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Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

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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

 

A Life in Insurance Diverted – Holly Ann “Boots” Latcham

linecheckHolly Ann Latcham (Boots) is a touring FOH engineer and Production Manager. She also works as a system tech and monitor engineer for venues such as First Avenue 7th Street Entry, Mill City Nights, the Turf Club, and the Fine Line. She also runs her own company Holly Ann Audio, offering gear rental for small to medium-sized events and tours, FOH and monitor engineers and occasional tour management. She recently has started doing some corporate work with Damron Production Services.

Boots was introduced to the world of live sound at the age of 19. Growing up in a small town of 800 in the heart of Minnesota, she never met anyone that played in a band or even played an instrument other than in the school band. The music she was exposed to was limited to church hymns and her mom’s favorite country artist Shania Twain. That all changed when her brother came home with a Blink 182 album and she was blown away, listening to them every day on the way to school. That would eventually spill over to other artists including Linkin Park and Creed.

As Boots got older, her obsession for music increased and she dreamed of writing her own tunes. That is when she discovered there was an arts high school in the Twin Cities that had a music program “I begged my parents for weeks to at least take me to the open house. I recorded and submitted an application to audition for a spot for my senior year. When I got the letter of acceptance, my teenage-rock-emo-punk self could hardly contain the excitement I felt about being able to finally see more than the cornfields surrounding my tiny town. I packed my bags and cried as my parents convinced me that I had to sell my horse to be able to attend Perpich, and I moved to the Big City”.

She started her senior year at Perpich with enough credits to graduate from her previous high school and opted for no class until after lunch when the arts portion of the day started. Perpich had a world-class recording studio in the music department, and Boots practically lived in one of the iso booths. Here she learned what microphones were and how to connect them, what mixing was, what compression and reverb were. “I spent every day in that studio from the second it opened until the lunch bell rang”. Here she learned that she could do this for other people in the studio and it was called audio engineering. When it came time to pick a college she searched all over to get as far from Minnesota as she could and still study the art of recording. Boots would end up at the University of Montana in Missoula.

It was while attending UM, she finally met her friend’s non-existent roommate. Non-existent because he was “always out on tour”. “Finally, he was home for a month. Between shots of tequila and smoking cigarettes, I got him to tell me stories from the road. He showed me pictures of him and a crew traveling overseas and taking days off in places like Barcelona. He told me stories of my favorite artists at the bar after their shows. Finally, he started talking about the Clair Brothers PA system and his role on these massive arena tours as a systems tech. “I was fascinated. Starstruck, Obsessed, even. How do I do that? How do I get to be a roadie for a living?” He told Boots that he had attended Full Sail University. 

tour-life-3

Within a day of learning this, Boots was applying to private schools across the country with a greater focus on recording and live sound. Believing she would get her start in the studio, she found a program dedicated to teaching studio engineering and landed back in St. Paul, Minnesota at McNally Smith College. Boots was determined to finish college as fast as possible and move out of state. She finished her studies at McNally in a year and a half and while there discovered she did not have the patience to become a studio engineer. She decided to focus on live sound and getting out on tour. “Before I graduated, I started running sound at a local bar with original acts for $50/ night. I worked my way in with stagehand crews around the city and was as friendly as I could be with anyone I met in the industry. For the first five years after college, I worked round the clock to move towards being strictly FOH or monitors at the venues around town, trying to get the locals to take me seriously, even though I lacked experience”.

No one ever said this industry was easy, and after five years Boots had almost given up, she was working seven days a week, working FOH for almost every venue in town, but the pay was so horrible that she could hardly pay bills and still by groceries. She had signed up for classes with the Farmer’s Insurance Company and told everyone she was quitting sound. She was one test away from becoming a licensed insurance agent when she got an email from Bobnet.org. It was a call looking for a Minneapolis-based engineer to work with an up-and-coming band. “Thinking I had nothing left to lose, I wrote a witty cover letter and sent in my resume – two pages of five years in audio. Twenty minutes later, the phone rang. Hippo Campus was looking for an engineer, and no one knew who they were yet. I was asked to meet them at an upcoming gig for free and run sound, just to see if we all clicked and would get along. Thank god we did, because four months later, I was in a van on my way to SXSW 2015 with these boys and tearing up my insurance license”.

roland_m5000_websterhall

Two years later, Boots is still on the road with Hippo Campus. She says some days are really hard, but she has never gone to bed mad after a show. She thrives on being able to help an artist create that moment for people’s live and new equipment. As Hippo Campus moves on to bigger and bigger stages, the larger and larger PA’s are starting to look more like the ones in her college friend’s roommate’s photographs.

