Meet Brigitte

We were lucky to catch up with Brigitte recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brigitte, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that impacts many people throughout their career, and we’re interested to hear about your story and how you overcame it.
When I started learning audio engineering, I experienced intense imposter syndrome. My audio journey began with working in my university’s recording studios, and I was the only woman working there. I didn’t know anyone in the program and because of my classical violin background, I had no idea what any of the audio jargon meant: I didn’t recognize the mic names, equipment, or miking techniques. I seriously considered quitting. However, my love of music and my interest in learning about audio kept me coming back for more. I also was fortunate to discover that the people working in the studios with me were very supportive in helping explain the audio terminology and how all of the gear worked.

Another thing that helped me overcome imposter syndrome was getting positive feedback from industry professionals–and learning that the more work you put out into the world, the more opportunities you will have for getting feedback. I’ve also realized over time that art and mixing are subjective. Just because you love a mix or a song does not mean everyone will. When I started writing songs, I was concerned about whether my songs were “good” or not. But then I stumbled on another student’s thesis that explored this topic and came to the conclusion that “good” exists in the relationship between the art and the listener. A song that holds intense meaning and comfort for you may not affect someone else at all. That really helped me reframe how I view music creation, and now I try to focus first and foremost on creating work that conveys a story or emotion. If I can do that, the song will very likely reach and touch others.

I also try to mentor women and gender minorities in audio. I remember how it felt starting out and feeling discouraged since at the time I had never met a woman audio engineer. It only takes one positive mentor to help someone have a better experience in the field—and this is especially important in a field like audio engineering where most knowledge is passed down through mentorship and practice.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an artist, songwriter and audio engineer who is passionate about creating impactful music and helping elevate women and gender minorities in audio. For my artist project, I have released several EPs in the folk genre in the past, and I am excited to release new music this year on my debut album, which will blend folk, pop, and electronic genres. I am very proud of the sound and songwriting on the album and am excited to release it soon. For the songs on the album, I experimented with writing in and blending different genres and with different songwriting techniques and approaches. One special aspect of my work is that I strive to collaborate with other talented women working in music. Much of this upcoming album’s production was done by Baolu Chen, a talented music producer I met when I first moved to Los Angeles. For my previous EPs I did almost everything myself—the writing, mixing, and mastering. Creating and releasing my previous EPs was a unique challenge and learning experience as a songwriter and audio engineer. For this project however, I actively pursued collaborating with others. I felt that collaborating sped up the process, since getting other songwriters’ feedback was helpful; and working with other people made the process more enjoyable. I’ve also realized that having several sets of professional ears on the project helped elevate the end product and gave it a more polished sound.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Three qualities that I think were most impactful in my journey were consistency, adaptability, and resilience. Doing the work consistently is important. All of the small moments of mixing, songwriting and music practice squeezed in between other responsibilities add up. For me, getting started in a new endeavor is the most difficult. For example, before I started working in my university’s studios, I kept thinking about starting, wanting to start but feeling apprehensive about how little I knew and how it would go. But once I began working there, I met other people who were also new to the field and learning. We were able to support each other and learn from each other. A supportive community can make a huge difference in motivation and growth. It definitely did and still does for me. My friends and colleagues in the music field inspire me all the time with their stories of resilience and pursuing their dreams. For example, I have friends working shifts in fast food restaurants while at the same time working really hard in their off time to write great songs. It is really inspiring to me to see their hustle and dedication. Another quality that has positively impacted my journey is adaptability. Even if you are new to something, if you are a hard worker you can learn to be proficient. There have been situations and sessions professionally where I felt that I was in over my head—working with someone famous, or feeling that the task was beyond my skill set, or having to quickly learn new software. But as my mom who works as an elementary school educational technologist says, almost everything technical can be figured out with a quick Google search. I think that when learning new skills and tasks, initiative and willingness to learn are more important than talent. Being a good leader of a recording session is being able to communicate: “Hey this isn’t working,” while at the same time being confident that I can fix the problem and being able to project that confidence in the room. It is inevitable as an audio engineer that I will run into technical issues in a session, so adaptability and a confident mindset is essential.
Another quality that was impactful in my journey is resilience. One difficulty I recently went through was losing my (at the time) dream job working as a full-time audio engineer in a songwriting studio due to company-wide layoffs. I really enjoyed the work and felt devastated when I heard the news. However, I learned a great deal from the job and also from losing the job, and I have been able to try new things that I probably would not have had time for when I was working there. For example, I was able to finish my album and pursue professional songwriting more seriously. I also had time to reflect on my relationship with work and how it was tied up with my sense of self. While I felt distraught at the time, I am grateful for everything I learned and excited for the future. Another example of resilience is how one reacts to negative feedback. I used to take feedback very personally. However, I realize now that taste is very subjective. Just because someone has a certain opinion does not make it absolute. It is important to consider the feedback to see if there is anything I can learn from it, in order to improve. I also consider whether I admire the person’s work in their domain and weigh that along with the feedback. If I do not admire their work or consider that their feedback is relevant, I will think twice before taking their advice.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I have recently read “The Creative Act” by Rick Rubin and really enjoyed it. One of the key points in the book that resonated with me is the idea that being an artist is a practice. A lot of the time we think of an artist’s work as their output, but art is also found in the process of creating. For me, thinking of being an artist in this way helps take pressure off of the end result, and recognize the importance of the everyday moments of creating and shaping music.

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Image Credits
Igloo Studios Womxn in the Studio Talk: Judybelle Camangyan

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