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Sound Engineering Technicians

$60.67K Median Salary 1.6K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 17.6% Job Growth

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About This Career

Assemble and operate equipment to record, synchronize, mix, edit, or reproduce sound, including music, voices, or sound effects, for theater, video, film, television, podcasts, sporting events, and other productions.

Reported Job Titles

Audio Engineer, Audio Operator, Mastering Engineer, Mixer, Mixing Engineer, Recording Engineer, Sound Editor, Sound Engineer, Sound Technician, Studio Engineer

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

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Abilities

Near Vision

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Hearing Sensitivity

Information Ordering

Speech Clarity

Written Comprehension

Written Expression

Originality

Selective Attention

Auditory Attention

Category Flexibility

Deductive Reasoning

Fluency of Ideas

Problem Sensitivity

Speech Recognition

Arm-Hand Steadiness

Control Precision

Inductive Reasoning

Perceptual Speed

Visualization

Far Vision

Finger Dexterity

Flexibility of Closure

Knowledge

Computers and Electronics

Engineering and Technology

Communications and Media

Customer and Personal Service

English Language

Telecommunications

Fine Arts

Psychology

Production and Processing

Administration and Management

Skills

Active Listening

Speaking

Reading Comprehension

Complex Problem Solving

Critical Thinking

Writing

Active Learning

Judgment and Decision Making

Monitoring

Operations Monitoring

Coordination

Operation and Control

Social Perceptiveness

Systems Analysis

Systems Evaluation

Time Management

Technology Skills

Operating system software

Presentation software

Music or sound editing software

Video creation and editing software

Spreadsheet software

Metadata management software

Configuration management software

Graphics or photo imaging software

Document management software

Development environment software

Desktop publishing software

File versioning software

Office suite software

Word processing software

Computer aided design CAD software

Object or component oriented development software

Internet protocol IP multimedia subsystem software

Web page creation and editing software

Process mapping and design software

Tools

Microphones

Audio mixing consoles

Equalizers

Radio frequency transmitters or receivers

Multimeters

Ohmmeters

Loudspeakers

Digital voice recorders

Soldering iron

Musical instrument digital interface MIDI interfaces

Attenuators

Intercom systems

Notebook computers

Voltage or current meters

Oscilloscopes

Desktop computers

Personal computers

Cassette players or recorders

Abilities

Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.

Knowledge

Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Engineering and Technology: Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Communications and Media: Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Telecommunications: Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Fine Arts: Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Psychology: Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Production and Processing: Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Operations Monitoring: Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Operation and Control: Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Systems Evaluation: Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Technology Skills

Operating system software: Microsoft Windows
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Music or sound editing software: Music software
Video creation and editing software: YouTube
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Metadata management software: CA Erwin Data Modeler
Configuration management software: Chef; IBM Software Configuration and Library Manager SCLM; Perforce Helix software; Puppet
Graphics or photo imaging software: SmugMug Flickr
Document management software: Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat; Filing system software; Records management software; Transcription system software
Development environment software: Adobe Systems Adobe Creative Suite
Desktop publishing software: Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign; Microsoft Publisher
File versioning software: Apache Subversion SVN; Continuous integration software; Git; Version control software
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Computer aided design CAD software: Autodesk AutoCAD; Autodesk Revit
Object or component oriented development software: Oracle Java
Internet protocol IP multimedia subsystem software: Voice over internet protocol VoIP system software
Web page creation and editing software: Facebook; Google Sites; LinkedIn; Social media sites
Process mapping and design software: Microsoft Visio

Tools

Microphones: Handheld microphones; Studio microphones; Wireless microphones
Audio mixing consoles: Audio compressors; Audio mixers; Broadcast mixing boards; Sound effect generators
Equalizers: Audio equalizers
Radio frequency transmitters or receivers: Animal transmitters; Radio telemetry equipment
Multimeters:
Ohmmeters: Digital ohmmeters
Loudspeakers: Audio speakers
Digital voice recorders: Digital audio recorders
Soldering iron: Soldering irons
Musical instrument digital interface MIDI interfaces: Audio interfaces; Musical instrument digital interface MIDI sequencers
Attenuators: Audio filters
Intercom systems:
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
Voltage or current meters: Digital voltmeters DVM
Oscilloscopes: Sampling oscilloscopes
Desktop computers:
Personal computers:
Cassette players or recorders: Audio tape recorders

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