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Finding that Job

As I see postings online from people asking for advice about how to start their careers just out of school or how to change their careers to join the audio world, it makes me think about the job hiring process and changes I went through about a year ago. It had been a while coming. I knew I was ready for a change, but I was waiting for the right change through finding the right job. Looking back, I’m not sure if finding the right position was the proper way to look as much as something that would be different and would challenge me, but also keep me engaged while learning new things. Overall, looking back I think I learned the most during the interview processes I went through followed by actually moving and experiencing all the change.

Once I made my choice about wanting to move, I then had to search for a new job.  Using all the popular sites, I found it wasn’t that straightforward to find the kind of job I was looking for. In our industry, we use a unique language to get our work done. Hiring managers and job boards don’t necessarily understand that language either.  Yes, there are job boards out there just for our industry, but there are many entities hiring that won’t use those boards because it is too specific to the industry for the 1 or 2 positions they have. The corporate environment will either use a recruiter to get down into an intricate area of a specific industry or will hope the keywords match on a large job board site.  As you start your search, get creative with the job title words you search for. A venue manager may be listed under Facilities Coordinator, or A1 could be listed as Technician.

You will likely apply for a lot of jobs. Don’t just apply for one at a time, apply for all the jobs that interest you and that you are qualified for.  Response rates can be slow, and you don’t want to waste valuable time and good opportunities hoping you will hear from one specific place. You could miss out on better opportunities. You could also miss out on valuable experience interviewing too.  During the interview is where you will learn most about the organization and their expectations for you and the position. They will spend a majority of the time talking to you about your qualifications to see how you will fit in their world, but it is also ok for you to ask questions to see if you will fit in their world too.  More than just skills need for a job; you need to determine if you can work for them. We spend a lot of our lives working, so I advise making sure you work for an entity that you are willing to spend a lot of your life at.

As you apply to different jobs, I recommend keeping a copy of the job description as well as the cover letter and resume you submitted. This way if you do get an interview you will have a copy of the resources you provided them since they should be tailored for that specific application.

As you are interviewing watch for the positive and negatives of the organization. Ask strategic questions regarding the research you have done on the organization and learn as much as you can to make a decision later on. Some red flags to watch for are how they communicate with you before, during, and after the interview. Is it concise communication or are they sending you mixed messages? Do they call you back when they say they will? Does the hiring manager or person who greets you at the start of the interview speak positively about the organization and the environment they work in?

Watch for the red flags like managers telling you just a little too much about the organization’s dysfunction or personal information about possible future co-workers. Dodging the questions you’re asking, or interviewing a couple of times with the same person only to learn you have two or three more interview steps to go that will be scheduled over the next few weeks.  Be cautious of interviews that are continuously scheduled with the same person over and over. This may be a sign the organization is not ready to hire someone, or that management is not genuinely interested in you. Don’t forget to ask about their timeline to complete the hiring process too.

I went on one interview last year where there were some red flags when they asked me what I did with downtime during work hours, and how I would handle a continuously light schedule. I answered as clearly as I could, but couldn’t help but wonder – Am I going to be bored working here? Will there be a challenge for me?  During that same interview, a staff member also shared with me the ‘drama’ within the department. There will always be differences among co-workers, but if that’s shared during the interview process, it should make you wonder how much ‘drama’ is happening on a daily basis. They also shared how the organization did not support the department, which was surprising to hear. Those were all signs that working in that environment would not have been for me. So when the job offer came, I knew the job wasn’t for me.

On the other hand, watch for the positive signs such as a hiring process that is well organized, welcoming, and that you get a great vibe while you are going through the process. They provide precise information about, organization and the job in which you are interviewing for.  In my opinion, the interview process should feel good, maybe a little nerve-wracking while in the process, but good afterward. Be prepared for many different kinds of approaches as you may work with recruiters or hiring managers, but you could also be talking directly with the president or owner as well.  Expect multiple steps to the interview like a video or phone interview first, a general interview second, then maybe a management interview to finish the process.

Then if you’re right for them and it’s right for you get ready for your next adventure!  Starting a new job can be significant and scary at the same time. No matter what it will be a great experience to add to your tool belt. Also, remember as you get your first or second job within the audio or events world, remember all of us SoundGirls are here to help along the way!

 

La fase y el filtro de peine

“La suma es una forma de juego acústico donde la amplitud relativa fija la apuesta y la fase relativa decide al ganador.”

– Bob McCarthy

A lo largo de este articulo hablaremos sobre que es la fase y como es que afecta nuestras mediciones. Estos conceptos nos darán claridad en qué posición usar nuestro micrófono de medición, con estas técnicas logro conseguir grandes resultados en mis mediciones.

Qué es la fase?

La fase está relacionada al tiempo, aunque debemos tomar en cuenta que no es la única variable que puede modificar la fase.

Para tener más claro de que trata la fase debemos recordar que el periodo (T) es el tiempo que le toma a una onda desenvolver un ciclo completo de una determinada frecuencia. Matemáticamente:

T (segundos) =1sfrecuencia   o T(milisegundos)=1000ms/frecuencia

Es importante tomar en cuenta que para las frecuencias audibles (20 Hz – 20,000 Hz) hay una relación de 1:1,000. Esto significa que el periodo de 20 Hz (50 ms) es mil veces mayor al de 20,000 Hz (0.05ms).

Tomando en cuenta estos detalles entremos en materia.

Si pensamos en una onda senoidal y en su semejanza con un círculo “desdoblado”, pensaríamos que podemos expresar en qué posición de la onda senoidal nos encontramos por medio de grados.

Siendo 0° el inicio de la onda, 90° el valor de máxima amplitud, 180° media onda, 270° la mínima amplitud y 360° el fin de un ciclo completo (y el inicio del siguiente).

Pensando en esto podemos asociar la fase y la amplitud de una onda al tiempo. Veamos la siguiente expresión.

