Join Us

Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

Join Us

Training Your Ears

If you’ve been in this business for more than a week, you know how important training your ears can be. Training keeps your senses sharp and out of any ruts. Our hearing is very sensitive and in addition to protecting it, you need to keep it in shape.

Focus

An important ability for sound mixers of all kinds is the ability to focus your hearing onto individual sounds within a larger mix. This allows you to do a sort of zoom-in, analyze, and zoom back out, and analyze again. Another way to think about this is selecting “solo” on your console, without all the show-stopping awkwardness of actually solo-ing the channel in the middle of an event. It takes some practice but once you get it down, you should exercise it frequently. Your goal is to be able to focus in on something to make slight adjustments and then re-add them into the mix to finish making adjustments. This assures that you’re able to find issues deep in the mix, while still mixing the entire image. Another metaphor for this would be a magnifying glass to a painting; the smaller details matter, but we mustn’t forget the larger picture. Being able to focus your hearing will also let you hear whether not every instrument is audible. One of my top 3 mixing must-have’s is being able to hear every single instrument. A good training for this would be to listen to some of your favorite songs to try and find the quietest instrumental part. Focus on that and be sure you are able to recognize what rhythm they are performing to truly know that you have focused in on them. When you start to get comfortable, try going in and out of that instrument as quickly as you can.

EQ

Knowing your frequency ranges, and where common instruments fall on it, is a necessity. You should always know where to start when something going through your board needs to be EQed. You should also be able to identify at least the octave an issue is occurring in and the octave on either side. This gives you a 3 octave variance to find an issue. That’s significantly smaller than the entire spectrum. Then you don’t have to try to wildly sweep around and attack the problem. This can expedite the sound check process, as well as the process we as engineers go through in the heat of an error mid-show.

There are a few different ways you can go about training your ears for EQ

Pick out one of your favorite songs that you won’t mind listening to 300 more times. Import it into your favorite recording software or play it through your desk console. Apply a graphic EQ and set a 10dB or 15dB attenuation starting at 20hz. Bypass the EQ and listen to the song as it normally is, then turn the EQ back on. Listen carefully. Toggle between the bypass of the EQ and see if you can hear the difference. Then double the frequency on the band to go up an octave and do the same thing. Begin to learn what each one sounds like. Try to find identifying characteristics about each octave. Be sure to take frequent breaks to keep your ears fresh. When you don’t rest up, your ears get fatigued and try to enter into homeostasis. If homeostasis occurs, the differences will be skewed and all of the sudden you aren’t hearing any differences at all. If you start to get really good at hearing differences in a 15dB attenuation, make it 5dB, or even increase octaves of frequencies. When that gets boring, I recommend trying a program called Golden Ears. It’s a quality program that can blindly quiz you to really stretch you to the limits. Another great option that I tell my interns to use is SoundGym. It’s a free website that gives some great training on not only EQ, but sound quality, dynamics, and even sound location. It’s going to be tiring and it’s going to take some time, but doesn’t all training?

Recovery

For all those in training, for as hard as you go in practice, there needs to be a recovery period where your body can repair the damage to build muscle. The same thing goes for hearing training. Protect your ears and like I mentioned before, you need to rest. I also recommend not overthinking. If you let your mind get clouded or distracted, you won’t be able to focus, or to train. There are times when I need to stop multitasking, close my eyes, and focus on 1 event, and 1 event only. I should also take a moment to remind all of you reading this that you need to protect your hearing. That rock band does not need to be 120dB. Get some molds for custom ear plugs and protect your most valuable asset. Consider it insurance.

So if you’re brand new to the field, or you’ve had 15 years behind the board, you should really keep your ears as fresh as possible, and as sharp as possible. Come up with brand new training to push yourself. If you care about your career, you’ll want to be great at it as possible. Training breeds greatness. Go, train.

 

Kirsty Gillmore – A Diverse and Rewarding Career

kirsty3Kirsty Gillmore is a London-based sound designer, sound engineer, voice demo producer, and voice actor. She started working as a sound engineer in 2000 in her home country of New Zealand. She has had a diverse career since that start, working across a variety of fields including music, post-production, broadcasting, theatre, opera, and live sound.

