SoundGirls.org began three years ago following a panel hosted by Women's Audio Mission and Terri Winston at AES 2012 that acquainted some of the leading women in audio with one another, among them Karrie Keyes — known in the industry as the long-time monitor engineer for Pearl Jam. She and prominent front of house engineer Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato, whose credits include Gwen Stefani, Jewel, and Ke$ha, founded SoundGirls.org to provide a way for women in audio to network, share ideas, and provide support.
Keyes
says the camps help present opportunities for girls within the audio
industry at an early age. “When I was young and interested in doing
something in music, I didn’t have any support or guidance at school,”
Keyes says. “I found it very much by accident. But having the kind of
experience we’re able to provide at the SoundGirls.org camps gives girls
a chance to experience some of the opportunities that exist in the
sound world well beyond what they might be exposed to in school. ”Keyes and her instructors believe having access to the best professional audio gear is a key part of the experience for the campers. “I have used Sennheiser microphones and wireless gear with Pearl Jam for years, so by using Sennheiser equipment for the camps I knew we were giving our campers a true taste of pro gear.”
The first of this year’s five-day camps took place in Modesto, California on June 20th,
followed by Nevada City, California, Wilmington, Delaware, and St.
Louis, Missouri. The curriculum begins with a look at audio safety
before campers progress to learning the elements of a console,
microphone placement, stage plots, and input lists. “Each afternoon we
have local youth bands coming in and we let the girls set them up with
the gear, so it’s really hands-on.” The Sennheiser e835 microphone will
serve as the perfect choice for vocal micking, offering consistent on
and off-axis performance thanks to its uniform frequency pick-up pattern
and minimal proximity effect. The HD 280 Pro headphones provide the
perfect tool for honing in on the right sound for the mix, boasting
excellent sound quality backed by strong isolation from external noise.
“It’s exciting for them to get to use the pro-level gear, and they pick
it up incredibly quickly,” Keyes says.The week culminates in a full live show that the campers run on their own, featuring some the week’s locally sourced talent. “It’s always really inspiring to see how much knowledge they’ve retained from the week,” says Keyes. “In particular I love to see them hit a snag and then figure out the solution on their own using what they’ve learned.”
The support of Sennheiser is a key to help Keyes and her colleagues further the overall mission of SoundGirls.org. “We have been lucky at SoundGirls.org to be able to create a support network for women working in audio at all levels that has been going strong for three years,” she says. “Now in our second year of running camps for girls, we are excited to open up a world of possibilities for the next generation of women in audio, and we couldn’t do it without the help of sponsors like Sennheiser.”
Image captions:
1) Sennheiser is sponsoring the SoundGirls.org Live Sound camps, which provide an opportunity for middle and high school age girls to get hands on experience in the professional audio industry.
2) Sennheiser provided several of its e835 dynamic microphones to help campers capture detailed sound from local bands performing at the camps.
3) Campers using Sennheiser's HD 280 Pro headphones to hone in on just the right sound.