Siendo:
ΔØ la fase resultante
Δt el tiempo en el que se hace el análisis (en milisegundos)
f la frecuencia

Pensando en esta expresión matemática podemos darnos cuenta que la fase es directamente proporcional a la frecuencia y al tiempo transcurrido. Hagamos un análisis de que sucede con la fase si pasa 1 ms desde que inicia una señal.

Fase resultante después de 1 ms:

100 Hz = 36°

500 Hz = 180°

1,000 Hz = 360°

1,500 Hz = 540°

2,000 Hz = 720°

10,000 Hz = 3,600°

La fase nos ayuda a saber cuántos ciclos o fracciones de ciclo han pasado al transcurrir un determinado tiempo. Cabe resaltar que la fase es una característica de las ondas y no es necesario que haya más de una señal para poder hacer un análisis al respecto.

Qué ocurre cuando interactúan 2 señales?

Hasta ahora hemos hablado de la fase en una sola señal y esto no parece tener mayor complicación, me atrevo a decir que mucho de nosotros incluso no recordamos que la fase existe hasta que no tenemos más de una señal correlacionada interactuando. La relación de fase entre 2 señales correlacionadas determina cual será el resultado de la suma de dichas señales.

Hagamos un ejercicio.
Vamos a usar 2 generadores de tonos para generar en ambos 1,000 Hz con una amplitud de 0dB.
Veremos en un osciloscopio las señales de los generadores y la suma de ambas señales.

En esta  imagen podemos observar que ambos generadores tienen la misma amplitud y la misma fase. Si observamos la curva “Resultante”, que es la suma de ambas señales, podemos notar como la amplitud se ha duplicado. Si expresamos el resultado en dBs diríamos que:

En esta imagen podemos observar que hay una diferencia de fase de 90° entre las señales. Si observamos la curva “Resultante” podemos notar como la amplitud ha sumado solo hasta 1.41 y que la fase de la señal resultante ha tomado el valor medio entre ambas señales. Si expresamos el resultado en dBs diríamos que:

En esta imagen podemos observar que hay una diferencia de fase de 120° entre las señales. Si observamos la curva “Resultante” podemos notar como la amplitud no ha sumado nada y que la fase de la señal resultante ha tomado el valor medio entre ambas señales. Si expresamos el resultado en dBs diríamos que:

En esta imagen podemos observar que hay una diferencia de fase de 150° entre las señales. Si observamos la curva “Resultante” podemos notar como la amplitud se ha atenuado hasta 0.5 y que la fase de la señal resultante ha tomado el valor medio entre ambas señales. Si expresamos el resultado en dBs diríamos que:

 

En esta imagen podemos observar que hay una diferencia de fase de 180° entre las señales. Si observamos la curva “Resultante” podemos notar como la amplitud se ha cancelado por completo. Si expresamos el resultado en dBs diríamos que:

De todo esto podemos concluir que la suma de 2 señales correlacionadas está estrechamente ligada a la relación de fase que hay entre ambas señales. Este comportamiento se resume en la siguiente ecuación.

Donde:

A1 = Amplitud de la señal 1
A2 = Amplitud de la señal 2
Δ∅ = Diferencia de fase entre las señales

Y se resume visualmente en el círculo de fase.

El filtro de peine

En los ejercicios anteriores comprendimos cómo es que la fase determina si hay suma o cancelación al sumar 2 señales, pero debemos tomar en cuenta que en estos ejercicios trabajamos únicamente con tonos senoidales, es decir una sola frecuencia. La realidad es que nosotros no trabajamos con tonos senoidales, ahora debemos analizar que sucede con señales de espectro completo.

Veamos el siguiente ejemplo:

En esta imagen podemos apreciar la suma de 2 señales de espectro completo. Estas señales tienen una diferencia de tiempo de 0.5 ms, que es el periodo de 2,000 Hz. Sabemos que esta diferencia de tiempo afectara de manera diferente a cada frecuencia, veamos algunos ejemplos:

Δ∅=t*360°*f/1000

Δ∅ @500 Hz = 90° (+3dB de suma).

Δ∅ @1,000 Hz = 180° (-100dB de atenuación).

Δ∅ @2,000 Hz = 360° (+6dB de suma).

Δ∅ @3,000 Hz = 540° (-100dB de atenuación).

Δ∅ @4,000 Hz = 720° (+6dB de suma).

Este fenómeno es conocido como filtro de peine, llamado así por la semejanza del grafico a un peine.

Cómo afecta el filtro de peine nuestras mediciones?

Sabemos que el filtro de peine es el resultado de sumar 2 señales correlacionadas con diferencias de tiempo. Cuando realizamos mediciones en campo hay muchas posibles causas del filtro de peine, una de estas causas son las reflexiones.

Podemos imaginar las reflexiones como una imagen fantasma de la señal original pero retrasada en tiempo. La señal reflejada recorre mayor distancia, esto es lo que causa el retraso.


Veamos este ejemplo realizado con un micrófono de medición MM1 de Beyerdynamics y un altavoz de rango completo.

En esta imagen podemos apreciar como la señal directa y la señal reflejada llega al micrófono con diferencia de tiempo. Por medio de la respuesta impulsiva podemos averiguar que la diferencia de tiempo es de 1.67 ms, que es el periodo de 600 Hz. Veamos que sucede en algunas frecuencias al agregar 1.67 ms de diferencia.

Δ∅ @300 Hz = 180° (cancelación)

Δ∅ @600 Hz = 360° (suma)

Δ∅ @900 Hz = 540° (cancelación)

Etc…

Cómo podemos disminuir el filtro de peine en la reflexión?

Ya está claro que el filtro de peine es causado por la diferencia de tiempo entre ambas señales, si queremos eliminar el filtro de peine podríamos:

En esta imagen podemos ver cómo hemos logrado mejorar nuestra medición con tan solo colocar el micrófono en el piso. Estas mediciones son conocidas como “Ground plane”.

Esta medición no elimina la reflexión, en lugar de eso nos hemos acercado tanto a la reflexión que no logramos ver la diferencia de tiempo entre esta y la señal original.

