Join Us

Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

Join Us

Victoria Butash -Monitor Engineer for Jason Isbell and Sylvan Esso

Victoria has worked in Live Sound for over eleven years and is currently on tour as a monitor engineer with  Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit and works with Sylvan Esso as a monitor engineer. In addition, she works for Big House Sound, Inc. and Sound Image.

Victoria grew up surrounded by music, as her dad was a musician as well as his friends, and at age ten began exploring songwriting. She was part of the choir and band at school and can play a variety of instruments. She attended Capital University, in Columbus, Ohio with the notion of becoming a studio engineer, but realized quickly that her love was in live music and the dream of touring. She would graduate with a Bachelor of Music in Music Technology.

 

Career Start

How did you get your start?

I honestly didn’t know what exactly I wanted to do when I started college. I didn’t even know if I wanted to be in college at all. At first, I thought that I wanted to pursue being a studio engineer, and I realize now that that was a result of my program being so studio-focused. As soon as I got a taste of the live sound environment, I was sold. My first paid gigs were in small clubs. My friend recommended me to cover a few shows, and soon I was being scheduled regularly and was being offered shifts at other clubs that were similar in size. I was bartending to keep a steady income, but eventually, I realized how much those two tracks conflict and decided to pursue other audio opportunities.

What did you learn interning or on your early gigs?

One of the biggest lessons I learned early on was that there is more than one way to efficiently and correctly accomplish something and that you can learn so much from simply observing. I learned and practiced the nuance of asking the right questions at the right times. The other big one was that you absolutely do not have to yell or be a bully to get things done in an effective way. I watched a lot of others try that tactic, and it exclusively garnered resentment amongst the people that you want on your team. There’s a time and a place for being stern (safety), but you absolutely do not have to use it as your primary tactic.

 

Sylvan Esso Crew

Career Now

What is a typical day like?

Wake up at least an hour and a half before walk and chalk, and check Google Maps to see where we are and if there are good coffee spots within walking distance.

Even though I’m not flying anything currently, I still go to walk and chalk to determine my footprint on SL and make sure that I’m being left enough room to operate and make adjustments if not.

Load In

Build MON world and take a look at the air space with RF Explorer and Touchstone Pro

My RF products are all Shure, so I use Touchstone Pro to visualize, and then import data into Wireless Workbench to analyze and deploy my frequencies and pair receivers/transmitters.

Open the previous show file, review my notes, and update snapshots accordingly

Once the backline is built, I run my looms to stage boxes and power drops and help patch the stage

Find some time for lunch and another coffee, and if there’s enough time I’ll call a loved one

Line check with backline pals

Soundcheck

Organize stage/prep changeover if there’s an opener

Dinner

Show

Load Out

 

How do you stay organized and focused?

The most important thing is taking care of your mind and body – if you’re not drinking enough water or eating consistently, your mind will not be at its best.

Outside of health, I find that having a step-by-step routine for getting your day started and setting up is helpful. If you continue to practice the same routine every day, you’ll be able to troubleshoot faster and be considerate of your team’s schedules. For instance – I wouldn’t ever run stage looms first thing because the backline has rolling risers that need to be built and placed. I really don’t like when I hear others use the phrase “work smarter not harder” condescendingly, but I can attest that running out a hefty sine loom is much easier if you don’t have to move it because it’s in the way.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

I love being a part of the interpersonal relationships within the tour team and talent. I think that being a monitor engineer means that your crew is instilling a lot of trust in you. It’s your job to create a sonic space that honors the musician as well as the backline techs that work tirelessly to preserve tone. It’s an amazing feeling to experience the energy on stage as it morphs from song to song.

What do you like least?

When things go wrong, it’s hard not to take it personally. Even if you’re fully prepared and have done the work to secure spare lines, spare frequencies, etc., the equipment can still fail in a way that isn’t immediately fixable. That aspect can be anxiety fuel.

Luckily, I work with incredibly understanding folks who keep their frustrations in check and trust that I am doing my best to make the issue go away. It’s been great to know that if something comes up, we can have a civil conversation about it later.

If you tour what do you like best?

I have always (kind of) joked about how my number one passion in life is food and touring is my gateway to experiencing all of the world’s best food. Seeing the world is such an amazing perk.

I also love that I get to partake in so many fantastic friendships.

What do you like least?

I think that living out of a suitcase surrounded by up to 11 people in a small space as well as being away from your loved ones gets tiring during a long tour. It certainly forces you to choose what items are most important to your every day. I think even the most social people need a break with privacy sometimes, and it can be hard to come by.

What is your favorite day off activity? 

I have two priorities: Find the best coffee. Find at least one good meal.

Outside of that, I usually bring my rollerskates on the road, so I’ll find somewhere to skate and listen to music. I also genuinely love hanging out with my crews, so I like planning fun group activities – especially if they can be outside. I also always make time to phone my loved ones.

What are your long-term goals?

I just want to continue staying on top of the newest technologies and seeing the world (and eating all of the food that the world has to offer!). Eventually, I’d love to dive into more Production Management. I also want to continue exclusively working for and with good humans.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

My biggest obstacles have always been my own anxieties: whether I deserved to be where I was, whether I could handle challenging situations, and being worried that I’m not communicating well enough with my team. The industry’s volatile nature has left a lot of my friends and coworkers with these same anxieties, which means that many of us can share in them and help each other deplete them. You can only control what you can control.

I would be remiss if I didn’t note that I’ve experienced a fair bit of sexism and sexual harassment. I’ve worked in spaces that didn’t feel safe, and I’ve been brushed off for asking for help.

I’ve noticed that – for me at least – it hasn’t been as up-front as it once was. Post-COVID lockdown, there’s been a level of accountability that didn’t quite exist before. That’s not to discount anyone else’s experiences, but I’m glad to feel somewhat safer in my work environment.

How have you dealt with them?

Letting go of the things you can’t control is a powerful thing. I see a therapist once every two weeks, which really helps with the struggles of having anxiety and being on the road full-time. I really, really encourage everyone who tours to seek telehealth therapy options. Many cities have programs that can help with financial support for mental health services. If you live in the Austin area, please reach out to SIMS for mental health support.

I’ve had to get better at advocating for myself and my safety, as well as the safety of those around me. I do my best to work hard and foster an environment where everyone feels welcomed and appreciated.

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

Never stop learning. Remember that no single person knows everything; it’s okay to look something up on Google if you’re second-guessing. Do your best to stay focused through the beginnings of your career: it’s gonna be tough, but you can push through. Meet everyone and try to remember their names – that goes a long way and helps with networking. Make sure that you’re ALWAYS taking breaks to drink water and eat – even on the busiest days. If you only have the budget to purchase one nice tool to start out with, grab a multi-tool like a Leatherman. You will more than likely encounter some form of sexism/discrimination, but do not let that stop you…and always reach out to a Production/Stage Manager, Tour Manager, or Venue Manager if you need help. You should not be expected to work in an unsafe environment, and safety includes sexual harassment or sexism. Advocate for your health, your pay, and your safety. And as you move into positions with more authority, despite what you may see others do, you can accomplish things with kindness and comradery instead of fear.

Must have skills?

I think the biggest skill to being on any team is work ethic and the ability to see everything and everyone from the “same team” point of view. We’re all here to do the same job, even if we work in different departments. People on your team will also notice when you care about your work, and that is a valuable trait.

