth working at relationships, whether personal or professional, before declaring them dead.

There will still be times when this doesn’t fix the problem. It might even be that no one is at fault, you just don’t fit well together, or you feel like it’s just time to move on. Ideally, you’ll have saved up some emergency cash to tide you over until you find another job. Paulette Perhach illustrated the importance of a “F**k off fund” in this great but NSFW article. It can also be an incredibly powerful negotiating tool. You can be more confident and assured, and make much better decisions when you know you don’t need the money.

If you’ve given it a good shot, there is no shame in walking away. Even though it might be tempting, try not to burn your bridges as you leave. This industry is close-knit, and your reputation will precede you. The best revenge is simply living well. There are so many different work environments out there if you keep looking, you will find one that clicks sooner or later. It might not be easy: you might need to move city or discipline, or you might need to leave sound altogether. It can be tough, but once you are in a better place, you’ll wonder why you wasted so much time in a situation that didn’t work. Deciding to find better opportunities is a positive thing, even if it feels like quitting at the time. Letting people who don’t appreciate you take your time and your joy for years on end would be the real failure

Maya Finlay – Feet in Two Worlds

Monitors for Rosanne Cash tour, 2019, credit: C. Elliott Photography

Maya Finlay is a sound engineer that works in live sound, as well as in the studio recording, editing, mixing and producing. Maya freelances and works for the SFJAZZ Center as well as Dolby Laboratories and recently has started touring with Rosanne Cash as her Monitor Engineer. She has been working in professional audio for the past 11 years.

Maya has a B.A. in Spanish and Portuguese, Language and Culture, from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Certificates in Sound Recording and Sound Design from City College of San Francisco. She also has completed workshops offered by Women’s Audio Mission and assisted in the build of their first studio.

Maya would start her audio career at City College of San Fransisco and fortunate to study under both Terri Winston, Founder of Women’s Audio Mission, and Dana Jae Labrecque, Co-Director of SoundGirls. After that Maya would start interning at Talking House Studios, which led to an engineering position for VO talent/composer, Mark Keller, at Keller Studios in Sausalito, CA.  Shortly after she also started working at Sound Arts Studio in San Francisco. Her introduction to Live Sound would take place working with local Bay Area promoter Bay Vibes, that produced three shows per week at Yoshi’s Lounge. It was a restaurant recalls Maya,  “so I had to pull all the gear out of a closet and wire everything up from scratch each time.  That was a great learning experience and created a solid foundation. At first, after each show, I would make a note of anything that went wrong. Then the next time before I’d go to work, I’d review my notes to avoid making the same mistake twice. That was a useful method, and it didn’t take long before I stopped needing the notes and things just became second nature.”

WAM studio, 2013

With a combination of referrals and reaching out to larger venues like Boom Boom Room, Elbo Room, and The Independent Maya would have more work than she could handle. Women’s Audio Mission would refer Maya to both SFJAZZ Center and Dolby. She has been at SFJAZZ Center for six years as an Audio Mix Engineer and Dolby for three years working as a Critical Listener.

 

What’s the environment, gear, and typical day at SFJAZZ Center?

SFJAZZ Center has two concert halls: One is Miner Auditorium, which holds 700 seats, and the other is the Joe Henderson Lab (JHL), which holds 100 seats.  We have Meyer Mains (going through Galileo hardware, controlled by Compass software) and L’Acoustic (108p and 112p) Monitors for both rooms.  In Miner Auditorium, we have a 16-speaker Minna line array system for each Main L/R (divided into 4 zones with separate delay times), 5 HP500 cardioid flown Subs, JM1P Side Fills, M1D Front Fills, and UPJ Rear Fills.  We have a VENUE Profile at FOH and an SC48 at “Monitor Beach.”  In JHL we do FOH and Monitors from a Soundcraft Si Impact, and we have 2 UPJ Mains and 1 HP500 flown Sub.  We have an 8-rack patch bay (6 for Audio, 2 for Video) backstage that allows us to route signal all over the building.  We have a 4-way split that, in addition to feeding FOH and Monitors, also sends to the Truck Dock, and a ProTools Suite on the third floor, where we have a Digidesign D-Command and can capture multi-track recordings of our shows into ProTools.  We have a ton of in-house backline – various drum kits, amps, keyboards, percussion, and the stage in Miner can be various sizes/shapes depending on the event needs.  The building is only six years old, so things are still in very good condition and well-organized. 

