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Girl Boss

To be a woman in our industry it takes a lot. A lot of power, energy, skill, leadership, determination, drive, patience, compassion, emotion, and strength.  I was recently given a card that I feel sums up the entire kind of woman it takes to stand tall through all the experiences we encounter in this career and in our daily lives.  The card said:

~ Girl Boss ~

A woman in control, taking charge of her own circumstances in work & life. Someone who knows her worth and won’t accept anything less. She is not a “mean girl” in fact, she hates “mean girls.” She is empowering and inspiring those around her.

A girlboss knows that if you don’t have big dreams and goals, that you’ll end up working really hard for someone who does.

This speaks volumes to me. It is so true! It doesn’t focus on the differences that we are often compared with by society such a girly, sporty, glam, or butch. Those names are set aside and we’re allowed to be our individual selves and no matter if we like makeup or not, tight clothes or not, dresses and heels, or t-shirts and converse; we go after our goals, reach for the stars, and breakdown walls that do not belong.  We are Girl Bosses. This statement shuts down the stereotypes and lets us be accepting and empowering of all. It sets aside the Hollywood idea of the mean girl that puts others down in exchange for empowerment and support. It lets us be who we want and need to be to excel, find our happiness, and meet our goals.

Be this woman, make friends with this woman, support this woman. Be the Girl Boss and build other Girl Bosses around you because Girl Bosses are awesome and we need more of them just like you!

Find the card here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/526187802/girl-boss-card-boss-babe-boss-lady?ga_search_query=girl%2Bboss&ref=shop_items_search_4&crt=1

 

Women in Audio Engineering

During the first week of November, my alma mater, the DePaul University School of Music, held an 11-day music festival with numerous masterclasses, panel discussions, and concerts to commemorate the unveiling of its new Holtschneider Performance Center.  I was asked to take part in the panel discussion sponsored by the Sound Recording Technology department titled Women in Audio Engineering. The panel sought to bring to light the fact that although women are a minority in music production and audio engineering (according to Women’s Audio Mission, women make up five percent of all audio professions), there are many notable women contributing in these fields. In addition to highlighting the professional hurdles and triumphs faced by the all-female panel, the moderator, Tom Miller, Director of Sound Recording Technology at DePaul, also posed several important questions regarding how we, as an audio community, can strive to achieve parity in the future.

Highlighting a Few Amazing Women

Although women from every generation continue to forge ahead in our field, the hard reality of being only five percent of the industry means that women rarely have the privilege of meeting one another.  My hope with this post is that the accomplishments of the women I recently met at this panel can inspire and invigorate fellow female (as well as male and non-binary!) audio professionals from afar.

The women listed below are not affiliated with Boom Box Post or the opinions expressed in this blog post. The following bios were supplied to DePaul University by the panelists themselves:

Christine Schyvinck

Chris Schyvinck is Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer at Shure Incorporated, the world’s leading manufacturer of microphones and audio electronics. As the highest-ranking officer at the Company, she is one of a few women to hold an executive position in the pro audio industry. Her leadership has been integral to the steady growth and profitability of Shure.

During her tenure, Chris has led critical initiatives for the Company, including reducing material costs without sacrificing product quality, dramatically improving on-time delivery, and globalizing manufacturing operations. She joined Shure in 1989 as Quality Control Engineer. After several promotions, she moved into Process Engineering, becoming manager in 1997. In 1998, she was made Vice President of Corporate Quality.

Two years later, Chris was named Vice President of Operations, responsible for Corporate Quality, Procurement, Supply Chain, and the Company’s manufacturing facilities in Mexico and China. She was promoted to Executive Vice President in 2004 and directed the opening of Shure’s first manufacturing facility in China one year later.

In 2006, Chris was tapped to head the Global Marketing and Sales Division, assuming management of the Company’s Business Units in the Americas, Europe, Middle East/Africa, and Asia/Pacific regions as well as the strategic integration, marketing, sales, artist and public relations, technical support, and customer service functions. Sales increased by more than 78 percent during her ten-year period as Executive Vice President of GMS.

In 2015, she was designated Chief Operating Officer, and, in 2016, was appointed Shure President and CEO, becoming only the fourth such officer in the Company’s 90-year history.