Este tipo de mediciones son de gran ayuda cuando trabajamos en lugares con superficies muy reflejantes, nos permiten centrar la atención en lo que realmente está haciendo el sistema de altavoces. Claro que una persona que esté de pie segura notando la presencia del filtro de peine, pero cuando el recinto este lleno de personas el mismo coeficiente de absorción acústica de los espectadores evitara que la reflexión pueda causar filtros de peine.

Preguntas:

Qué indica la fase?

Cuál es el resultado de sumar 2 tonos con la misma amplitud pero una diferencia de fase de 90°?

Cuál es el resultado de sumar 2 tonos con la misma amplitud pero una diferencia de fase de 180°?

Qué es el filtro de peine?

En que consisten las mediciones “Ground plane”?

Michael “Mija” Krieg Schreiber

Después de que en el 2010 obtuvo un grado en Técnico en Audio, con la especialidad de audio en vivo, tomó una serie de cursos relacionados a la materia, tales como el uso y aplicación del software Smaart,  arreglos lineales, diseño de sistemas de refuerzo sonoro, SIM3, procesadores de arquitectura abierta, entre muchos otros.

Ha trabajado en diversas compañías, producciones, discotecas e instalaciones como instructor, diseñador, técnico y operador de sistemas de sonido reuniendo a la fecha 9 años de experiencia. Entre las compañías, producciones y recintos con los que ha trabajado se encuentran Representaciones de Audio, Meyer Sound México, Hi tech Audio, la Misa papal en San Cristóbal de las Casas 2016, Corona Capital 2014, Auditorio Nacional, Arena Ciudad de México, entre otros.

Hoy en día concentra su carrera en actividades educativas ofreciendo diferentes ponencias y cursos de audio profesional. Entre las escuelas y organizaciones con las que ha colaborado están: Avixa, AES México, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, UNITEC Universidad Tecnológica de México, SAE INSTITUTE México, EMEH Escuela de la Música del Estado de Hidalgo, G Martell, Pro Audio Puebla, entre otras.

 

Phase and Comb Filtering

Summation is a form of acoustical gambling where relative amplitude sets the stakes and relative phase decides the winner. – Bob McCarthy

Throughout this article, we will talk about what is the phase and how it affects our measurements. These concepts will give us clarity in what position to use our measurement microphone; with these techniques I achieve great results in my measurements.

What is the phase?

The phase is related to time, although we must take into account that it is not the only variable that can modify the phase.

To be more clear about what the phase is about, we must remember that the period (T) is the time it takes a wave to develop a complete cycle of a certain frequency. Mathematically:

T (seconds) = 1s/frequency

oT (milliseconds) = 1000 ms/frequency

It is important to take into account that for the audible frequencies (20 Hz – 20,000 Hz) there is a ratio of 1: 1,000. This means that the period of 20 Hz (50 ms) is one thousand times greater than that of 20,000 Hz (0.05 ms).

Taking these details into account, let’s get into the subject.

If we think of a sine wave and its resemblance to an “unfolded” circle, we would think that we can express in what position of the sine wave we are by means of degrees. Being 0 ° the beginning of the wave, 90 ° the value of maximum amplitude, 180 ° half wave, 270 ° the minimum amplitude and 360 ° the end of a complete cycle (and the beginning of the next).

Thinking about this we can associate the phase and the amplitude of a wave to time. Let’s see the following expression.

Being:

ΔØ the resulting phase

Δt the time in which the analysis is done (in milliseconds)

f the frequency

Thinking about this mathematical expression we can realize that the phase is directly proportional to the frequency and time elapsed. Let’s make an analysis of what happens to the phase if it passes 1 ms since it starts a signal.

Resulting phase after 1 ms:

100 Hz = 36 °

500 Hz = 180 °

1,000 Hz = 360 °

1,500 Hz = 540 °

2,000 Hz = 720 °

10,000 Hz = 3,600 °

The phase helps us to know how many cycles or fractions of the cycle have passed after a certain time has elapsed. It should be noted that the phase is a characteristic of the waves and it is not necessary that there is more than one signal to be able to analyze it.

What happens when 2 signals interact?

So far we have talked about the phase in a single signal and this does not seem to have many complications, I dare say that many of us do not even remember that the phase exists until we have more than one correlated signal interacting. The phase relationship between two correlated signals determines what will be the result of the sum of said signals.

Let’s do an exercise.

We are going to use 2 tone generators to generate in both 1,000 Hz with an amplitude of 0dB.

We will see in an oscilloscope the signals of the generators and the sum of both signals.

In this image, we can see that both generators have the same amplitude and the same phase. If we look at the “Resultant” curve, which is the sum of both signals, we can notice how the

amplitude has doubled. If we express the result in dBs we would say that:

 

In this image, we can see that there is a phase difference of 90 ° between the signals. If we observe the “Resultant” curve we can notice how the amplitude has only added up to 1.41 and that the phase of the resulting signal has taken the average value between both signals. If we express the result in dBs we would say that:

 

In this picture, we can see that there is a phase difference of 120 ° between the signals. If we observe the “Resultant” curve we can notice how the amplitude has not added up anything and that the phase of the resulting signal has taken the average value between both signals. If we express the result in dBs we would say that:

In this image, we can see that there is a phase difference of 150 ° between the signals. If we observe the “Resultant” curve we can notice how the amplitude has been attenuated up to 0.5 and that the phase of the resulting signal has taken the average value between both signals. If we express the result in dBs we would say that:

In this image, we can see that there is a 180 ° phase difference between the signals. If we look at the “Resultant” curve we can notice how the amplitude has been canceled completely. If we express the result in dBs we would say that:

From all this, we can conclude that the sum of 2 correlated signals is closely linked to the phase relationship between the two signals. This behavior is summarized in the following equation.

Where:

A1 = Amplitude of signal 1

A2 = Amplitude of signal 2

Δ∅ = Phase difference between signals

And it is visually summarized in the phase circle.

