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Interview with Erin Frisby of This Could Go Boom!

The members of OSYX and the team behind This Could Go Boom!, from left, Robzie Trulove, Maya Renfro, Erin Frisby, Ara Casey, and Selena Benally.

 

I recently spoke with Erin Frisby, one of the founders of Washington, DC-based grassroots non-profit This Could Go Boom! (TCGB!). Erin is a Soundgirls member, engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and member of DC-area bands The OSYX and FuzzQueen. TCGB! was founded a little over a year ago as a far-reaching community resource with a focus on helping women, non-binary, and femme artists, engineers, students, and music professionals find their voice. TCGB! Provides several resources that strengthen the DC music community and provide a framework for artists to gather and connect. Since its inception, the group has been busy curating improv jams and workshops, presenting monthly showcases, and has released and promoted the first full-length album on their roster.

This Could Go Boom! has garnered a strong following in the DC area, due in part to their commitment to staying flexible and adapt their goals and plans as the group grows. I was excited to catch up with Erin and hear about their mission moving forward and recap on their year. Her band, The OSYX, left for a tour on October 30. If they’re heading to your city, be sure to catch them.

What was the process of formulating the idea for This Could Go Boom? How did you turn that idea into an organization?

The idea for This Could Go Boom! happened organically. The band, The OSYX, was meeting regularly to write music and rehearse. Being a band made up of women, we were soon commiserating about discrimination, assault, and harassment that we had experienced individually in the course of collaborating with other musicians, booking shows, learning in music, and in venues. We also talked about the harder to pin down barriers that come from traditional socialization and deeply embedded systematic discrimination in all walks of life. We were also always marveling over the incredible talent in our region, the outstanding women and nonbinary people whose shows we attended, who we played with. We started to draw connections between the statistics on women in the music industry and the personal experiences of our bandmates and our community members. We were also reveling in the growing support for our musical project and began to consider a crowdfunder to put out a record. The more we talked, the more we realized that we weren’t going to feel fulfilled by just releasing one project and calling it a day. We decided to leverage our momentum to create something that would be bigger than our one band, something that would be community-driven would belong to everyone and would have a lasting impact. We arrived at the idea of a mission-driven record label that could work to redefine the industry from the inside.

You all recently changed your mission statement. In what ways does your new statement reflect your goals in the upcoming year?

Originally we conceptualized a record label that would provide resources for women and nonbinary songwriters, musicians, and recording engineers. Over our first year of existence, we expanded to include performance and networking opportunities, conversations, workshops, and community outreach experiences like our Safer Scenes workshop for venues. It became clear that the label was one branch of a more significant effort that was always going to be responding to community need in all areas of the music landscape from performance to leadership, music journalism, sound arts, and music consumption. We also wanted to be clear that we weren’t looking to represent one genre or limiting our reach to music that specifically addresses social issues. The name This Could Go Boom! came from an episode of Handmaid’s Tale, where several letters outlining the lived experience of imprisoned women become the catalyst for change. We realized that our strength was the ability to provide space, access, and opportunities for women and nonbinary musicians to spark change in their own ways and through their own stories.

What roles in your community do you think are lacking that you hope to fill? 

Representation is lacking in all aspects of the music industry for women and nonbinary people. A report from the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative shows that in 2017 82.7% of artists were men, of 2,767 songwriters credited, 87.7% were men, out of 899 people nominated for Grammys 90.7% were men, and only 2% of recording engineers are women. When intersectional identities are considered, representation becomes an even greater issue, with trans women, nonbinary people, Women of Colour, Indigenous women, queer women, women not fitting a narrow vision of beauty, older women and disabled women having the least access to opportunities in music. The danger of this is that only specific stories are being told and those stories become our ‘normal,’ they continue to carry forward as defining aspects of our culture. Consider how we use music to connect spiritually and socially, to define memories, to celebrate, to mourn, to accompany and influence film and consumerism. Music is far-reaching, and who gets to determine how we do those things and define those things is important. Representation for women and nonbinary people in the musical landscape can and does often take the form of tokenism, flat stereotypical representation that leaves many feeling othered and nonnormal. This is cultural isolation. Our hope is to listen to our community to develop networks, programs, and opportunities that directly challenge these numbers.

What have been some of the most rewarding aspects of starting TCGB? Most challenging?

Seeing and hearing how our efforts have inspired individuals is the most rewarding aspect of what we’re doing. Every time a youth lets us know that they feel inspired and empowered to make music, every time someone tells us that they feel inspired to pursue music that they may have put off before, every time we see connections being made between artists and community members and music fans all of the fatigue from endless volunteer hours falls away.

Like many grassroots charities, one of the challenges we face is learning as we go. We rely on our community members to let us know when we’re missing the mark and when we’re potentially causing harm. Like all other nonprofits, funding is a crucial issue. We’re currently totally community funded, and we rely on donations, no matter how big or small, to continue to offer programming.

In the process of working with people in your community, what have you found to be one of the most pressing needs to be met?

There is a great need for legitimate pathways to success in music for women and nonbinary folks. We’ve heard over and over again that recording engineers, in particular, are looking for mentorship. The ability to tap into revenue streams like fair performance compensation, festival representation, licensing and sync opportunities, and time to practice and play are things we hear about from our community a lot. Some members of our community are primary caregivers or single parents, many work day jobs, or have student debt, or are living paycheck to paycheck. Many experience mental illness or other health concerns. The luxury of making music can feel out of reach when people are faced with obstacles like these. Traditional routes for music education, touring and unpaid internships can be prohibitive. We’re exploring solutions like avenues into licensing and sync, childcare during rehearsal time, and alternative learning opportunities.

How have you all been received in your community? What kind of spaces (if any) are there for marginalized folks to gather and create?

Washington D.C., where we’re based, has the benefit of a diverse community and a long history of DIY music. All Ages spaces are very important to our work as are accessible spaces. Like many cities, we’re experiencing the major effects of gentrification. There isn’t a ton of affordable rehearsal space in our area, and we’ve witnessed venue discrimination against Black made music in particular. We’re working hard to unite scenes here and leverage resources for all genres of music.

Are there any satellite recording studios or other community resources/spaces that you all rely on?

We’re really fortunate to have partnerships with a ton of local businesses that have stepped forward. 7DrumCity, a local music school, venue, and rehearsal facility, stepped forward to support very early on. There’s also RockinRepair, Gold Pants Rental, local photographers and promoters like Roxplosion and Good Foot Media, recording studios such as Machine Room Studios and Ivakota. We’ve also enjoyed a lot of support from the Smithsonian this year during their Year of Music. We’ve participated in the Smithsonian Folkways Festival and gave a presentation at the Hirshhorn Museum. Local labels like Dischord and Verses have been wholly supportive with friendly advice, and 202Creates at The Mayor’s Office has also been a great supporter.

What workshops do you have coming up?

We’re relaunching our intro to improv music workshop at 7DrumCity at their monthly Potluck Jam on December 1st. This workshop is for people of all skill and experience levels including absolute beginners to come together to practice listening and contributing to music-making in a group. We’re also working on developing a recording engineering program comprised of sequential workshops, hands on experience, and mentorship for those interested in entering the profession. Our Safer Scenes workshop for venues facilitated by Shawna Potter from War On Women and hosted by Dangerously Delicious Pies DC was very successful and we hope to make that an annual occurrence.  Some other workshops that have been requested include pedalboard 101, vocal master classes, touring and booking, and DIY merch creation.

Your first album release happened this month! (Read a review here). Can you talk about what went into that on your end and what you learned in the process?

