Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

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Christina Masha Milinusic – Sound Engineer and Audio Educator

Christina Masha Milinusic is a seasoned professional with 20 years of experience in Live Sound, Recording, Location Sound Recording, and Audio Education. As the owner of Unity Sound, Christina has contributed her expertise to various institutions, including the City of Calgary, the Calgary Stampede, the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge, Mount Royal University, The Grand Theatre, and Stage West. Currently a member of IATSE #212, Christina is also a Sessional Instructor in Digital Audio Arts at the University of Lethbridge, specializing in technical ear training.

As a teenager, I organized and mixed all-ages shows with “Just a Bunch of Kids,” a non-profit formed by a group of alternative-minded youths passionate about music. Despite being a homeschooled ballerina from the suburbs, I felt a magnetic connection to the established punk/no-wave/indie scene at the Multicultural Centre in Calgary’s East Village.

In my early 20s, I was offered the install and house tech position at the Broken City Social Club in downtown Calgary (now Modern Love), where I had the privilege of mixing some truly incredible bands. This period marked a turning point as doing sound was a job that provided me with the means to move out and support myself.

Entering my 30s, I was employed full-time as an Electronics Technician for the Calgary Stampede. Here, I earned respect as an audio professional and was recognized as a capable member of the events team. This position brought an awareness that I have forged a successful career and have unique skills that contribute to the field of audio and sound community.

Career Start

How did you get interested in audio?

My journey was sparked by my lifelong fascination with the theremin—an entirely non-mechanical electronic instrument that is played by manipulating the electromagnetic field it generates, much like a radio using a heterodyned circuit. Imagine dancing or, more commonly, as most theremin players stand very still, moving your hands very precisely in the air to produce music. Being an integral part of an electronic circuit while playing is a fabulously connective experience that ignited my interest early on.

My fascination with the science and art of sound extends beyond my instrument of choice. I continually deepen my knowledge through a combination of in-person and online training courses. I’ve attended classes with Meyer Sound and Robert Scovill at the Banff Centre, participated in the AES Immersive Audio Academy, Jon Halliwell’s Audio System Engineering class, and most recently completed PK Sound Dynamics Training where I learned about robotic line arrays.

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

Yes, as a child my siblings and I put on plays and dance recitals in our basement. I was always listening and dancing to 33 and 45-rpm records on our little Strawberry Shortcake record player. We all played piano, but my brother was an exceptional talent. When he entered grade eight of the Royal Conservatory curricula, our family bought a baby grand piano for him. I still can recall an internalized reverberation of the sound; I would sit underneath the piano listening to him practice and feeling the soundboard resonating… perhaps getting up to watch the strings vibrate and hammers move. As a teenager, my older sister (who went on to host a radio show in Sackville, New Brunswick during her university years) and her cultured, cool friends (who are also still some of our best friends), introduced me to a lot of great music like Guided by Voices and Sonic Youth… my list of favorite music is long and groovy.

Did you attend a University/College/Trade School?

Yes, I studied Liberal Arts, Cultural Studies, and Psychology for my undergraduate degree at York University, St. Mary’s University, and the University of Calgary, earning an Honors Bachelor of Arts in 2015. I recently completed my Master’s degree with a focus on Digital Audio Arts at the University of Lethbridge, graduating this past October.

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

I had an invective experience as an unpaid intern at an analog recording studio in my late 20s and early 30s. I became good at soldering, recording session preparation, and strike, as well as tea-making. It was a rare opportunity to listen to some gorgeous analog gear that shaped and altered my way of listening forever. I discovered a deeper layer of existence that supported the sounds I heard in venues, and found an awareness of the electronic components hidden under the surface of equipment.

What did you learn interning or on your early gigs?

During another internship at an audiology clinic, I learned about human hearing and the importance of protecting our (and our audiences’) ears. While navigating this clinical environment, I discovered that my aptitude for, and interest in, cleaning out earwax was negligible. Additionally, my unique hearing preferences became apparent—I require more precise equalization parameters than most hearing aids offer, with a minimum requirement of 1/3 octave bands.

Did you have a mentor or someone that helped you?

I am blessed to have a distinguished and diverse group of friends and colleagues in my life, from whom I continually learn. Two individuals, Fred Boehli in technical services and Ronan McGurk, a systems technician, stand out as particularly supportive sound professionals who have been working with me for decades. A wonderful byproduct of working across various companies over the years has been the opportunity to absorb the different workflows utilized for both live events and recordings. For instance, the way I structure input and output routing on a console varies significantly depending on whether I am at FOH mixing a live broadcast with multiple media and record feeds, or am the monitor technician for bands.

Career Now

What is a typical day like? 

My schedule fluctuates. Today I have a noon-hour concert, a short shift, but many of my days are very long, 10-14 hours. Weekends may find me working from 6:00 pm to 2:00 am, followed by early starts at 6:00 am on certain weekdays. On days when I am not on a live event or recording, I am in my home studio preparing lectures for my technical ear training class which involves making presentations, grading, designing laboratory activities, as well as organizing resources to empower my students in their career endeavors.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?  

The equipment, the spaces, and the camaraderie with people I work for and with.

What do you like least? 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the same three elements. While I have a preference for mixing on real consoles with physical knobs and faders, there are situations where using an iPad/tablet with its skeuomorphisms is the optimal choice. Years ago, I encountered a few colleagues who were hesitant to communicate and share gig-related information with me, which created challenges, particularly when assumptions were made—that behavior ranks high on my ‘least liked’ list. Additionally, discovering broken or unreliable gear that lacks proper labeling and is subsequently put back into ‘service’ is particularly displeasing.

What is your favorite day off activity? 

I am getting better at making a deliberate effort to rest and rejuvenate on days off. I find joy in creating art, heading to the mountains with my partner and our pup, attending shows, catching up on sleep, cooking, reading, or playing the theremin along to my favorite songs.

What are your short-term goals?

Now that I’ve graduated, my short-term goal is to work full-time with a fantastic team dedicated to delivering exceptional performances and sonic experiences. I believe in my capability to work in various settings, whether in live environments, recording studios, or on set. My preference is to consistently work with professional consoles and PA systems, allowing me to quicken my response time and develop a more meticulous workflow.

What are your long-term goals?

My long-term goals are ambitious. I aspire to become a go-to mixer for the bands I admire and work as a member of the audio teams for prominent Calgary venues like the Saddledome, Jubilee, and Jack Singer Concert Hall.

On a more artistic note, I envision controlling spatial audio systems using my theremin, leveraging new and developing technologies. As a service-minded sound professional, I want to contribute meaningfully to the audio community, producing engaging recordings and sound art that showcase collaborative efforts. Another aim is to become ‘Dr. Sound’ through a potential Ph.D., exploring how sound, a profoundly physical energy, may shape human perception.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I hold myself to very high standards, grappling with self-deprecation, lack of confidence, and periods of intense depression. While facing numerous challenges, some shared by fellow sound professionals, I recognize that my self-treatment has been the most significant obstacle.

How have you dealt with them? 

I maintain a mindful practice where I actively correct negative self-talk and consistently remind myself to extend the same kindness and encouragement to myself as I do to others.

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

Go for it! You have the potential to be brilliant and successful in this field.

Just start where you are and keep learning, maintaining gratitude and humility throughout your journey.

I am immensely grateful to SoundGirls for its existence, connecting me with inspiring women who triumph over challenges and stand as crucial role models. Being part of this community is a true honor, and I am exceedingly humbled by the experience.

Boosting Women’s Voices: Cutting Through The Noise

When it comes to editing voices, it’s a job filled with variety, constantly reacting to what hits the ears. While an initial setup of EQ templates might be a starting point for some, every voice is unique. Women’s voices tend to have wildly different tones and timbres that vary from person to person, and editing seems to be an area that’s often hit-and-miss across music and the spoken word. The NCBI Library of Medicine states that the male speaking voice averages around 60 – 180Hz, while the female voice generally sits around 160 – 300Hz, with roughly an octave’s difference in pitch. Despite this, there seems to be a wild disparity in how women’s voices are treated in general. Perhaps the most common problem can be summarised as cutting too much in the lower areas, and boosting too much in the higher areas when women’s voices are in the mix.

Spoken word

With the podcast industry booming, it’s interesting to observe the difference in the editing of women’s voices compared to men’s. The lack of De-esser treatment, and the copious boosting of high-end frequencies often lead to distraction with every ‘t’ and ‘s’ sound that occurs. Sibilance and harshness can abound, and pull us away from what women are actually saying.