I’ve been fortunate to work with many fantastic artists there including Esperanza Spalding, Booker T, Robert Townsend, Snarky Puppy, Ravi Coltrane, Anoushka Shankar, Chick Corea, Hermeto Pascoal, and facilitated the touring crews of Van Morrison, Herb Alpert, Sergio Mendes, En Vogue, Kid Koala, Taj Mahal, among many others.  That’s how I met Rosanne Cash.  She was an SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director the past two years, and I did Monitors for her weekends there, which were collaborations with Emmy Lou Harris and Lucinda Williams the first year, and Ry Cooder the second.

A typical day at SFJAZZ Center is a call time in the early afternoon, set up the backline, patch ins/outs, and do a line check.  Then the band comes in, we set up and soundcheck for an hour or two, then dinner, show, and strike.  Shows range from 60-120 minutes, and in JHL we have two shows per night.  We rarely have openers, and we often do 4-night runs of the same artist.  We also have a fair amount of rental companies, individuals, or organizations renting out space for private events, which involve a lot more wireless, and we have two “off-site” rigs (Soundcraft Si Impact consoles and QSC speakers).  We use these for our free outdoor concerts and for our middle school program in which we’re working with local musicians to bring concerts to all middle schools in San Francisco and Oakland, thanks to our awesome Education department.  So a “typical day” there can have a lot of variety in the audio department.

What is a Critical Listener?

As a Critical Listener, I participate in various audio tests that provide feedback to Dolby on current and developing audio technology.  Often the tests involve listening to multiple versions of the same audio and either choosing a preferred version or finding a hidden reference.  We go into acoustically tuned listening labs and listen to audio on headphones or over loudspeakers, sometimes with video too, and complete whatever test we have that day.  Basically, they want to know if people with critical hearing and listening skills can distinguish a perceptible difference between raw, uncompressed audio, and audio that has been digitally compressed using specific algorithms.  It’s only a few hours a month, more or less, and it’s very flexible.

What is your set up for Roseanne? Gear, Work Flow: Are you touring with production.  Challenges? How are you dealing with them?

There are two different setups for Rosanne: the Duo with her husband, Guitarist/Producer John Leventhal, and the Band setup, which adds Drum Kit, Bass, Guitar, and Keys to the Duo.  John sets up Downstage Right and gets a single wedge.  Rosanne is always Downstage Center with a mono pair of wedges and wireless IEM.  In the Duo configuration, she has another wedge on her left side, almost a side fill, for just John’s channels.  They both need healthy amounts of their vocals in their wedges, so the first thing I do is ring out their wedges and make the vocals sound as clear as possible with enough headroom before feedback.  After a couple shows on the road, I started doubling Rosanne’s vocal channel so that I could have completely separate control over her vocal channel going to her wedges vs. in-ear.  That’s been helpful.  We carry the wireless IEM unit and a couple of Beta58s for vocals.  In addition to Monitors, I also take care of the tour merchandise.  David Mann is the Tour Manager and FOH Engineer, and there are a couple of other Monitor Engineers they work with based in New York. 

As for challenges, a couple of times, the IEM audio was cutting in and out or sounded “underwater.”  I dealt with it by replacing some parts of the kit like the cable that goes between the earpiece and the belt pack and the desiccant pod that absorbs moisture.  I also started storing her earpiece differently to reduce strain on the connector since doing that it’s been working great.  Once, the earpiece filter got loose and was making clicking sounds only Rosanne could hear.  I now prevent that by making sure it’s tightly pushed in before each soundcheck and show. Another challenge is working on unfamiliar consoles. When I know, that’s the case; I do some prep work before I get to the venue, like watching tutorials and reading manuals, to head off any potential questions or obstacles I anticipate.

In between all of this, Maya still works in the studio and in 2017 released an EP with her band, Gringa called “Letters From A. Broad.”  Maya produced the album and engineered most of it, as well as playing several instruments and writing three of the songs. Maya says it reflects her “style as a Producer, blending organic recordings with sound effects and pop and dub mixing techniques.  It was a labor of love that took several years and involved many different musicians in various studio spaces. It was a challenge making it all come together, and at times, I thought it would never be finished, so it felt great to finally release it.” She is looking forward to putting out more records in 2019.

