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Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

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Member Benefits

As a member of SoundGirls you get:

ESSENTIAL LIVE SOUND TRAINING: HOW LIVE SOUND WORKS FOR SHOWS.

SoundGirls Members get one month free. Register Here. Here’s what the Essential Live Sound Training consists of:

  • 1. Over 100 videos, each one an easy to watch, bite sized piece of information. Every part of the audio systems we use for live sound is broken down into its own video, which makes it really fast to find exactly the info you’re looking for.
  • 2. Explanation of fundamental audio concepts that EVERY audio engineer should know. This is the technical stuff that you need to get a complete understanding of how live sound works for a show.
  • 3. One of a kind diagrams. A lot of audio concepts are pretty abstract! So, I worked with a world-class graphic designer to create some amazing visual learning tools that will help you see some of the topics we’re discussing.
  • 4. Quizzes. Every video has a quiz so you can review what you’ve learned by checking your knowledge. This is a great way to make sure you’ve got it!
  • 5. Q&A Webinars. I will be holding LIVE Q&A sessions where you can ask me any questions related to live sound or touring production. This can be about anything you want to know – what gear I use on tour, how to mix with prerecorded tracks, what a tour manager does, any kind of audio technical issues, ways we apply this knowledge on stage, or anything else.

Dale Pro Audio Discount – SoundGirls Members receive a 10% discount on almost every product offered at Dale Pro Audio. (Offer excludes discounts on Apple, Antelope Audio, Manley, and Focal). Of course, Dale Pro Audio would love to meet you in person, if you are in NY stop by and ask for Lisa.  email soundgirls@soundgirls.org with you member username to request discount code.

SoundGirls Lending Library

SoundGirls members are able to check out a book from our library for 30 days. It is free for members.

Rational Acoustics – Smaart 15% Discount at their online store

System Measurement Acoustic Analysis Real-time Tool (SMAART):

System Measurement – This is a dual-channel analyzer.  We can look at individual channels and take those signals apart to examine their level, frequency content, duration, etc . . . And we can compare two signals, the “what went in” of a system to the “what came out,” to determine what happened in between. In other words, what our systems (electronics, speakers, acoustical environments) are doing to the signals passing through them (frequency response, impulse response.)

email soundgirls@soundgirls.org for the discount code – good for one use per person.

Emerson College Los Angeles – Studio Discount

SoundGirl Members are able to rent the studio at Emerson College for a discounted rate of $35 per hour. If you are interested in this offer – please email us at soundgirls@soundgirls.org – with your name, email and SoundGirls username name.

Studio Specs:

Emerson LA: Audio Recording Studio Equipment List
• S6 M10 Avid Control Surface
• Neumann U87 microphone
• 4 SM57 microphones
• Sennheiser MKH 416 Shotgun Microphone
• 2 Focusrite ISA Two Mic Preamps
• Aston Spirit Multi Pattern Microphone
• Adam Sub 12s
• IW 150 M&K Sound Speakers
• Genelec Nearfield Monitors
• Avid HD I/O
• Avid Xmon
• ProTools HD
• Audio Plugins
o Waves Horizon Plug-in Bundle
o Altiverb
o Auto-tune Antares 8
o Izotope RX Post Production Suite
o Slate Digital Plugins (Coming Soon)

Wage Gap Discount

Empirical Labs Inc. (ELI), designs and manufactures professional audio signal processing equipment used in recording studios, live sound, broadcast studios and other audio production facilities all over the world. They also produce plug-ins for digital audio workstations (DAWS) and software for digital signal processors.

Empirical Labs would like to address the intersectional wage-gap by offering a 33% discount on their Arousor plug-in to all SoundGirls members.

To take advantage of this offer, email soundgirls@soundgirls.org  and enter ELISoundGirl in the subject line.

