I know that you went to Berklee and fell in love with the recording aspect. Had you gone there for something else?
I went because it was a music school and I was a musician, and I wanted to go anywhere that wasn't a small liberal arts college in Virginia, which is where I'm from. I was desperate to go to New York or someplace like that. A friend had told me about Berklee. It was a lot smaller then. I went, and they had a lot of different intro classes. I learned quickly that I didn't want to be a performer, but I still wanted to work in the music industry in some fashion.
Were you studying voice at that point?
Yeah. Like any conservatory, you had to do all of your harmony requirements and traditional work, and then all your instrument requirements. Then you had to pick a major. So, Introduction to Music Production and Engineering was a class that I took, and it seemed interesting. I kept taking more classes and eventually applied to the major. That's how it started. I had been singing on somebody else's project, and they took me into the studios. I was like, "What is this?" I'd never seen that before – I went in blind for sure! [laughter]
What do you think it was that fascinated you?
I think because it was still creative; it was just a different kind of creative. When I was younger, I used to like to do a lot of arranging, which feels very production-y in a sense – it's all a part of that process. I had no idea how involved any of it was. I didn't know where to plug a microphone into. I didn't know anything, but it seemed like something that would combine some of the more analytical aspects of music with the creative aspects. That’s probably what appealed to me.
The studio is always such a unique place.
Yeah, and there's nothing natural about it, which is interesting. It's all artifice, and it's a very different environment to walk into. The energy is really different. But it's fascinating. There are people that are good at recording that aren't the best live performers and vice versa, and there's a reason for that.
Was it a lot to learn?
Yes. The program was good. They started off with a lot of basics, and I like procedure. I want to go through the whole process to make sure I'm learning it exactly the way I'm supposed to. They did a lot of acoustics, audio tech, and signal flow, so that was very helpful for me. I know there were kids that had grown up with 4-tracks in their bedrooms that knew a lot more than I did. But, in theory, I was supposed to be able to walk in and learn everything I needed to learn, so that's what I did. The learning curve was steep, but it still was a good program. They did a good job at preparing us. We had Pro Tools, but all of our beginning projects were tape-based, so I didn't have to try to learn the software at the same time. I learned how to hit record and do all that, but I wasn't trying to learn all the key commands at the same time.
There are some great female instructors in that department now. Were there then?
Terry Becker was there. Robin Coxe-Skolfield had passed away a couple years prior to me getting there. I had her for a couple of classes, which was great, and then she left and came back to L.A. We reconnected when I moved to L.A. Now, they've got a number of women.
Right? Which is great!
It's nice to watch the department change. I'm actually teaching some remote learning classes for Berklee Online right now. There were ten women in my class when I was there, and now it's an even split. That's encouraging to see. It takes time whenever there's disparity. You can't snap your fingers and say, "There! Hire 50 female engineers," just because you want to hire females. I was talking to a friend of mine about this last night. It's like, even after all these years, it's still very much a boy’s club in so many ways. That probably exists in a lot of industries where executives are all men, or where there's a lot of male energy. I've had a lot of conversations with people asking, "Why do you think that is?" I have no idea. People have to get trained, get experience, and be good at it. There are a lot of factors.
And people need to see role models.
Representation is important.
But also, the access. To be able to play with [Apple] GarageBand when you're younger helps people get interested.
Accessibility. You don't ever want to hinder yourself. I have a number of students that are maybe not going to be production engineering majors, but they do want to be songwriters or musicians. It's a much more accessible skill set to have now. But to be able to record yourself and have confidence in not just how to do it, but also what's possible; I think that that's important for people to understand about recording. For the little amount of vocals that I still do, I can record myself, comp myself, and I can tune myself. It's less that somebody else has to do.
What do you teach in the Berklee classes?
I'm teaching Pro Tools. It's a little weird. I'm not a super technical person, but it's a necessary tool. It's been an interesting experience to try to figure out how to teach something as broad as Pro Tools. It's incredibly powerful, but where do I begin?
Did you get a certification for Pro Tools?