Musical since the age of five Kirsty was always part of the choir and orchestras at school. As she grew up, she played around with recording technology using cassette players and her mum’s record player. One of her favourite toys was a Casio PT-1 Synth and Kirsty credit’s this with an endearing love of vintage synths! After secondary school, she applied to study for two degrees in music and arts at the University of Auckland in New Zealand because it seemed like the logical choice. At this time. Kirsty wasn’t aware that studying sound engineering was an option until the second year of her degrees.

While playing viola in an outdoor production of Macbeth she struck up a conversation with the composer about a gig they had both been to and how it could have been improved by changing the mix. It was the first time she had thought about what went into making that music and sound happen, and it grabbed her. It was around this time that Kirsty decided that she didn’t have the talent to make it as a solo musician and the only other career option that seemed to have a clear path for music graduates was teaching. Kirsty was already teaching and didn’t consider this to be a lifelong career at this stage of her life. Being a sound engineer gave her an entirely different career path and a way of using her musical training without being a musician.

After that conversation in the mid-1990s, Kirsty spoke to a lot of sound techs and sound engineers, all had learned on the job by attaching themselves to particular bands. At the time, it was a pretty closed shop, exclusively male, and Kirsty couldn’t see a way in. She started looking into courses when her composer friend suggested a course that a friend of his had done. In the ’90s in New Zealand, there were only two institutions that offered sound engineering courses, so Kirsty applied to the one with the best reputation, the Music and Audio Institution of New Zealand. She almost had to decide on studying stage management and technical theatre, as she had been involved with theatre all the way through university, but the only technical theatre course in the country was brand new and didn’t cover sound. She spent two years training as a sound engineer, mostly in music production and also synthesis, live sound, post-production, radio sound, electronics, and sequencing. In her second year, Kirsty did a placement at a post-production studio and was offered a trainee role, which then led to a freelance position.

Her first job after graduating from the Music and Audio Institution of New Zealand was as a freelance ADR & Dubbing Engineer at Native Audio in Auckland, New Zealand. One of Kirsty’s jobs as a dubbing engineer was for a series of English-speaking children’s programmes that were dubbed into Maori. At the time in New Zealand, there weren’t many opportunities to work in sound and in 2002 Kirsty made the decision to move to London, UK. She threw herself into the local scene and applied for any audio job she could find and surprised herself by getting a job within the first month as an audio archivist at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

For the next eight years, Kirsty built her experience working in various roles at the BBC where she learned about sound for speech-based radio, TV and online.  By 2010 her job had somehow become entirely administrative, and she was pretty unhappy, so when the opportunity for a redundancy came along, Kirsty took it and went back into freelance work.

By the end of 2010, Kirsty had set up her company, Sounds Wilde and spent the next year doing various freelance sound jobs in post-production, live sound and theatre before deciding to focus on theatre, voice acting, and voice production. Currently, Kirsty is looking to expand into sound design for games, which works well alongside voice acting work and directing for voice acting. She is also interested in more composition work.

Kirsty is a big believer and advocate of educating yourself both formally and with ongoing training. Her initial formal training gave her a solid understanding of the basic concepts and a common language for sound, but she finds that since she has been working in sound, she has consolidated these concepts, and it’s allowed her to build and expand her knowledge. Kirsty says there are topics she covered in her formal training which she only now really understands. In the past few years, Kirsty has done short courses on mixing for musicals, radio production and various aspects of theatre sound.

Through the early years of Kirsty’s career, she didn’t have much support, in fact, asking for support was actively discouraged in the jobs she held in the first five or so years of her career. Kirsty found that everyone was just expected to get on with their jobs and learn through mistakes. While Kirsty never had a mentor, (though she would have really loved one) there were people whose work she admired like Nigel Godrich, an English record producer, recording engineer and musician best known for his work with Radiohead, Butch Vig, an American musician and record producer, who is the drummer and co-producer of Garbage and also Sylvia Massy who, at the time was the only female producer, mixer and engineer Kirsty knew of. Massy is recognized for her work on Los Angeles’s alternative metal band Tool. When Kirsty started to specialise in post-production, she found she definitely admired the work and career of Leslie Ann Jones.