SoundGirls Note:

About Those 79 Cents

The most frequently cited pay-gap statistic obscures the even wider gaps faced by people of color. Often, this argument is accompanied by the now-famous statistic that women earn about 79 cents for every dollar men make at work. This is an important data point, but focusing on that figure alone masks the role race can play in perpetuating these disparities.

For instance, it is important to ask: Which women? The 79-cents statistic is an average that includes all women, but it obscures the even wider gaps faced by women of color. For black women, the number is closer to 65 cents, while for Latinas it is even lower, at 54 cents. This data draws attention to the fact that while women as a group aren’t paid as much as men, women of color see even more pronounced earnings gaps. Read more

Stage Hands Clothing is a woman owned company and holds a deep value and passion for the rights of others. They care about where products are made and who makes them.  They work very hard to find a balance between supporting American owned companies, identifying American manufactured goods, offering union made options, and providing input from experienced and knowledgeable current backstage professionals.

To meet these goals, they created a coding system to educate the consumer. It is important to Stage Hands Clothing that the customer is able to make the most educated decision concerning the products they buy.

They work hard to identify products from USA companies first.  Additionally, when tradespeople have a favorite product, not produced in the USA, Stage Hands Clothing will selectively sell these items. They do their best to label their products so you can make the most educated choices. When it comes to your workwear and gear, they strive to ensure you will be the most knowledgeable consumer and prepared stage hand on the site.

Stage Hands Clothing offers SoundGirls members a 20% discount on your entire cart. Email soundgirls@soundgirls.org for your coupon code

Uptowork’s Online Resume Builder – Choose professional, elegant, creative, or modern resume templates. Uptowork’s resume maker offers 20 templates in 400 colors. You can easily adapt the designs to any resume format you choose: functional, reverse-chronological, or combination. SoundGirls Members receive access to their free platform using code SoundG53% at checkout

Soulsound.co.uk – 25% Membership Discount

Get the tools you need to accelerate your career in audio engineering. Soulsound.co.uk is a members-only website supporting sound engineers from college to world tour and in the studio, offering online video tutorials, master classes, quick tips, and more.

SoundGirls.Org members can enjoy a 25% discount off any of their membership plans.

To take advantage of this offer, email soundgirls.org@gmail.com and enter Soulsound in the subject line.

Sound Design Live – One FREE Consultation

Sounddesignlive.com offers web-based training dedicated to revealing the most helpful strategies and information for success in the audio industry.

Sound Design Live is currently offering SoundGirls.Org members a free initial consultation called Success in Sound.

Success in Sound is a free personalized strategy session where we will:

To schedule your free consultation, e-mail soundgirls.org@gmail.com and enter Sound Design Live Offer in the subject line. Please include your login name, login e-mail, or SoundGirls member profile URL in the e-mail body so we may verify your member status.

Free Admission to Music Expo

MUSIC EXPO is the premier music conference in the San Francisco Bay Area for artists, recording musicians, songwriters, music producers, audio engineers, DJs, students or anyone interested in the art of music making. It’s a full day of educational sessions with music production masterclasses, music business panels.

email soundgirls@soundgirls.org for your free admission code

Free Admission to Sound Productions Workshops and Seminars – Located in Dallas, Texas

email soundgirls@soundgirls.org for complimentary admission

 

SoundGirls Sound System Optimization Workshop Denmark

20160921_114621In September, SoundGirls.Org hosted a workshop on Sound System Optimization that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The workshop was organized by SoundGirls Representatives Malle Kaas and Petra Randewijk and featured instructors Theis Romme and Rasmus Rosenberg. The workshop was held at Amager Bio and made use of their L’Acoustics Kudo System.

The two day workshop focused on the skills needed to properly tune a sound system using audio acoustical analysis software. Attendees were provided information on how to identify crossover points, optimal equalization, delay times and speaker placement.

20161122_131720Both instructors are industry veterans and brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the workshop. Theis Romme is a project manager at Victory Tour Production and System Engineer for ‘Volbeat’. Rasmus Rosenberg is a freelance engineer and an instructor at several institutes in System Design and Optimization, he is also a Super-User of Smaart and a Beta tester for Smaart v7 and v8.

