Sounds of success

If you love experimenting and playing around with sounds, here’s how you can make a career out of your passion

February 19, 2017 05:00 pm | Updated 05:00 pm IST

Jerry Silvester Vincent

Jerry Silvester Vincent

“A Sound engineer understands how to engineer music that most of us enjoy as the end product,” says Jerry Silvester Vincent, a sound engineer, musician, score writer and music programmer. A sound engineer, commonly known as audio engineer, is an individual who works with sound signals (in most forms perceived as music). He records it, manipulates it by mixing and mastering, and then is able to reproduce it in many different mediums, be it your phone, the TV, a hi-fi music system, and so on. A sound engineer understands the science behind sound, so that it can be worked upon to create specific results for specific requirements in the audio industry. It is a career that gives you the best of both worlds — engineering and music.

In the studio

A sound engineer works on the content provided or created by artistes, music producers or music directors, in a way that they are able add to the vision of the music creator themselves. “Like a colour palate is available to a painter, there are different tools like EQ’s, compressors and reverbs, that are available to a sound engineer which he uses creatively on the recorded content, to give it space and character in the overall spectrum of the final mix,” says Nitin Chandy from The True school of Music, Mumbai. He also combines many different layers and elements (tracks) within the song to give each element a purpose and perspective in the final mix.

In addition to working in the studio, sound engineers work in the live music industry, the post production or film industry, the broadcast industry (TV and radio), gaming industry, and so on. There is requirement for various kinds of specialisations within each of these categories. For example, in the studio, one could specialise being a recording engineer, a mix engineer or a mastering engineer. In live music, you can be either a front of house (FOH) engineer or a monitor mix engineer. In post production and film, you have the option of being a sync sound engineer and ADR engineer or a surround sound engineer.

Beginners and freelancers can earn between ₹1,000 to ₹3,000 per day, while full-timers with two to three years of experience can earn between ₹1 lakh to ₹1.5 lakh per month. With experience and skill, one can expect to earn between ₹16 lakh to ₹30 lakh per annum, even as a freelancer.

However, there is a dearth of trained professionals to fill these jobs, due to the lack of professional vocational training institutes. A handful of institutes like K.M. Conservatory, Chennai and the True School of Music, Mumbai provide the required training and work experience for aspirants. An aspiring sound engineer should possess an aptitude for basic physics, math, technology — both hardware and software — and a natural affinity for music.

What you can do

Learn some basic software such as Audacity, FL Studio, Garage Band and so on. Next, find the nearest recording studio and start shadowing the engineer there. Getting a certificate in sound engineering would definitely add credibility to your passion.

The writer is CEO, I Love Mondays, new-age career expert and business coach based in Bengaluru.

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