Sound engineers, Audio engineers, mixers, techies, sound guys, whatever you want to call us are basically the people who control the sound at events and in recording studios. You will need a good knowledge of music and sound technology, it is also useful to have a good understanding of electronics and to be computer literate. Another good thing, although not compulsary, is to have the ability of playing an instrument. There are two different types of engineer; live and recording. On this page you can find some background detail about the jobs of sound engineers.
Live Engineers
I am focussing my site mainly on live engineering, but the basic principals are exactly the same as live engineering. The job of a live sound engineer is to reproduce the sound at events like theatre performances and live concerts. We have to make everything sound 'bigger' and to a certain extent we can make it sound better.
A live engineer has a wide range of jobs which include:
- Rigging up/de-rigging the PA rig
- Selecting and setting up suitable microphones
- Micing up equipment
- Sound-checking before the performance...
- Making sure that everything sounds perfect
- Monitoring the levels of everything and making sure it all sounds full
- Making sure everyone on stage can hear everything they want to how they want to
- Maintaining equipment
- Operating the sound desk during shows
Those are just some of the basic tasks an engineer might have to do, but there are LOADS more. When working as an engineer the hours tend to be long and irregular, you can often find yourself starting during the day setting up and then you won't finish until 2 am the next morning. I have worked at festivals where i started at 9 am on the first morning then finished at 1am the next day, had 3 hours sleep, then i was back at 9 am that morning to find myself finishing at 2 am again.
Recording Engineers
Although this site isn't about what goes on in the recording studio i thaught i'd let you know what they do. A recording sound engineer is the person who makes recordings in a studio.
Recording engineers tasks include:
- Setting up equipment
- Selecting and setting up suitable microphones
- Micing up equipment
- Sound-checking
- Mastering the final recording to make sure it sounds exsctly how the client wants it
- Maintaining equipment
Again there are loads more tasks, however thats as far as i'm going to go in to recording. Working in a recording studio means shorter hours and more regular work paterns. Also in the studio you will find that the work is generally easier as there is no rig to be set up for every occasion. When recording you will find that you are working more for a client where as when working on live performances it is more 'your own' work.