Be communicative and open. Take responsibility if you mess up and put fail-safes in place to avoid the issue in the future. At the same time, also know when to let a bad night go.

Do your best to stay calm and collected when troubleshooting. Something will definitely go wrong at some point, so be prepared with the knowledge and tools to track it down and fix it.

Last but not least: do your best to be pleasant while respecting your boundaries and your teammates’ boundaries. We all have to work together through long, sometimes arduous days and then we have to get onto our tiny house on wheels and live together, which is a lot. I’d say that getting along with your team goes further than technical know-how.

Favorite gear?

My Leatherman, JH Roxannes and UE 18+ PROs, my RF Explorer, soldering irons, my SoundTools Rat Sniffer, label maker (with cool glitter tapes), anything from the Neve 500 series in a rack, and honestly…zip ties. Haha.

I just want to pay homage to those who helped me get to where I am. In no particular order: my dad Jeff and my mom Cindy, Rick Rhoads, who introduced me to recording and opened the door to a plethora of incredible music, Dr. Mark Lochstampfor, Greg Harbert, Joey Pasternak, Andie Cascioli, Melanie Renecker, Kip Montgomery, Zach Anderson, Nate Peterson, Alicia Blake, Karrie Keyes, and Jeremiah Karni.

Andrea Arenas – Live Sound & Studio Engineer

Andrea Arenas is a Live and Studio Engineer working in the industry for over 17 years. Andrea is currently working as a sound technician for La Perle by Dragone in Dubai. Andrea discovered audio when she was in her teens and overheard some of her friends from orchestra discussing audio engineering.  Andrea wanted to pursue music as she had been learning percussion since she was ten years old. She was deterred by her family who said that music was not an option, so audio engineering opened another career path for her. At the time in Venezuela, there were no official institutions offering audio as a career path, so Andrea enrolled in electronic engineering at Simon Bolivar University in Venezuela, with the understanding that it was somehow related to audio and music. Andrea is currently enrolled at Iberoamerican University, Puebla working on a Master’s Degree in Cultural Management.

 

Career Start

How did you get your start?

I approached a recording studio in my university, part of the communications department, open-minded and willing to find a person who could take me in to teach me all about it. The person in charge of it, fortunately, took me in and taught me most of the things I know about sound today.

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

That first job in the university studio was the door to starting my career in audio, it let me understand what the field was about and if it was something I would enjoy. So it was one of the most important decisions I’ve made in my audio career

What did you learn interning or on your early gigs?

I learned about types of gear, signal flow, working processes, and critical listening. I learned about which parts of the sound career I liked and whatnot.

Did you have a mentor or someone that really helped you?

Yes, Francisco ‘Coco’ Diaz was the person who took me in at the university studio and mentored me for almost 3 years. Even after all these years, I still go to him when I need some perspective or advice. You can follow his Instagram account in Spanish for musical production tips @serproductordemusica.

 

Career Now

What is a typical day like?

I wake up around 8 to 9 am and take care of any home and personal activities like cleaning, cooking, yoga, etc. Then I check emails and work on any out-of-work projects like my personal music, podcasts, mixing, university classes, volunteering work, etc. Then, my work hours for the show usually start after 2 pm. When I arrive at the theater, I check the schedule for the day. We usually have some training, rehearsals or validations with artists. Soundcheck happens every day a couple of hours before the show starts, depending on my track for the day (because I rotate 4 tracks, foh, monitors, RF, and musical director) I’ll do presets for microphones, consoles, computers, etc. Then I run two shows and go home at midnight.

How do you stay organized and focused?

Discipline is part of the daily routine in every aspect of my life, I think mainly because of my musical training, I try to plan short-term goals and keep track of schedules I plan in my mind. I say “in my mind” because following a routine is not my way of doing it. Depending on the day’s mood I organize my activities trying to follow those short-term goals, let’s say I try to keep a weekly schedule rather than a daily tight schedule.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

Feeling that I’m part of a show that, for at least two hours, takes people’s imagination to new places, to enjoy and be happy for a moment. It makes me feel rewarded.

What do you like least?

Having shows on days you want to see your favorite artist show.

If you tour, what do you like best?

Before the pandemic, I was touring with Cirque and my favorite part was always during the first soundcheck at every new city. I usually felt very tired at that moment because of the transfer work, but as soon as the first notes sounded, I could remember why I was doing it, kept going, and enjoyed the moment.

What do you like least?

Working many days in a row, one time I worked 22 days in a row, live sound can be physically very demanding sometimes

What is your favorite day off activity?

I still work on my personal projects during the days I don’t have shows. I consider everyday activities as a choice and I disagree with thinking that on days off I’m “free”. Of course, I also enjoy doing nature or art activities, but I consider them as part of my schedule to achieve the mental state I need to be efficient, enjoy my creative process and enjoy life.

What are your long-term goals?

Keep learning and be open to new opportunities. The pandemic changed my perspective about two things: making plans and depending on a single paycheck. So I’m willing to expand my horizons as much as possible, always open to new experiences related to sound, music, art, culture, and a sense of community.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

It has probably been to leave my country and be able to be recognized as a professional again despite having to practically start from scratch. It’s common to find people don’t trust your skills and even doubt your CV when you are from a different latitude and speak different languages. Fortunately, not everyone thinks the same way, and some others gave me the opportunity to prove myself and let my work speak for myself

How have you dealt with them?

I always try to mention that despite anything that I’ve dealt with (consciously or not) I’m true to myself, and my ideas and keep working as hard and passionately as possible.

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

Follow your instincts, speak up, despite feeling intimidated by others, and don’t let these feelings rule the way you behave or think. There will always be people more experienced and less experienced than you anywhere, just be aware that your opinion is also important and can be considered as others.

Must have skills?

Problem-solving, active listening, and patience

Favorite gear?

I always say that because I haven’t tried them all, I can’t choose a favorite. I think the idea is to feel comfortable with the gear you use, and learning the most about it and practicing will be the only way to get there. So I usually try to feel comfy with the gear I use, sometimes I wish I could have the trendy ones or the ones that a super famous artist or studio owns, but sometimes it is not possible. So I embrace reality and get the best out of the gear I have in front.

Jeanne Montalvo – Grammy-Nominated Audio Engineer and Radio producer

 

Jeanne Montalvo is a Grammy-nominated audio engineer and radio producer. In 2017, she was nominated for a Grammy Award as Mastering Engineer for Vladimir Horowitz: The Unreleased Live Recordings, and her recording of Multiverse by Bobby Sanabria’s Latin Jazz Big Band was nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album at the 2012 Grammy Awards. In 2018 Spotify awarded her a residency at Spotify Studios and Electric Lady Studios in NY, where she assisted on recordings for  John Legend, Cultura Profética, Alessia Cara, Anitta, and many more. She has worked at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and the Tanglewood Music Festival, and has also worked on live recordings with Spike Lee and Al Kooper.

She broke into radio after receiving her Masters in Music Technology from New York University, working as an audio engineer and producer for National Public Radio, Bloomberg Radio, the Duolingo podcast, and projects for the New York Times and Sony. She is also a creator of “Live from Latino USA” a live and (mostly) unplugged video series that features Latinx talent from Jessie Reyez to Jose Feliciano. She is currently freelancing in the city and the treasurer of the New York Section of the Audio Engineering Society.

