The Ones That Make it Have a Gift- Melissa Britton

Melissa Britton started in live sound 20 years ago mixing in a classic rock biker bar. “My friend Casey knew I was interested in learning how to do sound. He was mixing at a club and told me I could come in on Sunday and mix the “Ladies Afternoon Stripper Party” Which was great! I rolled some cd cues and watched hot guys strip. I started working on the weekends mixing local bands. Eventually, Casey left to go work at the sister club, and I was hired on full time.”

While mixing five nights a week, Melissa was also going to school and working a regular job. She moved on from the club to work for Dowlen Sound in Denver, CO, where she worked festivals, graduations, corporate gigs, plays, comedy, and a large variety of music. “I worked really hard. I was determined to succeed. I would run circles around the guys. Bret Dowlen taught me a lot. He built his whole sound company from scratch, and even though I came into it 10 or so years after he’d started, I learned a lot from him. Watching him take apart consoles and fix them (analog consoles), watching him build crossover’s, wedges, Subs, and PA stacks and then take it all out and put it all up and analyze it, figure out how it could be better, throw farther, etc.… I learned priceless info from being around all that. “

Melissa with Bret Dowlen

Melissa mixed in every club she could get a gig in doing Monitors or FOH. “I worked every day, seven days a week. I learned by watching others and implementing their style, their technique, their flavor, into my own style, when it was my turn to mix.” “I learned to work with older analog consoles. Gamble EX56, ATI Paragon, Soundcraft Series 4, 800B, 800, Midas H3000, XL4, Bret even had a couple of Harrison’s.”

What got Melissa into this business in the first place was a love for music. “I am in love with music. I played music growing up. My dad played music while I was growing up. Actually, he still plays, and we are getting ready to cut an album at the end of this month, his lifelong dream I’m very excited about that. “ “I wanted to be involved in music somehow. I knew I wasn’t interested in performing, but I was passionate about music. Mixing was a way to be involved without having to perform on stage. I just wanted to be a part of it. “

Melissa has been working as an independent engineer for ten years now and specializes in monitors but is starting to do more and more FoH. “Dave Koz picked me up in 2001/2002, and I’ve been touring with him ever since. “ “I’ve done several short tours. The longest being about eight weeks, mixing monitors mostly. I was flying PA and teching and mixing monitors on my first tour, which was great a good way to stay in shape.”

“I love touring. Especially the way I do it. Which normally is four days on three days off. Almost like a regular job. Going out on a bus tour is great too! You get into a groove on the road. You connect with new people and develop great relationships. It becomes a family away from your family. I never dreamed when I started that I’d be out on the road touring. It just happened. “

Touring life and the road does come with its own inconveniences. “I started touring when my daughter was five years old. I missed so much of her life over the past 12 years. You can’t get those years back. They are gone forever. I haven’t been home for the Christmas season in 12 years. You’ve got to make the best of the time you have. Out of all the holidays, birthdays, school events, sports events I’ve missed I make up for the time I have off. Because when I’m off I’m really off and the time is mine to manage. So that’s what I like least. I don’t like missing the things that a 9-5’ver mom gets to experience. But, I LOVE what I do…and she sees that, and now that she’s older she can appreciate that. How many people can say that about their jobs? I love my job. I wouldn’t change anything.”

Melissa’s favorite day off activities includes DJ’ing. “I have a little turntable rig at home, and sometimes I just hang out and spin. I love house, techno, and dubstep. I’m learning how to work with Ableton and Serato and learning how to remix songs. It’s something I’ve always been interested in. “I also like playing basketball. I keep working on my shot and being a better player. There’s incredible satisfaction in making a great shot. “ “And I like hanging out with my kids. They are the super special people in my life. I love them so much. “

Kingston Audio Jazz Fest

“One of the highlights of my career was when I was teching/mixing FOH for Rave on the Rocks in 2000, at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Best show EVER. Paul Oakenfold headlined it was so great. “

Melissa’s long-term goals are to continue learning. “I’m always learning something. If I had to set a goal, it would probably be to take more risks.” “I’d like to tour with some other music genres; pop or rock, but I’m pretty satisfied with where I’m at now…I was just asking myself hmm what’s next

Favorite Gear:

VDOSC and K1 line array systems, Telefunken M80’s, and Shure Microphones.

“A Midas XL4 is probably still my favorite console, but I hardly see them anymore. I like the Pro9. Lexicon Reverbs, (Best thing about the Vi6). Digital is cool. There’s still something to be said for being able to see all your inputs at once. And analog feels good. For me, there are happy memories associated with it. But in the end, I‘ll take what I can get. There’s always something new to learn on whatever piece of gear you have. “

What does Melissa consider to be must-have skills for working in live sound?

“Patience and a good attitude. The days are long and sometimes roll into the next day. 4 am lobby calls for day of show fly dates requires a good attitude patience and a sense of humor.”

