Join Us

Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

Join Us

Let the Music Take Care of You

Today I would like to share an inspiring experience I had in Canada a few years ago during a Jazz Master Class event promoted by Concordia University in Montreal. The master class was given by well-known Dezron Douglas: bassist (double bass), a New York-based Composer, bandleader, sideman, educator, and a major force in contemporary creative music.

The event took place on a Friday afternoon at the John Molson Building, a Concordia campus in downtown Montreal.

Here’s the short version of the story:

Excuse me, do you know where the jazz master class is? — I asked when I reached the information desk in the lobby of the building.

Yes, this is floor 8, door 135 — she told me with a smile and pointed to the elevator.

Thank you very much! —I replied.

When I got to the floor where it was, a guy asked me too.

Hi, do you know if the jazz master class is here?

Yes, I think it’s there on the left, let’s go and see. —I answered and we walked together to the place. 

Yes, it’s here. — I told him when I peeked in the door. 

Where are you from? — he asked.

From Spain, and you?

From Mexico! —We started laughing when we saw that we were both Spanish speakers.

Do you play an instrument? — he asked me.

Yes, the transverse flute, now I always carry it with me, because you never know when an opportunity might arise. And you?

I play the drums. I also brought my drumsticks, just in case.

When we went inside, we saw that there were a lot of young people, most of them seemed to be musicians, but it was an event that could be attended by anyone who wanted to. At the beginning of the master class, Dezron began to talk about how he started his career in music, he comes from a family of musicians, and he told us about his experiences, since his childhood he has always been involved in music.

Inspiring moments from the talk 

I really enjoyed the talk; it was very inspiring and that’s why I want to share a few highlights with you.

He pointed out: “You have to fail to get the music right, we are all afraid to fail, but that is part of the way”. 

In music, the important thing is not to keep the rhythm, but to feel it and follow it, to get into the heart of the story.

“Take care of the music and it will take care of you,” he told us all.

Another topic he talked about that I really liked was the “team beat”, the heartbeat of the team. That is, a team that communicates through eye contact has a good rhythm, tells a story with their instruments, with a lot of synergy, where everything flows as a whole and manages to touch the listener’s heart. That is the best thing about a band, to be a team.

In the talk, he invited anyone who wanted to play a jazz-related theme.

First, a music band decided to play, they were not random people, it was a band that practiced together outside of this master class, they did very well, the teacher gave them some tips, and they repeated the piece once again.

Then he asked again if anyone wanted to play, at that moment my heart rate went up to 100 BPM and I got tense just thinking that I could play and have the opportunity to have him listen to me. I didn’t say anything. However, the Mexican guy sitting next to me pulled out his drumsticks, stood up, and walked over to the drums. He was joined by a pianist and a double bass player.

Oh! Maybe I’m missing the chance to play in front of Dezron? — I wondered.

They started to play, and the teacher stopped them right away, he told them nicely that everyone was going in opposite directions, and the double bass was playing in a different pitch, it was like he was arguing with the piano. The teacher also reminded them that the rhythm they were taking on this “walk through the music” was not going very well. It seemed like they were going off on their own. It’s fair to say they were nervous because the room was full of people who didn’t know each other and had never played together before, but the teacher guided them very nicely. There’s nothing wrong with something not going well at first and not trying is the biggest failure.

 

My jam session with CB59 band in Spain

 

Nervousness, fear of taking the plunge and trying?

After the second round, the teacher invited again if anyone else wanted to play. A few people stood up and went to the instruments. I thought to myself: “Either you step up or you lose this opportunity now”. During this very moment, he asked, “Does anyone else have any questions?” So, I raised my hand, and he came toward me and I said in a low voice: “I’d like to participate, but I don’t play like a jazz professional”. He promptly replied with humor: “Neither do I and I play!” We both smiled and I felt encouraged to jump in.

