Overview
Wages and professional fees for sound technicians and event staff are significant and rise quickly with experience. Every tv show, commercial, movie, video game, CD, music video, documentary, radio show, live theatre production and music venue needs one or more sound technicians. Projects involving recorded sound contribute over $80 Billion to the Entertainment Economy.
Music or Record Producer
The term ‘music producer’ means different things to different people. Some are musicians, some are engineers, some are both and some are re-mixers for big commercial releases or dance club re-mixes.. etc So what does a music producer actually do ? In very pragmatic terms, the producer is a ‘project manager’ for the recording, mixing and mastering process. The producer has an overall vision for the music, the sound and the goals of the project, and brings a unique perspective to inspire, assist and sometimes provoke the artists. The producer should make the record more than the sum of it’s parts – you could almost say that they are trying to create musical alchemy. Every producer brings different skills and a different approaches to recording music and this can make what they do difficult to summarize.Recording Engineer and Post Production Mixer
Traditionally speaking, the most natural way to become a record producer is to be involved in the technical aspects of recording music and sound.. whether you are experimenting with moving mics around in a recording space or moving files from workstation to workstation, you are responsible for the quality control behind the artistic sonics of a project... whether it be for an album production or post-production audio for TV, movies, documentaries or movies.. etcMulti-Media Sound Designer, Sound Effects Editor, Dialogue Editor and Music Editor
In the world of gaming or online content these days, quality audio content is in big demand.. many Recording Arts students are finding niches in recording dialog and sound effects to create mood in the world of animated games... it's a multi billion dollar industry and it's growing every day.Composer
Even though the term composer seems straight forward, as a songwriter or simply creating music as your passion, one must find new avenues to create revenue. Reality TV shows, documentaries, movies and jingle work are all good examples of growing markets for many home studio setups for programming music for this medium. Our Urban Music Production classes are geared towards this type of scenario.
Broadcasting Technician
Working behind the scenes in radio or television broadcasts can pay the bills quite well.. A host of broadcast companies are well know for broadcasting big budget shows. They all need qualified technical people on syndicated studio shoots, whether you're wrangling cables behind a camera or the person pushing faders or turning knobs. Hit the road for mobile shoots on a major sporting events with TSN or tour the country with the CBC's Antique Road Show.. the network possibilities are endless.Live Sound Mixer
The obvious would be U2 on that big world tour in big stadiums.. but there's many other venues and avenues to explore.. the hospitality industry caters to tourism destinations and cruise ship extravaganzas...Whether it be a Las Vegas style act in a Casino or mixing motivational speakers in a corporate setting for big trade shows.. most often, the corporate gigs yield the biggest paychecks.Location Film Recordist
The art of capturing good sound on a film shoot is truly an art form.. expect exotic locations in this department, hence sign up for a passport. Reliable audio recording in this medium will secure anyone to make a good living, film producers/directors tend to be loyal and use the same crews on many many shoots.Mastering Engineer
Virtually every recording that is digitized today and deemed for commercial release needs one form of mastering.. the iPod generation has lent itself to a uniform way of leveling audio files.. also, have you ever noticed how TV commercials are perceivably louder than the program you're watching.. that's the art of mastering.Foley Artist and Foley Recordist
The dynamic moods of a blockbuster movie can often be attributed in the art of creating or balancing ambience and impact within a film's various scenes.. from the sounds of high heels clicking on wet pavement to a fake punch that sounds so real, you'd be laughing to know it was done in the studio with a Foley artist hitting a head of lettuce behind a mic.Non-Technical Careers Behind the Scenes
There are also many careers behind the scenes that do not involve technical hands-on activities, such as artist management, booking agent, tour manager, promoter to name a few. Having a technical background however makes candidates in these areas much more versatile and a solid technical knowledge provides much closer working relationships with artists. "Knowing your stuff" does not only come in handy, but is expected in these areas as well. Past students of the Recording Arts Program have found success "behind the scenes", even though they never envisioned to go in this direction when they first entered the program. Our "Beyond the Stage" course adresses these potential careers.