Using analyzing methods to optimize a sound system isn’t a new idea. It started out in 1978 with engineers ‘Dr Don’ Pearson and Dan Healy, that toured with the Grateful Dead. They would utilize a Bruel & Kjaer 2032 Audio analyzer to optimize the PA of the day.They were posting their results in different articles and this led to a cooperation with companies like Meyer Sound and Rational Acoustics, who would go on to develop measuring methods that would later result in software applications like SIM3 and Smaart.

Rasmus hoped that the workshop would be driven by those attending, he was not let down. Stating that “The participants were well prepared and attentive. We hoped the class would be driven by the participants, their questions, curiosity and desire for new knowledge, and we got all what we hoped for”.  Theis and Rasmus designed the workshop and drew from several sources. Meyer Sound, Rational Acoustics, industry training sessions, power point presentations, and the unique drive rack they designed, built and use for system optimization.

This gave the participants a understanding of the workflow of a system tech, and the measurement platforms, role and function in that context. Rasmus says that “ by reviewing a “typical” day workflow and focused on the four different phases we divide a day into, Design, Verification, Optimization, Show. By showing, the workflow, context and results of our methods, we encouraged the participants to dig even deeper into the specific knowledge of the different subjects and techniques, that we touched on”.

20160920_163057The first day, Rasmus explained the theoretical side of system measurement by introducing the group to basic terms of Smaart. Smaart was chosen, as it is the most commonly used acoustical audio analysis software. With software like Smaart it is possible to find information on room acoustics, output of the speaker system, phase, SPL, room coverage, delay times and frequency response, all useful information to optimize a sound system. ‘Theis did recommend using Smaart for monitors as well.

It is one thing to understand the theoretical aspects of audio analysis software programs, but an entirely different thing to translate that into practical use. So on day two, Theis took the group through the practical side of working with a measurement program, how to optimize a system, showed on- and off-axis measurement positions, phase alignment,etc. He also gave the group some options for system design and sets of workflow.

Theis also took ran through a couple of practical exercises, where attendees could change position of speakers or adjust spl levels of the subs, so they could get a sense of the impact such changes have positively or negatively. Theis also imparted an important lesson -Often you will have to make compromises and make difficult decisions that may sacrifice audio and acoustical quality, but this is part of being a team player in the overall production. Knowing how to optimize less than positive conditions is a skill all engineers need to have.

While the experience level of everyone attending varied, Rasmus and Theis adapted information to everyone’s level. Both Rasmus and They did a fantastic and left those attending with more than enough information to continuing learning.The most important thing they imparted to the group was confidence to start working with a measurement program and to keep learning.

20160920_204912This might have been the first time so many women engineers from all over Europe were gathered in one place. We hosted a total of thirteen SoundGirls from six different countries and one SoundMan. Over the two days everyone dug into learning the complexities of tuning a system and Smaart. They also made new friendships across nationality and background. Everyone shared their experiences from their work back home.

We had members attending from Norway, Finland, Lithuania, Denmark, the Netherlands and England. While all that attended came to learn and grow as engineers – they all said that finding and meeting other women engineers was a driving factor. “To find out if I am all alone or if I have some fellow female techs” said Kristina a member attending from Norway.

When attendees were asked if they would use the information in the workplace the responses were a resounding yes. Terhi from Finland said “ time aligning a delay line has never been as easy as it was yesterday on my gig at a church”. Kristina from Norway had used it solve some low end issues, and Louise also from Norway was purchasing a new soundcard and giving measuring another go. Aiste from Lithuania says “ I work in a theater so first I will use it at my venue, and also as we are travel around with the shows I can measure the systems in all different venues. Gaining experience myself and making sure that the sound I get, coming to an unknown venue is matching the settings I am working in as much as possible”.