In her studio, Kirsty has Focal CMS50s as monitors, (which she loves). Kirsty does all her mixing in the box and in doing it this way – she doesn’t need a console.  Her main go-to mic for voice-overs currently is an AKGC414 and for software, she uses ProTools for most of the recording and mixing she does, Ableton is used for looping and Qlab and Ableton are used for the theatre sound design work. For theatre sound, Kirsty prefers DiGiCo desks (with the theatre sound “T” software) and definitely DPA mics!

kirsty2Kirsty has had her share of discrimination and is a prime example of self-belief and determination to come out the other side. Discussing how she has been accepted in a male-dominated field, Kirsty will tell you she has been discriminated against too many times to count.

Thankfully, the more experienced Kirsty became, the discrimination issues seem to be fewer. She is not sure if the climate is changing or if her body of work speaks for itself but says it’s nice not to have to deal with it as frequently.

Looking at what’s ahead for Kirsty seems pretty exciting. In her studio, Kirsty is looking to invest in more mics. She is interested in what Advanced Audio can offer as alternatives to the Neumann U47 and U87. She is also looking at replacing her soundcard soon and is hoping to trial a Focusrite Claret with Thunderbolt, and the equivalent from Apogee as well.

Hopefully, there will be more international opportunities. After years of working in London Kirsty is looking forward to working at least a few months next year in her home country of New Zealand both as a sound designer and sound design tutor. She would also like to expand into game sound design and develop a composition portfolio, as well as taking on more voice-over directing opportunities.

Kirsty’s message is about being consistent, persistent, and open to opportunities.  She says “It’s great to have your heart set on a particular career in sound but don’t be put off if that doesn’t pan out at first. Once you know the fundamentals of sound, you can apply them to lots of different career paths as long as you’re willing to learn and take the time to meet people and build relationships. Technical skills are obviously imperative, but it’s your people skills that will get you the job. You’ve got to be prepared to hustle and find the opportunities; the jobs won’t come to you. Don’t be afraid to sell yourself, be proud of your achievements and confident in your skills while being open to learning from others”.

By Toni Venditti

 

Sound Engineer Needed for Independent Film – Los Angeles

Overview: Filming a SAG Ultra Low Budget short film called Yegua to later be developed into full length feature. The film revolves around Penelope ‘Yegua’ Moreno, a high school wrestler on her way to being the first girl in history to win a State Championship title when she is diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s a naturalistic, human film shooting in East Los Angeles and Ventura County. Our mission in the film is to de-victimize our hero, tear down all labels, and build up a champion.
We are a mostly hispanic cast and a crew of NYU film graduates looking to fill our remaining positions with capable and professional women who can lead our on-set Audio Department. Our on-set Audio Field Recording Artist must be experienced in capturing perfect dialogue, wild track, ambience and field foley for post-production mix. No post mixing experience is necessary but could be a bonus as we will be hiring an audio mixer when entering post production in October. The position is payed based on Artist’s quote so we are accepting all competitive bids. Must be willing and capable of putting together her own team and crew (any necessary gear or additional crew will be payed for by production based on discussion).
This is an opportunity for an up and coming sound engineer to be a part of a special film with great ambitions, high future potential to be developed into a feature, crewed by a diverse and passionate young bunch. We are accepting all bids and would be honored and privileged to collaborate with any capable professional ready to lead her own department.
Shooting September 15-25 in Los Angeles and Ventura County. Please email all bids, sound reels and submission to yeguafilm@gmail.com 

Interview with Producer Sound Engineer Juno Black

Does continuing your education within audio guarantee your success? Of course, not, nothing is guaranteed. Will continuing in higher education give you some type of lead way? I’d like to think so. I was taught audio by my father at a young age. As I grew into this passion, I taught myself and continued to grow with the technology. I learned a lot of lessons through experience, failing, and trying different things.

Nothing is better than experience, that’s part of the reason I choose to attend Media Tech Institute when I relocated to Houston, TX. Media Tech provided an atmosphere not only where I could learn. But I could also apply what I’ve learned up until enrollment and actually get my hands dirty on industry-standard, state-of-the-art gear. Yes, I know many schools offer similar products and experiences, but Media Tech was the best option for me and my buck at the time. The facilities extended the opportunity to work with multiple DAW’s and analog consoles. After taking a tour of the school I knew right then it was the place I wanted to continue persisting in my passion.

Many times we hear the topics of continuing education and being well rounded. I’ve written an article on being a lifelong student myself. Everyone learns differently and at their own pace, which is fine. Because you’ll never know where you’ll end up with that knowledge. No matter what, it will take hard work, having the right knowledge, and utilizing that knowledge. Then you can harness different learning curves to help you climb up the ladder.

