Women In Audio: Proceed With Caution...

[Zenith]

Originally Posted by mrlouie

The more real world experience working on albums you have the better it will be for your teaching career, you will always have this problem of lack of respect if you dont have much experience to back up your teaching.

Establishing your experience is an absolute must when it comes to earning your students respect. However, I let my achievements slip out over time instead of establishing that during the first class - I'm afraid that I will come off as being boa****l. I don't know - maybe I am waiting to long....

I should have been more clear - I really only notice students "summing me up" (lame lol) initially when they first meet me. By the end of Signal Flow 1 they generally take an obvious liking to me...

You are absolutely correct - The more experience you have, the better off you will be - The majority of what I have learned did not come from a book but rather from being thrown under the bus (and I'm not talking routing)... Thank you for your suggestions Louie - It did help...

[voicegenius]

Originally Posted by Zenith

I was searching for a thread dedicated to women in audio on this site, and I have yet to find one (even though there are plenty dedicated to engineers' bitching girlfriends/wives)...

Considering there is a nominal amount of anonymity on here, I am looking forward to some honest (and maybe painful) answers to this question:

Do you think women are as capable as men when it comes to engineering?

I am an instructor of audio engineering and music production at a fairly well known training facility. I love what I do and I am damn good at it - However, I have noticed that it takes me a little more time to earn the respect of my (mostly male) students as apposed to the other instructors. After they figure out that I am well versed in the art of recording, they sometimes hold me in higher esteem than my male coworkers. I've taught at least a thousand students and have witnessed this phenomenon over and over again... What gives fellas?

Keep Rocking,
- Zenith

absolutely... close thread...

[Darwin James]

Originally Posted by Never1

oh come on, now...

You can't tell me that what I said was B.S.

The point is that 90% of women aren't into engineering and audio because they don't find it interesting.

They are fully capable of learning and being good at it, but most lack any interest in it.

Start talking tech stuff with a girl and watch her eyes glaze over. This isn't sexist at all... it's based on facts and observation.

Much the same, when women start talking about certain things and our eyes glaze over. We are different but fully capable of performing equally well.

I had a date last night with a new girl, tried to explain that I was having my album mastered, and what it means........... glaze.......... so i switched topic to something else.

[Zenith]

Originally Posted by Gilli C

Hey,

I'm female & lurk on gearslutz every day, and maybe possibly sometimes more than once a day , but don't post that often however.

I'm self employed doing a mix of studio mixing, live sound (mostly FOH) and sound design for theatre. I have a small mixing room & mix analogue on a PM2000. I edit in P.Tools and mix off a Tascam MX2424. I'm planning on upgrading to Rader.

heres my myspace: Gil Eva Craig on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos (the music tracks are from theatre shows)


I don't dwell too much as to why theres so few women in audio but do wonder if it may be as simple as women just don't process technical info the same way as guys: not that they can't but perhaps there is enough of a difference in the brain, and its a bell curve kind of thing - at each end theres a few people exhibiting the extremes.

kind of like those rare straight guys that have a better eye for fashion than the average chick, & always notice when you come in fresh from the hairdressers...at the other end of another bell curve..

anyhoo, Zenith, its good to see another women here.

Cheers

Gil

Ditto! We are an endangered species - It's rare to find another - Glad we connected...
P.S. Your analogy of metrosexuals cracked me up, but it is totally relevant - Nice...

Thanks to everyone who commented on this thread - I appreciate everyone going out of there way to make me feel welcome - I think I am going to explore other areas of this site and get out of the "moan zone" for a while lol... You guys are great!

[Darwin James]

Originally Posted by Zenith

Ditto! We are an endangered species - It's rare to find another - Glad we connected...
P.S. Your analogy of metrosexuals cracked me up, but it is totally relevant - Nice...

Thanks to everyone who commented on this thread - I appreciate everyone going out of there way to make me feel welcome - I think I am going to explore other areas of this site and get out of the "moan zone" for a while lol... You guys are great!

just be careful to stay away from guys with tattoos on their face, trouble!

[Never1]

Originally Posted by Zenith

Ditto! We are an endangered species - It's rare to find another - Glad we connected...
P.S. Your analogy of metrosexuals cracked me up, but it is totally relevant - Nice...

Thanks to everyone who commented on this thread - I appreciate everyone going out of there way to make me feel welcome - I think I am going to explore other areas of this site and get out of the "moan zone" for a while lol... You guys are great!

