Being an Audio Engineer

Many people who aspire to work in the music business imagine themselves as hotshot music producers, calling the shots and churning out the hit songs.  And why not?  Being a music producer can be a glamorous and extremely lucrative career.  In fact many producers become celebrities in their own right.  There are even some who parlay their success as producers into careers as recording artists, like Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs.

Producers have been behind some of the most influential musical moments of the modern era.  George Martin’s work with the Beatles and Dr. Dre’s groundbreaking hip-hop production are two good examples.  However the great majority of people who want to become music producers will find the road to success very challenging.

Good audio engineers on the other hand, are always in demand.  Audio engineers function in many ways, like less glamorous versions of producers.  In fact many producers are as successful as they are because they hire skillful audio engineers they know they can depend on. 

Audio engineers are responsible for much of the actual work that takes place in a studio during a recording session.  Audio engineers are the ones who mic up the drums, help the singer hear his or her voice in the headphones and patch the bass guitar directly into the soundboard. 

Often audio engineers work in-house and are part of the package deal people get when they hire studio time.  Others work freelance for different producers and artists. 

Being an audio engineer may lack some of the glamour of being a “producer,” however there are many more opportunities for audio engineers.  If you have a good overall knowledge of how music is made, understand instruments and how they produce sound, than being an audio engineer might be an excellent career path for you.

Audio engineers work in a studio environment and are often musicians themselves.  Being an engineer gives them access to the studio and the industry, which makes audio engineering a good job for people whose ultimate goal is to be musicians in their own right.

And if nothing less than being an acclaimed producer will do for you, working as an audio engineer can also be an excellent stepping-stone to doing just that.  Audio engineers are in a great position to make the contacts and connections one needs to become a music producer.  Engineers also have great access to up and coming bands.  And the amount of on the job experience you can acquire in music production by working, as an audio engineer is quite simply unlimited.