In our pop culture there exists a romantic notion about music producers. We compare them to P Diddy filled with the bling, white suits, and sun glasses with beautiful women around them. Or, we envision them as someone that is aloof, secretive,a genius with a penchant for excellence in sound.
However, the fact is, music producers aren’t even like that at all. Most of them are working professionals who are concerned less about sophisticated style, mystique or finding the perfect sound than they are with getting the job completed on budget and on time.
Nonetheless, this does not imply that music producers are open about their secrets. They most certainly do and one of the best-kept insider secrets is that every good producer depends on his audio engineer.
Audio engineers are sort of like the man-behind-the-curtain in the Wizard of Oz. While producers may like to appear as great and powerful wizards of sound, their work depends on hardworking, talented audio engineers who know their material. The actual work in recording music is situated on the shoulders of these audio engineers.
They’re in charge of setting up the studio and modifying the playback volume in the headphones utilized by singers. They handle the mixing boards and manipulate the guitar player’s amplifier.
The task of an audio engineer may not seem as exciting as that of a record producer. The image of an audio engineer is barely compared to P Diddy. But audio engineers are the individuals who ensure everything runs, as it should in a recording period. A good audio engineer will know their things inside and out. Often they would be more than able to do the job of a record producer, and many do in fact work in both capabilities.
This is not designed to suggest that record producers aren’t necessary. Mainly because they are essential as well. The record producers are the ones who often have the perspective to make someone a success, to make someone a star. However it is the audio engineers task to help the producer carry out this perspective, often by crawling around the studio floor doing the grunt work.
It may not be as thrilling as some jobs, but if you love songs and want to work in a creative studio environment, than working as an audio engineer could be an ideal job for you.
