LTATM Ep 11 Women Sound Engineers
Ep 11 Women Sound Engineers
In this landmark episode of Let’s Talk About The Music, Shels L Pixi sits down with four incredible women who are paving the way in the world of sound engineering, a field that’s still largely dominated by men.
Reference links
Ep 10 Women Sound Engineers
When I decided to rebrand Let’s Talk About The Music—keeping the name but restructuring it with a new vibe—I spent a lot of time thinking about where I wanted to take it. After all, this would be the third reinvention of my creation, and I wanted to incorporate everything that I had learned and make it the best source possible for supporting independent musicians and their music.
In my first reboot, my goal was to get LTATM on the radio. I achieved that mission when the old talk show made it onto KGRG. Working with Jon Kasprick and the sound engineers at KGRG was an amazing learning experience as we loaded the show on the radio station. Soon afterward, I had to put LTATM on hold for six years, as described on my website.
But then I got back on track and began thinking about the next incarnation of LTATM—as they say, three times the charm! For this go-round, I knew that I wanted to make it a priority to focus on some of the many incredible female individuals who help create the music that unites and inspires us. After all, women are often in the minority within the industry and have to work extra hard to prove themselves in a male-dominated world. While I certainly will continue to engage with male voices, as a female business owner I am committed to bringing women’s achievements out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
My experience at KGRG led me to wonder about women sound engineers, and my research took me on a very cool and educational journey. Women in sound (or audio) engineering—again, like many areas of the music industry—are often overshadowed by the men who dominate the field. According to Zippia, only about 8% of professionals in this sector are female, working just as hard as the guys but often.
Early Years of Women Sound Engineers
It can be difficult to pinpoint the first individual to accomplish a goal in a field that is already mostly behind the scenes, but Hilda E. McNair is often recognized as an early female pioneer in sound engineering. She began her work in the 1920s as a recording engineer for RCA Victor (now part of Sony); Hilda is thought to be the first woman to engineer a commercial music recording. The industry was still fairly new at the time, and she was instrumental in its growth.
Mary Shipman Howard is another noteworthy name from the early days of female sound engineers. In the 1940s, she was one of the first women to own and operate a recording studio, working with famous artists such as Glenn Miller, Arturo Toscanini, Charles Ives, and Samuel Barber.
Women like Hilda McNair and Mary Howard helped to break open the field of sound engineering for the many hard-working women of today, who continue to advance technology and creativity in musical recordings. These include Leslie Ann Jones, who has won multiple Grammys and works as Director of Music Recording and Scoring at Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm company; and Marcella Christina Araica, who has recorded and mixed tracks for Britney Spears, Duran Duran, and Madonna, among many others. For more, check out the LANDR Blog article on ten female sound engineers who are changing the face of music. Each story is deeply inspiring.
Episode 11 Guest Professionals
I met my guests through a private Facebook group titled Womxn & Audio. I am very honored to host four dynamic individuals on this episode who are prominent and talented in their field.
Alicia (Ali) Hannah of Basement Roots Entertainment
Ali has 20 years of studio audio recording experience, 15 years of live sound experience, and over 25 years of drumming for bands in various genres. Currently, she is a kick-ass drummer for both Digging for Change and Heart-Smashers. Ali mixes and masters both bands’ music, and she has generously assisted other musicians in their efforts. Her studio is famously known to many as the Kennel, and she will elaborate on this more in the group interview.
Denise Barbarita
Denise Barbarita is the owner and head engineer of MONOLisa Studios and a three-time Grammy Award-winning engineer and mixer. Over the past 20+ years, Denise has worked with independent artists and major clients alike across musical genres. (The majors include Sony Masterworks, EMI, and Koch Records along with organizations such as the New York Film Academy and MOMA.) She additionally works with film producers and directors in the creation of soundtracks for feature films, documentaries, trailers, and commercials. MONOLisa also offers ambisonic mixes for 360VR.
Giorgi Baino
The multi-talented Giorgi Biano is an educator, consultant, performing artist, and mentor who has owned and operated an analog multitrack MIDI studio since 1986 and a hybrid analog/digital/MIDI since 1993. (She’s a pioneer in MIDI and EDM, by the way.) An award-winning singer/songwriter, producer, and engineer who also plays several instruments, Giorgi has previously recorded for RCA and Atlantic Records and offers consulting services to other studios and engineers.
Jam Phelps
Jam Phelps is a mixing and mastering engineer, music producer, and owner of Denk Studios in Southern Virginia. After hearing far too many stories on the struggles of women, GNC, and LGBTQ+ artists in the music recording industry, Jam and her wife opened Denk Studios to provide a safe space for creativity and underrepresented voices. Jam has 30 years of musical experience and loves creating unique productions, imaginative mixes, and loud dynamic masters.
I had 30 questions in hand to ask these ladies, but we only got to number seven—we had too much fun discussing their inspirations to become sound engineers, as well as going over the pros and cons of different microphones, working live performances, and so much more. The show was planned to be an hour long, but we continued for two hours and fifteen minutes. It was a wonderful conversation; we might have kept talking for another three hours, except for our schedule limitations. If anyone wants to do a Part 2 on women in sound engineering, let me know and we can work on the remaining 23 questions!
I hope you enjoyed reading about this episode, and please listen to our conversation as a podcast or watch it on YouTube.
LTATM Sponsor
Niche Sites Made Easy
Learn step-by-step how you can create and sustain an income through blogging about topics you are passionate about.
How is LTATM doing?
LTATM Survey
Please fill out the LTATM Survey. It helps me understand how I'm doing and what to focus on for season 2.
Podcast on Audiboom
Podcast on YouTube
Please subscribe to my channel! For every 1,000 subscribers, I will release all new Member only podcast.
LTATM Guests
Ali - Basement Roots Entertainment
Denise Barbarita - MONOLisa NYC
Giorgi Baino
Jam Phelps of Denk Studios
Check out LTATM’s other blogs.
Music Review: New Story coming soon
Festival Review: new story coming
Tribute to the Music: more coming soon
