Audio Engineering Sub-disciplines

Sub-disciplines in audio engineering

Audio engineering mainly comprises  four distinct steps to commercial production of a recording: recording, editing, mixing, and mastering. Typically, each is performed by a sound engineer who specializes only in that part of production.

1)Studio engineer – an engineer working within a studio facility, either with a producer or independently.

2)Recording engineer – engineer who records sound.

3)Assistant engineer – often employed in larger studios, allowing them to train to become full-time engineers. They often assist full-time engineers with microphone setups, session breakdowns and in some cases, rough mixes.

4)Mixing engineer – a person who creates mixes of multi-track recordings. It is common to record a commercial record at one studio and have it mixed by different engineers in other studios.

5)Mastering engineer – typically the person who mixes the final stereo tracks (or sometimes just a few tracks or stems) that the mix engineer produces. The mastering engineer makes any final adjustments to the overall sound of the record in the final step before commercial duplication. Mastering engineers use principles of equalization andcompression to affect the coloration of the sound.

6)Game audio designer engineer – deals with sound aspects of game development.

Live sound engineer

• Front of House (FOH) engineer, or A1.– a person dealing with live sound reinforcement which is part of audio engineering. This usually includes planning and installation of loudspeakers, cabling and equipment and mixing sound during the show. This may or may not include running the foldback sound. A live/sound reinforcement engineer hears source material and tries to correlate that sonic experience with system performance.
• Wireless microphone engineer, or A2. This position is responsible for wireless microphones during a theatre production, a sports event or a corporate event.
• Foldback or Monitor engineer – a person running foldback sound during a live event. The term “foldback” comes from the old practice of “folding back” audio signals from the front of house) (FOH) mixing console to the stage so musicians can hear themselves while performing. Monitor engineers usually have a separate audio system from the FOH engineer and manipulate audio signals independently from what the audience hears so they can satisfy the requirements of each performer on stage. In-ear systems, digital and analog mixing consoles, and a variety of speaker enclosures are typically used by monitor engineers. In addition most monitor engineers must be familiar with wireless or RF (radio-frequency) equipment and must communicate personally with the artist(s) during each performance.
• Systems engineer –It is also part of audio engineering which is  responsible for the design setup of modern PA systems, which are often very complex. A systems engineer is usually also referred to as a “crew chief” on tour and is responsible for the performance and day-to-day job requirements of the audio crew as a whole along with the FOH audio system. This is a sound-only position concerned with implementation, not to be confused with the interdisciplinary field of system engineering, which typically requires a college degree.

• Re-recording mixer – a person in post-production who mixes audio tracks for feature films and/or television programs.

Equipments

An audio technician is proficient with different types of recording media, such as analog tape, digital multi-track recorders and workstations, and computer knowledge. With the advent of the digital age, it is increasingly important for the audio technician to understand software and hardware integration, from synchronization to analog to digital transfers. In their daily work, audio engineers use many tools, including:

• Amplifiers
• Analog-to-digital converters
• Digital audio workstations (DAW)
• Digital-to-analog converters
• Dynamic range compressions
• Loudspeakers
• Microphones
• Mixing consoles
• Music sequencers
• Preamplifiers
• Signal processors
• Tape machines