What jobs are possible in the audio field?

I am new to professional audio but am interested in it, perhaps as a career.  Can you guys name some of possible jobs in the audio field that someone can make a living from?  Perhaps in the area you work in as well.

It's kind of significant that 28 people in audio have read this but none have an answer!

You'll need to start at the unpaid bottom, in all probablity.  

Training is possible but experience often counts for more.

Look out for voluntary work - hospital or community radio, or producing cassettes for vision impaired people, stuff like that.  Then look for opportunties and contacts arising from that.

http://www.break.com/index/themaestro.html

Hey, at least he's working !!!!!

It's kind of significant that 28 people in audio have read this but none have an answer!

Well some (perhaps many) of us merely dabble in the audio field rather than work in it.

Style, are your interests more in creating/working with sound, or jockeying the equipment?  There's certainly some overlap in many jobs, but I would at least break the field down into those two broader catagories.

For sound, consider:  creating sound elements for video games, broadcast station IDs, theatre, commercials, mixing music, etc.

Somewhat more focused on setting up/operating equipment (but not exclusively): broadcast engineering, sound reinforcement ("front of house") at concerts or public events, field production recording for TV and radio, audio editing for many of the outlets listed in the first catagory, etc.

As mentioned already, volunteer or intern work is a good way to break into many of these areas;  some are going to require extensive training -- or at least a demonstrated ability -- before employment will be possible.

It's kind of significant that 28 people in audio have read this but none have an answer!

Possibly because the question is too naive. I've been doing audio part time for over 25 years and I'm still not sure which of its many facets I prefer.

Cheers

James.

Naive?  Perhaps uninformed but I think naive is going a bit too far.  I want to know what types of jobs are possible not just which you prefer.  I assumed that there would be a lot of work, mostly unpaid, to get your feet wet and get some experience.  What I am really trying to do is single out a sector that I would like to be in.

Well, did you read Ross' post?  Give us a little more of an idea what interests you have now so we can help you imagine the future.

What I am really trying to do is single out a sector that I would like to be in.

I think that's dodgy. Read on...

Unless you are really lucky, most of the regularly-paid work in audio is the most boring stuff. The safer options in many ways are the technical operation jobs - but you end up working very long hours for not much money. And if you want to progress in film or TV, you need the requisite professional training, certainly - but as much as anything you need the right attitude first. And that means that you end up doing all of the menial stuff to start with. The concept of 'suffering for your art' is alive and well, and thriving in pro audio!

There's regular employment in A/V companies covering conferences, and the like - and this is soul-destroying. Loads of people want to work in the few remaining professional studios around these days - and goodness knows what you have to do to get into the few jobs going (I'm not going to speculate...). You can try to get a start in radio - but the same thing applies about volunteering first here as it does in many other audio-related disciplines - you've got to give before they give you anything back.

The real problem with the whole industry is that people want to work in it - they seem to think that there may be some sort of glamour attached to it, but by and large there isn't. And as a result of this, every potential employer going can treat you like something the dog dragged in, and get away with it - because there will be plenty more willing volunteers to step into your shoes when you can't stand it any more. But once you've got through the tough bit, things can improve. There are plenty of people around who really enjoy doing stuff like theatre sound, working with location film crews, doing live OB's, and stuff like this.

But if you are in a position where you don't know what you want to do, you'll get absolutely nowhere unless you decide pretty soon what route you really want to take, and stick to it for as long as it takes to get established. This may sound a little harsh, but in one sense, if you don't absolutely know what you want to do (or at least try to do) within audio, it may not be the career for you - simply because there will inevitably be somebody who does know what they want - and they'll be persuing it with a lot more vigour than you will be.

One of the better options these days is to do some sort of course that will at least get you some work experience - this has always been a good way for employers to see how people fit in, whilst not having to be responsible for training them themselves. And it gives you an opportunity to find out what's really involved with a job without committing yourself to it.