Diagram of the Fletcher-Munson Curve

The Fletcher-Munson Curve measures how our bodies perceive loudness. It is also often referred to as the “equal loudness contour”. Created by Harvey Fletcher and Milden A. Munson in the 1930s, the pair demonstrated how loudness affects the human ear at different frequencies, and where we would perceive (or feel) these pitches and volumes as unpleasant. The most sensitive of these frequency areas that offends the ears lies between 3 – 5kHz, which is the danger zone for sibilance.

Business titan Barbara Corcoran is a fantastic speaker and all-around inspirational career woman. Her voice naturally leans to the high end in pitch and tone and has a propensity for sibilance. When I’d previously watched her on the television show Shark Tank, it was clear that this was her vocal sound, yet when I recently listened to her as a guest on a podcast, I was saddened to hear the edit of Barbara’s voice was jarring in the high-end, and desperately needed a De-esser. I was curious to see how closely my perception of the sound was aligned with what was measurably coming out, so I decided to analyse the podcast in contrast with another recording. I used a Spectral Analysis tool, capturing a snapshot of a word with an ‘s’ sound to compare the two different recordings as fairly as possible, and listened through the same speaker.

Barbara speaking at a TEDx Talk

 

I first measured Barbara speaking at a TEDx Talk. There was definitely a slight peak in the range of 3-5kHz when measuring Barbara’s talk, however, the peak was only a little above the others, notably its neighbour around 2kHz, and again a little above the 500Hz peak. Audibly, the voice still sounds high and naturally sibilant, however, there is a softness to the ‘s’ sound that does not detract from the talk.

In the bottom graph, the peak is marked around the 3 – 5kHz range and stands alone above the peaks in lower ranges, which demonstrates that this problem area is in fact considerably louder than the other frequencies, and not just perceived to be louder and distracting by the ear.

 

Diagram Barbara Corcoran’s voice in the TEDx Talk (top image) versus as a podcast guest (bottom image). 

Diagram Barbara Corcoran’s voice in the TEDx Talk (top image) versus as a podcast guest (bottom image).

 

Music

In music, the same problems surround women singers. Often, in striving to add ‘air’ or ‘brightness’ or ‘clarity’ to a vocal, women’s voices succumb to the harshness in the 3 – 5kHz range. In boosting above 2kHz a little too liberally, and adding reverb or other effects that can further highlight the high-end, women’s voices can end up sounding thin, jarring, and full of squeaky ‘s’ sounds. So how do the experts celebrate the richness and full tonal spectrum of strong women’s vocals, and do it so well?

In a 2011 interview talking about the making of Adele’s album 21, producer Paul Epworth and mix engineer Tom Elmhirst gave a run-down of their process. The pair have worked with some formidable women’s voices, from Florence + The Machine and Amy Winehouse to Adele. On the song Rolling In The Deep, Elmhirst used the Waves Q6 EQ on the chorus vocal, pulling out certain frequencies “very, very heavily”:

“I had the Q6 on the chorus vocal, notching out 930, 1634, and 3175 Hz very, very heavily: -18dB, -18dB, and -12.1dB respectively, with very narrow Q. I also had the EQIII on the lead-vocal sub, notching something out again. Something obviously needed to be taken out. The vocal is the most important thing in the track, and taking those frequencies out allowed me to keep it upfront in the mix, particularly in the chorus. Regarding the outboard, I had the Pultec EQ, Urei 1176, and the Tube-Tech CL1B on the lead vocal sub-insert. The Pultec boosted around 100Hz and 12k. It’s colourful, but not drastic. There was not a lot of gain.” 

 

Diagram of Adele Vocal EQ

 

When it came to De-essers, Elmhirst likes to add several for precision – on Rolling In The Deep, Elmhirst explained:

“I did use two Waves De-essers, one taking out at 5449Hz and the other at 11004Hz. Rather than use one to try to cover all the sibilance I used two. I do that quite often.”

While on Someone Like You, he went even further, summarising his EQ and De-esser decisions on the piano-vocal track:

“I had three de-essers on the lead vocal in this case, working at 4185, 7413 and 7712 Hz, and I did some notching on the Waves Q10, taking out 537, 2973, and 10899 Hz, with maximum Q in all cases. The Sonnox Oxford EQ simply takes out everything below 100Hz, and it adds a little around 8k.”

Boosting women’s voices

It’s interesting to compare and contrast the rich tapestry of content that is available to us these days, as well as the amount of guidance that is out there. Considering women’s speaking voices sit around 160 – 300 Hz it’s staggering how many guides and training materials generally recommend using a low pass filter cutting up to 200 Hz – where the voice actually is – and boosting from 4 kHz and up – where madness lies. Every voice needs something different, whether softly spoken, cutting through in an arrangement, or leading a band at a show.

Mix With the Masters Scholarship Available- Craig Silvey

SoundGirls Members have the chance to receive a 2,000€ scholarship provided to SoundGirls members from Mix With The Masters.

There is one scholarship available for the week-long session with Grammy and Multi-platinum Producer/Mixer Craig Silvey. (Travel and remaining tuition balance not included)

This is a week-long seminar valued approximately at 4,000€ and includes lectures and workshops, accommodation within the mansion, catering (breakfast, lunch, dinner) the fitness room, swimming pool, and shuttles from Avignon to the studio. (Travel and remaining tuition balance Not Included)

You must have an advanced understanding of audio and work as producer/mixer/engineer to attend Mix with the Masters.

Session Dates: May 20 -26, 2022

Apply for the scholarship here

Deadline to apply is April 17th

You are responsible for Travel to France and the remainder of the balance to Mix with the Masters.

Session Includes

  • private bedroom, on-site within the mansion for 6 nights
  • Full-board accommodation with meals prepared by gourmet chefs on-site
  • Return shuttle services from Avignon to Studios La Fabrique
  • Unlimited drinks and snacks throughout the week
  • Approximately 50 hours in the studio with the guest speaker
  • One-on-one time between you and the master to assess and work on your own material
  • Professional photography done throughout the week, including portrait shots of you with the Master
  • Hundreds of full-resolution photos shared with you afterward via download link, to keep and use as you please
  • A certificate of completion issued on behalf of Mix With the Masters and Studios La Fabrique, signed by the Master if you wish
  • Exclusive MWTM merchandise given only to seminar attendees: embossed Moleskine notepads, pens, mugs, t-shirts, USB keys and stickers.
  • Use of the La Fabrique swimming pool, garden, fitness centre, and scenic walks
  • Nearby access to the enchanting town of St. Rémy de Provence

About Craig Silvey:

Craig Silvey is a London-based record producer and mix engineer from the Bay Area of northern California.

He first set foot in a recording studio as the keyboard player of a high school band. The facility was owned by his bandmate’s father, who allowed the use of his equipment but wouldn’t go as far as operating it for the group. Silvey was keen to accept the challenge.

He soon became an apprentice engineer at Russian Hill Recording in San Francisco, taken under the wing of George Massenburg. In the early ‘90s, Silvey progressed to working at Skywalker Sound for Lucasfilm, where he got involved on records and movie projects for Mariah Carey, Linda Ronstadt, Jennifer 8, and Rising Sun.

In 1994, he co-founded Toast Studios in San Francisco, where he worked with a diversity of artists including R.E.M., Money Mark, and Suzanne Ciani. In 1998, Silvey moved to London, basing himself initially at Konk Studios and then The Garden. His reputation as a top-flight mixer began to grow as he completed landmark projects such as Portishead’s ‘Third’ and Arcade Fire’s ‘The Suburbs’.

He has since mixed records by Arctic Monkeys, Bryan Ferry, Florence + The Machine, The National, and Noel Gallagher. As a producer, he has worked with Baxter Dury, Bear’s Den, and John Grant.


Program

The process of greatness fostering greatness has long been recognized and is the reason why masterclasses are organized. The Mix With The Master’s seminars is part of this tradition, offering an exchange of in-depth first-hand studio experience and knowledge that is unparalleled and not available anywhere else. Each seminar is conducted by one of the world’s top music mixers and producers, ready to share their professional secrets with a select group of a maximum of 14 carefully-screened, professional-level participants, who come from all over the world.

One factor that contributes to the enormous success of the seminars is that all tutors support the general MWTM ethos, which is about the love of music, music technology, and want to help others. Participants also are in part selected on displaying similar, positive attitudes. The fact that the seminars last a full week is another major contributory factor because it offers tutors the time and space to go into real depth, and the participants the opportunity to spend a prolonged time watching a master at his peak, and to ask any question they can think of.

The tutors share exclusive, insider information on any subject: detailed technical knowledge, how to run sessions, how to handle artists, how to manage a career, the right attitude, how to remain successful, and more. The tutors also assess the work of the participants, by listening to their mixes and mixing recording sessions that they bring, and providing extensive feedback to each participant on where they are at, and how they can get to where they want to be. This is invaluable and offers participants wanting to become world-class professionals in their own right a unique advantage.