The comb filter

In the previous exercises, we understood how the phase determines whether there is a sum or cancellation when adding 2 signals, but we must take into account that in these exercises we work only with sinusoidal tones, that is, a single frequency. The reality is that we do not work with sinusoidal tones, now we must analyze what happens with full-spectrum signals.

Let’s see the following example:

In this image, we can see the sum of 2 full-spectrum signals. These signals have a time difference of 0.5 ms, which is the period of 2,000 Hz. We know that this difference in time will affect each frequency differently, let’s see some examples:

Δ∅ @ 500 Hz = 90 ° (+ sum 3dB).

Δ∅ @ 1,000 Hz = 180 ° (-100dB attenuation).

Δ∅ @ 2,000 Hz = 360 ° (+ 6dB of sum).

Δ∅ @ 3,000 Hz = 540 ° (-100dB attenuation).

Δ∅ @ 4,000 Hz = 720 ° (+ 6dB sum).

This phenomenon is known as the comb filter, named for the similarity of the graphic to a comb.

How does the comb filter affect our measurements?

We know that the comb filter is the result of adding 2 signals correlated with time differences. When we perform measurements in the field there are many possible causes of the comb filter, one of these causes are reflections.

We can imagine the reflections as a ghost image of the original signal but delayed in time. The reflected signal travels longer, this is what causes the delay.

Let’s see this example done with the  MM1 measuring microphone from Beyerdynamic and a full-range speaker.

In this image, we can see how the direct signal and the reflected signal reach the microphone with a time difference. By means of the impulsive response, we can find out that the time difference is 1.67 ms, which is the 600 Hz period. Let’s see what happens in some frequencies when adding 1.67 ms of difference.

Δ∅ @ 300 Hz = 180 ° (cancellation)

Δ∅ @ 600 Hz = 360 ° (sum)

Δ∅ @ 900 Hz = 540 ° (cancellation)

Etc…

How can we decrease the comb filter in the reflection?

It is already clear that the comb filter is caused by the time difference between both signals, if we want to eliminate the comb filter we could:

In this image, we can see how we have managed to improve our measurement by just placing the microphone on the floor. These measurements are known as “Ground Plane”.

This measurement does not eliminate reflection, instead, we have come so close to the reflection that we can not see the time difference between it and the original signal.

These types of measurements are very helpful when we work in places with very reflective surfaces, allowing us to focus on what the speaker system is really doing. Of course, a person standing sure noticing the presence of the comb filter, but when the room is full of people the same coefficient of sound absorption of the spectators will prevent the reflection can cause comb filters.

Questions:

What does the phase indicate?

The advance or position of a sine wave expressed in degrees

The time difference between 2 speakers

The period of a signal

The polarity of a signal

What is the result of adding 2 tones with the same amplitude but a phase difference of 90°?

+ 3dB

+ 6dB

0dB

-3dB

What is the result of adding 2 tones with the same amplitude but a phase difference of 180 °?

0dB

-6dB

-100dB

You can not know

What is the comb filter?

It is the induction caused by not properly ¨combing the wires¨

It is the result of adding 2 signals correlated with a time difference

It is the result of adding 2 signals not correlated with a time difference

It is the result of adding 2 signals correlated with a reversal of polarity

What are the “Ground Plane” measurements?

In reducing the time difference between the direct signal and the reflected signal in a measurement.

It is about the measurement of the noise that the ants captured during the show.

Remove reflections from the measurement

Reduce the interference caused by the wind

Michael “Mija” Krieg Schreiber

After obtaining an Audio Technician degree in 2010, with a major in live audio, he took a series of courses related to the subject, such as the use of Smaart software, line arrays, the design of reinforcement systems sound, SIM3, processors of open architecture, among many others.

He has worked in various companies, productions, and clubs. He has done installations as an instructor, designer, technician and operator of sound systems, bringing together 9 years of experience to date. Among the companies, productions and venues with which he has worked are Audio Representations, Meyer Sound Mexico, Hi-tech Audio, Papal Mass in San Cristóbal de las Casas 2016, Corona Capital 2014, National Auditorium, Arena Mexico City, among others.

Nowadays he concentrates his career in educational activities offering different presentations and professional audio courses. Among the schools and organizations with which he has collaborated are: Avixa, AES Mexico, National Polytechnic Institute, Technological Institute and Superior Studies of Monterrey, UNITEC Technological University of Mexico, SAE INSTITUTE Mexico, EMEH School of Music of the State of Hidalgo, G Martell, Pro Audio Puebla, among others.

Editing Sound Girls into Wikipedia

This March I unofficially participated in Kickstarter’s Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon.  An edit-a-thon is an event where the attendees edit and update Wikipedia articles. Often these events have a specified purpose, and with Art+Feminism it was about women and the arts. While it generally happens in March, the Art+Feminism banner has hosted over 500 events almost every week across the globe since 2014. Events have occurred in places like the Ivory Coast, New Zealand, Uruguay, United States, and Germany.

Why is editing a Wikipedia article so important?

First of all, Wikipedia is the modern equivalent of an encyclopedia; it is the first stop in finding an answer. With over 5.6 million articles in the English language, it is one of the most comprehensive collections of knowledge available. Currently, there are very few female Wikipedia editors and a very small percentage of female-related articles. Art+Feminism is looking to change that by training new Wikipedia editors (it could be you or me or anyone). They are not the only ones either. Wikipedia has its own group of Wikiprojects dedicated to providing female-related articles.

Editing an Article

While I had not formally edited a Wikipedia article before, I was vaguely familiar with their style and guidelines, so I thought I would try my hand in becoming a Wikipedia editor and share my experiences with SoundGirls. I had some knowledge of formatting and citing in the Wikipedia style, but I also made sure to keep several tabs open of Wikipedia’s helpful tutorials.

Wikipedia requires strict standards in sources, citations, and sentence structure. There is a lot to keep in mind when writing an article, and so Wikipedia has tutorials and templates to copy from. Self-promotion is not permitted when creating an article. Therefore, sources cannot be a personal website or an IMDB page. Bias is also frowned upon, which means many controversial articles are locked from the fledgling editor.