Bedulu, Bali during the International Body Music Festival, 2015

Give us a little background on what other tours you’ve done and what your position was on them

In July 2016, I spent two weeks in Bali as part of the International Body Music Festival, doing both FOH and Monitors. The annual Festival, led by master body percussionist Keith Terry, takes place in a different country each year and invites participants and artists from all over the world to come together for body percussion workshops and performances in collaboration with local communities.  We stayed in Ubud as our home base and traveled to different places each show day.  The first show was in a theater in Denpasar, but the rest of the time we rented gear from a local sound company and worked with their crew to load in and set up in different villages.  The gear was very basic; a 32-channel Yamaha analog console, a rack of graphic EQs, and passive mains and monitors. Most of the stages were outside, open-air but covered community spaces, and I used a combination of a shotgun, PZM, and overhead mics to get subtle body percussion sounds over motorcycles and other loud street noise.  It was challenging, but I had a blast and got to meet so many wonderful people.

What do you like best about touring?

I love seeing different places and meeting/working with different people. I’m used to being a House Engineer, so it’s been fun to do the opposite and be the Guest Engineer, with all the different challenges and perks that come with it.  I feel more like an asset, not just an expense. I’m also really liking the simplicity of living out of a suitcase.

What do you like least?

Flying and spending time in airports.  Not being able to cook my own meals.

What is your favorite day off activity?

On tour – Sleeping in.

At home – Writing, playing, and producing music.

What do you like best about the Studio?

I love the creative possibilities in the studio.  There’s more time to play around and come up with unique sounds and effects and to use panning and mic positioning that I can’t necessarily do in live sound.  I’m fortunate that live sound is my bread-and-butter, so any studio stuff I do is on my terms and for pleasure. 

What do you like better Live or Studio?

That’s a really tough question and probably changes from day-to-day.  I enjoy the immediacy and social aspects of Live, as well as being part of an event that brings joy or release for others.  However, I also love being able to experiment in the Studio and being part of the magic that will be immortalized on a record.  In the long run, I’d like to get back to doing more Studio work, and in particular trading, out some of the grunt work, I do in live sound for more creative studio work.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

Although initially, I loved the lack of routine, over the years, I’ve experienced how hard it is on the body to work inconsistent hours and to eat and sleep at irregular times.  My circadian rhythm is all off, and my health and social life have suffered for it.

Also, I wanna be real about the fact that the industry is still primarily a (White) Boys Club. As a woman, I’ve experienced microaggressions, objectification, and everyday sexism all throughout my career (such as being told to smile while I work, getting patted on the head for doing a good job, being asked to wear a skirt at a job interview, overhearing musicians ask “Where’s the Sound Guy?” while I’m on stage doing my job…I could go on).  I hesitate to call it an obstacle because it never really held me back. In fact, it probably propelled me forward in some ways. But it’s annoying at best, and exhausting over time. I do see that women, non-binary folks, and people of color have to work much harder for the same recognition and advancement opportunities as white men.

How have you dealt with them?

In terms of my health, I started prioritizing jobs that didn’t end so late, in an attempt to sleep regular hours each night.  I still don’t, but it’s less erratic than before. I also started cooking more on my days off and meal planning, so I could bring healthier food to work and not skip meals.  I’ve had to develop a discipline around resisting free booze and junk food, which is a work-in-progress.

As for the Boys Club, I’ve had to just ignore a lot of shit, figure out who my true allies are and which battles are worth fighting, and ultimately prove myself in my work.  I have learned to find the joy in smashing stereotypes and the humor in witnessing that my existence cause squirming or heads exploding. I enjoy poking holes in the patriarchy every time I go to work, and I try to stay involved in networks like WAM and SoundGirls, where we can share experiences, knowledge, and resources.

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

Don’t let your insecurities limit you.  Take as many opportunities to learn and gain experience as you can.  If you’re unsure of the equipment, you’re using or the type of gig you’re doing, do some homework.  Read some manuals, watch some tutorials, get yourself prepared, and then jump in.

Don’t let others intimidate you out of it.  It may seem like there’s a way you’re supposed to look and act, but that’s because the job has been portrayed a certain way for so long.