Jeanne attended The University of Central Florida, where she minored in music and mass communications and was looking into a Master’s in Music Business when she saw a brochure with music business on one side and music engineering on the other. Jeanne says “a light bulb went off. Now I look back and it was obvious. I used to edit for fun on cassette tapes as a kid, stay home to record the radio, play with microphones, and then in college got a copy of Cool Edit Pro and started doing digital editing for dance groups and school projects. But it wasn’t a job I saw really, so how would I have known?” Jeanne would go on to attend Microfusa for audio and enrolled at NYU for a Master’s in Music Tech.

What did you learn interning or on your early gigs?

I learned work ethic early on. When I didn’t understand things, I asked, but if I had a bigger learning curve, I stayed late or came in early to do extra time to try to figure things out. If it was allowed I’d come on weekends. After a while, I caught up to the workflow, but it was on me to make sure I could stay on point. At the beginning of my career especially because I was working in older technology, analog tape, and sometimes tapes from the 1930s I was always really nervous about breaking things. It’s one thing to make mistakes at school, but real life has real-life consequences. So I was always focused, I paid extra special attention to detail, and if something didn’t sit right with me, I went to someone to ask for help. And eventually, that became less and less.

In 2016, I landed the engineering gig at Futuro Media home to NPR’s Latino USA (now on PRX). It was a breath of fresh air. I really refined my skills in podcast mixing and mastering, and eventually became a senior engineer. As time wore on, the creativity itch started to take over, and when I came back from the Spotify residency, I dug into production full on. I was tapped to work on Loud: The History of Reggaeton because the bulk of my productions were all music stories, and I go heavy with music sound design. The project was 10 episodes and spanned about two years – I even had a baby in the middle of it! My maternity leave ended just in time to sound design and help produce all 10 episodes. It has been some of my most rewarding work there, and the podcast itself has received reviews in some of the biggest news outlets which has been really exciting to see.
Producing has really connected a lot of dots for me of work I’ve done in the past and the research I love to just nerd out on. It just goes to show why it’s important to do a lot of things. It took me a while to get here, but I was using Izotope and denoising software back in 2007 when I was archiving and restoring old opera recordings. So you really never know!

Career Now:

What is a typical day like?

Depends on the day, but I am still very much working from home. If I’m sound designing or producing podcasts, I may be getting music from a sound library and efx and going through scripts. I tend to work best hearing things, so while I do use scripts, I will score and put sound efx in on the fly as I hear things. If it’s music, lately I’ve been more on the post side. So it usually involves receiving tracks, organizing my session, and mix prepping. Then mixing of course!

How do you stay organized and focused?

I have a lot of Excel spreadsheets, and to-do lists, and I use Trello. Because I tend to do a lot of different things, I start to get scattered if I’m not organized. And for me, that means seeing things written out.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

I love seeing people do what they do best. I never aspired to be a performer, but I love helping talented musicians produce the best version of themselves. It’s important they don’t have to worry about the tech, so they can just focus on their craft. And I get to be the one that captures that moment. And with podcasts, I love hearing a story come to life with music and efx. It’s the best moment when a piece is scored and you listen back and all of a sudden you can see everything in your mind.

What do you like least?

I hate that I can’t turn that off. Sometimes I go to bed still thinking about things or reading about something. If I could work all the time, I would because I enjoy it. But that’s not necessarily good for you as a human being.

What is your favorite day off activity? 

I love to spend time with my family. I have 2 young kids, so anytime I can, I am with them and my spouse.

What are your long-term goals?

I would love to be able to do more music, so I try to take as much of that as I can. My husband is a singer/songwriter and we also would love to build out our own studio to be able to produce and do more work.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I think the main thing I dealt with in the beginning was being taken seriously – having to prove to someone I knew what I was doing.

How have you dealt with them?

I just did the work. I didn’t let it get to me, and I worked hard. And eventually, those people grew to respect me because they realized that I could in fact do what I was hired to do. The work speaks for itself. If you get too much in your head about things, it’s easy to think that people are against you. But if you do good work, then actions speak louder than words.

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

Keep at it. Don’t give up. There will be time to do everything you want to do, so don’t feel like you’re not where you’re supposed to be. Take the job that’s on the table. It may not be the one you want, but it’s the job that may take you to the one you want. You will inevitably learn something there and those are the building blocks to being the badass engineer you are. The dots will connect.

Must have skills?

Attention to detail.

Desire to learn. You never stop learning.

Quick thinker/ability to react and troubleshoot quickly

Favorite gear?

I think Izotope RX is the best and I’ve been using them for years.

I also have been using my Sony MDR-7506 for over 15 years!

More on Jeanne

Jeanne Montalvo on The SoundGirls Podcast

Jeanne Montalvo-Grammy nominated audio engineer and radio producer talks about music, mother & more!

 

Rachel Field—Studio Owner and Mastering Engineer

 

“If underrepresented people trying to get into any industry—or neighborhood, or anything else for that matter—allow that type of [discriminatory] environment, it’s going to be an unwelcoming environment. If you allow it to push you out and not pursue it, the representation will never improve…I stayed until this point, a year from now I might be like, ‘F*** that, it’s too hard.’ On that note, I can’t fault anybody for not sticking it out. It can be really brutal, but it’s also super rewarding.”
-Rachel Field

Rachel Field is a co-owner and mastering engineer at Resonant Mastering in Seattle, Washington. In addition to her expertise in mastering, Rachel also has experience (over her 11 years in the industry) working as a recording, mix, and live sound engineer. Rachel’s credits include acts such as Eddie Vedder, Brandi Carlile, Pearl Jam, Thunderpussy, Whitney Mongé, and more.

Career Beginnings

Growing up in a musical family, Rachel was immersed in music from a young age. Until 2009, however, she had not realized that pursuing a career in audio technology was a possibility for her. This changed one day due to an important conversation with a friend. As she puts it:

“I had been waitressing most of my adult life and was looking for something else to do but was pretty uninspired by other options. Over breakfast, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who had just come from a recording session. They were describing the techniques the engineer used to mic up the drum kit and at that moment I was like… that’s what I want to do. That sounds amazing. It hadn’t even occurred to me that audio could be a career until that moment.”

Having found her new passion, Rachel began asking her musician friends how one could get into the industry. After some research, she decided to enroll in the audio program at The Art Institute of Seattle (a private, for-profit school that closed in 2019). Still working as a waitress to support herself, Rachel decided to go to school part-time so that she could manage work and classes.

Once in school, Rachel quickly began pursuing professional audio work. She was able to break into the industry by partnering up with a friend, saying yes to as many opportunities as she could, and networking. She explains this in detail below.

How did you break into the professional side of the industry?

“I would tag along [to sessions] with my friends as a fly on the wall for a while, but after I got into school I networked and teamed up with another student there. He was more experienced than I was, so together we were able to team up and start working around town in studios and taking on whatever we could get our hands-on.

“We did live remote recording a couple different ways: we pieced equipment together and reached out to live club sound engineers that were doing shows for some of the bands we were friends with and started working that angle a little bit.

“The other thing to is if anybody had come around from the industry—this is where the networking comes in… you know, people come around looking for fresh engineers to help out, so being around and saying yes to those things was something that kept me pretty busy.

“I also took on internships wherever I could. I interned at a studio called Fastback Studios [in north Seattle]. That was a really great internship—I learned a lot there about session flow, different approaches to recording albums, and different ways studios could be configured as far as gear goes.”

How did you manage your time? It sounds like between school and work you were pretty busy.

