From the mountains of Brazil to the hills of Los Angeles, Fernanda Starling has come a long way in her career in audio.
Starling was raised in Belo Horizonte (“beautiful horizon” in English), the capital city of Brazil’s Minas Gerais state. Surrounded by mountains, “Beagá”– as it is known to locals – is a cultural capital. It’s particularly known for giving birth to the progressive-jazz-folk musician collective Clube da Esquina, who are regarded as the founders of one of the most important Brazilian musical movements. In the shadows of this music scene, several heavy metal bands were founded, including Sepultura.
She spent her teenage years going to a variety of concerts and eventually started learning how to play bass. In 2002, she formed her first original band with two other musicians, and they recorded their demo with André Cabelo, a well-known local audio engineer and owner of Estúdio Engenho. This was her introduction to the world of professional audio.
“For the following one-and-a-half to two years, I kept bumping into André at live concerts,” Starling recalls. “One of those nights, he mentioned that his studio was so busy that he was thinking about getting an intern. Even though I was already working as a journalist full-time, I didn’t think twice about taking the opportunity.”
She immediately immersed herself in the process of studio recording and editing for music. At the end of 2004, after several months of assisting on recordings and mixings, she was hired by Cabelo: “His studio became my audio school. It was a non-stop recording environment: we often did three sessions per day, generally with three different artists of all genres.”
Her proven studio recording abilities also led her to receive a federal grant to work as the main audio engineer for the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) School of Music. There, she was responsible for recording and mixing classical albums as a member of an all-women research group between 2007 and 2009. This recording project was noteworthy, as it catalogued, recorded, and published more than 250 classical songs written by Brazilian composers for the first time.
As an avid learner, she also chose to complete an intensive certificate course called “Fundamentals in Audio and Acoustics” at the Institute of Audio and Video in São Paulo.
Heart Of The Music Industry
In 2010, Starling moved to Los Angeles to continue pursuing her education in music production. She completed a certificate in Independent Music Production at UCLA Extension in 2012 and then started an Optional Practical Training program right after graduation, which allowed her to pursue work in her field.
Although some might think going back to school later in life would be difficult, she speaks highly of the experience: “I don’t regret going back to school full time. It gave me the opportunity to immerse myself into a different culture and meet important industry professionals who still influence my life to this day.”
One of those key people is music producer and audio engineer Peter Barker, the co-owner of Threshold Sound + Vision in Santa Monica, where Starling interned. Under his guidance, she started working as a post-production sound editor and mixer assistant, and by the end of 2016, she’d worked alongside him on 5.1 mixes for numerous DVD/Blu-ray projects, including Dio’s Finding the Sacred Heart – Live In Philly 1986, Alan Jackson’s Keepin’ It Country Tour!, Heart’s Live at the Royal Albert Hall and Black Sabbath Live: Gathered in Their Masses.
Gradually, she found herself gravitating from studio recording to film and television audio, where there were more job opportunities. She invested in a full production sound kit and owns all the equipment needed to record professional audio on film set, and since 2013, has provided field recordings, and mixing for independent short and feature films, commercials, TV shows, and documentaries.
Starling remembers this journey as being challenging but rewarding: “I went to journalism school in Brazil, so I had taken some classes on cinema and TV, but that was the extent of my formal education in audiovisual back then. I had to figure out every aspect of the job independently, from determining which equipment to purchase to locating clients and understanding the dynamics of a set.
“Looking back, I now recognize the immense value in this self-driven learning journey, as it boosted my professional self-esteem. Most of the times I work as a ‘one-man band’, so I’m literally the ‘audio team’, and I can only count on myself.”
Breaking Into Live TV
On the broadcast side, Starling stays busy as a Pro Tools operator/sound recordist for live and live-to-tape productions, with credits including big shows such as The Oscars, Grease Live!, The Little Mermaid Live!, MTV Video and Music Awards, and Celebrity Family Feud. Typically, she works from remote TV units, adding, “besides the audio broadcast truck, responsible for the mixing of the production elements, music and concert productions also require an additional truck – or even two, depending on the complexity – to handle the music mix of the live performances.”
Since 2016, she has also worked with M&B Audio, an award-winning remote facility company that specializes in recording and mixing music for broadcast. M&B – which operated as the West Coast branch of Music Mix Mobile (M3) until 2020 – regularly handles audio for TV specials and broadcast events such as the Grammy Awards, iHeartRadio Music Awards, MTV Music and Movie Awards and My Gift: A Christmas Special from Carrie Underwood.
She speaks fondly of her work with M&B: “I always have a blast working with them. We are normally a small team of four people – mixer, engineer, Pro Tools and an A2 who constantly collaborate which each other, and those guys became like a family to me. Interestingly, their 40-foot remote truck is called ‘Horizon’, same name of my city.”
Asked what she likes most about broadcast audio, Starling replies, “The complexity and live element make it both a challenging and fascinating environment. These types of television and music festival productions typically encompass up to 192 inputs and feature numerous live performances with quick changeovers, so the multi-track recording plays a crucial role. What you hear on air is always a live mix, but the mix settings are prepared in advance.”
In the lead-up to events, she records the sound checks and rehearsals, and once an act leaves the stage, she plays back the captured audio so the music mixer can revisit the songs, fine-tune the mix, and create snapshots for the live show. Alongside M&B’s co-owners, the audio engineers Bob Wartinbee and Mark Linett, she’s recorded the performance of A-list acts such as Taylor Swift, Snoop Dogg, Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Adele, and Kanye West.