Another primary factor in making the MWTM seminars exceptional is that they take place at La Fabrique, a large, comfortable, high-end recording studio located in a picturesque historic building, surrounded by huge, lush grounds, and set in the south-east of France in one of the world’s most beautiful environments. The secluded and idyllic location offers the participants and tutors a lot of space to relax and recharge, far away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and the all-demanding intensity of their regular professional environments.

Because the courses are residential, the participants and tutors work, eat, socialize, and sleep in the same environment. While tutors, and participants, will at times opt to retire to their private quarters, there is ample opportunity for social interaction outside of the studio environment. Participants interact extensively with each other and the tutor, making it easier to assimilate the intangible qualities necessary to be successful at the highest level—presence, focus, social skills, intelligence, creativity, the right attitude, and so on.

In short, for seven days participants can experience mixing with a master in both senses of the phrase, mixing and interacting with them. Get more information about Studio La Fabrique

 

 

Samantha Potter – Audio Empress

Samantha Potter has forged a path in audio by being versatile, having a great attitude, continuously learning, and having a willingness to share her expertise. She has been able to achieve a career working both as a freelance audio engineer and on staff at pro audio companies. In just seven years, Samantha has gone from a freelance tech to a well-respected audio engineer working for ProSoundWeb as a senior contributing editor and co-directing Church Sound University, as well as a podcast host for the Church Sound Podcast. Additionally, she’s part of Allen & Heath USA, as the manager for Commercial and Install Audio, better known as Install Empress. By forging a hybrid career, Samantha has the stability and reach working for a company provides as well as the creative expression and autonomy freelancing provides. She says  “It’s the best of both worlds.”

Growing Up

Samantha’s roots are in classical music. “I grew up playing classical music and jazz. I started on violin but picked up upright bass, cello, and guitar along the way. After seven years of formal training, I decided that while music was fun it was in no way going to give me the future for which I aspired.”

In her teens, she discovered computer and technology programs and sought to blend these two passions as a career path. In high school, she did what any young individual does when looking for the next path: she Googled careers. She soon discovered audio engineering combined her two passions and started studying recording and studio arts. After about two years immersed in audio, she discovered live sound and fell in love, never to look back.  Samantha enrolled in local college programs and has obtained several associate degrees with an emphasis in mathematics but she says, “Those were really just for completion’s sake. I already had an established career in audio by the time I applied for graduation. I have an emphasis in math with the idea that perhaps someday I will return to get a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Currently, though, it’s not worth the price nor the time.”

Career Start

“A metal band I played in at [17] toured a studio and I noticed a book on the owner’s desk. I asked about it, we began talking, and he eventually took me under his wing. I eventually drifted away from studio work to pursue a more adrenaline-pumped path. Soon after leaving the studio that helped launch my education and career, I fell into a position at a large church. This church leased part of its campus to a graduate school. The hiring individual and I had a professor in common so when the job opened up, my name was thrown in. Eventually, that job transformed into the oversight of technology for multi-campus synchronous online classes and producing chapel services and special events. My actual duties in this job ranged from troubleshooting computers to video editing to event producer. I actually stayed at that job for nearly seven years, leaving only after I could no longer expand the position to meet my growing thirst and expertise.”

The Importance of Internships/Mentorship

“My time at the studio really helped me learn some fundamentals. Putting those fundamentals to work didn’t actually ‘click’ until my first few jobs. One of the first internship-style positions I held was as a volunteer broadcast engineer at a megachurch. I got to cut my teeth on a DiGiCo SD9! I learned so much doing that job. I met a ton of people I’m still friends with, and it was a fantastic transition between studio work and live work. If I hadn’t gone to that studio that day, or I hadn’t taken the early jobs that I did, I would not be where I am. They all compounded together to create my career trajectory and my experience. The jobs I hated taught me something, the jobs I loved taught me something. My early internships, the free work I did, and the work that paid me in food all equally pushed me to design my career so that it was Samantha-shaped, hit all my wants and needs, and built on my strengths. Some people go their whole lives without getting that.”

What did you learn interning or on your early gigs?

“Wow, how much time do we have? Haha. Sometimes functioning is better than beautiful. Or, in other words, don’t let good be the enemy of perfection. Sometimes, no matter how much prep we have, things still go wrong. If we are at the very least completing the foundation of our jobs (to amplify and balance audio) then we can call it a win.

“Fake it ‘til you make it. The audacity that some people out there have — it’s unreal. Get used to asking questions, but force yourself to believe that you deserve to be there and are enough. You must believe that, if only for a few minutes at a time. Other people wake up every morning and think about how great they are and that the world owes them something and they’re the second coming of Jesus. Do yourself a favor and take a page from their book. If you work hard and have a good attitude, you will be just fine. Even the people you think are great are not as great as you think. I say this with love in my heart, but there are some real dummies out here making a great living being mediocre. There’s room for all of us.

“Not everything needs to be touched. Have a purpose for everything you do unless you are explicitly experimenting. Touching every single knob or button just to put your magic on a console just because can seem insecure. The proof is in the pudding.

“Network, network, network, network. Knowing the right people is at least 50% of the job. The more people you know, the more people that know you, the better. Reputation and word of mouth are how we function here. Get a leg up. Make meaningful connections with people whose work you enjoy or whose careers you’re interested in or would like to emulate. Conventions, conferences, meetups, and yes, Facebook groups, are all ways we can meet new people and try to make those meaningful connections.”

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

“So many. Elana Goldberg taught me the value of tough love and accepting constructive criticism. Ted Avara showed me creativity. Rob Guy taught me how to over-under. Roger Bevz taught me proper gaffing. And that’s just to name a few from so early on. So many people have poured into me. Literally hundreds. I do my best to thank them and show my appreciation for them any chance I get, but also to pass it on. They didn’t have to show me anything. They chose to. And I am standing on the shoulders of all those people and their own lifetime of achievements. Thank you all, named and unnamed, for the immense value you shared with me in your own ways.”

Career Now

What is a typical day like?

“Which day of which month? haha. It varies quite a bit, but I will try to combine it all into a single day:

“I get up around 6:30 am and go for a 30-minute run. I shower, stretch, make breakfast, start a cup of coffee, and read. I start my workday at about 8 am depending on the workload for the day.

“I walk down to my office and start turning on a lot of equipment. Almost none of my work is local these days, so my office is decked out in an array of different equipment to help me do that. As with most jobs, I first check my email and line up what I need to get done that day. This often includes preparing for and presenting a multitude of different webinars, webcasts, videos, and console demos. At this point, I have a whole studio set up so all I have to do in the way of video equipment is turn lights and cameras on.

“Much of my work also revolves around experimenting with audio techniques, and designing/programming install jobs involving Allen & Heath gear. Additionally, I give tech support to those experiencing very particular errors with some of our gear, like misprogramming their matrix or advanced system configurations. Luckily, we have an amazing tech support team to take care of some of the more common issues (like someone not remembering what their IP address is or helping with a firmware update [Bless you guys, you’re the real MVPs.])

“I also compile feature requests from our users, any bugs we may discover, and help influence the designs, iterations, and updates to our gear. I’m thankful to the Allen & Heath UK crew that allows me to have some ‘ownership’ of the matrices, consoles, peripherals, and other gear. It goes a very long way.

“Some months I pursue interesting projects for press releases. I get to talk nerdy with the project managers and installers and find out what sort of stuff they’re working on and gather info for press.

“Once I take care of my administrative duties, I may write an article for a future issue of Live Sound International or Church Sound Magazine. There’s also quite a bit that goes into editing an entire magazine. Working with contributors, authors, technicians, and engineers to get the best information out to the masses is a labor of love. My work with ProSoundWeb allows for plenty of flexibility which I greatly appreciate since my work is sort of weird, period. Remember how I said my career is Samantha-shaped? Yeah, this is part of that. Editing and writing take two very different parts of one’s brain and requires balance between using my voice and allowing an author to use theirs. It takes a few weeks to get an issue together starting from finding/obtaining writings or asking an author to contribute. We go through several editing processes, a design phase, and a proof phase. Then poof —  printed word. I’m over-simplifying, but trust me, that’s best.

“Part of my daily work also involves booking or preparing for an episode of my podcast which comes out biweekly. I try to always have a backlog of episodes so that I don’t need to be rushing through anything. I write outlines, do research, and prepare myself to have an involved and informed discussion over a given topic.

“I work a lot and it’s a bunch of different kinds of work so making things like recording, slideshows, or press releases as effortless as possible is a must. Preparation is everything!

