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Do I Still Know How To Do My Job?

My last mixing FOH for a real audience was January 8, 2020. For some reason I feel a necessity to write down a year as well, being afraid that if this stand-still stays longer than we all hope I’ll still be able to track down to my last real show. I only wish we won’t get in the scenario of those memes where there’s a senior person being led by a young kid saying “my 2020 gigs were rescheduled again” and the youngster answers “let it go granny, it’s 2063 already”.

So, it’s over a year at this point without being surrounded by live music, audience cheers, and the feeling of those butterflies in a stomach two minutes before a show starts. I had rehearsals with my supposed-to-be cast on a cruise ship through mid-February to mid-March, so I feel like I was still in the right vibe. And after that –  that’s it.

The slow sway of a vaccination process gives some positive thoughts that we’re moving in the right direction and one day to be able to get back to our jobs, Here comes the scariest part. Do I still know how to do my job?

I was talking with other artists and randomly we started talking about skill loss when not practicing. An artist that I genuinely admire, shared his experience that after not painting for a year it was very frustrating to take a brush in a hand again, and then it took time to get back the same technique. A scriptwriter told me that not writing a script for some time has become a struggle to get those creative juices going again. Then I thought about myself, as an ex-drummer. When our high school band split up and I stopped drumming for good. A couple of years later I got a job as a backline tech and one day I got asked to do a drum soundcheck. Kick – fine. Snare- fine. You know how it goes. And then a guy running FOH who knew about my drummer career asked me to play something. I froze, couldn’t keep a steady 4/4 beat. So, at this point, I already know how it feels to try doing something that you knew well some time ago, but suddenly it feels so unknown. –

Let’s point out that I’m not only talking about mixing. Mixing is easy, I see live sound engineering as a complex set of skills. A lot of us, live sound engineers, didn’t have a necessity to be sharp for over a year, no 5-minute changeovers, no crew management, no immediate problem solving on the fly, no 300ft power cable ran backward, you name it. All of these skills didn’t come overnight. It took years and years going through fire and ice just not to freak out and learn how to calmly make the right decisions. Thinking about that honestly makes me worry, do I still know how to behave? Or is it just like riding a bike? Am I the only one in the industry concerned? Or will it be a slow start for everybody when live shows will get back? Is there a way to do a self-check? Or it is not necessary, because everything we knew comes back naturally once we start doing what we’ve been doing?

Can’t tell how much I appreciate those virtual product presentations, free training, and Q&A sessions. I haven’t watched that many educational videos ever in my life. But does that keep us, live sound engineers acute and prepared for the live environment? Can’t wait the day to come to find out!


Dovile Bindokaite is currently based and working as a freelance sound engineer in Lithuania. She has an MA degree in sound engineering and started working in sound in 2012. Since 2014, she has worked in various positions in live sound including FOH, monitor engineer, sound engineer for broadcasting, RF coordinator, backline tech, stage tech, stage manager. For the past year, she was part of an audio team at Schubert Systems Group (USA). She has experience working in theatre as a sound designer and recording studios as a recording engineer.

 

One Size Does Not Fit All in Acoustics

Have you ever stood outside when it has been snowing and noticed that it feels “quieter” than normal? Have you ever heard your sibling or housemate play music or talk in the room next to you and hear only the lower frequency content on the other side of the wall? People are better at perceptually understanding acoustics than we give ourselves credit for. In fact our hearing and our ability to perceive where a sound is coming from is important to our survival because we need to be able to tell if danger is approaching. Without necessarily thinking about it, we get a lot of information about the world around us through localization cues gathered from the time offsets between direct and reflected sounds arriving at our ears that our brain performs quick analysis on compared to our visual cues.

Enter the entire world of psychoacoustics

Whenever I walk into a music venue during a morning walk-through, I try to bring my attention to the space around me: What am I hearing? How am I hearing it? How does that compare to the visual data I’m gathering about my surroundings? This clandestine, subjective information gathering is important to reality check the data collected during the formal, objective measurement processes of systems tunings. People spend entire lifetimes researching the field of acoustics, so instead of trying to give a “crash course” in acoustics, we are going to talk about some concepts to get you interested in the behavior that you have already been spending your whole life learning from an experiential perspective without realizing it. I hope that by the end of reading this you will realize that the interactions of signals in the audible human hearing range are complex because the perspective changes depending on the relationships of frequency, wavelength, and phase between the signals.

The Magnitudes of Wavelength

Before we head down this rabbit hole, I want to point out one of the biggest “Eureka!” moments I had in my audio education was when I truly understood what Jean-Baptiste Fourier discovered in 1807 [1] regarding the nature of complex waveforms. Jean-Baptiste Fourier discovered that a complex waveform can be “broken down” into its many component waves that when recombined create the original complex waveform. For example, this means that a complex waveform, say the sound of a human singing, can be broken down into the many composite sine waves that add together to create the complex original waveform of the singer. I like to conceptualize the behavior of sound under the philosophical framework of Fourier’s discoveries. Instead of being overwhelmed by the complexities as you go further down the rabbit hole, I like to think that the more that I learn, the more the complex waveform gets broken into its component sine waves.

Conceptualizing sound field behavior is frequency-dependent

 

One of the most fundamental quandaries about analyzing the behavior of sound propagation is due to the fact that the wavelengths that we work with in the audible frequency range vary in orders of magnitude. We generally understand the audible frequency range of human hearing to be 20 cycles per second (Hertz) -20,000 cycles per second (20 kilohertz), which varies with age and other factors such as hearing damage. Now recall the basic formula for determining wavelength at a given frequency:

Wavelength (in feet or meters) = speed of sound (feet or meters) / frequency (Hertz) **must use same units for wavelength and speed of sound i.e. meters and meters per second**

So let’s look at some numbers here given specific parameters of the speed of sound since we know that the speed of sound varies due to factors such as altitude, temperature, and humidity. The speed of sound at “average sea level”, which is roughly 1 atmosphere or 101.3 kiloPascals [2]), at 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), and at 0% humidity is approximately 343 meters per second or approximately 1,125 feet per second [3]. There is a great calculator online at sengpielaudio.com if you don’t want to have to manually calculate this [3]. So if we use the formula above to calculate the wavelength for 20 Hz and 20kHz with this value for the speed of sound we get (we will use Imperial units because I live in the United States):

Wavelength of 20 Hz= 1,125 ft/s / 20 Hz = 56.25 feet

Wavelength of 20 kHz or 20,000 Hertz = 1,125 ft/s / 20,000 Hz = 0.0563 feet or 0.675 inches

This means that we are dealing with wavelengths that range from roughly the size of a penny to the size of a building. We see this in a different way as we move up in octaves along the audible range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz because as we increase frequency, the number of frequencies per octave band increases logarithmically.

32 Hz-63 Hz

63-125 Hz

125-250 Hz

250-500 Hz

500-1000 Hz

1000-2000 Hz

2000-4000 Hz

4000-8000 Hz

8000-16000 Hz

Look familiar??

Unfortunately, what this ends up meaning to us sound engineers is that there is no “catch-all” way of modeling the behavior of sound that can be applied to the entire audible frequency spectrum. It means that the size of objects and surfaces obstructing or interacting with sound may or may not create issues depending on its size in relation to the frequency under scrutiny.

For example, take the practice of placing a measurement mic on top of a flat board to gather what is known as a “ground plane” measurement. For example, placing the mic on top of a board, and putting the board on top of seats in a theater. This is a tactic I use primarily in highly reflective room environments to take measurements of a loudspeaker system in order to observe the system behavior without the degradation from the reflections in the room. Usually, because I don’t have control over changing the acoustics of the room itself (see using in-house, pre-installed PAs in a venue). The caveat to this method is that if you use a board, the board has to be at least a wavelength at the lowest frequency of interest. So if you have a 4ft x 4 ft board for your ground plane, the measurements are really only helpful from roughly 280 Hz and above (solve for : 1,125 ft/s / 4 ft  ~280 Hz given the assumption of the speed of sound discussed earlier). Below that frequency, the wavelengths of the signal under test will be larger in relation to the board so the benefits of the ground plane do not apply. The other option to extend the usable range of the ground plane measurement is to place the mic on the ground (like in an arena) so that the floor becomes an extension of the boundary itself.

