qualifications to be a sound engineer

[Wombat]

A colleague's son has an interest in a career as a sound engineer, he's currently 15, and about to start A levels early.  Obviously he won't know what precise industry he'll be in, recording, studio work, gigs, whatever, but what sort of qualifications should he be aiming for?  He's a competent musician, interested in physics, but weak on maths, which may be a problem.

I'm sure some of you will have some helpful input into this? 

[nicknack]

There are loads of universities offering courses in a wide variety of stuff to do with audio engineering, such as this at London Met. Depends on which particular aspects he's interested in. I suggest a session on-line looking at the prospectuses of your local unis.

[redshift]

Most of what I know is about the broadcast end of the industry.

I would suggest he avoid most 'media' type courses - they are largely about production, rather than technical aspects.  Many people come into the industry with a media degree, expecting an immediate career, and are disappointed spending years doing junior 'running' jobs on low/no pay.  Even now, being in the right place at the right time (and knowing the right people) is important.

For engineering in the classic sense, Salford University was always good for Acoustic engineering - one friend of mine did a placement with NRK  in Norway, and one of his projects was for Celestion.  He would almost certainly need Maths and Physics for that.  Salford (and many others) also do a Media Technology degree these days.

For industry-centred courses, Ravensbourne college used to be one of the recommended places.  You could also try the Broadcast Engineering course at Liverpool John Moore's University.  Both establishments should be able to furnish him with their current requirements.

I would suggest that Physics and Maths would be a good starting point.  I didn't do Maths at A-level (Phys/Chem/Bio for me) and have occasionally had to delve into the books ever since as a result.  Electronics would be good - I did electronics as one of my options with Physics A, as I couldn't do it separately.  Music A-level wouldn't hurt.  Most of the people I've worked with over the years are in TV/Radio/Audio more by luck and interest, than by design.  It's largely about applied, rather than pure science, and quite a bit of it is art, as much as anything.  Extra-curricular activities (sound and lights for college productions and gigs, hospital radio, amateur radio) are going to help too.  I built an electric guitar, and that almost certainly got me my trainee post with the Beeb - it's always about gumption, and get-up-and-go, as well as academic qualifications.

The downside at the moment?  Everyone's got a PC and everyone thinks they're technical enough to do it all at home.  The TV industry is contracting (and not a few audio engineers work in TV), and I suspect that the Music industry will too.  In a few years time, the days of audio engineers and real studios may be numbered, the same way that TV studios and engineers are currently.

[hairyhippy]

My degree is in Music Technology form Derby. They also do a good course in Live performance technology. Its a good department there, if a little weak on research. The ISVR in Southampton has a good reputation, as does York.

If his maths is weak, then he'd better have good ears, and make sure he looks after them with respect to loud noise.

It would be a good idea to get some unpaid experience making tea and sarnies in a recording studio, keep his mouth shut, his eyes and ears open and take notes.

I got into live engineering through the students union at university, which can also be a good place to get experience.

As to what qualifications the universities are churning out many more people than there are jobs for so its a lot to do with knowing the right people, so he should be writing to pa companies, AV hire, equipment manufacturers to get as much experience as possible.

It could be worth his while to google PLASA, Sound on Sound and Lighting and Sound International.

PM me if I can help with anyhting else.

[russellm]

It depends what he means by sound engineering. If, like most teenagers, he means pop engineering / producing, then he doesn't need any qualifications. If he knows that's all he ever wants to do, no matter whether he gets the big break or not, then I'd suggest that he gets out there as young (and therefore cheap to employ) as possible and gets any jobs he can in studios (starting as toilet cleaner / tea boy / night receptionist) and works his way up.

The main advantage of an academic qualification is that it will widen his options if he finds that he doesn't want to be a pop engineer / producer at some point in the future. I assume that he'll still want to work in the audio or music industries, so for the best chance of this he should probably be looking for a course that combines engineering, music and sound recording, together with lots of opportunity to get valuable contacts in the industry (a placement year working in industry is ideal). It will also help if the course has a very good reputation in the industry with lots of graduates working there as this will help to get a foot in the door.

This kind of question comes up regularly on the Sound on Sound forums, and the regular advice is to look at the courses at Surrey and LIPA. Only the former of these combines engineering, music and sound recording, and includes a placement year in industry, so I'd suggest Surrey.

However, I may be biased as I work there, so he should really go to the open days of any courses he is considering, talk to the staff, and make up his mind based on that.

If you want any more info, let me know.

[Valiant]

Ravensbourne and SAE are highly regarded when it comes to sound and visual engineering. He'll be in good company, 5 of my trainees have managed to get in and are doing really well

[ChrisO]

All of the above, and look for traineeships.

The BBC still take on trainees in a range of technical roles, but all the things like maths and physics are good. He might even need to do some level of further education to get a look in on the trainee posts.

And looking slightly further ahead I would also recommend that while studying he gets as much practical experience as possible. There are a lot of community stations, theatres and place that use volunteer help.

It always looks much better on the CV than academic qualifications on their own, and puts him ahead of who can't be arsed to do anything more than work at the university radio station. Plus you meet people and get advice.

I would somewhat disagree with Redshift about the move towards non-professional standards. The TV industry IN THE UK may be contracting but there are plenty of places where it is expanding. And I think the lower-end stuff is balanced by a move to higher-end standards associated with the growth of HD and the higher visual and audio standards that come with it.

[Wombat]

Thanks chaps, all this has been forwarded to my colleague, the potential sound engineer's mum.   I don't think its just wanting to be in the pop world, he does seem to have a genuine interest in music and its production, so fingers crossed for his future.

[clarion]

Sound engineers just need to be deaf & stupid, IME.

Seriously, though, most live noiseboys get into it by knowing the band, or being in one themselves.  Qualifications are less important than having a good ear, and knowing how to manipulate the sound to get the right effects.

Studio engineering is a different matter, and a good theoretical understanding would be very useful.

Theatre sound engineering is more interesting than it used to be, but still a bit of a dead end, unless sound designing for a lare production/company.

[pumpkin]

There is the Univ.of Surrey 'Tonmeister' course which is abot recording/producing music. This is a hotly contested/highly regarded course. The BBC may still do training. I was at college with someone who went thro' the production course at Evesham and was high up at Radio 1 on the management side before becoming European Director of Napster and recently returning to Radio 2. Of course there is the sound engineering of acts like Metallica,Madonna etc which looks glamorous but is v.hard work. Might be worth him contacting audio hire companies to see what they look for in their staff. Remember,all those shows in the West End require audio engineers. Big firms like Alpha Audio,Britannia Row (owned by Pink Floyd) and Clair Bros (US company with a base in Europe and PA hire to the the BIG acts, Stones, Springsteen,U2) may be able to advise him