We learned so much! This is great because our idea was to experiment on our own band, The OSYX first. We self-produced our recording with Chris Stelloh engineering the record pro bono at our band house and a friend’s historical house nearby. Our greatest takeaway was the amount of time it takes to bring an album to fruition. The hours of planning, writing, recording, manufacturing, artwork, and merchandising, and promoting took up a good part of a year.

How do you plan to expand in the next year? Is there anything that you’re particularly excited about that you can talk about?

We’re really excited about expanding our board. From our inception, it’s been our goal to have a board that reflects our community, and we’re about to launch a campaign to accomplish that. At the moment the core of the board is the band, The OSYX. We’ve always considered the organization to belong to the community though and we’re looking forward to bringing more voices into our decision-making. We also launched a junior board/street team called The Boom Team that promoted and produced All Ages shows this summer. We’re looking forward to expanding that effort. We’ll also be announcing our next release soon, which is very exciting.

Get in touch with Erin and follow along with what This Could Go Boom has going on:

Everyone is encouraged to follow us at thiscouldgoboom.org @thiscouldgoboom

Facebook group This Could Go Boom! Listening Room.

We rely on community input and individual donations. We welcome comments and suggestions and personal stories, we have a form online for those interested in participating in a performance or putting music out on the label on our website, and we’re always happy to accept donations. We’re currently hoping for someone to step forward with an $80 a month recurring donation that will allow us to join a membership organization for independent labels that will help us to source opportunities for our community.

 

Learn Sound Online—Free! (or really cheap) 

Over the years, I’ve met many people that felt limited in their sound careers either because of their limited training or inability to continue training/education.  I completely get it. Trying to stay current is extremely difficult, especially if you have a full-time job, kids, limited funds, or freelance/tour work that keeps you out of the running for regular university coursework.  Thankfully, the internet saves us again. Check out these excellent resources, because in this ever-changing industry, knowledge is power, and power isn’t cheap!

Skillshare

Skillshare is a super cool website that hosts thousands of online classes in all kinds of fields, including Sound Engineering, Sound Design for Theatre, Gaming, Film, Mixing, Producing, Editing, and more!  There are many videos available for free, and way more if you sign up for a premium account, which costs $99 a year + a free trial month. If that’s a fee you can’t swing, there are also scholarships available.  If you are already a super expert, you can sign up to be a teacher and make some extra cash.

Coursera

Coursera partners with top universities like Berklee, CalARTS, and Carnegie Mellon to offer different levels of online learning, and every course is taught by instructors from these universities.  There are hundreds of free courses available, and even more that come with a fee. Paid courses provide a shareable course certificate upon completion, which is an excellent resume item. Like Skillshare, financial aid is available for qualified individuals.  Coursea puts their training into different tiers, including:

Specializations- for mastering a skill in 4-6 months for a starting price of $39 per month

Professional Certificates- for getting job-ready in less than a year for a starting price of $39 per month

MasterTrack Certificates- for receiving a Master’s degree level learning in less than a year for a starting price of $2,000 with an option to pay in installments.  This certificate also counts toward a master’s degree if you decide to pursue that later.

Online Degrees- for earning a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree over 1-4 years (you choose your schedule) starting at $15,000 with the option to pay in installments.

MIT Open Courseware 

This is a super cool way to gain access to the material taught in MIT’s classes—completely free! Some course titles include:

While you won’t earn a degree or certificate through this open courseware, you will gain a ton of knowledge from one of the country’s most cutting edge technology schools.  What’s not to love?

SoundGirls Note:

The Production Academy

The Production Academy is an online resource that provides clear and reliable information on all the technical things you need to know to work in Live Sound or the Touring industry. SoundGirls uses The Production Academy for our Live Sound Camps for Girls and recommends The Production Academy to all our members.

SoundGym

I think this is probably the 400th time I’ve mentioned SoundGym in a blog…clearly, I’m a fan.  They now offer a completely free online course called Synthesis & Sound Design.  This is an advanced course to help take experienced producers to the next level. The course was curated from free content by sound experts and educators, and some of the subjects touched on include sound synthesis methods, modular synthesis, and samplers.  The course takes 12 hours to complete, and then you get big brain bragging rights when you’re done! SoundGirls also offers free subscriptions to SoundGym. Check the Member Benefits

Khan Academy

Much like MIT OCW, Khan Academy provides completely free courses online in all kinds of disciplines.  These courses are super user-friendly—even kids can do it! For this reason, Khan Academy courses make an excellent teaching supplement.  While much of KA’s coursework is geared toward regular academic training like math, English, and science, get creative with your search language to find exercises like:

Whether you’re just trying to brush up your skills, learn a new skill, or earn a new degree, training doesn’t have to completely halt your life plans.  These six resources are only scratching the surface of what is available. The most important thing is to keep learning. There is no ceiling and never too much information.

 

Adriana Viana: Engenheira de Som Brasileira Independente

Read English Version Here 

A Brasileira Adriana Viana trabalha como diretora técnica, e técnica de PA e monitor freelance. Situada em São Paulo, já trabalhou com diferentes artistas da música Brasileira, como Teatro Mágico, Flora Matos, Plutão Já Foi Planeta, Rodrigo Teaser – Tributo ao Rei do Pop, e mixou shows de artistas internacionais no Brasil, incluindo Mark Lanegan, a banda jamaicana Toots and the Maytals e o guitarrista de blues Jimmy Burns. Atualmente está em turnê com uma das maiores compositoras brasileiras, Adriana Calcanhoto além de operar o PA das bandas Far From Alaska e Rashid. Ela também assina a direção técnica do Women’s Music Event, onde monta uma equipe de mulheres qualificadas para operar toda parte de audio do evento.

Quem vê Adriana operando uma mesa de som pode ter a impressão de que ela passou a vida inteira mixando. Mas quando ela começou a trabalhar na área há 12 anos, ela não tinha autorização para mexer no equipamento de áudio. Adriana sempre teve interesse pelo audio ao vivo – não apenas ia aos shows, mas também acompanhava seus amigos nas montagens e nas passagens de som. “Eu pensava, o que esse cara faz? Ah ele arruma o som… eu já entendia a profissão, sabia que tinha um cara que montava, um cara que fazia o som, um cara que fazia a luz, e achava super interessante.”

Quando soube que haviam duas vagas em uma locadora de equipamento de áudio, ela foi fazer uma entrevista no intuito de entrar no mercado, entender melhor a profissão e aprender.

Chegando lá, descobriu que as duas opções eram: recepcionista ou almoxarife. “Eu falei que queria ficar no almoxarifado! Me perguntaram se eu tinha experiência, eu falei que não, mas que era muito organizada e queria aprender para entrar no ramo.

Eles precisavam de alguém que conferisse tudo que tinha lá, contar cada coisinha. Então quando vinha um técnico, eu perguntava: o que é isso? ‘É um Shure SM58’. Esse outro também? ‘Não esse é um beta 58’. E aí eu fiz a contagem, deixei tudo organizado, dava entrada e saída nos gaveteiros.” Todos enfrentam dificuldades ao começarem uma carreira no áudio, mas Adriana aponta que mulheres ainda têm uma dificuldade extra que é enfrentar assédio e machismo. Adriana não foi ensinada sobre a parte técnica, e como solução para aprender, ela lia todos os manuais que encontrava. Sem apoio na empresa onde trabalhava e sem dinheiro pra fazer um curso de iniciação ao áudio, comprou um livro de fundamentos básicos do áudio e começou a estudar. “Eu ia aprendendo do jeito que eu podia, pegava apostila, livro, ia lendo o que eu encontrava. Eu ia acompanhando nos eventos e ficava observando.”