Free Field vs. Reverberant Field:

When we start talking about the behavior of sound, it’s very important to make the distinction about what type of sound field behavior we are observing, modeling, and/or analyzing. If that isn’t confusing enough, depending on the scenario, the sound field behavior will change depending on what frequency range is under scrutiny. Most loudspeaker prediction software works by using calculations based on measurements of the loudspeaker in the free field. To conceptualize how sound operates in the free field, imagine a single, point-source loudspeaker floating high above the ground, outside, and with no obstructions insight. Based on the directivity index of the loudspeaker, the sound intensity will propagate outward from the origin according to the inverse square law. We must remember that the directivity index is frequency-dependent, which means that we must look at this behavior as frequency-dependent. As a refresher, this spherical radiation of sound intensity from the point source results in 6dB loss per doubling of distance. As seen in Figure A, sound intensity propagating at radius “r” will increase by a factor of r^2 since we are in the free field and sound pressure radiates omnidirectionally as a sphere outward from the origin.

Figure A. A point source in the free field exhibits spherical behavior according to the inverse square law where sound intensity is lost 6dB per doubling of distance

 

The inverse square law applies to point-source behavior in the free field, yet things grow more complex when we start talking about line sources and Fresnel zones. The relationship between point source and line source behavior changes whether we are observing the source in the near field or far field since a directional source becomes a point source if observed in the far-field. Line source behavior is a subject that can have an entire blog or book on its own, so for the sake of brevity, I will redirect you to the Audio Engineering Society white papers on the subject such as the 2003 white paper on “Wavefront Sculpture Technology” by Christian Heil, Marcel Urban, and Paul Bauman [4].

Free field behavior, by definition, does not take into account the acoustical properties of the venue that the speakers exist in. Free field conditions exist pretty much only outdoors in an open area. The free field does, however, make speaker interactions easier to predict especially when we have known direct (on-axis) and off-axis measurements comprising the loudspeakers’ polar data. Since loudspeakers manufacturers have this high-resolution polar data of their speakers, they can predict how elements will interact with one another in the free field. The only problem is that anyone who has ever been inside a venue with a PA system knows that we aren’t just listening to the direct field of the loudspeakers even when we have great audience coverage of a system. We also listen to the energy returned from the room in the reverberant field.

As mentioned in the introduction to this blog, our hearing allows us to gather information about the environment that we are in. Sound radiates in all directions, but it has directivity relative to the frequency range being considered and the dispersion pattern of the source. Now if we take that imaginary point source loudspeaker from our earlier example and listen to it in a small room, we will hear not only the direct sound coming from the loudspeaker to our ears, but also the reflections from the loudspeaker bouncing off the walls and then back at our ears delayed by some offset in time. Direct sound often correlates to something we see visually like hearing the on-axis, direct signal from a loudspeaker. Since reflections result from the sound bouncing off other surfaces then arriving at our ears, what they don’t contribute to the direct field, they add to the reverberant field that helps us perceive spatial information about the room we are in.

 

Signals arriving on an obstructed path to our ears we perceive as direct arrivals, whereas signals bouncing off a surface and arriving with some offset in time are reflections

 

Our ears are like little microphones that send aural information to our brain. Our ears vary from person to person in size, shape, and the distance between them. This gives everyone their own unique time and level offsets based on the geometry between their ears which create our own individual head-related transfer functions (HRTF). Our brain combines the data of the direct and reflected signals to discern where the sound is coming from. The time offsets between a reflected signal and the direct arrival determine whether our brain will perceive the signals as coming from one source or two distinct sources. This is known as the precedence effect or Haas effect. Sound System Engineering by Don Davis, Eugene Patronis, Jr., & Pat Brown (2013), notes that our brain integrates early reflections arriving within “35-50 ms” from the direct arrival as a single source. Once again, we must remember that this is an approximate value for time since actual timing will be frequency-dependent. Late reflections that arrive later than 50ms do not get integrated with the direct arrival and instead are perceived as two separate sources [5]. When two signals have a large enough time offset between them, we start to perceive the two separate sources as echoes. Specular reflections can be particularly obnoxious because they arrive at our ears either with an increased level or angle of incidence such that they can interfere with our perception of localized sources.

Specular reflections act like reflections off a mirror bouncing back at the listener

 

Diffuse reflections, on the other hand, tend to lack localization and add more to the perception of “spaciousness” of the room, yet depending on frequency and level can still degrade intelligibility. Whether the presence of certain reflections will degrade or add to the original source are highly dependent on their relationship to the dimensions of the room.

 

Various acoustic diffusers and absorbers used to spread out reflections [6]

In the Master Handbook of Acoustics by F. Alton Everest and Ken C. Pohlmann (2015), they illustrate how “the behavior of sound is greatly affected by the wavelength of the sound in comparison to the size of objects encountered” [7]. Everest & Pohlmann describe how the varying size of wavelength depending on frequency means that how we model sound behavior will vary in relation to the room dimensions. There is a frequency range at which in smaller rooms, the dimensions of the room are shorter than the wavelength such that the room cannot contribute boosts due to resonance effects [7]. Everest & Pohlmann note that when the wavelength becomes comparable to room dimensions, we enter modal behavior. At the top of this range marks the “cutoff frequency” to which we can begin to describe the interactions using “wave acoustics”, and as we progress into the higher frequencies of the audible range we can model these short-wavelength interactions using ray behavior. One can find the equations for estimating these ranges based on room length, width, and height dimensions in the Master Handbook of Acoustics. It’s important to note that while we haven’t explicitly discussed phase, its importance is implied since it is a necessary component to understanding the relationship between signals. After all, the phase relationship between two copies of the same signal will determine whether their interaction will result in constructive or destructive interference. What Everest & Pohlmann are getting at is that how we model and predict sound field behavior will change based on wavelength, frequency, and room dimensions. It’s not as easy as applying one set of rules to the entire audible spectrum.

Just the Beginning

So we haven’t even begun to talk about the effects of properties of surfaces such absorption coefficients and RT60 times, and yet we already see the increasing complexity of the interactions between signals based on the fact we are dealing with wavelengths that differ in orders of magnitude. In order to simplify predictions, most loudspeaker prediction software uses measurements gathered in the free field. Although acoustic simulation software, such as EASE, exists that allows the user to factor in properties of the surfaces, often we don’t know the information that is needed to account for things such as absorption coefficients of a material unless someone gets paid to go and take those measurements. Or the acoustician involved with the design has well documented the decisions that were made during the architecture of the venue. Yet despite the simplifications needed to make prediction easier, we still carry one of the best tools for acoustical analysis with us every day: our ears. Our ability to perceive information about the space around us based on interaural level and time differences from signals arriving at our ears allows us to analyze the effects of room acoustics based on experience alone. It’s important when looking at the complexity involved with acoustic analysis to remember the pros and cons of our subjective and objective tools. Do the computer’s predictions make sense based on what I hear happening in the room around me? Measurement analysis tools allow us to objectively identify problems and their origins that aren’t necessarily perceptible to our ears. Yet remembering to reality check with our ears is important because otherwise, it’s easy to get lost in the rabbit hole of increasing complexity as we get further into our engineering of audio. At the end of the day, our goal is to make the show sound “good”, whatever that means to you.

Endnotes:

[1] https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201003/physicshistory.cfm

[2] (pg. 345) Giancoli, D.C. (2009). Physics for Scientists & Engineers with Modern Physics. Pearson Prentice Hall.

[3] http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-airpressure.htm

[4] https://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=12200

[5] (pg. 454) Davis, D., Patronis, Jr., E. & Brown, P. Sound System Engineering. (2013). 4th ed. Focal Press.

[6] “recording studio 2” by JDB Sound Photography is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

[7] (pg. 235) Everest, F.A. & Pohlmann, K. (2015). Master Handbook of Acoustics. 6th ed. McGraw-Hill Education.

Resources:

American Physical Society. (2010, March). This Month in Physics History March 21, 1768: Birth of Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier. APS Newshttps://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201003/physicshistory.cfm

Davis, D., Patronis, Jr., E. & Brown, P. Sound System Engineering. (2013). 4th ed. Focal Press.