“I try my darndest to end my workday at 5 pm. On occasion, I have to work late because of a time zone difference or because a project just needs to get finished. I’ve most definitely sat in bed editing a podcast episode at 9 pm before. I don’t love it, but things need to get done. I want my family time, though. If I don’t get brain and body rest I’d inevitably burn out. I love what I do and I do not want burnout to happen.

“My days vary a lot and include quite a bit of travel to help commission systems, teach courses, give training, and things like conventions and conferences. Those days are completely different from everything I just described. It all depends! I love my days varying about 70% with about 30% staying consistent. I’m a particular lady.”

How do you stay organized and focused?

“I’m always having to work towards better organization and better focus. I’m a work in progress, as we all are. I live and die by my calendar(s). I keep them up to date at all times and reference them frequently. My random thoughts and things I need to check in on live on sticky notes sprinkled at the base of my computer monitor. My desk looks like my brain: a scattering of projects and topics that interest me. A sort of organized chaos, if you will. Every couple of weeks I do a sticky note binge and make sure I’ve taken care of the things I need to. Is it best? God, no. But it makes a lot of sense to my brain.

“When it comes to focus, I try not to focus on any particular project or task for more than 2-3 hours at a time. I take frequent breaks to walk around the house or around the neighborhood, drink plenty of water, and listen to music as much as possible. Sometimes I just need silence, but mostly I like to put on my wireless headphones and laser focus.”

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

“Helping to further the industry. In my own way, I get to teach other engineers and techs how to be better and I get to have a say in how technology is adopted and changed. It’s quite magical, actually. Educating others and sharing knowledge help make all this work worth it.”

What do you like least?

“I must say, I do occasionally tire of having to show someone the bare minimum of something because they couldn’t be bothered with reading or trying it out for themselves. I don’t always dislike it, but I have my days where I really wish someone would’ve simply poked around, or watched one of the 500 videos available, or done a Google search. I don’t mind helping people and walking them through things. I love it, in fact. But you can tell when someone only opened their computer long enough to write an email.”

What is your favorite day off activity? 

“Relaxing, playing my Nintendo Switch, or visiting family. I limit my interaction with technology on my days off because so much of my life is dripping in tech. If I had to pick one activity, I would pick visiting the lake. There’s something about boating around to different restaurants and bars, swimming for hours, grilling, and just forgetting normal life for a little while that creates a sense of serenity.”

What are your long-term goals?

“My long-term goal is to grow my reach, my personal brand, and the brands of the two companies I have dedicated so much to. If I want to help as many people as possible, I have to keep moving. Between ProSoundWeb and Allen & Heath, I can create real change in the industry. I suppose my other long-term goal would be to always continue growing and learning. I never want to stop.”

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

“My age still gets in the way periodically. Luckily, it gets a tiny bit easier every year. I’ve had a few run-ins having to do with being a woman, but almost always the age ‘thing’ is the overwhelming contributing factor; so much so that it dwarfs or at least gives explanation to the female prejudice.

“The other obstacle is myself. Imposter Syndrome really hits sometimes. No matter what ‘accomplishments’ I may achieve, some days just feel like it’s all a lie and someone will find out I’m a fake and I actually know nothing. That can be a whole battle on its own.”

How have you dealt with them?

“By working hard, always learning, and trying thrice as hard as the men. I’ve met quite a bit of under-performance in my time as an audio engineer, and they are often quite higher in their career than one would think. I use it as a motivating factor: if the likes of them can make it this far, what’s stopping me from going further? The bar is lower than you think it is.

“My imposter syndrome… I’m still working on it. I have an excellent group of friends that also work in this field who can help ground me when I start spiraling. I have a wonderful wife who’s always willing to support me when I need a hand. Also, therapy. We could all do with some therapy.”

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

“It’s going to suck at times, but you have to keep dreaming big. So big it scares you. We all have to do things we don’t like, but we get to pick what things we want to put up with. It’s easy to want a glamorous lifestyle, but not everyone can make it through what it takes to have a career in pro audio. There’s also plenty of jobs in this field that you don’t even know exist. Think wide, try out everything, find what you like and what you’re good at.

“Part of paying your dues in the industry is doing grunt work or putting up with attitude or boring tasks. You will also need to do this, but there’s a big difference between paying dues and being abused. You have the right to your own space, your safety, your peace of mind, and your body. Do not let anyone try to convince you otherwise. And don’t try to make yourself smaller to please someone else. It took me far too long to realize I was even doing it.”

Must-have skills?

“Patience, good communication, a willingness to learn, a problem-solving mindset, and people skills. You must have all of these if you want to be really successful.”

Favorite gear?

“Hmm… tough. It’s always changing.

“A hard drive full of various multitrack, a roll of artist’s tape, and an iPad. Tried and true gear to always have with me.

“Other misc. gear I love Rational Acoustics Smaart, the AHM-64, Scarlett interface, Sony WH-XB900N wireless noise-canceling headphones.”

More On Samantha

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

 

Noise Engineering SoundGirls Scholarships

About Noise Engineering:

Noise Engineering‘s mission is to make engaging tools for sound and music production. Started as a hobby in 2014(ish), we cut our teeth making Eurorack synthesizer modules in new and unusual styles. We love exploring new sound spaces and interesting ideas in synthesis to help broaden the universe of musical tone. We strive to put as much immediate functionality into every product as we can: we want to make fun products that inspire creativity; products WE want to play with. With products spanning a growing range of platforms, we aim to meet you, the artist, wherever you are. On the road, in the studio, in hardware or software, anywhere in the world, we have tools for you.

Our core values are based on community. Music is a place for everyone. We believe that all people should be treated with acceptance and respect and we welcome everyone into our community. But synthesis can be difficult to wrap your brain around, and we believe that it’s our job to help lower the barrier to entry. We work hard to offer extensive outreach and education, but we know there is always room for more–there’s so much to learn! We created the SoundGirls Noise Engineering scholarship to help people dedicated to the SoundGirls mission follow their dreams.

Award: We are awarding two $500 scholarships to be used for audio education and continuing education.

APPLICATIONS For 2021

Noise Engineering is providing members of SoundGirls two $500 scholarships to be used for audio education and continuing education. Applications are now open

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Any member of SoundGirls that is attending or plans to attend educational programs in Professional Audio. There is no age requirement and includes college programs, trade schools, seminars, and workshops. Applications are open to all genders and non-conforming genders.

HOW TO APPLY

Write a 400-600 word essay on the topic:  Why you love working or want to work in professional audio. Applications are now open- Apply Here

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION

The essay submission deadline is 12:00 midnight EDT July 30, 2021. The scholarships will be awarded in August 2021 and paid to scholarship winners. Scholarship winners will be required to send proof of enrollment in the educational program to SoundGirls or scholarship money must be returned.

SELECTION PROCESS & NOTIFICATION

The SoundGirls Board will review essays and will notify the winners via email.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

The scholarship funds awarded can be used for educational programs related to professional audio. Scholarships are non-renewable. You will need to submit proof of enrollment in a program.

QUESTIONS?

Any questions on the scholarship essay can be directed to soundgirls@soundgirls.org.

Additional Scholarships and Resources

 

 

 

 

Jeri Palumbo – Sports and Entertainment Broadcast Mixer

Jeri Palumbo is a Broadcast Sports and Entertainment Mixer based in Los Angeles. Jeri has been working in audio for over 30 years, first as a trained musician and arranger before going into post-production and then moving into live broadcast. Working mainly within sports broadcasting, her clients include the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, The Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, and The Oscars. Jeri is also part of the RF Coordination team each year for the Rose Bowl. She has worked with entertainment shows including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, and American Idol. She has won a Telly Award for her mixing work on “Songs of the Mountains”, a live bluegrass show.

Jeri’s family background is made up of four generations of musicians and her grandmother and mother were both professional jazz musicians. Her great-grandfather was a musician and violin maker, and Jeri’s father was a folk guitar player. Jeri started piano at age three and by the time Jeri was in high school she was arranging and writing scores. Jeri attended The Juilliard School of Music majoring in composition and orchestration, landing her a contract as a musical director which led to her interest in sound engineering. She worked side by side with the sound engineer and was introduced to the Fairlight CMI, the first digital synthesizer and wave manipulator, she was fascinated by how the engineer was able to change pitch and EQ. This was a game-changer and inspired Jeri to learn more about engineering and the potential possibilities of sound manipulation with digital audio tools.