Often new editors are guided to almost complete topics, ones that only need cleanup in citations or a couple of extra facts.  Many niche articles are plagued with improper citation and writing flags. From there, an editor can build up their chops before turning to a completely new article. Focusing on pre-existing articles also helps with the moderating backlog that is a constant problem for Wikipedia.

Creating an Article

Even knowing all of this, I still decided to create a completely new article.  I wrote about Karen Lam, a female film director, and producer, known for her horror short films and for promoting other women in film.  While I did meet her briefly, I have no professional association with her, and therefore I had no conflict of interest with which to color the tone of my article.  She had been interviewed several times in local and national magazines, and her films had won several awards. This meant that she was relevant and documented enough to have an article based off of her. I, the lowly blog writer, still early in my career, do not have the right credentials to have a Wikipedia article, and so it goes. As an added bonus, a film directed by Karen had its own article already and therefore referenced my subject. An article that is not referenced by anything else is an orphan, which often suggests the irrelevance of the topic.

Not including the time it took to research her, I was able to write my article and submit it for the first time during the Art+Feminism event, and within minutes I received my first error flag. I had cited IMDB for awards won by my subject, and so I updated the article, took out a few awards that were only listed on IMDB, and put a new award mentioned in a reputable press release. I did not hear back for a month an a half. My article was then finally approved.

Wikipedia Advice

Wikipedia was made to be edited by the public, and it can be another tool to grow the influence of women in media and to break the glass fader.

 

Grow Your Ears for Music

Imagine if, on the first day of school, your teacher had stood up and said “Look, we’re going to try this thing called reading. It isn’t for everyone. Some of you will just have an eye for words, and some of you won’t. If you find you don’t have the knack, you might as well just leave it.” I like to think that would be greeted with a bunch of toddlers falling over laughing, but you would expect that questions would be asked about the teacher’s career choice at the very least. It is absolutely ridiculous to think that the ability to read is predetermined and cut and dry, so why do we listen to people who say only those with an ear for music can become great sound engineers?

The jury is still out on whether there is such a thing as an innate, genetic talent for hearing and music. Even if there is, the thing about genes is they very, very rarely account for the whole spectrum of differences amongst the population. A gene might give you a head start, but the environment in which you grow up can influence the development of that skill as much, often more. Even for child prodigies, an initial flair gets nurtured (or perhaps smothered) by parental encouragement and hours upon hours of daily practice. It is much the same with sound engineering. Some people might take to it quicker than others, but everyone benefits from practice and study. A skill being hard-earned does not negate its value, otherwise, why would we bother going to school? When I started out I was in awe of what my more experienced colleagues could pick out in a mix, and how quickly they could not only detect but identify the cause of a problem. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do it. I’m still far from perfect, but there are plenty of sounds I don’t even think about how to fix now; I’ve heard them so many times I automatically know what to do. I’m still discovering new aspects of my favourite songs that I’ve listened to since I was a teenager. Fancier professional earphones can only partly explain that!

So where has this belief that only the golden-eared chosen few can make it in the music industry come from? I suspect it’s people who have been told all their lives that they have an ear for music. When people do well, they like to find logical reasons for that success. The special gifts that they are born with, combined with what they feel was hard work, mean they deserve everything they have earned. Of course, they often do, but too few people acknowledge the roles that the help of others and luck play in a field as fickle and competitive as ours. Similarly, if you don’t make it, it is easy to say that you simply weren’t cut out for it, that you didn’t have a good enough ear. Only successful people want to believe that they live in a meritocracy. In reality, it takes the support and advice of countless colleagues and a big chunk of luck, in addition to skill and determination, to get your break. However, this doesn’t mean you should give up now. You can work to improve your knowledge and skillset and grab as many opportunities as you can. Put yourself in the path of luck as often as possible and be ready when it hits.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m not one for baseless positive thinking. I don’t think we can all become astronauts, as long as we simply believe in ourselves: there aren’t enough shuttles, and someone has to do all the other less exciting jobs. However, someone does have to be an astronaut. Someone has to mix that fantastic up-and-coming band. Someone has to system engineer that stadium tour. Someone has to do all those myriad jobs that don’t get as much attention but can be just as satisfying (and often better paid!) like RF tech, comms tech, or installation engineer. Who gets to decide? Your school music teacher? That lighting guy? Some blogger? What do they know? Even if an ear for music is encoded in your chromosomes, are they suddenly geneticists? How did they get a sample of your DNA anyway? Don’t be put off by other engineers telling you that you don’t have what it takes either. However subconsciously, they are reassuring themselves that they deserve to be where they are and are trying to protect themselves from the competition.

In research on geniuses, one of the most important factors is their passion for their subject, known as the ‘rage to master.’ They study and practice so intensely not just because they’ve been made to, but because they want to because they must. They don’t feel right if they aren’t working on their “thing.” The author Hunter S. Thompson once wrote a brilliant letter when he had been asked for life advice, in which he advocates finding a lifestyle you enjoy and creating a career around it, rather than the other way round: “The goal is absolutely secondary: it is the functioning toward the goal which is important.” Let’s be honest, sound engineering is competitive, but you don’t need to be a genius. If sound is what you love, don’t wait for some authority to tell you that you have what it takes, to give you permission to do it. Decide now that you are one of those special people, and just do it. The Department of Who Does and Doesn’t Have an Ear for Music will never know. Maybe you won’t make a living out of it, but the only way to find out is to put yourself out there, learn, practice and improve. Even if you never get a gig bigger than the local bar, if no one hears your mixes, if no one subscribes to your podcasts, the important thing is that you enjoyed the process, and so the net positivity of the whole world is up.

 

Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!