“I believe there’s a certain amount of talent a person has to have to make it this business. It’s not just technical. There’s a feel and an intuition. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s more than just faders and knobs. If you don’t touch the gear with respect and love, it’s not going to work for you.”

“The driver I had on the way to the airport this morning told me that it was a gift that I had. His gift was purifying water for the local water company, and mine was mixing and putting up a show. I had never thought about it like that before. But he’s right…. the ones that make it have a gift. “

More on Melissa

Monitor Engineer Britton, Earl Klugh Band Give Thumbs Up to NEXO Wedge

The Making of an Original Streaming Concert Series

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Profiles of Women in Audio

Traveling the Long Road – Karrie Keyes

Beginning her career in live sound at the age of 18, Karrie Keyes has been the monitor engineer for Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder for 27 years. She’s also spent ten years 1990-2000 as a monitor engineer for Red Hot Chili Peppers and has mixed a very diverse list of additional artists.

Aversion to Conformity

As a teen, Karrie wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but she knew one thing – she wasn’t going to conform to society’s standards and soon found that the punk rock scene gave her the philosophy and ideals she found most suited her. “During my teen years, I rebelled against all things that sought to mold and conform me; school, church, societal norms, and expectations. I mainly hung out with two groups of guys as I found I related to them easier than girls. The commonality between the two different groups was music, one group mainly listened to rock music, and the other group listened to punk rock.” Karrie eventually began to hang out more and more with the punk rockers and during that time started dreaming about traveling the world as a writer. “I would have none of the trappings of society; no mortgage, no boss, no husband, and no kids. Each of the guys had similar dreams, but theirs revolved around touring the world as a punk rock band.”

“I watched and listened as they learned to play their instruments and write songs. They never once asked if I wanted to be involved and I did not have the courage to ask. I could be a spectator, a fan, a girlfriend. One day we went to a friend’s rehearsal space, and I saw a soundboard for the first time and wondered if I could run it? Our friend, Ben, was older and in a band that got paying gigs, he laughed at me and told me girls couldn’t run the soundboard. I wondered what other skills were needed to run it or if the only qualification needed was being a dude.”

“I then started to wonder what other jobs there might be in the music industry and had only a vague sense of what roadies did or what it took to put on a live show. I was in orchestras and band through school and knew I wanted to be involved in music but did not know how.” When Karrie inquired in high school about careers in the field, she was told that no one made a living in the music industry. “I wondered how that could be. I saw bands and artists all the time on MTV and thought – they must be making a living? I only had the vaguest sense of what it took for a band to make an album or to put on a concert, but I sensed Fleetwood Mac was not setting up their equipment and I was sure Van Halen was not just paying their roadies with beer and pizza. I had no idea how one would go about becoming a roadie, but sensed that being a woman would be a huge obstacle.”

After high school Karrie ‘half-heartedly’ enrolled in a community college where she did what any other 18-year-old with no idea of what they want to do does: “I worked part-time, showed up at some of my college classes, and went to punk rock shows.”

“As it is with so many things in life, my path would instantly change over a simple decision. The decision was- what punk rock show to go to Fear or Black Flag? The choice was pretty simple as my friends were going to Fear and I could get a ride – Black Flag was to be attended on a public bus that stopped running at 10 pm, which meant I would be stranded until the morning. Black Flag it was! I never did things the easy way!”, she laughs. “The show was a video shoot for the In My Head Tour and Painted Willie and Gone opened up. I managed to weave my way up to the front. Minutes before Black Flag went on, one of their roadies came over and talked to me and I explained I wanted to learn what he did, to learn to do his job! He told me to hang out after the show, and he would show me. Of course, I had no idea what he actually did. So I hung out after the show and he taught me one of the things he, as a sound engineer, had to do: wrap a mic cable. The next day I found myself in Palo Alto with Black Flag and by the time we returned to Los Angeles I knew what I wanted to do – Sound – and my new friend Dave was going to teach me. He inspired me not to give up. Shortly after Black Flag finished their tour, I started working every gig I could with Dave and Rat Sound. I eventually was able to quit my part-time job and never went back to school.

Working for the Underdog

At Rat Sound, Karrie started out at the bottom, loading and unloading trucks full of PA systems and working every show she could from punk rock to gospel and everything in between. This gave her the opportunity to learn all about the gear, how it works and how to troubleshoot. She found the hands-on time with the equipment and opportunity to try things that were not exactly the norm, were invaluable learning experiences. “I did everything – load in and load out, setting up the sound system, wiring the stage, and doing the set changes on weekends for like 20 dollars a show or something ridiculous.”

There were two partners in Rat Sound- Dave and Brian, who each had their system. Karrie worked for Dave. “Dave and I did every show by ourselves for years. Sometimes we would hire a third person, but for the most part, it was just the two of us.”