I got up with my flute and joined the musicians: a guitarist, a drummer, and a bass player who were already ready to play. Coincidentally, this arrangement of instruments was the same one I used to play in jam sessions with a blues and jazz band in my small town in Spain called CB59. For a moment it looked like I was going to play with them instead.

What can we play? — everyone asked.

“Blue Bossa“, do you know it? — I suggested.

Yes, of course! — they all answered in unison.

I was so glad to hear that because I loved playing that piece in Spain.

Oh, very good choice! —the teacher congratulated.

Then I looked at everyone in the group and I noticed how the drummer was setting the rhythm and we all jumped right in.

We had a bad start and then we all stopped. In Spain, I used to have a verbal agreement with the band. Before starting a jam session, we talk to each other about how to start the piece and who is going to do the solo, and how many times. So even though it is a jam session, we have an idea of how we are going to play and we keep this structure while playing.

I’m sorry, how do we start? — I asked them.

First, we play a little introduction and then you come in. — they all told me, including the teacher.

So, we started again, when I came in with the melody my mind went blank because I was a little nervous, we didn’t stop playing, so I concentrated again and the second time the melody came out perfectly. Then I looked at the guitarist and he started his solo and after he finished his solo, we all played together and I played the melody again to end the song.

The teacher started clapping loudly and enthusiastically.

That is a “team beat”! — he told us excited. That is, a team that communicates through the eyes, keeps a good rhythm, and follows the story.

How long have you been playing together? — the teacher asked us in amazement. I was surprised by the question because I had made a mistake during the presentation, but when I played, it was true that I felt this connection with the team, and with the music as a whole.

It was the first time we played together. — And we laughed.

He congratulated me and said:

On the second melody, you came in strong, very good, now we all have the melody in our heads. He then complimented the guitarist on his improvisation and the drummer as well and encouraged the bassist to keep going. Don’t be afraid to step out of line and do some soloing. he said. Congratulations to everyone, really, a round of applause! — he said proudly. And the whole audience applauded us.

Then Dezron performed his show playing double bass with a pianist and the master class ended.

I went to thank him. Thank you for everything you showed us today, it was very interesting and inspiring. — we hugged each other. Can I take a picture with you? — I asked him because I wanted to have a souvenir picture.

Yes, of course!

But everyone started coming over to talk to him when I was getting my camera ready. I just stood there with my cell phone, looking around, in the middle of the people, waiting hopefully for my turn to come back. In the meantime, a girl came up to me and congratulated me and told me that she was a singer and a flute player too, so I started talking to her. There were a lot of people talking to Dezron and after a while of waiting I saw that the souvenir picture would no longer be feasible as I had to leave, I seized a fraction of time to say goodbye to him and I left.

From all this, we see that many people are afraid to play in public, and the more we face it, the more we gain confidence. It is difficult, but you must take the step, even if you fail, you will be proud that you tried. And a sense of humor can make things more bearable.

That day I was very happy because of what Dezron had told me and because I had the chance to play with wonderful people. I ended up without my souvenir picture but with the certainty in my heart that if you take care of the music, the music will always take care of you.

With love,

Lydia Guía

 

Boosting Women’s Voices: Cutting Through The Noise

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

Spoken word

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

Diagram of the Fletcher-Munson Curve

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

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

Barbara speaking at a TEDx Talk

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

Music

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

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

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

 

Diagram of Adele Vocal EQ

 

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

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

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

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

Boosting women’s voices

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

Noise Engineering SoundGirls Scholarships

About Noise Engineering:

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

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

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

APPLICATIONS For 2021

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

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

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

HOW TO APPLY

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

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION

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

SELECTION PROCESS & NOTIFICATION

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

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

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

QUESTIONS?

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

Additional Scholarships and Resources

 

 

 

 

Reviewing Fender Play 

I’ve been a self-taught guitar player for many years now having learnt to play chords from charts found online and riffs and songs from videos on YouTube. However, when I saw that Fender Play had an offer for a free 3-month trial I was interested in what I could learn.