It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org

June Feature Profile

The Road from Montreal to Louisville – Anne Gauthier

The Blogs

FOH Amanda Davis – Lifting Up Aspiring Engineers

Keeping it Real Section 3 – Mixing IEMS in 3D

Keeping it Real – Section 2

Keeping It Real

The Magic of Records

Miranda Hull Customer Care at Harman PRO

SoundGirls News

SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund

Shadowing Opportunity w/Guit Tech Claire Murphy

Shadowing Opportunity w/ FOH Engineer Kevin Madigan

Shadowing Opportunity w/ ME Aaron Foye

Letter for Trades and Manufacturers

https://soundgirls.org/scholarships-18/

Shadowing Opportunities

https://soundgirls.org/event/colorado-soundgirls-ice-cream-social/?instance_id=1313

SoundGirls Expo 2018 at Full Sail University

https://soundgirls.org/event/bay-area-soundgirls-smaart-overview/?instance_id=1316

https://soundgirls.org/event/bay-area-soundgirls-sept-meeting/?instance_id=1317

Round Up From the Internet

Interview with Kelly Kramarik on How to Get Started

 

 

 

2019 She Rocks Awards Nominations Now Open

 

SoundGirls Resources

Directory of Women in Professional Audio and Production

This directory provides a listing of women in disciplines industry-wide for networking and hiring. It’s free – add your name, upload your resume, and share with your colleagues across the industry.

Women-Owned Businesses

Member Benefits

Events

Sexual Harassment

https://soundgirls.org/about-us/soundgirls-chapters/

Jobs and Internships

Women in the Professional Audio

Catherine Vericolli – Owner, Operator, and Manager of Fivethirteen

Catherine Vericolli has been working in professional audio since 2003 and is the owner, operator, and manager of Fivethirteen a professional recording studio in Phoneix, Arizona. In her spare time, she teaches audio at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Tempe, AZ, co-edits Pink Noise Magazine and speaks on industry-related panels.

Catherine grew up on 80’s radio and MTV, discovering Metallica and Michael Jackson, while her mom listened to Fleetwood Mac on repeat, complimented by her dad listening to the Carpenters. She was a record collector at an early age and fascinated by how albums could sound so different from one another, especially those released by the same band. She also obsessed with liner notes, and how many people were involved in the creating the album. She also wondered about the recording process. “Records were my books. Much later as a student, I was hooked after a “wave characteristics and the properties of hearing” course. I was pretty much in head first from there.”

Catherine did not initially pursue audio engineering as a career but knew she wanted to work in music. Attempts to understand music theory and realizing she was only a mediocre drummer would lead her tour the campus of The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences. Her parents supported her choice to go into professional audio and says she learned that if she could explain “how a compressor works to my 86 year old Dad, I can explain it to anyone.”

The rest of Catherine’s education and training came from making “tons of mistakes and figure it out” training, which in my opinion is worth twice its weight in gold over any other educational environment. For me, this came with various internship situations and building a studio when I was 23. I’m still learning, and still making mistakes! Just maybe not as many.”

After graduating from The Conservatory, Catherine decided to stay in her hometown and create a comfortable, quality, and professional recording space for her friends and musicians in the local scene. On her way to working as engineer full-time and launching Five Thirteen, Catherine had several odd jobs, from “manual labor to coffee slinging early on while things were being built, etc. They were more placeholders than anything. I had a record store gig that I loved but inevitably spent my whole check on used records that came in, so- not great for my wallet but pretty nice for my collection. I dabbled a bit in live sound gigs when I was younger, but I always felt like I didn’t have the time I needed to get it right! I realized that working on my toes wasn’t nearly as comfy as sitting in a control room with time to tinker. Still to this day I look at live sound folks and am in awe. It isn’t easy. Nowadays I teach audio on the side. Most of the pro audio folks here in Phoenix do. Teaching is rewarding but can suck more out of me than a lot of records I work on. Again, another thing I’m in awe of- full-time teachers. That isn’t easy either.”

Fivethirteen is coming up on their 12 year anniversary and keeps Catherine busy. She is a jack of all trades, managing, engineering, operating all aspects of the studio. She has headed up all console installation and outboard wiring since the first console 2” machine. Catherine considers herself an analog purist and the studio has a nice selection of analog gear.

Catherine is an editor of Pink Noise Mag, (which is currently on hiatus) dedicated to increasing the diversity of voices speaking about record making and to fostering an intellectual tradition to accompany the practice of record making. Pink Noise grew out of the frustration with the persistent male-dominance and chauvinism in the recording scene. The publication has an unabashedly feminist slant.

What do you like best about your job?

Tough question, mostly because my answer is always changing. I think early on I enjoyed seeing a project through from start to finish- simple engineering. This was before I had a staff, or anyone to bounce ideas off of. Later on, I was super into room designing and tech work.

When we built our mixing suite add-on in 2006, most of my focus shifted to getting this right, and the engineering workload went mostly to the staff. I still really love this side of studio ownership. Being able to troubleshoot a problem on the fly successfully can be just as rewarding as anything else. Most of what I enjoy now lies more on the production side of things. I’ve never really been into computers in the control room, so I always try and grab the physical gear first- outboard, tape machines, etc. Now that I have the time to keep all of the analog stuff up to par, it’s easy to incorporate them into any existing project. These days I can pick and choose what projects to get into. I get to spend more time with my staff, bounce around ideas, and the most rewarding thing- I get to watch them grow. It’s great. I also have a lot more time to focus directly on the client. I probably enjoy this the most. The people side of things is really where the magic lies.

What do you like least?

Mixing. I’ve never been a fan, especially now that so much happens in the box. I love tracking. It’s really easy for me to keep things simple while capturing. When I’m mixing, I find myself wanting to click on all the things… like what does this crazy plugin do? Is it faster? Easier?? and that’s my “nope” moment. Most of the time I “track to mix,” so my mixes aren’t that much different than my final rough at the end of a tracking day. Clients sometimes ask: “Aren’t you going to use all the plugins?” …. No. No, I’m not. Most things that sound good, sound good from the start. At least that’s my experience. For me, simplicity is key.

What are your long-term goals?

