Breaking Barriers -Female Audio Engineer Anna Muehlichen

The inspiring work of Anna Muehlichen

The professionally trained ear has many facets of use. Ranging from the high stakes trials of many scientific explorations to paving artistic paths in music and film, setting examples for future generations. The common denominator around the bell curve is the fact that people with these unique and specific skills must be meticulously driven and inspired to hone in on their craft.

 

Some may think of audio engineers as those who who work on the notable, “SETI” project or better known as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. I think of Anna Muehlichen, a very busy audio engineer who is currently working and living in Los Angeles. I picture these amazing individuals listening intently to audio signals that may carry life-changing communications from beings who live thousands of light years away. When I think of Anna undertaking her responsibilities as an audio engineer it is very easy to notice all the similarities and see the scientific aspect to everything that she does.

 

The difference, however, is artistic, not scientific, although science does play a part in Anna’s chosen vocation such as having knowledge of acoustics, frequencies...etc. The SETI listeners are looking for life elsewhere but Anna, is searching for artistic perfection on projects with a worldwide reach. For instance, when she goes to work at Igloo Music studio, she could be assigned to any number of projects such as mixing, recording, editing vocals or band. She might even work on the most iconic voices we all love such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse. Goofy, Donald Duck, Ralph (Wreck It Ralph) to name a few. Anna could even be the audio engineer for a live music recording. All these positions have one thing in common: each one’s goal is to bring the sound up to perfection.

Besides Igloo Music Studio, she is also busy collaborating with many indie artists such as Cehryl, Zack Villere, Stello or the Penthouse as their recording and/or mixing engineer, sometimes even as a feature on one of their tracks! Her love for music has been apparent ever since she could remember and she is always looking to get involved in artists projects like these.

 

We could call Anna a craftsman or a technician because she understands all the technical elements involved in her job. But there is another name for someone who is exceptional at what they do and who raises the bar with each job and that is “Artist.” The audio engineer, at least the way Anna does the job will always have an artistic edge to it simply because her goal is sonic perfection and emotional connection to us, the listener. We’re excited to see what lies ahead for Anna as it seems she’s only getting started.