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Mix With the Masters Scholarships Available- Bob Power

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 Grammy and Multi-platinum Producer/Mixer Bob Power.

This is a week-long seminar valued approximately at 4,000 euros 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: June 7-13th

Apply for the scholarships here

Deadline to apply is May 17th

You are responsible for Travel to France and remainder of 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 afterwards via download link, to keep and use as you please
  • A certificate of completion issued on behalf of Mix With the Masters and Studios La Fabrique, signed by the Master if you wish
  • Exclusive MWTM merchandise given only to seminar attendees: embossed Moleskine notepads, pens, mugs, t-shirts, USB keys and stickers.
  • Use of the La Fabrique swimming pool, garden, fitness centre, and scenic walks
  • Nearby access to the enchanting town of St. Rémy de Provence

About Bob Price:

Grammy and Multi-platinum Producer/Mixer Bob Power possesses a wide and diverse range of musical talents: producer, engineer, composer, arranger, performer, and educator. In the recording world, Power has produced, recorded, or mixed hundreds of pop and jazz recordings for such artists and groups as Erykah Badu (produced and mixed 1998 Grammy “Best Female R&B Vocal”, “Best Female R&B Album”), A Tribe Called Quest, D’Angelo, Bobby Mc Ferrin, Chaka Khan, MeShell N’degeOcello, Ozomatli (produced and mixed 2002 Grammy “Best Alternative Latin Album”), De La Soul, Common, Jason Moran, Miles Davis, the Roots, Mos Def, Reggie Watts, Curtis Mayfield, David Byrne, Spike Lee, The Jungle Brothers, Quincy Jones (Remix), and Run DMC. A 1997 Grammy Award nominee himself for mixing, Bob Power has had over 40 charting records, and has received more than 20 gold or platinum records.

In the broadcast advertising world, Bob Power has written and produced music for Coca Cola, BMW, Philip Morris, Mercedes, Casio, the American Cancer Society (EMMY Award winner), and many others.

Holding two university music degrees, he began his studio career scoring for television in the late 1970s.

In addition to producing, mixing ,and mastering at his studio Chez Bob in New York, Power teaches at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

Program

The process of greatness fostering greatness has long been recognized and is the reason why master classes 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

 

 

Mix With the Masters Scholarships Available- Bob Power

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 Grammy and Multi-platinum Producer/Mixer Bob Power.

This is a week-long seminar valued approximately at 4,000 euros 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: June 7-13th

Apply for the scholarships here

Deadline to apply is May 17th

You are responsible for Travel to France and remainder of 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 afterwards via download link, to keep and use as you please
  • A certificate of completion issued on behalf of Mix With the Masters and Studios La Fabrique, signed by the Master if you wish
  • Exclusive MWTM merchandise given only to seminar attendees: embossed Moleskine notepads, pens, mugs, t-shirts, USB keys and stickers.
  • Use of the La Fabrique swimming pool, garden, fitness centre, and scenic walks
  • Nearby access to the enchanting town of St. Rémy de Provence

About Bob Price:

Grammy and Multi-platinum Producer/Mixer Bob Power possesses a wide and diverse range of musical talents: producer, engineer, composer, arranger, performer, and educator. In the recording world, Power has produced, recorded, or mixed hundreds of pop and jazz recordings for such artists and groups as Erykah Badu (produced and mixed 1998 Grammy “Best Female R&B Vocal”, “Best Female R&B Album”), A Tribe Called Quest, D’Angelo, Bobby Mc Ferrin, Chaka Khan, MeShell N’degeOcello, Ozomatli (produced and mixed 2002 Grammy “Best Alternative Latin Album”), De La Soul, Common, Jason Moran, Miles Davis, the Roots, Mos Def, Reggie Watts, Curtis Mayfield, David Byrne, Spike Lee, The Jungle Brothers, Quincy Jones (Remix), and Run DMC. A 1997 Grammy Award nominee himself for mixing, Bob Power has had over 40 charting records, and has received more than 20 gold or platinum records.