Rat was hired for many Goldenvoice shows, and Goldenvoice promoted most of the punk rock shows in Southern California. Rat first was hired because the punters could not climb the sound system. Goldenvoice and the So Cal Punk Rock scene were somewhat accepting towards everyone, and Karrie did not face obstacles because of her gender. “The Heavy Metal scene of the ’80s in LA was not very inviting for women ‘roadies’, but for Punk Rock and Alternative, it was hardly an issue. In all of them, Rat, Goldenvoice, and Punk Rock, the common thread was; we were all underdogs working towards a common goal.”

What obstacles have you faced?

“Being a woman. I just worked as hard as I could. Working for a small sound company had its challenges as well, I was either proving myself as a woman or as a small sound company.” In her early days at Rat Sound, she ran into cultural bias. “I always had a difficult time working with Middle Eastern acts, who just could not wrap their heads around a woman in my position. It was just so against their culture. I use to get very upset, and I now realize it was probably very confusing and upsetting to them as well. When I started doing sound almost 30 years ago, I took a lot of heat from people. You just didn’t see women doing monitors, you still don’t, but I can say it has mellowed a bit. Either that or I just don’t care anymore and tune it out.” Karrie recalls that the core crews she’s toured with have always been respectful, and being a woman has not been an issue. “Although there is always the jerk on tour. I ignore them at this point, and often they are only touring with us for a short period. Usually, I don’t even know about it, as they would not dare say anything to me. I get more shit from the local crews.”

On tour with Danzig and Soundgarden 1990

What are some of the lessons you’ve learned throughout your career?

Karrie’s experience of mixing so many styles of music (Jazz, Metal, Country, Punk, Reggae) in her early days with Rat has helped contribute to her job mixing Pearl Jam, who is not your straightforward rock band. The five members have widely ranging monitor needs with each mix being completely different from the others.

“I still think the way to gain the most experience with live sound is by being on the ground and working as many shows as you can. Working for a smaller sound company affords these experiences. The diversity in shows provides you with so much experience when it comes to mixing. The sheer number of engineers you end up working with, and you get to see their ideas and processes working or not working.”

A terrible show in her youth would have devastated her, but now she realizes that you just can’t always have perfect shows. However, she does try to draw from the bad shows and analyze what she could have done differently.   “I’m always learning”.

What are the benefits of working with the same band for so many years?

“You can keep evolving and perfecting. Eventually, you all know each other so well and navigating the other personalities becomes natural. However, you cannot become complacent in the job. You have to keep working on issues or progressing forward, whether by learning new gear, or learning new tricks, but you get to a point when you’ve really got it down and no longer need to be changing things and starting over with new gear. Sometimes it can get old when you keep hitting the same issues, such as the volume on stage. I am trusted so have more leeway to try different things – but I also know my band very well and don’t expand trying new things into areas that I know are not going to fly.”

Advice for those getting started:

My advice is just to keep going and not to give up – if one door is shut on you, try another door. You are going to knock on a lot of doors, but the ones that open for you – walk through and keep going.

Always keep learning- take advantage of all the online courses and information out there.

Network – find a mentor.

Show up when you say you will – be reliable, ask questions, and take risks

When you are given an opportunity, take it.

Hone your diplomacy skills – they will benefit you on the job and also help you navigate through any sexist crap that you are going to have deal with.

Career Highlights

The Untouchables were a popular Southern California Ska band; No Doubt often opened for them. It was my first gig as an engineer for the band. It was an important step as I took over for the ME as he moved to FOH. That organization not only gave me a chance but Rat Sound as well and always believed in us. The gigs were always full on and taught me how to work fast and to deal with the needs of ten musicians.

Social Distortion – I worked and was hired for many shows Social Distortion did in the Southern California area. They were one of my favorite bands and I spent a lot time pinching myself. Social Distortion taught me that one size does not fit all. Mike Ness wanted his mix to sound as if it was coming from FOH. It was not as easy to achieve as you think.

Touring with Fugazi -The best live band ever! Every show made all the driving, the Motel 6’s, the Denny’s, the gigs with no local crew, security, barricade, or catering worth it. Every single day. If their indefinite hiatus ever comes to an end, I will gladly climb back into the truck. It was a privilege.

Pearl Jam – VH1 Tribute to The Who

Again there have been so many gigs that were important, challenging, fun, and played through tears and pain over the years – but this one stood out. It was a marker of how professional our organization had become. How our team pulled together, dropped all ego, and did what we needed to do so the band could do what they needed to do. Anyone that has seen it knows that Pearl Jam nailed it.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Woodstock III

While there are many memorable shows over the ten years I worked for them, Woodstock III stands out. This gig happened after I left their organization to be off the road for my daughters. This gig fell in between one of the firings of the ME and hiring a new one. I would always fill in until another engineer was hired. I remember being happy and relieved that I would not have to mix this show.

We had played the second Woodstock, going on before Peter Gabriel, who headlined. It was a complete disaster. We did not have a line check earlier in the day, did not have any monitor equipment and were stretched thin with a bare bones crew. I let the sound guys push me around and mix position was about 80 feet from the band.