Currently, Chris leads the Company’s eight divisions: Administration, Finance, Global Legal Services, Global Marketing and Sales, Human Resources, Information Technology, Operations, and Product Development.

She has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is the former Chairman of the Industrial Advisory Board for the School of Mechanical Engineering at UW-Madison. Chris recognized Shure as the perfect blend of her two passions (music and engineering) and rejected employment offers from larger manufacturers. While working at Shure, she completed her Master’s degree in Engineering Management from the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University and is currently seated on the Board of Industrial Advisors for that program.

Mary Mazurek

Mary Mazurek is an audio engineer, interdisciplinary artist, educator, and PhD candidate. Her audio broadcasts and recordings are regularly heard on WFMT, Chicago. She has worked with: the European Broadcast Union, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Steward Copland of the Police, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to name a few. She is a practicing media artist whose works have been exhibited in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe. She is also a sought-after educator and is currently writing her Ph.D. dissertation, which concerns developing an epistemology of noise in music and art.

You may also read more about Mary’s journey in this adaptation of a speech she gave on September 12, 2018 at the Recording Academy Task Force On Diversity and Inclusion at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

Marina Killion

Marina Killion is an accomplished audio engineer based in Chicago. She is currently the Senior Audio Engineer at Optimus, where she has worked since 2009. She does everything from sound design, dialog editing, Foley, ADR, to final mix. Marina has a background in classical music performance, and studied Sound Recording Technology at DePaul University. She has worked on many notable campaigns such as Chicago Blackhawks, UPS, Reebok, Always, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Invesco, and Olive Garden. She is currently mixing her third feature length independent film, and has previously mixed three documentaries, two web series, a television pilot, and many short films in addition to her commercial projects. Her work has been shown at the Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago Comedy Festival, Midwest Independent Film Festival, and many more. She also won a Silver Addy Award in 2014 for her work with the Eastern Board of Cherokee Indians.

Kate Finan

You all know me!  But, if you don’t, feel free to check out my bio here on our website.

Starting the Conversation

Because I found the panel’s questions to be incredibly thought-provoking, I wanted to share them with all of you so that you might think about your own answers and possibly engage with your peers on this important topic:

What can we do to attract women to the audio profession?

How can we support women in our industry?

What can we do to break down the “good old boy” perception of recording?

Resources

Finally, I am supplying a list of my favorite resources for women in the audio industry or for those who would like to support their female or non-binary peers.  Most of my suggestions are geared toward women in STEM, post-production, or animation since those are the areas in which I work. So please feel free to comment with any of your own suggestions for other areas of the audio industry.  Here they are in no particular order.

And don’t forget to join your professional organizations so that your voice can be heard at the highest levels of our industry!

 

Inspire the Next Generation

Why is it so weird for men to see women working in technical jobs in entertainment? Perhaps it’s the same weirdness as seeing a woman as a plumber or construction worker. Plain ol’ sexism. Beckie Campbell, owner of B4 Media Productions and Orlando Chapter head of SoundGirls, recently returned to Central Florida after being out on tour. We caught up at a local SG Social. Beckie observed that only 1 in 19 venues she visited had a woman in a position of power. Most venues had women working as techs in various positions, which she felt was becoming the norm. What is stopping women from taking the next step into a leadership position?

Women in entertainment have made some amazing headway, Audio Engineering Society announced Nadja Wallaszkovits as their President last year and Christine Schyvinck has been the CEO for Shure since 2016. The accomplishments of these women were based on dedication to their careers and support from their peers. Without that support, many women fall flat when trying to advance.

According to a study of Women On Screen and Behind the Scenes in Television conducted by Dr. Martha Lauzen, “Overall, women accounted for 31% of individuals working in key behind-the- scenes positions. This represents a recent historic high, besting the previous high of 28% set in 2016-17.” The numbers for women working in audio-related positions on the top 250 grossing films of last year were far lower.

 

In other “non-traditional” professions, women still represent a larger portion of the workforce than in entertainment. Forty-five percent of all union members are women, according to the Teamsters Union (2016). Women as construction workers rank only 9.1% (Connley, 2019), and women as truck drivers come in at 6.2% (2018). Schillivia Baptiste emphasizes a strong point, similar to Christine Schyvinck’s keynote presentation at last year’s AVIXA Women’s Council Networking Breakfast.

