Men dominate the field of music production. Quick, name a producer. Did you say Rick Rubin? Daniel Lanois? T-Bone Burnett? Chances are great the response was a man. Could you name a female producer if you thought about it?
In 2011, the fact remains less than 5% of credited producers and engineers are women, and that estimate is shamefully being kind.
Though women have made great strides in the field, case in point Lora Hirshberg’s win at the Oscar’s for sound mixing on Christopher Nolan’s film Inception, Leslie Ann Jones, who recently took home a Grammy for Best Classical Engineered Album and is Director of Music Recording and Scoring at Skywalker Sound, and two-time Grammy Award winning producer Trina Shoemaker, one of only two women to have won the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Grammy Award (Imogen Heap won the award in 2009), the back room production of mixing, producing and engineering remains chronically under-represented.
“Trade publications have been scrambling for years to find women in this industry to write about,” admitted Terri Winston, executive director and founder of Women’s Audio Mission.
“Unfortunately, there is not a lot of statistical information - mainly because the number is so very small. We say less than 5% but we think it is worse than that, especially outside of an academic environment. It's pretty easy to prove: look at a wide shot of any audio convention or try to find a woman credit on an album.”
Not only is the Bay Area spoiled for choice when it comes to great music, we are fortunate to have Terri Winston, talented performer, producer, recording engineer and dedicated professor, call San Francisco home.
Terri founded the Women’s Audio Mission in 2003, dedicated to training women and girls in music production and the recording arts. According to Winston, membership has been on the rise with numbers up by 15% each year and their website getting 3,200 hits a day “that has been growing about 35% each year - same as our social networking numbers.”
The interest is clearly there: demand has been so great some students travel from all over the world to take classes at W.A.M. To better serve the needs of the growing community, interactive couses were launched via the new program titled Sound Channel, offering high quality training online.
The organization provides hands-on training through audio production certification courses in world-class recording studios as well as workshops; career counseling and job placement is offered to those in the technological fields of music, radio, film, television and the internet.
This field is not for the passive as Terri points out “it has horrible hours, no vacation, and no day care - so kids would be tough. This field requires a very tough skin and leadership skills.”
There will be no sitting back and watching. You will get your hands dirty, your mind blown and one of the best educations this field can provide. This is a skilled trade. Special presentations are available to members to further their education. Past meetings have included guest speaker Grammy-nominated producer/engineer Cookie Marenco discussing high resolution audio; Breaking into the Industry; touring local Faultline Studios; Voice-overs for Independent Film; and tracking in the studio with NY-based producer/engineer Hillary Johnson, who has worked with Jeff Buckley, Lenny Kaye, Rufus Wainwright, The Ramones, and The Prids.
Currently in the W.A.M. studio: the SHE's, who have opened for local success story Girls, Lona in the Wolf, Akosua, and the StreetEaters, who just participated in the Noise Pop crawl.
Those heading to SXSW are invited to Women in the Recording Studio panel hosted by W.A.M. and featuring Trina Shoemaker (Sheryl Crow, EmmyLou Harris, Queens of the Stone Age); Sylvia Massy (Tool, Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, REM); Ann Mincieli (Alicia Keys,Mariah Carey, Usher, Jay-Z, Drake); Emily Wright (Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Kelly Clarkson) and Terri Winston.
The women will discuss their experiences recording, mixing and producing a wide range of artists from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Tool to Sheryl Crow to Alicia Keys to indie acts. They will be sharing tips, techniques, and favorite gear used on these projects and in professional studios, as well as talking about how musicians should prepare for sessions, how to find the right engineer/producer and the advantages of a studio environment.
SXSW 2011 Women in the Recording Studio panel
Saturday March 19th 12:30 - 1:30, Rm 11AB, Austin Convention Center
1890 Bryant Street, Suite 312
San Francisco, CA 94110
415-558-9200
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