Needless to say, I was not happy when I found myself being asked to do this gig. I made a few demands – we were bringing in our system (which is not uncommon now, but was not standard practice then) this made our production manager less than happy as well as production on the Woodstock end.

We only had one promo warm up gig before going in, so the mixes were not dialed, and the system was not set up to go into a festival. I worked thru the day doing whatever I could during other band’s set changes so I would be ready. The sound and production guys were awesome and helpful.

When the band hit the first notes, I knew I had nailed it. It sounded great, and I knew the band was happy. At the end of the gig, I discovered Pearl Jam’s site coordinator and stage manager was head production on Woodstock and had told everyone to help me and listen to me as I knew my shit. The sound crew came up after the gig and said it was so nice to see an engineer that knew what they were doing. And three weeks later at a band rehearsal, Anthony told me that the sound was perfect.

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Profiles of Women in Audio

The Women are Taking Over!

The start of a new tour is always interesting, seeing friends you have not seen for a while, being with your road family, and always meeting new characters. I try to figure out who is who and what is what pretty fast. So it is on the first day, after traveling twenty hours or so and finally arriving in Amsterdam, that I meet the first character. (more…)

High Tech Gypsy – Amy Powelson

Amy goes where the work is and where the wind blows having worked in professional audio for over 20 years. Amy most commonly works as a FOH engineer for corporate and broadcast events and as a monitor engineer on festivals. Amy has always had a love of music and electronics and has found that a career in professional audio was a perfect match. Working freelance complements her gypsy lifestyle, although, given the right circumstances, she would love to find a steady home.

Amy’s grandfather was a professional jazz musician, and growing up Amy remembers watching her grandfather practice in his basement. He played the Clarinet, Alto Sax, and Tenor Sax and would inspire Amy to take up the trumpet while in Jr. High School. She would later get to play a bit with him and she still has all of his horns. He was one of the greatest influences in Amy’s life. Amy remembers, “during birthdays, holidays and other special occasions, he would always place a mono cassette recorder on the dinner table or in the middle of the room. I still have several ancient cassettes of these occasions. So, from the time I was a very small child, I was always surrounded by music and audio equipment”

Along with a love of music, Amy had a curiosity to figure out how things worked. Her mother would always pick up old stereo equipment and other odds and ends at garage sales. A lot of the equipment did not work, which saved Amy from ever being electrocuted, but she did manage to start a few fires.

Amy’s First PA

After high school, Amy attended Kent State University for a semester, as a Pre-Journalism/ Mass Communications major with a minor in Radio/Television Production. This allowed Amy to discover a desire to work behind the scenes in a technical position. However, she found their equipment was so antiquated, and it did not allow involvement until junior or senior year, so she decided to fast-track it and enrolled in The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Amy enrolled in the Music/Video/Business program and found that The Art Institute opened many doors for her.

The first door that was opened to her was an internship at the Graffiti Showcase Cafe, working with the FOH Engineer. The Graffiti Showcase Cafe operated for 17 years and was one of the premier music venues in the country, it closed in 2000. The Graffiti Showcase Cafe hosted over 1500 acts from Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers to Bonnie Raitt and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Amy says she “fell in love with live sound from the first moment I plugged an xlr cable into a stage box”. The internship at Graffiti Showcase Cafe gave Amy practical work experience and she says she learned much more than her formal schooling would have ever taught her.

When her internship ended, Amy headed to Florida and attended Full Sail, graduating with a Associate Degree in Recording Arts. At the time, Full Sail only offered two-degree programs: Audio Recording or Video/Film. Amy says “the studio maintenance course with Hunter Menning was the most valuable in terms of knowing how the gear worked from the inside out. All of the courses taught me something, but that one stands out. She found that Full Sail gave her credibility and opened up even more doors for her.

Florida to Los Angeles

After graduating from Full Sail, Amy headed to Los Angeles with a shortlist of names and numbers. One of her first gigs was working staging for Kevin Lyman of Goldenvoice, (who would go on to found The Warped Tour) for a Meat Puppets gig in Long Beach. There she met Dave Rat who would recommend her for a gig at the Anti Club. Industrial Sound would help her out too, and Tom Santee of Auntie M, got her mixing gigs right away. Amy remembers a gig in Monterey Park doing sound for Mariachi bands, which was a first for a girl from Ohio. The Anti Club gig would help her land a gig at the Troubadour, and then the Northridge Quake hit.

Early Days

Amy decided that maybe Los Angeles was not for her and being the high-tech gypsy she is, headed to Seattle. She was able to get a gig at Moe’s on Capitol Hill and says it was the best house gig ever. Amy kept that gig as long as she could and watched as the Seattle music scene of the ’90s came to an end.

From Seattle – Amy headed back east to Chicago. She worked at Andy’s Music and Chicago Sound doing all the summer music festivals at Grant Park. As that was winding down, she got a call from The Ringling Bros. Circus about a Monitor Engineer position available on their Blue Unit. Amy toured the U.S. mixing both FOH and Monitors in major arenas with the circus band for the last four months of a two-year tour as a replacement engineer but decided not to sign a two-year contract to tour the next show.