Juno Black 2I took some time out to chat with Juno Black. A woman who has been active in music, video, and film since 1996. Juno has expertise in production, engineering, live sound, and more. Juno was born and raised in Colombia and studied and majored in music performance at Universidad Javeriana.

She didn’t stop there. Juno went on to study computer science and then found herself at the Art Institute of New England to pursue music production and engineering. A prime example of gaining proper knowledge to start along a road to a career you desire. She continues to experience different opportunities and has invested in the growth of her own career from the beginning, which leads me right into my first question.

What’s your point of view on higher education within the audio world?   

When I first started there was only a handful of learning programs. Now there are many more options and curriculums, everything is much more, specialized. I feel a structured program can make it easier. It gives you a head start, but it is the experience and practice that is going to get you wherever you want to be.

Do you think the degrees you have earned played a major part in your growth within the industry?

Honesty, I feel the quality of your work and attitude is what creates growth. Having a degree helps in certain fields. But at the end of the day, we are problem solvers and people pay to make issues go away.

How have you managed to keep up with the rapid pace of technology?

It’s challenging. Reading trade magazines, going to conferences, and being a part of organizations like AES and Infocomm are vital.

Your career has been very diverse thus far. How have you built such a strong portfolio within so many different aspects of audio?

I have always been a curious person, I wanted to learn and feel how different aspects of the music industry felt to me. It was hard for me to decide what I was most comfortable doing as a job, so I kept saying yes to projects that presented an opportunity to do something new.

Leading to your current position at Media Tech Institute. – Austin, TX campus. Why did you go into education and what courses are you currently teaching?

I wanted to help people achieve a level of proficiency focusing on what is important. I was running into people in the field that graduated a program and didn’t know basic concepts. I remembered even though I had gone to school the most important lessons I learned in practice. Now I am teaching audio 101 and 401 live sound.

Have you always wanted to teach? What are some pros & cons?

I had been thinking about teaching for a while. It’s really rewarding, but it’s hard to maintain focus with so many career choices in the industry today. I also miss traveling sometimes. It’s funny because part of teaching’s advantages is being steady in one place.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to climb the ladder and reach greater opportunities in audio?

Observe and learn from people that are in the position you want to be in. Pay attention and be present. Learn the science and concepts behind the gear, however, is best for you. Gear is a tool like a hammer. The objective is to nail it. Regardless of what kind of hammer or how it’s built you need to nail it. Network, anticipate problems, take care of all gear, and keep clean organized cable boxes. In that order.

There are a million different ways to obtain the information you need

Sign up for Commercial Integrator Magazine or Live Sound Magazine. Each platform has something unique to offer and each subscription keeps you informed on the latest trends and technology being used in the industry.

Attend trade shows it’s a form of hands-on experience with all the training courses and demos of new gear being offered. Another reason to attend trade shows is the networking opportunities. You get to talk one on one with influencers, recruiters, and representatives from manufactures all over the world, which can lead to endless opportunities for career growth. As an engineer, producer, musician, and more. Juno utilized similar pieces of the puzzle to build her professional success.

Stay up to date on the latest technology. Sometimes it seems like once you learn one digital console the next generation is being released.

Attitude is a key factor that plays into your success, as Juno stated. Many of us have horror stories of working with an engineer or producer that may be difficult to get along with. Being able to work well with others and learning to communicate with one another will be strong assets to have when working on any production team. Word of mouth is just a powerful as social media, if not stronger. You want to have good working relationships not only for future references but for recurring work opportunities. You want your name as wells as your work to carry a good representation.

Juno Black is a woman I’ve followed in the industry. Seeing her work in many ways has inspired me. Being able to ask a few questions and tell a piece of her story has been an honor. We can create our dream job by capitalizing on opportunities, being present in every moment, and having the knowledge along with the experience to back everything up. Let knowledge and experience carry you to wherever you want to be. Having a balance between the two will come over time, follow your passion, and don’t be afraid to try new things. You don’t necessarily have to have a certification or a degree. But you must know how to obtain the knowledge you need to get the job done. You can get in touch with Juno by visiting her website Junoblack.com

Media Tech is a year-long program where you obtain an audio engineering certification. Audio 101 is the first step in the process, it covers the basics of audio and 401/live sound is the last course in the curriculum. With this opportunity, Juno is placed in a very strong position to create change and set every student up for success in the program. When I was enrolled in Media Tech my 101 teacher was my 401 teacher as well. I was able to build a relationship with my instructor. I knew his skill set and his experience which pushed me to ask questions and soak up everything I possibly could. He became more than just an instructor, he became a mentor to me.