Everest, F.A. & Pohlmann, K. (2015). Master Handbook of Acoustics. 6th ed. McGraw-Hill Education.

Giancoli, D.C. (2009). Physics for Scientists & Engineers with Modern Physics. Pearson Prentice Hall.

JDB Photography. (n.d.). [recording studio 2] [Photograph]. Creative Commons. https://live.staticflickr.com/7352/9725447152_8f79df5789_b.jpg

Sengpielaudio. (n.d.). Calculation: Speed of sound in humid air (Relative humidity). Sengelpielaudio. http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-airpressure.htm

Urban, M., Heil, C., & Bauman, P. (2003). Wavefront Sculpture Technology. [White paper]. Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, 51(10), 912-932.

https://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=12200

Preparing to Maybe Go Back To Work

 

It has been almost a year since I flew home from rehearsals to do laundry and pack for a tour that would have kept me on the road well into this year. Instead of putting my laundry into a suitcase, it went back into my dresser. At first, we thought we would start our tour in June, but alas we all know what happened.

With the arrival of the vaccines, I am hopeful that I might return to work in the fall. That being said, it is going to take much longer for our industry to come back as much of the infrastructure has been broken, we have lost vendors, venues, and crew people. We will all need to work together and have some empathy for everyone when we are able to return to touring.

Today, I was wondering where my gig bag, passport, and show files were, so strange as I always knew where these things were, usually by the front door. I will have to dig my gig bag out of the closet and check for show files and passport and when it might expire. So this got me thinking about the things I need to do before returning to work, and while it seems far away it really is not. I thought I would share some thoughts about preparing to return and changes and plans that need to be put in place.

PASSPORT

Check your passport to see when it might expire and if it is coming up, get it renewed now. Passports are usually not valid for travel six months before it expires, so don’t wait until you need it.

If you do not have a passport, I urge you to get one, when work does resume you don’t want to lose out on gigs because you do not have a valid passport.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply.html

Driver License

Double-check your Driver’s License and make sure you have applied for The Real ID.

On October 1, 2021, U.S. travelers must be REAL ID-compliant to board domestic flights and access certain federal facilities. https://www.dhs.gov/real-id

GIG BAG

Clean out and restock your Gig Bag. If you are missing tools or testers now is the time to purchase them. Rat Sound Systems sells many items you need in a gig bag and offers SoundGirls Members a discount. If you don’t have a Gig Bag put one together.

What’s In Your Go Bag?

Show Files

I am almost scared to look at my show files, the last time I saw them was at rehearsals and there were so many new cues, inputs, and even a new band member that I no longer know what we covered in rehearsals, all my notes are locked away in my workbox in storage. But I am gonna take a look at the files and see what I can clean up and organize a bit better.

If you don’t have show files, visit manufacturers’ websites and download the offline editors. (almost all the manufacturers offer these) You can start learning how these consoles work, build a template, learn how to route things, etc.

Resume

Make sure your resume is clean, professional, and up to date. You may find that you need to make a few different versions of your resume to be more detailed for different disciplines in audio. If you work in both live sound and post-production and if you are applying for a touring gig do not send a resume full of post-production work.

Social Media

Clean up your social media and make sure it is professional. You may want to start separate accounts one for personal and one that is professional.

Here are tips for resumes and social media.

Career Development – Resources for Resumes and Social Media

Professional Directories

Make sure you are listed in professional directories and that your information is up to date. You can find a list of directories here

Women in the Professional Audio

Referral Lists

I only refer people for gigs that I have worked with or know personally with great attitudes. I am updating my lists as things are gonna be a bit weird when we return to work. I am checking in with people I normally refer gigs to see if they plan to return or their general availability. I am also making a secondary list of people that I may not know but come highly recommended by people I trust. I am also making sure that I add women and BIPOC to my referrals.

Hearing Tests and Hearing Protection

Get a hearing test and take steps now to protect your hearing. Get in the habit of getting annual hearing tests.

Audiologists and Hearing Tests

Hearing Health – Hearing Test

Healthy Ears Are Happy Ears

Finances

If 2020 taught us anything it is that we might need more of a safety net (since The U.S. Government has completely failed to assist unemployed people)  of 3 to 6 months of living expenses saved. Now is the time to get a budget in place and savings for emergencies and retirement. Andrea Espinoza walks us through this process and is available to assist you. ajayespinoza@gmail.com

 

Training and Education

With all the webinars and online training offered last year, you may have found yourself burned out. Now is the time to make a list of what you need to know or understand and sign up or find the training info you need.

Stamina

Working 16 hour days on concrete is going to come as a shock to us both mentally and physically. I am planning on changing up more exercise program to start building muscle strength.

Power Struggles – Work and Physicality

Finally, if you are in a leadership role I encourage you to diversify your workplace and to implement sexual harassment training. When we do go back to work we want an industry that is safe and diverse.

Diversify Your Crew

Calling All Crows

Has an extensive sexual harassment training program and will work with you. Contact Kim Warnick

Hope to see you on the road soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How I Got Started

 

When I was 13 or 14, I was reading the liner notes of some CD and saw that one track had been written, recorded, produced, and mixed by one of the band members. At the time I only had a loose grasp of what most of those things meant, but I knew one thing: I wanted to be able to do all of that. Someday I would have a liner note like that all to myself. (Ironically, nine years later I have stayed almost exclusively within live sound.)

A local DIY music venue I knew of offered both audio classes and volunteer opportunities. I quickly convinced a friend to take the first class with me: Live Sound 101, a primer on signal flow, miking techniques, and general day-of-show procedures. Live Sound 102: Mixing for Monitors soon followed. Before long, thanks to the open schedule of a high schooler and parents who would pick me up at midnight, I was volunteering at shows multiple times a week. Within six months I had gotten through all of the classes: Small PA Systems, Mixing for Front of House and Troubleshooting. Once I felt comfortable behind the monitor board I moved up to shadowing the front-of-house engineers.

Like a lot of people, my first gig was unplanned. Around a year and a half, after I first started volunteering, I found myself sitting in rush hour traffic on I-5 with another volunteer friend, worrying about whether we’d make our 5 PM call time. Before leaving my house, we had noticed that there still wasn’t anyone listed as the sound engineer that night, and we spent the drive speculating about who (if anyone) would be there when we showed up. Suddenly my phone rang – the venue was calling me. I picked up, and a voice on the other end told me that they still hadn’t found anyone to come in, but it was okay because I could just run sound, right? The interns were busy, but one could come after doors if we felt like we needed him. Surprised, and feeling nervous, I agreed.

That was that –  suddenly, I was the sound engineer, and my friend who was signed up to shadow the sound engineer was now shadowing me. The show itself is a blur, and I don’t remember much, but I know that once I got over the initial anxiousness and we got to work, things went pretty smoothly. It was a hardcore show, and a few of the bands contained audio students I recognized from a local community college. I went in and filled out the hiring paperwork a few days later, and it was official. I had my first job as a sound engineer.

 

This Show Must Go Off

 

Episode One: The Sudan Archives at Bowery Ballroom. March 12th, 2020.

I had started this blog with the intention that small venues would be re-open by this point in the United States. I remember early March, deciding to close our doors, knowing that the city-wide shutdown was imminent. Thinking it would last a month, at most. “Get some needed rest, file for unemployment, we will all get back to it before you know it,” I remember welcoming the little break. Having worked through all of the holidays, and truly needing some R&R. Weeks turned into months, and we approach one year without a definite reopen date. Thanks to the incredibly smart, dedicated work of N.I.V.A (the National Independent Venue Association), and the heart and soul of everyone that works at The Bowery Ballroom, we stand a great chance at coming back from this thing better and brighter. It is my hope that we continue to be a positive experience for all artists, crew, staff and patrons that come through our doors.

I want to take you through a show at our venue step by step, pre-Co-Vid. In hopes that giving you this inside look will help you grow in whatever path you decide to pursue.

We barely debated rescheduling the Sudan Archives performance on March 12th. They were coming to Bowery from a fairly long tour. On our side, we had seen admission steadily and noticeably decline since the beginning of March, but nothing to call a deal-breaker. When asked if they would like to go ahead with the show, there was no question in their mind, this was their New York play, and like so many other bands, they wanted to make it special. Plus there was a videographer from German Public TV looking to document the performance.

