What Is Audio Engineering? Your Career Guide

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on

Discover what audio engineers do, where they work, what they earn, and how they use audio engineering programmes to do their job. Also, uncover more about the skills involved in this career and how you can begin.

[Featured Image] A professional uses audio engineering skills and knowledge to edit a recording for their client.

Although you’ll find that many different types of audio engineers exist, including such as live venue sound engineers, video game sound designers, and studio recording engineers, they all have one thing in common: they’re accustomed to using audio engineering programmes. Audio engineers, sometimes called sound technicians, work on live events, movie soundtracks, or an artist's latest album, just to name a few of the possible projects you may encounter. In this position, you’ll use your technical skills to ensure that everything sounds as good as possible.  

If you love working with technology and working on creative projects, audio engineering could be a good career match for you. It requires you to be detail-oriented and work well under pressure whilst being innovative and adventurous. Discover more about audio engineering, techniques, daily tasks, some common roles, and job salary.

What is audio engineering?

Audio engineering is a profession that involves the scientific, aesthetic, and technological aspects of manipulating, recording, and reproducing audio. It’s the process of applying electronic, digital, acoustic, and electrical principles to the recording and producing of music, voices, and sounds.

As an audio engineer, you may work in all or specialise in one of these four key components of working in sound:

  • Recording: Recording sound or capturing audio data is the first step in creating a finished piece of music or other audio.

  • Editing: You’ll use computer software to edit and manipulate recorded sounds. You’ll combine these sounds with effects like reverb, delay, or distortion to make them fit for the intended purpose, such as movie soundtracks or commercial jingles.

  • Mixing: You’ll use mixing techniques, such as equalisation (EQ) and compression, to alter the timbre of an instrument, voice, or track. You also may use dynamics processing, such as gating or limiting, to control volume levels within an audio track.

  • Mastering: Many musicians and audio engineers use mastering to ensure tracks are compatible in various media formats for commercial distribution. Mastering also encompasses other technical aspects, such as creating tracks that will sound good on various playback systems, such as car stereos, home stereos, laptops, and portable devices.

What do audio engineers do?

Audio engineers capture, mix, and reproduce sound using electronic audio equipment. As an audio engineer, you could work in many different settings and with several types of artists or clients. Although many audio engineers work in music recording studios, you can also find work in other areas, such as:

  • Film production (sound recording, effects, design, and mixing)

  • Movie theatres (sound technician)

  • Broadcasting (audio production)

  • Video games (sound design and music)

  • Colleges and universities (teaching audio engineering)

  • Live theatre (audio playback and live sound management).

Audio engineers can specialise in certain types of media productions, like music, film, TV, or radio broadcasting. Therefore, you will likely need to gain proficiency with specific types of equipment and software to succeed. For example, if you're an audio engineer working in radio broadcasting, you'll need to learn to use computer hardware and software for editing and broadcast automation. 

As an audio engineer working in live sound systems, you’ll know how to manipulate sound using equalisers and other control devices to create quality sound output from loudspeakers to reach throughout the venue.

Typical tasks

Audio engineers use many audio engineering software programmes, techniques, tools, and equipment to fit each project. Some of the tasks you can expect include the following: 

  • Operate equipment that records and synchronises dialogue, music, or sounds

  • Work with producers and directors to determine how to organise music and sounds

  • Place microphones around a set and work with boom operators to record actors during filming

  • Edit audio by removing unwanted sounds or adding extra effects

  • Investigate new technologies by reading trade journals or attending meetings and seminars

  • Record, edit, mix, and master music

  • Create sound effects for films, radio, television, and video games

  • Develop and set up sound systems for live concerts

  • Design and install audio equipment in theatres

Audio engineer skills

Audio engineers are technical specialists responsible for recording, mixing, and mastering music. You may also be a facilitator, collaborating with everyone on a project to extract information and deliver sounds that make the final output exceptional.

Different roles require different specialist skills. Some of the key skills of an audio engineer include:

  • Recording skills: As an audio engineer, you may need to know where to place microphones for recording and what kind to choose.

  • Mixing skills: Audio engineers mix music and soundtracks to ensure that the most important audio sources are heard in the final playback, with other sources supporting them.

  • Mastering skills: Audio engineers master music albums and sound audio tracks by adjusting the volume levels and adding artistic touches like equalisation, compression, and other adjustments to give it a final polished sound before it’s released.

  • Understanding sound waves and acoustics: In this field, engineers know how sound behaves in different types of instruments and environments.

  • Knowledge of music: Knowing musical scores, musical theory, chord progressions, and scales is essential to being a good audio engineer.

  • Technical: Audio engineers have competency in the practical aspects of production, such as microphones, digital audio workspaces (DAWs), preamplifiers, compressors, and equalisers (EQs).

  • An ear for music: Audio engineers can distinguish good and bad sounds. They have advanced listening skills when working with sound naturally or through training and experience.

  • Ability to set up and monitor equipment: Audio engineers can set up microphones, cables, and amplifiers. This will involve technical skills with the equipment and the ability to set up the overall sound system for the particular project.

  • Fast-paced sound adjustments: In this profession, engineers have to be able to adjust the volume, pitch, and other sound factors quickly to deliver high-quality sound in live environments.

  • Communication skills: Audio engineers must communicate effectively with producers, artists, and other stakeholders in a project.

  • Software: Proficiency in a DAW like ProTools, Abelton Live, or Logic Pro and the ability to add plugin tools. 