“I was working a waitressing job, going to school part-time, and then had sometimes two internships going and freelance work. It really was a grind for a couple years straight. There was probably a solid two or three years where I didn’t do anything social or anything just for fun. I had to be really on it with my calendar. This is not an exaggeration… I had to put showering on my calendar, that’s how packed everything was.

“It was hard. I really wanted to be in this industry and not waitressing, and I think that reflected in how hard I worked to get there.”

Gender-Related Barriers

Regardless of how hard Rachel worked and how dedicated she was to her craft, she (like many people coming up in audio) faced gender-based discrimination.

What gender-related obstacles or barriers have you faced? How have you dealt with them?

“I came into this industry pretty naïve—I had no idea that it was so male-dominated and at times outright misogynistic, but I learned that pretty quickly. There are examples at every turn and on every level of running into gender bias and unnecessary disrespect. Running from the assumption that I can’t do a very basic thing or I couldn’t possibly know things that are technical. Being presumed to be the engineer’s girlfriend…

“On one of the earlier projects I was part of, I got plenty of personal remarks about my body constantly, all day, day in and day out. I almost walked away. I still, to this day—over a decade later, now as the owner of my own studio—am often presumed to be the secretary or the assistant to my male business partner. It happens enough and never the other way around.

“You walk into anything having to prove yourself [when you’re a woman], whereas when you’re a dude and you walk into something, there’s this presumption that you’re an expert already.”

You mentioned that you considered walking away. What made you stay?

“I did almost walk away. I almost walked away completely, multiple times. In some of my frustrating moments, one conversation I had with somebody in particular really sticks out. I called an old friend of mine who I’ve known for a long time, and I think I was venting to her and talking about how I just wanted to leave and walk away from this project and this career path altogether. She told me, ‘No, stay. Just stay. Whatever you have to do to stay, if you need to laugh it off or you need to yell at them about it, just figure out how you can stay.’

“Her words really stuck with me because if underrepresented people trying to get into any industry—or neighborhood, or anything else for that matter—allow that type of environment, it’s going to be an unwelcoming environment. If you allow it to push you out and not pursue it, the representation will never improve. I guess that’s one of the things that helped me stick it out and keep going in the face of it. I thought, ‘Well OK, today I’m going to tell you to f*** off, tomorrow I might laugh about it with you.’ Whatever I had to do to be able to tolerate it and see another day in the studio, that’s what I did.”

Have you noticed progress on gender equity since you began your career? If so, what has changed?

“It’s gotten so much better just in the last 10 years, so much better.

“Women coming up in the industry are proving they can be just as capable as men (duh!). Also, I think there is more awareness among people in the industry that there needs to be a concerted effort to fix the imbalance and allow an opportunity for women.

“When I say there’s been a lot of change and it’s a lot better, I do mean that, but it’s still nowhere near balanced. This is a hard industry for anybody to break into and then add in all those other [gender-based] challenges and labor on top of it, it can be pretty discouraging.

“I stayed until this point, a year from now I might be like, ‘F*** that, it’s too hard.’ On that note I can’t fault anybody for not sticking it out. It can be really brutal, but it’s also super rewarding.”

Advice for Up-and-Coming Engineers

Because of the barriers, she has faced, Rachel always tries to stay available for people (especially women and gender-expansive folks) coming up in the industry. She loves sharing the lessons she has learned with the next generation of audio engineers.

Do you have any advice for people looking to break into the industry?

“I have a couple key pieces. First of all, networking is very important. Also, make sure that when a door of opportunity opens, you’re ready to walk through it. Always be preparing, always be upping your skills, always be honing and working on whatever you can.

“I would say that what worked for me really well was to stay honest about where I was at with my skill level…Don’t be overly humble, stay confident in what you do know and what you can do, but it’s best not to be dishonest about things you cannot do. For example, if an engineer invites you to be an assistant, do all the things you can do and be confident, but if there’s something you can’t do, don’t pretend you can and not do it or do it incorrectly—that can just be a bigger problem.

“I’d also say it’s really huge to stay open-minded about what path your audio career will take you down: explore live sound, explore recording and studio work, explore field recording or foley or post-production and all those things. Diversify your skillset so that you can be ready to walk through those opportunity doors.

“I didn’t really have mastering as a goal, it’s just that I was ready to walk through the door when there was an opening at a mastering studio…It turned out to be my favorite thing.”

In your opinion, are there any must-have skills for people working in audio?

“In situations where you’re working directly with artists and clients, people skills and communication skills are huge. Something I learned pretty quickly was that all of my restaurant experience, all that customer service experience, was going to be hugely beneficial. Being able to organize and keep a running to-do list at all times and making sure my communication with people was clear and diplomatic—being able to communicate things without ruffling feathers and making everybody feel all groovy was really huge.

“Even more basic than that, just remembering that it’s somebody’s art and your job is to help them make it.”

Career Now

Rachel and many others like her do indeed make a living helping artists make art. This is definitely Rachel’s favorite part of her job. Like any job, however, there are some aspects that are not so rewarding.

Have you experienced burnout with your work or is it something you’ve always kept the love for?

“I think for me the burnout comes more with all the other stuff that has to be done outside of the actual engineering work—the administrative work. The emailing to me is the big albatross… it’s a lot more than I ever imagined it would be. Especially as people start working on smaller projects: there’s more projects and more people, which makes it more administrative work per studio hour.

“That’s where I get my burnout, but if you don’t email you can’t book new work!

“That’s why a lot of engineers if they’re busy enough to warrant it, will get management. That way, future bookings can continue without impeding the current work process… I haven’t gotten to that quite yet.”

Speaking of getting to things, are there any long-term goals you have for your career?

“I have a really amazing, great client base of independent artists, a lot of whom are local to the Seattle area. I absolutely love that and what I would like to add to that are some more major label projects.”

Impact of COVID-19 on Business

One thing that has recently been getting in the way of many people’s goals is COVID-19. Rachel was candid about the impacts of the pandemic on her business and the music industry in general.

If you don’t mind sharing, how has your business been impacted by COVID-19? Have you been able to keep working throughout the pandemic?

“A lot of our work was already done remotely so yes, definitely, we were able to continue working. One of the things that did happen though was that as tours and live music got cancelled, a lot of our clients’ income stream dried up. They had valid concerns of whether they could afford to go through with their sessions, so we lost a lot of booking from that. We also master live, sort of bootleg shows as well. A lot of dates were on the calendar for that kind of work that also disappeared when tours disappeared.

“So we did make it through… we did OK but we suffered a pretty big hit to our workload and income.”

How have you seen the industry as a whole change because of COVID-19?

“When gigs first started getting canceled I was working on ‘Art Zone’ with Nancy Guppy [a TV show that airs on the Seattle Channel and is dedicated to showcasing local artists]. I was working on set training to be the audio person for that show, and the audio engineer that was training me did that work regularly and was crew for live touring work. They got the notification that their next 3 months of income evaporated [because tours were cancelled] while I was there, and it was just a really sobering moment. There isn’t a lot of money flow from other sources in the music industry besides live shows.

“I think, for what I do, my day-to-day is pretty much the same, only it’s just alone and there’s a lot more email. Otherwise, I have observed a lot of people really questioning how hard they want to work to stay in an industry in which it’s so tough to make it…[Asking themselves,] ‘is it really worth it?’ and where’s the threshold of ‘this is an expression of my art’ versus ‘this is my business, this is my living.’ I think people have sort of had to step back and reexamine that for themselves.”