“I think there is not enough introduction at the elementary and middle school grade age of what young girls can be,” says Baptiste, who links the industry’s scant female workforce to a lack of early exposure. “I think it starts there, and before you get to high school you’re choosing a high school that has something you want to study and then by the time you get to college you’re able to make a decision and say, ‘OK, this is what I want to do ’” (Connley, 2019).

Clearly it starts young. Girls are dressed in pink and boys in blue, and we give our children a predetermined place in life. Most of the women that I’ve met in audio and tech positions across the world have felt they existed outside the expectation that women should be homemakers and nurses, occupations that society accepts as female-appropriate. Empower your daughters, sisters, and nieces so they can have opportunities to learn and research whatever excites them.

Here are some great places to start educated the young women in your lives:

SoundGirls

SoundGirls Women in the Music Industry

Girls in STEM 2020 – NASA

National Girls Collaborative Project 

Girls Rock Camp Alliance

Women In Film Scholarship

References

Connley, Courtney. (2019, January 29). Just 9.1% of America’s construction workers are women—here’s what it’s like to be one of them. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/28/heres-what-its-like-to-be-a-woman-construction-worker.html.

Connley, Courtney. (2018, June 18). Just 6 percent of America’s truck drivers are women—here’s what it’s like. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/13/heres-what-its-like-to-be-a-woman-truck-driver.html.

Dr Lauzen, Martha. (2019, September). Boxed In 2018-19: Women On Screen and Behind the Scenes in Television. Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film, San Diego State University.

Women In Unions, By The Numbers. (2016, March 29). Teamsters Union. Retrieved from https://teamster.org/news/2016/03/women-unions-numbers

 

 

Mix With the Masters Scholarships Marcella Araica and Producer Danja

SoundGirls Members have the chance to receive a 1000€ (euro) scholarship provided to SoundGirls members from Mix With The Masters. There are three scholarships available for the week-long session with award-winning engineer Marcella Araica & Producer Danja.

This is a week-long seminar valued 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.

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

Session Dates: March 24 -30, 2020

Apply for the scholarships here

Deadline to apply is March 6, 2020

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 a 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

     Marcella “Ms. Lago” Araica, has swiftly burgeoned into a towering beacon of talent as one of the music industry’s hottest, most prolific sound engineers. Credited for mixing over one hundred chart-topping tunes, Marcella has had the opportunity of working with world-renowned musical icons such as Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Madonna, Nelly Furtado, Usher, Joe Jonas, and Missy Elliot, along with super producers Timbaland, Danja, and Polow Da Don. In just a few short years, this musical mastermind has already accomplished what most strive to achieve in a lifetime.

    Nate “Danja” Hills is one of the most sought after writers and producers in pop music today and is a two-time Grammy Award winner, four-time Grammy nominee and SESAC “Songwriter of the Year” in 2007, 2008 and 2010. Danja boasts a catalog that features twelve #1 Billboard Singles including “SexyBack,” “My Love,” “Lovestoned” and “What Goes Around Comes Around” by Justin Timberlake, “Promiscuous” and “Say It Right” by Nelly Furtado, “Give It to Me” and “The Way I Are” by Timbaland, “Gimme More” by Britney Spears, “4 Minutes” by Madonna, “Sober” by Pink and “Knock You Down” by Keri Hilson. In addition, Danja has written and produced songs for a who’s who of popular music including, among others, 50 Cent, Bjork, Ciara, Diddy, DJ Khaled, Duran Duran, Jennifer Lopez, Jo Jo, Katherine McPhee, Mariah Carey, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, T.I., T-Pain and Usher

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 wanting 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 for 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 tutor 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

 

 

SUGERENCIAS PARA MANEJAR EL ESTRÉS EN EL TRABAJO

 

El ambiente en donde nos encontramos es fundamental para tener una buena calidad de vida además de un buen desempeño laboral, pero hay un tema importante que no tomamos mucho en cuenta, cómo podemos laborar en un medio relajado cuando nuestro trabajo tiene como principio factores que físicamente nos desgastan?

La falta de sueño, mala alimentación, cambios de horarios frecuentes y principalmente el estrés son pieza fundamental para potencializar el cansancio mental y físico de cualquier ser humano, es por eso por lo que les compartiré algunos ejercicios para contrarrestar nuestro desempeño.

