Professional Careers in the Audio Recording Industry

The audio recording industry is a growing field thatlarger and generally non-audio curriculum, technical
offers a variety of employment opportunities. Theschools offer hands-on specialized courses and
audio engineer is at the center of this sonic universeconcentrated classes that focus specifically on the skill
and incorporates a variety of recording methods andset that is needed for this coveted career path. Once
gear to get the job done. The equipment ranges fromstudents are educated and experienced in the field of
hardware to software and is manufactured byaudio engineering, they will be able to find employment
software companies like Apple, Digidesign, Sennheiser,in many different areas.
Neumann, Solid State Logic and more. Because of the- Radio and Television Broadcast - NASCAR, the NFL,
broad range of skills and solid experience needed tothe NBA, PGA and the Olympics are just some of the
operate audio equipment at the professional level, it ismany sports that rely on highly skilled audio
no longer feasible to drop to an entry-level job in theprofessionals to broadcast their events.
business. The mentoring system once in place in the- Music Production - Audio engineers are essential
early years of recording is gone, making education ateam members for the recording, editing and mixing of
truly essential step in seeking a career in the audiomusic, collaborating with producers and artists to
recording industry.create an album or song.
Many colleges and trade and technical schools offer- Live Events and Concerts - Front of House
in-depth audio engineering courses that give theengineers are an integral part of live performance. Not
student the skills they need to break in to the businessonly do these professionals mix the live events, but
at an entry level. After this acquisition of knowledge,they often record them for later release.
audio school graduates are able to then build upon their- Sound for Film - Movies abound with audio including
careers. While many traditional colleges offer audiodialog, the musical score and background effects,
classes as part of their curriculum, the trade schoolwhich are all recorded and mixed by audio engineers.
system directly addresses the needs of the student- Recording Studios - Recording studios require audio
seeking a more focused, concentrated and intensiveengineers to maintain, inspect and operate the gear
way to acquire skills and get out in the workplace in aand run sessions.
relatively short time. Rather than being a part of a