Survey on Micro Aggressions in the Studio

[fazer]

I was ready to suggest not coming to the Brewery to Dreams. 

I looked up Dreams and saw that female was the gender.  Instead of being my normal self,(pissing off the whole planet one person at a time) ,  I went wow,  I don't want to discourage females from joining DIY.  When it comes to Engineering,  women typically have better hi freq hearing and tend to maintain better hearing over time (IMO). 

So I thought about it and decided to give an apology.    It also made me think about other people here I've made some rude comments to.  Would I do that if I were talking to a women?  I could do better with people (think before you type).  I have my views and have no plans to be part of woke as if the world is some safe space at all times.  Its a very naive view of how hi pressure business works and is somewhat a strategy to separate people into us and them. 

If Dreams comments  were simply a strategy for bashing old white men, then shame on her.  But she is frustrated and we have all been there.  I obviously hit a nerve with my comment. 

Working part time in audio is different than a full time 40 year commitment .  20 years in Music full time and 20 years in post production makes you toughen up.  All that matters is results and speed when your full time.  You better get tuff to pull that one off and you could pick an easier career in my opinion than audio recording to stay in your woke state.  So woke is broke appeals to me when it comes to full time independent  audio.    I had to work hard to learn to love on air broadcast.  The adrenaline would pump and you had to be in the moment 100% to deliver.    Being in the moment is everything to me.  Remote  audio recording trucks and video trucks would show up and you would hook it all together and there were some micro aggressions everywhere but the show goes on and we all tore the gear down and started the next night somewhere else. 

I have some life long production friends on both sides of the political divide.  When it comes to Production we all show up and give it all no matter what happens to deliver no excuses.  Good luck on your career. I guarantee you will need some luck. 

 

[PRR]

I posted the AES survey because I was curious.

As I said, I'm not supposed to take that survey because I have been out of the field for 10 years 2 months (counting). However this week a friend who has been taking a singing class, the last class they put on a Show and all the families and friends must come. I found the two Directors very familiar and annoying. So familiar that I am more-glad I got out of that business. On coming back to this thread, I identified my feeling as "micro-aggression", although that takes many shapes. The old jew from the Bronx (a long way from home here) was sickeningly supportive and encouraging participation (I know he will want me to work on wires). The take-charge ex-hippy lady (a local type) was nearly macro-aggression in protecting her prop chair from an attendee (me). I can stand that for a night; I stood it for 39 years. And yes if you love the field you take some grief with the good. But I'm glad to be out of it. And I have seen several cases where good talents moved on to other fields (even accounting and corporate promotion).

 

[boji]

Unfortunately the term woke is freighted with more meaning than just moxie, or degrees of sensitivity.  Skin pigment and gender also plays a major part. I admit thriving on criticism when it includes instruction, but since for this particular embarrassment no one has defined the term woke as used in woke circles-- feathers were doomed to get ruffled. 
Curious that explaining the causes of distress aims to shame, rather than amplify what it means to those who popularize the term. The reason for a particular word's popularity should have been made by its proponents, but since ignorance offends, woke takes the win.

Welcome to the brewery, Dreams. I wish it was under different circumstances.

Suffer us, that we may learn to be better men?  All is not lost.

 

[Scodiddly]

I appreciated Dream's rant, because it (to me) contained a great deal of truth.  Didn't have to look up their gender, either.

Hazing is nothing to be proud of.  And it's definitely nothing to continue.

 

[Squeaky]

I just conducted a survey around the house asking my wife and children (including teenage daughter) if they knew what "woke culture" meant and I was met with blank looks from all. Maybe that is what comes from living in provincial New Zealand (NZ). Take from that what you will. I feel a little impelled to add that I am not an uneducated hick (although perhaps becoming more so). I have studied across the sciences, arts and law.

