By: Kirsty Gillmore

Earlier this year something happened to me that hasn’t happened to me veryoften: my sound design received positive praise in two press reviews. If you’re notsure why this is unusual, have a look at any recent big theatre awards for BestSound. Then look up the reviews for the shows and note how many receivedpositive reviews for sound. Spoiler: there won’t be many.

Every theatrical and live sound designer and engineer I know has a story about thetime the sound for a gig or show they were doing got trashed in the press. Fromsweaty basement gigs to West End musicals, if a critic thinks a show is too loud,too dissonant, too much not to their taste, in general, they’ll write about it. If thesound was clear, clean with perfectly adjusted levels, creative and had evocativesound effects, they probably won’t mention it at all.

On the challenging gigs and jobs, you’re often happy to have got the job donewithout attracting negative attention. Getting through every night without major mistakes can be just fine. Othertimes the balance sits just right, everything happens at the right moment, and you know you’ve done a great job andat times like these you might be looking around for some praise. It can sting a bit when no one seems to notice. Thetruth is non-sound people, even musicians, often can’t tell the difference between a gig where the sound was greatand a gig where the sound was just average.

I was told at some point back at the beginning of my career that “if thereare no complaints, you’re doing a good job.”. As Broadway sounddesigner Brian Ronan puts it sound is at its best “”when the audience isunaware of our presence, when the sound complements and moves theaudience without drawing attention to itself. ” In other words, for theexperience to be effective, we (the sound people) have to be invisible.

What if that wasn’t something we had to put up with but something weWhat if that wasn’t something we had to put up with but something wecould embrace?could embrace?

When I read David Zweig’s article The world needs “invisible” people:Why fame-seekers and attention-cravers have it all wrong I thought itcould be written about sound people. In it, Zweig outlines how the most satisfied people are those who have aninverse relationship between work and recognition: the better they do their job, the more invisible they are.

This struck home for me. When I look back at the times I’ve been disappointed; when themusicians/directors/producers of the show I’m working on don’t mention how great the sound was. I am remindedof two things.

Despite not receiving the recognition I felt I had earned, I was still immensely proud of my work.I am looking outside of my industry for praise, when what’s important to me is the feedback and praise frommy peers.

In his article, Zweig talks about both of these aspects as part of “invisible” careers. Invisibles are still ambitious andstrive to be the best in their field, and they’re also not as interested in public recognition. Accolades and recognitioncan be great, of course, but if you’re an Invisible, or as Zweig puts it, one of the “highly skilled professionals whosework is critical to whatever enterprise they’re a part of”, being the best you can be and knowing you’ve done a great

job, is fulfilling enough.

A couple of weeks ago I went to a backstage sound designer’s tour of the West End (London)production of the musical “Memphis”, then watched a matinee performance. Afterwards, Iwas chatting to the Sound No. 1 about how great the sound was. It was clear, accurate, withexcellent balance between the vocalists and the musicians. He was genuinely pleased thatsomeone had noticed. He is a professional at the top of his career (“Memphis” has just wonan Olivier for Best Sound) and it is still important to him that his peers (even people much

lower down the career ladder, like me) respected what he did.

If this is what it means to be invisible, then count me in.

From now on, my goal is to be the best at my job as I can be. Even if no one ever sees me. Join me? It’s pretty coolbeing invisible.

Inside Broadway – Brian Ronan

The world needs “invisible” people: Why fame-seekers and attention-cravers have it all wrong

Copyright © 2015 SoundGirls.Org

Similar posts

Anything that can go Wrong will go Wr... — By April Tucker “Murphy’s Law” is when something bad happens unexpectedly at the worst

possible [...]

Pre-Sale on SoundGirls.Org Polo Shirt... — Hi SoundGirls. We are taking pre-orders on SoundGirls.Org Polo Shirts that are embroidered with the

logo. They will start shipping around Feb. 22nd. We have ordered a limited qty for our first order, so reserve yours today. Please specify on check out the

size and style you want. All polos are black. You can place [...]

Finding the Rewards in Your Work — By: Heather Holm I often forget that my job is pretty unique. It’s just what I do, just like everyone else

sometimes it is hard to get up and go to work. I find it especially hard right now in the dead of winter and in my quiet season. But then every once in a [...]

On Sexual Harassment in the Workplace — I'm not especially attractive - my looks are pretty average, I'm not especially feminine, and I don't

flirt. Turns out those aren't disqualifiers for sexual [...]

SoundGirls.Org to host Seminar with D... — SoundGirls.Org European Chapter to Host Seminar with Darryn de la Soul From Freelancing to

Running a Business Monday March 7th 7 pm to 10 pm SSR London Lower Ground Floor The Rotunda 42-43 Gloucester Crescent London NW1 7DL Details:

This month’s event will be a talk from Darryn de la Soul of Soulsound about how [...]

No Pings Yet

Blog, Kirsty kirtsy gillmore, sound design, theater sound design

The Only Dude on Tour

Jumping Into the Hot Seat

WordPress Comments (2) Facebook Comments (0) G+ Comments Disqus Comments

Leave a reply

Leave a ReplyLeave a ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment.

Login with your Social ID

Specify a Disqus shortname in Super Socializer > Social Commenting section in admin panel

Everything you may have missed in April. | SoundGirls on May 2, 2015 at 10:14 am

Everything you may have missed in May. | SoundGirls on May 31, 2015 at 1:04 pm

Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

Copyright SoundGirls.org 2013 - 2016

0 Comments Sort by

Facebook Comments Plugin

OldestOldest

Add a comment...