El  ESTRÉS, un problema por desgracia muy frecuente en la sociedad actual y puede acabar ocasionando graves problemas de salud.

Lo primero, es definir ¿qué es el estrés? Las personas tenemos un sistema de alerta que se pone en marcha ante las situaciones de estrés y que puede provocar distintas reacciones psíquicas y físicas como el aumento del estado de alerta, del tono muscular o de la frecuencia cardiaca y respiratoria. Este mecanismo de alerta tiene una finalidad adaptativa sin la cual no habríamos podido sobrevivir en nuestros inicios evolutivos y que nos hace responder de forma adecuada ante determinados cambios o situaciones de peligro.  Pero cuando esta reacción se prolonga en el tiempo se convierte en un problema porque genera un estado de alerta constante que acaba siendo perjudicial para nuestra salud física y mental.

Cuáles son las situaciones que nos producen estrés?

Cualquier tipo de cambio, tanto negativo como positivo, puede causar estrés. Algunos ejemplos pueden ser, situaciones tan diversas como enfermedades propias o de personas que nos rodean, problemas económicos, el nacimiento o los cuidados de un hijo, tener que estudiar o hacer exámenes y pérdidas de un ser querido; Enfocándonos directamente en el ritmo de trabajo que tenemos dentro de la industria del espectáculo, nos enfrentamos directamente con situaciones altamente estresantes como, cambios de horarios, viajes constantes, trabajar bajo presión, estar lejos de la familia y amigos, entre muchos otros. Pero los mismos cambios no afectan de igual forma a las personas. Hay determinadas situaciones que cada individuo las vive con mucho estrés mientras que a otros apenas les afectan.

Qué tengo que hacer para aprender a manejar el estrés?

Hay que aprender a identificar las señales que nos avisan de un posible exceso de estrés. Estas señales pueden ser de tipo emocional: cansancio, tristeza, mal humor, ira, agresividad, ansiedad,  inquietud, nerviosismo, pesimismo o conflictos en las relaciones con otras personas. Además pueden existir señales físicas de estrés: sudor, palpitaciones, contracturas musculares, dolor o ardor de estómago, dolor de cabeza, cuello o espalda e insomnio. Si nos encontramos con alguna de estas estas señales, debemos reconocer sus posibles desencadenantes e intentar controlarlas antes de enfermar. Esto dicho así parece muy fácil, pero no lo es. Tienes que realizar algunos cambios en nuestros hábitos y formas de pensar, así como aprender recursos y habilidades para enfrentaros a estas causas. Si lo consigues, el esfuerzo merecerá la pena:

Enfréntate a los problemas y no mires para otro lado.

Analiza los problemas con calma, intenta resolverlos y acepta si no los puedes cambiar. Ten una actitud positiva y déjate ayudar por los demás. En vez de preocuparte, deberías ocuparte. Intenta ver los cambios  como un reto, no como  una amenaza. Confía más en  la gente. Comparte tus emociones con los demás. No te aísles. Es muy útil hablar con personas que han pasado por situaciones parecidas. Relativiza y recupera el  sentido del humor.

Aprende a decir NO

Es muy importante marcar tus límites. No siempre tienes por qué cumplir con las expectativas y deseos de los demás.

Disfruta cada día y cuídate. Reserva un tiempo para realizar alguna actividad que te guste (leer, ver series o películas, ir al cine o al teatro, escuchar música, salir con tus amigos, ir al campo, ver exposiciones, viajar, pintar…) y hazlo sin prisas.

Haz ejercicio de manera regular.  Es la forma más saludable de  aliviar la energía y la tensión acumulada. Come y bebe con moderación. Puede parecer que el alcohol y el abuso en las comidas reducen el estrés, pero en realidad lo aumentan.

Haz descansos en el trabajo.

Evita el exceso de estimulantes (como cafeína, alcohol, etc.) y deja de fumar (la nicotina es otro estimulante más y provoca también síntomas de estrés).

Les comparto algunas sugerencias y ejercicios para tranquilizar nuestra mente y cuerpo que en lo personal me han ayudado a sobrellevar momentos de tensión, giras y largas jornadas de trabajo con muy buenos resultados.

El ejercicio y estiramientos funcionan increíblemente para quitar molestias por estar mucho tiempo de pie o en una misma posición, dolores de espalda, dolor de cabeza y cuello.