Ringling Bros. Circus

She headed back to Los Angeles, where she stumbled upon the existence of highly lucrative corporate gigs. Amy landed a gig as an audio engineer for AVHQ Staging Division in Los Angles. She remained there for over two years until they were absorbed by another production company and started to lay everyone off. Since then Amy has remained a freelance engineer working all over the U.S.

Amy has even dabbled in television work. Working on a reality show called Paradise Hotel in Acapulco, Mexico in 2001 and another one called Next Big Champ around that same time. She also mixed 26 episodes for a series for the Jim Henson Company in 2000. While the pay was fantastic, the gigs were absolutely grueling. Long days hiding in bushes with a 35-pound field mixer and RF receiver packs weighing heavily on your lower back while holding a big boom up for hours at a time. Amy did her best to avoid things like killer bees while picking up the intimate dirt of cast members attempting to secretly plot against the others. Amy says “It felt more like boot camp than a career accomplishment, and it was beating me up pretty bad. It was quite an effort to keep that boom up there when I only stand at 5’4” and they never say “Cut” on a reality shoot”. The Henson project was a rare non-union opportunity Amy was absolutely proud to be a part of. Unfortunately, the series didn’t get picked up for a second season. Amy would love to get back into television if the opportunity was ever offered.

Jim Henson Project

Being a freelance engineer has allowed her to indulge her inner gypsy, but Amy also feels that she has been forced to move around a lot. “It’s not an easy industry for anyone, but I’ve seen a lot of guys move up while I plateaued. I found that the only way to really increase my knowledge was to move around a lot. It gets frustrating when guys who can lift more weight, get more breaks, and you’re toughing it out and doing your part to the best of your ability”. Amy has stuck it out by networking and looking for work everywhere, settling into corporate work, which tends to be very lucrative and steady. Corporate work also tends to require less physical lifting of gear due to larger crew calls.

Amy reflects on some of the calls she gets for gigs because she is a woman, like the Mary Kay convention. “They actually wanted me to work the show while wearing a dress. You try so hard to blend in, and even something like that which seems like an opportunity is ultimately repressive. I’m more than happy to take a gig where they want me for whatever reason, so long as the company hiring me puts me on other shows as well. Most of the time those “we want a female engineer” shows go bust, and you never hear back about the other shows”.

Amy offers this advice to women wishing to enter the field

If like me, you are stricken with the sickness of an innate love of audio, don’t be discouraged if you get stopped at the front door. There are lots of side doors in and you can make it happen if you want it bad enough. I’m not sure spending a lot of money on education is a good idea in today’s economy. I’d take some electronics classes and volunteer to help small local sound companies in return for training and future employment opportunities. After that, hit up as many manufacturer trainings as possible. It’s a hard profession to make a living at and retain any resemblance of life, but it’s one of the most exciting careers a person can pursue. I’ve had a lot of highs and lows causing me to have a love/hate relationship with it, but I’m still here.

Must have skills

Mechanical dexterity, keen listening skills, knowledge of a wide range of musical instruments and styles of music, organization skills, electrical and wiring skills. The ability to use hand tools. Most of all, the ability to work under extreme pressure and be solution-driven when it all hits the fan, because at some point it will, and it’s more about your ability to recover from chaos than anything else.

Favorite gear

As a freelance hired gun, I don’t often get the luxury of picking and choosing my own consoles or PA system components, so if I’m going to be completely honest… My favorite gear is gear that has been well maintained and is in good working condition. When I do get to choose, it totally depends on the application.

Willie Nelson – The BackYard Gig

Touring Life and Motherhood or How You Can’t Have it All

Note – I do know a few men in the industry who have sole custody of their children and face many of the same issues.

After the birth of my daughters, I took some time off and did not work at all. As reality sunk in, I came to realize that touring was going to be difficult if not impossible. I thought about going back to school and getting a teaching degree – still one of the professions that allows for a schedule to be with your kids. I eventually returned to Los Angeles and took on a general manager role at Rat Sound – which really was doing a bit of everything, similar to what I did before but kept me off the road.

It was pretty great for awhile – I was able to achieve a balance between work and raising my daughters. Then the Chili Peppers launched a 17 month world tour, which I turned down. It took a while for this sink in, as I embraced my new life – I came to really miss being on the road and I wrestled with this for a while – but there did not seem to be any option. I started to work local shows again, but this I found pretty difficult to balance – the long hours, the child care bill, trying to function as a zombie the next day.

Then I was offered REM and I was determined to do it – I did not know how I was going to make it work – but I knew I wanted that gig. After many discussions with the girls dad, we came up with a game plan to make it work. In the end, the gig ended up falling thru as they wanted a FOH and Monitor team, engineers that had worked together for several years. My team was Brett Eliason (PJ FOH Engineer) and he could not do the tour.