Her credits also include serving as an assistant and audio engineer for the multi-Emmy Award-winning sound engineer/playback mixer Pablo Munguia, who she met while studying at UCLA. She has worked alongside him in music playback mixing for The Grammy Awards, The American Music Awards, The Oscars, and The Emmy Awards, among others. For these award shows, she’s responsible for building and testing the playback systems at the shop and then assisting Munguia on whatever he needs during the production.
2020 Onwards
As a versatile engineer, Starling states that she’s grateful for all the opportunities she’s had, “Being able to stay true to my musical roots and working with legendary audio engineers is one of the best parts of the job! I’m also thankful for the continuous learning opportunities. One day I can be recording Queen at the Academy Awards, another I’m in Idaho to capture audio for a documentary, or maybe I’m in Las Vegas to record a music festival. Alone or as part of a big audio team, it’s fascinating how different each job can be.”
Having access to a diversity of audio skills helped her navigate the pandemic as well as the current Writers Guild of America and Stage Actors Guild strikes: “Some people set out with one goal in mind and become experts at that one thing. In my case, I fell in love with the process, and I tried to enjoy the journey instead of focusing on a specific destination. Having a broad range of knowledge not only keeps me busy and enhances my adaptability for gigs, but also provides me with personal fulfillment. I didn’t intentionally set out to diversify myself; it happened naturally due to my personality and work opportunities.
“This versatility has proved invaluable during the pandemic and the ongoing WGA and SAG strike. In 2020 and 2021, I found myself with fewer opportunities as a Pro Tools operator/sound recordist for broadcast events because of the absence of live audiences. However, I started receiving calls from companies specializing in electronic press kits and behind-the-scenes work for blockbuster movies.
“Now, the situation has reversed. Since the Hollywood strike began in May, I’ve had almost no opportunities to work on film sets, but I’m actively involved in broadcast for concerts, festivals, and various audiovisual projects related to music.”
Against this backdrop, let’s learn more with a Q&A session.
Question: It seems that the audio industry is much different in Brazil then what we experience in North America. Can you speak to the differences?
Starling: I believe the two main differences lie in access to post-secondary education and high-end professional equipment. There are so many audio programs in the U.S. When I began my post-secondary education in Brazil, there were no universities offering bachelor’s degrees in audio. To be honest, when I finished high school and had to choose a career, I wasn’t even aware that specializing in audio was an option. My familiarity with the audio world grew while working as a journalist in Brazil.
In Brazil, there were a few private audio schools, most of them in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, but they just offered short-term certificate programs. The significant difference between when I started and today is the increased access to information and education in general, thanks to the Internet. In this sense, I believe that anyone interested in studying audio nowadays, even in Brazil, has infinitely more options than I did 10 years ago. Of course, having access to professional gear is ideal, which is why having a well-equipped school is important, and such schools are much easier to find in the U.S.
In general, Brazilians have limited access to professional high-end gear. Brazil’s tariff regime is ridiculous! Imported manufactured products are subject to a wide range of taxes at all stages of the supply chain. As a result, the final price of equipment like microphones is two to three times more expensive than it would be here in the U.S. Consequently, independent studios and projects there are not as well equipped as their counterparts in America.
Q: Since your start in the industry, are you seeing an increase of women and gender non-binary persons working in film audio?
Starling: I see progress, especially when compared to when I started, because there is more debate, not only about gender equity but also about diversity and empowerment. There is also more support available. Recently, the number of non-male members in my union – IATSE 695 – has increased from 6 to 8 percent. Keep in mind that the local represents not just production sound professionals, but also includes video engineers and studio projectionists. New empowerment committees have been created inside the Locals, and there has been an increase in membership in existing outside organizations dedicated to supporting minorities underrepresented in audio, such as SoundGirls.
In 2018, I worked for the first time on two sound teams comprised entirely of women. Zola, filmed at the end of 2018 and released in theaters in 2021, was the first film where I worked alongside another sound professional, the Spanish Sound Mixer Diana Sagrista. Also in 2018, I recorded “Strip Down, Rise Up” (Netflix), a documentary directed and filmed entirely by women. I won’t deny that, depending on the job I’m doing, I may still be the only woman on the audio team, but I believe that, in addition to the nature of the work, the size of the crew also plays a role.
Q: How do you think we can increase the number of women and gender non-binary individuals working in this field?
Starling: I think that when we talk about having more women in a male-dominated field, we need to focus on two things: how to attract and how to retain them. How many women start working in audio and give up, even at the beginning of their careers?
Working with sound involves technical aspects, and from a young age, we hear that certain things are not for women. Do you teach your daughter to change a car tire or solder a cable, for example? It’s also hard to cultivate the interest of a girl or teenager in an activity that lacks female representation, hence the importance of creating networks of professional women in audio, promoting role models through workshops, seminars, and training.
Q: What is your favorite show or film you’ve worked on and why?
Starling: Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy being on a movie set, but working on big music festivals or concerts is just too awesome! It fascinates me to be part of a live event, as it is an unrepeatable experience. I have two favorite shows in mind: a concert I recently worked on as a Pro Tools op with M&B at the SoFi Stadium (sorry, I can’t tell you the artist’s name yet!) and a KISS show at The Whisky a Go Go in February 2019. It was an intimate invitation-only show for Sirius XM slotting the start of the band’s “End of the Road” farewell tour.
I normally work inside the broadcast truck, watching everything from the monitors, but that night I was working as an A2 and we had a flight pack system sitting right next to the KISS FOH. It was pretty frickin’ awesome! That concert marked the band’s first club gig in over 20 years and there I was, in this tiny venue, living music history with an audio team that I really enjoy working with.