Her Parents

Jeri’s parents would warn her that a career in music was unpredictable and urged her to obtain skills needed for steady employment and the possibility of retirement. Jeri studied computer science and IT (for two semesters) and then landed a job working in IT/LAN platform trouble-shooting at First Union Bank. While Jeri loved working and learning the technical aspects of the job, she still craved the creativity music provided. She wanted to blend her technical skills with her creative skills and looked toward Post-Production.

Post-Production

Jeri enrolled at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, and hit the streets knocking on doors of all the post-production houses in nearby Charlotte, NC. She offered to intern for free and most did not return her calls. One that did was Media-Comm where she interned for a semester and learned to use the video editor from AVID and AVID’S AUDIO VISION, their pre-cursor to ProTools. Eventually, Media-Comm hired Jeri where she focused on enhancing audio for TV shows. One show that broadcast out of Media-Comm was RaceDay, a live show that preceded NASCAR on Sundays. Eventually, RaceDay came knocking and asked Jeri to mix the show. While Jeri had never mixed a live show and she had her doubts, the director of the show said “Audio is Audio and you will be fine”. Jeri did her homework and was told by a former mixer that he would not touch it as it was live and found that several people had turned it down because of the live elements and fast pace. Jeri took the gig and pulled it off.

Sports Community Radar

RaceDay was a big, complicated national show, and Jeri ended up on the list of live sports mixers because of it. Within a week CBS Sports called and asked Jeri to work on the NCAA Final Four. Jeri caught the attention of CBS Sports, Fox Sports, and ESPN. All of this led to a career working across the country on high-profile sports events, primarily serving as an A1 working in the broadcast truck. She was also asked to A2 for a friend in need one day and eventually wore all the hats in broadcast audio; A1 mixer, A2, RF Tech and Comms. As an A1 mixer, Jeri is in charge of everything you hear in the final broadcast. Jeri has been particularly embedded in RF technology and coordination, which has numerous technical challenges, particularly with the shrinking RF UHF spectrum. She worked alongside major RF manufacturers and colleagues of RF gear and technology in the recent RF Spectrum auction and lobbying to save a portion of the RF Spectrum for production. One of Jeri’s close partnerships with regard to saving these RF changes was with the late, great Mark Brunner of Shure. Jeri’s in-depth tech articles on the RF spectrum and the impact of the changes have appeared in several trade magazines.

Her most recent stint in sports was as A1 mixer for eSports and Gaming. In an unusual and unprecedented move, (and to much debate from many of her colleagues), Jeri mixed a live broadcast in stereo while simultaneously mixing an embedded object-oriented surround to the HOUSE – with no FOH – from the same console (Calrec Artimis see article https://calrec.com/blog/craft-profile-jeri-palumbo/). What Jeri tried to convey, and what those on the outside didn’t know, was that the network launch for this major event was three weeks short of having their studio finished for audio. So she did what any professional would do, tried to make it work with what she had, from the broadcast truck.

It’s Not All Sports

Jeri with her mentor Les Paul

Jeri has also been involved in other fields of audio and has worked as an A1 on a bluegrass show called Songs of the Mountains. Songs of the Mountains was a live-to-tape bluegrass show broadcast on PBS. There were tough parameters on this show as the producers did not want to mic the traditional instruments. Instead, they wanted it to be organic and traditional, where the musicians would play around a central microphone and step forward for solos. The show was challenging with the various acoustical instruments and Jeri found herself riding EQ more than faders as the frequencies would often play against each other. They used an AKG C414 because of it’s adaptability in the ever-changing scenario of the different instruments used.  Jeri is proud of the work she did using simple techniques and she was awarded a Telly Award for her work.

New Projects

Recently Jeri has been instrumental in launching Arena Waves, a library of the highest quality music audio for Sports and Television content. Arena Waves kept Jeri extremely busy in 2020, while most live events were canceled due to COVID19, and was launched at the beginning of 2021.

Like so many in our industry, Jeri’s career path has been diverse. Her solid educational background in music and IT allowed Jeri to move into post-production and then into live broadcasts and engineering and again, back to music.  In her own words with Arena Waves, “It’s a perfect meld of everything I know”.

Arena Waves is high-caliber music licensing library for sports, gaming, television and film. With seasoned composers and session musicians on board, (most have played on your favorites records), Arena Waves debuted at launch in the mid-three-quarters to high range when it comes to catalog volume (over 70k+ and adding 50-100 new cuts per week). Several things make this catalog unique, one being its ease of use while also having mobile platform flexibility. But more importantly,  it’s worth noting the efficiency of the ready-made cut-downs for bumpers and highlights in the Producer’s Edge section. Cues are drop-in ready. Arena Waves also writes on-demand theme and cue requests and can provide quick turn arounds. With remarkably catchy themes from hard-driven rock, to dark and broody or moody, there is literally every style for every listener and media requirements and tastes. In fact, the catalog is so eclectic that, even though its intended purpose is sports, television and film, one can create personal playlists (register, it’s free) for their own listening pleasure. The music is that good and that diverse.

For more information, check out www.arenawaves.com and be sure to follow all their socials.

What is a typical day like?

Arrive early, unload the truck, run cables, interconnect with the facility, set up audio, fax if working in the field. In the truck, patch my patch bays, SAPS, routers and fader layouts. Load and set up music cues.

How do you stay organized and focused?

The pressure of live keeps me focused.  Also having a Plan A, Plan B, etc as backup options for live. For complex mixing (i.e. eSports or multiple routers of audio), I’m a big fan of populating my bottom layers to remain static while cloning to upper layers per need of each show.

What do you enjoy the most about your job? 

It’s live, it’s exciting and when it goes well, it’s instant gratification.

What do you like least?

It’s live, it’s exciting and when it goes badly, you SWEAR there’s not enough money in it EVER!

The best part of being on the road?

I’m on the road although I’m not on a bus, I am on planes a lot.  The best part is the road family, exploring new areas of the world and for certain eating local cuisine.

What do you like least? 

The hours, the wear and tear on your body, lack of sleep.

What is your favorite day off activity?

Exploring local cultures

What are your long-term goals? 

To try new things, push my personal limits and continue to follow current and new passions.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced? 

For CERTAIN misogyny and sadly, only from certain productions and a small posse of peers.  Also sadly, everyone else –  not just me – has experienced the exact same treatment from the exact same people from the exact same productions.  When a recent interviewer offline told me she encountered these issues WITH THE EXACT SAME PEOPLE 20 YEARS AGO on a sports event (this production travels), I challenge all the networks to wake up and investigate these “hand fuls” that are predictable, unprofessional and putting a black eye unfairly on the entire broadcast community (and is now into its second generation of newcomers being mistreated yet again, by the EXACT same people). I assure that the broadcast community is not what these few bad apples represent, but the network productions ignoring it won’t fix it.

How have you dealt with them? 

I ask questions not only of them but of those around them.  If they all “posse together”, then I move on to a team that is worthy…and good…and healthy.  I don’t stay in places where I know it will be IMPOSSIBLE to change.

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

1) you have to have thick skin.   Sports and Rock n Roll comes with a lot of testosterone that often “react” in their environments of comfort (ie a football field before a game).  These people are in “game mode” and are not there to think of anything else.

2) production mal-treatment vs real emotions.  Please know the difference.  It’s intense and gets crazy and not every minor thing said is a reason for “HR”.  HOWEVER, abuse should never be tolerated.  Just know the difference and if you don’t know, get educated before entering this environment, hence “thick skin”.

3) know when you are in a toxic team – those that withhold information, constantly throwing their fellow members under the bus, not owning up to errors, etc.  Be aware that even though this exists to some extent everywhere, not EVERY production conducts itself this way and the good ones, with good leaders, will NOT tolerate this from their team.

4) move on when you know it’s not going to work out for you.  Get out earlier and find your tribe sooner

5) hone your skills

6) when you’re wrong, admit it. If you don’t know something, admit it.  When you DO know, help your teammates learn

Must have skills?

1) know your audio or tell those around you you are willing to learn what you don’t know

2) people skills

3) be kind and understanding to those around you

4) everybody has a bad day and everybody has a bad GIG…shake it off, learn from it, get up and do it again

Favorite gear?

OOOOOOoooooh….well, in-studio mixing,  I’m a big fan of Eventide gear.  I’m also a big fan of the AKG414 due to its wide range of patterns,m. I love Sennheiser wireless mics for field and lav needs. I love all Lectrosonics RF wireless IFB/In-ear products. Both Sennheiser and Lectrosonics wireless mics and IFB/IEMs are interchangeable to me in quality and robustness.  Radioactive Audio Designs uses a nice VHF and lower bands for communications that steer clear of broadcast bands….and Clear Comm and Telex have some nice workarounds with their comms systems as well. Shure’s Wireless Workbench is great for some concert venues (although I haven’t really used this on large scale events). I like seeing Studers in the studio broadcast environment while I like seeing a Calrec on  broadcast trucks or remotes.