Fender Play is essentially an online learning platform to help budding musicians learn to play Guitar, Bass, and Ukulele. The videos are extremely well produced and they use musical language that everyone can understand no matter what stage you are at.

When I signed up I had a bit of an advantage. I had played the guitar before so chord positions and playing came naturally. I was also classically trained so things like scales, chords, and theory were things I knew about. However, I discovered very quickly that there were still things I could learn.

For example, basic posture and positioning were something I took for granted before, but, after spending several weeks practicing these skills, my accuracy and sound have most certainly improved.

The lessons are set out in levels ranging in difficulty and there are a variety of great practice exercises and well-known songs that can be found in each one.

Overall I really recommend Fender Play to anyone wanting to learn the guitar. Of course, it doesn’t replace one-to-one teaching but it can help you navigate the basics and build your confidence in the instrument. Who knows, you might become the next Nita Strauss!

Stay safe and happy playing!

 

Leslie Ann Jones Scholarship in Honor of Ethel Gabriel

This scholarship is made possible by a generous donation from Leslie Ann Jones and is in honor of Ethel Gabriel

APPLICATION For 2021

The Leslie Ann Jones Scholarship in honor of Ethel Gabriel and is a $250 scholarship to be used for education in the music industry. Applications will open on June 1, 2021

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

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

HOW TO APPLY

Write a 400-600 word essay on the topic:  Why you love working or want to work in professional audio. Application opens on June 1, 2021 – Apply Here

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION

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

SELECTION PROCESS & NOTIFICATION

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

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

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

QUESTIONS?

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

APPLY HERE

Additional Scholarships to Apply for

The Ethel Gabriel Scholarship

SoundGirls Scholarships

 

 

Fixing the #BrokenRecord Business

 

Should we be readdressing how we split revenue for streaming?

 

As we approach the middle of 2020, there’s no doubt that we are increasingly living in an online world. While technological developments mean that many of us are lucky enough to stay connected with loved ones, the hit taken by those working in the music and entertainment business has been a big one. Since the Covid-19 crisis took hold a large proportion of industry professionals are struggling financially, unable to work, bringing the issue of musicians’ earnings to the forefront. In May the USA asked Congress for improved support for musicians in the next relief package, however, in the UK there have been several prominent conversations happening about music streaming payments.

Streaming revenues have gone up year on year and the IFPI announced 56% of $20 billion global revenues last year from streaming. The average payout per stream is £0.00076 on Apple Play and £0.0004 on Spotify. These numbers are an average as the calculations for payment are often complex and take into account many different factors. The overall split example of the current working model outlines:

 

 

In the UK the Ivors Academy and the Musicians’ Union have formed the “Keep Music Alive” alliance and launched a petition to the Government for an industry review of streaming. Ivors Academy CEO Graham Davies believes the current model is out-dated and not suited to the way the industry currently works:

“It is time to replace the pre-digital record industry models with a system that is fit for our digital future. Currently, payments are still structured around record labels being exclusively responsible for recording, manufacture, shipping, and marketing. Those days are gone and now we see songwriters, publishers, performers, managers, and producers investing heavily in developing music and acts. They do this in their own studios, at their own cost, in their own time and at their own risk.”

Another campaign initiated by UK musician and PRS Director Tom Gray has been working for change in tandem by launching the #BrokenRecord campaign to #FixStreaming. Gray argues that the split amounts broken down further into their respective copyright areas highlight some of the problems when it comes to streaming.

The 4 associated rights with a song are:

Gray explains the current model states there is no broadcasting element to streaming, and so the Neighbouring Right doesn’t get taken into account at all and is eliminated from the equation. He argues the suggested songs that automatically play next on streaming platforms are more like broadcast radio and that this element should be changed. Another point he makes is the companies that own the Major Labels are also the biggest publishers in the world. If there are publishers working on behalf of songwriters then they will control the song, which means the Performance Rights and the Mechanical Rights goes to them.