Um dia, em um dos eventos que Adriana costumava acompanhar, um técnico freelance percebeu seu interesse em aprender e convidou-a para acompanhar seu trabalho em uma casa de show “nos sábados, às 14h. Ele não operava, ele era roadie de palco, fazia todo cabeamento, patch, monitor, e tudo que ele sabia ali ele me ensinou. Ele falava, ‘isso é um XLR, isso é um P10, isso é um multicabo’. Ele me passou a visão geral do sistema, as conexões e eu fui aprendendo. Eu trabalhava de segunda a sexta na empresa de som, e todo sábado por meses eu ia de graça pra aprender. Cabeava, microfonava, ligava os monitores, AC, ficava na house vendo o técnico operar. Só olhando. Quando sentia uma brecha, eu perguntava.” Logo, o técnico que ensinou Adriana precisou de sub – e quem melhor para substituí-lo do que a pessoa que ele treinou? “Eu comecei a trabalhar como técnica de montagem de palco e logo eu comecei a operar, depois entrei no Centro Cultural São Paulo e fiquei fixa no setor do som. Aí comecei a trabalhar em várias empresas de som, fazer muito show. Eu sempre saí para trabalhar e aprender, eu lia manuais, não tinha dinheiro pra fazer IAV, nunca fiz, então eu lia apostilas. Tinham pessoas que me ensinaram algumas coisas, eu pude acompanhar grandes técnicos trabalhando, então você vai absorvendo. Mas foi muito na cabeçada também, de meter a mão e ir pra cima.”

As pessoas notavam o bom trabalho de Adriana e as propostas de trabalho iam aparecendo. Um dia, mixando uma banda na casa de show em que trabalhava, a banda gostou tanto de seu trabalho que passou a chama-la para trabalhar em seus shows. “Eles tinham equipamento próprio, eu ia junto ligava e operava.” Ela enfatiza, “tudo foi aprendizado, todos os processos pelos quais eu passei, todas as bandas. As oportunidades foram aparecendo e eu aproveitava.” Quanto mais ela trabalhava, mais bandas notavam seu trabalho e mais propostas de trabalho ela recebia. Logo, ela começou a viajar com a banda Teatro mágico como técnica de monitor, um divisor de águas em sua carreira. “Era outro esquema, todo mundo de fone, pan pra lá e pra cá, clicks, procedimentos diferentes de trabalho, RF, sistema sem fio; ali eu aprendi muito, eu fiquei três anos lá e quando eu saí muita galera me chamava pra fazer monitor.”

Agora que Adriana é um técnica reconhecida e com muita experiência, conversamos sobre os aspectos técnicos do seu trabalho e as particularidades de trabalhar com som ao vivo no Brasil.

  Ao ser perguntada  sobre quando começa a adiantar a pré-produção de um show, ela nos contou que “assim que eu recebo o contato, já faço. Tem show que eu recebo um mês antes, tem show grande que a produção técnica do evento já pega os contatos e já começa a pré, tem uns que é três dias antes do show. Eu peço o email, já envio o rider e peço o contrarider, via e-mail ou WhatsApp. Quando não dá pra fazer visita técnica eu peço foto, eu vejo online qual a casa de show. Tudo é formalizado por escrito, tudo que foi acordado, com todo mundo ciente, contratante, diretor técnico, dono da empresa de som ou técnico da casa, envio uma lista com tudo que eu preciso. Depois, se tiver algum problema com algum desses equipamentos, tem que avisar, e se precisar de substituição, tem que avisar com antecedência. E na passagem de som, se algum dos ítens não estiver funcionando perfeitamente, tem que ser resolvido na hora, senão não dá pra fazer o show. Eles sempre dão um jeito, mas tem que ficar em cima, e eu deixo muito claro, eu sou chata. Tem uns caras que dizem ‘ah tá bom, vai tá tudo certo’, e você chega lá e o equipamento é ruim. Então eu digo: se não trocar, não vai ter. Eles dão um jeito e trocam.”

A falta de profissionalismo na pré produção já serve de alerta para Adriana. “Respondem de forma genérica, ‘tem 4 monitores’, mas não dizem qual falante, qual drive, qual tamanho. Aí eu peço foto, porque as vezes só de olhar você já sabe, e já diz se tem que alugar outras caixas, porque essas não vão servir. Se você falar com outro profissional, você envia seu rider, ele manda o contrarider, você negocia o que não te atende e as opções para substituição, e você chega num acordo, só que quando não é um profissional, você não tem como negociar, é difícil, aí eu vou direto no contratante e informo o que está no contrato e o que não está sendo atendido.” Outro problema é quando as pessoas não são nem qualificadas para saber a diferença entre bom e ruim. “Você joga ruído rosa numa caixa e ela não reproduz corretamente, e o técnico diz que tá boa e tá funcionando. Como que um cara que trabalha com som não ouve? Ele não ouve o que tá ruim, ele não ouve nem um humming.”

Em quais consoles Adriana prefere trabalhar? “Eu gosto muito de encontrar mesas boas, gosto muito das mesas Soundcraft linhas Vi, 3000, 2000, gosto muito de Digico SD8 e SD9. Midas e SSL são ótimas mas difíceis de achar.” E o que ela mais costuma encontrar? “Yamaha M7CL e LS9, são equipamentos de muito uso, e se não fazem a manutenção direito, não dá. É o que eu mais pego, mas não entram em nenhum dos meus riders, nem com banda pequena, eu não peço, porque normalmente é o que vai ter. E até atende o input e o output, efeitos, equalizadores gráficos, mas o problema é o mau estado delas.”

Adriana não costuma encontrar equipamentos periféricos além do console, talvez um par de equalizadores gráficos, que muitas vezes não estão funcionando direito, então ela se adaptou a resolver tudo direto no console.

“Eu nem peço, porque pode ter um cabo de insert ruim ou mal colocado, aí o som não chega e você só perde tempo. Melhor ir no console, estou acostumada a trabalhar com qualquer console. O que tiver, você vai e faz. Tenho minhas preferências, mas o que tiver eu faço, não fico dependendo de equipamento. Claro que muda, né, as ferramentas, quanto melhores, mais fácil seu trabalho. Mas eu tô acostumada a torcer M7, LS9 e X32.”

As bandas brasileiras têm uma queixa comum antes de contratar Adriana como técnica de monitor. “O maior problema que as bandas tem é se ouvir. Uma banda que só pode ter um técnico, não vai ter um técnico de monitor, normalmente esse técnico vai fazer o PA. Muitas vezes é um técnico que faz só um show e depois vai embora. Músico que tá acostumado a ter técnico de monitor, se acostuma a se ouvir bem, e no dia que não tem, passa um perrengue.” Por isso, quando Adriana é a única técnica de som na equipe, ela levanta uma mix básica de monitor antes de ir para o PA, porque “enquanto eles não tiverem se ouvindo, eles não vão tocar. Não adianta o PA estar bom se eles estiverem errando, se eles não tiverem se ouvindo. Eu penso assim. Tem gente que não se importa porque foi contratado só pra mixar o PA, mas eu acho que tudo isso agrega no trabalho, se você chega e faz um trabalho mais completo a banda vai te dar muito mais valor e falar ‘a Adriana resolve tudo pra gente, quando for um show maior com cachê melhor a gente aumenta a equipe, mas por enquanto ela é o suficiente’”.