Les comparto ejercicios básicos y muy simples que pueden hacer en cualquier momento y lugar. Si tienen alguna lesión mas severa no duden en acudir a un médico.

Cuiden su cuerpo y su mente en todo momento.

Ejercicio para relajar y estirar espalda y cuello

Ejercicio para relajar espalda baja, cadera y piernas.

Presiona 4 a 5 segundos cuando sientas dolor de cabeza. Sentirás molestia, respira profundamente mientras presionas los puntos y muy pronto comenzará     el alivio.

Carolina Antón

Es una líder internacionalmente reconocida en el campo de mezcla en sonido en vivo, diseño de sistemas y optimización de refuerzos sonoros. Por más de 15 años, Carolina ha establecido una trayectoria dentro de su carrera, colaborando con artistas y producciones distinguidos.

Carolina C. Antón nació en México, graduada de la universidad Urasenke Gakuen Professional Chado College, Midorikai 浦千家ガ食えんみどり会 (Arte y cultura japonesa) Kioto, Japón. Su primer acercamiento a la música fue como baterista realizando estudios en la universidad de Berklee College of Music. Poco tiempo después de regresar a la Ciudad de México, comenzó a trabajar dentro de empresas de audio profesional, siendo una de las pocas mujeres en México que realizaban trabajos técnicos y de mezcla de sonido.

Con más de 20 tours a nivel nacional e internacional Carolina ha participado como parte de la producción de varios festivales como: KnotFest, PalNorte, Presidente (República Dominicana), Electric Forest (USA).

Actualmente trabaja como freelance para empresas como: 2handsProductions, Eighth Day Sound, Britannia Row Productions, entre otras.

Ha mezclado para artistas como Kool & The Gang, Gloria Gaynor, Natalia Lafourcade, Mon Laferte, Leon Larregui, entre los más importantes.

Además, Carolina es co-fundadora de la empresa 3BH con quien desarrolla proyectos de integración para el área audiovisual en LATAM.

Después de una sobresaliente carrera profesional, en el 2016 Carolina comenzó a representar la organización Soundgirls.org en México con el objetivo de apoyar a las mujeres dentro del medio del espectáculo.

 

SUGGESTIONS FOR MANAGING STRESS AT WORK

The environment where we are is essential to have a good quality of life in addition to good work performance, but there is an important issue that we do not take into account, how can we work in a relaxed environment when our work does physically wear us out?

Lack of sleep, poor diet, frequent schedule changes, and mainly stress are fundamental pieces to potentiate the mental and physical fatigue of any human being, which is why I will share some exercises to help counteract mental and physical fatigue.

STRESS, a problem unfortunately very common in today’s society and can end up causing serious health problems.

The first thing is to define what is stress? People have an alert system that starts up in situations of stress and can cause different psychic and physical reactions such as increased alertness, muscle tone or heart and respiratory rate. This alert mechanism has an adaptive purpose without which we would not have been able to survive in our evolutionary beginnings and that makes us respond adequately to certain changes or situations of danger. But when this reaction continues over time it becomes a problem because it generates a constant state of alert that ends up being detrimental to our physical and mental health.

What are the situations that cause us stress?

Any type of change, both negative and positive, can cause stress. Some examples may be, situations as diverse as illnesses of our own or those around us, economic problems, the birth or care of a child, having to study or take tests and losses of a loved one; Focusing directly on the pace of work that we have in the entertainment industry, we are faced with highly stressful situations such as schedule changes, constant trips, working under pressure, being away from family and friends, among many others. But the same changes do not affect people equally.

What do I have to do to learn to manage stress?

We must learn to identify the signs that warn us of a possible excess of stress. These signs can be emotional: tiredness, sadness, bad mood, anger, aggressiveness, anxiety, restlessness, nervousness, pessimism or conflicts in relationships with other people. There may also be physical signs of stress: sweat, palpitations, muscle contractures, pain or heartburn, headache, neck or back, and insomnia. If we encounter any of these signals, we must recognize their possible triggers and try to control them before becoming ill. That said it seems very easy, but it is not. You have to make some changes in your habits and ways of thinking, as well as learn the resources and skills to deal with these causes. If you succeed, the effort will be worth it:

Face the problems and don’t look the other way.

