The Future Engineer - Observations

ALFweeks · Post by **ALFweeks** » Fri May 25, 2012 3:49 am

On another forum one poster said there was a move towards sound recording for film rather than recording music now.

fossiltooth · Post by **fossiltooth** » Mon May 28, 2012 6:26 am

ALFweeks wrote:On another forum one poster said there was a move towards sound recording for film rather than recording music now.

Maybe here:
http://www.sonicscoop.com/2012/05/10/in ... nd-region/

or here?
http://trustmeimascientist.com/2012/05/ ... engineers/

ALFweeks · Post by **ALFweeks** » Wed May 30, 2012 3:26 am

So the future seems to be film.

fossiltooth · Post by **fossiltooth** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:33 pm

Hard to say for sure, but it is projected to grow faster than sound-only recording. A lot of that growth is likely to be in web video and television, not strictly "film" in the motion-picture sense of the word.

There are also great jobs in the gaming industry, although that's a very small fraction of the overall gigs.

Jobs for sound-only engineers aren't expected to shrink exactly. They're just expected to stop growing entirely. Contrary to popular belief, there was a lot of growth recently, and there are probably more employed audio engineers today than at any other point in history -- music-industry woes be damned.

With the rise of the internet and preposterously affordable video technology, there is more video (and therefore more sound) than ever before. It's likely that some of the jobs will be in helping to create marketing materials, or spinoffs of spinoffs of spinoffs of reality TV shows, but hey - It's a living.

If you're into the prestige coupled with dire uncertainty and unusual hours, it will always possible to carve out some kind of niche in music production. Just don't expect the opportunities there to grow.

KendricK · Post by **KendricK** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:18 am

Seems like a fair assessment fossilteeth.

rogersbarton · Post by **rogersbarton** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:58 pm

I have a friend who gave up working in the recording studio and is now working on sound in commercials. he says he has never been happier and hasn't looked back since.

fossiltooth · Post by **fossiltooth** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 6:58 pm

I'd believe that!

There's really only one reason to commit your entire professional life to working on music:

Because you have to. Because you have no other choice in the matter, and it does not feel like it is your decision to make.

Anyone who doesn't feel that way should not do music recording as a main source of income. It is a very dumb idea.

rogersbarton · Post by **rogersbarton** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:07 pm

He says there is a load more work in film than in recording. It may not be as glamorous but it's steady, which is what people want in these uncertain times, isn't it?

KendricK · Post by **KendricK** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:38 pm

I think, going by the state the industry is in right now many would take steady over glamorous.

ALFweeks · Post by **ALFweeks** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 12:03 am

Would you guys hand over $50K or more on a university degree in recording knowing the current state of the business?

Me, I would not.

fossiltooth · Post by **fossiltooth** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 11:29 am

I don't know what's so "unglamorous" about doing sound for a Pixar movie or a Wes Anderson film, or an HBO series, or a really kickass nature documentary. All of those things can be really, really awesome. I mean, I love weird rock music and all, but how is working with bands cooler than any of these things? I mean.... Have you heard most bands??

If someone told me I could get paid to mix It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia or restore old episodes of The Prisoner or create elaborate radio documentaries, I'd do it in a heartbeat. How would that be even remotely uncool??

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 4:21 pm

fossiltooth wrote:I don't know what's so "unglamorous" about doing sound for a Pixar movie or a Wes Anderson film, or an HBO series, or a really kickass nature documentary. All of those things can be really, really awesome. I mean, I love weird rock music and all, but how is working with bands cooler than any of these things? I mean.... Have you heard most bands??

If someone told me I could get paid to mix It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia or restore old episodes of The Prisoner or create elaborate radio documentaries, I'd do it in a heartbeat. How would that be even remotely uncool??

I think there are people who love "audio" and people who love "music". I fall in the latter. I love engineering and mixing and the technical side of it, but only because I was brought to it by a love of music. I had thought about going legit a few years ago and opening a small humble place outside of my house, but the amount of non-band work that I would have to do to pay the bills turned me off to that idea. I would not be psyched to mix dialogue. Maybe at first, but for a job day to day, I would get really bored. Just my personal preference. I enjoy working with bands. Even the bad ones bring something new to the table. Being an engineering peon, I can make decisions like only working with bands I like because its something I like to do, not a career path.

People who truly have a love for audio are the people who can find steady work in the current climate and not get bored or burned out, because almost anywhere they land they will be psyched about it and their work will excel because they love what they are doing.

fossiltooth · Post by **fossiltooth** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:08 pm

I hear you, for sure, and I'm definitely a music lover before I'm an audio lover. But by the same token, I think there's potentially a musicality in everything - in words, animal sounds, in nature and in stories. Those in other disciplines who get that part right go far.

I think of a show like Radiolab or an early Star Wars movie, or a film by Wes Anderson or Tim Burton or Quentin Tarantino or David Lynch and I think about the sound and the musicality almost as much as the pictures or the stories.

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