Então as bandas contratam apenas um(a) técnico(a) por causa da verba ou por que acham que não precisa de dois? “Tem bandas em que os músicos estão acostumados a não se ouvir e não tão nem aí. Tem bandas em que eles fazem questão de ter um técnico de monitor, mas a produção não tem verba, prefere chamar algum outro profissional, tipo dançarino ou figurinista, do que priorizar a equipe técnica.” Adriana costuma trabalhar com bandas com uma atitude profissional, e enfatiza que mesmo as bandas pequenas querem cada vez mais ter uma equipe eficiente e buscam contratar no mínimo um técnico de som, um iluminador e um roadie. Quanto maior o show, maior a equipe. Ela faz questão de não ocupar o cargo de roadie, para não tirar o trabalho de outra pessoa e explica para as bandas a importância de ter uma pessoa na equipe dedicada a esse cargo. “No meio do show, se der um imprevisto, quem vai virar as costas pro público pra resolver? O artista não pode resolver isso, tem que ter um roadie pra ir lá resolver o problema no seu instrumento, afinar sua viola no meio do show. Eu tento ao máximo agregar equipe, sempre, eu to acostumada a ter equipe grande porque funciona muito bem e um ajuda o outro, tudo funciona melhor. Eu sempre tento aumentar a equipe e mostrar a importância e a diferença que faz.”

Comparando a realidade brasileira com a americana, Adriana aponta que “aqui você tem que saber fazer tudo: alinhar o sistema, coordenar o RF, mixar PA e monitor, várias coisas. Lá fora é tudo mais setorizado, o que acabando sendo mais organizado. Aqui a gente acaba fazendo tudo porque, se sou só eu e começa a fugir um microfone sem fio, é da parte do som e isso complica o meu trabalho, então eu já garanto o RF. Se for um evento maior, tem que ter uma pessoa pra fazer isso, a casa de show tem que me entregar o equipamento funcionando, mas em shows menores com banda menor que a gente leva nossos próprios microfones e in ears, eu não vou deixar o artista passando sufoco.”

Sobre os problemas técnicos que costuma encontrar, Adriana suspira “a gente passa por muitas coisas”, mas encara essas situações já prevendo como resolver: “se você passa por algo e aprende, você se antecede, previne e toma medidas para evitar que aquilo aconteça, senão você tem que parar o que você está fazendo para resolver um problema. Independente do que seja, você já tenta, os cabos são todos por aqui, já vou fazer o RF, já vou checar tudo, já vou testar antes, logo quando chegar, pra ter tempo, então você vai se antecedendo. Vai dar um monte de imprevisto, cabo que pára e não funciona, canal que entra humming, mas a experiência faz com que você consiga lidar com isso de uma maneira mais rápida. Ok, aconteceu algo, resolve dessa forma; RF tá ruim? Então põe a base no pé da cantora, sabe? Então tem coisas que você já vai tomando medidas mais bruscas para garantir, não dá para perder tempo resolvendo um monte de problema, porque normalmente é só a gente que tá lá pra resolver.”

Falando em prevenir, perguntamos a Adriana o que ela costuma levar para os shows: “Eu levo par de pilha nova sempre, fita, hellerman, toalha, listerine e alcool gel, duas grades de sm58 – se for outro modelo eu limpo, caneta, pen drive. Uma artista reclamou que o microfone tá fedendo? No outro show você já entrega um microfone limpinho. Uma cantora reclamou, eu liguei no dia seguinte pra produção e avisei que tava indo comprar duas bolinhas de microfone e pedi pra ela me depositar. Acabou! Então você tem que achar soluções práticas ao invés de falar que está com problemas. Acho que equipe técnica é isso, achar solução e evitar problema.” No início da ano, Adriana viajou para a Europa com os irmãos, e mesmo sendo uma viagem de férias, ela levou fita. “A gente usou tanto! Colei o tênis do meu irmão que tava abrindo o bico, o livro da minha irmã soltou a capa, passei fita! Meu óculos tinha aberto, prendi com fita. A gente usou tanto, e meus irmãos riram, ‘só você mesmo pra viajar com fita!’. Eu também ando com um multiteste, porque são coisas que podem te salvar. Quanto menos você depender dos outros, menos problema você vai ter.”

Algo que notei ao acompanhar Adriana em montagens e passagens de som, é que ela costuma levantar a cena do zero. “Cada dia é um dia, não é sempre a mesma mesa. Eu tenho muita cena no meu pendrive, mas é difícil usar, já tive que fazer muitas vezes do zero porque a mesa não lia o cartão.” E é claro, cada dia é uma sala e um sistema de PA diferentes. Para verificar a resposta de frequência do sistema, Adriana costuma usar ruído rosa e na sequência tocar suas músicas de referência. “Eu gosto muito de Change The World, do Eric Clapton”, ela também toca versões dub de músicas do The Police para testar os subs. “Costumo usar também Massive Attack, músicas que eu tô acostumada, eu sei o que eu tem um detalhe aqui e ali”. Ela toca Everybody Here Wants you do Jeff Buckley, por causa do reverb longo da caixa, “tem PA que não tem o reverb da caixa, que não tem a resposta dos harmônicos. Tem uns que o stereo está péssimo, tem o stereo de altas, de médias, que estão na mix. Quando chega um backing vocal aberto e não veio, você sabe que aquela região de frequências não está certa.”

Em 10 anos, ela quer continuar fazendo o que está fazendo. Ela gostaria de passar mais tempo no estúdio aprendendo técnicas mais apuradas de captação e mixagem, “mas eu não posso parar de trabalhar para ficar aprendendo no estúdio e ganhando muito pouco. Eu preciso trabalhar. E eu realmente gosto do que eu faço. Tem uns trabalhos que você faz que você se sente parte mesmo. Eu fico feliz quando sei que no dia seguinte tem show do Far From Alaska, ali é a gig do coração! Eu não me vejo fazendo outra coisa. Quando comecei a trabalhar com som, eu nunca mais parei, eu sempre trabalhei muito. E a galera gostava e chamava de novo. Quando você é determinado e se esforça pra fazer o melhor, não importa o que seja, você colhe o que planta.”

Desde que começou sua carreira há 12 anos, Adriana só parou de trabalhar quando estava grávida de sua filha Luka, e mesmo assim trabalhou até os oito meses de gravidez. “Depois que ela nasceu eu fiquei seis meses só em casa com ela, depois eu voltei a trabalhar, por isso eu não tive mais filho, porque eu não posso perder esse timing e financeiramente eu não posso parar de trabalhar. Mas eu gosto muito do que eu faço, e eu gosto de fazer vários trabalhos diferentes ao mesmo tempo, estilos, equipes e produções diferentes, isso tudo é agregador e o aprendizado é maior.”

Adriana já foi chamada várias vezes para dar cursos de áudio, mas sua resposta é mais prática e direta: “Vem trabalhar comigo que você pega!”. Uma pessoa inclusive pagou para ter aulas particulares, e ela formulou como repassar todo seu conhecimento da melhor forma possível, mas ao fim ela resumiu “Eu levei muitos anos para aprender tudo isso que eu te ensinei em um mês. Agora, depende de você. Bate em porta de empresa de som, bate em porta de barzinho, casa de show, diz que você está estudando áudio e pede pra acompanhar, se ofereça como assistente. Você quer mesmo? Bate em portas”. Adriana não se sentia a vontade de indica-lo, pois ele não tinha experiência. “Eu aprendi com um técnico que nem sabia para que servia o botão de high pass, ele apertava pra descobrir, mas tudo mais que ele sabia, ele me ensinou. E eu sou muito grata a ele por isso.” Recentemente, Adriana estava mixando PA e no meio do show foi surpreendida pelo técnico que a orientou no início da carreira, ele foi lhe dar um abraço e dizer o quanto estava orgulhoso do seu progresso. “A gente tem que correr atrás. Hoje em dia é fácil, tem muito video, workshop, técnico que vem de fora dar curso, tudo agrega. É importante saber mexer no equipamento, mas o mais importante é saber o que você tem que fazer com esse equipamento. Equipamento é uma ferramenta, como se fosse um computador ou uma máquina de escrever, você pode aprender muito sobre som e audio, e conhecer as ferramentas, mas o mais importante é o ouvido.”