Analyze the problems calmly, try to solve them and accept that you cannot change them. Have a positive attitude and let yourself be helped by others. Instead of worrying, you should take care of them. Try to see the changes as a challenge, not as a threat. Trust more people. Share your emotions with others. Do not isolate yourself. It is very useful to talk with people who have gone through similar situations. Relativize and recover the sense of humor.

Learn to say NO

It is very important to mark your limits. You don’t always have to meet the expectations and wishes of others.

Enjoy every day and take care of yourself. Reserve a time to do some activity that you like (read, watch series or movies, go to the cinema or the theater, listen to music, go out with your friends, go to the countryside, see exhibitions, travel, paint …) and do it without hurry.

Exercise regularly. It is the healthiest way to relieve energy and accumulated tension. Eat and drink in moderation. It may seem that alcohol and food abuse reduce stress, but they actually increase it.

Take breaks at work.

Avoid excess stimulants (such as caffeine, alcohol, etc.) and stop smoking (nicotine is another stimulant and also causes symptoms of stress).

I share some suggestions and exercises to reassure our mind and body that have personally helped me cope with moments of tension, tours and long working hours with very good results.

– Listen to music that reassures you, in my case, I always carry recordings of Bowls that I usually listen to on flights and long journeys.

– The aromas are also great alloys to achieve relaxation along with deep breaths. Currently, you can get vaporizers where you can place natural oils I highly recommend them.

The exercise and stretching work incredibly to remove discomfort from being long-standing or in the same position, backaches, headache, and neck.

I share basic and very simple exercises that you can do anytime, anywhere. If you have a more severe injury, do not hesitate to see a doctor.

Take care of your body and your mind at all times.

Exercise to relax and stretch back and neck

Exercise to relax the lower back, hip, and legs.

Press 4 to 5 seconds when you feel a headache. You will feel discomfort; breathe deeply while pressing the points and the relief will begin very soon.

Carolina Anton is an internationally recognized leader in the field of live sound mixing, system design, and sound reinforcement optimization. For more than 15 years, Carolina has established a career path, collaborating with distinguished artists and productions.

Carolina’s first approach to music was as a drummer studying at the University of Berklee College of Music. Shortly after returning to Mexico City, she began working within professional audio companies, being one of the few women in Mexico who performed technical and sound mixing work.

With more than 20 national and international tours Carolina has participated as part of the production of several festivals such as KnotFest, PalNorte, President (Dominican Republic), Electric Forest (USA). She currently works as a freelancer for companies such as 2handsProductions, Eighth Day Sound, Britannia Row Productions, among others. She has mixed for artists such as Kool & The Gang, Gloria Gaynor, Natalia Lafourcade, Mon Laferte, Leon Larregui, among the most important.

In addition, Carolina is co-founder of the 3BH company with whom she develops integration projects for the audiovisual area in LATAM. After an outstanding professional career, in 2016 Carolina began representing the Soundgirls.org organization in Mexico with the aim of supporting women in the middle of the show.

 

SoundGirls Tour of Manley Labs

Eveanna Manley is opening her doors to SoundGirls.

Come Tour Manley Labs

The large warehouse is the main headquarters for Manley  Labs. This is where everything happens, including operations, manufacturing, and even some design work. EveAnna will give us a tour, share fun facts, stories, and insight into producing tube-based gear. Manley broke away from its originating company Vacuum Tube Logic (VTL) and formally settled in its Chino location in 1993. Now sales cater to the world stage (and studios) as well as a good chunk of tube tech-oriented at the analog-loving audiophile market.

Review of Pink Noises: Women on Electronic Music and Sound

Recently there has been some press about how articles about female scientists are frequently deleted from Wikipedia, especially when compared to their male counterparts.  As a casual Wikipedia editor, my initial reaction was anger and betrayal. There had to be something I could do about it. One of the underlying reasons behind articles disappearing resides in Wikipedia’s strict resource guidelines.  Personal websites and aggregate websites are not accepted, and print media is preferred. Setting aside the fact that the male-dominated editor community enforces these guidelines with bias (that solution involves more women editors, which I have addressed in previous articles), there are rippling consequences for lack of representation.  Then what is our solution? Write about women and gender-fluid folk. Interview them. Write reviews of their work You are seeing that solution in action, here, at SoundGirls.

