career Questions - Social Sound Design

The Boring Stuff - Bookkeeping: Do you do it? Which program do you use?

2011-11-14T12:58:59Z

Hi Folks,

Due to a recent change in philosophy, and the realisation that I am making a living only doing sound, I realised that I needed to do some proper bookkeeping to get a handle on when, where, how much etc.

I don't want to add work that I don't need, but I suppose spending 1 to 2 hours a week sorting out my books will aenable me to see where I'm going ('When will I be able to by that 744T?') Or how I'm doing("How much do I need to put away to pay for renewing my AppleCare and replacing a mic if it goes down?") etc.

Ya dig?

What do you guys use to do the accounting. Ledger books? Or software? how do you split up expenses, e.g. batteries for a shoot, buying lunch when out recording sounds for work and the like?

Im looking at something FREE asn in beer or not more than 100 USD/EUR

Any hints (i.t.o. software and accounting process) would be appreciated

Kurt

Sound design Education

2010-06-15T03:06:03Z

What schoold did you attend to get into the sound design field? Where your experiences good? I am looking at VHS. Any reccommendations for good sound design programs that will prepare me for the field?

looking for training / sound design studies

2011-10-25T06:29:56Z

Hi !

Maybe this question is a little out of place here, but this forum is maybe a way to get out of established trails... I'm studying sound design in France in an art school, along with Ircam in Paris. My profile is a little unusual, as I have an academic musical training, and did quite a lot of experimental music, while studying musicology. Currently, we have to find a few months training in a lab, school or sound design agency. I'm looking for a place where I can really get to learn, especially about interaction (with max-msp for instance), synthesis (physical model and electronics). I'm especially interested in ergonomy, scenography, architecture, sound/video, ecology... not really into video games or commercials. Anyone has suggestions ? Thanks!

Coralie

Why did you choose sound design as a career?

2010-04-18T13:07:54Z

I know quite a few studio recording engineers who wanted to be musicians and "fell into" the job.

When I was about 15 I went to a school rock concert and was fascinated by all of the PA equipment. The sound engineer let me load the van afterwards and I was hooked. I then started 'programming' synths, samplers and sequencers, and managed to get a job as a trainee live music sound engineer just after school. After a while I became a theatre sound designer, whilst still working as a live engineer, and then broadened out from there.

I just seem to think in sound rather than pictures.

What was your experience?

In search of sound schools

2010-07-30T17:40:29Z

Hi, I'm a young sound designer about to finish high school and i'd like to know what schools have the most reputable programs. Any suggestions?

advice for getting a start in game audio

2010-07-12T14:32:15Z

hello,

i'm writing to ask some advice from those of you working in the game audio/sound design fields. i believe someone else asked a similar question relating to getting a start in the film sound industry, but i'm wondering if anyone out there can recommend some pointers, books and the like related to game audio? if i'm looking to work on films it seems natural to volunteer my services on local productions, but is there an equivalent resource for games or interactive media? i don't doubt there is, but can anyone recommend a particular site or community with independent game developers looking for someone to help out?

thanks for the help, ted houghtaling

Ever feel like you were better for the job?

2011-07-09T06:46:25Z

How do you promote yourself and your skills? How do you make them known?

I've tried promoting and putting together a really nice show-reel and I constantly get good comments of how well I am to work with etc. etc. but it just doesn't seem to push me into higher and higher positions on the todem-pole. I'm constantly the second-in-command or the "deputy" or what have you, and it is starting to irk me that I am not chosen for the head or supervising role and I honestly think I can do a better job than what I currently get hired as. ]I know how to communicate emotions through sound or how to create an atmosphere with sonic landscapes for a movie or even how important it is to capture home-grown sound effects to add that extra flavor to your soundtrack that you just can't get sometimes anywhere else. I feel like I've grown in my knowledge of what is correct and what is incorrect sound to add in to a professional soundtrack.

Should I be worried about this? I'm 26 and I feel like if I don't start moving up into those higher echelons of responsibility on projects I'll never make it out of "just being another editor on the project".

I mean, I have learned a lot on this site as well as on the job and I think I could sound design the hell out of a movie or similar project and I don't know how to communicate or show this to the powers-that-be which puts me into the go-to guy for sound needs.