More on Jeri

Jeri Palumbo | NAMM.org

The Life of an A1, in the Booth and on the Field

Women in Audio: Jeri Palumbo, Broadcast Engineer and Musician

Jeri Palumbo — Roadie Free Radio

Jeri Palumbo – Signal to Noise Podcast

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

Love of Learning – Carolina Anton – Sound Engineer

 

Carolina Anton is a freelance sound engineer based in Mexico City. She works as a FOH and Monitor Engineer and specializes in sound design and optimization. She works with several sound companies such as 2hands production, Eighth Day Sound, Britannia Row, among others. She has done international tours with artists Zoé, Natalia Lafourcade, Leon Larregui, Mon Laferte. Carolina is also the owner of GoroGoro Studio – an audiovisual studio for immersive sound mixing experiences. She is the representative in Mexico of ISSP Immersive Sound software for live shows, a partner in 3BH an Integrative company that specializes in architectural, acoustic, and audiovisual technological design.  In her spare time, she is the head of the SoundGirls Mexico City Chapter.

Lifelong Love for Learning

Carolina grew up with a Montessori education that instills a lifelong love of learning and has provided Carolina with a solid foundation and base in her work and life. During her high-school years, she was enrolled at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education which gave her a solid understanding of engineering and the use of technology. At the same time, she became interested in Japanese culture and started to study the Japanese Tea Ceremony. At age 19, she started to study music and took a percussion diploma at Berklee College of Music and then went on to study with teachers from Escuela Superior de Música in Mexico City. She started playing drums at pubs and restaurants and formed her own band, soon after that she was invited to play drums for some artists as Laura Vazquez (ex- keyboardist of Fito Paez)

The Spark

In 2002, she received a scholarship to continue her Japanese studies at Urasenke Gakuen Professional College of Chado, Midorikai in Kyoto, Japan. In 2004, she graduated and returned to Mexico City. Upon returning, she found that she had no one to play music with and decided to find a job in music, so she could play drums and also thought she could work in audio. Carolina remembers saying to herself “it looks very easy pushing all those buttons and moving faders! And I love music… but actually had no idea what I was getting into, from that day I started this wonderful but complicated path.”

At the time there were limited professional audio programs in Mexico City, so she started taking every course she could find and says she still is constantly keeping updated on training and certifications. With her love of learning she started buying all the books on audio she could find and started to study on her own. She says it took her over four years to find someone that would help her get her foot in the door. She says “all rental companies told me that as a woman I had no future in this… a woman cannot carry cases or cables! Work at night? Travel with men? This work is impossible for a woman like you!!… They said. After almost three years I finally found one company that would support me and help me forge my own path from below. At that point, I swore that nobody was going to slow me down.”

While Carolina saw herself working in a recording studio, this would not be as the company that gave her a shot was a live sound company and she decided to “just let it flow and along the way, I realized that I really like this job so I started talking to all audio engineers close to me, without realizing that I was fully involved and made to work in live sound. I knew then that I like challenges and excitement, plus I work better under pressure.”

Career Start

She started as PA Tech and worked her way up to FOH and Monitors and now mainly freelances with 2Hands Production Services and Eighth Day Sound. Carolina’s first national tour was as a system engineer for Zoé Unplugged in 2011. Her first contact with international artists was with Earth, Wind & Fire where she approached with Eighth Day Sound on the same year with whom since then she has worked on tours and festivals such as Noel Gallager High Flying Birds, Cage The Elephant, The Cranberries, Faithless, and Electric Forest Festival, among others.

The first time Carolina got to mix was unexpected, “I remember that my job was only doing the PA design and tune it, but the musicians were late and I have to pre-prepare the scene of a venue SC48 and I didn’t know very well how to set up (I am very good with the mixers so it didn’t take me so much to understand it)  after I finished setting up the mixer, Gloria´s staff ask me to check the monitors and PA (so I send some pink noise and test the mics), I was so relaxed and did that thinking that in some point the main engineer will come, unconsciously I began to place filters and make a pre-mix (good for me!)  When the musicians arrived and I didn’t see any staff with them, I asked for the engineer and with all the calm in the world, they told me… “You are!” At that moment I got very nervous but luckily I had prepared everything correctly so the show flowed perfectly. Definitely in this profession, we must be prepared for everything.”

Carolina has toured as a Monitor Engineer for Gloria Gaynor, Kool & the Gang Mexico 2012, Janelle Monáe Mexico 2012, Vetusta Morla, Natalia Lafourcade, Leon Larregui, Mon Laferte and before the pandemic hit she was on tour with MexFutura. She has run FOH of Café Tacvba & Zoe, Everyone Orchestra, Madame Gandhi, Hellow Festival, PalNorte Festival, Electric Forest Festival and BPM Festival. She has been a system engineer for Marc Anthony Mexico 2012, Empire of the Sun “Walking on a Dream” Tour Mexico City 2011, Bunbury “Licenciado Cantinas” Tour Mexico 2012, ZOÉ & Café Tacvba Touring for 5 years (2011 – 2016), MTV Unplugged Miguel Bosé, Enrique Bunbury, Pepé Aguilar, Zoé, Kinky, and 90`s Pop Tour 360º – 2019.

Her credits also include Recording sound engineer and/or Assistant sound Engineer   Caifanes, MTV Unplugged Pepé Aguilar, Viva Tour: En vivo – Thalia and Production of the Live Streaming for the Vive Latino festival 2015.

Career Today

In 2015, she was invited to become a partner in 3BH, an integrative company that specializes in architectural, acoustic and audiovisual technological design. Working with post-production and music studios in Mexico and LATAM. The engineers at 3BH work to integrate projects at the highest level from construction, electricity, insulation and acoustic conditioning, monitoring design and calibration in ST, 5.1, 7.1, ATMOS formats, signal design and work with the highest technology. She also is the owner of GoroGoro Studio audiovisual studio specialized in immersive sound mixing experiences and traditional formats. The most recent material is a video with immense sound by the band MexFutura, presented on AppleMusic.

Never Stop Learning

She has certifications in Shure Advanced RF Coordinator for Axient Digital Systems,

AVID Protools, Meyer Sound – Sound System Design of Meyer Sound & SIM 3 Training and System Design, SMAART Software Applications & Procedures Training and System Design, Martin Audio Professional Loudspeaker Systems & MLA Certified Operator Training Program, L-Acoustics System Fundamentals, Audinate DANTE certified levels 1 – 3 and SSL Live console, Yamaha, Digico & MIDAS.

Carolina’s long-term goals are to keep touring and learning. “A long term goal that I have managed to achieve was mixing in immersive sound, I have been specializing in this area for several years and I find it very fun and interesting… I think it is the future in various areas of sound.”

What do you like best about touring?

I love to travel, meeting people, having the opportunity to use different gear, and mix at different venues. I love trying different foods and being able to learn about different cultures.

What do you like least?

I miss my family very much. I don’t get invitations from friends because they think I am always away. Sometimes it is nice to know that you are going to return home every night.  Also not having enough time to visit the city where we are working.

What is your favorite day off activity? 

Watching movies, enjoy the silence & nature, be with my family, play with my cats, read and sleep.

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

I had many obstacles, which I no longer remember, but surely the principle was to be a woman working in sound. For a long time, I was angry about the rejection that many colleagues had, but I realized that I was getting attention and was losing time, so I decided to ignore all the negative comments and focus on finding a mentor.

Fortunately, I found very good people along the way, who have helped me pass through all these obstacles and taught me in a professional manner to achieve my goals.

I  have become more secure in my job and I learned that if you have a good attitude and confidence in what you are doing you will be fine!

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

If you have a true love for your profession, do it without stopping!

Every time you have a problem do a self-evaluation and trust yourself.

Be humble but with decision and commitment, I am sure that you will achieve all your goals.

Must have skills?

Listen to other people, be objective and patient.

Favorite gear

D & B , Martin Audio , L´Acoustics, SSL LIVE , DIGICO ,MIDAS , SIM 3 Audio Analyzer, Smaart Software , Lake Processors, DPA & Sennheiser mics.

Closing thoughts

I am very happy and proud to represent SoundGirls in Mexico. I’m sure there will be many opportunities for growth and improvement for all women and men in this industry.

Infinitely thank my family (my mother and my brother) who support me in all my decisions, my boyfriend, my mentors and friends who were and are always by my side.

I have always in my mind the basic principles of The Way of Tea, harmony, respect, purity and tranquility (wa, kei, sei, jaku), this are the roots of my life.