I must admit to some cynicism about the use of buzz words. Often, they are used to just rebrand something that is not really new. The term nanotechnology is an example of such that used to bug me a bit. The layman probably thinks that nanotechnology is a relatively new discipline, yet it is just the name that is new. Chemistry and material science at the nano scale are not new. Nevertheless, I admit, due largely to my own ignorance, that I have no idea whether "woke" is a buzzword or not. There is some truth, though, in the saying "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose". Anyone who has read the classics or is interested in history will know this.

Of course, I understand that sometimes new terms are needed and lets face it, words are being lost to the English language (and other languages) at a rapid rate.

When I read about "woke culture" on this thread (without specifically knowing anything about the concept), a question arises in my mind as to whether it is actually a new distinct "culture" that has come into being so quickly? I mean, I haven't even heard of it. Perhaps it is yet just a movement in its infancy? Or perhaps a rebranding as suggested above?

For the most part I try to avoid forming strong opinions about the people behind the online personas. I find that fora, for all their benefits, are less than ideal conduits for expressing nuance. I actually think that it is too easy to make incorrect assumptions about people based on what they post. Moreover, life is too short for a lack of civility and I'd rather be fishing than scrapping with someone online. Sometimes its better to be misunderstood, particularly when it doesn't matter that much (i.e. not worth the time to quibble).

My association with the audio industry has largely been as a musician booking studio time. In my experience, musicians (not all mind you) have been among the most tolerant, open-minded, whatever you want to call it, group that I have been involved with. I have also worked in high performance research laboratories. In my experience scientists are also largely unfazed by, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.  Research scientists are often genteel sorts of creatures. I really don't think they are required to be so hard nosed. However, quirky, obsessive compulsive, idiosyncratic and oft-times mad individuals are manifest. Seems like there might be a similar affliction in audio engineering?

From a personal perspective, maybe I have had an unusual education and career development. Both of my PhD supervisors were women as was the CEO of the first start up company I worked for. I never thought it unusual. I have never thought of women as authority figures as unusual. My PhD supervisors and CEO were mentors that had my respect because of who they were, and their gender or sexuality was, frankly, irrelevant. Their identity was not defined by their race, gender, sexual orientation because, again, frankly, there were far more important personal traits (in the context) to consider. Could also be because I come from the country that first gave women the right to vote in parliamentary elections!

I continue to form my own impressions about the men and women I meet. I resent being told I should prefer one to the other (or the other for those that resent gender specificity) for the sake of diversity, it suggests that my experience and intuition count for little. Over previous roles I have definitely employed more women than men but I see that as just coincidence and in the hands of fate. It could have easily gone the other way on a different day with different applicants. Please don't take anything I have written to imply that I am against diversity in any way, its just that my pragmatism will generally trump other directives. The diversity lies in the hand of fate.

Lastly, I also worked for many years with engineers (mechanical, process, &c). Without elaborating, it is a bit of a different story there.

All the best to everyone. Sorry for the long post, thanks to those who took the time to read it.

PS. At my current rate of posting (about 0.039/day) it will take me 702 years to reach 10,000 posts.

PPS. Word of the day "hornswoggler".

 

[PRR]

> what "woke culture" meant

45 years ago, I introduced my dull traditionalist friend Stan to Ann the semi-hippie. Later she remarked "he's not very enlightened".

With nuances, I think Woke is the new Unenlightened. Stan accepted the culture he grew up in, and the roles assigned by that culture. He went on to sell pumps in Pittsburgh (for NZers: a grimy industrial city). Ann was Questioning Authority and Marching on Washington and smoking pot.

 

[bluebird]

Theres a song in there PRR...

Well I see this whole thing as proof this forum is pretty cool. That we are somewhat enlightened. Dreams expressed her feelings in a very emotional and vulnerable way, and instead of it getting picked apart and argued, there was support and an apology. Amazing. How often does that happen on an internet forum. We're not perfect and there were probably some people who disagree but where sensitive enough not to be negative or attack the person who opened up. Maybe we're more "woke" than we thought...