As with most advancing, I let the artist take the lead. At our capacity, most artists are traveling with a Tour Manager, or someone fairly experienced in management, and can properly organize their tour, and translate it to the house. This was no exception. The TM/FOH was professional in every sense of the word; nice, extremely easy to work with, talented, and familiar. Our paths had crossed when I was traveling in Atlanta a few years prior.

As is industry standard, this advance email came in one month before the show date, and had everything I was looking for:

Point of contacts and multiple ways to reach them

-Travel vehicle/Parking needs

-Load in needs and Questions

-Proposed Production Schedule/Run of Show (*Though important note, the door/show timings are usually somewhat planned in the booking/contracting/ticketing phase.) 

-Plot/Input List

-Hospitality Requests, number of people for dinner (buyouts) and Questions

– Merch info and the request for a house seller 

-Settlement info

See the consolidated and annotated version of the tech rider:

This show took all of a few hours, and a follow-up phone call to sort.  There would be a Front of House engineer, Monitor engineer, Lighting Designer and myself as Production Manager, and load-in would begin three hours before doors. Then, as can be expected for New York, the special requests come trickling in.

About a week before the show, I was given word of this German film crew looking to document the night. Typically this is one that the House Manager and I tackle together. Our venue is one of many that charges an origination fee to film the façade, or inside of our space. We also require prior written approval from our promoter, as well as the artist, to ensure everyone is on the same page with permissions.

*Learning moment for any new TM’s out there, always get any photo/video information to the venue as soon as possible, and make the artist/film crew aware that there could be fees associated before they lock anything in. Smart artists/crew work with the film team to make sure they handle all necessary fees. Others are often surprised and disappointed by the price sticker at the end and wish they could have invested that money differently.

In this same vein, the artist management put in a request about three days before the show for a barricaded photo pit. At our venue, in particular, we do not own a barricade, nor do we usually barricade the front of the stage. To me as a concertgoer at the venue, it is part of what made seeing my favorite artists so special. To others, it could prove a headache. I had to decline this request and offer substitutions of balcony space for the photographers. To bring in a barricade (this point at Artist Cost) would be over $1,000, and cut sellable capacity significantly for the venue. The second point was the real deal-breaker. This was a sold-out show, and we simply did not have space. Even with attendance dwindling because of coronavirus, it is our responsibility to assume that all will come, and have a safe space to stand.

The final string to tie up was with support. About a week before the show they provided their stage plot/input list, and tax form for settlement.

Simple, and undeniably clear. Pro tip: Always make sure your stage plot has your band name and contact information listed on the document, and that the file is labeled accordingly. PDFs are everyone’s friend. They had asked about visuals for the performance, which is fairly easy to get sorted here. 6,000-lumen projector exists as part of house equipment for artists use. We do advance that the artist provides the media server, which is typically a laptop or some sort of computer, with the content, and that it is able to connect via a VGA cable (which the house provides). The support artist was on tour with Sudan Archives, and it all made for a very seamless and transparent advance.

There was one final check-in the day before the show, to make sure no other higher powers had canceled. I told the T.M. we were trucking along with business as usual, and looking forward to it.

The crew always gets the abridged version over a calendar invite looking something like the following:

When hearing of the addition of the film crew, as well as the imminent shutdown, I had hired a lighting designer more comfortable with film and focused my attention on advancing this shut down information with the remainder of our March shows.

Day of Show:

I arrived sometime between eleven and noon to start my day at the club. Checking everything over, answering emails, ordering the hospitality, and sorting any last-minute needs for the event.  Once load-in begins, I shift my responsibilities to whatever tech role is needed for the day. Though it can be demanding, being able to regularly mix for a venue where I manage, is incredibly rewarding, and often makes all of the mundane computer work worth it. I am sure many other TM/FOH engineers can agree.

The green room was set up by 3:00 pm, and the house crew started to arrive at 4:00 pm. PA, consoles, Monitors, and lights are all tested before the artist arrives. If the stage was not cleared of decking from the night before, now would be the time to clear it. I shared any last-minute notes I received from the show, made sure the crew had printouts of the riders and stage plots and I’m sure casually, and ignorantly joked about the coronavirus.

Load-in was very smooth and as expected. Merchandise took up the majority of the space in the van, followed by wardrobe, then production. Lewis quickly tackled the artists’ key needs of the day within the first hour and was getting soundcheck underway as scheduled. There was a last-minute addition of the use of atmospherics, to add to the light show. I secured the permits, notified the LD, and as is standard for us, our LD has a conversation with the artist representation about the look of the show, and how to execute something effective.

Support was on stage to soundcheck by 7:15, just after our Merch Seller arrived, and we were ready to open doors at our scheduled 8:00 pm. Typically if a house seller is requested to sell the artists’ merchandise, a flat fee is paid to the seller and must be approved by the artist as well as the house.

About half of the patrons who purchased tickets actually attended the show. It made the worry of the photo pit seem trivial, but it also made us very uneasy about the state of music, and live events. Especially with someone as talented as Sudan Archives, a show we all enjoyed, more so knowing it would be the last for a little while.  Loadout was as smooth as when the show came in, but a little more somber, as we all worried about getting home on various forms of mass transit, late at night.

The artist and crew were staying local, only having a short ride to Philly the next day. Unsure if anything ever came from the taping of the performance, but like so many who were on the road during this time, they packed up and headed home shortly after this night.

Still having some tech work planned at the venue, I did not advise the crew on any special shut down procedure, and it was about a month before I could get back in to do any real work.

Over these next few months, I plan to talk you through not only what it takes to build a great venue production advance, and what you should be looking for, and what types of events we will see as we transition back into a new normal. This includes: what added responsibilities a Production Manager has to take on, what new safety concerns security and porters must deal with, and how we can build a stronger community for everyone when we re-emerge.

Learn more about tour managing and advancing shows in our 3-Part Series on Tour Managing on our YouTube Channel

Tour Managing/FOH Part One

Tour Managing/FOH Part Two

Tour Managing/FOH Part Three

Rachael Moser System Engineer for Clair Global

Rachael Moser has worked for Clair Global in Nashville for over ten years as a PA Tech, Monitor Systems Tech, RF Tech, Monitor Mixer, and most recently System Engineer/Crew Chief. She has worked in audio for over 15 years and attended Belmont University, graduating from their Audio Engineering Technology program with a BS and minor in business. 

Rachael grew up surrounded by music. Her dad was a bass player in a local band and had a full-scale recording studio in his advertising agency. She would spend time in the studio when school was canceled for snow days and other holidays. She would tag along with her parents to concerts and asked to see Tina Turner. Rachael remembers “being in awe of everything I was witnessing; the lights, the dancers, everything. I also remember whining because it was too loud and being too stubborn to put in earplugs. I find that fact to be quite funny given my current profession. Even though I may have complained, it sparked something inside of me that never burnt out. I can still get that feeling of wonder and awe going to a concert.”

 

Rachael played the oboe and alto saxophone in band throughout middle and high school and described herself as a band nerd. “I was what you would call a self-certified “band nerd.” I was a member of the marching band and was named drum major my senior year. I performed in the backing band for our school’s competitive show choirs, played in the pep band for at-home basketball games, and played in the orchestra for the school musicals. If I wasn’t in class or working on a video project, I was probably in the band room. I enjoyed playing music, but I didn’t LOVE performing. When I found a way to combine my love for music and technology, my passion for playing began to take a backseat.”

Being exposed to both technology and music in school and Rachael developed a love for playing music and working on the student television team. She became an assistant for her video communications teacher, where she could work on editing segments for the daily news and short films that students had put together. Rachael would be introduced to audio while taking a Digital Media Class, where she learned Pro Tools and recording. “It was there that I learned that I could combine my technology background with my love for music and never looked back.”

During her junior year in high school, she realized she wanted to pursue an audio career, although, at the time, she was not thinking about live sound. “I wanted to be a producer and own my own independent record label at the same time. I started looking at various colleges and universities that offered music business degrees along with audio programs. I visited a few different colleges, but none felt like the right fit. One day my dad ran into my middle school band director while out shopping. He suggested I check out Belmont University in Nashville. After my first campus visit, I knew it was where I could get a practical, hands-on education while in a small university environment. I would also have access to top-quality internships and job opportunities by being in Nashville, with Music Row just down the road. I knew it was where I needed to be.”