Embrace your skills and what makes you unique.

Have a sense of humor, drop the ego, be professional, humble, and kind.  There’s nothing more refreshing than a friendly engineer and a crew that’s having fun.  There are plenty of grumpy sound people out there…don’t be one of them!

Must have skills?

I think the best sound engineers have a trifecta of interpersonal, technical, and musical skills: I treat it like a customer service job.  I’m there to serve the needs of the Artist, the audience, and the venue, not my ego. I do my best to communicate well and try to make everyone happy.  It’s important to be able to adapt quickly to new technology and have strong attention-to-detail. It helps to have a musical background, to be able to relate to musicians and know musical terms and genres and to have an ear for music.

Favorite gear?

To be honest, I’m not really a “gear head.”  On tour, I request an Avid SC48 or Profile console, because I’m quickest on those.  I love my vintage Telefunken 421 and UA 710 Twinfinity preamp that I have in my home studio.  But ultimately I’d say my ears are my favorite gear. They’re more important than anything I could buy, and it’s been a process learning to trust them and understand them better.

Visit Maya’s website

 

The Power of an All Women Team

I just got home from a load-in that I’ve been dreading for months. To my surprise, I don’t feel exhausted, I don’t have any harrowing stories of woe to share, and I’m not annoyed, frustrated, or angry. Instead, what I feel is proud, accomplished, and satisfied. I’m not immediately sure what is different about this load-in, and then it hits me: There was not one man on this team. The power of the all-women team is real, and I’m about to tell you why.

Yes, I am a feminist. No, I do not hate men. Yes, I work with great guys all the time. So why has my experience with this all-women team been so remarkable? I’m really not sure, and to be honest, I never expected myself to be the person attributing a smooth process to the lack of testosterone in the room, but here we are. Let me start with a little back story on the project.

This load-in was at my resident theatre company. The load-in was for a musical theatre show featuring a six-piece live band on stage. The Sound Designer (also a woman) is a guest, so the rest of the team has been prepping in advance of her arrival. All along, we have checked with her on patching preferences, microphone choices, speaker placement, etc., and she’s been very relaxed and happy with the choices that we’ve made. We haven’t had to deal with any ego or power trip. We haven’t encountered the “only brown M&Ms” on the rider just to make sure we’re paying attention. Easy and efficient is how I would describe the process of advancing this Sound Designer.

Because this show is just a two-hour long concert, we agreed to let the majority of the gear (monitors, FOH console + engineer, microphones, keyboard, etc.) be in the rehearsal room. The intention was that monitor levels, mixes and scenes could be dialed in during the rehearsal process, and save us some valuable tech time. Because all of our gear was sitting in rehearsal during our usual load-in time, we had a finite amount of change over time from rehearsal to stage in preparation for upcoming sound levels time and tech.

The last rehearsal ended at 3:30 pm. My crew, which consisted of the show’s A1, A2, and Assistant Sound Designer, started loading out the rehearsal room at 5:00 pm. We got to the stage around 6:30 pm and began mapping out our setup. Everything must be ready and working by 1:00 pm the next day for the Sound Designer’s designated sound levels time. This process isn’t entirely as cut and dry as it might sound. In addition to making sure everything looks and sounds great on this stage, we have to consider the outdoor theater this show will travel to in two weeks. We need to make sure we have enough resources set aside to support a significant orchestra recording that is coming up at the end of the week and the next musical that will be on this stage.

In addition to the band on stage, we also have two speaker specials hidden in the scenery, 2 Rio stage boxes 50 feet apart, and a wireless microphone rack used for actor body mics, and three of the instruments on stage. We also have eight channels of QLab and an external audio interface. All of this has to be networked in our Dante system. As the load-in progressed, some plans had to change, different runs needed to be made and troubleshooting gear.  This was the part when I noticed a difference in many of my past load-ins. These young women, basically fresh out of college, were very smart, keeping all of the pieces tracked through their plans, and working efficiently and calmly.