Is very important to have an internal balance between ourselves and our work. Many times, we focus so much on our work that we forget it is very important to take care of ourselves. It is also very important to be consistent with what we do and say at all times.

Many have confused my tenacity and decision with unconsciousness, but there is a big difference in taking risks to break visible and invisible barriers to achieve your goals and objectives, always being humble and respectful with those around me and with myself.

More on Carolina

Carolina Anton on The SoundGirls Podcast

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent:

Profiles of Women in Audio

 

Ay Ay Ford Wesley – A Love for Audio and The Bigger Picture

Ay Ay Ford Wesley is an independent engineer working in both live sound and production and post audio. She is a co-owner as well as the head engineer with her husband of Sound Signature LLC. She is a graduate of Full Sail University and has been working in audio since 2011. But her love for music audio started in her early years.

She credits her two uncles with nurturing her love of music. They were both in bands and when she was growing up she would attend their concerts. She credits her Uncle Schiavone for the majority of her interest in music, he was in a band called Fighting Gravity and she had all his albums and just loved seeing him sing his heart out on stage. It made her want to be part of that world.

Ay Ay fell in love with audio during her teenage years, when she was working towards becoming the next Brandy. She would write, record, and mix her own music using Cakewalk Music Creator. Learning the software allowed her to be creative with her music and opened her eyes to producing and mixing. She remembers being in love “ with every little element of music and wanted to be that person that balanced everything and added cool effects to make it even more interesting. From there I researched more about what that was called and I found schools that focused on that craft. It became real to me. I went from wanting to sing like Brandy, to wanting to mix her next album. It’s still a dream of mine.”

Her path to audio started with her love of music, to writing and recording her own music and then one day she visited a recording studio and realized that there was a whole team involved in making an album, she met the recording engineers and saw the gear and she was no longer interested in singing. From there she would enroll in Full Sail University to study recording arts but would be introduced to live sound “I had a month of live show production, and discovered this world of concerts and live events and became intrigued. AND THEN my last month of school for my Associates’s degree, we focused on production sound, sound design and post sound mixing and I absolutely loved it! So my initial interest in audio was through music and recording, then it morphed into live sound and concerts and then evolved into post sound and mixing for films and animations.”

She started working live sound in 2011 with PSAV. She says that they were a great stepping stone but she says “ you had to motivate yourself and push yourself to advance through the company.” Motivated she was, pushing herself, learning every piece of gear they had in their inventory, taking on challenging and higher profile gigs.

“I would see other seasoned technicians who would be called in to do the bigger, more complicated and higher profiled gigs and I wanted to be like them. Also, the fact that there weren’t a lot of women audio techs made me stand out and work harder to prove myself. I know people have their opinions about this company, but I really have to give it to the manager that hired me. He asked me where I wanted to go in the company, I told him I wanted to be a top-notch audio tech and he made a way for me.”

During her years at PSAV, she learned that mistakes are going to happen and that they are the foundation for learning and growing. She also learned that there are so many people on the production team that often they do not understand the role of the audio engineer. “ I’ve learned to make sure you are in those production meetings so that you can be aware of any conflicts or issues that may arise during set up and show.”

She also had some really great mentors “Michael Coates was the man that gave me a chance and allowed me to navigate and learn all I could about anything audio. He also put me on complex shows and allowed me to grow. Also, an amazing audio engineer named John Beckstoffer let me shadow him various times during my first few years with the company and he would always give me advice on gear and mixing techniques. He is a person that you could just tell he loved to mix and he loved teaching people. When I started my freelance career and was looking to work on more concerts and tours, I have to give so much credit to Amanda Davis who is an amazing audio engineer! What an inspiration! She has been there to guide me and give advice and she has opened doors for me to work on some big concerts that have taken me across the world.”

Ay Ay’s long term goals are to focus on and continue to build Sound Signature LLC. She hopes to land a contract with a production company for an episodic series or for audiobooks. Of course, during COVID she is looking for more work she can do at home and building a solid foundation for her company to remain profitable, especially for when she decides to expand her family. We are positive she will be successful.

What is a typical day like?

My days vary depending on what type of gig I have.

If it’s a concert I’m mixing for the day, I am up early, packing my pelican with anything I think I may need for the show. I’m listening to the artist on the way to the venue to get my mind and my ear ready to mix and I usually show up to show site super early to have a moment to go over the PA set, mixers (whether I’m running FoH or Mons) and to walk the stage and do my own preliminary tuning and sound check. When the show starts, it’s all about the show! When the show ends I thank God for a wonderful show and help with loadout.

If I’m working as a production sound mixer for the day, I am up early, packing my pelican and making sure I have my sound bag charged and packed. The same applies, in that I will show up to the production location early to get a feel of the area, although I would have joined the production team during the location scouting. If I’m there early enough, I’ll go over the script again, and perhaps get some ambient sounds or room tone while it’s quiet. When filming starts I’ll be working, getting the best possible sounds from my boom and lavs and when the day wraps, I hand the DIT my drives, as well as a sound report and I, head out. Always thankful for the opportunity.

If I’m working from home as a post sound mixer or sound designer, then my day is a little more relaxed. I’ll get up, eat breakfast, get all my social media habits out the way (lol) and go down to my little mix studio at my home and load the session files and either get mixing or if it’s a sound design project, I’ll have my arsenal of microphones and go out and about to capture some sounds that pertain to the project I’m working on.

When I don’t have any work for that day or week, you can find me watching videos on other sound engineers or watching gear review videos and phantom shopping (window shopping) online for future upgrades and such for my home studio.

How do you stay organized and focused?

I make lists of everything I need for a particular gig. I find it therapeutic and a great practice to pack bags and cases the night before, have my show files updated and saved on a drive and have snacks and drinks packed. That way the morning of the show, I’m not doing any last minute things. My mind can just be calm and clear before the storm.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

I really enjoy being part of the bigger picture. I love mixing a concert and seeing the audience having a wonderful time and the artists on stage feeling that energy. Whether you’re mixing FoH or Mons, they may be two different worlds but the goal is the same and that goal is to have a fun and successful show. I love the creativity behind any of the audio gigs I pick up. From production sound with hiding mics in places to pick up clear dialogue, capturing sounds for atmospheres and soundscapes, or creating sounds for certain parts of the film, it just pushes you to be creative. In post sound mixing, you can work at your own pace and you have the freedom to build this soundtrack of sounds that help tell the visual story. At the end of it all, when the film is shown at festivals or posted online, to read the comments and see people really enjoying the work, that is what I enjoy most.

What do you like least?

For live sound, I hate when things go to hell lol. I HATE having a bad show, it’s such an awful feeling because it doesn’t matter if it’s not my fault, I still feel horrible. Whether it’s a lack of a soundcheck or the band shows up minutes before the show begins and I’m scrambling to get the lines up, or I’m working as BOTH the FOH and monitor engineer when there should really be two separate people doing the job (yes….there are companies that cut corners like that). Sometimes there are shows I have worked on and there hasn’t been any communication between the company that’s putting the show on and the artists that are performing, so I haven’t gotten a stage plot or an input list or anything.

Unprofessionalism and sexism are also what I despise in this industry. It literally takes a team to put on a production, we are all working together to accomplish a single goal. What does it matter that I am a woman? Why are you shocked that I know what all those buttons do? And the gossip, sometimes it just turns me off. Why get offended when I take my lunch breaks at my console so I can check to make sure my outputs aren’t muted and that there aren’t any surprises before the show instead of sitting in the break area talking about…nothing? That really happens. The annoyance of it all.

What’s your favorite part of touring?

I have worked on two tours in my freelance career and I really liked advancing the show, as it pertained to the audio portion. I loved being in contact with the production companies and show venues to make sure they’ve received all of our needs and requirements. Instead of relying on someone to communicate with the other side of the tour, I did it and it allowed me to be calm and know exactly what we were walking into and what gear would be there at the venue. Any changes that were made I was one of the first to be aware of it. I’d have to say I liked that the most out of anything.

What do you like least?

With those two tours being my first major tours, there was still a lot I was learning as I was on tour and with that, I was so anxious and nervous. I didn’t like how anxious I was on those tours. I was so focused on perfection that I could barely enjoy the countries I was in. I was scared to make a mistake and I just kept to myself. I was a wreck haha. There wasn’t a production manager, I advanced my own gear, lighting advanced their own and the tour manager managed the tour so I was learning as I was going. Honestly, the anxiety I had on those tours really made me not want to tour anymore, but of course, if I’m asked to go on tour in the future, I’m pretty sure I’d say yes lol.

What is your favorite day off activity?