I don’t have any specific things in mind, other than to be able to continue to support myself financially and to contribute positively to the industry. I travel a ton for various audio endeavors, and I really enjoy it. I’d like to do more of this long-term, and continue to learn from folks in the industry that I admire. There’s so much going on in pro audio that I don’t know anything about! For example, I have an awesome friend that does incredible restoration work, and I’d love to learn more about that.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I think anyone who chooses pro audio as a career faces obstacles or barriers. Personal, financial, social… the list goes on. It’s not a very forgiving industry. I think for me honestly, the biggest barrier I’ve faced is my location. Phoenix is a very tough market. Sort of a desert island if you can forgive the pun. We have a pretty measurable lack of community due to the fact that we’re such a young city, and all spread out over a giant geographical area. There is yet to be a “musicianship bar” set, meaning the amount of hours you have to put into your craft isn’t as many as you might have to in order to be successful in larger markets. This leads to a more uneducated clientele in general. Things like pre-production are rarely included in budgets. This leads to more unrealistic exceptions when it comes to time, quality, and cost. There’s a “fast” / “cheap” / “good” vin diagram out there somewhere….

How have you dealt with them?

The best way I’ve found to deal with the fore-mentioned obstacle, in particular, is to travel as much as possible. The more I get involved in things outside of my market, the more I learn. I always come back with more tools and ideas to better educate my clients, which always leads to better recordings.

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

My advice for women or young women who want to get into pro audio is the same advice I’d give to anyone: Be good to yourself. If you’re not comfortable in a situation for any reason, it’s ok to do the best thing for yourself. Meaning, there are lots of opportunities out there, and it’s ok to find the one that’s right for you. Find a facility, mentor, or gig that treats you the way you want to be treated. Otherwise, it’s not a fruitful learning environment.

Must have skills?

An unyielding willingness to learn, and the ability to greet failure as a gift, are KEY. Also never underestimate the importance of being kind. Whenever someone asks me what I think “the one thing” is to being successful in this industry, the very first thing that always comes to mind is don’t be an asshole. Crude, but so so true.

Do you have a few stories you can tell that have taught you valuable skills? Whether industry people skills or tech skills?

Years ago I was asked to be on a panel at a pretty well attended audio conference. It was my first one. I was super nervous about the whole idea and didn’t feel at all like I belonged there. Basically, the whole experience for me was pretty terrifying. I didn’t really know anyone, so it overall it was an uncomfortable atmosphere, not to mention I was the only woman on the panel. Afterwards, I got chatting with an established, Grammy-winning engineer who basically said. “Look, no one really knows what they’re doing. We’re all just trying to figure it out. We’re all just winging it. You’re doing great.” I was like whoa, seriously? It was a life-changing moment for me in my career. That engineer ended up becoming a wonderful friend, and I’m still very lucky to have him around to remind me that I’m doing alright. Another side note to this story is that much later I met a young female engineer who was doing a ton of bad ass amazing things. She started a killer publication dedicated to featuring women in audio and ended up opening a studio of her own. She gave a speech in PA that I was lucky to attend where she told a story about a life-changing moment that she had when she saw a woman on an audio panel. That woman was me, and it was that same panel. Pretty amazing when life-changing moments come full circle.

Do you ever feel pressure to be more technical or anything else than your male counterparts?

No. I never feel pressure to be anything more than I want for myself. I should add, that this is a learned position that doesn’t always come naturally. It comes from acceptance and experience, and it’s definitely not always a luxury.

Is there anything about paying your dues you wish you would have paid more attention to that came back to haunt you later in your career?

Totally. Not having a mentor is the first thing that comes to mind. I’m lucky now to have a whole handful of mentors that always offer great advice, but if I had made this a priority early on, I think I would have had a lot more confidence as a young engineer. I would probably have a lot more confidence now!

What are your favorite plugins or equipment?

None of my favorite things are plugins. I do however have a short list of things that make engineering very enjoyable for me. Coles ribbon mics, pretty much everything Rupert Neve Designs makes (top of that list is our 5088 console), and our Studer A80 1/2” deck.

 

FOH Amanda Davis – Lifting Up Aspiring Engineers

A HUGE thank you to super kind badass FOH Engineer Amanda Davis for lifting up other aspiring FOH engineers. She came through Vancouver to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on the Janelle Monáe

– Dirty Computer Tour.  She allowed for a small group of Vancouver SoundGirls to shadow the sound check and hosted phenomenal Q&A. Also, the group got a venue tour of the audio system. And as a bonus, Amanda hooked us up to watch the fantastic show.

FOH Engineer Amanda Davis did a great job mixing Janelle Monáe.  In addition to sharing sound, tour, and career tips, a huge take away from the day was the amplified message of the tour. Amplify love.

Some of the words from Janelle Monáe, “Thank you…. I am grateful for you being here…. for making me feel safe… Know that you are not alone…. Know that America and Canada, and other countries around the world have been allies…And we should continue. Continue to fight for love. Continue to fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Continue to fight for POC rights. Continue to fight for Women’s rights. This is worth fighting for… I am hopeful. Stay hopeful.”

SoundGirls Vancouver Field Trip to shadow FOH Engineer Amanda Davis at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre

 

FOH Amanda Davis – Mixing Tips:

When in doubt, groove to the mix and have a good time.

FOH Dance Moves to Improve Your Mix:

Memorize the lyrics to nail your FX throws for eight-note delays and quarter-note delays.

Wearing a show costume to mix in can instantly help your confidence and help get you in the mood for grooving.

The free RTA app is good enough to use. Don’t really have to go out and buy a SMARRT rig as a FOH tech. But really, just use your ears. Groove. Mix. And it will be a piece of cake.

Sometimes EQ’ing is like baking a cake. The ingredients on their own taste weird, like eating a stick of butter, but all the together they are delicious.

Waves TracksLive – FREE DOWNLOAD. For recording your mix every night, then do a virtual sound check next the day to save time for your artist.  Line-check. Virtual Sound Check. Artist Sound Check.

Laugh and smile. Have a good time.