She would enroll at Belmont University in the Music Business program with a production emphasis. It was during her 3rd semester of college that she was introduced to live sound and when she realized that “I had a totally different audio passion. It didn’t come as much of a surprise seeing how much of a connection I felt going to concerts. I switched my major to Audio Engineering Technology but kept a minor in music business. I knew there was value in understanding how this industry and the music business works.”

At Belmont, Rachael was provided a lot of opportunities to work on and off-campus. One of her first jobs in the industry was working for the student-run live sound company, Clear as A Bell. The students were responsible for advancing, prepping, and working all shows they booked under the faculty advisor’s supervision. “It was a great introduction to knowing what it takes to work a show from start to finish.”

As part of the live sound curriculum, they worked on a series of showcases, which were full-scale productions six times a year in the campus arena. It was during one of these showcases that Rachael was introduced to Clair. Rachael would gain experience working alongside the Clair system engineer and monitor tech, flying the PA, ringing out wedges, mixing FOH and monitors. She says this experience solidified her career path in live sound, and she would set a goal to work at Clair and move her way up to system engineer. 

Rachael has achieved her goal of becoming a system engineer for Clair Global, and while it was not an easy path, it is one that she says was worth it. She now finds herself thinking, “deeply about where this path takes me next. I know at some point, my husband and I hope to start a family. That will be a big change and potentially impact the next steps in my career. For now, I will continue to grow and educate myself to become an even better system engineer.”

Career Start

I have worked for Clair Global since January 2010. I first started working at Clair in their Nashville shop my last semester at Belmont as part of a student work partnership. I would work two days a week testing cables or assist in whatever department needed help that day. One day it could be the speaker department, getting PA systems tested and ready for a tour. Another day could be in tour prep, packing caddies, and helping the touring staff get their stage and console packages together. During this time, I learned how each department worked and saw how each tour came together. After graduation, I was offered a full-time position in the electronics department, assembling racks. I would spend the next three years working in the electronics shop, specializing in wireless and intercom systems. I moved to Lititz, PA, in 2013 to complete the road staff training program. After training, I moved back to Nashville and have been touring in various roles since, from PA Tech, Monitor Systems Tech, RF Tech, Monitor Mixer, to most recently System Engineer/Crew Chief.

How did your first internships or jobs help build a foundation for where you are now?

In my early years, I learned a lot about myself and who I wanted to be. Starting out, I was so shy and intimidated by everyone else in my classes. It seemed everyone else was further along in their knowledge of audio or had already been working in audio for a few years. I felt behind the curve, and like I would never catch up. I knew the only way to overcome any of that doubt was to put my head down and learn. I took every job and internship as an opportunity to advance further. Not every internship I had was fulfilling from the technical standpoint, but I learned where I wanted to end up and what I wanted to achieve. 

When I was first starting out at Clair after college, I was offered the opportunity to run sound for a new worship service starting at a local church. It was an entirely new system that was installed, and I was walking into it about a week before the first service. I was doing it all, setting up the tech cart (the console was a Yamaha LS9 that was on a cart with the lighting console that rolled out of a storage closet and patched into a column in the center of the room), patching the stage, running monitors from front of house, etc. This job taught me a lot about self-sufficiency and time management. I absolutely loved my job running sound at the church and continued to do so for several years until I started touring. I’ll still occasionally fill in if I’m home on a Sunday morning. 

What did you learn interning and on your early gigs?

In my early gigs, I was able to develop the confidence I needed to make it in this industry. I remember the very first show I ever had to mix on campus; I was so nervous that I passed out while mixing. Everything was going along fine, but my adrenaline bottomed out, and I may have locked my knees, and I went face-first into the console. I was mortified and wanted nothing more than to run back to my dorm and never come back. But I remembered the few moments right before I left a small dent in that Midas Venice console; I felt so alive. I felt like I was right where I belong. Sure, I could run away and be too embarrassed to mix a show again. Or I could take a beat, remember to breathe, and move on. And move on is what I chose to do. Every show after that, I found myself becoming more confident until I genuinely believed that I belonged. 

Did you have a mentor or someone that helped you?    

There have been many people who have been big influences throughout my career. However, a few people really stand out as ones who have helped or mentored me along the way. 

One of those people would be Jeff Briggette. Jeff was one of the first people to see potential in me as an RF tech when I started building wireless systems. He helped push for me to go on my first broadcast gig to gain real experience. Every time I have worked with him since he has continued to offer knowledge and experience that I continue to use throughout any RF work I do. 

Another one who has been a mentor to me is Robert Bull. I have had the privilege to work with and learn from him for several years now. Whether I’m needing guidance through a tough moment in my career or celebrating even the smallest of victories, Bull has been someone who I can go to for advice or help. If I’m struggling with my monitor mixes and have dug myself into a hole I can’t get out of, Bull is the first person who is there to not only help get it sorted but teach along the way. 

Career Now

What is a typical day like?

A typical day starts out with me walking into the venue and looking around to see what we can look forward to for the day. I usually have a checklist of questions that I try to get the answers to before load-in begins. I will also determine how will be hanging the PA that day. Once my pre-load in tasks are done, I head off to catering to grab some breakfast. 

The first thing we see off the trucks is our rigging and power package. We will run feeder and get motors prepped to be hung, all before PA starts coming in the door. Once we have PA sorted on the floor, we will see the console and stage packages shortly after.

Once all audio gear is in the building, our stage manager gives us eight stagehands to assist with tipping consoles, hanging PA, and setting the stage. Once the PA is at trim, I head to front of house to assist our front of house engineer with the system’s tuning. Once all fine-tuning is complete, and we verify coverage, the audio team heads off to lunch.

Typically, we will have a band soundcheck each day. During soundcheck, I will walk the room again and verify that we are covering properly and everything we have done to the system is translating well. Once soundcheck is over, it’s time for the opening acts. 

Some opening acts carry their own audio packages, while others will utilize a package that we carry with our PA. We will assist the openers to get set up on stage and provide front of house/monitor mixing if requested. Once all soundchecks are done, it’s just about time for doors to open.

With just enough time to take a quick breather and grab some dinner, it’s time to head back out for the start of the show. I sit out front for the remainder of the night, making sure everything is working properly with the system. I will occasionally walk the room to make sure we are still covering well now that the venue is full of people. 

Before loadout begins, I’ll get with our PA tech to meet with our stagehands and go over the load-out game plan. I start my loadout at front of house, then move over stage right to begin bringing in PA. Once everything is out and loaded onto the trucks, I shower up, grab some after-show food, and try to get as much sleep as I can. 

How do you stay organized and focused?

One of the first things I do in the morning is to make sure I know where our gear is coming in from and where it will end up. I also have a plan with the rest of the crew to stage our cases in an easily accessible area for load out. I always keep a little notebook on me as well to write down any notes or pertinent information that may arise during the day. 

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

I was asked recently by someone what is my “why” for doing this job. The best way I could describe it was knowing that I am a part of something that is bigger than myself. I love being able to be a part of a team that brings to life an artist’s vision and help them present it to their fans every night. Being able to look out and know everyone in the crowd is there feeling a connection in their own way to the artist on stage; it brings a feeling that is indescribable. Even after having toured for several years, I still get that feeling when I go to concerts. I love knowing that I can help bring that feeling to other people.

What part of touring do you like best?

I like the challenge of doing the same thing every day but in a completely different place. Sure, the venues all kind of look the same, and after a while, begin to blur together. However, each place has its own uniqueness that you must learn to work with. I feel like that’s what keeps this job from feeling too monotonous. It’s easy to look at touring as doing the same thing day in and day out; load in, do a show, load out. However, every day provides its own set of challenges that keep you on your toes. At the moment, I may be upset at the fact I’m having to do a parking lot party loadout while it’s snowing or that my points took an extra hour because rigging in the building is difficult. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

What do you like least?