Part Time Mixer… and Part-Time What?

 

Years ago when I was a studio assistant, there was a freelance mixer who everyone at the studio loved. Vince was funny, totally calm in stressful situations, and genuinely wanted to get to know everyone. When he’d get free lunch (a perk mixers sometimes get for working through breaks), Vince would often share with his assistant, or he’d just order something, say he’d eat it later, and sneak it to us in the machine room.

On one hectic day, I was on three sessions with tech issues that all needed my attention. Assisting on those kinds of days was like working in a busy ER. “What are your symptoms? Have you taken any medicine?” you’d say while handing a prescription and heading to a more urgent patient. As always, Vince was patient and understanding as I was troubleshooting and running between mix bays.

At the end of the day, I stopped by his bay and we got to talking. We laughed as he told stories about working with people like Steven Spielberg and Christopher Lloyd. I realized I didn’t know where else he worked since he wasn’t at the studio every day. He said, “I work at a jail.” After my crazy day, I assumed he was joking and said, “I know how you feel!”

“No, I mean, really… I work at a correctional facility in downtown Los Angeles.” He could tell I was totally confused.

“After working in audio for 15 years I just got tired of it. Especially the stress. I had been volunteering at a correctional facility counseling and rehabilitating inmates. When a part-time job opened up, I took it.” I was surprised that someone with his level of audio expertise and credits would make such a drastic change. I asked, “when you’re doing something for a living, is it bound to become a job?”

“Absolutely,” He said. “But it’s the environment, too. This can be a grind when it’s only about quantity and getting it done fast. I still like working on TV and music when I can actually spend time on it.”

After our talk, I realized that perspective was how he could stay calm in hectic sessions and with difficult clients. Client has an “emergency”? He would laugh and say, “this stuff isn’t life or death… it’s television.” It’s easy to lose perspective in a busy studio environment especially if you’re friends with co-workers outside of work. It would bring us back to reality when Vince would come in with a new buzz cut that an inmate gave him (at the prison barber shop), or mention the death row inmate he met with before coming to the studio.

I learned from Vince that the issues that come up at work (and the issues our clients have) are important – but there are ways to acknowledge and accommodate our clients and colleagues without being completely self-sacrificing. Our time, energy, relationships, and health are important, too. When you engage with friends, family, interests, hobbies or even jobs outside the industry it serves as a perspective – a reminder that what we do for work (and some of the environments we work in) aren’t normal. Perspective keeps you grounded when you’re asked to do something like, “Can you squeeze in 20 hours this weekend after working a 60-hour week?” It also helps you see objectively when something happens around you that isn’t right.

Perspective also helps us see our work/life balance. Burnout happens when you don’t have a good balance (or more like the “all work/no life” balance). Balance changes over time – At one point in your career you may love working 14 days in a row but later you may want that part-time job outside the industry. Balance can sway the other direction, too; “all life/no work” balance can mean underemployed or consumed by something personal. Finding balance doesn’t have to be a life crisis or career crisis, and change isn’t always permanent. When things feel out of balance, it’s a sign that something needs to change – at least for a while.

Ultimately, we get to choose what balance works best for us – whether that job title is engineer/mixer or engineer/cupcake maker. Sometimes it takes mentors or people with a different balance (like Vince) to give us perspective… and to remind us why it matters.

 

Interview with Producer/Engineer Te’

The percentage of women continues to rise within working occupations across the globe, tech and the music industries both being included. But with women only making up 5% of music producers and engineers in the music industry, we continue to set the bar high by taking control of our own careers and using that hustle muscle to achieve success one goal at a time.

Producer Te’ is among that 5% within the music industry. A natural-born hustler who has set herself up for success. From songwriting to producing to engineering. She has done work with the likes of Anthony Hamilton, Matt Linsech, Jason Gilbert, Teddy Riley, Atlantic Records, Capitol Records, and more. Over the years Te’ has been open, honest, and willing to guide me in the right direction within my own career. I had the opportunity of interviewing Te’ touches on her journey thus far, being a woman in the music industry, favorite gear, and more.

