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Live Recording of a DVD of Sertanejo

“Sertanejo” is a Brazilian music style that would be similar to “country music” in the USA, but entirely different in musical terms. It is the most popular type of music here in Brazil and a very competitive market for artists. Artists often will record a new studio album, tour the new songs and, at some point, record one of these concerts and release a live DVD, right?

But not in Brazil! Here we do everything differently. In Sertanejo it’s common to record a new DVD instead of a new studio album, including, artists just starting their careers. Don’t ask me why.

So our DVD production process is the same as a new studio album,  with the difference, it is live. The first step is the choice of repertoire between the music producer and the artist (sometimes with the manager as well). Once the songs have been defined, the producer starts pre-production arranging with MIDI instruments, which I send out to the musicians to study and learn the songs, so they are ready when the rehearsals start, before the recording. Instruments like acoustic guitar, accordion, and part of the percussion are recorded in the studio. I create a playback session in Pro Tools with a click track and the timecode, and I’m responsible for playing live the recording session.

And here we find another peculiar thing; the band selected for recording the concert is not necessarily the band of the artist. In most cases, the band that plays live is formed by musicians chosen by the music producer himself, just as it is done on a studio CD. Also, most Sertanejos DVDs are always recorded by the same musicians, because they already have the expertise in this type of work. The sound team is also chosen by the music producer.
The day before the “big day,” we go to the venue for the soundcheck. The whole system is designed to give priority to audio and video capture. The volume of the sound for the audience is lower than normal and, sometimes, the house mix doesn’t stay in the center of the venue.

As mentioned before, I run the Pro Tools session using two systems (one is the backup) with a Macbook Pro 2016 running version 11 of the software and the interface Apollo 8 Duo, from Universal Audio, sending the pre-recorded sounds to every place needed.  I’m also responsible for all the recorded files and copying them to at least three different external hard drives, for backup. Usually, the rented recording system is always from the same company, which provides us a console mixer AMEK BIG for previous equalization and filters, recording in a ProTools HD, and the backup is made in a TASCAM X48.

Back in the studio, along with my assistant, we separate the songs individually so that we can edit more easily. After that, I’ll contact the video director and confirm which takes are used, and then start editing. From the live recording, we usually only use the drums, bass, voices and some percussion stuff. If it is necessary, will record in the studio adding overdubs, percussion, and vocals. My favorite DAW for this step is Cubase. Using it, I quantize all the instruments, clean unwanted leaks and add drums samples if my boss (the music producer) wants to. To tune the vocals I use Melodyne.

With all the edited files, I prepare the mixing sessions in ProTools (already with video) for my boss to mix and master. When it’s over, I have to send the songs to the artists to listen and approve them, or to ask for changes they want.

Phew! This is our DVD recording process here!

I would like to say that unfortunately, for the most of the time, I am the only woman in the backstage on the DVDs I work on. Fortunately, I have never faced prejudice from my colleagues. Instead, many of them encourage me and refer me for jobs.  I have started my own company, Quantize, which works in parallel with my job as an assistant in the NaHouse studio.

I hope to have more women working with me on the next jobs!

Karen Ávila graduated in Musical Production from Universidade Anhembi Morumbi and has been working with sound for six years. Currently, the assistant for Eduardo Pepato, one of the greatest music producers in Brazil. At least four of the “top 10” songs on Brazilian radio stations, were produced by him. Besides being Pepato’s assistant, she founded “Quantize” – a company specialized in audio editing that serves producers and artists.

Andrea Bocelli at Arena Da Baixada – Curitiba

I’m not sure if everybody had, at least once in life, the same feelings I had as a teenager: “Will I ever be a professional? Will anyone pay me for my work someday? Will someone ever trust me?” I have quite a clear memory of all these feelings.

I’m not sure about when this all changed, it was a smooth transition from being a student to trainee, a “rookie” technician and 15 years later here we are: huge concerts, immense responsibilities, overnights, difficult problems to solve. Andrea Bocelli world tour comes to Brazil again, and we are in a stadium at Curitiba. Brazilian rental company Loudness was the audio contractor, providing a massive L’Acoustics system for this concert. Loudness has done several Bocelli’s concerts over the years, always providing the best equipment and human resources. Our friends from Bocelli’s audio crew are true professionals, always trying to find the best solutions for each venue, and it’s always a challenge to set up their sound systems.

Fernanda and Marzia

This time I had the opportunity to bring a friend, hard-working girl Marzia Brini, who I met working for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. It was the perfect event to bring her to our team, and she is Italian. It is always nice to have someone that speaks the native language of our clients; it can make a big difference. Marzia did great. It was also one of the few times I was not the only woman on the team – and it was awesome!