Adriana reforça: se a gente não correr atrás, nada acontece. “Nada caiu no meu colo. As coisas foram acontecendo porque eu ia me mexendo, nunca fiquei parada esperando nada. Graças a Deus todo esse tempo eu não fiquei sem trabalho. Quanto mais você trabalha, mais trabalho aparece. Isto é fato.”

Profile by Gabi Lima, engenheira de audio, produtora, compositora, instrumentista, cantora e comedora de doce.
Gabi Lima is an audio engineer, producer, songwriter, musician, singer, and candy eater. She is based in São Paulo, Brasil

Adriana Viana: Independent Brazilian Sound Engineer

 

Read Portuguese Version Here

Adriana Viana is a Brazilian freelance Front of House, monitor engineer, and technical director. Based in São Paulo, she has worked with many Brazilian artists such as Teatro Mágico, Flora Matos, Plutão Já Foi Planeta, Rodrigo Teaser – Tributo ao Rei do Pop (a Michael Jackson tribute concert) and mixed international artists when they played in Brazil, such as Toots and the Maytals, Mark Lanegan and blues guitarist Jimmy Burns. She is currently the front-of-house engineer for Far From Alaska and Rashid and is also on tour with one of Brazil’s finest songwriters, Adriana Calcanhoto. She is also the technical director of Women’s Music Event, where she puts together a team of qualified women to run sound for the entire event.

Those who get to see Adriana in action might get the impression that she has been mixing all her life. But when she started out in this business 12 years ago, she wasn’t even allowed to operate any equipment. Her interest sparked from going to a lot of shows, and as most people bitten by the audio bug, she would tag along with her musician friends for soundcheck. “I wondered, what are those guys doing? I could see there were people in charge of the audio equipment, of setting it up, mixing, doing lights, and I found it super interesting.”

She learned of a couple of job openings at a local rental company and went in for an interview. She then discovered the only two positions available to her were: answering the phone or keeping track of warehouse inventory, so she chose the latter, to be closer to the equipment. “They asked me if I had any experience and I didn’t, so I told them I was very organized and I wanted to learn so I could get in the business. They needed someone to manage their inventory, so I took that opportunity. When techs brought in equipment, I would ask: what is this mic? They’d tell me; it’s a Shure SM58. Next time they’d bring a similar mic, and I’d ask, “Is this a Shure SM58? They’d inform me that it was a beta 58, so I’d learn the difference. I would keep stock, count, and organize all the equipment going out and coming in”. It’s already difficult for anyone coming into this industry to work their way up, and Adriana points out that it’s even more difficult for women who have to deal with sexism and harassment. Adriana wasn’t really taught anything about the equipment, instead, she’d find the manuals and read them. She wasn’t given the opportunity to operate the equipment either, and couldn’t afford formal training, so she bought a book about audio engineering and started studying it.“I just learned by reading manuals, workbooks, books, just any printed material I could find. I was eager to learn so I’d go to events and watch.”

At one of the events that she’d tag along to, a freelance tech noticed her eagerness to learn and invited her to his regular gig “every Saturday, at 2 pm. He didn’t mix, he was a stage tech, ran all the cables, patched everything, and taught me everything he knew. He’d tell me, this is an XLR, this is an instrument cable, this is a snake, he taught me how the system was set up. I worked Monday through Friday at the rental company, but on Saturdays, I went to his gig to learn. You could say I worked for free, I’d run cables, set up mics and monitors, then I’d quietly watch the front-of-house engineer mix, and I’d ask questions when he had a break.” Soon, the tech who taught Adriana needed a sub – and who better to call than the person he trained? “I started subbing for him as a stage tech, and soon after that, I was mixing, then I became the house engineer for that venue. Then I started working for other sound companies as a tech, and I worked a lot of shows. Then I worked at other venues and learned even more. I was always out there learning and working, I read manuals, I couldn’t afford to go to school for audio engineering, so I never did. I watched people working, and I learned. I would always go for it and just try and do it.”

People noticed her hard work and kept hiring her for more gigs. While working at a venue, she mixed a band who liked her work so much they asked her to go on the road with them. “They had their own equipment; I’d set it up and operate it.” She emphasizes, “all I went through, all the bands I worked with, that was my learning process. Whenever there was an opportunity, I’d take it.” The more she worked, the more bands noticed her excellent work, and the more she would work! She soon landed a gig with the popular Brazilian band Teatro Mágico as their official monitor engineer. “It was full-on wireless, in ears, stereo mixes, click, everything! I learned a lot in those three years, and more people kept hiring me to mix monitors.”

Now that she’s an experienced and well-respected live sound engineer, she talked to us about the technical aspects of her work and the particularities of working with live sound in Brazil.

When asked how early she starts pre-producing a show, she replied, “as soon as I’m hired to do it. Sometimes a month ahead, sometimes a couple of days before the show. I ask for the venue’s tech contact so I can send in my rider right away and get theirs back, via email or WhatsApp. If I can’t do a site survey, I ask for photos, too; I also look online for more info on the venue and their equipment. I exchange all the information in writing, so everything that’s been agreed on by promoters, managers, the rental company, techs, and directors is documented, and everyone is informed. If the full rider can’t be provided, I ask that substitutions be worked out ahead of time, and inform that everything needs to be working during soundcheck or the show won’t happen. I stay on top of things, I request all the necessary info, and some guys will dismiss it with ‘relax, everything will be alright,’ and when I get there their equipment is terrible and their system isn’t working correctly, so I show them all the documented info and state: you either provide us with the right equipment or there won’t be a show, so they do.”

People who don’t act professionally during pre-production are a red flag for Adriana. “They give generic answers like ‘there are four monitors’ but won’t tell me the specific brand, model or specs. That’s why I ask for pictures, so I can identify if the equipment meets our needs, and if it doesn’t, I specify what they should rent instead. With real professionals, you can work out a deal between what you need and what they have, but you can’t really negotiate with people who don’t act professionally, they walk in circles, so I go straight to the promoter and let them know that the rider is not being met. The promoter then demands that all technical aspects of the rider be honored.”

Another problem is when people aren’t even qualified to tell good from bad. “You play pink noise through a speaker and it sounds terrible, but the house tech listens to it and says it’s working fine. Some people can’t hear hum noises either.”

So, what consoles does she request in her rider? “I love getting good consoles to work with – Soundcraft consoles, the Vi, 3000 and 2000 series, I like Digico SD8 and SD9. Midas and SSL consoles are great but hard to come across on the road”. So what does she usually get? “Yamaha’s, usually in bad condition, unfortunately. M7CL, PM5D, and LS9 are the most commonly used consoles, and if they’re not regularly checked and well maintained, they won’t work properly. I never request them on my riders, not even when mixing a small indie band – because that’s what I’ll usually get anyway, and though they have enough inputs and outputs, they’re usually poorly maintained.”

When it comes to outboard gear, she says venues usually just have a pair of graphic EQs, and if that’s not available or in poor condition, as often is the case, she’ll resort to using the console’s graphic EQs on her outputs. “I avoid poorly maintained equipment; the cables might be in poor condition too, so as not to waste time, I deal with it in the console. I’m used to working on any console that’s available. I have my preferences, but whatever is there, I’ll use it, I’ll mix on it. I don’t depend on equipment to do my job. Of course, the better the tool, the easier my job will be, but I’m used to getting a good sound out of not-so-good equipment.”

