Do you have an ear for how sound is recorded for various audio-visual applications?
Do you get awed by the background sounds that you hear in big budget war, sci-fi or natural disaster movies and wonder how did they manage to record those sounds?
Welcome to the world of audio / sound engineering!!!
This is where the sound engineers and technicians add their magic.
And you can definitely get trained in the audio sound engineering area from a reputed school or college, if you are eager to make a career in this field.
It’s okay if don’t play any musical instrument; so long as you are passionate about sounds and music in general, you will do well in that career.
Role of Audio Sound Engineer
An Audio/Sound engineer or a recordist is a skilled professional who works in studios and outdoor locations using machinery, equipment and software with the sole purpose of recording, mixing and later on reproduction of those recorded sounds.
Studio sound recording engineers are skilled in various aspects of audio mixing and recording, such as vocals, electronics, acoustics, psycho acoustics, and music.
Audio Sound Engineer Skills
A sound engineering technician has to be proficient with different types of recording media, such as analog tape, digital multi-track recorders and workstations, and of course computer knowledge is necessary.
With the advent of the digital age, it is becoming more and more important for the recording engineers to be versed in the understanding of software and hardware integration from synchronization, to analog to digital transfers.
Audio Recording Equipment
An audio sound recording engineer has to be experienced in the art of recording, mixing and reproducing sounds with help of analog as well as digital equipment.
There are different equipment that a Live Audio Engineer works on; they usually are mixing consoles, Microphones, Signal Processors, Tape Machines, and Digital Audio Workstations. These equipment are generally called soundboard and are used for mixing and recording sounds for different purposes.
Different Designations
A Studio Sound engineer is known by different names like sound recordist, studio recording engineer, audio recordist, audio engineer, etc.
Depending on the years of experience, terms like assistant sound engineer may also be used to designate a newbie.
Audio Engineering Career Options
So what do you do once you have some experience in the audio/sound engineering area or if you do a course from some reputed audio engineering school/college?
Well, there are many things that you could do!
Here are some career options that you may consider in the area of sound/audio engineering.
Here are some of the Audio Engineering Careers and jobs that you can explore once you have some experience as a Sound Engineer / Technician.
Please note that though you need to understand the basics of sound engineering, some of these jobs may also involve management work.
You need to schedule time slots to clients as per the studio’s availability.
You need to ensure that the client’s work finishes on time and all expectations are managed properly, and so on.
Related Career Options
Though early in your career, you will be doing one of the Audio Engineering jobs mentioned above. With experience, and if you have inclination towards creating music or entrepreneurship, you may also choose to make a career in some of the following.
Audio Sound Engineering Schools/Colleges
Many reputed Schools/Colleges exist that offers education in the area of live audio sound engineering and recording arts.
They offer courses and degree programs – both online as well as campus programs. The shorter courses are for a few months whereas the degree programs can vary from a couple of years to four years.
Question:
What Universities, Colleges offer Courses for a Music Producer Career / Jobs? I want to become a music record producer. What will be a suitable course for me that can help me build my career? I don’t want to learn just about music technology but I am also keen to know about the music business, including the
marketing and distribution aspects. I am in the southwest area of US. Any suggestions for good music colleges/universities? – Alex
Answers:
I am sure most universities have a music department that run Music technology courses and programs. Though most of it can be learnt at home, if you have to gain experience in producing all types of music (rock, country, classical, pop, etc) you will need to thoroughly learn recording, mixing, editing, and mastering. All this can still be learnt on your own, but would require far more expensive studio recording software and equipment, not to mention the big learning curve. A music production course can help you in that case. Music business, I would assume, would be part of a longer degree type course.
Which Universities, Colleges offer Courses for a Music Producer Career?
I can think of the Berklee College of music. I am sure there are other universities which would teach about the music business.
But if you just want to do something just in the electronic music space – say for instance hip hop, rap, electronic, techno music, then software programs like Propellerhead Reason, Ableton Live, FL studio can teach you a lot about music production. You just have to invest in a home studio setup and you can learn a lot about music technology all by yourself.
Then you just pickup any college which has courses that teach you about the music business.
Even if it is electronic music, I think it is important to learn music theory. Any course that gives you some kind of formal training in music theory, harmony should be taken up to strengthen your music understanding, even if you are going to compose only in the electronic form of music.
Final Thoughts
Though with experience you can take up various careers as mentioned, in the earlier years a sound engineer will have to develop the capability to successfully record sounds for various purposes. Audio sound engineering job will be more to do with recording sounds, than creating or arranging music for various scenarios. Recording sounds for documentaries, videos as you see in National Geographic, Discovery, and Animal Planet could form major part of your work.
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