As usual, we had a massive system to set up in a very short time.  The stadium was enormous and very reflective, the sound design was about having more sources, less level and avoiding reflections as much as possible. Some numbers around this concert at Arena da Baixada / Curitiba / Brazil: (L’Acoustics) 64 K1, 48 SB28, 64 KARA, 16 V-DOSC, 50 KUDO, 24 12XT, 108 LA-8 amplifiers, plus analog boards Midas XL4 x2 and XL3.

It was not easy, but we did it! As the show started, I had these memories from my teenage years and all the doubts about my future, and suddenly I felt very proud. I felt proud about the choices I had made, some good and some not so good, but everything made up the path to get to where I am.  The feeling of being part of a team and accomplishment, to make your client happy, to make the show happen. That feeling!

End of the concert: load out was ten hours of nonstop heavy work, but again it has to be done. Thanks, Marzia and the Loudness crew, I hope to have many more successful shows and hope to see more and more women working on event production.

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

The Brazilian Way

Each culture has its own stereotype, and Latin Americans in general – specifically Brazilians – are expected to be happy-emotional-hot-friendly people. As it is with any stereotype, (although this is not a totally wrong assumption), it is a generalization, and it is not our deep dark selves – of course. From my “insider” point of view, I would say that our best, not stereotyped characteristic is resiliency and flexibility.

We are as Sound Engineers multitaskers.

To begin with, we have a lot of difficulty in becoming sound engineers at all. The first bachelor’s degree in audio in Brazil was offered starting in 2001. Before that, we had to rely only on shorter courses (excellent ones), which began around 1994. But there were no specific degrees for audio. One could study for a bachelor’s in engineering (electrical, electronic or any other branch of engineering) and specialize a little in acoustical engineering. We all know that it is not exactly what you need to be a sound engineer. But it is an excellent degree to have. So most of us don’t have a degree, or we have degrees in “whatever”: I have known sound technicians with degrees varying from psychology to physics. Today we have more courses, more options for learning the craft of sound. The internet has helped access to fresh information. But still, formal education in Brazil is for the few.

Another characteristic is that things in Brazil change drastically. So you might suddenly have a lot of jobs in sound reinforcement, and five years later there could be a political or economic crisis that forces you to look for jobs in mastering. One year you have a lack of professionals for sound editing, and ten years later you must know how to record live for 5.1 music programs.

It is very rare to be responsible for sound reinforcement for one artist for more than five years. There is no such concept as building a team that will be working for years and years. Often you are responsible for FOH or monitor mixing for more than one artist. We get paid for each show we do, we don’t have an estimated monthly income, so you have to work for many places to have a nice amount of tour dates for the whole year.

One artist will want you to do their P.A. Mix; another prefers you to mix their monitors. You have to know how to work in the FOH and onstage doing monitors.

During the nineties there was a lack of professionals for sound editing, you could work the whole year only editing. Now, there is no need at all for that professional. The same professional who records or mixes is the one who will be editing everything.

On some occasions, you will be the one setting up the sound system and the system engineer. So you must know how to do both jobs. You have to study and learn this. It is very common to have only one engineer doing FOH and Monitors at the same time, no matter where the console will be placed and no matter the size of the gig. It’s the real “just do it” thing.

Even when there was not a crisis in the music industry (when there was a budget for making a record, and you would be inside a studio, which would be locked out only for you, for a whole year), even then, you could find yourself recording and mixing. Rarely would you make a career only recording, or only mixing? Well, today, with artists recording on their own in their home studios, that dream of being specialized in recording is further away.

Most Brazilian sound engineers who are known as good mixers will take on Mastering. Of course, why not?  It is another job when times get tough.

So the world has made us quick learners and quick executors. Never do we have time to do things as they should be. We’re always wrapping it up very fast. It is almost a rule here: you travel to the venue the same day you will be doing the show. There are some of us who are teachers in the audio schools.

 

One day we’re mixing a show, the next we’re mixing a TV program. The following week, we’ll be setting up a system, and so on.

 

 

Obviously, there is a lack of in-depth knowledge in one particular branch of audio engineering. But there is a deep knowledge of sound in its various forms. And, we’re never in a comfort zone. Never ever. Always on the move.

 

Would we like to have more comfort? Yes, who doesn’t? But this is what we have and what we are. Working and being the Brazilian way.

 

FSAprofilepic1Florencia Saravia-Akamine has over 20 years dedicated exclusively to audio, whether in the studio or live. Today, she centered her activities in the areas of “live sound” and recording, editing and mixing for broadcasting. (This has changed through the years and will probably keep on changing everyday. 🙂

More on Florencia Saravia-Akamine at Pro Audio Clube

 

 

 

 

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