Brazilian bands have a common issue that makes them hire Adriana as a monitor engineer. “They have trouble hearing themselves on stage. If the band can afford an engineer, they’ll usually hire just one engineer, not two different people for monitors and FOH. And that one person will mix FOH. Sometimes it’s a one-off gig for that tech. Musicians that are used to having a monitor engineer are used to hearing themselves well, and when they happen to not have a monitor engineer, they’re in trouble.” That’s why even when Adriana is the only engineer in the crew and is mixing FOH, she’ll get a basic monitor mix up for her musicians, because “I can’t begin to mix FOH if they can’t hear themselves – they won’t play right. It doesn’t matter if I have a great-sounding PA if my musicians aren’t playing well if they can’t hear what they’re playing. At least that’s how I see it. A lot of people will just stick to mixing FOH because technically, that’s all they’re getting paid to do, but I think this makes my work better, more complete. And if I do a good job, the band recognizes and appreciates it, they see that I presented a solution, and I make sure they get a monitor engineer when their budget is bigger.”

So do bands only hire one tech because they don’t think they need two or because of a tight budget? “Some bands never heard themselves well on stage, and they’re used to it. Some bands only play if there’s a monitor engineer. Some productions don’t allocate the budget for it – they’d rather spend the money on a different professional, a dancer, a stylist, than having a larger audio crew.” Adriana is used to working with professional bands that hire at least one sound tech, one light tech, and one roadie. The bigger the show, the bigger the crew. She also makes a point of not working as a roadie and informs bands of the importance of hiring one, as that’s someone else’s job that she’s not taking. “If you’re playing a show and something goes wrong, is the artist going to turn their back to the crowd to fix it? That’s a roadie’s job. I try to add as many people to the crew as possible because everyone’s work is better that way. I always put together a good team and show the artist how important that is.”

Reflecting on the reality of working in Brazil compared to the US, Adriana points out that “You have to know how to do everything – tune the system, set up wireless equipment, coordinate the RF, mix FOH, mix monitors, a lot of different things. Overseas there seem to be different professionals for different tasks… but here, if something goes wrong with the audio, that’s all part of my job, and I want to make sure everything works. If it’s a big event, you need people dedicated to specific functions, the equipment needs to be working, but in smaller shows, my artists will bring their own mics and in-ears, and if something goes wrong, I have to fix it. We may not have an RF tech, but we have common sense. Each situation is different, but I won’t let the artist encounter difficulty and do nothing about it.”

When asked what difficulties she usually encounters, she sighed, “We go through so much…” but replied with a problem-solving attitude: “if there’s a problem and you learn how to deal with it, you can anticipate it and make sure it doesn’t happen again. You take precautions to avoid possible problems. And if you set up correctly and test ahead, you won’t have to stop what you’re doing to troubleshoot it. Things might go wrong, you might get a bad cable or a noisy input channel, but experience makes you identify possible issues and deal with them faster. Ok, something is not working, we’ll set it up differently. Poor wireless signal? Send the singer’s mix to her floor wedges. You know? You take precautions so you won’t waste time trying to fix a bunch of different things, because usually, I’m the only person there to fix it.”

Speaking of thinking ahead, we asked Adriana what she takes with her to a show: “Fresh batteries, tape, Hellerman tool, towels, Listerine and hand sanitizer, a couple sm58 grilles, pens, memory stick. An artist complained that the mic was stinky? Well, next show, you hand them a freshly clean mic. An artist complained, I called her production and said I was on my way to buy two spare sm58 grilles and asked them to reimburse me. There, problem solved. You have to come up with solutions instead of complaining about the problems. Good audio techs will find solutions and avoid problems.”

Earlier this year, she went to Europe on vacation with her siblings – even off duty, she took gaff tape with her. “I taped my brother’s shoes; they were coming apart on the sides; the cover was coming off on my sister’s book. I taped it! My glasses were falling apart; I taped them. My siblings were amazed that I took tape with me on a vacation trip. I carry around a multimeter too. The less I depend on others, the fewer problems I have.”

One thing I’ve noticed from watching Adriana set up and sound check, is that she’ll usually build up her scene from scratch. “Each day is different; I don’t always get the same console… I have a lot of scenes on my memory stick, but I hardly ever use any. Sometimes the console won’t read the flash drive!”

Needless to say, she encounters different rooms and PAs every time. She uses pink noise to check the system, see if all frequency ranges are responding correctly, then she’ll play some music. “I really like Eric Clapton’s Change the World,” she also uses dub versions of The Police songs to check the subs. “Massive Attack, you know, music I’m familiar with, so I’ll know what’s missing.” She plays Jeff Buckley’s Everybody Here Wants You, which has a distinctive long verb on the snare, “I can tell if the PA is reproducing the harmonics. With these mixes, I can also check the stereo image, especially the mid and hi mid-range. When you play a song that has a wide backing vocal mix, I can tell what’s there and what isn’t but should be.”

Ten years from now, Adriana hopes to be still doing what she does. She wishes she could spend more time in a studio learning recording techniques, but she “can’t afford to stop working and assist at a studio making less money. I gotta work. And I really love what I do. Some gigs make you feel like you’re part of them. I go to sleep happy because I know the next day I get to work with Far From Alaska, this gig is the apple of my eye! I don’t see myself doing anything else. Since I started working with live sound, I never stopped, and I’ve always worked a lot, and the more I work, the more work I get. When you’re determined, and you work hard to do your best, you reap what you sow.”

The only time Adriana stopped working since she started 12 years ago, was when she got pregnant with her daughter Luka and even then worked till she was eight months pregnant. “I took a six-month break when she was born; then I had to go back to work, that’s why I haven’t had more kids, because I can’t lose momentum, and it’s also not financially possible for me to stop working. And I really love my job; I always worked for different bands at the same time, different styles, different crews, different productions, it all makes my learning much richer.”

People keep asking Adriana to teach about live sound. Her reply? “Tag along, and you’ll learn.” One guy went as far as paying her for private lessons. Hard-working as she is, she developed a teaching plan and taught him everything she knew. In the end, she told her student, “It took me years to learn what I taught you in months – from now on, you’ll have to learn from your own experience. Look for a gig, go to venues, say you’re learning audio, ask if they need an assistant. Do you really want it? Knock on doors.” She said she couldn’t recommend him for gigs, because he didn’t have any real live hands-on experience. “I learned from a guy who didn’t know what an HPF button on a console was, he kept turning it on and off to find out – but everything else he did know, he taught me. And I’m very grateful.” Recently Adriana was mixing a show where her mentor happened to be, so he went up to her and gave her a big hug to tell her how proud he was. “You have to go after what you want. Nowadays there’s a lot of information available, youtube videos, workshops, panels. It’s important to know how to operate the equipment, but most importantly, you have to know what to do with it. It’s a tool, like anything else, you can learn a lot about audio and about your tools, but the most important thing is your ears.”

Adriana insists: things don’t happen if you don’t make them happen. “Nothing fell on my lap. Things happened because I went after them. Thank God I was never out of work. The more I work, the more work I get. That’s a fact.”

 

Glossary of Sound Effects (Part 2)

Our first Glossary of Sound Effects post was so popular we decided it would be fun to expand on it. This time around we not only included more specific search terms, but also a handful of modifiers. These terms, such as ‘by’ ‘up’ or ‘quick’ speak to the characteristics of the sound choice you are looking for. Try adding them to other terms (i.e. ‘zip quick’ or ‘violin up’)  to further narrow down your search.