Whilst Gray covers the legal and technical elements of ownership in-depth, he also equates how many streams it takes in the current model to afford various supermarket items, using practical examples we can all understand to demonstrate the stark reality of streaming for musicians.

Gray also highlights an interesting area of streaming that may have been unknown to most of us: your subscription fees do not necessarily go to the artists that you have listened to. “If you listen to one song in a month, of your £9.99 subscription, £0.005 would go to the one song you listened to. £3 would go to Spotify and £6.995 would go to music you haven’t listened to.”

 

Along with Gray, several arguments for a “user-centric” model have been made by others in recent years to address this issue. Stuart Dredge from musically.com explains:

“The current ‘pro rata’ system used by streaming services divides their royalty pool by each track’s share of streams in a given period. If Drake gets 5% of the streams, his rights holders get 5% of the royalties. Which means that even if you never play Drake’s music, he’s getting 5% of your subscription. However, under a user-centric model, the royalties from your monthly payment would only go to the tracks that you listened to.”

Dredge acknowledges it is unknown just how successful this change would be in practice, but also notes that Deezer plans to trial a user-centric model in France (with labels only) to find out how this might translate in the future.

While it still seems that the answer to fully addressing the complexities of streaming revenue may be some way off, it’s a topic that is getting a great deal of coverage with one main theme in common: the streaming market is largely unregulated at present and there seems to be a unanimous call to collecting societies to become more active and involved in this area.

You can read more about the current petition updates at https://www.change.org/p/the-rt-hon-oliver-dowden-cbe-mp-secretary-of-state-for-digital-culture-media-and-sport-it-s-time-to-fixstreaming

Ivors Academy: https://ivorsacademy.com/campaign/keep-music-alive/

Tom Gray: @MrTomGray https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1249290407088881675.html

Stuart Dredge: https://musically.com/2020/05/13/what-are-user-centric-music-streaming-payouts/

Finishing a Song and Workflow

What finishing a song a week taught me about workflow?

I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and for a long time, I thought this was a good thing. That was until I read a quote recently that stated:

Done is Better than Perfect

Initially, I was skeptical. When I applied it to music-making I thought to myself I would rather have things perfect than simply completed. Who wants a mediocre piece of work that is done over an intricately detailed piece that might not be completed?

I realised at this moment that I have hard drives full of unfinished work simply because I have deemed it ‘imperfect’.  Yet I have very few finished pieces of work in comparison.

So, I set myself a challenge to start writing and FINISHING a song a week. The rules were it didn’t have to be perfect, I didn’t have to like it, it just had to be DONE.

A month later and many songs completed I realised that I was wrong.

Before I would spend days EQ’ing a kick drum and weeks getting the perfect balance of reverb only to be exhausted with the song months later.

Writing and finishing a song in a week has given me the boundaries I need to prioritise what needs done and limited the amount of time I work on everything. Resulting in the feeling of accomplishment having seen something through to the end.

I ultimately have started liking my one-week songs over the ones I spent four months writing the verses for!

So, if you’re like me and spending an unhealthy amount of time trying to make something ‘perfect’ may I suggest putting a time limit on it and remember –  it doesn’t have to be polished, it just has to be done.

 

Fernanda Starling- Staying Versatile

From the mountains of Brazil to the hills of Los Angeles, Fernanda Starling has come a long way in her career in audio.

Fernanda was raised in Belo Horizonte (or “beautiful horizon” in English), the capital city of Brazil’s Minas Gerais state. Surrounded by mountains, “Beagá”– as it is known to locals – is a cultural capital. It is particularly known for giving birth to the progressive-jazz-folk musician collective Clube da Esquina, who are regarded as the founders of one of the most important Brazilian musical movements. In the shadows of this popular music scene, a number of heavy metal bands were founded, including the legendary Sepultura.