 

[Tubetec]

I only heard someone on the radio today using the term micro aggressions , it must be spreading and seeding itself into our collective conciousness.

I think Obama's 'woke' comment is what the Irish might call a  'Plámás'

https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/plamas

 

[boji]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's three temporal battlegrounds:

1) The real: People doing work, playing roles, making things happen. 1 is prime, the now.

2) The law:  Rules of past that presume to function across time, edited by what 1 makes of the world.
                          Put to paper, 2 lims 1, but 1 gives sight to 2.

3) The word: Linguistic landscapes, futures put into 1 and tested.

 

[Tubetec]

the 123 is at best a simplification ,  its at least a start on the road, but I broadly agree with the sentiment .

 

[alexc]

A quick reading here reminds me of my early years in the elec.eng world *and* music recording thing too  ... 

early 80s ...  except there wasn't    'micro' agression  so much as  ..  the  'in your face'  variety.   

There were plenty of workers, both male and female in the various engineering and studio fields I worked in over many years.

The ones that could 'work through' the personality issues  including the many casual 'slings and arrows'  of everyday life - they  were the ones who made a career out of it, without going nuts, especially in the 'leadership' area which I think is very challenging. 

I'm pretty sure they woiuld comment to me, 'back in the day' [old guy alert!!]  'one needs to grow a pair' and face the adversity head on. 

ie. when the big stakes are on the line, it takes some very serious shennanigans in the 'inter-personal area'  to 'emotionally move'  to any degree, most professionals I've been around. 

*In* the recording studio, I found pretty much the same thing, really.

Fragile doesn't last long when recording, with real musicians, engineers, roadies and managers, imho.

As they say 'money talks, ** walks'.  I guess it's all a question of  who is footing the bill.

 

[Tubetec]

The vast majority of the clients in the studio I worked in were a breeze to get along with ,
There was a handfull of akward ones though.

One of the odd balls was a (now deceased) professor of music, Im not classically trained ,Im not even a musician ,that meant I didnt even exist in his eyes really , the record that was made was by far and away the most commercially sucessfull thing he ever did and it still to this day gets played on  national radio every Sunday afternoon without fail , apparently I wasnt even worthy of a credit for the part I played in its making.

We had another big budget project that totally and utterly disintegrated. The Producer ended up deported from the country because he hadnt the correct work visas.The  album did eventually see light with the bands engineer taking all the credit, but it bombed and left the lads in a pile of debt.

There was one other project that turned sour , the producer was and I suspect still is  a drug hoover of monsterous proportions  .They were trying to get me to supply them with dope in vast quantities( Coke ,E's ,speed ,smack ,acid ) . I didnt mind getting them a bit of hash or grass ,but that wasnt enough for 'em. Vast quantities of drink had to be consumed instead . Id really pulled out all the stops to help these guys out and all I got in the end was a bunch of nasty sectarian rhetoric directed against me .
Another  irony of it was ,in isolation all but the producer  were grand easy going people ,but once the group dynamic kicked in
I was instantly the odd man out . When it came to mix down studio staff were told to piss off . For a finish the band leader apologised and actually broke down in tears in front of me over their behaviour , they settled up for extra equipment I had rented them and amp servicing I did during the session,  band and album sank without trace after .

The good kind clients more than made up for the bad ones ,the people  who were giving with their knowledge and skills and willing to hand it down to another generation really made it a pleasure. Those who tried to turn it into a torture chamber were inevitably on the road to ruin themselves anyway.

 

[boji]

I work hard to fall in love with each client and serve them as if they were gods, that they may for a moment believe it true, and share some of that godliness with the microphones. The sight of seeing that delivery/discovery in real time is the loveliest part about recording others, even when the songs don't rise to the occasion.

The worst sessions I've had were when the artists believed they were gods before we met.