Welcome to the forum and we're glad to have you!

[Infernal Device]

My assistant at the studio is a woman. My intern at the studio is a woman. Both are in their early 20's and know way more about music/audio than most male "engineers".

[Yago]

Welcome to the forums , and ignore the bullsh!t , beware the moon and stick to the path :P

[rumleymusic]

Uh oh, looks like I accidentally really hit some nerves.

I am very sorry Zenith. I was making a rude joke that was meant to be satirical of the situation. I didn't mean it to be an insult. I guess I should have though twice before trying to lighten up a serious thread with bad humor.

Zenith, I only make quips with friendly intentions, I hope you forgive me.

Uh yea...what the f**k is wrong with you? That's pretty insulting. Seems like you're the one we should ignore.

Yes, I suppose I deserve that...

[rumleymusic]

Oh, I thought maybe Playboy had a new spread coming out...

ROFL

HEY, what gives?


I'm just going to go sit in my corner now and pout. Maybe work on my humor...

[Zenith]

Originally Posted by rumleymusic

Uh oh, looks like I accidentally really hit some nerves.

No harm, no foul - Unfortunately inflection is nearly impossible in a situation such as this. I have a very irreverent sense of humor, and I can totally respect a clever remark. I was overly sensitive - When I read other posts of yours I was totally confused because you seemed so incredibly helpful. Again, no problem - Thank you so much for the apology, but now that I understand it is really not necessary... Friends *holds out hand*?

Oh, and the other guys remark - Well after yours I figured I better just buck up and roll with the punches if I want to be a part of this forum lol...

[rumleymusic]

Thank you Zenith *firmly shaking hand in appropriate business like manner* I'll try to be more deliberate with my humor.

[viewingstuff]

......
ps, i just read the caption when i put the mouse over the picture without clicking(funny!)

[AllAboutTone]

Not taking sides on either here but I have never saw a woman behind a console making it happen as a engineer. I'm sure they are many, I have to say "I would love to watch" Seeing a lady at work clearly knowing what she is doing with gear would be better than having sex with her......lol

[lmontessi]

Originally Posted by Zenith

I was searching for a thread dedicated to women in audio on this site, and I have yet to find one (even though there are plenty dedicated to engineers' bitching girlfriends/wives)...

Considering there is a nominal amount of anonymity on here, I am looking forward to some honest (and maybe painful) answers to this question:

Do you think women are as capable as men when it comes to engineering?

I am an instructor of audio engineering and music production at a fairly well known training facility. I love what I do and I am damn good at it - However, I have noticed that it takes me a little more time to earn the respect of my (mostly male) students as apposed to the other instructors. After they figure out that I am well versed in the art of recording, they sometimes hold me in higher esteem than my male coworkers. I've taught at least a thousand students and have witnessed this phenomenon over and over again... What gives fellas?

Keep Rocking,
- Zenith

Hi, Zenith,
We are out there!

You may just have to look a little harder for us! But, we are out there.

Just stay focused. Let your talent and your skills speak for you. I am sure the good will come back to you!

WAM (Women's Audio Mission) is a great organization and they have my respect and support - as well as Eveanna Manley!!

[jinksdingo]

I have never met a girl engineer and I find it a bit unreal from the general technical threshold of most females of the species I have met.

A female in a male dominated field might get labeled a "girl on bike" even if she was straight.

I have had women bosses before and don't have a problem with women in charge, if you can talk the talk and walk the walk so much the better.

Pleased to meet you!

[Croaker]

Originally Posted by Darwin James

I had a date last night with a new girl, tried to explain that I was having my album mastered, and what it means........... glaze.......... so i switched topic to something else.

you romeo you....

[bexarametric]

I've never met a woman engineer. Not once. I know they are out there.

I don't think they are less capable. I do think the women are generally less interested. I've never met women that wanted to hear about stacking tracks or doing mic shootouts. But they will gladly break down Jennifer Aniston's dress choice for the Oscars. Yes, this is me making a generalization based on experiences that I've had with women. But I'm not suggesting that ALL women are like that. So don't take my comments in a sexist way.

Nature vs nurture. Who knows.

I don't know a lot of men the give manicures to people, just like I don't know women who are mechanics. I don't have the answers as to why. I just can back this up by saying that I never see women out there adjusting a mix bus.

BUT, I would like to see more women in sound engineering.