It ended up being for the best – as parents we had worked out what we were comfortable with, what I needed to be happy, and what we felt was best for the girls.

It basically broke down to:

That yes, the girls would be okay with a nanny or my sister taking care of them if we were both touring.
That ten days was about the amount of time – they could be without one parent. (This some how worked out for a long time – as our tour schedules did not overlap very much).
I would limit myself for the time being to touring with Pearl Jam – as they did not tour that much, there were long breaks in between legs, and they typically did not go out for more than 5 – 6 weeks per leg.
The RHCP were touring with a schedule of three weeks on, two weeks off.

And that is what we did for years – still do – but now they are self sufficient and I think look forward to us being on the road. The girls had an extended family that they felt safe with and were loved. It also made them independent. Plus they got to travel with us several times and got to see some cool places.

Of course, this would not have been possible without a father that was willing to be a full time dad. I think this made him a better father – and the girls were bonded to both parents. We both made sacrifices to do this – There were tours turned down on both sides, mixing challenges and experiences that were missed. Yet, when I was home it was 24/7 and for every championship softball game I missed – I was there for most of the season.

I guess what I am trying to share is that you can be a mom and have a career in audio. It is not going to be easy, but life is not easy. You might choose to work a constant theater gig over touring, or work part time doing local shows for a sound company. You might switch to an AV gig. Even with the sacrifices made – I always felt it was better than working a 9-5 job with the kids in daycare. And I still got the rush of working a live concert. Would I have followed the path I did without kids – I will never know.

I would love to hear how others have balanced this or are attempting to.

The Sound Girls of Brazil!

By: Karrie Keyes

I recently had the chance to meet with some of the women of Mulheres do Audio while on tour in Brazil. Mulheres do Audio are a group of women audio engineers in Brazil, with membership around 126. They meet once a week to study, learn, and share their experiences. The women I met all have a passion for audio that drives them to succeed in not only a male dominated industry but country.

Mulheres do Audio – (Women’s Audio)

According to the United Nations Gender Inequality Index (GII), Brazil ranks at 62 amongst 187 countries. The United States comes in at number 23. Iceland has the narrowest gender gap, coming in at number one with Finland. Followed by Norway, Sweden, the Philippines, Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark, Switzerland, and Nicaragua. The report analyzes four key areas; health, access to education, economic participation, and political engagement. While North America comes in top for economic opportunity, education, and health, Asia and the Pacific lead the way in political empowerment.

Ana Luiza Pereira a member of Mulheres do Audio shares with us some of the issues facing women in Brazil.

The majority of the population does not have access to good quality essential services such as education, health and transportation. For women, who traditionally have the role of taking care of the home and children, there are not good quality public childcare centers, so for those dealing with young children there’s no alternative other than housekeeping, occasionally doing day jobs like domestic work. Women that do work outside the home are not valued or respected.

The wage difference between men and women is up to 30% according to recent researches. Brazilian law condemns wage discrimination between men and women, yet contracts are made in a concealed way, considering different job positions for the same functions or anything else to justify a different wage.

There’s also the racial and ethnic discrimination. Although there is a lot of miscegenation, racism is a sad reality with black and poor women suffering more prejudice at work and school. Affirmative politics have been applied in public higher education schools in an effort to give more opportunities to the African descendants, but the population in general is still not conscious about the history and prejudice is very present even at the universities.

Unfortunately, sexist violence has been reaching extreme conditions at all social levels, but again, the poor suffer the most. Only recently we’ve been having campaigns against sexual harassment, but it’s an old practice which is rarely reported due to the embarrassment women suffer. There’s still a long way to go… Even though we have a woman president for the first time, the government has not been showing real results in politics for equality due to its commitment to bankers, international investors, corporations and all other capitalism agents to whom gender equality is not a primacy. Social movements have been making a great effort to denounce all those kinds of injuries. It is crucial to demand the government take immediate actions to acquire women’s rights and respect.

All of the women I met were willing to stand up for their rights and were vocal in demanding to be treated equally. Unfortunately, they face many of the same obstacles we face in the States and the rest of the world. Often silenced to keep a gig, not wanting to make waves, and just trying to prove yourself under heightened scrutiny because you are a woman. Many of the women were told over and over again that they could not be hired because they were not strong enough to load equipment and trucks.

In Brazil it is even harder to stand out or shine with a certain expertise or field. There are very few men or women working in audio that can consider themselves a FOH engineer or Mastering Engineer. I was told by the women that they must be well versed in all aspects of audio. There simply is not enough work. One day they will be working in the studio, the next a live show, then working on a broadcast. In live sound they are expected to be able to do everything, often times being responsible for the set-up of equipment while mixing FOH and Monitors. Although, not unusual in the States, especially when starting out, you will hopefully be given to the opportunity to hone your skills to a specialty.