Boots longer terms are goals are to work on arena tours as a FOH/ PM and would also love to tour as the system/ PA tech. We know whatever she decides to do she will be successful with her work ethic and attitude.

What do you like best about touring?

The tour families that are created. Hippo Campus and JR JR recently finished a run with Saint Motel, and that whole band and crew feel like a new family to me! I miss them every day!

What do you like least?

Post-tour depression. Use the Saint Motel tour for example This industry will cross our paths again, but we all know it won’t be the same as this last tour. There will be more tours with a different family like it, but it is always going to be hard to share so many memories with a close group of people, see them every day for weeks, and then suddenly only see them once in a while (if you’re lucky!).

What is your favorite day off activity?

I love getting out of whatever city we are in and finding the biggest green space. Hike, bike, rock climb, just anything physical that can get us outside!

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

Typical tour barriers – There was a tour where I came into sub for the usual engineer, only the band had just gotten a new monitor rig and wireless set-up. With a flight out DOS on the first day of the tour, the flight was late and the gear was in complete disarray as the usual FOH was on tour already when the band acquired the new gear. I had 2 hours to set it up properly and do soundcheck. Doors ended up ½ hour late, and not everything was working the way it should’ve. By show #3 on that tour, I got all the bugs worked out though! The hard part is when artists are staring at you like “Why isn’t this figured out yet?” but you know it would be unprofessional to try and explain it.

How have you dealt with them?

Just keep smiling and stay calm and get it done! If you’re working hard and have a can-do attitude, people will trust it’s not your fault when things go wrong, and either way, you’re going to fix it for them.

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

There is a lot of talk about sexism in this industry. I’m not going to deny its existence, but I think we have to stop thinking that it’s the music industry’s only problem. Sexism is all over our society, no matter what field you choose to work in. Just know that how you handle it will be the difference between you going where you want to be and you being stuck in the spot you are fighting so hard against.

My general rule is to pick your battles. What I mean is, if it is not in danger of disrupting the show, try to put your best foot forward and keep working. It’s not going to help anyone or set the proper vibe for the artist if I hold up all of soundcheck just because I want to teach the local hand that calling me sound ‘guy’ is offensive. If I tell them with a smile “Hey man, I prefer to be called Boots,” or “sound madam”, I usually get a chuckle out of them, and as the day goes on, they see my work ethic and hear the room sounding great and have nothing but respect for me from then on out. My guess is that my male counterparts also have issues with this particular fellow, so it really I really won’t be doing the world any good by giving in to his pessimistic habits.

Don’t get me wrong – there might be some instances where you need to put an end to obvious and uncomfortable situations. Just don’t be afraid to speak up to whoever else is in charge that they can help you so you can focus on what really matters: the show. Also, know that most people working with you want you to feel comfortable in your work zone too. I’ve honestly had my artists and peers come to me to acknowledge that they saw the moment in question too and want to make sure I’m comfortable. If your tour family doesn’t have your back, then you need a new tour family.

Must have skills?

Staying cool, calm, and collected. ALWAYS

mym32vstheirql5Know your gear in and out. Traveling with a console? Don’t rely on others to tech it for you. With today’s internet and offline editors, you should know your desk inside and out. This way, when it comes to a moment in need of troubleshooting, you aren’t in the dark. Not touring with a console? Contact your local production companies to get some face time behind the most commonly seen boards and gear on the road: Avid consoles, Midas Pro 1’s and 2’s, and Yamaha M7’s.

Favorite gear?

roland_m5000_930clubCurrent favorite is the Roland M5000 console. It is perfect for the size of bands I am touring with from many angles: price, functionality, and tone. The timbre of the board is easy and more transparent than many in its immediate competitive range. The processing gear offered on each channel sounds beautiful and transparent in ideal ways, and the number of options they give without having to have an expansion pack or dongle is amazing. Want D-essers on every channel next to your comp? No problem! Want 10 band parametric EQ’s and 32 band graphic eq’s on all your outputs? EASY! I was able to run monitors from FOH for Hippo Campus by running a double input list so they couldn’t hear my FOH changes in their ears. The board has enough processing power to handle all 32 channels twice no problem, and the functionality shortcuts they built in made it so easy to run my shows this way.

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