[finn]

What is this 'do you think' stuff? Are you a human being with ears? Do you like to mix live audio?
Do you like to record people playing musical instruments? And mess with the results?
Do you like to go to a musical production, just to hear how it's being produced? Are you a gear slut? Do you 'want' sound production toys? Do you like to spend the time to make another 16 channel audio snake, because you're short one? Do you love the sound of the recorded human voice by a great '55 Telefunken U-47? Do you look forward to spending months perfecting the tone of your own hand made guitar amp?
Do you love comparing comparing bus compressors on your latest audio mix. Do you enjoy repairing that crown MA 3600 because it's yours? There's not much glory in the audio business. The best part about it is the enjoyment of doing it, not what other people think of you. If you're any good at any part of it, enjoy it for what it is.
.

[Mylithra]

Its the same thing as working in the tech field. Finding a female tech in just about any high tech field is kind of hard. But what I tend to find is there are very few bad ones. In the 15 years Ive been doing computer tech work, I've only met a handful of female techs that have been in the field a while. And out of those, only 2 do I ever recall being poor techs. For a lot of the women in the field Ive encountered, most are highly defensive when I first meet them, most likely due to men beating them down or them having some sort of inferiority complex. (which of whom the root cause could most likely be traced back to early male chauvinism) A couple of which I had to end up telling, "You really need to relax a bit. No one is out to get you".

To answer your question.
1. There is some novelty to a female engineer in just about any technical field. The only real way to get this to change is to have a more even distribution of females in the industry.
2. You're always going to run into the chauvinist who thinks men can do anything better than women. Just know that they will get what they put out.

In the long run. You do what you do to the best of your ability, with a positive attitude and everything will for the most part work itself out.

[Darwin James]

Originally Posted by Croaker

you romeo you....

Ugh hardly. I was just about to make a moan thread about it.

[Uncle Bob]

Hey, unless I missed it, no one has mentioned Georgia Hilton, who is an extremely knowledgeable and experienced contributor over in the audio post production forum.

My favorite client is a female producer. I think of her as a "kid gloves ****." She is passionate about her work, treats her cast and crew with an amazing amount of courtesy and respect, is terrific at nurturing (sorry, I couldn't resist) a project and new talent along, yet runs her projects with the precision of an extremely demanding Marine drill sergeant. Consequently, her projects are always a joy to work on and come out extremely well.

[Sqye]

.

you know, the funny thing is - many guys here say whenever they begin
discussing technical things, girls eyes just glaze over.


...well, i have two things to say to this.

1. NEWSFLASH: this happens with guys, EQUALLY.
most people are simply NOT into super techy conversation (unless you live in Silicon Valley).

...you think this doesn't happen the other way around for women engineers
talking tech to most guys?


2. maybe their eyes are glazing over because you're just boring - ever think of that?



cheers.

.

[Never1]

Originally Posted by Darwin James

Ugh hardly. I was just about to make a moan thread about it.

oh dude, that one made me lol!

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

My favorite client is a female producer. I think of her as a "kid gloves ****." She is passionate about her work, treats her cast and crew with an amazing amount of courtesy and respect, is terrific at nurturing (sorry, I couldn't resist) a project and new talent along, yet runs her projects with the precision of an extremely demanding Marine drill sergeant. Consequently, her projects are always a joy to work on and come out extremely well.

Sounds great but does she know how to mic a kick drum, mic placement, guitar micing, re-amping...I can go on and on.......Any woman can be a producer with a head on her shoulders, we are talking engineering......

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by AllAboutTone

Sounds great but does she know how to mic a kick drum, mic placement, guitar micing, re-amping...I can go on and on.......Any woman can be a producer with a head on her shoulders, we are talking engineering......

Is this serious?

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by AllAboutTone

Sounds great but does she know how to mic a kick drum, mic placement, guitar micing, re-amping...I can go on and on.......Any woman can be a producer with a head on her shoulders, we are talking engineering......

She's producing films, very different than producing music.

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by Sounds Great

Is this serious?

Just following the OP

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by AllAboutTone

Just following the OP

Really? Did he say that women are not up to the task of engineering? That they certainly couldn't learn how to mic a kick drum?

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by Sounds Great

Really? Did he say that women are not up to the task of engineering? That they certainly couldn't learn how to mic a kick drum?

.,

typical freeking rednex here...

there's a reason this cro-magnon has been on my ignore list since shortly after he joined gs.

.