What has worked for you in the past? I've been in this game for a little over 8 years and I've spent the last 2 years now working 80+ hours a week sacrificing many personal endeavors to get ahead in this game but it seems like I've not gotten anywhere and I'm sort of doubting if I can make it.

Thanks for your thoughts on the matter.

EDIT: Here is an example of something that happened recently that made me begin to feel this way.

A director came in to my studio to do a listendown to a final mix I recorded the voice over for. The sound design was complete, mixed and being submitted to him. It was a very artsy piece, similar to The Tree of Life. The narration could not be heard in certain places, the music was thin and lacked dimension, etc. Real basic things. Then, in terms of the artistic viewpoint of what sounds were chosen for certain things, there was a line of people who were lined up in a semi-serious scene, not slapstick or anything, and the sound chosen and put into the final mix was crashing bowling-pins when they were falling down. The designer eventually was fired and the film had to be fixed but that's one example where I thought - "Wow, with what I know, I could have helped that director with that soundtrack".

Another project I worked on, the director really really really wanted to make the audience feel cold and sad. He wanted it done solely with sound design because he didn't want any music in the film at this point. The sounds were 90% chosen from the on-set mics, a stereo pair set up by the camera. It was filmed on a sunny day so you hear birds, you hear traffic on dry streets and an otherwise normal day in a rural area. Many foley elements were missing, footsteps, movements on the screen, jerky camera angle switches, etc. The director shook his head while I played it back for him and he turned and asked me what I would do to design the soundscape to elicit the proper response from the audience, in this case being cold and sad. I told him I would do these things for starters: Nix the ambience with any signs of happy life - happy birds, anything which sounds warm or happy. I would then put in colder winds, colder climate sounds. Most specifically I thought of replacing all of the car bys with cars that were driving through puddles and wet streets, even though it had been filmed during a sunny day, so that the audience would subliminally think that it had just rained or that it was cold outside, etc. He heard this and told me to get with the editors and fix it right away. I spent that night all night re-working that section and getting it perfect (which was the use of the cold wind I recorded with the coleman air mattress I posted earlier) and he came back in after it was mixed and approved it first time.

I can go on and on and list my skills and how much production I've done and what different types of things I've done but I don't think that's necessary - I think my question has already been answered below, so thank you. But, I just wanted to clarify that I'm not sitting under the command of someone like Chris Boyes or Gary Rydstrom thinking I can do better than them, rather, it's situations like the above which I hope you agree are pretty blatant. But, I have been thinking of how to either promote myself or make it more known about what I CAN do so that I might be given more opportunities to have full responsibility of the track which yes, it does come from the idea that "I can do better than someone else" but from the viewpoint of better contributing to the effectiveness of the final mix and not from the viewpoint of "I'm better than him!" I haven't brought the director aside and told him that and I don't undermine my peers or say this sort of thing to them or the producers or any of that - this is the first place I've written this and I thought maybe some of you have had similar situations and care to share what you've done in the past to get yourself out of that situation.

Most influential people in your career

2011-06-26T16:48:47Z

After listening to the guys at the audionowcast discuss the people most influential to them, I figured I wanted to start a thread here and discuss this with the rest of you guys. here's a list of the people and things that were and are the most influential on me and my audio career.

The process of making this list has filled me with gratitude both for my lot in life and for the people I have around me. This gig sure beats washing dishes.

real people

my parents - who supported my decision to pass on what could have been a scholarship to anywhere out of high school and head to a little community college in West Texas to pursue audio, supported my decision to move to Dallas to pursue audio, supported my decision to intern at DAPG ("you're going to work for free?") and continue to support me to this day.
my wife - who tolerates my constant need to "pull over for a few minutes and record the wind over there" while we're on road trips, my need to spend our hard earned $ on mics and recorders, the hours I spend at the office, and the fact that I love my company enough to not really ever want to move away from Dallas.
my boss - Roy, who gave me a shot when I was 21 and trained me from the ground up. who continues to put faith and trust in my abilities, and who listens openly to any suggestions I may have about any facet of audio or the business of audio.
my coworkers - especially Brad who is both cooler than me and more naturally talented than me. He's constantly challenging my perceptions and pushing me to be better at what I do.
my professors at school - especially Jerry Stoddard and Stuart Moody who were consummate professionals and would not rest until we bunch of long haired wannabees understood mic theory, signal flow, electronics, troubleshooting, eq, compression, et all. they also let us record our music in the awesome studios there.

