So You Want To Be A Sound Engineer?

Did you know that... if your work and passion are the same, you'll never work - but have fun everyday doing what you love and get paid for it.

If you have a love for all things audio, read on...

A lot of people I know choose careers without much thought about what their passions, interest and natural abilities are.

They plunge in, some targeting financial rewards as their sole aim, some based on what their buddies are doing, some from suggestions from well meaning friends and relatives.

I am writing this to persons who have an interest in audio and want to investigate the possibilities of having a career as a sound engineer.

The biggest piece of advice I can give to you is that you have to ask yourself if you have the PASSION deep down in you?

Ask yourself - in your teens, did you show any natural interest in things related to sound? Did you take things apart, especially radios, amplifiers, cassette recorders?

Did you always tweak the knobs of amplifiers to get that "perfect" sound?

Have friends always told you that you have technical ability that is beyond them?

If you have a few "yeses", then you have a chance. In fact, I would encourage you to seriously consider digging deeper for more information about being a sound engineer.

But that's not all....

Being highly technical alone is not enough to get you far in your career.

Sure, it's fun to mess around with buttons and knobs all day long. But if you can't interact properly with clients, they'll probably not come back for more.

Unless perhaps you have such great technical and musical skills that make up for your lack of personality.

You must realize that being a sound engineer requires you to have great patience and tolerance from sometimes utter rubbish from your clients.

You need to know how to say "no" graciously, or to voice your opinion about a mix tactfully so that nobody's feelings are hurt.

So, check yourself to see how good you are in this department.

If you plan on starting on your own someday, you need to know about how to market your services.

Almost all businesses don't make it through the third year in business because they don't have enough business.

Many of us think that because we're so good, customers will beat a path to our doors.

In my city, I know of long established recording studios that have folded because of competition from smaller but more marketing savvy studios.

You're fighting for the same clients in your area - and the one that makes the most "noise" in the market, gets the lion share of the business.

So, remember that you need to ALWAYS focus on how to get clients CONTINUOUSLY through your doors if you want to setup a studio of your own.

Not everyone gets the opportunity to work in the big studios you see in the audio school brochures.

The market is small, but growing because of online content. There will be many opportunities - if you keep up to date with the relevant technologies that people are looking for.

Customers want speed, quality and competitive pricing.

And you can only deliver on those if you work fast and accurately. You will also need to know online technologies as your productions will be broadcast to the world in so many forms, both offline and online.

Continuous study is a must.

And if you want to be able to work in a large recording studio or broadcast facility, you need to be really competent in all these areas.

And that is where you passion comes in. With passion, learning all this will be second nature to you. It will not be a drag, not a chore, but something you WANT to know - and you can't beat that in any job.

So how do you start?

If you believe deep down in your heart that being a sound engineer is what you want to be, then you have to be strategic in all that you do.

Here's what I mean.

Get involved in audio anyway you can.

At church, doing recordings for friends, converting audio from one format to another. Messing around for hours on audio software, tweaking software equalizers to see how various frequencies affect the sound.

You have to immerse yourself with sound.

Work for free in a recording studio while studying. That will teach you valuable lessons and you'll be way ahead of your class. And when you're ready, a job will probably be waiting for you!

Read pro audio magazines, attend exhibitions and audio talks. Join the AES (Audio Engineering Society), get involved in audio newsgroups. Start a blog on your audio interest, you'll be surprised how the "word" gets around, and you'll be documenting your own growth in the industry.

Get your hands dirty!

Perhaps, now would be a great time for me to tel you a bit about myself.

When I was a young teenager, I inherited an old but still working reel to reel tape deck from my uncle. I was fascinated that it could record Jimi Hendricks off the radio without much loss in quality.

I play guitar, so the next logical thing I did was to record songs that I played. I was thrilled.

Fast forward a few years, and I bought my first multi track recorder - a Tascam Portastudio that recorded 4 tracks on high speed cassette, allowed me to bounce tracks, punch in sounds, etc. It was my most precious possession!

One thing led to another and I got involved with video, multimedia and of course, audio.

In 1994, I stated a company that provided video and audio production services. My passion was still in audio and that kinda led to jobs where I provided a fair number of voice over recording services. I loved doing he recordings, sweetening them, taking away unwanted noises, etc.

We later progressed to doing radio ads and that kinda opened a new challenge for me - with sound effects, background music, and even writing the script.

You can say I was fortunate.

And the message here is that if you have the PASSION for it - just go for it while time is still on your side. There are now many fine sound engineering schools, not just in the US, but across the globe as well.

With the internet, getting the necessary info on the latest equipment, trends, techniques, is a no brainer. But that of course also opens up the competitiveness of the marketplace.

But do not worry. If you have the drive, interest and perhaps the natural talent for audio, you will soar and build yourself one of the most satisfying careers possible.

It allows you to be creative, adventurous - and when you here your mix on the radio, it's euphoric!

Get involved in sound everytime you can. If you go to church, join in the sound ministry. Churches are some of the biggest customers of sound reinforcement companies - just because there are so many churches.

If you're fortunate enough to be in a large church, you probably have an opportunity to build up you live mixing chops - which is quite different from studio work.

So I'll say it again - if you have the fire... go for it.

So there you have it - I hope you have the same fortune I have in having a business and career which is also my passion.

I never work. Everyday, I am engaged in my hobby.

Don't you want to do that too?

So take the first step if you know deep down that this is for you. You'll never regret it.