A sound choice

Usha Albuquerque

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When music is available today at the press of a button or a swipe, and making your own music or music video is commonplace, liking music is really not enough.  You need to be passionate enough to spend  8 or 10 hours in a studio, surrounded by music amplifiers, recorders, cassettes and CDs to be able to make a career in music technology or sound engineering. 

Be it  a movie soundtrack, a music record  or live concert, success largely depends on the sound quality of the final product. Music and sound technologists are responsible for this, capturing like a photographer the sound ambience, or musical performance of an artist and recording  or mixing and arranging it so as to bring out the best. With the use of sophisticated sound equipment, sound  or audio engineers, as they are also called, can record and create sounds, lower or raise your pitch, make you sound  like a chipmunk or like Amitabh Bachhan, or bring a forest or war zone into your home. 

Music technology or sound engineering is the art of recording, mixing and dubbing or mastering sounds and music on machines. Music technologists and sound engineers are responsible for the overall recording quality of music and for interpreting the producer's or music director's ideas into reality. In the recording studio environment, the music technologist or sound engineer records, edits, manipulates, mixes, and/or masters sound by technical means in order to realise an artist’s or record producer's creative vision. Sound mixing involves handling layers of sound — dialogue, atmosphere, effects and music, so that the final effect is clear, smooth and well blended. Music and sound have come a long way from the days when it was recorded on analog machines, and there were only three tracks for recording-one for the lead vocals, one for melodic instruments and the other for rhythm and percussion. Nowadays, all sound is recorded digitally using new technology, with new methods of sound mixing and new software, so you can have any number of tracks and create almost any kind of sound in a studio, for any purpose.

While most of the work is in the area of music production, therefore the term music technologist, all music/sound  or audio technologists and engineers deal with sound for a wide range of applications, including post-production for video and film, live sound reinforcement, advertising, multimedia, and broadcasting. Thos who get into this field can opt for working in several areas, from working in studios including music, film recording, background sound, broadcast, dubbing studios and so on, to working on the sets of live shows, concerts and events, or mastering musical programmes. 

Getting in

Since, this is a partly creative and partly a technical field, a background in science helps, although is not always essential. Knowledge of computers is useful, since most of the music recording today is digitised — Mac and PC-based. To start off, one can get a basic idea of sound and recording by setting up a small home studio system. Learn to use different audio editing software, including ProTools, Cubase, Reason, Digital Performer, Live, or Logic. Several of these products have free demos available. 

While many sound engineers get into this field after working at DJing, or in studios as assistants, and move up from there learning on the job,  to succeed professionally in this field does require formal training. In this way you will not only get a better and in-depth understanding of the discipline of music, but also get exposure to the latest equipment, and trends in sound recording.

A background in science with physics and maths enables you to deal with sound which is  physical energy, and for working on a range of calculations, converting sound waves into electric energy, calculating a delay time or reverberation of the room and so on. You have an added advantage if you possess a good ear for sound and music, as well as good knowledge and interest in music. 

If you are passionate about music, your sensibilities would be fine-tuned to the music you listen to, and your understanding of a particular genre of music would be polished. This would help in better recording of similar music, as you will understand the best musical arrangement for a song. 

Those who desire to become sound engineers can pursue professional courses in sound recording and design, audiography and sound engineering. Graduates in any discipline who have studied physics at the Plus Two level are eligible for admission to most of these courses.

There are degree as well as diploma-level courses available to students after Class XII or graduation. Such courses involve a comprehensive study of all the disciplines influencing the field, including the mathematics and physics of sound, acoustics, the business of recording and production, and music. You are exposed to all kinds of studio equipment, and learn about music theory, digital recording, mixing, post production and so on. Some courses also include work experience and internships with recording studios. 

Job prospects

As a music technologist or sound engineer, you can look for openings in music and film recording studios, broadcast and dubbing studios, television channels and software companies. Companies dealing with recording audio cassettes, CDs and music videos, radio stations and channels and advertising agencies also recruit music technologists. In addition there are event management companies specialising in musical shows, those working in  theatre, concert and show facilities   that take on such professionals. There is scope in the area of studio sound research, development and production also. 

Radio stations have their personal studios, which compose jingles, play music etc. One can also work in cruise liners as their sound and light technician. Sound engineering is also vital in film mixing, as we have realized with Resul Pookutty's Oscar win. Recording and dubbing voices, catching the ambience of the environment and mixing it together so that the audience can even hear a whisper in a noisy slum is just some of the work of a sound engineer. With some experience and a good network of contacts, you can even set up your own studio, for which the investment could be as little as Rs 1 lakh depending on how much infrastructure you want to build up and who your clients are. 

With the flourishing music and film industry, there is increasing demand for sound engineers. The entertainment business with stage shows, performing arts in music and dance, and any number of events has also increased opportunities. 

Several aspiring musicians choose this field, so that they have a better understanding of how to improve the quality of the albums they produce. So if you have confidence in your ability to translate ideas into reality in the world of music, music or sound technology can enable you to get others dancing to your tunes.

Institute watch

• The Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, offers a three-year fulltime postgraduate diploma course in sound recording and sound design, as also a postgraduate certificate course in sound recording and television engineering. Bachelor’s degree holders in any discipline who have studied physics at the Plus Two level are eligible for admission. 
• The Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, conducts a three-year fulltime residential postgraduate diploma course in cinema audiography. Bachelor's degree holders who have studied physics at the Plus Two level are eligible for admission. 
• The MGR Government Film and Television Institute, CIT Campus, Chennai offers diploma course in film technology and television production (sound recording and engineering). Candidates who have Plus Two with physics and chemistry or diploma holders in electrical or electronic engineering or electronics and communication engineering are eligible for admission. 
• The Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT), Thiruvananthapuram, offers one-year postgraduate diploma course in science and development communication for graduates in any discipline. Course contents include sound recording, scripting, direction, video production and editing. 
• The Keltron Advanced Training Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, conducts a short-term diploma course in sound engineering. 
• The School of Audio Engineering (SAE) with study facilities and studios in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi conducts degree and diploma courses in audio engineering. 
• Whistling Woods International Institute for Film and Television, Animation and Media Arts, Mumbai conducts a two-year fulltime course in sound recording( www.whistlingwoods.net).