Sound Engineer Career Path

Posted by Michael Venia on January 19, 2016

A lot of people that are currently studying sound engineering or who have just graduated are anxious to get in the game, and quickly! With any successful person, whether you take the entrepreneur or 40 hours a week route, it takes hard work and determination. Consistently working hard and caring about your career will eventually directly be related to your success.

What you do

Sound engineers or audio engineers are responsible for recording, mixing, and mastering sound. This is the technical part of music. The actual recording part of the process is handled by the engineer - microphone placement, pre-amp levels etc. Audio engineers also set up and operate sound systems for concert, theater, sporting and other events. Film sound engineers usually work irregular and long hours to accommodate hectic schedules and deadlines.

Keep up with the Latest

It's so important to learn new things regularly. This may mean that you have to do some reading and studying here and there so you don't get rusty. Technology is super fast moving space to be in. Software companies will release new versions on average once a year. Graduating from school is the easy part in my opinion.

Freelance or Full Time

This is something that usually gets chosen for you. It may happen without you even realizing. Some people are a good fit for freelance and others like to work for someone and have a strict schedule. Freelance engineers really need to be organized, quick and have top notch customer service. The best thing you can do is get experience with both and then you can fall right into place.

Salary Range

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the average annual salary for sound engineers as $58,670 in 2014. That comes to $28.21 per hour. The range starts from a low of $22,820 per year to a high of $106,870 per year.