Becoming a sound engineer?

[Philbiker]

but seriously, is it really that hard
I just want to get into a job in music

Practical small scale jobs in music are not prohibitavely difficult to get, but they require a great deal of musical knowledge, discipline, and formal education. Being a music teacher generally requires a Bachelor's degree or a Master's if you're talking about being a schoolteacher. Working in a profitable wedding/event band requires incredible performance talent and the ability to know and be able to recall/perform thousands of songs.

I do know some people who have managed to make their living in the industry (one as a performing touring sideman - required a Berkely education, one as an engineer/mixer), but I have no idea what kind of benefits, IRA, etc. they pull in. I don't think I want to know, frankly. I think music is very satisfying as a hobby.

 

[hbarcat]

It is EXTREMELY hard.

I personally have a friend who worked at the Hit Factory in New York, engineering hits for Whitney Houston, Puff Daddy, and others; he also worked at Nothing Studios in New Orleans for Nine Inch Nails. He got out of the industry completely, because the entire bottom fell out of the industry. He's told me of some of his fellow sound engineers have actually started delivering pizzas instead. There's almost no money in it anymore, and when there is it's only for super big artists, and when it's a super big artist, the record company tells you exactly what they want the artist to sound like (which is to sound just like everybody else). There's no creativity allowed at that level.

I'm telling you man - engineer all you want, but don't waste your time thinking you're going to make much of a living at it.

+1

There is a glut of audio workers in the industry and most of them are working for comparatively low pay. If you want to get ahead of them you'll have to be more qualified, more experienced and more talented than they are and you'll also have to be ambitious, aggressive and even lucky in order to make a decent living at it.

There are some jobs in smaller studios and running sound for clubs and such but you'll be making about as much as the bartender.

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

You've gotten some good tips already. Let us know when you're ready for more.

 

[hbarcat]

There are, however, different types of sound engineers. You are probably referring to a large venue live sound engineer. Or, maybe you're interested in being a studio engineer. I am a commercial sound engineer. We design all sizes of permanent audio, video, and lighting systems. Most of our clients are houses of worship, schools, and large industries. It's not as glamorous as playing with 20,000+ watts at an arena, but it is fun and demands quite a bit of attention to system design and acoustics. Plus, I only had to go to school for two years!

This sounds like a good alternative. I assume the pay is all over the place depending on what type of job and whom you work for.

 

[Warpeg]

This sounds like a good alternative. I assume the pay is all over the place depending on what type of job and whom you work for.

$45-55k per year.

Required to be a C.S.E.:
-certified electrician
-certification in basic electronics repair
-background in standard construction zone practices
-an audio engineering 'quikie course' like The Recording Workship of Ohio. There are several tech schools like these in the USA.
-excellent arithmatic, algebra, and trig skills. Yes, you WILL actually use them!
-good working knowlege of PC's and Macs.
-absolutely NO fear of heights. You'll be in some 'fun' places. If you can imagine yourself 50' in the air hanging multiple speaker arrays above the basketball court where the Cleveland Cavaliers play, then you'll be fine.
-ability to travel and be away on installations and manufacturer's courses for several days at a time.
-ability to keep mind on task for long periods of time. There are many times where I may have to spend 16+ hours straight on large system designs and integration.
-people skills: you need to act in a professional manner at all times.
-little or no hearing loss
-a good working knowlege of acoustics and acoustical design.

All the above aside, Being a C.S.E. is a great career to look into. Not only do you get to 'play' with speakers, amps, and wiring a lot, but you'll experience a feeling of pride everytime you get a job done. Sometimes they are $1500 jobs, sometimes they are $150,000 jobs. The job can be stressful, but the rewards are great.