Being away from loved ones for so long. It’s easy to feel like I’m missing out on big life events or even the simple joys of normal home life. My husband and I both toured and were even lucky enough to tour together for three years. Before that time, though, he was gone nearly 300 days a year, and I was usually on the road when he was home on a break. It was incredibly tough. Not to mention, with both of us on the road, it made having a dog next to impossible, something we both want very much. 

What is your favorite day off activity? 

I love finding a day spa in whatever city we are in and booking a self-care treatment for myself. Whether it’s a massage, facial, or pedicure, I enjoy being able to break away from the tour bubble for just a couple of hours and unwind. We work these intense jobs with long hours, constantly on our feet with little sleep. I make sure to take time to relax and decompress.

I also enjoy finding great places to eat. I will remember a city based on places I have eaten on previous tours. Some places have left such an impact that I make a point to return whenever possible. Fun fact, my husband and I planned a vacation to Vancouver based around an oyster bar I found on a day off. I knew from the minute I sat down that I wanted to share it with him, so we booked the trip.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I’ve had teachers in the past try to discourage me from pursuing a career in audio because “even though it may seem glamorous, most people don’t make it.” In college, I had fellow students openly discuss how they didn’t understand why women would want to be in this business. I had an internship interviewer ask me, “well, what are we supposed to do if a tour doesn’t want a woman on their crew? How would you feel about that?”. In my current job, while, for the most part, rare, I’ll run across the occasional stagehand who seems to have a major issue with me right from the start. Sometimes they are subtle; the eye rolls when giving directions or refusing to listen, then getting an attitude when my voice gets elevated. Others are more direct, making statements of “I don’t work with women” then trying to play it off as a joke while standing right in front of me (yes, this really happened).

How have you dealt with them?

The best way I’ve found to deal with it is to tune it all out and realize that it’s all just noise. Any person who doubts my abilities and refuses to look beyond my gender is not worth my time or worry. I have chosen to surround myself with incredible people and work for a company that supports and lifts me up rather than tear me down. 

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

Never compare your path to somebody else’s. It’s so easy to get caught up in how much more knowledgeable another person may be or how many other tours that person has done. There may be times where you feel stuck, but use that feeling and forage your own way. Never stop learning and never stop growing. 

Must have skills?

Troubleshooting is an absolute must skill for me. Being able to locate and solve problems is key, especially if you are under a time crunch or have a dozen other tasks still on your plate. I also believe that continuing education goes together with being able to troubleshoot problems on the road. Further advances in technology require us as techs to stay up to date on the latest equipment that is being sent out on tours. 

Favorite gear?

Whirlwind QBox. It may not be flashy, but it will be a lifesaver when you need it most. 

More on Rachael Moser

‘Work smart, not hard’: Getting to know the next generation of pro audio

Rachael Moser on Roadie Free Radio

 

 

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

Love of Learning – Carolina Anton – Sound Engineer

 

Carolina Anton is a freelance sound engineer based in Mexico City. She works as a FOH and Monitor Engineer and specializes in sound design and optimization. She works with several sound companies such as 2hands production, Eighth Day Sound, Britannia Row, among others. She has done international tours with artists Zoé, Natalia Lafourcade, Leon Larregui, Mon Laferte. Carolina is also the owner of GoroGoro Studio – an audiovisual studio for immersive sound mixing experiences. She is the representative in Mexico of ISSP Immersive Sound software for live shows, a partner in 3BH an Integrative company that specializes in architectural, acoustic, and audiovisual technological design.  In her spare time, she is the head of the SoundGirls Mexico City Chapter.

Lifelong Love for Learning

Carolina grew up with a Montessori education that instills a lifelong love of learning and has provided Carolina with a solid foundation and base in her work and life. During her high-school years, she was enrolled at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education which gave her a solid understanding of engineering and the use of technology. At the same time, she became interested in Japanese culture and started to study the Japanese Tea Ceremony. At age 19, she started to study music and took a percussion diploma at Berklee College of Music and then went on to study with teachers from Escuela Superior de Música in Mexico City. She started playing drums at pubs and restaurants and formed her own band, soon after that she was invited to play drums for some artists as Laura Vazquez (ex- keyboardist of Fito Paez)

The Spark

In 2002, she received a scholarship to continue her Japanese studies at Urasenke Gakuen Professional College of Chado, Midorikai in Kyoto, Japan. In 2004, she graduated and returned to Mexico City. Upon returning, she found that she had no one to play music with and decided to find a job in music, so she could play drums and also thought she could work in audio. Carolina remembers saying to herself “it looks very easy pushing all those buttons and moving faders! And I love music… but actually had no idea what I was getting into, from that day I started this wonderful but complicated path.”

At the time there were limited professional audio programs in Mexico City, so she started taking every course she could find and says she still is constantly keeping updated on training and certifications. With her love of learning she started buying all the books on audio she could find and started to study on her own. She says it took her over four years to find someone that would help her get her foot in the door. She says “all rental companies told me that as a woman I had no future in this… a woman cannot carry cases or cables! Work at night? Travel with men? This work is impossible for a woman like you!!… They said. After almost three years I finally found one company that would support me and help me forge my own path from below. At that point, I swore that nobody was going to slow me down.”

While Carolina saw herself working in a recording studio, this would not be as the company that gave her a shot was a live sound company and she decided to “just let it flow and along the way, I realized that I really like this job so I started talking to all audio engineers close to me, without realizing that I was fully involved and made to work in live sound. I knew then that I like challenges and excitement, plus I work better under pressure.”

Career Start

She started as PA Tech and worked her way up to FOH and Monitors and now mainly freelances with 2Hands Production Services and Eighth Day Sound. Carolina’s first national tour was as a system engineer for Zoé Unplugged in 2011. Her first contact with international artists was with Earth, Wind & Fire where she approached with Eighth Day Sound on the same year with whom since then she has worked on tours and festivals such as Noel Gallager High Flying Birds, Cage The Elephant, The Cranberries, Faithless, and Electric Forest Festival, among others.

The first time Carolina got to mix was unexpected, “I remember that my job was only doing the PA design and tune it, but the musicians were late and I have to pre-prepare the scene of a venue SC48 and I didn’t know very well how to set up (I am very good with the mixers so it didn’t take me so much to understand it)  after I finished setting up the mixer, Gloria´s staff ask me to check the monitors and PA (so I send some pink noise and test the mics), I was so relaxed and did that thinking that in some point the main engineer will come, unconsciously I began to place filters and make a pre-mix (good for me!)  When the musicians arrived and I didn’t see any staff with them, I asked for the engineer and with all the calm in the world, they told me… “You are!” At that moment I got very nervous but luckily I had prepared everything correctly so the show flowed perfectly. Definitely in this profession, we must be prepared for everything.”

Carolina has toured as a Monitor Engineer for Gloria Gaynor, Kool & the Gang Mexico 2012, Janelle Monáe Mexico 2012, Vetusta Morla, Natalia Lafourcade, Leon Larregui, Mon Laferte and before the pandemic hit she was on tour with MexFutura. She has run FOH of Café Tacvba & Zoe, Everyone Orchestra, Madame Gandhi, Hellow Festival, PalNorte Festival, Electric Forest Festival and BPM Festival. She has been a system engineer for Marc Anthony Mexico 2012, Empire of the Sun “Walking on a Dream” Tour Mexico City 2011, Bunbury “Licenciado Cantinas” Tour Mexico 2012, ZOÉ & Café Tacvba Touring for 5 years (2011 – 2016), MTV Unplugged Miguel Bosé, Enrique Bunbury, Pepé Aguilar, Zoé, Kinky, and 90`s Pop Tour 360º – 2019.

Her credits also include Recording sound engineer and/or Assistant sound Engineer   Caifanes, MTV Unplugged Pepé Aguilar, Viva Tour: En vivo – Thalia and Production of the Live Streaming for the Vive Latino festival 2015.

Career Today

In 2015, she was invited to become a partner in 3BH, an integrative company that specializes in architectural, acoustic and audiovisual technological design. Working with post-production and music studios in Mexico and LATAM. The engineers at 3BH work to integrate projects at the highest level from construction, electricity, insulation and acoustic conditioning, monitoring design and calibration in ST, 5.1, 7.1, ATMOS formats, signal design and work with the highest technology. She also is the owner of GoroGoro Studio audiovisual studio specialized in immersive sound mixing experiences and traditional formats. The most recent material is a video with immense sound by the band MexFutura, presented on AppleMusic.