 

[Tubetec]

Yeah I remember some  sessions where it sounded so good I felt my eyes and ears were decieving me , it was hard to believe the sound was emanating from a live performance.

There was an old friend of mine , passed away 20 years ago , he swore that ego was the death of music.

You really need top class top class diplomacy skills in the studio , if you blunder in and trample all over the person for not getting it right ,you may end up flogging a dead horse after take 23, for me it was dont knock em for what there not doing , encourage them in the direction you want instead . I remember getting asked ,so what do you think , you have to choose your words carefully so their egg isnt broke yet still give an honest appraisal of the work , its equivalent to a bit of a tight rope walk in some ways .

 

[Squeaky]

I wish I had worked with engineers a bit more like what I'm hearing here. I remember one engineer who thought highly of himself (he was doing a lot of work for a famous local band). Firstly, he didn't want me to play in the room with my amp (he wanted me to play in the control room). As far as I was concerned that was just madness, I relied on the guitar amp response for part of my sound. He drained the life out of my solos. If that wasn't bad enough, he told me to change the way I was playing. I was doing a kind of pitch shift vibrato with power chords (a kind of three finger wobble) and the slight dissonance was annoying him. Didn't matter that I liked the way it sounded. Bad vibes.

 

[Gold]

I've come a long way, and you can too, if you want to. I'm just a white guy who sucks but trying to suck a little bit less day after day.

Are you sure Dreams is female? I guess it's good there is some confusion.

 

[Tubetec]

Sometimes vibe has to take precedance over an aesthetic sound quality , there was one or two producers I worked with along the way who operated a kind of 'vito card' system , in other words if the performer really insisted about doing it their way  ,maybe not everytime but at least some of the time the big boss gave way . It was a good system as it kept everybody working towards goal with less  squabling and fighting. I remember on a few ocassions  could be a guitarist with loads of pedals in the chain ,but only maybe one being used , Id suggest removing the unused pedals and their would be a panic stricken look on their face ,  what Id be able to do was bring them back to the control room play them back takes with and without the extras in the signal path , it would be quite obvious to everyone which sounded better , it was really about gaining the trust of the people your working with instead of trying to frog march them against their will . Im of the opinion music recording should be a joyful experience for all involved ,not hell on earth.

L'agent provocateur non? moral of the story always inspect a suspect  package before accepting the delivery. Confusion is one thing ,a deliberate attempt to mislead and divide is another game of soldiers altogether, I guess this lands the matter back on Johns desk .

 

[alexc]

Sometimes vibe has to take precedence over an aesthetic sound quality

'Never was truer a word spoken'

When I was younger, I had 'vibe' in the studio.  And so did the rest of the 'groovy bunch' that I would hang with.

Later, as I aged, I did make much more hifi music.

Later still, with much 're-listening' and so on, the 'younger' had the sound and the 'older' had the rest [ie. mo-nay et al].

I think mr Ian Anderson said it best, both musically and lyrically when he sang  'Life's A Long Song' 

 

[JohnRoberts]

L'agent provocateur non? moral of the story always inspect a suspect  package before accepting the delivery. Confusion is one thing ,a deliberate attempt to mislead and divide is another game of soldiers altogether, I guess this lands the matter back on Johns desk .

Not against the rules as currently written.

That is the internet in a nutshell... it is everybody's job to separate the wheat from the chaff. There does seem to be a lot more chaff these days but that is the price we all pay for so much cheap (free) wheat.

JR

 

[emrr]

Most people around here are nice and respectful to all members and yet there is hardly a female member here. I know female techs who are not here. The discrimination doesn't have to be on purpose for it to exist.

I would have to agree with this.  And being a white male myself, I always feel I'm simply not qualified to make any kind of judgement on discrimination.

Requires active observation for sure. 

I've thought a lot about the lack of (obvious) women here and other audio forums.  I see the most at GS, and not many there.  Most seem to have zero visible women present.