In the broadcast advertising world, Bob Power has written and produced music for Coca Cola, BMW, Philip Morris, Mercedes, Casio, the American Cancer Society (EMMY Award winner), and many others.

Holding two university music degrees, he began his studio career scoring for television in the late 1970s.

In addition to producing, mixing ,and mastering at his studio Chez Bob in New York, Power teaches at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

Program

The process of greatness fostering greatness has long been recognized and is the reason why master classes 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

 

 

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

April Feature Profile

https://soundgirls.org/town-planning-to-florence-and-the-machine/

The Blogs

Recording Guitars and Bass

Post, Theatre, Foley, and SoundGirls

Internet Round-Up

 

 

Jett Galindo | Mastering Engineer and Vinyl Cutter, The Bakery

 

SoundGirls News

Leslie Gaston-Bird is raising funds for her 50th birthday. Happy Birthday! She is raising funds for the “SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel fund” which has been established to increase the presence of women and those that identify as women at audio trade conferences. Women who have been invited to speak, or sit on panels at audio related trade conferences are welcome to apply. More info at https://soundgirls.org/soundgirls-gaston-bird-travel-fund/

SoundGirls Co-Founder Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato has created a Free eBook called 7 Things Every Live Sound Engineer Should Know

“The most common thing I hear from new engineers and those just getting started in live sound and mixing is how overwhelmed they are with how much there is to know. They focus on trying to learn all of the gear and keeping up with every new piece of equipment or plugin out there, instead of learning the underlying principles and techniques. This is why I created the eBook. There were so many other things I could have listed, but I tried to keep it to what I felt would help solve some of the biggest problems sound engineers face: Understanding how the system works together, being able to mix on any console, dealing with feedback, getting better quality sounds and mixes, and having more confidence in what they are doing.
The book covers these important concepts- Signal Flow, Proper Gain Structure. The eBook explains the importance of these, as well as proper EQ techniques, how to use a gate and compressor, choosing the right microphone, basic troubleshooting, and getting good sounds from the source.”

The link for the free ebook is:
https://www.mixingmusiclive.com/ebook-page

Top 30 Audio Engineering Blogs, News Websites & Newsletters To Follow in 2019

Congratulations to all our bloggers. The SoundGirls Blog is number 12 of the Top 30 Audio Engineering Blogs, News Websites & Newsletters To Follow in 2019.

SoundGirls Events

https://soundgirls.org/event/bay-area-chapter-1st-mondays-meetings/?instance_id=1496

JBL VTX A8 Workshop – May 9 @ Harman Northridge

https://soundgirls.org/event/mastering-w-piper-payne-oakland-2/?instance_id=1522

https://soundgirls.org/event/vancouver-meyer/?instance_id=1524

https://soundgirls.org/event/vancouver-soundgirls-social-3/?instance_id=1526

SoundGirls Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon – May 26th

Register For Career Paths in Recording Arts

 

https://soundgirls.org/event/los-angeles-soundgirls-june-social/?instance_id=1555

SoundGirls Intro to Soldering – Colorado

SoundGirls Opportunities

Scholarships Available for Smaart Training

 

SoundGirls and SoundGym

Shadowing/Mentoring/Internship Opportunities

Shadowing Opportunity w/ ME Aaron Foye

Shadowing Opportunity – Brad Madix and Annette Guilfoyle

Shadow Gil Eva Craig – NZ & Australia

Viva La Muxer – SoundGirls Volunteers

SoundGirls Resources

Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund

Letter for Trades and Manufacturers

Women-Owned Businesses

SoundGirls Scholarships 2021 Now Open

Events

Sexual Harassment

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

Jobs and Internships

Women in the Professional Audio

Member Benefits

SoundGirls Intro to Soldering – Colorado

Soldering is a necessary skill for audio engineers and techs. Being able to make and repair your cables can get you out of a tight spot and save you money. In this workshop, you’ll learn proper soldering techniques to carry with you to live gigs, in the studio and beyond! We’ll build XLR and TRS or TS cables that you can take home with you. Please note that you will need to bring your own soldering kit with you – see below for options. If you don’t have one, don’t fret!