As a woman working in a male-dominated field, I have been undermined, discounted, and “little-lady’ed” more times than I can count. This regular kind of interaction or expectation has made me permanently defensive, not only for myself but for my fellow SoundGirls in the industry. I have found myself on various calls watching the interaction between women and men, wondering if I’m going to have to drop what I’m doing to come to the defense of another woman who is being railroaded. When I’m juggling all kinds of various technical elements in my brain during a time-sensitive load-in, the last thing I need to be thinking about is whether or not (or how many times) I’m going to have to defend my position to a man who thinks he knows better. Whether or not that situation occurs, the possibility of its existence automatically puts me in defense mode every time.

Here’s the thing about all of this subconscious self-protection: I didn’t know I was doing that until I didn’t have to do it anymore. As I said, I was dreading this load-in. I knew so much was riding on my planning. When my expected stress never arrived at the onset of the load-in, I had to actively think about what was different. All of us on that project were able to focus on the task at hand and nothing else. What a luxury I didn’t know I was missing. Because of this cohesive team and everyone’s smart and careful planning, we walked out of the space at 10:30 pm, hours ahead of what I was expecting. I drove home beaming with pride. Why can’t every job be this way?

The moral of this story is not that we should kick all of the men out of our industry. The moral is that we ALL need to be able to work on an equal and cohesive team. I do not want to see the new generation developing the same defensive complex that I have. To the men reading this blog, pay attention at your next gig. Pay attention to your interactions and the interactions of your fellow male team members. Do you notice a difference in how you interact with the women on your team?  Does your voice change? Do your facial expressions vary? What about your body language? All of these things are second nature to all of us, so much I wasn’t even aware I was missing the serenity of working on an all-women team, you might not even be aware that your responses change for no other reason than the gender of the other party. If you see it, when you see it, change it. Make yourself aware. Stopping the cycle starts with you. It’s a fight the women of this industry have been fighting forever. Be an ally, be supportive, be on our team.

Choose a Different Route

 

The other day I was on my way to work, and I always take the same route unless there are some disruptions on my tube line. There were, in fact, some disruptions this particular day so I had to take different trains, but luckily that route takes about the same amount of time for me to take me from my home to work.

I thought that I almost prefer this other route, it is mostly overground and you know, it is nice to change up your habits a bit. We tend to get stuck in the same routines. Mix a show in the same way you’ve always done, mic up a drum kit the same way as you always do, EQ monitors precisely the way you did yesterday. Sure it is tried and tested, but it gets a bit repetitive after a while.

Playing it safe:

In the live industry, you sort of have to play it safe most of the time, simply because there is no time to be adventurous. You got to make it sound good, and you have to do it fast.

However, if you are a venue engineer, you can easily get set in the same ways. But if you don’t challenge yourself, you’re not going to improve nor learn something new. It is like working out in the gym, if you work out a muscle the same way and not adding weight or variety to it you will not become stronger. You will simply just plateau.

The upside of being a venue engineer is that it is a safe environment. If you have been in a place for a little while, you probably feel relatively comfortable and will hopefully have a small bit of extra time to play around with things. This is a perfect environment to try and do things differently if you’ve got something that is tried and tested, you’ve always got that to fall back onto.

The ‘One-way’ route:

I work in a venue where the speakers are all hidden away and scattered around the building, surrounded by loads of marble. Not ideal for creating ‘the perfect sound.’ You just have to make it sound good with what you’ve got, and honestly, it is not that bad. However, anytime there is a visiting engineer they get entirely thrown off; because they are so set in the way they usually do things they can’t figure out a different route to get where they want to go..

The live sound industry is not a ‘one-way’ route. There are tons of roundabouts, disruptions, left turns, stops, and traffic lights. Some people work at 100mph and others are lingering around about 30mph. You have to adapt and treat every situation differently.

Very often you just have to work around it. With amazing gear nowadays, it is easy to forget the room and how critical it is for the overall sound of the show. Halls, venues, arenas, stadiums all sound different, there is not a ‘one-way route’ to mix a performance.

Challenge yourself:

We need to be thrown off in able to learn new things. Adapt the way you set up and tune to each venue, each artist. Work off the basics but work with space you are in vs. fighting it.  Ask engineers that work in that venue regularly, how they go about tuning the room. Always be willing to adapt, change, and learn new things.

So whenever you have any disruptions on your line, embrace it. Approach it with the right attitude, and you will see that it will not set you back as much as you might have thought it would. See it as a new learning experience, and hey, you might even find yourself enjoying the alternative route!

 

 

I Have Confidence in Me

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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