Fernanda spent her teenage years going to a variety of concerts and eventually started learning how to play bass. In 2002, she formed her first original band with two other musicians. They recorded their demo with André Cabelo, a well-known local audio engineer and owner of Estúdio Engenho. This was her introduction to the world of professional audio. “For the following one-and-a-half to two years, I kept bumping into André at live concerts,” she recalls. “One of those nights, he mentioned that his studio was so busy that he was thinking about getting an intern. Even though I was already working as a journalist full-time, I didn’t think twice about taking the opportunity.”

She immediately immersed herself in the process of studio recording and editing for music. At the end of 2004, after several months of assisting on recordings and mixings, Fernanda was hired by Cabelo: “his studio became my audio school.  It was a non-stop recording environment: we often did three sessions per day, generally with three different artists, of all genres”.

Her proven studio recording abilities also led her to receive a federal grant to work as the main Audio Engineer for the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) School of Music. There, she was responsible for recording and mixing classical albums as a member of an all-women research group between 2007 and 2009. This particular recording project was noteworthy, as it catalogued, recorded, and published more than 250 classical songs written by Brazilian composers for the first time.

As an avid learner, Fernanda also chose to complete an intensive certificate course called “Fundamentals in Audio and Acoustics” at the Institute of Audio and Video in São Paulo.

In the Heart of the Music Industry

In 2010, Fernanda moved to Los Angeles to continue pursuing her education in music production. She completed a certificate in Independent Music Production at UCLA Extension in 2012 and then started an Optional Practical Training program right after graduation, which allowed her to pursue work in her field.  Although some might think going back to school later in life would be difficult, Fernanda speaks highly of the experience: “I don’t regret going back to school full-time. It gave me the opportunity to immerse myself into a different culture and meet important industry professionals who still influence my life to this day.”

One of those key people is a music producer and audio engineer Peter Barker. Barker is the co-owner of Threshold Sound + Vision, where Fernanda interned. Under his guidance, she started working as a post-production sound editor and mixer assistant. By the end of 2016, Fernanda had worked alongside Barker on the 5.1 mixes for numerous DVD/Blu-ray projects, such as Dio’s “Finding the Sacred Heart – Live In Philly 1986”, Alan Jackson’s “Keepin’ It Country Tour!”, and Heart’s “Live at the Royal Albert Hall”.

Gradually, Fernanda found herself gravitating from studio recording to film and television audio, where there were more job opportunities. She invested in a full production sound kit and owns all the equipment that is needed to record professional audio on film sets. Since 2013, she has worked as a “one-man band”, providing field recording and mixing for independent short and feature films, commercials, TV shows, and documentaries.

Breaking into Live TV 

On the Broadcast side, Fernanda stays busy as a Pro Tools Operator/Recordist for live and live-to-tape productions. Her credits include big shows such as Celebrity Family Feud, Grease Live!, MTV Video and Music Awards, The Christmas Story Live! and The Oscars. Typically, she works from remote TV units: “besides the audio broadcast truck, responsible for the mixing of the production elements, music and concert productions also require an additional truck – or even two, depending on the complexity – to handle the music mix of the live performances.”

Fernanda in the Mojave Desert recording sound for the tv series “Big Red: The Original Outlaw Race” (NBC Sports).

Since 2016, she has also worked with Music Mix Mobile West (M3W), an award-winning remote facility company that specializes in recording and mixing music for broadcast. M3W regularly handles audio for award shows and live music performances on television, such as The MTV Movie & TV Awards, the Grammy Legends Award, iHeartRadio Music Festival, iHeartRadio Jingle Ball and KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas. Asked why she likes broadcast audio, Fernanda states: “the complexity and live element make it both a challenging and fascinating environment. These types of television productions typically encompass 160 inputs (and up to 192!) and feature numerous live performances with quick changeovers, so the multi-track recording plays a crucial role. What you hear on air is always a live mix, but the mix settings are prepared in advance.”