This class will address the knowledge and techniques required to produce high-quality manually soldered joints and provide an overview of the basic manual soldering equipment and the proper safety precautions for soldering. You will be able to take your finished mic and guitar cables home to continue practice soldering.

If you cannot bring a soldering iron to class please email us at soundgirls@soundgirls.org and we will try and locate a loaner.

Required Tools to Bring to Class

 

 

Recording Guitars and Bass

Hey SoundGirls! This month’s blog is a continuation of the last month. In March, I started writing about the process of recording a simple four-piece band. I started with drums. This month I will be moving on to guitars and bass.

Guitars.

Recording this instrument is truly in its own ball game. Capturing guitar tones is an art and a skill that has to be honed. Having a good ear is essential for recording any kind of guitars. For time sake, I’ll just be covering recording electric guitars and bass. (I’ll make a blog about recording acoustic later on – I promise).

I’m going to create a scenario here (there are many different factors that go into what mics you’ll pick depending on the kind of gear the guitarist is using). Let’s say he is playing a Fender Jazzmaster through an Orange combo with your standard pedal board (reverb, delay, distortion, compressor). For this setup, I usually like to keep it simple. I’d go with a dynamic, and a condenser microphone. Although for this, I’ll make it interesting and go with a ribbon microphone rather than a condenser. Recently I’ve been recording electric guitars with a Royer 121 (ribbon mic) paired with a dynamic microphone (usually an sm57 or an sm7b).

Placement

For the SM57, I will place this facing directly at the center of the cone of the speaker. For the Royer 121, I will place this off-center of the cone all while setting up the mics to have a “good phase.” Alright, now that we have picked our microphones and placed them on the amp- let’s pick our signal chain and start getting tones!

For pre-amps, I’m going to send the SM57 through a Shadow Hill. On the Shadow Hill model, I am familiar with; you can pick what kind of metal you want your sound running through. You can choose from nickel, steel, or have a mix of the two called “discrete.” Let’s go with discrete. Since its an SM57, we aren’t getting much warmth from the microphone. This is why I picked a tube pre-amp. I want to have some color. For the Royer 121, I want to send this through a Neve 1073. My reasoning for this is because I really want to have full control of the sound here. With the 1073, I have some simple high, low, and mid-band eqs to mess with after I dial in the mic. If I hear something I don’t like- I can take it out without there being a dramatic change. That’s my main reason for picking this pre for this mic. Before we move on, I want to touch on why I chose the Royer 121. The 121 is a ribbon. Ribbons are known for being a little dark. In this situation, I don’t mind, because we are recording guitars. Especially where I have placed the ribbon mic on the amp, having a dark microphone will round out the top end of what we are getting from the guitar a bit.

Bass

For this instrument, nine times out of ten for live tracking I send the bass DI through a tube pre-amp. Which tube pre do you use, you ask? Well, it depends on what studio I am working out of. The studio I went to school at, and still, frequently occupy while recording with my band- I use the Voxbox. So, let’s say we are at that studio. I like to use the Voxbox because it also has a built-in compressor. I just tap the compressor a bit to put the bass in its place during tracking, and usually, heavily compress in the box during mixing. The Avalon is another great pre-amp choice for tracking bass. Both of the pre-amps have built-in EQs that you can use to bring out the fundamental of the bass.

Here is a mic sheet with the added addition of what we added to our session today.