internet people (in no specific order)

Miguel Isaza - tireless curator of all things audio at desigingsound.org and sonic-terrain.com
Tim Prebble - author of one of the strongest sound design blogs out there. Tim is eternally giving with his knowledge and techniques both on his blog and in this forum and others. I've learned immensely just by standing back and watching.
Michael Raphael - Michael and I tweet and IM back and forth a fair amount, and he's become a very trusted extra set of ears to help evaluate my stuff as I help listen to his. He also runs rabbitearsaudio.com
Michael Maroussas - Created and maintains The Sound Collector's Club, which both stocks my library and forces me to get out into the world one extra time a month to record something entirely unrelated to any projects I have running, and do it at a high enough level to be proud of.
the people at gearslutz
the people here
the people on twitter

films (in no specific order)

no country for old men - tour de force in the art of using negative space to pull forward tiny details. As a West Texas guy who's spent plenty of time in El Paso, the authenticity and execution of this film is stunning.
transformers - yeah I said it. The first transformers film is paced excellently and is filled with so much top shelf modern sound design it boggles the mind. I find it impossible to watch that film and not learn something.
house of flying daggers - I use this film to show interns what good foley sounds like, as well as how to captivate emotions with open space and tiny moves followed by big ones. The cloth, swords, breaths, mix, and footsteps are the peak of the art.
the matrix - revolutionary sound design throughout. the punches, digital manipulations, white rooms, slow downs, and everything else are without peer.
district 9 - the best creature and scifi weapon sounds IMO, and a masterful documentary style mix. I could watch this 10 times in a row and never be bored with it.
symbol - i saw this film at the asian film festival here in Dallas last year. It takes place half in a white room in Chinese and half in old mexico in spanish. It kind of blew my mind, and I wish I could see it again.
kill bill volume 1 - the battle between lucy liu and the bride at the end has a water fountain in it that inspires me to do specific grounding details in quiet scenes to this day. also the gory sounds and the animation sound designs are awesome. that music soundtrack is also some pretty damn inspired work.

of course there are countless others that can be added to each list, but these are the top people/films in each in my world. what about you?

In need of some career advice.

2011-04-06T00:20:00Z

I'm in the position where I may be offered a job editing and mixing sound for reality television. I eventually want to work in feature films as an editor, working my way up to sound design.

I've only been in Los Angeles for about 9 months and I'm worried that if I start a full time job in T.V. it will become more and more difficult to transition into features. A steady paycheck sounds really nice right now, but I didn't move here for that; I moved here to start down the path of working full time on feature films.

What would you guys recommend if I am offered the job? I'm a bit lost in this decision. I also ask because I have worked on some reality shows before and that work seems to be picking up.

I have a lot to learn about television and film so I feel the decisions I make early on are going to have a long term impact on my career. Am I being paranoid?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your help!

Grabbing hold of one's career arc

2010-12-10T02:57:30Z

After more than 11 years of doing this all day every day I've learned just how broad and deep the field of audio truly is. The more I do this the more I realize how much I still have yet to learn. The question now is where to focus.

I was recording a local pro coach recently and he talked about the way that different coaches take different approaches to where to focus practices.

One tact is to identify the things that an athlete does very well and work on that as a primary focus. I'll call this "raising the ceiling." The idea is to hone that specific advantage to such a high level that no other competitor can outperform the athlete at that one facet. Then you gameplan to use that facet overtly. The net effect is to reduce flexibilty and rely on pure execution, but the side effect is that deficiencies are left unaddressed. Think of the tennis player with a devastating serve and no backhand.

The other tact is to identify the things that an athelete does poorly, and work on that instead. I'll call this "raising the floor." The idea here is to balance the athlete's abilities - leaving natural talent and interest to do the work at the top end of his game and practice and reps to work on the weaker aspects. The idea here is that a balanced anthlete is more flexible and has more options available at game time because he is at least competent at everything, but the side effect is that the athlete may not reach the pinnacle of his ability in the areas where he is most talented.