In the lead-up to the event, she records the soundchecks & rehearsals. Once the act leaves the stage, she plays back the captured audio so the music mixer can revisit the songs, fine-tune the mix and create snapshots for the live show. Alongside M3W’s co-owners, the renowned audio engineers’ Bob Wartinbee and Mark Linett, Fernanda has recorded countless A-list acts such as John Mayer, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Beck, Lady Gaga, and Alicia Keys.

Her credits also include working as an assistant and audio engineer for the multi-Emmy Award-winning sound engineer/ playback mixer Pablo Munguia, who she met while studying at UCLA.  She has worked alongside him in music playback mixing for The Grammy Awards, The American Music Awards, The Oscars, and The Emmy Awards, amongst others. For these award shows, Fernanda is responsible for building and testing the playback systems at the shop and then assisting Munguia on whatever he needs during the production.

A multi-talented engineer, Fernanda is grateful for all the opportunities she has had in the entertainment industry: “being able to stay true to my musical roots and working with legendary audio engineers is definitely one of the best parts of the job!”

You studied journalism at university. Do you wish you had had the opportunity to study audio engineering first?

Is audio engineering school really worth it? This is a common question and I have always wondered that myself. To be sincere with you, after I had finished high school and had to pick a career, I didn’t even know that audio was an option… The reality in Brazil is different from North America.  I became more familiar with the audio world while working as a journalist.

Back when I started my post-secondary education, there were no universities offering a bachelor’s degree in audio. There are a few private audio schools in Brazil, most of them in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, but they just offered short-term certificate programs. Today, if I am correct, there is actually one university in Brazil offering a degree in audio engineering.

The way I’ve always tried to compensate for the lack of having an audio diploma is taking multiple short-term courses and classes to fill specific gaps in my knowledge as I advanced in my career.

It seems that the audio industry is much different in Brazil then what we experience in North America. Can you speak to the differences? 

Like I mentioned above, there is little access to formal education in audio. Besides that, the limited access to professional high-end gear may be one of the biggest differences. Brazil’s tariff regime is ridiculous! Imported manufactured products are subject to a wide range of taxes at all stages of the chain. Because of that, the final price of an audiovisual product is two to three times more expensive than it would be in the US. Therefore, independent studios in Brazil are not as well equipped as the American ones. One of the first lessons I learned from my first studio mentor, André Cabelo, was that gear is not the most important thing in the business: neither for making a good mix or to build and keep your clientele. What counts most is mastering the craft, having a relationship of trust between artist and the engineer, and creating a welcoming environment.

Another difference is that federal government incentives play a big role in the Brazilian audiovisual and music production world, particularly in the independent scene. Maybe because of that and other cultural aspects, independent Brazilian artists get more of a chance to perceive music as more of an art then as a product?

Can you explain what you mean by these federal government incentives? 

There are numerous kinds of tax relief, i.e. tax benefits and incentives at all levels of government (federal, state, and local) in Brazil. Some grants, for example, are based on fiscal incentives that allow for companies or individuals to invest a share of their income in cultural projects in exchange for a tax reduction. Those benefits not only help to promote and democratize the access to culture but also directly supports independent artists. When an artist receives a grant, they can dedicate themselves to their craft, record & promote their album without worrying about working multiple jobs to fund their musical career. Besides helping musicians directly, these policies also benefit studio owners, audio engineers, and other professionals involved in the Brazilian music industry.

I will say I was shocked when I arrived in the US in 2010. I was used to a non-stop recording environment back in Brazil and it seemed that here, very few independent artists had the budget or opportunity to go to the studio and record full albums.

What about the TV Broadcast and film Industries? What are the biggest differences between America & Brazil? 

When we talk about TV programmers and filmmaking, it is almost unfair to compare the production capabilities of both countries. This is because of the difference in the size of their populations, and the difference in the ability to recover production costs domestically. It is often cheaper for Brazilian media companies to buy series & films from the US than to produce their own. In Brazil, the content produced outside the TV broadcasters, including film, is reduced and depends on government incentives.