Instrument Mic Wall Input Pre-amp Compressor Eq Pro-Tools Input
Kick In D112 1 API 1 DBX 1
Kick Out Fet47 2 API 2 2
Snare T Sm57 3 API 3 Chandler Little Devil 3
Snare B Km84 4 API 4 4
Rack Tom V421 5 Vintech 1 5
Floor Tom V421 6 Vintech 2 6
H.H SM7B 7 TubeTech 1 7
O.H Hat Coles 8 Gamma 1 (shadow hills) 8
O.H Ride Coles 9 Gamma 2 (shadow hills) 9
Room L Royer 121 10 UA 610 Distressor 10
Room R Royer 121 11 UA 610 Distressor 11
Bass DI J48 DI 12 Voxbox 12
Elec Dynamic SM57 13 Gamma 1 (shadow hills) 13
Elec Ribbon Royer 121 14 Neve 1073 14

Post, Theatre, Foley, and SoundGirls

Working as a one woman sound recordist and boom op in a short film

As this is my first SoundGirls blog post, I thought it would be a good idea to make it a bit of an introductory one. So hi! My name is Iida Aino Viljanen, and I’m originally from Finland hence the difficult name. I’m a sound designer (and a composer but work mostly in sound design), and I work in both audio post-production for film/video and in theatre. I don’t know if many sound designers like to combine these two areas of work (at least I’ve not met anyone else but hi to all of you who also do this!), but I think it’s an excellent way to keep things exciting. Don’t get me wrong, I love working with both, but it’s refreshing to being able to switch between the two as, even though the process is very similar, the work is also very, very different. Recently, however, I’ve been working more with post-production sound, so I’m hoping there will be some theatre projects ahead in the near future! I’ve also done a little bit of production sound recording/boom operating and that’s something I’m planning to do more in the future as I found it very interesting.

I wanted to become SoundGirls’ blogger as I think this is an amazing channel to find about other audio women’s work and support each other. I mostly work with men in my day-to-day life (however I’ve recently been working with more and more women directors yay! But most audio people I work with are still men, so it’s awesome and inspiring to read what other women are up to and what their experiences in this industry are. Weirdly enough I’ve been also really missing writing after graduating from university so writing this blog fills that gap nicely!

I used to work full-time as an Assistant Dubbing Mixer in broadcast in the UK but after recently relocating to Stockholm, Sweden, I’ve been working as a freelancer. I think both work situations have their pros and cons, but at the moment I am enjoying the possibility of working on very different projects which freelancing allows me to do. Although, it’s at times also very stressful as you need to find your own work and can get a bit lonely. I work mostly on my own devices, but luckily I also freelance at a local audio post-production studio a couple of days a week where I can meet other sound people and people in general. So I don’t become a complete hermit!

I’m still quite early in my career, learning something new almost every day, and I’d say working as an Assistant Dubbing Mixer in post-production house after graduating from university was a beneficial and educational experience that taught me a lot about the work itself but also about the industry we work in. So, to any students or new graduates, I’d recommend applying for runner or assistant level jobs and internships in post-production houses or even just asking if you could shadow someone. It makes a huge difference even in your confidence to see how more experienced persons do things. It’s great to learn from more experienced sound professionals and adapt their workflows to your own. Freelancing can be very lonely, leaving plenty of room for self-doubt, and it helps when you know what you’re doing. Even just seeing a senior-level Dubbing Mixer’s Pro Tools template can be very helpful for your own work. My university course at Glasgow School of Art was excellent (would highly recommend it!) and I learned a lot there but working as an assistant was an even bigger learning curve for me as the tv industry really can be hectic, and you must learn to work fast as well as know your Pro Tools.

I know I would find freelancing more complicated and I would doubt myself a great deal in my work had I not worked in post-production house after graduating. Though, I do realise getting these jobs or even an internship can be tough when there’s plenty of other students applying for the same positions. However, my hot tip is to email all the places you know and to research some more. I’ve noticed that runner and assistant level positions tend not to be advertised very often as annoying as that is, so sometimes they might have been thinking about hiring some help and then boom your email hits their inbox. Just remember to include a showreel or an example of your work to your email – even some university work is good or your final project if you don’t have a showreel yet. It’s much easier to get noticed when they already hear your work and skill level.