When asked if they would travel to attend another seminar Brigit from Denmark said “ I would definitely travel a long distance to attend a Soundgirl workshop again!” and Kristina from Norway said “Yes!Now even more willing! Both for the seminar and to hang out with the other techs”.

A big thank you to Theis Romme, Rasmus Rosenberg, Kim Kahn Technical chief at Amager Bio and Mikkel Alyd House tech at Amager Bio for doing a great job! And a big thanks to all the SoundGirls that attended.

If you couldn’t make this workshop we have asked Theis and Rasmus if they will teach this workshop again in September 2017.  Always check the website for up to date news and events. 2017 events are in the planning stages and will be posted as they are confirmed.

Karen Anderson- Smaart Woman

 

Rational Acoustics is the owner and developer for Smaart and is dedicated to developing the next generation of acoustic measurement and optimization software.  The company was founded by Karen Anderson and her husband, Jamie in 2008.

Karen Anderson has spent 20 years working in professional audio for leading audio manufacturers EAW and Meyer Sound before starting Rational Acoustics, where she is COO and Director of Marketing.   “After graduating from UC Berkley in 1991, I worked for the California Shakespeare Festival for a summer as a lighting technician, but pretty quickly realized that I was not cut out for the instability of the freelance theater lifestyle. So I took a job as the receptionist at Meyer Sound in Berkeley and immediately became enchanted with both the technology and the overall vibe of the professional audio industry.” Karen worked in various positions at Meyer until she ultimately landed in marketing. It is also where she met her husband Jamie who was the technical support manager and SIM instructor.

Necessity creates a job

Karen and husband Jamie

Karen and husband Jamie

In the early 90s, Meyer Sound was a much smaller company than it is today. At that time, it lacked a formal marketing department, so Karen took it upon herself to fill that need. She started placing ads, writing marketing materials, planning tradeshows, etc. Eventually, she returned to college through a UC Berkley extension and received an Associates in Marketing, “just to make it official”. Karen says, “Marketing appeals to me because it is a mix of analytical and & creative thinking.   I can indulge my OCD side with spreadsheets and market research and planning & forecasting and my creative side by working with writers and designers to come up with fun & creative marketing campaigns. Marketing gives a unique insight into the industry because it doesn’t concern itself with just products and technologies, but also with trying to understand the pulse of the industry and the people in it. It doesn’t matter if you have the most technologically brilliant product on the planet if you cannot reach your customer base and speak to them in a way that they understand & appreciate.”

In 1999, Karen and Jamie left Meyer for the Northeast following career opportunities and more affordable cost of living. Both took jobs at EAW – Karen as Marketing Manager and Jamie as Smaart Production Manager. The two later formed Rational Acoustics with fellow EAW colleagues Calvert Dayton, and Adam Black in order to dedicate themselves to the development of the Smaart software platform.

Can you tell us about what led to the development of Smaart? 

“20 years ago, system measurement and optimization was seen as something that was “nice to have” but choices of sound system measurement tools were limited to some moderately priced RTA’s and a limited number of extremely expensive (hardware-based) dual-channel acoustic analyzers – most of which developed for industries and purposes outside of professional audio.  This put those tools outside of the price range and technical expertise of most day-to-day audio professionals. But in the mid-90’s the development of the personal laptop computer, with processors strong enough to run the mathematical algorithms required, allowed for the possibility of a software-based analyzer.   And thus, in 1995, Smaart was born. Since then Smaart has been in constant development both to keep up with and take advantage of, the ever changing and growing landscape of both the PC and professional audio industries.   Ten years ago it was a 2-channel, PC-only platform and today it’s a multi-channel, dual-platform program with not only live measurement capabilities, but an entire set of acoustic & intelligibility functionality.”

How did the idea for Rational Acoustics come about?