So you've either got to say "I want to work in audio, and I don't care what I do", or be absolutely determined to progress in a specific audio discipline before you'll get anywhere. Finding out what there is, and picking and choosing simply isn't an option, because the good opportunities will only be the ones you make yourself - you have to be completely dedicated, or so lucky that it's unbelievable, and preferrably both. If you aren't prepared to wade the extra mile through shit, there's always somebody who will, although goodness knows why...

I think SteveG has given the most honest and fair answer possible, under thecircumstances.  It can be a tough game and you need to have a high degree of dedication to play in it - no matter what specific area you go for.  

Most people who are (or have been) in professional audio have worn more than one hat during the course of their career - I have and so have all the other people I know who are in the game - often making sideways moves into areas not directly associated with audio, but where the knowledge and experience previously gained will stand you in good stead.  Much of the profession is really for young blood and ears.  As you get older, you can still work, but not necessarily on the front-line. You simply have to take (and recognise) the opportunities as they present themselves.

I am new to professional audio but am interested in it, perhaps as a career.

You see, this doesn't really convince me you have the dedication which is, undoubtedly, required.

Thanks for the advice Steve, obviously there's more searching to be done before I seriously consider a decision like this.

You see, this doesn't really convince me you have the dedication which is, undoubtedly, required.

You are correct, at this moment I do not have the dedication that is needed for a career in audio, since I have very little knowledge to base any commitment on.  It's why I am here on the forum.

[name]

SteveG has given you the cold hard facts about careers in pro audio, and I concur with what he and Graeme have said.
You have to:

1. put up with a whole lot of crap,
2. be prepared to commit yourself to it more than the next wannabe standing in line,
3. accept that at some point in your career, someone is going to ask (read:demand) that you do something which is slightly "off-course" of your chosen career path (this coud last days, weeks, months, even years in the worst case scenario),
4. understand that the so called glamour jobs, like being a name mixing in a big pro facility, will probably take you about 20 years of your life to achieve, and even then, only if you've:
a. successfully made it through points 1-3 above, and
b. got golden ears!

But to get back to your original question, what jobs are available.... well, let's start a list for the lad, shall we guys?
I'll go first....

*Radio promo/commercial producer
*Radio announcer
*TV audio post production
*Live/front of house sound (live gigs, church, conference centre etc)
*Foldback mixer
*Studio owner (you can decide what type of work you take on, but clients will  only book you when you're a known quantity)
*Location sound recordist (TV, film, sound fx creation etc)
*Boom mike operator (TV, film)

Hope this helps you to decide what you want to do with your life!

You are correct, at this moment I do not have the dedication that is needed for a career in audio, since I have very little knowledge to base any commitment on.  It's why I am here on the forum.

Hmm... it's almost invariably the case that you get the aspirations towards dedication when you don't realise what's involved, and just consider audio as being something that you have to work with. You don't choose it - it chooses you. That's where you get the dedication from, and it  must come first - because that's what will keep you going despite the inevitable crap.

The things you've said cause me to think that you are approaching this career choice cerebrally - and with an audio career, that's no good at all, I'm afraid.

Naive?  Perhaps uninformed but I think naive is going a bit too far.  I want to know what types of jobs are possible not just which you prefer.  I assumed that there would be a lot of work, mostly unpaid, to get your feet wet and get some experience.  What I am really trying to do is single out a sector that I would like to be in.

If you've got to the stage where you are looking for a career but don't know what sort of jobs are available then I think you've probably chosen the wrong field. There is so much competition for the few jobs that are available that anyone who isn't aware of what is involved won't stand much of a chance. When I ran a commercial studio we received half a dozen letters a week from people looking for jobs - and that was just for a small studio catering to local bands. We invited a few of the more promising ones to sit in on sessions but, to be honest, the people that got paid to engineer sessions in our studio tended to be people that we knew as engineers (or engineering oriented musicians) anyway.

Cheers

James.

When I ran a commercial studio we received half a dozen letters a week from people looking for jobs....

You were lucky, I use to get that many a day - and it was less competitive then than it is now, since there hadn't been the big boom in home recording.