Another difference is that broadcast TV is an extremely concentrated sector in Brazil, dominated by Rede Globo. They are one of the largest commercial television corporations outside of the United States and the largest producer of telenovelas (soap operas) in the world. Generally speaking, the US is famous for producing and exporting film, while Brazil is famous for producing and exporting telenovelas. It’s actually really impressive what the Brazilian TV industry has managed to create:  there are three original soaps going out every evening, and each series lasts approximately 200 episodes.

Can you tell us more about your experiences as a musician?

The FuDogs at the “Venice Beach Music Festival

Although music is my passion, I also had to focus on my careers, which were first journalist and then audio engineer. The best bands I played in were the ska ones. I Brazil I had a 7-piece ska band called Os Inflamáveis (The Inflammables). We had tons of fun playing together in small venues and festivals. Before I left Brazil, we were playing every Sunday at a local pub. I used to say that playing ska is my therapy: the bass lines are interesting to play, and the music lifts you up! I also joined other bands while I lived in Béaga and played as a hired musician for an artist called Makely Ka, but Os Inflamáveis was by far my favorite experience.

When I moved to LA, I really missed playing in bands. One day, out of curiosity, I checked the musician section on Craigslist and I couldn’t believe my eyes! There was a post about an opening for a bass player in a local ska band and went to audition.  I passed the audition and joined the Fu Dogs, we played together for five years at several special events in Santa Monica and Venice, as well as well-known venues like The Roxy.  I also played briefly with an original power trio called Bombay Beach Revival, and with FEMZeppelin, a female Led Zeppelin cover band.

It seems that Belo Horizonte had a vivid independent music scene. Besides playing in bands, is there anything else you miss? 

I would say that it’s quite easy to become a workaholic when you live in LA, especially when you love what you do. I definitely miss Beagá’s nightlife and the social life I used to have… There was always something to do! If I wasn’t going to my friends’ concert, I was bumping into them at cultural events or festivals or we were enjoying a good conversation at the bar. This popular local saying perfectly sums up life in my hometown: “se não tem mar, vamos pro bar” (we have no sea, let’s go the bar).

What is your favorite piece of gear?

I don’t have a particular one any recording device fascinates me for its capacity of capturing the uniqueness of a specific moment and then being able to play it back later!

I do use redundant Pro Tools Systems for broadcast recordings and Sound Device’s 633 mixer/recorder for my one-band-man field recording. At M3W’s studio truck, I oversee running a redundant Pro Tools MADI System (up to 196 inputs each) for audio recording (one as backup) and a satellite system for video playback locked to either of the recorders. I also like combining a flying pack of Pro Tools Madi and Sound Devices 970 when I have a gig that requires redundancy and a high track count below 64 inputs.

What advice would you give to young women looking to get into the audio field?

Try to learn from other people’s experiences. Surround yourself with those who know more than you. Read manuals. Be open to changes. Be professional. Understand the psychological aspect of working with artists… And remember that there is no right or wrong path, just keep working on your skills, take care of your emotional health, be worthy of trust, and be patient.

The SoundGirls Podcast Fernanda Starling: Live sound broadcast mixer, post-production, SKA bassist

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent – Profiles of Women in Audio

 

SoundGirls Secondary Skills Series – Tour Managing

Working in professional audio is tough in the best of circumstances, COVID-19 has made this much more difficult and impossible in live events and the filming side. (We expect this will start trickling down to the post-production side soon)

SoundGirls is launching a series of webinars to help you develop secondary skills that can help you become more versatile in the types of gigs you can take.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Wearing Two Hats.