Final Thoughts

One closing question: what is your favorite piece of gear?

“Right now I’m super into my newest piece of gear which is an Undertone Audio UnFairchild—I love its tone and versatility.”

Thank you to Rachel for generously sharing her experiences and insights! To find out more about her, please visit the links below:

https://www.rachelfieldaudio.com/

http://www.resonantmastering.com/

 

Twi McCallum – Sound Designer

Twi McCallum works on sound design for theater, post-production, audiobooks, and commercials. She has been freelancing since 2018 for Broadway, off-Broadway, and for regional theatres. Twi recently started working full-time at Skywalker Sound in sound editorial, and she will be relocating from NYC to the Bay Area.

Twi grew up in Baltimore and worked throughout high school at the National Aquarium, where she learned ocean conservation and marine biology. During the summers they created a play that was performed at local libraries. They would write the script, create costumes, backdrops, props, and music. This was Twi’s introduction to theater. She would go on to attend Howard University, where she found a class called TECH, where she became a crew member working behind the scenes for student productions. Twi remembers her first production, “my first tech assignment was a dresser for the musical Anything Goes, and there was a moment during invited dress when I was standing in the wings waiting for my actor to come offstage for a quick change. And I must have been standing in front of a speaker because I suddenly felt a wash of sound effects and music cascade over my body, and although I knew nothing about speakers, mics, or engineering at that time, I knew that’s what I wanted to jump into.”

Twi was working towards a Theater Administration major, studying things like stage management, producing, and technical theater. “At the time, my focus was costume design, which is laughable now, but there were no sound design professors and I failed my lighting  and scenic design classes which is why I dropped out of school and moved to New York.”  Twi would eventually graduate from Yale School of Drama’s one-year sound program in May 2021, which was virtual due to covid.

Her first job in NYC was a technical apprenticeship at a dance company called New York Live Arts, which was the first time Twi learned the fundamentals of audio such as how to stand on a ladder to hang a speaker, using a c-wrench, dropping a file into QLab, what an XLR cable is, and the basics of a mixing console which was the Yamaha DM1000. Twi says she knew she wanted to be a sound designer “because I was more moved by watching the dance performances than I was mixing them, and of course, getting yelled at as a mixer because nobody talks to the sound person unless they need to scold.”

When the apprenticeship ended, Twi worked as a stagehand at the Manhattan School of Music while sending her resume to a bunch of theaters that Twi said: “I was grossly underqualified for.” Her first design gigs were for Cape May Stage, TheatreSquared, and Kansas City Reps– all regional theaters that took a chance on her.

During covid, Twi took a post-production internship at a foley studio called Alchemy, and because of that opportunity, she was immediately hired as an apprentice sound editor on two scripted television shows for NBC and STARZ which allowed me to join Motion Picture Editors Guild Local 700. Those jobs qualified her to be hired at Skywalker Sound.

What did you learn interning or on your early gigs?

My one quirk is that I write everything down… when I’m at work I’m constantly scribbling in a notepad. My first job in New York was a technical theater internship (although criminally underpaid and abusive) at a dance company called New York Live Arts. It was my first time learning the basics of audio, and I still have my notebook from 3 years ago. I wrote down everything I learned…what does this button on the Yamaha DM1000 do, this is how many pins an XLR cable has, this is what a cluster is vs what a line array is. There is nothing embarrassing about needing to take notes, and there were times that it saved me because someone on the staff would ask me a question about the system that nobody else could answer but there it was in my trusty notebook! Even when I transitioned into post-production last year, I began keeping a typed journal of things I learned every day. My first professional television gig was as a sound apprentice on STARZ’s The Girlfriend Experience season 3, and the first thing my sound supervisor taught me was the importance of making region groups in ProTools for every episode. A year later, I still refer to those instructions whether I’m working on a professional tv show or an indie film.

Did you have a mentor or someone that really helped you?

My first mentor in theater sound was Megumi Katayama. There was a time in my life 2-3 years ago when I didn’t know any sound designers and I was emailing as many of them as I could find to inquire about their process. Megumi was a recent Yale MFA graduate when we met, already making strides with sold-out productions. I told her that I wanted to apply to Yale, so she invited me to assist her on production at Long Wharf Theater, which allowed me to tour and interview at Yale for my application. To this day she is still the only designer I’ve ever assisted.

My other theater sound design mentor is Nevin Steinberg, a legend, known for mega Broadway shows like Hamilton, Hadestown, and Dear Evan Hanson. When I emailed him as a fan with no major work experience, he called me on the phone the next day to my surprise, and since then he and I have talked at least every few weeks the past 2 years, sometimes just to make sure I’m emotionally okay.

In post-production, my biggest mentors are Bobbi Banks (ADR supervisor), Dann Fink, (loop group coordinator), and Bryan Parker who is a Supervising Sound Editor at Formosa Group and spent 6 months training me in sound effects and dialogue editorial. As I begin a new journey at Skywalker Sound, I admire Katy Wood, who I plan to work closely with over the next year.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that mentors also show up outside of my craft as a sound designer. The folks who always recommend me for big jobs, introduce me to directors, and take care of me in the workplace are costume, scenic, and lighting designers like Dede Ayite, Adam Honore, David Zinn, Clint Ramos, and Paul Tazwell. I advise any sound girl to reach out to other artists outside of audio to build a robust community.

Career Now

What is a typical day like?

In theater, I typically spend two weeks prior to tech being hands-on preparing for a production. This includes chats with the director, conceptual meetings with the scenic & lighting designers, group production meetings, and visiting rehearsals as often as possible. I also do a lot of paperwork such as cue sheets, console files, gear lists, and ground plans. Tech is typically 1-2 weeks long, and thankfully the theater industry is progressing away from the brutal 10 out of 12-hour workdays and six-day work weeks. Tech means stepping through every page of the script with all of the actors fully encompassed in the design elements. Then, there are usually 1-2 weeks of previews, which means a short rehearsal during the day to fix notes and a public audience performance in the evening.

How do you stay organized and focused?

My calendar is the key to me staying organized, Google calendar works miracles. As lame as it sounds, I maintain a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual to-do list. Annual to-do lists may feel overboard, but you’ll feel rewarded when the holiday season arrives and you realize you accomplished a long-term goal that you visualized 10 months prior. I am still learning to stay focused while acknowledging focusing doesn’t need to look the same for everyone. When I’m working from home, I like sitting on my couch with my laptop and listening to my tv in the background so I don’t feel alone. The best advice about focus that I’ve gotten from artists: spend 15 minutes every day in complete silence (from a costume designer), and try spending the first 1-2 hours every day that you wake up without any technology (from a playwright). Reducing social media usage has become critical for me, especially the drama of Instagram and Facebook.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

What I love the most about theater sound design is sitting in the audience watching my show and being swarmed with the real-time reactions of the audience. The laughter, claps, cries, and yells, especially if it’s a result of a perfectly timed sound effect, assure me that I’ve done a great job. In theater, you will hear lots of designers say this theory, “The design is good when you don’t notice it.” But I disagree with that because there’s a line between noticing when your design is bad versus noticing when your design is compelling the storytelling. I like to believe we go to the theater to not only notice the actors but to enjoy the physical world of the play (scenic and costumes) and visceral world of the play (lighting and sound). I want the audience to notice my gunshots, earthquakes, music transition, spaceship takeoff, alarm clock, etc because they’re small yet inspiring parts of the bigger puzzle. For example, I designed a production of STEEL MAGNOLIAS at Everyman Theater and my director was adamant about the big gunshot moment, so I drove the point home and made it terrifying. I loved reading the performance reports via email from the stage manager every night that noted the audience jumping and holding each other at the surprise of the gunshot.