Playing video games. Specifically Elder Scrolls Online.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

When I first started freelancing, and I wanted to get in with an audio warehouse or a touring house to learn more about concert touring and building audio racks, I faced a lot of barriers as I didn’t have the “qualified” experience to work at one which blew my mind because I was wanting to work there to learn more and gain experience. My resume wasn’t “impressive” enough and I slowly realized that it’s more of who you know that could get you in the door of certain facilities. Also, marketing yourself as a freelance audio engineer was a huge obstacle as I didn’t know how to “show” my work and experience without it being a list of concerts and shows I’ve worked on my resume.

How have you dealt with them?

I’ve always believed that there are multiple ways to get to a goal. If I was met with rejection from one company I would move on and pick up a gig with another. I would also pick up gigs as the audio assistant or the stagehand in order to meet people and network. To promote myself, I created a website and an audio-focused Instagram page and started documenting my shows. I got a lot of exposure that way and now use those pages as a sort of portfolio. I’ve gotten gigs from just my Instagram page which is cool.

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

Have fun and learn all you can! I truly love everything about the audio industry and the technology is ever-changing and advancing and it’s our job to keep up with it. This is such a great industry to be a part of. I would also advise women to be very aware of some challenges they may face along the way. Depending on what part of the audio industry you decide to pursue, you will (it’s inevitable) encounter sexism. You’ll meet people who don’t believe in you and who thinks a man is a better fit for the job. Please don’t let these people deter you. There’s a reason why you’ve chosen this path and you should pursue it with an open mind and an open heart. Your best weapon is your knowledge of the industry and its technology, which ANYONE can learn. Your drive and motivation should be what keeps you moving. Also, the most important advice I can give is to surround yourself with others that are also pursuing this journey. Join sound engineering groups, go to trainings and conventions, meet people and network, see if you can shadow an engineer on a show, which is a great way to learn!

Must have skills?

Troubleshooting is a must. It’s great to have flawless shows, but you need to know what to do and how to pinpoint a problem when things go wrong. Also, understanding the power requirements for gear and acoustical engineering also helps!

Favorite gear?

I love my Whirlwind PA-1 personal headphone monitor. I use it as a cable tester and to check outputs. Also, my laptop/Ipad and network routers. It’s so helpful to be mobile when tuning a system or checking levels, tuning stage monitors, or doing line checks and monitor requests for musicians.


Sound Signature LLC was founded in 2018 when Ay Ay and her husband Marcellus realized we had more than enough live, production and mixing experience between them to open up shop. Sound Signature LLC covers live gigs, production sound mixing gigs and post sound gigs. Sound Signature LLC is proud to have had the opportunities to work on such projects as:

Cycles“- Directed by Kathrine Street, which is currently making its’ rounds in the Independent Film Festival circuits.

“Loving Byron“- Directed by Deante Gray, which made its’ rounds in the Independent Film Festival circuits back in 2019.

“Comrades In Arms: The Manila American Cemetery”- Directed by Joshua Colover of Aperture Films, this documentary has been posted on the American Battlefield Monuments Commisions’ Youtube page.

“Harriet Tubman: Soldier of Freedom”- Directed by Joshua Colover of Aperture Films, this short film is posted on the MarylandDNR Youtube page.

To learn more about Sound Signature LLC please visit www.soundsignature.productions . To learn more about Ay Ay’s  sound adventures, please visit www.audio-ayay.com .

More on Ay Ay on The SoundGirls Podcast

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent

Profiles of Women in Audio

The Positive Side of Negative Visualization

Stagehands often joke that we aren’t paid to run a show track. We’re really there to fix problems and (on tour) load the show in and out. With a little bit of direction, anyone can follow a track: page a curtain, swap a microphone or move something from one place to another. You hire a prop master because she has specialized knowledge and can rebuild or repair a prop that breaks or get an audio technician because she actually knows the components of the system and can suss out a problem.

Troubleshooting, especially mid-show, is mentally demanding. You have to run through all possible scenarios, eliminate them down to the most likely culprit, and execute the fix or workaround all within the space of moments. Backstage, this comes in the form of video, mics, or com malfunctioning, usually armed with all the information of, “This sounds weird, can you fix it?” as someone points to their beltpack.

When you’re out at FOH, your problems usually center around a glitch with the console, something making a noise that it’s not supposed to in the house, or trying to work around mic issue as the A2 works to fix things. As always, this is while mixing the show, because you’re a position that has a specialized track, so you actually are paid to run the show.

While fixing problems on the fly, even in non-catastrophic situations like switching from a sweat-out main mic to a clean backup, your reaction time matters. It’s the difference between missing a word or an entire line as you think through the process of which channel you have to go to or which page of user-assigned macros you need to be on.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our brains didn’t need quite as much time to work through problems? Well, (good news!) with a little mental exercise, it doesn’t.

Have you ever noticed it feels like it takes longer to walk to a new place than it does to walk back from it? You’re following the same route at the same pace, but something feels like it could be two completely different trips. What’s actually happening is that, on the way there, your brain is processing new information, which takes just the tiniest bit longer than when you’re walking back and now all your brain has to do is register a familiar sight.

The same thing can happen when you troubleshoot. If you’ve already worked through and fixed a kind of problem, you already know how to react and your brain can simply reference information instead of creating an entirely new plan from scratch. And it gets better: you don’t even have to physically experience a situation for your brain to pick up cues faster.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the term “Positive Visualization” as it’s a go-to in most guides to improve your happiness or your outlook on life. By all means, visualizing mixing a perfect show is wonderful, and can be a benefit all on its own, but we’re going to take a look at the opposite, but closely related, “Negative Visualization.”

I first heard the term in the podcast episode “Don’t Accentuate the Positive” of The Happiness Lab series. (I highly recommended the series, especially if you have any interest in psychology, plus that particular episode has a fascinating story about Michael Phelps.) While listening, I found I’d developed a habit of negative visualization over the past several years without realizing that that was what I was doing.

A few months into a run, I usually reach a point where I’m comfortable with the show and the company has settled into a routine, so everyone can relax just a bit. At this point, I’d start to play a “what if” game. If I noticed a cue would be easy to fire at the wrong time if I wasn’t paying attention, I’d walk through the process of what would happen if I did make that mistake. I’d make it my own mental exercise, going through what chain reaction that cue might set off and what specific process I’d have to use to recover from the mistake.

That’s what negative visualization is: mentally walking through a problem scenario. The benefit is that in a figurative world, you can also work through multiple solutions to that problem until you find the best one. So, in the event you find yourself in that situation, your mind reacts faster to decide on a course of action because it’s already done it, even if the trial run was just in your head.

I had an actress who occasionally sweated out her main mic, but always at the same point in the show. It became common enough that I made a point key up the macro page to the one with her backup shortcut if I knew the backstage area was warmer than usual, or it was just a hot day. In some instances, she would sweat out even in colder climates, and even for those, I was so used to the combination of buttons to switch to her back up, it was like I had my own cheat code which took the work of moments with minimal thought.

In another experience, I had the main fader bank on the console reset mid-show. I had a freeze of an “uh oh” moment, then switched to the backup engine. That same glitch has happened a couple of times over the course of a few years, but even with hundreds of shows between occurrences, the second time it happened, I didn’t even have that initial pause, my brain was able to recognize a similar situation and my hand immediately moved to switch engines. Now, if something happens on the console, I automatically default to the instinct to reach for the Engine A/B button. As my body is reacting, my mind can process if I should actually change or not so, if I need to, my hand’s already there, if not, I can pull back.

This kind of mental exercise is something that’s becoming more important given the current state of everything.

The news that Broadway and most large events won’t come back this year is demoralizing, and all of us face the hard reality of deciding on a course of action to either get us through the short term or consider changes on a grander scale. But the challenges won’t stop there. As the entertainment industry focuses on its eventual reopening, we’re looking to do it as we create a more inclusive, knowledgeable, and healthier environment, especially for the BIPOC and marginalized artists in our communities. For many white people, that requires us to be activists as well as advocates for our fellow technicians, musicians, and actors when we get back to work. For those of us not used to speaking up or purposely exposing ourselves to confrontational situations, we know it’s necessary if intimidating task. Especially so in workplaces where off-hand racist or sexist comments were previously considered “just kidding around” and bringing attention to them might have been met with “just ignore it,” “it’s too much of a hassle, and it’ll piss everyone off,” or “well, what did you expect?”

As we face all these problems and more, negative visualization can be a helpful tool to reevaluate and rearrange our future plans or make an effort, not only to step out of our comfort zones but to actively do the hard work of de-programming years and even decades of ingrained behaviors. If there’s a silver lining in all this, we’ll get plenty of opportunities this year to retrain our brains and mentally practice constructive reactions as we head towards getting back to work.

 

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