Obviously every athlete works on raising both the ceiling and the floor, but inevitably only one side or the other receives the majority of the reps, attention, and enthusiasm.

The audio analogy is pretty obv here, so I'll just lay out my own personal evaluation:

I think it takes 3 to 5 years of doing any complex and creative job to figure out basic competency (took me closer to 5). After that, it takes another 3 to 5 to figure out one's own unique talents and roadblocks within that competency (took me closer to 3).

Once you've figured out talent, you have to start making the decision of whether to spend your time raising the floor or raising the ceiling in the short time you have on this earth. I find my own strengths to be microphone based recording, sound selection, signal processing, and to a lesser degree mixing. My weaknesses are synthesis, musical integration, music programming, and to a lesser degree sonic arrangement.

With that said, I'm sure both that I'm not near the recordist I could be with 5 more years of focused execution, and I'm also not incompetent with regards to synthesis and musicality. Its just that I have to work much harder at those things to get them up to my standard.

I'll also state that I am not an island. I work with a team of very talented guys, one of whom has strengths and weaknesses that compliment mine almost exactly.

So where do you guys fall? raise the ceiling? raise the floor? try to do both? sell out to one or the other? does working in a team environment affect your decision?

thx!

Twitter Users on here?

2011-02-23T07:13:24Z

I know there have been some twitter threads on here so I have to make this a question as I didn't want this to be buried at the end of a ton of posts since this is more of a group networking invite.

About a year and a half ago I started a "Twibe" for sound designers.

What a Twibe does is it aggregates tweets from the members into the Twibe feed using specific keywords without having to follow that twitter user. Say for example someone has occasional interesting tweets about Sound Design, but happens to not be able to separate business and private and list a bunch of disgusting food that they're eating all the time or maybe complaining about their love life or whatever. This way, you only see the tweets from them that feature these set key words.

I have the keywords for the group set to Sound Design, SoundDesigners and Audio. So if you use any of those in your tweet, it will be fed to the Twibe.

We have some great and legendary members on board including Practitioners, Educators, Students, Companies, Tutorial Creators, Other networks and more. We try to help each other out with networking, promotion and learning opportunities by re-tweeting each others posts, contributing new posts to the Twibe and it's dead simple to use. I've met some great new colleagues through there over time and I've learned a lot from others.

Would you like to come join us? (my obligatory question to satisfy this post, lol)

http://www.twibes.com/group/SoundDesigners or the master shortened URL is http://twib.es/3DM

There's a big green arrow button that says "Tweet to Join". It uses your Twitter profile info as your Twibe profile info. You just have to allow Twibes to access your twitter account.

Also, in order to not to have to visit the twibe and see the aggregate feed be sure to follow these instructions:

Be sure to click “Make Twitter List” just above the members’ photos on the twibe page, Twibes will create a Twitter list for you that you will be able to see on Twitter. Twibes will add/remove people from the Twitter list as they join or leave the twibe, usually within a day or two.

It's as simple as that.

I'm on there and Twitter as @SynSynth and I look forward to seeing you all there.

Sleep Disorders

2011-02-23T06:24:12Z

Ok, considering the company here I'm sure there are quite a few of you who have had some experience with sleep disorders. Situations like this can be hard to diagnose and usually require a very lengthy sleep analysis process that most of us can't afford to undergo since it is very involved, very expensive and quite lengthy to undertake, meaning we'd have to put our lives on hold and that's usually not a welcome thing to do in our industry. These situations can also be harmful to our careers, health and lives and I figured maybe some stories and solutions can be shared by all to help make our lives a bit better.

Personally, I finally realized after many years of trial and error I have a circadian rhythm sleep disorder what's known as DSPS - Delayed Sleep-Phase Syndrome which basically means I'm nocturnal by nature aka a "Night Owl". I can function as a "normal" human being with no sleep issues, except that my hours are shifted to be an alternate from the normal expectancies of society. It's not necessarily a matter of choice to be in this situation (as I like mornings very much). It's also a lifelong condition with no known treatment.

