SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: As James Brown sang, "It's a man's, man's, man's world" - especially in the recording industry, unfortunately, where women professionals reportedly comprise less than five percent of those working "behind the glass."
Doing their small part to help address that imbalance, Geoffrey Daking &
Co. and U.S. distributor TransAudio Group recently donated a Daking Mic-Pre/EQ
and a Daking Compressor/Limiter to the Women's Audio Mission during the 117th
AES Convention.
The San Francisco-based Women's Audio Mission (WAM) is a women-run,
all-volunteer organization, headed by founder and executive director, Terri
Winston, which is dedicated to creating an environment that will encourage
and enable the aspirations of women in the recording arts. The organization
provides access to audio technology and training in its use to record sound
for music, radio, film, television and the Internet for women and girls.
As Winston, who also directs the sound recording
program at City College in San Francisco explains, WAM is currently homeless,
relying on donations of studio time from local facilities in order to host workshops
and sessions. So, for the moment, the two Daking units will travel between locations.
"We're in a heavy fundraising phase to find a home. I have a couple of
business plans that happened as a result of the AES
Convention to share some space with people, so that we can put the equipment
in a studio setting and put it to its proper use," explains Winston. "Until
that happens, we're thinking of doing a lot of comparisons. My membership has
never had access to such high-end equipment. They'll be totally stunned to be
able to hear the Daking gear and to even just do a comparison to what they have
been using."
The Daking Mic-Pre/EQ features all-discrete transistor circuitry,
transformer-balanced inputs and outputs, and Class "A" amplifiers.
Five
stepped frequencies per band offer continuously variable boost and cut.
Offering a similarly audiophile specification, the Daking Compressor/Limiter
features seven release time constant settings, allowing users to replicate
the performance of classic Neve and Fairchild devices if they choose.
Winston admits that the donation took her by surprise. "Geoff was joking
about it; I didn't know he was serious. I was ready to faint that it was
just the Mic-Pre, but then the Compressor/Limiter was on the bottom. I
didn't know about that. It's hugely generous. We're very happy."
The WAM members "are just chomping at the bit for that next place in the
studio where we can line it up against some of the stuff that they've been
using," she reports. Meanwhile, she says, "I'm going to use it with
a couple
of members who are going to assist on a project that I'm working on. We'll
use it extensively."
The AES Convention in San Francisco was pretty successful for the group,
according to Winston. "We had a lot of people offer for us to come to their
studios and do small projects until we can find a home. We have enough
equipment for a small project studio. Since everything is closing down in
San Francisco, in a way, I hate to say, that helps us, because there's some
spare space around."
Acquiring a couple of high-end pieces of equipment does have its downside,
she laughs. "That requires us even getting a better microphone that's
worthy. It all starts to snowball! But it's a good problem to have."
Daking is distributed by the Transamerica Audio Group, Las Vegas.
Transamerica, founded by industry veteran Brad Lunde, has quickly become the
premier U.S. importer/distributor for high-end audio. Success hinges on
Transamerica providing users with technical expertise extending far beyond
the norm. Transamerica AG's product lines include A-Designs USA), AEA ribbon
microphones (USA), Apex (Belgium), ATC Loudspeakers (UK), Brauner (Germany),
Drawmer (UK), Geoffrey Daking & Co. (USA), George Massenburg Labs (GML)
(USA), Mercury Audio (USA), Mission Audio (UK), Soundelux (USA), SoundField
(UK), and Z-Systems (USA).
www.transaudioelite.com www.daking.com
Members of the Women's Audio Mission along with
Geoff Daking and Brad Lunde
at AES 2004 in San Francisco.