Zoom Webinars

May 11 Basic Intro to Tour Managing

May 18 – Pre-Tour Organization, Creating a Budget and Advancing

May 25 – Day of Show

6 PM to 8 PM EST

Register Here – a link to the webinar will be emailed to you

When starting out as a Live Sound Engineer, you will encounter gigs that require you to wear two hats. The Tour Manager or Production Manager and Sound Engineer are the most common dual roles you will encounter. Being able to handle both roles effectively will make you more valuable, increase your skillset, and allow you to gain the experience you need to tour solely as a Sound Engineer or Tour Manager.

What do you need to know to tour manage? Tour managing is similar to herding cats. Why would anyone want to herd cats? It’s difficult, time-consuming, and the cats don’t like it. These days touring budgets are shrinking and the crews are often smaller. This means when you are starting your career in live sound, you will be required to do more than one job. Engineer/TM/PM is a favorite combination.  If you gain the skills to TM/Engineer, you will be paid more and make yourself more valuable.

 

Moderated by Misty Roberts – A veteran Tour Manager and Coordinator of 20+ years, Misty has been pivotal in opening up the conversation regarding Mental Health in touring.  As a leading member of Show Maker Symposium, she is helping to develop content in these times of need to assist her industry peers.  As the founding member of the Women In Touring Summit, she continues to advocate for change in the touring industry on behalf of the 1,800 members of the group.

In addition to guiding the conversation with mental health and substance abuse professionals on the I’m With the Crew weekly webinar which addresses mental resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic, Misty also hosts the Tales From Seat 4A podcast- providing interviews with industry heavy hitters in the creative fields of comedy, music touring and movie production.  Slowly she’s finding her comfortable spot being in front of the camera instead of behind it.

 

Dana Wachs is a Brooklyn based Audio Engineer, Tour Manager, and Composer/Musician. Dana started her career in music in 1994, as bass player for the Dischord band Holy Rollers, which ignited her interest in live sound, after a national tour supporting 7 Year Bitch. Her first foray into the practice of live sound began after that at the Black Cat DC, and later the infamous 9:30 club.

Dana’s first national tour was as TM/FOH for Peaches supporting Queens of the Stone Age in 2002.  Her first International tour quickly followed in 2003 with Cat Power.  Since then, touring has kept her on the road 9 to 11 months out of the year with bands such as MGMT, St. Vincent, M.I.A., Grizzly Bear, Foster the People, Nils Frahm, Deerhunter, and Jon Hopkins to name a few.

Outside of touring, Dana composes and performs under the name Vorhees, with two releases on Styles Upon Styles (Brooklyn), and is currently composing her first feature film score.

Mary Broadbent is a Tour Manager, Production Manager, and Guitar-Backline Tech who’s been in the music touring industry for 16+ years. She’s tour managed for artists such as The Mowglis, The Staves, Loote, Wrabel, Plain White T’s, and production managed/stage-managed the festival Girlschool and She Rocks Awards 2018 & 2020. In 2015 she added Guitar-Backline teching to her skillset working for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Mowglis, The Staves, Plain White T’s, and Tegan and Sara. She serves as a TM/PM mainly but pulls double duty Tour Managing & Teching when tours require it. She finished off 2019 Tour Managing for Clairo on her Immunity Tour in the US & Europe and started off 2020 Guitar Teching for Against Me!  when the industry was put on pause by Covid-19. She lives in Los Angeles, and is using this ‘ pause ‘ in the touring world to take a Mixing Live Sound Course and advancing her on-going guitar lessons.

Maxime Brunet is a Canadian freelance FOH engineer and has worked as a Tour Manager. She has toured internationally with artists such as Wolf Parade, and Operators, amongst others. She has also developed an intro to live sound class aimed at women and non-binary musicians, which she has taught in multiple cities across Canada.

Tiffany Hendren - Dedication, Hard Work and EmotionTiffany Hendren is a full-time sound engineer and head audio tech at Del Mar Hall in St. Louis. She has toured as FOH Engineer and Tour Manager for Betty Who. She is also a co-director of SoundGirls.

 

X