position, mixing sound for a band A variety of terms are used to describe audio engineers who install or operate
sound recording,
sound reinforcement, or sound
broadcasting equipment, including large and small format
consoles. Terms such as
audio technician,
sound technician,
audio engineer,
audio technologist,
recording engineer,
sound mixer,
mixing engineer and
sound engineer can be ambiguous; depending on the context, they may be synonymous, or they may refer to different roles in audio production. Such terms can refer to a person working in sound and music production; for instance, a
sound engineer or
recording engineer is commonly listed in the credits of commercial music recordings (as well as in other productions that include sound, such as movies). These titles can also refer to technicians who maintain professional audio equipment. Certain jurisdictions specifically prohibit the use of the title
engineer to any individual not a registered member of a
professional engineering licensing body. In the recording studio environment, a sound engineer records, edits, manipulates, mixes, or
masters sound by technical means to realize the creative vision of the artist and
record producer. While usually associated with music production, an audio engineer deals with sound for a wide range of applications, including
post-production for
video and
film, live sound reinforcement,
advertising,
multimedia, and broadcasting. In larger productions, an audio engineer is responsible for the technical aspects of a sound recording or other audio production, and works together with a record producer or director, although the engineer's role may also be integrated with that of the producer. In smaller productions and studios, the sound engineer and producer are often the same person. In typical sound reinforcement applications, audio engineers often assume the role of producer, making artistic and technical decisions, and sometimes even scheduling and budget decisions.
Education and training Audio engineers come from backgrounds or postsecondary training in fields such as audio,
fine arts, broadcasting, music, or electrical engineering. Training in audio engineering and sound recording is offered by colleges and universities. Some audio engineers are
autodidacts with no formal training, but who have attained professional skills in audio through extensive on-the-job experience. Audio engineers must have extensive knowledge of audio engineering principles and techniques. For instance, they must understand how audio signals travel, which equipment to use and when, how to mic different instruments and amplifiers, which microphones to use and how to position them to get the best quality recordings. In addition to technical knowledge, an audio engineer must have the ability to problem-solve quickly. The best audio engineers also have a high degree of creativity that allows them to stand out amongst their peers. In the music realm, an audio engineer must also understand the types of sounds and tones that are expected in musical ensembles across different genres—
rock and
pop music, for example. This knowledge of musical style is typically learned from years of experience listening to and mixing music in recording or live sound contexts. For education and training, there are audio engineering schools all over the world.
Role of women According to
Women's Audio Mission (WAM), a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco dedicated to the advancement of
women in music production and the recording arts, less than 5% of the people working in the field of sound and media are women. "Only three women have ever been nominated for best producer at the Brits or the
Grammys" and none won either award. According to
Susan Rogers, audio engineer and professor at
Berklee College of Music, women interested in becoming an audio engineer face "a boys' club, or a guild mentality". Notable recording projects include the Grammy Award-winning
Kronos Quartet,
Angelique Kidjo (2014 Grammy winner), author
Salman Rushdie, the Academy Award-nominated soundtrack to "Dirty Wars", Van-Ahn Vo (NPR's top 50 albums of 2013), Grammy-nominated
St. Lawrence Quartet, and
world music artists
Tanya Tagaq and
Wu Man. There certainly are efforts to chronicle women's roles and history in audio. Leslie Gaston-Bird wrote Women in Audio, which includes 100 profiles of women in audio through history. Sound Girls is an organization focused on the next generation of women in audio, but also has been building up resources and directories of women in audio. Women in Sound is another organization that has been working to highlight women and nonbinary people in all areas of live and recorded sound through an online zine and podcast featuring interviews of current audio engineers and producers. One of the first women to produce, engineer, arrange and promote music on her own
rock and roll music label was
Cordell Jackson (1923–2004).
Trina Shoemaker is a mixer, record producer and
sound engineer who became the first woman to win the
Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album in 1998 for her work on
The Globe Sessions.
Gail Davies was the first female producer in
country music, delivering a string of Top 10 hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "
Someone Is Looking for Someone Like You", "
Blue Heartache" and "
I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)". When she moved to
Nashville in 1976, men "didn't want to work for a woman" and she was told women in the city were "still barefoot, pregnant and [singing] in the vocal booth." – a person dealing with
live sound reinforcement. This usually includes planning and installation of loudspeakers, cabling and equipment and mixing sound during the show. This may or may not include running the
foldback sound. A live/sound reinforcement engineer hears source material and tries to correlate that sonic experience with system performance. • Wireless microphone engineer, or A2. This position is responsible for wireless microphones during a theatre production, a sports event or a corporate event. • Foldback or
Monitor engineer – a person running foldback sound during a live event. The term
foldback comes from the old practice of
folding back audio signals from the
front of house (FOH) mixing console to the stage so musicians can hear themselves while performing. Monitor engineers usually have a separate audio system from the FOH engineer and manipulate audio signals independently from what the audience hears so they can satisfy the requirements of each performer on stage. In-ear systems, digital and analog mixing consoles, and a variety of speaker enclosures are typically used by monitor engineers. In addition, most monitor engineers must be familiar with wireless or RF (radio-frequency) equipment and often must communicate personally with the artist(s) during each performance. • Systems engineer – responsible for the design setup of modern PA systems, which are often very complex. A systems engineer is usually also referred to as a
crew chief on tour and is responsible for the performance and day-to-day job requirements of the audio crew as a whole along with the FOH audio system. This is a sound-only position concerned with implementation, not to be confused with the interdisciplinary field of
system engineering, which typically requires a college degree. •
Re-recording mixer – a person in
post-production who mixes audio tracks for
feature films or
television programs. ==Equipment==