Never Stop Learning

She has certifications in Shure Advanced RF Coordinator for Axient Digital Systems,

AVID Protools, Meyer Sound – Sound System Design of Meyer Sound & SIM 3 Training and System Design, SMAART Software Applications & Procedures Training and System Design, Martin Audio Professional Loudspeaker Systems & MLA Certified Operator Training Program, L-Acoustics System Fundamentals, Audinate DANTE certified levels 1 – 3 and SSL Live console, Yamaha, Digico & MIDAS.

Carolina’s long-term goals are to keep touring and learning. “A long term goal that I have managed to achieve was mixing in immersive sound, I have been specializing in this area for several years and I find it very fun and interesting… I think it is the future in various areas of sound.”

What do you like best about touring?

I love to travel, meeting people, having the opportunity to use different gear, and mix at different venues. I love trying different foods and being able to learn about different cultures.

What do you like least?

I miss my family very much. I don’t get invitations from friends because they think I am always away. Sometimes it is nice to know that you are going to return home every night.  Also not having enough time to visit the city where we are working.

What is your favorite day off activity? 

Watching movies, enjoy the silence & nature, be with my family, play with my cats, read and sleep.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced? How have you dealt with them?

I had many obstacles, which I no longer remember, but surely the principle was to be a woman working in sound. For a long time, I was angry about the rejection that many colleagues had, but I realized that I was getting attention and was losing time, so I decided to ignore all the negative comments and focus on finding a mentor.

Fortunately, I found very good people along the way, who have helped me pass through all these obstacles and taught me in a professional manner to achieve my goals.

I  have become more secure in my job and I learned that if you have a good attitude and confidence in what you are doing you will be fine!

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

If you have a true love for your profession, do it without stopping!

Every time you have a problem do a self-evaluation and trust yourself.

Be humble but with decision and commitment, I am sure that you will achieve all your goals.

Must have skills?

Listen to other people, be objective and patient.

Favorite gear

D & B , Martin Audio , L´Acoustics, SSL LIVE , DIGICO ,MIDAS , SIM 3 Audio Analyzer, Smaart Software , Lake Processors, DPA & Sennheiser mics.

Closing thoughts

I am very happy and proud to represent SoundGirls in Mexico. I’m sure there will be many opportunities for growth and improvement for all women and men in this industry.

Infinitely thank my family (my mother and my brother) who support me in all my decisions, my boyfriend, my mentors and friends who were and are always by my side.

I have always in my mind the basic principles of The Way of Tea, harmony, respect, purity and tranquility (wa, kei, sei, jaku), this are the roots of my life.

Is very important to have an internal balance between ourselves and our work. Many times, we focus so much on our work that we forget it is very important to take care of ourselves. It is also very important to be consistent with what we do and say at all times.

Many have confused my tenacity and decision with unconsciousness, but there is a big difference in taking risks to break visible and invisible barriers to achieve your goals and objectives, always being humble and respectful with those around me and with myself.

More on Carolina

Carolina Anton on The SoundGirls Podcast

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent:

Profiles of Women in Audio

 

Making the Transition from Wedges to In-Ear Monitors

 

When you work in live sound, at some point you will find yourself in a similar position to me: mixing monitors in mid-to-large sized venues. You will begin encountering bands that have their own front-of-house engineers but no monitor engineer and manage in-ear monitors in many forms, ranging from tour-ready packages to a hodgepodge of cheap receivers to crappy gaming headphones used with an adapter (yes, that happened). And you will need to adapt your mixing style to the monitor combination of the day. This strange territory in the transition between mixing wedges and mixing IEMs can be tricky to navigate, so I thought I would share a few of the strategies I’ve developed.

Manage expectations. This might be the most important. Chat with the band while you’re setting up – introduce yourself, point out the monitor location, and try to get a feel for mix needs. After testing mix connections with pink noise I like to make an announcement restating my name and explaining that I’ll do my best to get them what they need as quickly as possible. If it’s a rushed soundcheck, I’ll explain that I’ll focus on levels and basic EQ first, to get through the line check quickly, and make higher-level tweaks as they check songs.

Use headphones. Relying on headphones or using a cheap pair of IEMs as your cue mix makes your listening experience much closer to that of the artists on stage. Headphones are especially useful with bands that are only on IEMs, since in this case listening to anything in the cue wedge may affect the mix you’re building onstage.

Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for information you need or double-check things you aren’t sure of. Asking the musicians where they want something in their mix – ears, wedges, side fills – or if they have panning preferences is also useful, as some bands have a template they prefer their mixes to follow. I also like to confirm that everyone has what they need of a certain channel before moving on during soundcheck.

Set vocals first. This includes talkbacks! Ideally, you can set the talkback and vocals at a healthy level and bring the rest of the mix up around that. Keeping the levels at a comfortable volume matters even more now, with the mix going directly into someone’s ears. And from a practical standpoint, setting vocals first is a must so that you can communicate effectively with the band. Don’t forget to put a little of both talkbacks into the side fills so that you can communicate with front-of-house easily.

Watch your levels. Sound going directly to your ears is a much different experience than sound coming at you from a nearby speaker, so be extremely careful when setting and adjusting mix levels (especially if you do not have headphones or your own IEMS available for use). Whenever I adjust the levels of an IEM mix, I take care to go much slower and be extra aware of what dB level I am at.

Befriend front-of-house (if there is one).  It’s important to have a good working relationship with the front-of-house engineer. Make sure it is clear who will lead soundcheck, when you’re ready to move on within the soundcheck, etc. Generally, a touring engineer will also be able to give you some tips about the monitor mixes and the general preferences of the artist.

 

 

Beth O’Leary – Baking a Cake on a Moving Tour Bus

Beth O’Leary is a freelance monitor engineer and PA tech based in the U.K. She has been working in the industry for 11 years and is currently working as a stage and PA tech on the Whitney Houston Hologram Tour. She has toured as a system tech with Arcade Fire, J Cole, the Piano Guys, Paul Weller, a tour featuring Roy Orbison as a hologram. She recently filled in as the monitor engineer for Kylie Minogue and just finished a short run for an AV company in Dubai.

Live Sound was not her first career choice, as Beth was originally attending university for zoology. Although she has always been passionate about music. She remembers the first festival she attended “I remember the first festival I went to (Ozzfest 2002 – the only time they came to Ireland), and the subs moving all the air in my lungs with every kick drum beat. I thought that was such a cool thing to be able to control. When I heard about the student crew in Sheffield it made sense to join.: Join she did and it was there she learned “ everything about sound, lights, lasers, and pyro in exchange for working for free and letting my studies suffer because I was having too much fun with them.”

Her studies did not suffer too much as she graduated with a Masters’s in Zoology, but she would go on to work as a stagehand at local venues, eventually taking sound roles at those venues as well as a couple of audio hire companies. Even though she had no formal training, she would attend as many product training courses for sound and few focused on studio works. She says at the time “real-life experience was more important than exam results when I started, I think it’s changing a bit now. But, it’s still essential to supplement your studies with getting out there and getting your hands dirty.”

By her mid-twenties, she wanted to expand her skills and start working for bigger audio companies. After a lot of silence or “join the queue” replies to her emails asking for work experience from various companies, she met some of the people at SSE at a trade show. She would learn that they are really busy over the festival season and said she was welcome to come to gain experience interning in the warehouse. She remembers arranging to intern for three weeks “I put myself up in a hostel and did some long days putting cables away and generally helping out. A week in, they offered me a place as stage tech on some festivals. I’m pretty sure it’s because one of their regulars had just broken his leg and they needed someone fast! I then spent most summers doing festivals for SSE. After a few years I progressed to doing some touring for them. I now also freelance for Capital Sound (which became part of the SSE group soon after I started working with them!) and Eclipse Staging Services in Dubai, amongst others.”

Can you share with us a gig or show or tour you are proud of?  