Ambiance – Atmospheric sounds to build the space of a scene. Also look up: background, amb, environment

Beam – A steady synthetic sound. Also, look up: glow, ray, phaser

Beep – The tonal sound of a button press. Also, look up blip

Bork – A cartoonish sound that conveys disappointment.

Brush – The sound of leaves or foliage. Also, look up: leaves, bush, foliage, twig

By – This modifier should be added to searches for moving objects like Jet or Car, characterized by an increase and decrease in volume as the object passes by.

Chatter – A repetitive sound that conveys shaking, commonly associated with cartoonish teeth movement. Also, look up: shake, rattle

Chitter – small animal noise, repetitive and often cute sounding. Think squirrel or hamster.

Doppler – A sound that changes pitch as it passes by. Think truck horn starting from a distance and dropping in pitch as it crosses your path.

Drop – The sound of something falling to the ground.

Electricity – The sound of an electrical current, often wavering in volume and intensity. Also, look up: arc, crackle, spark

Flutter – Any sound with a very fast cycle of volume from low to high. Think of a humming bird’s wings or pod racers from Star Wars.

Ghost – Ethereal, often melodic and scary in nature. Also, look up: spirit, whisper

Hydraulic – The very distinct sound of something propelled by liquid moving in a confined space. Think forklift or fancy door hinges. Also, look up servo

Impact – The sound of a collision, be it small or large. Also, look up: hit, crash, smash

Debris – A cacophonous sound, usually starting thick and eventually settling. Can be used as the aftermath of an event as big as an explosion or as small as kicking up dirt.

Konk – A hollow hit, usually tonal in nature. Also, look up: bonk, coconut, hollow

Laser – The sound of a synthetic weapon. Also, look up: ray gun, pulse, beam

Movement – This modifier can be added to any search requiring both material and motion. Also, look up in short form: mvmt

Old – A modifier for sounds that are typically somewhat poor in quality, as though they were recorded a long time ago. This term is about looking for a specific character in your sound. Also, look up: old, classic, antique

Poink – A short, pointy sound. Also, look up: pluck, doink

Quick – Use this modifier when looking for sounds with very short duration. Also, look up: fast, short, sharp

Ratchet – A repetitive clicking sound Also, look up: crank, pulley, latch, turnstile

Ricco – This shorthand for Ricochet is the sound of a bullet bouncing. Can be used in cartoony moments when a character zips off screen very quickly.

Ruckle – The repetitive, throaty warble character of a sound. Typically emanating from the depths of a large animal or monster. Think of the T-Rex growl from Jurassic Park.

Rummage – Quickly digging through various materials. Also, look up junk

Servo – Short for servomechanism, this is the sound you would typically associate with the moments of a robot or other motorized electronics. Also, look up robot

Slide – This modifier signifies a changing in pitch; a character often associated with violin recordings or whistles to convey emotion in cartoony moments.

Splinter – The sound of small breaking or cracking wood. Also, look up: twist, stress, crack, wood break

Stinger – A musical sweetener that helps place emphasis on a dramatic moment. Also, look up: trailer hit, action

Telemetry – Rhythmic and somewhat repetitive beeps. The sound of calculating technology. Also, look up: computer, scan, beeps, tech, process

Up/Down – Add these modifiers to your search to convey the pitch motion of your sound. Slide whistle Up, for example, would start at a low pitch and end on a high pitch.

Valoop – The sound of something squeezing out of a small space.

Wobble – A repetitive, quick pitching sound used for moments of shakiness. Also, look up: warble, hypno, flutter

Zip – Any fast movement, often with some sort of musical character. Also, look up zing

See the original post here.

 

Creating Suspense 

Recently I’ve been working on a couple of projects that require some suspenseful swells of music. After trying out a few different methods, I decided I would share some of the techniques I used that seemed to be quite effective.

The first method I tried was to bury some long gong sounds leading up to the peak of the suspense. This worked as it was a very classical sounding score. However, if you were wanting to use this in another genre, you could always edit the sound with a pitch shifter, reverb, sending it through pedals. Etc.

My second tip is to just keep layering sounds during a build-up section. The idea of suspense could mean that the first section of your piece can be very controlled but the build-up really needs to grow. A really great way to do this is to add new sounds to every bar. This can be anything from recorded sounds to synths and instruments.

My final tip is to increase the volume automation throughout your build-up. This really helps especially when the music needs to be minimal but you still want the audience to sense some kind of change.

I hope some of these tips can help you create some suspense in your pieces. My advice is to just always keep playing around with different elements of the score, and eventually, you’ll find something that works.

 

 

Sound Design in Another Medium

Sound Design is creating a world or character purely out of auditory vibrations.  We morph mood and meaning through music and sound effects. As showcased through pieces like Peter and the Wolf by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the aural medium can tell the story on its own.  More often than not, however, sound design is not a monolith and must integrate with visual mediums.  This opens the door for visual style elements to influence sound design.

When I took Sound Design as a course in college our main textbook was Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud.  McCloud boils comics down to its essence, choosing to focus on the assembly of narrative and representation rather than technique.  The philosophy behind choosing what to include and not is similar between the visual and the aural. Elements of design (rhythm, focus, contrast, form, movement) are also shared.  Using McCloud as a guide, take a look in the graphic novel section of the library as research for your next project. But why stop at visual, where else can we find inspiration?

The human body was gifted with several senses, and all of them can be used to evoke emotional responses.  Taste is an experience that occurs over time but is remembered as a static moment, much like a song. That particular meal has a temperature, different flavors competing and complimenting, and overall texture.  A song has dynamics, different instruments with melodies and harmonies, and an overall mood. Maybe the character in that particular film has a favorite meal that defines them. How should the accompanying theme add to the character development?  Think of Pippin singing to Denethor in Return of the King from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a greasy meal, tomatoes popping and gristle squishing contrasted with Pippen’s haunting ode to his comrades in arms.

Another sense, smell, also shares similarities to sound.  While perfume is just as manufactured as a pop tune, it has the opportunity to provide insight into character design.  Imagine a femme fatale adorned with a power suit, her chosen scent is bound to be as bold as she is. Like sound, it also transforms through time.  When she first enters the scene, her interactions with those around her, and what happens in the wake of her absence correspond to the “top,” “middle,” and “base” portions of the bouquet.  Film cannot capture scent, yet, but the sound design can pick up on the “notes” of her cologne.

I recently have had the opportunity to try my hand at mixing mediums.  In August, I gave birth to a new little SoundGirl, and I wanted to share with her one of my favorite stories:  Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkein.  I want her to follow along with me but also was have the story available if she was babysat by grandparents.  In my copy, the publishers thoughtfully included prints of Tolkein’s illustrations, and I used those as a guide for a fabric book and a radio play.  The mood and style permeate through the scene designs done in felt, while the narrative and characterizations are explored through sound effects, voice, and music.  Together the confluence is grander than the sum of its parts and makes me a better sound designer.

 

Living In and Out of A Big Fat Suitcase

Tips for packing smarter

I love travelling, I love going on tour, but I hate packing. I think it boils down to my inability to make decisions, which is what packing is after all; deciding what you’ll need for maybe months at a time. You might leave home during a heatwave and not come back until the middle of winter, taking in all sorts of weather in between. How can anyone know what they’ll need through all that?

