Girls Twiddling Knobs

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever been kept up at night with this aching dread that you might never reach true success as an artist? It’s a common worry and a lingering sense of failure and shame can often follow as a result. But what if reaching massive success is as rare as being hit by a bus? And, how do we square not living up to our early ambitions as musicians with the reality of making art acr...

Send us Fan Mail There’s never been a time in history where we have as many opportunities to really play with musical texture in such diverse and powerful ways and yet, texture isn’t often mentioned much when discussing electronic, or even popular, music. But texture is vital to making music that is truly engaging, emotive and meaningful and effectively communicating your own intention within your...

Send us Fan Mail Inside part 2 of 2, Isobel continues her fascinating conversation with musician and creative NikNak, AKA Nicole Raymond, this time delving into the concepts behind her album Bashi, which blends turntable improvisation with field recordings. Nicole also shares her experience as a black woman in music tech and how we can make the field more inclusive, moving forward. Ultimately, Nic...

Send us Fan Mail NikNak is a true renaissance lady spanning turntablism, radio presenting, live performance, sonic arts and more but underneath everything she does is a playful approach to sound. Inside part 1 of 2, Isobel chats with her about how she got started DJing and learning turntable techniques, how she’s learnt to trust her creative intuition and why she believes it’s best to let go of th...

Send us Fan Mail Much of the time, music recording and production takes place inside the studio, which we’ve covered a lot on the podcast already. But inside today’s episode, Isobel shares why field recordings - recordings made outside the studio - became so important to her own production style and how you can get started with these more experimental recording techniques to transform your sound i...

Send us Fan Mail In modern music technology, we take for granted our ability to and appreciation of hearing sound spatially. Stereo recording and reproduction has been especially embedded in our listening practices, whether it be through headphones or speakers. But inside this week’s episode, Isobel chats with Prof. Gascia Ouzounian about her new book, Stereophonica, where she explores how this wa...

Send us Fan Mail Creativity is undoubtedly an innate human process. We exist because we were created, we are perpetually making new experiences, stories and even cells, and even when we die our matter goes into new creations, whether animal, mineral or vegetable. But a creative practice? This involves some kind of intentional commitment, and sharing this work? This involves opening a dialogue with...

Send us Fan Mail Composer and producer, Hannah Peel, is fast becoming one of the most inventive, multidimensional and prolific artists in UK electronic music. Inside this episode, Isobel sits down to chat with Hannah about her creative practice, her new album Fir Wave and the realities of being a contemporary, independent musician working in experimental music today. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS {00:00} Int...

Send us Fan Mail There’s a part of the recording process that can often feel overwhelming to musicians, and that’s self-releasing music. For a totally DIY artist, Isobel’s success with sharing her music is impressive, but she’s also had to learn everything through trial and error. Luckily, you can side-step three of the most common mistakes Isobel has made herself and observed from other musicians...

Send us Fan Mail In this week’s episode Isobel chats with post-production audio engineer Emma Butt about a fascinating piece of research she published recently into lack of diversity within the field of  post-production sound in UK television. Emma shares why and how she took on this important project, her career to date and her ambitious plans for creating more diversity in her industry moving fo...

Send us Fan Mail The link between dyslexia and creativity is widely agreed, so it’s no surprise that many musicians are dyslexic. So far, so good. But could this form of neurodiversity change musicians’ experience of music tech, both in negative and positive ways? This isn’t a widely explored area of research, but inside this episode, Isobel explores if and how her dyslexia may, in fact, have had...

Send us Fan Mail NOTE: Since recording this episode, Liz has changed their name to Eddie, and their pronouns to they/them. If you’re anything like me, you’ve sometimes wished you had a little more confidence. This might be around technology, but it could also be to do with your creativity in general and even feeling able to ask questions when you’re learning new skills. Inside this week’s episode...

Send us Fan Mail When I mention sample packs, who do you think they’re made by? Are you picturing a male producer, busting out some beets in his LA studio? Just me? This week, Isobel speaks with composer / producer Neeta Sarl about her work making sample packs for major music software brands, like Ampify, and how you can get started using these powerful, creative tools in your own music too. The b...