It is also important in Brazil to obtain a degree of some sort in show production, although programs at the Universities are limited. It is often the first question employers ask. Many of the women have pursued film school and working in film production. Others have pursued courses in recording and music production; one is a course in Tecnologia de Gravação e Produção Fonográfica (Recording Technology and Phonographic Production) at the Universidade Estácio de Sá, Rio de Janeiro; and Produção Musical (Music Production), at Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, São Paulo. There is also a graduate course offered in the Cinema and Audiovisual called Imagem e Som (Image and Sound) offered at Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos a free university.There are other private universities that offer graduation courses in Radio & TV and Audio Visiual. Most employers want completion of programs at IATEC in Rio de Janerio and IAV in Sao Paulo

Ana Luiza works primarily on film sound post production, and as a sound editor and designer. She currently teaches at Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos as a sound design professor. Ana Luiza decided to teach to provide women with a role model and contribute her expertise so that students would have a specialized learning experience.

All of the women take advantage of learning on their own, pursuing online tutorials and courses. They have maintain two facebook pages Female Pro Audio, which is a closed group and was created after AES in 2012 and Mulheres do Audio, which highlights how many women work in the field of sound in Brazil and around the world. Female Pro Audio was created to answer the questions all of us Sound Girls hear over and over again- ‘Wow, a woman in audio, you are the first one I have met. Are there other women? How many women? What got you interested in audio?’ Then they invited all the women they knew to join.

Eventually Female Pro Audio started to organize weekly meetings in Sao Paulo, and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend one of their meetings. They developed a study plan, outlined subjects to talk and learn more about, and found a recording studio to meet at. The meetings are held at FlapC4 and the women have been meeting since the fall of 2012 to share their experiences, impressions, and what actions they can take to reduce the sexism they face in professional audio. They are able to network and find jobs, it is also a safe place for them to blow of steam. Mulheres do Audio on Facebook is the SoundGirls.Org of Brazil. It puts a face to the women working in professional audio throughout the world and a place where they can meet each other.

The Women’s Audio Mission and SoundGirls.Org have been sources on inspiration. Mulheres do Audio has also been a source of inspiration to SoundGirls.Org. It was truly a wonderful experience sharing the afternoon with these women and glimpsing a part of their lives. Several of the women came to see the monitor world on the Eddie Vedder solo tour and were able to watch the crew line check, again we shared tips and stories it was truly inspiring experience I will not soon forget.

SoundGirls.Org will be highlighting their stories and experiences in the future and I encourage anyone traveling to Brazil to get in touch with them.

Breaking Down Doors in Brazil

Thirteen years ago Fernanda Lemos was a musician in a rock band; today she is the only woman working as a sound engineer for Loudness, the second largest sound company in Brazil. Loudness was founded in 1976 and has become the premier production company in Brazil, providing sound for international touring artists such as Rush and Bon Jovi, Broadway productions and events. How does one go from being a musician to being the only female sound engineer for the one of the largest sound providers in Brazil?

The Audio Team of Loudness

It all started back when she was a keyboard player in a band without anyone to run sound. So Fernanda started mixing their sound checks, and at the same time, she was learning how to record. She read a lot about acoustics, audio, and started following the Brazilian band Paralama do Sucesso. She went to every show she could and tried to get into the sound checks. Paralam do Sucesso had the best audio technology, and she got to be there, watching, listening, and asking about everything. At some point, she decided to leave the stage for backstage.

Fernanda enrolled in an audio course with Brazilian sound engineer Carlos Roberto Pedruzzi. A year later she enrolled at the Estacio de Sa University, in Rio de Janeiro. The university offered a bachelor’s degree in a program called Music Production and Recording, directed by Brazilian music producer Mayrton Bahia. As luck would have it, one of the instructors owned a small sound company and gave Fernanda her first job.

Fernanda started as an assistant sound tech at a small theatre. There she started mixing monitors and FOH. The pay was low, but what Fernanda gained in experience and confidence made up for it. She eventually started working outside shows with Sigmatec and then was referred by her first audio instructor, Mr. Pedruzzi to be a trainee at Loudness.

At Loudness she does a bit of everything depending on the gig, although she works mainly as a monitor engineer or monitor tech. She has been the monitor engineer for Brazilian artist Rita Ribeiro for the last five years. Fernanda is also able to work alongside her husband, a sound engineer at Loudness, he usually takes care of FOH, while Fernanda takes care of the stage. She says they are known as the Audio Couple. She has been able to take part in additional training and certification seminars with Meyer Sound, Digico, Pro Tools, K1 and V-Dosc, and Smaart. She is fluent in English which is an asset when working with international artists.

Rush

Fernanda recalls one of the most significant and important shows she has done as a lead tech. The shows were Andrea Bocelli at Belo Horizonte, and São Paulo. Andrea Bocelli concerts are quite challenging as their sound crew is very meticulous. The shows are usually staged in expansive areas, with a significant amount of equipment. The Belo Horizonte concert was especially difficult as they only had one night to set up. It was staged on a busy avenue that had to be closed down. “We had to set up the delay towers in the middle of the traffic! The Bocelli crew are great people and superb professionals, so we were able to pull it off. Every time I work with the Bocelli crew I learn something”.