What do you like least?

In theater, I dislike the lack of budgeting of time and money from producers, production managers, directors, and other folks in power. Money is always used as an excuse for why designers, including sound designers, cannot be given the resources, staffing, and pay to properly do our jobs. There’s also a disregard for equitable scheduling of pre-production, rehearsal, and tech that impacts our personal lives.

What is your favorite day off activity? 

I play a lot of zombie video games (team PlayStation), plus I spend time with my Goldendoodle and pet snails as my happy places in my personal life. I’ve been watching some television shows, which are new to me because I’m more of a film lover. It took me a month to finish The Walking Dead but it was worth it, and I love Money Heist, You, Pose, Judge Judy, Top Chef, and Squid Game.

What are your long-term goals?

In 5-10 years, my heart is gazed upon being a re-recording mixer and supervising sound editor for big-budget film, television, and video games. I’m leaving behind theater sound design to transition into theatrical producing, so I can focus more on my post-production career. Eventually, I would love to teach sound design at an HBCU.

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

“Making it” is hard. However, I like to believe many of us make it over that hump eventually. What I wished someone talked to me about 2-3 years ago is what happens AFTER “making it”. For me, the insecurities have not stopped. At 25 years old and well-accomplished for my age according to other people… I am still comparing myself to others, taking it really hard when I don’t get hired for a particular show, and constantly wondering if I will maintain a career of longevity. And as a woman of color, surrounded by men as well as white women who have consistent streaks of accomplishments, I feel this sense of failure more often than people imagine. There are days that I cry, I wonder if I should change careers, I question if I will ever outdo myself and my peers. It’s important that I’m real and honest about these things because I know I’m not the only woman of sound in the world to experience these growing pains. This is where making a self-care plan kicks in, often we discuss self-care regarding busy schedules and needing time off from work. But self-care is also needed as a reminder to love ourselves and balance the highs and lows of our careers, even the lows that we are embarrassed to talk to other people about.

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

Try your hardest not to take underpaid jobs. Even when you are first starting, do not take a gig that does not pay at least the legal minimum wage. Money is important, despite being in a craft where we’re supposed to love what we do unconditionally. Women are already underpaid and under-hired in sound, which makes us even more valuable. Companies that thrive on underpaid labor should not exist. The only places you should “volunteer” your time are schools, mentorship programs, and community theaters, all with a grain of salt of course. If you ever need to weigh the tradeoffs of taking a certain gig, do not be ashamed to reach out to someone with experience to ask for advice.

Must have skills?

The most important skill, in theater and post-production, is being able to quickly learn software. This includes drafting software like Vectorworks and DAWS like ProTools. Once you learn the basics of the software you need for work, the next challenge is learning how to use them efficiently. “Shortcuts” become important in the workplace, especially in post-production when it saves you 60 seconds of labor if you know a keyboard hotkey compared to needing to navigate a menu for the same function. These skills are not simple to learn, so be gentle with yourself on this learning journey. There are manuals and flashcards for all software, even ProTools keyboard covers to purchase!

Favorite gear?

In theater, I love Meyer’s SpaceMapGo. I implemented the software on my Broadway play CHICKEN & BISCUITS, to help move music and atmospheric cues around the theater in a 3D motion. In post-production, a similar asset is a plug-in called Waves Brauer Motion.

Summary of accomplishments

More on Twi

Twi McCallum on Hiring Black Designers and Creatives

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2aZE4fsUKT3pwFm3VAE4PE?si=FSn-cQGRQ8KxmN-z88xBeQ

Danielle Lewis – Be a Sponge

Danielle M. Lewis is a FOH and Monitor Engineer and also takes on the role of production manager. She works for AEG at The Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA. Danielle has over 18 years of experience working in live events. She attended Drexel University and graduated with a BS in Communications and Applied Technology and an MS in Arts Administration.

Early Life

When did you discover audio as a career path? 

I discovered audio as a career path in the very late 90’s/early 2000s. I was unaware of it as a kid, young person, or young adult.

How did you get interested in audio? 

I became interested in audio because I sang on a recorded gospel choir, the director of the choir decided to return to school full-time so he disbanded the choir. I loved to sing and absolutely love music but “coincidentally” I developed allergies and asthma, so I asked myself “How can I stay connected to music?” I had a science and math background and always enjoyed physics. My thought was, “Hmmm, sound is a part of music, let me research and investigate the audio aspect of music!”

Did music and audio interest you while you were growing up?

Music DEFINITELY did. I have always been drawn to music ever since I could remember. Fond memories as a child of visiting my relatives in Washington DC, one of my Aunts had an extensive record collection. She bought me my first vinyl, The Jackson 5’s first album ABC!

Career Start

How did you get your start?

I started by volunteering with a small sound company in Delaware while working full-time at Verizon. I also joined the Multimedia Ministry at my church that happened to be a 3000-seat facility.

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

My 12-year career at Verizon helped lay my foundation in customer service and leadership. My tenure at the church, where I “cut my teeth” helped prepare me for doing audio professionally. Oftentimes things were done off the cuff and unstructured at church so when I began taking gigs outside of the church and learned there was a plan, I was more at ease because I knew what to expect.

What did you learn interning or on your early gigs?

Be early, be a sponge and ask questions. Learn the craft!

Did you have a mentor or someone that really helped you?

I did not have an official mentor, but various individuals helped me by exposing me to different gigs and trusting me with challenging gigs necessary for growth.

Career Now

Production Manager at Keswick Theatre, Freelance PM/Audio engineer

What is a typical day like?

My “typical” day varies because it depends on if it is a show day (the type of show) or a non-show day. Non-show days are less hectic for obvious reasons. Those days are spent talking to tours, reserving equipment, scheduling labor…all things involving advancing a show.

On show days, I try to arrive 60 mins ahead of the tech’s/crew call time. This enables me to print day sheets, input lists, and stage plots for the show.

Once the crew arrives and the tour is onsite, the first thing I do is COVID-19 check everyone in. This involves verifying the vaccination card of the tour. We then proceed to load-in and set up the show. I sometimes participate but am often called away to handle other things or continue advancing future shows, approving invoices, etc.

Soundcheck happens after we are all set, then there is usually dinner, the doors of the theatre open an hour before showtime. Then during the show, I am either in my office advancing other shows or some other type of paperwork or I stay stage left in case there is a problem on stage.

Then the strike happens and then load-out. This is an abbreviated run down as you are constantly answering questions, putting out fires, and doing admin stuff as the day is going. Sound easier than it is

How do you stay organized and focused?

I try to stick to methods and procedures, when and where possible. It is challenging and often you can feel all over the place but it is organized chaos often, LOL.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

The music, getting to meet and experience different people, and the satisfaction that I am a part of bringing the arts to people’s lives.

What do you like least?

The hours, it takes a toll on your personal life. You have to miss many important days and times in your loved ones’ lives etc.

If you tour what do you like best?

When I did tour I enjoyed seeing different places, but also having to do a show in different locations and settings, helps to keep you sharp. You are placed in different scenarios thus experiencing new and different problems to solve.