FOH Engineer Amanda Davis

Before the Field Trip, we had organized a Digico Demo Day to get some hands-on training in preparation for the day.

Shawn Hines of GERR Audio teaching us how to use the Digico.

 

SoundGirls Vancouver Chapter would like to send out a HUGE Thank You to kind to the generous sound folks of Gearforce Pro Audio Specialist and Shawn Hines of GERR Audio. Shawn Hines brought in a Digico SD 12 for us and gave us a thorough demo of the features. He also setup a Virtual Sound Check for us all to practice mixing.  Gearforce folks generously opened up their shop and show us some tricks on the Digico SD 10 and SD8 as well.

THANK YOU!

FOH Amanda Davis and Janelle Monáe Dirty Computer Tour Crew

Shawn Hines of GERR Audio

Gearforce Pro Audio Specialist

By Alexis Douglas – Co-Chapter Head of SoundGirls Vancouver. She’s been practicing her craft in the music industry for about 12 years ranging from sound in studios to stages. When not playing with sound toys, she can be found playing her many instruments. Her favourite being her cello. Otherwise she can be found appreciating other people’s mixes on the dance floor.

 

Keeping it Real Section 3 – Mixing IEMS in 3D

Section 1

Section 2

Until now, the physical constraints of IEMs – sound being delivered direct to our eardrums – has given us no way to experience the nuances of sound localisation. The fact that our moulds are in the ear means that we miss out on the out-of-body arrival of sounds and the information we glean from the travel of those sound waves around our heads and bodies.

Until now.

I recently had the pleasure of road-testing a stunning 3D in-ear monitoring system from German company Klang. My experience has convinced me that this is the next great leap forward for in-ears, almost as much of a game-changer as the 1990s introduction of IEMs in the first place, or the evolution from analogue to digital desks.

Think of a standard, high-quality stereo in-ear mix. You perceive the mix elements panned in varying degrees from dead centre all the way out to the peripheries of your ears. Maybe you’ve created some sense of depth with the different levels and EQ of those elements, maybe some atmosphere with reverbs, but that’s about as much as you can do.

Now imagine that you could take your ear moulds out and hear all of those elements placed around you acoustically in three dimensions. The relative volumes are the same, but all of a sudden there’s a sense of space and freedom as you liberate yourself from cramming all of those mix elements into the limited confines of the space between your ears. The detail in the sound of each instrument suddenly becomes a high-definition experience as inputs in similar frequency ranges no longer battle for space; some sounds feel as though they’re high in the air; others close to the ground; some are behind you; whilst others are at distances far beyond your arm’s reach.

That’s what it feels like to switch from a stereo mix to Klang 3D.

(Incidentally, going back the other way feels a bit like flying business and then returning to economy. Honestly, these guys have ruined stereo for me for life!)

Klang has used vast amounts of binaural hearing data to emulate what happens at a listener’s ear when the source is coming from outside the body. This data, gathered in lengthy experiments involving dummy heads with tiny microphones placed at the entrance to the ear to ‘hear’ sounds from different places, has enabled them to create an incredibly realistic 3D experience for in-ear monitoring. It is like virtual reality for the ears, but it’s more than that – it’s an ideal-world natural stage sound.

The Klang model combines all that we know about the nature of sound localisation – inter-aural time differences, inter-aural level differences, comb-filtering – with the subtle changes that we experience in frequency perception according to a sound’s location, to allow the monitor engineer to ‘place’ different inputs in various areas around the listener’s head in a 3D spectrum. The incredibly user-friendly interface depicts (on a laptop or more easily still, the touch-screen of an iPad) two different views of the listener’s environment: a bird’s eye view of the top of the head, where instruments appear to be on a virtual ring around your head, allowing you to place them not only to the left and the right but also in front and behind your head; and a landscape view which allows you to move them vertically – above and below your head.As you move inputs around using the touch screen, you feel as though they are indeed coming from a different three-dimensional location, due to the way the Klang unit subtly alters the sound using binaural hearing data.

So with all this newfound space, you can now place instruments wherever you like. While it seems obvious at first to place instruments on the orbit where you actually see them on stage, this is only one possible placement method.

Our brains determine the importance of a sound according to where it is coming from. Right in front of you, and elevated slightly higher than your own head, is perceived as of paramount importance, so it makes sense to put the listener’s own instrument and/or vocal here. Interestingly, I found that a critical sound positioned here didn’t require as much volume as the same sound centre-panned in a stereo mix – making it great news for anyone who requires some elements very loud, such as a drummer and their click.

We perceive sounds from slightly behind us with a wide left/right span as being less important, but still worth paying attention to; so for a singer I found this a good place to put keys and synth sounds, as well as a stereo electric guitar. Strings worked really well placed high and wide for an airy, slightly ethereal feel; and bass and kick felt good placed lower and directly behind me. Pitching information signals such as backing vocals and piano seemed most natural and effective placed evenly panned to the front, but narrower and lower than the strings.

The Klang Fabrik takes up to 56 inputs, and it was interesting to note that I could be even more flexible with my mixing by leaving some inputs (such as talk mics, which call for no special artistic treatment) out of the Klang domain. I simply brought the Klang outputs back into my console where I subbed them into an aux buss, to which I then added the talk mics and anything I didn’t need in the 3D arena. This retained all of the fantastic space and detail of the 3D mix, whilst allowing total freedom in the number of utility inputs.

The Klang app is free to download and comes with a demo track – all you have to do is plug your in-ears or headphones in and you can move the track inputs around and experience 3D sound for yourself. I highly recommend starting by listening in stereo (the app gives you the choice) and then switching to 3D for an A/B test – the difference really is astounding, akin to throwing open the shutters in a dark room!

I’m extremely excited to be taking a Klang system out on my next tour, and I know that the artist and band are going to be delighted by the whole new in-ear experience that this offers. The detail, space and musicality that it offers, make for a truly transformative mix. The only drawback is that they, too, will find themselves ruined for stereo for life!

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