Audio engineering techniques to know

As a music producer, making something sound fantastic often means using audio engineering techniques. The following lists some popular techniques you'll learn in audio engineering that you can use in your productions:

  • Ducking: A technique used to reduce the volume of one sound in response to the presence of another sound, often used for background music and voice-overs.

  • EQ matching: manipulating ranges of frequencies within a sound using audio equipment or in a DAW

  • Mix bus compression: Using compression on the mix bus (the main fader) in order to glue together the various elements of your mix

  • Sidechaining: Lowering the level of one signal in response to another signal

  • Compression: An audio processing technique designed to reduce the dynamic range of a signal by lowering its loudest parts whilst bringing up its quietest parts

  • Reverb: A type of audio effect that simulates an acoustic environment, producing reflections and reverberations to create the illusion of space within a track or recording

Roles in audio engineering

Audio engineering is a diverse field that involves a wide range of skills. This profession uses many different kinds of equipment and techniques. Each job title has its own set of responsibilities. Some common jobs in audio engineering include:

Recording engineer

A recording engineer, or sound technician, is responsible for capturing and documenting the sound of a live or recorded performance. As a recording engineer, you’ll typically work in a recording studio, though you may also work in live settings such as concerts, conferences, or television broadcasts.

As a recording engineer, you will handle the technical aspects of sound recordings, such as microphone selection and placement, signal routing and processing, and studio equipment setup. You may also troubleshoot any technical issues and work with producers during the creative process.

Mixing engineer

As a mixing engineer, you will take all the individual recordings and blend them into a cohesive whole. This includes adjusting volumes and adding effects to each track to combine the sounds. Mixing engineers must possess an excellent ear for detail and an ability to listen to several things at once.

Your job is to balance the levels of each track so they fit together seamlessly without overpowering or sounding too quiet in the mix. You may also add reverb, effects, or other processing to individual instruments or sections of songs.

Mastering engineer

As a mastering engineer, you take on the final role of producing an audio track after it has been mixed and assembled by the mixing engineer. You’ll take a final mix from the mixing engineer and adjust it to ensure it sounds as good as possible across different speakers, radios, laptops, and stereos.

You will prepare audio files for physical or digital media releases. This includes ensuring that all files are at their optimum level of quality, adjusting volume levels across an album so that each song flows well into the next one, adjusting EQ settings if necessary, and adding metadata, such as ISRC codes.

Live sound engineer

A live sound engineer ensures that the audience at a show can hear the music or speakers clearly. Your role involves managing microphones and other equipment, setting levels and equalising them, and troubleshooting any technical issues that may arise during an event.

Multimedia sound engineer

Multimedia sound engineers are responsible for creating soundtracks for games, films, and other multimedia projects. In this position, you must be highly skilled in sound technology to make the appropriate sounds for each project.

Job outlook and salary 

According to Indeed, the average salary for an audio engineer in India is ₹4,66,173 per year [1]. Audio engineers have ample employment opportunities since they can work in various industries such as music, live sound, film and TV, gaming, and radio. The demand for audio engineers continues to grow with the increase in the amount of media productions produced, all of which require an audio engineer at some stage of the process.  

Path to becoming an audio engineer

You can follow a variety of different paths to become an audio engineer. Some people learn by practising, whilst others prefer getting a degree or certification. Whatever your learning style or preference, you have plenty of ways to begin your career journey in this industry.

Earn a degree or certificate.

Obtaining a bachelor's degree in audio engineering is a great first step to gaining skills in the discipline's fundamentals since it encompasses so many different aspects. Some courses run a full two to three years, whilst diplomas in audio engineering typically take around six months. 

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Gain experience and build connections. 

You can gain experience working as an entry-level assistant or intern at a recording studio or radio station. This should help you gain hands-on knowledge of the audio production equipment and the industry's business side. It can also provide connections that could lead to future employment opportunities in the industry.

Consider additional qualifications.

You can pursue several levels of additional qualifications, including certificates and diplomas available for audio engineers. The type of qualification you need will depend on where you want to work and what job you're looking for.

If you already have a bachelor's degree, earning a certificate or taking a Specialisation course may be an option to improve your employability. Shorter courses, diplomas, and certificates help you build specialised skills in fields like gaming, music, or film. For example, you can use the Music Production Specialisation offered by Berklee College of Music to help develop your creativity as a music producer.

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Accédez rapidement à une carrière dans les technologies de l'information. Dans ce programme de certificat, vous apprendrez des compétences très demandées et bénéficierez d'une formation à l'IA dispensée par des experts de Google. Apprenez à votre rythme, sans diplôme ni expérience.

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1,744,031 already enrolled

Beginner level

Average time: 6 month(s)

Learn at your own pace

Skills you'll build:

Cybersécurité, Sécurité sans fil, Cryptographie, sécurité des réseaux, Service d'annuaire, Protocole d'accès aux annuaires légers (LDAP), Sauvegarde, Système de noms de domaine (DNS), Ipv4, Modèle de réseau, Résolution de problèmes, Code binaire, Soutien à la clientèle, Linux, Powershell, Systèmes de fichiers Linux, Interface de ligne de commande

Continue learning about audio engineering 

If you love music and want to be at the centre of all the action, the field of audio engineering may be right for you. One way to determine if audio engineering is a good fit is to take a foundation-level course. Consider taking Fundamentals of Audio and Music Engineering: Part 1 Musical Sound & Electronics, offered by Rochester University, which covers basic principles of acoustics, signal processing, electronics, and much more. 

Article sources

  1. Indeed. “Audio engineer salary in India, https://in.indeed.com/career/audio-engineer/salaries.” Accessed 23 October 2024.

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