I tried to pack light for years, partly so I wouldn’t put my back out dragging everything around, but partly because I didn’t want to be seen as the clothes-addicted, materialistic woman. As I’ve grown older (and stopped caring what other people think so much) and spend more and more time working away, I’ve come to realise that my suitcase is the closest thing I have to a home on the road. I’m not a follower of fashion or a hoarder by any means, but if having more than one day-off outfit and a bath bomb or two makes a big difference to my quality of life, damn it, I’m going to bring them. I now look for smart swaps that I can make that will streamline my packing while leaving space for a few creature comforts.

I read travel and backpacker sites to get inspiration for lightweight, collapsible, or multipurpose versions of things I need. Some of them can be very expensive, but if you can afford the initial outlay, buying great quality items that will last for years will save you hassle and money in the long run, and have the added bonus of being better for the environment than buying multiple cheaper versions. A lot of the high-end brands also have lifetime guarantees, which can be invaluable. I have a wishlist and keep an eye out for any discounts or sales that will make them affordable. Here are the main changes I’ve made, whether packing for one night or three months:

Water Bottle

An increasing number of festivals and venues in the UK have stopped supplying disposable water bottles, and rightly so. Besides, bringing your own means, you don’t need to waste time searching for the water stash when you run out. Just find a tap. I got a silicone one that rolls up when it’s empty so I’m not losing space in my bag to air.

Coffee Cup

Again, reusable cups are much better for the environment, but they take up a lot of space. I bought a collapsible cup, with a wide foot so I’m less likely to knock it over.

Laundry Egg

I’ve replaced washing detergent and fabric softener with a reusable, eco-friendly laundry egg. They last for months and months before needing a top up, so I know it’s sorted for my whole time away.

Ereader

I know some people can’t be parted from paper, and I love reading real books too, but having the ability to choose from thousands of stories while taking up less space than a paperback is worth it for me. You can also load them with user manuals and catch up in your bunk if you’re struggling to get to sleep.

Coat

Unless you’re touring through the arctic circle, you shouldn’t need a big bulky coat. The key to packing smart while being prepared for any weather is lots of thin, breathable layers. I invested in a super thin jacket from Arc’teryx, which has lots of smart features like moisture-wicking material and a hood that will fit over my hard hat, while rolling up to the size of my headphones. I can use it all year round, and add thermals in the winter to keep warm.

Base Layers

You can avoid having to bring thick warm clothes ever again by getting some good thermal base layers. Merino wool ones are super toasty while staying breathable. Apparently, they also keep you cool in summer and can be worn for a week or so without smelling, but I have too much respect for my colleagues to put that to the test. More and more sports and outdoors brands are making ‘smart’ clothing, which can be super thin, moisture-wicking, breathable and quick-drying and many are made from synthetic material or bamboo, so don’t involve animal products.

Zip-off Trousers

Ok, you’re not going to win any best-dressed awards in zip-offs, but they are really useful. Not only will you save space compared to packing separate shorts and trousers, you have options for when the temperature suddenly changes without having to run back to the bus or hotel. I got a couple of pairs from an outdoors shop that are lightweight and quick-drying, so if I get caught in a downpour, I’m not soggy for the rest of the day.

Safety Shoes

If your role requires safety shoes, it’s non-negotiable. However, there are lots of lighter, trainer-style shoes out there so you don’t have to lug massive steel-toed boots around. I have some great springy, composite-toed, high-top style ones (because I don’t trust people not to push flight cases into my ankles) from Jallatte, which are not only lighter to carry in my bag, they’re a pleasure to wear.

Toiletries

I’m trying to replace as much as possible in my washbag with solid alternatives. They’re more compact, use less plastic, last longer, don’t leak and you don’t need to worry about taking them through airport security. I have solid shampoo and conditioner and use soap instead of shower gel (I was really interested in a major chain’s solid shower gel until I realised that it was just an expensive way of saying ‘soap’). I use stick deodorant, but it’s best not to bring aerosols on tour anyway. It’s rude and inconsiderate to use sprays inside the bus. For liquids, I buy the smallest bottle or decant it into travel containers. Again, this saves space and means I can bring most stuff in my hand luggage if I’m flying. You can always buy more as you go along.

Menstrual cups not only take up way less space than pads and tampons, but they’re also better for the environment, and you don’t need to worry about running out.

I use packing cubes to keep all this stuff organised. It’s quick, it helps you compress your clothes down so you have more space, and it’s an extra layer of privacy while you’re rummaging through your suitcase at the side of the road in front of your colleagues and passers-by. I also bring a smaller canvas bag so I can take everything I need until the next day off up to my bunk and leave the suitcase in the bus bay. If you delve into travel blogs, you can get a wealth of information for packing lighter and smarter, but don’t get too caught up in minimising your luggage. We aren’t on holiday, we do this full time. While it’s a good idea not to have too much stuff weighing you down, we deserve to have a few luxuries or reminders of home to make us feel human.

My Take on Line-By-Line Mixing for Theatre

Theatre sound

Since I had started as a live sound engineer for theatre, I didn’t really pay attention to other mixing styles. Line-by-line mixing made sense to me and was my natural technique. It wasn’t until I started working with musical artists and bands that I realized I needed to change my approach. I was not a live sound music mixer, I am a theatrical mixer, and there was a learning curve for me. Line-by-line at the most minimal means you are opening/closing mics for each person coming on and going offstage. Mute groups, DCA/VCA, and automated scenes REALLY help when you have a ton of radio mics. Mixing for an orchestra plus 15-25+ wireless mics were the norm for me while in college (& working professionally later).

We were taught to read a script a minimum of three times. Script analysis was integral for sound design, as it forces academic research. The first time you read a script is the most important as you are forming first impressions and understanding of the story. The second read-through was sometimes done with other designers, actors, director, etc. but I felt they often left out the tech crew. The second was to solidify the understanding of the themes, subjects, and tonality. The third and subsequent read-throughs of the script are for writing SFX cues, entrances, and exits (if not in the script OR noting they will go off and immediately return), orchestral solos, and grouping of singers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In rehearsals and the tech week process, there was always a lot of “hurry up and wait” while we all made adjustments. This was a valuable time for note-taking; if my script was thorough and accurate, I would be able to focus more on the mix rather than who the hell is onstage right now. An Audio Engineer for the theatre is a lot of things: FOH, foldback, A2, RF Tech, systems engineer, sound effects operator, comms, and so many other little things. Keeping organized was the most important because we have a lot of shit to handle.

Once you know who is doing what on stage, which solos or special parts the orchestra has (which is why attending the sitzprobe is integral for success, ( In opera and musical theatre, a sitzprobe (from the German for seated rehearsal) is a rehearsal where the singers sing with the orchestra, focusing attention on integrating the two groups, it is often the first rehearsal where the orchestra and singers rehearse together.) You can build your show file and program the console. The Stage Manager will be able to call your SFX cues (and sometimes even run them) so I make notes and place trust in my SM. I learned how to mix on an Allen & Heath ML4000 (?? TBH it was over 13 years ago), so my brain is focused on having as much as possible in front of me. Layers are where I hide things that don’t need to be actively mixed, as I do not like switching between layers quickly.

My Console Setup

Once everything is labeled and organized, I start with assigning VCAs/DCAs (Showing my experience/age). Wind, strings, rhythm, etc. will each get a DCA if it’s a larger orchestra. Orchestra overall gets a DCA. Ensemble (separated men/women), and quartet/trios should also get their own DCA. Some of these may be assigned to a group instead of processing, which will depend on the situation. Mute groups are your best friend, it takes some time to program them on older consoles, but it is worth the effort. Depending on your digital console, recording scenes or screenshots while in rehearsals would be the best option. You can always make small edits later if your timing isn’t quite perfect. From there, it’s all about the notes from rehearsal. Line-by-line was the most logical method for theatre & I still think this way during productions.

 

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