Since my early teenage years I've tried to figure out why I can never fall asleep before 2/4am and being a very deep sleeper, often require additional assistance other than an alarm to wake up if I have to wake before my body's internal clock says it's natural to do so. I've tried shifting my schedule, sleep aids and so on. Nothing has ever had a lasting effect on me (or other DSPSer's). The only time I've ever found a normal pattern is when I was working 5pm-1am while teaching Audio Post at a University that operates 24/7 for a few years. It allowed me to go to bed around 3-5am and wake up around Noon-1pm and everything worked great until they started shifting schedules around constantly which caused me severe insomnia which eventually broke down into other similar sleep disorders.

I can work normal hours, but what happens is that I become an insomniac by sleeping only 1-2 hours a night and binge sleeping when I can in order to accommodate a "normal" 9-5 schedule. Besides affecting performance, the human body can only take this for so long before you develop symptoms of SWSD - Shift Work Sleep Disorder, Non-24 and even certain traits of Narcolepsy by falling asleep without knowing it and not being able to wake according to normal practices, shifting/drifting sleep patterns and so on. This eventually bites all us DSPSer's in the ass and everyone thinks it's a lifestyle choice and something we have control over. Unfortunately we struggle to accommodate the rest of the world for seemingly our entire lives and it's quite difficult, especially when everyone things you can do something about it.

Ironically enough, since any known treatment never lasts longer than a few months to a year (this is widespread for people with DSPS) the only known way to deal with this is to find employment that suits these hours. Luckily, the entertainment industry partially falls in that category. My only issue is that if I want to be employed (other than self employed/freelance) in the Audio Post sector (which I prefer) typical M-F 9-5 business hours with a lot of late night deadline crunches being the norm.

So, I find myself self employed/freelance trying to create opportunities for myself in this industry during times of a rather slow economic depression and it's going much slower than I wish/need it to be and need to figure out some different solutions. Personally, I'm not much of a business fan. I'd rather show up to work and the boss says "I need this done by X time" and I go off into my studio and do my job, never having to worry about contracts, billing/finance or drumming up new business. It's just not my strong suit.

Anyone have any suggestions, experiences or anecdotes?

(UK) Sidestepping into film sound... a possibility?

2011-02-08T21:01:53Z

I've been working in audiobooks for a little over ten years and, to be frank, I've had my fill. There's also the matter of cash flow. The family pot seems to have a hole in it and my career is going nowhere!

Back when I was still green, I earned a City and Guilds diploma. This eventually led me into my current job as an audiobook editor. Apart from that, I have no other training or experience (apart from work experience in TV and a few short film shoots, and a little experience of film editing).

I would like to get into film sound but have no idea where to go. I'm not London based. In that respect, I live in a fairly remote part of the country. I can't afford to live on a yearly income of less than £30,000 -- £27,000 at a push -- as there are bills to pay and mouths to feed (and yet more bills to pay).

I'm not exactly over the hill yet but it seems that to enter this game you have to be fresh faced with plenty of time to sacrifice. Am I wrong?

Okay, enough with the sprawling preamble. I'm not entirely sure what my question is. I guess I'm asking for someone to suggest the best direction. Thirty something audio guy with little professional experience other than audiobooks wants to earn £30k plus in the film industry, doesn't live near London (neither can he relocate) has he got his head in the clouds?

Moving worlds within audio post

2011-01-14T22:23:30Z

I work in the world of TV programming with reality, documentary & docudrama series work, lots of promos, some theatrical trailer work, and some independent film work. My current gig is as an in-house television mixer for an internationally distributed television network. Here, as in the total of my experience working in audio post, I am the sound "person" after production. That is to say, I record VO, I do occasional ADR, I do a ton of dialog editing, make a lot of sound design, run a large amount of mixing sessions with clients, and even occasionally help develop standard operating procedures for the department and quality control requirements for the company. I am the "go to" audio repair person as well as the creative contributor. But I know "on lot" and in large dub stage type environments this is not the case. And in truth, the team effort approach is what I find most attractive about these other forms of audio post.

While I have senior level status in my multiple hat wearing audio post documentary, docudrama, reality, independent film, promo, trailer, and ad campaign world, I find it unlikely that this status would transfer (nor would I want it to at this point) to a dramatic higher budget lot gig or studio backed program or feature. However, I feel after running a department, working in-house for a network, freelancing and putting in more than decade in the industry that I would not serve myself or my new company best by looking at intern opportunities and other base entry level positions. But perhaps, the approach is so different that I am wrong.