Recently I’ve been recording quite a lot of foley for short films, and I’ve enjoyed that! Foley is something I’ve only done a little bit previously, but after these films, I’d love to do it more often as it’s certainly fun. I’ve already noticed that I’m looking at items in grocery stores with Foley in my mind wondering what kind of sounds different things could make. One thing which is not fun though is footsteps and specifically cutting footsteps. After vocalising my frustration about this one of my friends told me about this fantastic invention called Edward Foley Instrument which is a Kontakt player compatible VST that allows you to create footsteps using a midi keyboard. To me, that sounds like a dream come true and according to my friend, it’s genuinely life-changing so this is going to be my next investment! At least a video of it looks great, check it out if you too want to cry while editing footsteps.

Oh and as I’ve found out during my foley experimenting if you ever need to record poop smearing sounds porridge works wonders!

Foley recording porridge aka cow poo

That’s about it for this time! As I previously mentioned I have recently relocated to Stockholm so if you’re a SoundGirl living in Stockholm, please get in touch via Twitter or you can find my email address on my website! I would love to meet other audio women here.

I thought it would be a fun idea to finish my posts with little recommendation lists of podcasts, videos, and articles about women in audio that I’ve found interesting. So here goes my first list of recommended content:

Tonebenders – Episode 099. Sound Design for VFX Round Table (Podcast)

(Can also be found on SoundCloud and Podcasts-app.)

Nia Hansen (Avengers films) and Paula Fairfield (Game of Thrones) discuss designing creature and superhero sounds, and honestly, this was one of the most interesting and inspiring discussions I’ve heard for a while.

Sisters of Sound – Episode 15. Sound Editor Claire Dobson (Podcast)

(Can also be found on Podcasts-app.)

To be honest this whole series is worth listening to as it’s all about women in audio – not just in audio post-production but also in music, sound art, engineering, etc. but I thought this episode was especially interesting as they interview sound editor Claire Dobson who’s worked for example on The Handmaid’s Tale, Vikings and Fargo.

LNA Does Audio Stuff (Youtube channel)

My dear friend LNA had enough of the male dominance of Youtube audio tutorials so she made her own channel. If you are wondering about which speakers to buy for your home studio, how to set up a home studio or how to get started with Ableton then check this channel out! LNA is also open for suggestions so if you have an audio question you’d like an answer for or if you want to know how something is done message her or comment on her videos and she’ll make a tutorial for it!

Find more Podcasts with Women in Audio here

If you want to follow me elsewhere here are the links to do so:

Iida Aino is a sound designer and composer based in Stockholm, Sweden. She’s originally from Finland but has spent most of her adult life living, studying and working in the UK and has only recently relocated to Stockholm. She graduated with a Master degree in Sound for the Moving Image from Glasgow School of Art in 2017. Even though she’s still early on in her career her work already includes short films, tv programmes, adverts, installations, and theatre shows. Currently, she works as a freelancer and won the Best Sound Design Award at the feminist Underwire Film Festival in London in 2018. Iida Aino enjoys all things audio (especially spatial audio is an area she’d like to experiment more with!) and loves the way women in this industry support each other. iidaainosound.wordpress.com

Read Iida’s Blog

 

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

April Feature Profile

https://soundgirls.org/town-planning-to-florence-and-the-machine/

The Blogs

Career Paths in Film and TV Sound: Stories of Tenacity

Positive Action for Women in Music

The Simple Home Studio Kit

Internet Round-Up

 

Ele Matelan is the director of public outreach at WildClaw Theatre. On February 11, she gave an Artist Talk to Northwestern’s Sound Arts and Industries students about Foley.

