So pleased to hear that WAM exists via audio engineering magazine Tape Op. So rare and so darn needed in this field. In my sometimes humble opinion, the lack of women in this field all comes down to confidence and great to see WAM melting this barrier. Keep up the sterling work!
Women's Audio Mission is a vital organization helping women bridge the wide gender gap in the music and sound recording industry.
I've worked in all aspects of the sound recording business for over 26 years. One of the things I first noticed when I started was the lack of women working in the industry. But I got lucky and was able to work with some great women through the years.
One of these women was Leslie Ann Jones. I met her when she was a staff second engineer at Capitol Recording Studios in Hollywood. Her journey is an amazing one and I am so happy she has risen even further to now be Director of Music and Scoring/Chief Engineer-Producer at Skywalker Sound, a division of Lucasfilm.
There are other women I have been fortunate to have worked with, including the eminent Lenise Bent who just finished recording for three days in full old style 2" analog and my partner Kelly Mahan Jaramillo, a warrior from the audio post production side of the film industry.
Bottom line is there are simply not enough women representatives in the audio industry and I am grateful for Women's Audio Mission and the work they do to support and nurture women in this field.
Best,
Tomás Hradcky
As far as I know, there is no other organization out there like WAM. I feel like I really lucked out because I live in the bay area and can go to WAM for classes, workshops, seminars, and whatever else they might offer! I decided that I wanted to change my career about a year ago into audio engineering and music production. I knew I needed more training, but I couldn't afford to go back to school - and, really, I don't need any more degrees (I have doctorate already!) So when a friend told me about WAM around that time, I was overjoyed by the cost-effectiveness of the classes and the opportunity to get real, hands-on experience in a studio! I started taking classes at WAM in the fall, and now I have even landed my first internship in live sound - all because of Terri Winston and WAM!
Everyone at WAM - Terri, Laura, Noelle, and the interns - are all very friendly and supportive! It's pretty amazing what they do over there, helping women and girls to understand sound and develop skills in audio engineering. It's truly groundbreaking what Terri has created with WAM! I cannot recommend this organization highly enough! I have thanked my friend profusely for initially directing me to check out WAM!!
WAM is an amazing organization! It gave me hope as a woman when I first go into audio engineering. The work this organization does is incredible!
WAM is an excellent and inspiring organzation that has helped me to advance my career in more ways than I could describe here. All the people involved, but especially Founder and ED Terri Winston, have influenced me and taught me in learning the skills and expertise necessary to do well in the audio business. The programs and classes that they run for girls and women are fantastic, and are training a whole new group of ladies that will certainly take the music and audio worlds by storm! I can't say enough about how wonderful this organiztion is, and how helpful they have been to me in my career and my life.
Women's Audio Mission or WAM is working to make the professional recording and sound engineering profession more women friendly. They are breaking down the barriers in the male dominated sound profession by empowering women with knowledge and skills.
Their main focus is on education. They teach women the skills necessary to work in the audio industry. This includes many basic skills that girls are not normally exposed to including electronics, soldering, wiring, and mechanical skills. Their students have built a professional recording studio to use as a classroom. This studio has wide range of professional studio equipment to train on. Some purchased with donations. Much donated by the equipment manufactures. They have developed a wide range of courses on sound theory, recording, mixing, equipment operation, sound system setup and tuning.
They also focus on outreach to both the professional audio industry and to girls and women. They have developed teen outreach classes that they offer in the San Francisco Bay area. They also provide speakers to and have booths at many of the professional audio conferences such as the Audio Engineering Society (AES). Women's Audio Mission is a respected member of the professional audio community.