What do you like least?

The hours and potential lack of showers LOL

What is your favorite day off activity?

Sleep, spending time with family & friends,

What are your long-term goals?

Long term I would love to reach more women to expose them to our industry. Also, live sound to be recognized as a respected sector of the industry by NARAS.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I have definitely faced obstacles due to gender biases, as well as race.

How have you dealt with them?

Strive to be the best I can be in multiple areas of production. Learn various aspects of the business so that you can wear many hats. When music gigs are scarce, I have been fortunate to work on corporate gigs. Not always as exciting but it was steady work with excellent compensation!

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

If this is what you love to do, then show up believing you belong in the room! Make it a point to add value and try to leave the place better for you having been there.

Must have skills?

Effective communication and interpersonal skills

Favorite gear? 

My favorite piece of gear is the Midas Heritage 3000 console, yes, I am dating myself but it is a sweet smooth sounding board.

 

Emily Magpie – Mastering Engineer

 

Emily Magpie is a Mastering Engineer and recently launched Emily Magpie Mastering. Emily has been working in audio for the last seven years and attended dBs The Sound & Music Institute where she was tutored by Josh Hills (mastering engineer for Sony, EMI). Based in Bristol, Emily works as a producer + musician and her work has been championed by  BBC 6’s Tom Robinson, The Line of Best Fit, Mahogany, Earmilk and amassed over 90,000 plays on Spotify. Emily is proud to be part of the growing 2% of women working as music producers and care deeply about supporting others in their journey.

Emily has always had an interest in music and audio “I’ve always loved music. I began writing, singing, and playing various instruments and could always hear a world around my songs in my head and wanted to explore creating that through production. I was always determined to keep learning, growing & exploring.” During her teenage years, Emily performed as a vocalist for a jazz orchestra. This experience gave Emily a foundation for arrangement, improvisation, and the joy of music. Emily has been performing and producing her own music experimenting with sounds in her bedroom and learned the music production process from other talented producers and engineers. This encouraged Emily to head back to school and formalize her experiences. She recently graduated from dBS The Sound + Music Institute, where she studied DJ + Electronic Music Production.

 

Career Start

What did you learn with internships and mentoring? 

Clarity + communication at the start saves so much time later!

Did you have a mentor or someone that really helped you? 

In the early days, a friend of mine Anuj Robin taught me so much about production. The support + kindness of others like that in the industry still makes me feel in awe.

Career Now

What is a typical day like?

Doing some yoga + having coffee, getting back to mastering inquiries + other bits of admin then diving into working on mastering for other artists + producers.

Some days I’ll work on production for my own music too and have band practice some evenings. Every day is different and full of music in all different forms!

How do you stay organized and focused?

I have a paper diary + many to-do lists in my notebook. I write everything down and decide when I’ll work on each job. As a mastering engineer, you can be working on a lot of different projects so organisation is key!

What do you enjoy the most about your job?  

I love hearing such a wide range of music and figuring out how to make it sound its best. It’s really fun hearing the artist + producers’ vision for their tracks and helping them achieve or exceed that. I get a lot of satisfaction from my clients being excited about their final masters.

What do you like least? 

It does mean a lot of time on a computer but I try to balance that with exercise and doing fun things outside when I’m not working!

If you tour, what do you like best? 

I have been lucky enough to play a couple of sold-out socially-distant gigs with my own music over lockdown which have felt really special. I just love connecting with an audience. It’s nice to get up on stage and perform as well as spending time absorbed in musical worlds when producing- I love the balance of spending time in internal + external worlds.

More on Emily

​​https://emilymagpiemastering.co.uk/

emilymakesmusic6@gmail.com

Instagram @emilymagpiemastering

Emily Magpie

Maxime Brunet FOH Engineer, Tour Manager, & Road Warrior

 

Maxime Brunet is a freelance live sound engineer, primarily mixing FOH & tour management. She also works in music venues as both a FOH & monitor engineer. She has been working in live sound for ten years and touring for six. She has toured with a variety of artists over the years, including Wolf Parade, Chloe Lilac, Operators, TR/ST, Kilo Kish, Marika Hackman, & Dilly Dally.

Early Career – DIY Punk, Radio, & Trial By Fire

Growing up in Ottawa, Canada, Maxime played in DIY punk bands, promoted shows, & attended as many concerts as she could. She started her professional audio journey when interning at a community radio station in high school. After completing her internship, she was offered a position as the production coordinator: she recorded ads and station IDs, as well as helped volunteers edit interviews, and trained them on how to use the recording equipment and DAW. She developed an interest in mixing and began recording and mixing her own bands, in which she played bass & sang.

Maxime attended the University of Ottawa, where she studied political science. During her undergrad, she started shadowing live sound engineers around town. Eventually, she was hired at Café Dekcuf/Mavericks, a popular two-story venue. It was ‘trial by fire;’ she recounts learning something new every shift and really having to work on understanding how to fight feedback, properly run a soundcheck, and learning how to mix. Though she had already toured as a musician, she really wanted to try her hand at being a touring tech. She asked bands who said they liked working with her to take her on tour. In 2014, her hard work led her to tour North America & Europe with the noise metal band KENmode.

In late 2014 she moved to Toronto, where she got a job at The Mod Club, a 650 capacity local venue. This position was instrumental in helping her to hone her abilities. For the first time, she was working in a venue where there were 2 engineers on her shift – FOH & monitors. She found & worked with a community of inspiring audio techs in Toronto, who pushed each other to increase their skills, shared job postings, & looked out for each other. This was the first time she really felt like she was part of an audio community.

Perseverance & Breaking the ‘Grumpy Sound Guy’ Stereotype

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

I learned perseverance through mixing my first shows – my mixes certainly didn’t sound great at first, but I realized that if I didn’t keep working at increasing my skills I’d never get anywhere in this field. Audio is a long-term job, we’re all continuously learning new skills and improving.

❖ What did you learn while interning or on your early gigs?

Sometimes it’s not about being the most skilled, it’s about how you work and relate to the people you’re working with. I certainly wasn’t the most technically skilled mixer when I started working in venues, but I genuinely cared about the sound the artist wanted to achieve and tried to develop relationships with the musicians instead of just demanding they turn down their amp. I realized from working alongside one too many “grumpy sound guys” that I would get further if I was nice to the artists, promoters, & crowd.

❖ Did you have a mentor or someone that helped you?

I’ve had many mentors, and they’ve all been instrumental in helping me achieve success in this field. From Slo’ Tom at Zaphods teaching me the ropes, to Ben at Mavericks answering all my questions and helping me improve my mixing skills, to Keeks in Toronto pushing me into the professional touring world, I’ve had a lot of support and I am very grateful.

Current Career & Adapting to a Post-Covid World

❖ What is a typical day like for you on the job?

As a touring tech, waking up in a hotel, answering emails before we start our daily drive, loading into the venue, making sure hospitality has arrived, soundchecking, making sure the band is comfortable, making sure the show runs on time, mixing the show, settling the show, loading out, & getting everyone settled for the night in the hotel.

❖ How do you stay organized and focused?

I use apps like Mastertour to upload day sheets and Google Drive to keep documents remotely – it’s always important to have important documents (insurance, passports, etc) on a cloud. I upload as much information as I can before the tour starts; as a tour manager, it’s important to be organized and know what each day looks like ahead of time in order to plan drive times, etc.