 

Q&A with sound no.1 on Six The Musical Eleanor Theodorou

 

SoundGirls News

Leslie Gaston-Bird is raising funds for her 50th birthday. Happy Birthday! She is raising funds for the “SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel fund” which has been established to increase the presence of women and those that identify as women at audio trade conferences. Women who have been invited to speak, or sit on panels at audio related trade conferences are welcome to apply. More info at https://soundgirls.org/soundgirls-gaston-bird-travel-fund/

SoundGirls Co-Founder Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato has created a Free eBook called 7 Things Every Live Sound Engineer Should Know

“The most common thing I hear from new engineers and those just getting started in live sound and mixing is how overwhelmed they are with how much there is to know. They focus on trying to learn all of the gear and keeping up with every new piece of equipment or plugin out there, instead of learning the underlying principles and techniques. This is why I created the eBook. There were so many other things I could have listed, but I tried to keep it to what I felt would help solve some of the biggest problems sound engineers face: Understanding how the system works together, being able to mix on any console, dealing with feedback, getting better quality sounds and mixes, and having more confidence in what they are doing.
The book covers these important concepts- Signal Flow, Proper Gain Structure. The eBook explains the importance of these, as well as proper EQ techniques, how to use a gate and compressor, choosing the right microphone, basic troubleshooting, and getting good sounds from the source.”

The link for the free ebook is:
https://www.mixingmusiclive.com/ebook-page

Top 30 Audio Engineering Blogs, News Websites & Newsletters To Follow in 2019

Congratulations to all our bloggers. The SoundGirls Blog is number 12 of the Top 30 Audio Engineering Blogs, News Websites & Newsletters To Follow in 2019.

SoundGirls Events

https://soundgirls.org/event/bay-area-chapter-1st-mondays-meetings/?instance_id=1496

JBL VTX A8 Workshop – May 9 @ Harman Northridge

https://soundgirls.org/event/mastering-w-piper-payne-oakland-2/?instance_id=1522

https://soundgirls.org/event/vancouver-meyer/?instance_id=1524

https://soundgirls.org/event/vancouver-soundgirls-social-3/?instance_id=1526

SoundGirls Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon – May 26th

Register For Career Paths in Recording Arts

SoundGirls Opportunities

Scholarships Available for Smaart Training

 

SoundGirls and SoundGym

Shadowing/Mentoring/Internship Opportunities

Shadowing Opportunity w/ ME Aaron Foye

Shadowing Opportunity – Brad Madix and Annette Guilfoyle

Shadow Gil Eva Craig – NZ & Australia

Viva La Muxer – SoundGirls Volunteers

SoundGirls Resources

Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund

Letter for Trades and Manufacturers

Women-Owned Businesses

SoundGirls Scholarships 2021 Now Open

Events

Sexual Harassment

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

Jobs and Internships

Women in the Professional Audio

Member Benefits

Positive Action for Women in Music

Give peeps a chance

I’m impressed with what 2019 has offered so far in the way of women achieving greatness and it being celebrated, both close to home and worldwide.  The 2019 Grammy awards were pioneering for women in the industry with 31 award winners, which is an increase of 82% from last year, sweeping the board across all areas including classical music and production.  While the work of women is recognised at the highest levels, the language surrounding them is still being improved. Oscar-winning sound editor Nina Hartstone was covered by the BBC in the run-up to the event with the headline “The sound editor mum up for an Oscar.”  After something of a public backlash, the BBC rephrased their reporting on the feature to “From tea girl to Oscars red carpet,” and it now appears in online searches under the headline “Bohemian Rhapsody: First Oscars night for sound editor.” Considering Hartstone is a woman with 25 years of experience in the industry and a string of A-list film credits in her portfolio, the backlash seems like fair criticism.  It is refreshing to have seen the conversations and the subsequent corrections that were made to this error of judgment.