“Back in 2000, EAW was bought by Mackie Designs, which in 2003 became Loud Technologies and was then bought by Sun Capital Partners, a private equity firm. Between 2003 and 2008 there was a tremendous amount of changes within Loud Technologies and within EAW. We both felt that our roles within the organization had strayed very far from what we wanted them to be and that Smaart was a great product that was being overlooked and under-served within such a large organization. We believed (and continue to believe) that for Smaart to grow as a product and for the Smaart user base to be best served, it needed to have a small team dedicated solely to its development & support. So in 2008 Jamie and I left and started Rational Acoustics, along with two other EAW guys Calvert Dayton and Adam Black. Since then we have been solely focused on developing, growing & supporting the Smaart platform. In 2010, we released Smaart v.7, which was the first Rational Acoustics developed version of Smaart. And we have since created a simplified 2-channel version of Smaart v.7, called Smaart v.7 Di, as well as some Rational Acoustics branded accessory hardware pieces. We are now a company of 7 full –time people and have a network of dealers and distributors selling & supporting Smaart in over 25 countries as well as a team of audio educators teaching Smaart classes all across the planet in multiple languages. “

Smaart in use

Smaart in use

How did you choose the name of the company?

“The name Rational Acoustics was not chosen lightly. It was very important to us to create the kind of company that we would want to work for as employees and do business with if we were customers- One with sane and “rational” policies and expectations. We hire the best people we can find, pay them well, give them a fun & supportive work environment and the responsibility & autonomy to succeed in their jobs. Being small and privately owned allows us to be nimble and flexible in everything we do, from product development to sales, to employee policies, to marketing.   We hate layers of management and loads of paperwork and pointless corporate policies. Our motto is “Show up. Do your job. Don’t be a dick.” After that, everything else is simple.”

Women in high positions in audio and sound companies are rare, and often over shadowed and or dismissed as handling HR, hiring, or marketing. These are valuable roles and doing marketing for the company requires more than a basic understanding of the product or products and more than a basic understanding of audio and the industry.  Karen has found this to be true and has also faced stereotypes and sexism. “Over the past 20 years I have had my fair share of folks dismiss me as tradeshow booth babe. I’ve been called “little darlin’” more than once (which is ironic as I am neither little, nor a darlin’).   And it’s pretty common for someone on the phone or at a tradeshow to ask me to find “someone technical” for them to talk to. When I was younger this kind of thing bothered me but now it mostly just amuses me. And to be fair, this was much more common earlier in my career. Today, I think most men in the industry are very supportive and accepting of the greater prevalence of higher-level, technically savvy women colleagues. Even though women may only make up about 5% of the pro audio industry today, ten years ago it was probably only about 2 or 3%. So the numbers are trending in the right direction (although maybe not as fast as some would like). And as those numbers continue to grow, I would hope that the stereotypes & sexism continue to diminish.”

What are three important lessons you’ve learned over your career?:

1- Be Nice to Everyone: I know it sounds obvious, but strangely it’s not (for some).  I am a firm believer in the whole “you attract more flies with honey than with vinegar” thing.  Not only is it the right thing to do on a moral and philosophical level, but the professional audio community is way too small and interconnected to go around making enemies.

2- Measure Twice, Cut Once:  Slow down and take five extra minutes to do something right the first time.   Every time I have cut corners to get something done quickly or cheaply, I have paid for it down the road.

3 – Never Stop Learning:  When we started Rational Acoustics, my entire career had been spent doing marketing and then suddenly I had to learn a whole slew of new skills like accounting & human resources & business admin.  It was daunting but incredibly satisfying.  It’s the same thing with audio, the technologies are ever changing, and if you think you know it all & stop learning, you will quickly get left behind.