Dr. Tara Rodgers is also part of that solution with both Pinknoises.com and Pink Noises: Women on Electronic Music and Sound.  I do not know exactly how this text came across my radar, possibly from stumping Amazon’s suggestion algorithm, but it called to me and my bottomless appetite for reading.  Pinknoises.com, when it was active in the early 2000’s, was a collection of interviews curated by Rodgers focusing on women in electronic music. The book is formatted similarly and is a highlight reel of the website.  It received the Pauline Alderman Book Award from the International Alliance for Women in Music in 2011.

“Pink noise” is a double entendre of sorts: referring to the association of pink and femininity paired with noise as a jarring a-musical sound, and pink noise as a broadband collection of frequencies with equal energy per octave.  Each artist Rodgers interviews is an iconoclast in her own right, noise to the established system, and each has their own musical philosophy. While Rodgers does devote at least one question per interview to address the lack of diversity in electronic music, not one interview is stuck on that issue. In fact, several of the artists bristle at the question, angered by its apparent necessity and inclusion.  The honesty is refreshing. These are artists who just happen to be women. Their work is what defines them, not their gender.

Before opening Pink Noises, I had not heard of any of the artists interviewed, but I recognized some of their male contemporaries.  Their accomplishments are too numerous, too awe-inspiring to be kept a secret. This book needed to be published.  From their hand’s synths were invented, software developed, movements revolutionized. And the interviews focus on the why and how.  “What drew you to music?” “How does a piece get realized?”

Rodgers guides the interviews with an anthropological lens. Although this book was published in 2010, the answers are timeless and not based on one software or operating system.  A reader from 2020 or even 2050 has something to gain here. What also gives Pink Noises depth is the diversity of artists picked for the collection.  From Pauline Oliveros to Riz Maslen (aka Neotropic), they traverse the history of electronic music as well as the breadth of its expressions.  They are from all over the world, there are both artists and engineers, and the work ranges from museum installations to nightclub sets. Rodgers bucks elitism and gatekeeping to archive what should never have been ignored in the first place.

Let this book inspire you to create your own masterpiece, but not just that.  Let it inspire you to collaborate, to write, to share. Be inspired to update “normal” to include the diversity we know is there.  Help others to make their works heard and seen, help them get recognition. We can and will cross the threshold of notability. This starts with us

 

How to Push your Sound Design to the Max

While Not Stepping on your Mixer’s Toes

We get a lot of questions about how much you should do in your sound design pass versus how much to leave to your mixer. So, although I’ve written a few posts on this topic (such as Whose Job Is It: When Plugin Effects Sound Design vs Mix Choices and Five Things I’ve Learned about Editing from Mixing), I thought it was time for another brush-up.

As some of you may know, I’m a long-time sound designer and supervising sound editor, but I just started mixing a few years ago. While attending mixes as a supervisor definitely gave me a window into best practices for sound design success (aka how to make sure your work actually gets played…audibly), I got a whole new vantage point for what to do (and not do) once I started having to dig through sound design sessions myself! So, while I am a fledgling mixer and you should always speak directly to the mixer working on your project before making decisions or altering your workflow, I feel that I am qualified to share my personal preferences and experiences. Take this as the starting point for a conversation—a window into one mixer’s mind, and hopefully, it will spark great communication with your own mixer.

Below, I’m sharing a few key concepts that there seems to be confusion surrounding in the “who does what” debate. I’ve personally come across these questions or situations, and I’m hoping to spare you the headache of doing any work over due to a lack of communication. Here they are!

EQ

What Not to Do

I was recently the supervisor and mixer on an episode that was almost entirely underwater. My sound effects editor EQ’ed every single water movement, splash, drip, etc. that occurred underwater with a very aggressive low-pass filter. While this made total sense from a realistic sound point of view, it completely demolished any clarity that we might have had and muddied up the entire episode. It was very hard to locate the sound effects in the space and even harder to get them to cut through the dialogue, more or less the music! Unfortunately, this was done destructively with audio-suite on every single file (and there were thousands of them probably). Every single one had to be recut by hand from the library, which was an insanely arduous task.

What to Do Instead

I’m going to say this once, and then please just assume that this is step one for everything below (I’ll spare you the boredom of reading it over and over): STEP ONE IS ALWAYS ASK YOUR MIXER BEFORE YOU START APPLYING ANY EQ.