What sparked your interest in audio technology? You have graduated with a business degree and were self-taught, something had to ignite a passion in audio.

Coming from a family of musicians and singers, music has been instilled in me since birth.  As I got older, I became intrigued by the creative process and found myself reading the liner notes and researching how the music was being made.  When I was 13 I got my first keyboard/workstation and taught myself how to compose & arrange instrumentals.  In my freshman year of high school I was introduced to composing with computers and synthesizers and began making tracks on the Cakewalk program.

Many get there break into the industry with one aspect first. Did songwriting lead to producing, producing to engineering.. vice versa or did everything kind of evolve together? What was your specific process?

I definitely started writing first.  I thought I was a rapper back in the day, so I would have notebooks full of raps, but never had any tracks to put the words to.  When I started making beats my passion for composing/arranging evolved, but now it all goes hand in hand.  I later bought Pro Tools and taught myself how to use it.  I thought I was the shit, but my mixes were horrible back then lol.  All in all, when people would come to record with me they would leave with a full record.  I would have the tracks already prepared and when the artist got there, I’d write the song or co-write it with them.  In some cases I would make the beat from scratch.

What obstacles have you faced and overcome building as a woman in Tech/Music business? 

There was only one situation that stands out.  I was applying at a major recording studio to be an engineer and I was told that they didn’t hire female engineers.  According to them, from past experiences, females were just too emotional. I knew it didn’t have anything to do with me personally, but I was definitely dealt some unfair cards in that situation.  In hindsight, it was a blessing because I wouldn’t want to work for a facility or brand who generalizes or has a stereotypical mindset. I just kept it moving to the next opportunity. Overall I am received well in my field. I am grateful.

How has technology affected the way you book and work with your clients?

Creatively, technology gives us more options and freedom to experiment until we get the sound that we need. There are no limits. From a business perspective it’s great because of social media, it allows us to expand our brands and attract new clientele.

As an engineer and producer do you take on work for hire gigs or are you employed with different labels?

If it’s an engineer gig, the producer will call me in for a session either with the artist or for a songwriting session.  If I’m writing/producing I tend to work with anyone who is working on a major project.  My management will book me a session with the artist, or the producer will call me in for a writing session to write for a specific project.

Do you own your own recording studio? If so what is your favorite piece of gear within your space?

I float around between different studios in LA, but I do have a small home set-up for when I need to work on material outside of the studio. My favorite piece of gear is probably the LA2A as far as compressors go….and I love love love the Telefunken U47 mic! From my experience, it sounds clean and clear on almost every voice.

Do you play any instruments? Or do you use more technology-based gear to create?

They say once a drummer always a drummer, although I am rusty now, that is my first instrument.  I can maneuver around the keyboard enough to get the idea out. When I am producing or co-producing I like to bring in live musicians to play on the record. Although the digital world is great, I believe music still needs to have an authentic feel and bringing in live musicians achieves that.

Analog vs. Digital? What’s your outlook?

Both. With digital, your creative aspirations are endless, but as I mentioned before, I like my music to have an authentic vibe like the music I grew up listening to in the 90s, and that’s where analog saves the day. Blending the two together is the perfect match in my opinion. You have to know both, there are still some things that can’t be imitated, so being able to go back to the original source is crucial. But definitely need both.

What are your top five best moments in your career so far?

Wow I don’t know if I have five yet, considering my career is just beginning.  

One is definitely being able to write, work and build a relationship with the legendary Teddy Riley.  I grew up listening to him and his work, especially Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” album which is my favorite album of MJ.  It’s a huge honor to work with the man whose name was in the credits of the albums I was listening to and influenced by growing up.  His stories about the music business are not only fascinating but extremely insightful and informative.  I’m truly grateful.

Two would be meeting Trakmatik of Roc Nation; working with and watching him achieve greatness is inspiring.  It’s a beautiful thing to witness someone close to you reach higher levels of success and inspire the next generation behind us.

The third, I’m going to have to get back to you on as my career progresses. Lol

What advice would you give to upcoming engineers and producers on staying up to date with technology and entrepreneurship?

