Here is an essay I had to write for some worthless class I was forced to take in college. Anyway, I decided to post it here where maybe it will be useful to someone.
A Job That Really Rocks
Have you ever dreamed of having a career that isn't boring? Is there a job somewhere on this drab earth that you could wake up to every day and utter the seemingly forbidden phrase, "I love my job."? Amazingly enough, I've stumbled across an industry where it seems that everyone involved is there because they've made a choice. These individuals have ditched the 9 to 5 cubicle and decided to spice up their lives a bit. They've chosen to devote their lives to sound. The music you love, the TV programs, movies, commercials, radio programs etcetera, would be nothing without the devoted force of men and women working in the field of Audio Production and Recording.
Jobs in the Audio industry range from syncing up sound effects with movie tracks, to mastering the music of a rock band, to physically repairing electronic audio equipment. A radio engineer Steve Church states, "One moment you may be adjusting the pot on a studio console and the next replacing a part on some remote equipment" (Keith 274). Every one of these fields require the building-block knowledge of the physics and nature of sound. Though most of these skills are learned through experience, it is essential to learn the basics of the technology. In order to fully utilize a professional mixing board, an audio engineer must have a complete understanding of the circuits within the board, and know the path of the electrons through it. In the industry this specific path is known as "signal flow". Without an understanding of signal flow, an engineer would not be able to manipulate a sound as he intends.
As time progresses, computer knowledge is becoming increasingly demanded in the audio industry, especially in the recording and mastering field. The advent of digital technology has brought on a barrage of new technology, much of which is software based. Though each individual software program involves entirely different processes and concepts, a basic understanding of operating and file systems is essential for the organization of audio files. If an engineer lacks knowledge of computers, an entire recording session may become lost in various locations on the hard drive, resulting in angry clients and lost business.
As much as in any other industry, time plays a very important role in the audio industry. Though most engineers would love to spend unlimited amounts of time piecing together a soundtrack perfectly, or re-recording a guitar solo until it is just right, he must instead make a decision as to what is acceptable. A good recording studio will usually charge at least two-hundred dollars an hour, a price at which clients cannot afford wasted time. Audio engineers must not only be precise, but timely as well.
The position for which I am applying is known as a "Recording Engineer". It is the recording engineer's job to record and master the music which you listen to every day. He begins by overseeing everything from the proper arrangement of an orchestra to the precise placement of microphones. He then carries out the recording process by rolling the tapes and telling the band what to do and when to play. After the band has finished getting its music onto a permanent medium, the engineer then mixes and sculpts the recorded tracks into music. Throughout this highly artistic process, the engineer will often be challenged by the opinion of the producer, a professional who is assigned to manage the sound of a specific group or artist. "The producer knows how the music should sound, but it is up to the engineer to make sure that sound is realized." (Alten 3) It is the job of the engineer to interpret the opinions and suggestions of the producer into the language of audio technology.
Communication skills are extremely important for any recording engineer. He must be able to organize potentially large groups of artists, such as an orchestra or concert band, into a specific arrangement. Once they are arranged he must be able to communicate to them ideas or specific requests with minimal confusion so that he might complete the recording more efficiently. It is common for a producer to directly or indirectly slander the intelligence or skill of an engineer. He may complain that something sounds "horrible", or "there's something very wrong with that mix." An engineer with poor communication skills may interpret this as an insult and respond harshly. If a producer offers a potentially offensive comment about the sound of a recording, the engineer must be able to work through this conflict without losing his calm. To do this efficiently, an engineer must also understand that producers are often untrained in the technology and lack knowledge of proper recording industry terminology. Hubner describes the function of an engineer as, "an interpreter in a techno-artistic field." (Hubner 18). If a producer states, "There's too much breathiness in the vocals", an engineer might interpret that message as "The release time on the compressor is too short."
Although not everyone would enjoy sitting in an isolated room surrounded by ten-thousand watts of the purest and cleanest music ever heard for hours on end, there are those that will. The next time you pop in a CD and jam out to your favorite song, or feel a stabbing chill travel down your spine during the climactic scream in a horror film, thank an audio engineer.