I think you can safely assume that there’s, at best, an 80% chance that your mixer does not want you to EQ anything. Ever. So always ask before you destructively alter your work. With EQ’ing it’s especially important that the right amount is added given what else is happening in the scene, and clients often have opinions about how much is too much for their sense of clarity in the mix.

The better way to approach EQ is to ask your mixer (again, asking because this may require a change to their mix template which requires their approval) if it would work to place any FX that you think should be EQ’ed on a separate food group with no other FX mixed in. Having all underwater movements on one set of tracks clearly labeled UNDERWATER FX gives your mixer the ability to quickly EQ all of them with just a few keystrokes and knob turns. And then he or she can also very easily change that EQ to mesh well with the music and dialogue or to satisfy a client note. It also means that he or she can put all of those lovely water effects on one VCA and ride that if the clients ask for any global changes to the volume of water FX. Win-win!

The same is true for any batch EQ’ing of FX. I like the “split onto a separate food group of clearly labeled tracks” method for other things, too, like: action happening on the other side of a door or wall, sound effects coming from a TV or radio, or any other time that you would imagine EQ should be applied to a large selection of files. So yes, split it out to make it easy and obvious for your mixer, but no, don’t do it yourself.

Reverb

What Not to Do

Don’t add any environmental reverb. Just don’t do it. Keep in mind that your sound design doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s layered on top of dialogue, music, BGs, ambiances, and probably more! What sounds right as a reverb setting to you while working only on your FX definitely won’t be the right choice once everything else has been placed in the mix.

What to Do Instead

Let your mixer decide. If you do it as an effect for one singular moment (I’m thinking something like a hawk screech to establish distance), only process individual files and also provide a clearly marked clean version in the track below. That way, your mixer has the option to use your version, or take it as an indication of what the clients like and redo it with the clean one. But before you go ahead and use reverb as an effect in your sound design, always check in with your supervisor first. He or she will be able to draw on all of their experience on the mix stage, and will be able to let you know if it’s a good idea or not. From my experience, the answer is that it’s almost always NOT a good idea.

Trippy FX

What Not to Do

Say you’re designing the sound for a super trippy sequence like the POV shot for a drugged up character. You may be tempted to add a phaser, some crazy modulation, or any other trippy overall effect to the whole sequence. Don’t do it! That takes all of the fun out of your mixer’s job, and furthermore really ties his or her hands. They need the ability to adjust any effects to also achieve mix clarity when the music and dialogue are added. So it’s always best to let them choose any overall effects!

What to Do Instead

Go for it with weird ambiences, off-the-wall sound choices, and totally different BGs to make it feel like you’re really inside the character’s head. Feel free to process individual files if you think it really adds something—just be sure to also supply the original muted below and named something obvious like “unprocessed.”

Panning

What Not to Do

Don’t spend hours panning all of your work without first speaking to your mixer. Your understanding of panning may be wildly different from what he or she can actually use in the mix. I’ve seen a lot of editors pan things 100% off-screen to the right or left, and I just have to redo all of it. Panning isn’t too difficult or complicated, but it’s really best to be on the same page as your mixer before you start.

What to Do Instead

Some mixers love it if you help out with panning, especially if they’re really under the gun time-wise. Others prefer you leave it to them—so always ask first. If you want to be sure that your spaceship chase sequence zooms in and around your clients during your FX preview, just make sure to ask your mixer first about his/her panning preferences. How far to the L/R do they prefer that you pan things? What about how much into the rears? Do they mind if you do it with the panning bars, or will they only keep it if you use the 5.1 panner/stereo pot?

LFE Tracks

What Not to Do

Don’t cut your LFE tracks while listening on headphones. You may not realize that what you’re putting in the LFE should actually go in our SFX track because it is low in pitch, but not in that rumble-only range. It’s nearly impossible to cut your LFE track without a subwoofer, since true LFE sweeteners in your library will look like they have a standard-sized waveform, but will sound like almost nothing in headphones!

What to Do Instead

Keep in mind that any files that live on the LFE tracks are going to be bused directly to the low-frequency effects generator which can output approximately 3- 120 Hz. That is super low!  So only cut sound effects that have only that frequency information in them, or that you only care to hear that part. Any other mid-range “meat” to the sound will be lost in the mix.

 

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