Study the people that have come before you in your field.  They’ve already laid the blueprint to success.  Learn what they did and then add your own flavor to it to make it unique.  Stay up on current trends but focus on creating what the next sound might be.  Don’t be afraid to take risks because you never know what your ideas may lead to. On a more philosophical note, don’t allow any negativity or adversity to deter you.  You were already born to be great.  Always live within your elite self.  Stay true to that and you will prosper and live the quality of life that you deserve.  You will have doubters, but you will also have supporters and admirers that you are inspiring and may not even know it, so don’t quit.  Be the example, you never know who is watching and using you for inspiration.

Te’ was one of the first people I reached out to when I had the idea of starting a blog. She motivated me when things didn’t go as planned. She always reassured me that I can obtain success, ONLY if I wanted it bad enough. Thank you, Te’ for always being a positive influence. I hope we both can inspire someone else to follow their dreams. Until next time, I encourage all of you to fight against the odds and go for what you want. No matter what career path you choose, don’t let anything hold you back #BeGreat 

 You can follow producer Te’ journey on Instagram via @officialte & on Twitter via@_itsTE_

 

How to Turn an Unpaid Internship into a Compensated Growth Opportunity

 

Ah, the unpaid, post-graduate internship. You know the one I mean: the one that has no defined time period, expects you to work an undetermined schedule (yet still be able to commit to 30+ hours per week), promises great connections, will probably have you doing nothing but “gopher” work the whole time… and yet, you can’t help but think that despite all the massive drawbacks, there may be some small chance that it will actually be a really good experience for you. Alrighty then. This is where your negotiating skills will come into play.

To turn this sad excuse of an opportunity (seriously – who offers an unpaid position with little wiggle room for the individual to have paid employment???) into something advantageous, the first thing you need is confidence. Know your worth, and be willing to back it up. Take a minute if you’d like, and reflect on everything that you’ve done. Think about your skillset, and know that you can totally do this. Toot that celebratory horn of yours!

The second step is to research the company offering the position. Oftentimes, if they are a small company such as a local studio, they really can’t afford to compensate you financially. But can they give you free mixing time in their rooms? A discounted room rental rate for clients you bring in? If they are a big company, keep your internal alarms at yellow alert.

The third is to create a time limit for the internship. What I usually propose is a 1 or 3 month-long time period (depending on the internship and my financial situation), working no more than 15-20 hours per week, which should be documented in a time log. If by the end of the time period I have not proven myself to be a good fit, then the internship is terminated, and we both go our merry ways. You can tailor this to your needs, of course.

Finally, GET ALL OF THIS IN WRITING. You never, EVER want to leave it up to chance that the person you’re negotiating with will keep their word if they don’t write it down and sign it. Type up all of your requirements, and send it to them (if everything was discussed in person or on the phone, do this in the format of a follow-up email). If they agree, fantastic! (And make sure you hang on to that email, you ever know when you might need it to remind someone of the guidelines they agreed to.) If they don’t, then you don’t want to work for them anyway. They probably suck in real life and have no business taking advantage of us youngins.

The first unpaid internship I ever worked was with a nonprofit radio organization as a digital editor, working with what I thought were good, honest people, and providing an excellent community service. At the beginning of the internship, it was proposed in an email by the company head that I would receive a small stipend of $600 at the end of the summer, which I agreed to (I then foolishly deleted that email, expecting that they would follow through with this). The internship went great, and there were multiple occasions throughout the summer where my boss told me in person (and often in private) that I was providing some of the best work that they had ever received, and that I had a guaranteed paid position starting in the fall. However, once the summer came to a close, I suddenly had no paid position, only $75 for compensation, and a request to continue to work for them without being paid. If only I had saved that email. Thankfully, the lessons I got from that experience only cost me $525; I’ve since heard many stories where the damage was much worse.

So, to recap:

Now go forth and get yourself some learning opportunities!

**DISCLAIMER: This is not to say that ALL unpaid opportunities are BS… I have worked several that were extremely rewarding. The only thing is, they made sure I had the support I needed to find paid employment elsewhere.

 

The Art of Being an Evil Genius

There’s this moment that occasionally occurs when I’m working on a project in the studio. I like to call it “The Evil Genius Moment.” (more…)

Anything That Can Go Wrong Will Go Wrong” – Murphy’s Law

 

“Murphy’s Law” is when something bad happens unexpectedly at the worst possible time. (more…)

X