I baked a cake on a moving tour bus once, I’m very proud of that…

Apart from that, I used to run radio mics for an awards show for a major corporate client. Each presenter was only on stage for a couple of minutes, but the production manager didn’t like the look of lectern mics or handhelds, so everyone had to wear headsets. Of course, we didn’t have the budget or RF spectrum space to give everyone a mic that they could wear all night, we needed to reuse each one three or four times. I put a lot of work into assessing the script and assigning mics in a way that would minimise changes and give the most time between changes. I then ran around all night, sometimes only getting the mics fitted with seconds to go. I always made sure to take the time to talk to the presenters through what I was doing (and warned them about my cold hands!) and make sure they were comfortable. I did the same show for about five years and was proud that the clients, most of whom were the top executives for a very large corporation, were always happy to see me, and asked where I was by name when I couldn’t make it. Knowing that the clients appreciate you is a great feeling.

Can you share a gig that you failed out, and what you learned from it: 

I was doing FoH on a different corporate job, the first (and last) gig for a new company. I had terrible ringing and feedback on the lav mics. It was one of those rooms where it will still ring, even if you take that frequency out wherever you can. I worked on it all through the rehearsal day, staying late and coming in early on the show day, trying to fix it. I did most of the ringing out while the client wasn’t in the room, so as not to disturb them. I asked the other engineers in other rooms for advice, and probably followed my in-house guy’s lead a bit too much. I figured he knew the room the best of anyone, but in hindsight, he wasn’t great. The show happened, and the client was smiling and pleasant, but it definitely could have been better.

Afterward, I got an email from the company saying the client had complained to them about my attitude. I was devastated. I had worked as hard as I could, and I pride myself on always being as polite as possible! I realised too late that from the client’s point of view, they saw an issue that didn’t get fixed for a long time, and they didn’t see most of the work I put in or know what was going on. I learned that it is so important to take a couple of minutes to keep your client in the loop and let them know you’re doing your best to fix the issue, without going overboard with excuses. It can be hard to prioritise when you’re so focused on troubleshooting and you don’t have much time. I still have to work on it sometimes, but it can mean the difference between keeping and losing a gig.

What do you like best about touring?

The sense of achievement when you get into a good flow. So few people realise how much work is involved. For arena shows, we arrive in the morning to a completely empty room, we bring absolutely everything except the seats. We build a show, hopefully, give the audience a great time, then put it all back in trucks and do it all again the next day.

What do you like least?

When the show doesn’t go as well as it could. There’s no second take if something goes wrong that’s it and you can’t go back and change it. It’s quite difficult not to dwell on it. All you can do is make sure it’s better next time.

What is your favorite day off activity? 

I love exploring the cities we’re in. My perfect day off would be a relaxed brunch with good coffee, then a walk around a botanical garden, a bath and an early night. Rock and roll!

What are your long-term goals?

I need variety, so I’d like to stay busy while mixing it up. Touring and festivals, music and corporate shows working with different artists and techs. I’d also like to get to a position where I can recommend promising people more and help them up the ladder.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I think one of the major barriers in the industry is people denying any barriers exist. I was told I needed a thicker skin, to toughen up, everyone has it rough. Then after years of keeping my head down and working hard, I saw how my male colleagues reacted to words or behaviour that didn’t even register as unusual to me anymore. Their indignation at what I saw all the time really underscored how differently they get treated.

Thankfully I have done plenty of jobs with no sexism at all, but it can be frustrating to get told I don’t understand my own life. Just because you don’t see what you consider to be discrimination, doesn’t mean it never happens. It can be particularly disappointing when young women are outspoken about how sexism isn’t a problem, ignoring the groundwork set by the tough women who came before them.

I have also struggled a lot with a lack of self-confidence, which can really put you at a disadvantage when you’re a freelancer. You need to be able to sell yourself and reassure your client they’re in safe hands, so I’m sure the self-deprecation that comes naturally to me has held me back.

How have you dealt with them?

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt as much as possible. Whether I misunderstood their intentions or they’re honestly mistaken, or they genuinely don’t want to work with a woman, all I can do is remain professional and courteous and do my job to the best of my ability. A lot of the time we get past it and have a good gig, and if we don’t I know I did all I could. I take people’s denial of sexism as a good sign, in a way. It shows it is becoming less pervasive and I hope the young women who are so adamant it doesn’t happen are never proven wrong.

I’m still working on my self-confidence. I try to remember that the client needs to trust me to relax and have a good gig themselves. I aim to keep a realistic assessment of my skill level. I used to turn jobs down if I wasn’t 100% sure I knew everything about every bit of equipment, for the good of the gig. I then realised that a lot of the time the client wouldn’t find someone better, they’d just find someone more cocksure who was happy to give it a go. Now I’m experienced enough to know whether I can take a job on and make it work even if it means learning some new skills, or whether I should leave it to someone more suitable.

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

Be specific when looking for help. If you want to tour, please don’t ask people “to go on tour”. Pick a specialism, work at it, get really good, then you might go on tour doing that job. When I see posts online looking for “opportunities in sound”, I ignore them. What area? Live music? Theatre? Studio? Film? Game audio? What country, even? Saying “I don’t mind” will make people switch off. People looking to tour when they don’t even know which department they want to work in makes me think they just want a paid holiday hanging out with a band.

Most jobs in this field are given by word of mouth and personal recommendations. Networking is an essential skill, but it doesn’t have to mean being fake and obsequious. The best way to network is to be genuinely happy to see your colleagues, and interested in them as people. And always remember you’re only as good as your last gig. You never know where each one will lead, so make the effort every time.

People who run hire companies are incredibly busy, and constantly dealing with disorganised clients and/or very disorganised themselves. Don’t be disheartened if they don’t reply when you contact them. Keep trying, or get a friend who already knows them to introduce you so you stand out from the dozens of CVs they get sent every week. Make it easy for employers. You are not a project they want to work on. Training takes time and money. They don’t want to know you’re inexperienced but eager to learn. Show them how you can already do the basic jobs, and have the right attitude to progress on your own.

Must have skills?

Number one is a good work ethic. You can learn everything else as you go along, but if you aren’t motivated to constantly pester employers until they give you a chance, turn up, work hard and help the other techs, all the academic knowledge in the world won’t help you.

Being easy to get on with is also essential. We can spend 24 hours a day with our colleagues, often on little sleep, working to tight schedules and people can get grumpy. Someone who can remember all the Dante IP addresses by heart but is arrogant and rude won’t go as far as someone who can admit they don’t know things, but is willing to ask questions or just Google it, then laugh at themselves later.

Staying calm under pressure, communicating clearly and being able to think logically are all needed for troubleshooting.

Anyone who tells you that having a musical ear is determined at birth is just patting themselves on the back. Listen to music, practise picking certain instruments out and think about how it’s put together. Critical listening can be learned and improved, even if you have to work at it more than some others.

Favorite gear?

Gadget wise, I love my dbBox2. It’s a signal generator and headphone amp in one and produces analog, AES and midi signals so it helps with so many troubleshooting situations and saves so much time.

I use my RF Explorer a lot to get a better idea of the RF throughout a venue and can use it to track down problem areas or equipment.

As far as desks go, I don’t have loyalty to a particular brand. They all have their advantages. I still have a soft spot for the Soundcraft Vi6 because that’s what I used in house for years. DiGiCo seems pretty intuitive to me and has a lot of convenient features. I spent most of the last year using an SSL L500. It sounds fantastic and has a lot of cool stuff to explore.

Parting Words

It can take a long time to break into this industry. I had been doing sound for nine years before I went on a tour, and then didn’t do much touring again for a couple of years after that. You have to be tenacious and patient. However, if you find yourself in a situation where you aren’t progressing, or the work environment is toxic, leave. As a freelancer, you shouldn’t rely too heavily on one client anyway. And that’s what they are: clients. When a friend pointed out these people aren’t your bosses, they’re your clients, it really helped me to change my approach. I now rely less on them for support, but I’m also free to prioritise favoured clients over others. Live sound can be rough around the edges, but there’s a difference between joking around and bullying. There’s a difference between paying your dues and stagnating. If you’ve been in a few negative crews it can be easy to believe that everywhere is like that, but it isn’t. Keep looking for the good ones, because they do exist.

The SoundGirls Podcast – Beth O’Leary: Freelancing, blogs, and sexism

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