Andrea Bocelli K1 setup at Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Loudness provides live recording services for many of the most prominent artists in Brazil. Fernanda often takes care of the recording unit, setup and operates Pro-Tools when it’s needed. “We have two main live recording sets, one fully digital with Avid D-Show/Profile as preamps, other with Amek Recall by Rupert Neve consoles, which sounds amazing! All were recorded with 2 Pro-Tools 10 (HD 3)”. When she was in school, she worked at the university’s recording studio, and this was the beginning of digital audio in Brazil, with Yamaha’s digital consoles like 02-R. The studio had one, and a Pro-Tools 24 mix plus. Because it wasn’t very reliable at this time, they were still using ADAT recorders. This gave her the opportunity to start and continue using recording systems.

Fernanda has faced obstacles, and some of them are cultural, as her job in Brazil is viewed as man’s work. Some of the artists automatically won’t work with her as they do not believe a woman is capable of doing the job. In the beginning, she thought this would change by showing she was capable of doing the job. She has come to realize it is going to take much more time and societal norms must change. She is proud that she is a part of making the change happen.

Fernanda offers this advice to young women entering the field –

Don’t be afraid and don’t be mad if everybody is watching you and testing you all the time. Do your job the best you can and don’t be scared to make mistakes and ask questions. Do the best you can and do not give up!

Must have Skills:

I believe a musical talent helps a lot when dealing with musicians, I’ve been in their position before, and I know how it feels. It makes it a lot easier to communicate with the artists. Listen to all kinds of music.

Being able to remain calm when dealing with problems is crucial.

Being organized.

Favorite Gear

I love huge PA systems that sound smooth and great, even at long distances. I love big concerts!!! The first big PA I worked with was a Meyer Sound M3D, and I remember very well how delighted I was. I know it’s heavy and not the easiest to set up, but I still like the way it sounds. The L’Acoustics V-Dosc is kind of a dream sound, you just set up and it’s ready! K1 has made our lives so much easier, it sounds incredible in all situations, from heavy metal to Andrea Bocelli. I love analogue desks; I’m quite sad that I entered the audio world at the “end” of these great-sounding technologies. My preferred one is surely the Midas XL4! I have done a lot of jobs only setting it up for other people ” I did not get to really “put hands on it,” but my first time mixing with one was delicious! I’m not an anti-digital person, nowadays I like a lot to use Digico desks like the SD8, and I think they sound really great! But if I had a choice for touring… big heavy Midas, no doubt”!

Favorite things about touring

I always loved to travel, and I hate routines that never change. Mix it all together, and I found the perfect job. I never get tired because we are always moving and have new challenges. I love to meet people from all over the world. I like planes and airports, and I love hotels too! I get bored when I am at home too long.

Least Favorite

In fact, being a lady in this area has some problems… for me, WC is the major problem! Very often the sites and venues have only WC for men, and they tend to be dirty. When my husband and I are on different gigs, and we keep missing each other.

Favorite Day Off Activity

I sleep and then I like to discover new places -like beaches, excellent restaurants, taste local beers and regional food…

Long-Term Goals:

I’m pleased to be where I am now. I really want to keep learning. My dream is to do at least one big world tour. My husband and I are thinking about moving to the USA for a couple of years to study and work.

Of course, I would love to work with other women. In Brazil, we only have a few women working with sound, especially live sound. We have a group on Facebook, the “Female Pro Audio,” in which we share with other women our experiences, job opportunities, and talk about sound! I hope it will inspire more and more women and girls to join our “sound world,” and help them overcome the barriers all newbies have. Being a woman makes it doubly difficult. We can always help each other.

The best part of my job is at showtime looking at all the people who are so happy and to think I am a part of this. It’s just amazing.

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Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

The Ones That Make it Have a Gift- Melissa Britton

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

Traveling the Long Road – Karrie Keyes

Aversion to Conformity

Working for the Underdog

What obstacles have you faced?

Career Highlights

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

The Women are Taking Over!

High Tech Gypsy – Amy Powelson

Touring Life and Motherhood or How You Can’t Have it All

The Sound Girls of Brazil!

Breaking Down Doors in Brazil

Volume, High SPL, and Hearing

Audio and Music Production

Search

Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

The Ones That Make it Have a Gift- Melissa Britton

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

Traveling the Long Road – Karrie Keyes

Aversion to Conformity

Working for the Underdog

What obstacles have you faced?

Career Highlights

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

The Women are Taking Over!

High Tech Gypsy – Amy Powelson

Touring Life and Motherhood or How You Can’t Have it All

The Sound Girls of Brazil!

Breaking Down Doors in Brazil

Volume, High SPL, and Hearing

Audio and Music Production