 

I wonder if a shift is finally happening around us, as for the first time I’ve experienced, being a woman in music seems to be supported, encouraged, and has positively impacted me – on a much smaller scale of course!  While positive discrimination is illegal under UK law, positive action is when an employer takes steps to help or encourage certain groups of people with different needs, who are disadvantaged in some way, access work or training. I have been heartened to see big and small organisations alike encouraging the inclusion of women where there is a disparity. The Grammy Recording Academy Task Force on Inclusion and Diversity is announcing the launch of the Producer and Engineering Inclusion Initiative – an industry-wide initiative that asks that at least two women are identified and therefore considered as part of the selection process every time a music producer or engineer is hired.  In the UK, The Musician’s Union is currently launching a mentoring scheme for women in association with Shesaid.So, as well as consulting with ministers in Government to implement policies that will promote parity for women in music. The MU also hosted a conference for Women in Music this month, which was a hugely positive event I attended that was filled with inspirational speakers, workshops and chances to network, share connections and experiences as well as business talk with like-minded individuals.

Recently I’ve been pleasantly surprised to have found positive action in motion via new allies in my work; taking on a client who specifically encouraged women to reach out, and also starting some audio work for a lovely company looking to support equality with the work they’re doing in the industry.  These last few months have been quite unfamiliar to me, coming from a background where I’ve often felt like the ‘token woman’ at work, a subordinate, or at worst a ‘threat’ in a world where our major achievements are so often defined as secondary to our matriarchal or marital status.

While there’s still a lot of room for improvement across the board, and unsolicited explanations on the fundamentals of what I do from ‘helpful’ outsiders still regularly infest my space, they don’t hold the weight they once did.  I can see positive changes that are both aspirational and experiential for the first time in my life, and that’s brand new. Even my local BBC radio station has shown support for female-led happenings in the industry, inviting me to be part of a conversation this week on the subject of women in music, and it feels like people are banding together to address the disparity and actually do something to proactively change it.  It is a change that I hope will continue to flourish far and wide, and I also have hope that this is the start of better times ahead for all of us wherever we are, in our pursuit of making music and being heard.

Additional Resources:

How to Write about Women in Sound

The EQUAL Directory – Find and Hire Women

A More Inclusive Industry

AES Diversity and Inclusion Committee

 

The Simple Home Studio Kit

Creating and recording music can be a daunting task if you don’t have any prior knowledge of production. From aspiring music producers to seasoned musicians, the art of recording your music can become quite a difficult undertaking very quickly.

So, to combat this, I thought I would compile a range of equipment that I believe to be great for beginners and anyone wishing to record on a budget.

The Right DAW

A DAW is short for Digital Audio Workstation. To put it simply, it is the software you use to record and mix your music. There is a wide variety of different DAW’s out there, and each producer has their preference for a multitude of various reasons and depending on what they require.

My advice is to start simple. If you’re new to music production, software like Pro Tools, Logic and Ableton can seem extremely daunting.

If you’re a Mac user start with GarageBand. It’s free and is very much a simplified version of Logic. If you have a Windows computer, try Audacity. They are both mapped out in a way that it is straightforward to begin recording some tracks you can then transfer this knowledge to more complex DAW’s.

The Interface

I have used many interfaces, and the one I find recommending most to beginners is the Scarlett 2i2.

It is a USB audio interface and has everything you need to start recording: two line/mic ports, 48v phantom power (some microphones require this power to operate), can record 192kHz /24-bit sample rate.

Overall it’s the perfect compact recording device and comes in at around $160/ £100.

A Microphone

Microphones, for me, are the hardest to recommend. It depends so much on a person’s preference and what they want to record. More specifically what sound they want to achieve. But, if you need a place to start, I recommend the MXL 770.

It comes in at around $72 / £90, and I believe it to be well worth the money. It’s impressive, to say the least. It’s not perfect, but it certainly can give microphones worth triple the price a run for their money.

I hope you find this information helpful and just remember there is no perfect set up. I am always updating my kit and trying out new things. It’s what keeps you creative as a producer.

 

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