Send us Fan Mail It’s hard enough being an underrepresented group within any field. It’s even harder when your creation of alternative spaces for these groups to come together is questioned, or even trolled. Inside this week’s episode, Isobel shares the overall backlash to the premise of her recent free live, female only, workshop from a small minority of strangers on the internet, and why she eve...

Send us Fan Mail How are your music tech gremlins these days? We’ve all got them: that nagging little voice telling us we should give up when our DAW decides it won't bounce out our track; that inner judgemental sneer when it takes us more than half an hour to work out what that plugin does. In this 3 part, Music Tech Gremlins special, Isobel chats with three Home Recording Academy alumni abo...

Send us Fan Mail We continue our Music Tech Gremlins 3 parter with a fascinating conversation with Laura Loft, a musician who has re-defined her career and launched a trail-blazing new project Big Emotions, made possible through her own home recording and production skills. But as Laura tells Isobel, music tech used to be the last thing she wanted to do as a musician. Now?  She’s opened up a whole...

Send us Fan Mail In this final episode in our 3 part series on overcoming your Music Tech Gremlins, Isobel is joined by Mayfair Lady (AKA Grace). Inside, Grace shares the discomfort she used to feel around music technology and the difficult situations she found herself in trusting other people to record her music for her. Now, she’s surprising herself and other people with the recordings she is ma...

Send us Fan Mail We all feel fear from time-to-time; it’s part of being human. But what if fear was stopping you from sharing parts of yourself that are integral to your own growth and development as a musician and a woman? Inside this week’s episode, Isobel explores this tricky but important emotion, in a bid to gain some insight into how we can feel fear AND still share our voice and make our ma...

Send us Fan Mail Does making pro sounding home recordings require an expensive, fancy home studio? While a girl can dream (#studiogoals), there’s always more than one way to skin a cat… or recording. Inside this week’s episode, Isobel breaks down the equipment for under £100 that will get you recordings you’re proud of. Yes Cinderella, you shall go to the DIY recording ball! EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS {0:...

Send us Fan Mail Do you ever look at other musicians who seem to know exactly what they’re doing with music tech and think “I wish I knew what I was doing like THEY do”? To look at the amazingly talented electronic musician, Una Monaghan, you might think exactly that. But inside this incredibly honest conversation, we learn that even someone at the top of their game like Una, has these niggling, a...

Send us Fan Mail Marking achievements, learning from mistakes and setting goals you can feel truly excited by for 2021. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS {00:00} Intro {03:51} How has 2020 affected your confidence? {10:52} We really need to give ourselves a break {16:15} We need to learn from the mistakes we’ve made (and the changes we’ve faced) {19:03} We need to dig deep and find courage moving into 2021 {23:0...

Send us Fan Mail What better way to welcome in the New Year than raising a glass to the unsung heroines of music technology, past and present? And there’s no-one better to do this with than Oxford Professor, Gascia Ouzounian. So, join Gascia and Isobel for a New Year’s tipple and a natter about some of the amazing ladies that have paved the way in music tech and get inspired for what you could ach...

Send us Fan Mail Inside this special Christmas Eve episode, the GTK podcast gives you the gift of analogue. Or to be specific, Isobel sits down with engineer and producer Julie McLarnon and finds out how the creativity and magic of analogue recording enticed Julie to create a 100% analogue studio set within Northern Ireland’s beautiful Mourne Mountains. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS {00:00} Intro {07:12} How...

Send us Fan Mail 2020’s been quite the year and there’s no denying the challenges many of us have faced. Between the global pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement and the devastating impacts of climate change, it could feel like making music is just too self indulgent and trivial in comparison. But inside this episode, we’re getting a reality check, my friend, because I’m going to show you why...

Send us Fan Mail What kind of producer’s repertoire stretches from Rod Stewart to UK Garage? Not everyone can answer that question, but SJAE certainly can. Inside this week’s episode, Isobel talks to the LA based Welsh producer about her career to date, how lockdown has affected her music and her pro production tip - you’re going to love this episode. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS {00:00} Intro {02:22} Makin...