❖ What do you like best about touring?

Mixing in a different city every night. I am a person who loves daily challenges, I don’t love routine (though there is a certain routine to load in and shows).

❖ What do you like least?

The long hours & being away from friends and family. I’ve made a lot of great friends touring, but it can be difficult to miss events that family and friends can attend (for example I am always working Friday nights, which is often when people who work 9-5 host parties).

❖ What is your favorite day off activity?

Exploring new cities, eating local food (particularly sweets!), having a good coffee, and catching up on some reading. I also love sending postcards.

❖ What are your long-term goals?

I’d like to get back into studio mixing. I recently purchased an audio interface again and a pair of studio monitors, I’d love to mix friend’s musical projects. When touring comes back, I’d also love to get back on the road – I miss it so much!

❖ What are your short-term goals?

Making it through 2020. This year has been quite a challenge,  but I’m grateful to have a strong community of tech friends who checked in and supported each other through these tough times.

❖ What, if any, obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I, fortunately, haven’t faced too much sexism in the field, but I’ve definitely had to explain to club owners that I was qualified to mix or had bands tell the local crew to not make rude comments about me.

❖ How have you dealt with them?

I remind myself that sexism is, unfortunately, a part of modern society and try and brush it off as best as I can. I have a job to do, someone’s rude comment about me being a woman won’t stop me from having a great mix that night. As I was told by a musician: “we hire you because we know you’re great at your job”.  I still think about this comment, and it reminds me there’s a reason I’m mixing on these tours – I am talented.

❖ How has your career been affected by Covid-19, & how have you adapted to the current situation?

As a live engineer, my work disappeared in March for the foreseeable future. As things are very uncertain for the music industry at the moment, I decided to return to school to increase my skills. I am currently a student at Concordia University in the Graduate Certificate in Communication Studies. I am planning on applying to Masters programs in 2021.

❖ Favorite gear?

Digico consoles, Telefunken & Sennheiser microphones. I’m fortunate enough to tour with talented artists: a good band will sound good on ”bad” PAs and lower-end mixing consoles, but it’s nice to have good tools on hand. I always travel with my own vocal mics (my personal favorite is the Telefunken M80); it’s a definite advantage to use a mic with a tighter pickup pattern on loud stages to really make your vocals pop in the mix.

❖ Must have skills in the industry?

Problem-solving and the ability to multitask.

❖ Advice you have for other womxn who wish to enter the field? 

Be determined, persevere through those first few rough gigs and keep looking for opportunities. No one is instantly great at their job, we have all had bad gigs. Live audio isn’t the kind of field where jobs will just appear on a website, you need to constantly network and look for the next gig. It will be harder to be taken seriously as a woman and you will face barriers, but I do think that artists and management are starting to understand the value of hiring women.

More on Maxx:

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

Alexandria Perryman – Audio Engineer for the Astronauts

Alexandria Perryman is a live broadcast engineer and Emmy winner working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where one of her jobs is to run audio for the astronauts on the International Space Station. Every “Mission” is different for her. One day she might be working a spacewalk, making sure the astronauts have a clear connection to mission control the next she might be mixing audio for a video that’s going up on the NASA YouTube channel.

Lately, she’s been working to provide Skype links between astronauts and students. The effort is part of NASA’s “Year of Education on Station” – a program where ISS crew members and teacher Ricky Arnold Skypes in via satellite and performs real-time experiments for kids in classrooms around the country.

Alexandria discovered audio when she was in her high school’s marching band and was put in charge of the on-field sound mixer. This is where she started to fall in love with the idea of live audio mixing. She always had a passion for music and sound and as she got older she became intrigued by how music and sound are created. She remembers seeing Blue Man Group perform when she was in elementary school and being in awe with how they used everyday items to create music.  Alexandria would enroll at Full Sail University and study audio engineering and graduate in 2015 with an Associates Degree of Science.  

She got her start in audio volunteering at her church, mixing their online broadcast and working part-time as an AV Tech. Early on she learned how important troubleshooting quickly is and learned how to work in fast-paced and high-stress situations. She says “I made many mistakes in those early gigs but I was in an environment where if I could troubleshoot my mistakes quickly then it was not harmful to my career.”

She has been at NASA working as an Audio Engineer and Chief Engineer and Producer of Podcast for the last 2 ½ years. Alexandria says there is no typical day at NASA.

“The workday starts for me an hour before my first show which sometimes could be at 3 am. Then there is the podcast that I produce weekly and studio shoots. It is common for me to go day by day.”  Staying focused and organized is difficult Alexandria says “I may have a live event then an hour later I am recording a podcast, two different mindsets. Staying focused on the task I am doing at that time is super important.”

Some of Alexandria’s job duties are coordinating Skype signals in space and she is proud that during her time at NASA her team has never lost a Skype signal in space. Mission Planning and Operations works with her team to find optimal windows between satellites and schedule sessions accordingly.

Alexandria also works on archiving and preserving audio for the historical record and the U.S. National Archives. The crew of the ISS rotates every six months and NASA will use this audio for training new crew members and for reference on repeat problems. Alexandria with other engineers monitors the day to day operation recordings and are often the first line of communication between station and NASA. She often works with the astronauts before missions, she is the one mic-ing them up for interviews and trains them on using the audio equipment.

In addition to all of her official duties, Alexandria also serves as the producer of NASA’s official podcast Houston We Have a Podcast.  The podcast talks with and interviews astronauts, scientists, and engineers working on furthering space exploration.

Alexandria says she loves that her job allows her to be part of something bigger than herself, but is not a fan of how politics come into play with what she does as a creative. She is awaiting NASA’s return to the moon and hopes to be able to mix the audio. Her long term goals are to mix audio for the Grammys.

On Challenging Projects

One challenge that sticks out the most was the Space X Demo-1 mission. It was challenging because it was the first time we ever merged our NASA shows with SpaceX. Learning how to coordinate a show between multiple locations and have it flow easily was definitely difficult. The audio setup was new and extremely complicated but as a team, we managed to put out great shows for that mission. It’s also the same mission I won my first Emmy for.

On Failure

For me looking back the biggest failure, I had happened in college. I had become lazy with class and my grades quickly fell, to the point that I was put on academic probation. That was a big wake up call for me, because if I had failed another class I would have failed out of college. In the next couple of months, I kicked it in gear and studied more, went to my instructors during office hours for extra help, and surrounded myself with positive people. I learned from that experience to never slack off and always do my best. Most importantly I learned that even when the odds are against me that I can overcome anything as long as I never stop trying.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I have been fortunate to not have faced many obstacles or barriers in my career. The only thing that was an obstacle was having such an age gap between my coworkers and them being able to trust that I’m mentally capable of the job regardless of my age.

How have you dealt with them?

Earning trust takes time especially in this industry. I was able to do it by constantly giving them my best work and attitude and showing up in big situations.

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

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, that’s the only way you can really learn. Some of the biggest mistakes in my career offered me the most valuable lessons.

What is your favorite day off activity? 

While I work in live television and not the music industry, I still love creating music in my free time as a way to express my emotions.

Must have skills?

Must be able and willing to be teachable at any level. Also for anything-audio understanding signal flow is key.

Favorite gear?

My favorite gear would have to be my Zoom F8N recorder, it’s perfect for in the fieldwork.

Check out Alexandria on The SoundGirls Podcast

More Profiles on The Five Percent – Profiles of Women in Audio

 

X