Karen has some advice for women pursuing a career in the professional audio industry: “To be successful as a woman in this industry requires confidence, a thick skin, a good sense of humor and to be really, really good at what you do. Unfortunately, because of the scarcity of women in high-level positions in professional audio a greater scrutiny is sometimes placed on those who are. That said, I think that professional audio is an industry in which respect is given based on results regardless of gender. Many of the male friends I have made in this industry are the most wonderful, respectful, supportive people who couldn’t care less what sex I am as long as we get the job done. Women who expect special treatment or demand respect based on their gender won’t get very far. Women who quietly kick ass at their job and are passionate about what they do, will.”

Outside of Rational Acoustics, Karen enjoys spending time with her husband and children and also riding her horse. “I have a Tennessee Walking Horse, named “Fame,” who I ride whenever I get the chance and who I compete with at various horse events during the spring and fall.  Mostly in cross country jumping.  My 14-year-old daughter rides as well, and we ride together, which is a really wonderful way to spend some mother-daughter time.  Riding is a great form of exercise and, for me, provides perfect stress relief.  The freedom of flying through the woods in partnership with a 1,000 pound animal with a mind of its own is a joy that is hard to explain. “

Karen and Fame

Karen and Fame

When asked how she finds balance in her life Karen replies, “I wish I could say I do!!  Because Jamie and I are married and own Rational together, it’s sometimes really hard to separate work from home.  Inevitably, work talk creeps into our nights & weekends.  And, having been in the industry for so long, most of our best friends are audio folks and any time we are in a theater or concert or even a restaurant or airport ….we are invariably checking out the audio systems.  It’s a sickness!! 🙂 Luckily our kids are always there to give us a reality check and help keep everything in perspective. “

What do you see as the future of system measurement and software?
As I mentioned… 20 years ago system measurement was a “nice to have”. Today, it’s a “must-have”. Almost every live tour has someone trained in Smaart or SysTune or SIM and time is set aside during load-in specifically for system measurement, tuning & optimization. Measurement software is now routinely spec’d into permanent audio installations, and there is a growing segment of the audio industry who make their living measuring & tuning systems on a freelance basis. Even the smaller system providers & “weekend warrior” sound guys are starting to carry measurement rigs. This is both a blessing and a curse. While it’s great that the overall technical baseline of the industry is being raised, folks can definitely get themselves in trouble by having really powerful measurement tools and not understanding how to make intelligent choices based on the data. So for us, usability is key. The challenge is to create tools to help the less experienced users utilize the full power of Smaart while continuing to develop the advanced features that our super users demand. Interoperability will also be important in the future. As networked audio systems become increasingly prevalent, I think you will start to see measurement capability built into, or accessible by more and more products. For example, Smaart v.7 currently works with both Lake Controller v.6 and Apex Intelli-ware to allow measurement traces from Smaart to be viewed and controlled directly within each.   And, Smaart RTA and Spectrograph functionality are currently embedded into the PreSonus Virtual StudioLive software for StudioLive mixers.
There will probably come a day when it will be unthinkable to have a professional audio system without a measurement rig somewhere in the mix. But as we stress to our users all the time, no matter how slick, software like Smaart is just a tool. It can help tremendously but cannot, and should not, replace the human element. Nothing can replace experience, the right gear and a great set of ears for a great sounding system.
Smaartv7DavidGuettaShow

 

 

Smaarter Than You- Who works for who when it comes to technology

In his book, “A Sense of the Mysterious”, author Alan Lightman suggests that technology has grown burdensome despite its advances because we’ve reversed the human-tech roles – whereas innovation used to strive to create purposeful tools for serving mankind, it now creates robotic nanny-masters that give us instructions and objectives, and we, in turn, serve them. Now, there’s no doubt that we have and do things on a daily basis, from the terrific to the mundane, that have been gifted to us by science and computers and math that look more like hieroglyphics than actual numbers. (more…)

Techniques for System and Wedge EQ

By: Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato

Tuning the system and ringing out wedges. There are many different techniques and everyone has their favorite- from simply speaking into the lead vocal microphone to utilizing tools like Smaart.  SoundGirls.Org spoke to several engineers to find out what techniques they employ. (more…)

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