When moving from one type of audio post to another (mixer/sound designer in edutainment/reality television and independent film to a sound team working on high budgeted dramatic TV/film), what type of position should one seek in order to best serve themself, the project, and their fellow sound guys? Do I have to start over completely? What is an appropriate move?

Crossroads: Requesting some career advice

2010-07-09T02:44:20Z

I hate to post a question that i can't see being of benefit to others as well, but i'm rather stuck and i have a lot of respect for the perspectives of you all.

I finished a MA in sound design at AFTRS, sydney in 2009. It's a pretty respected school, and it taught me a great deal about sound design; but also to be humble as someone with limited professional experience.

I came to NYC in Sept '09 to try and find some people i could learn from on internships and whatnot. Because of the state of the industry at the time, i never ended up getting on board the kind of project (decent sized feature) that i came here for. Instead, i've been doing a lot of shorts; working as a recording engineer/mixer at a little studio that does foreign language dubs; and i'm halfway through an ultra low budget feature as sound designer.

My visa is almost up, and i have a decision to make:

The studio i'm working for in NYC have come to rely on me a lot, and said they'd do what they can to keep me here. The problem is, their work is low budget/low quality/fast turnaround and i'm not learning anything of value here. On top of that, my chances at landing the visa are iffy at best. The visa would not allow me to work for anyone other than the employer who petitions for me, thus excluding me from the possibility of freelance work on respectable features.

On the other hand, i could go back to Sydney, Australia. The sound post industry there is a lot smaller, however; some of my good friends are in with one of the most respected sound post crews in australia. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of work, but with time i could probably land an assisting role.

So in summary: try to stay in NYC at a job i don't particularly get a lot from, and work on cash-in-hand indie films on the side; or go back to Sydney where the work isn't that plentiful, but where i have more of a foot in the door?

Your opinions will be greatly valued!

Are you colorblind? [survey]

2010-04-06T19:57:01Z

I'm just curious to see how many sound designers here are colorblind. I am red/green colorblind, and over the years I have met quite a few sound designers and musicians that are also colorblind. I wonder if this little genetic wobble has maybe given me (and you?) a friendly little nudge towards sound.

I know that this T-shirt would be my favorite if I could read it:

Foreign field audio?

2010-10-26T03:33:15Z

Hello everyone.

First, let me say that my intention here is to look for career advice, not to passively beg for a handout.

Okay, so I recently had a revelation: I really enjoy sound design and post-production, but I feel I should take advantage of the fact that I'll have no roots upon graduation. Field audio in Somewhere, Not-America immediately crossed my mind. I've been blessed with a great mentor/professor who has taught me most of what I know about field audio, however his knowledge of the industry is mostly local.

So here's my question(s) for you folks: What steps would you recommend I take towards finding foreign work? Do international news organizations (BBC, AP, NPR, RFI etc.) even bother hiring specialists or do they outsource to local news organizations? Is there field work to be had beyond The News? How important is it to speak the language (I know French, but that's just one language)?

If there's a few too many stars in my eyes, pinch me so I wake up. I'm not looking for a vacation though, just the opportunity to work/learn while expanding my cultural perspective (like many Americans the only foreign soil I've touched is Canada).

If you're so inspired, add any other information you feel I should know.

EDIT: Let me add Documentary production to this topic.

Thanks!

~Cheers

P.S. If you have a better way to word this question's title, please share. Haha.

How do I get meaningful experience if I'm in the middle of nowhere?

2010-07-09T16:31:22Z

I'm an aspiring sound designer who is going to school in a tiny Southern town. We don't have a film program, and while the music department has some music technology, there are only four courses. I can sound design for theater and work at the radio station to learn about audio engineering, but that's about it, as far as I can tell. If I wanted to intern, I'd have to wait until the summer, when I can drive to a major city.

So, besides networking online and scouring forums, how am I supposed to make good face-to-face contacts in the film and gaming industries? Should I transfer to a less isolated school? Thanks for reading!

Just a young guy with a dream.

2010-03-25T11:46:24Z

I've loved sound ever since I was a kid, and for the past few years, I've been taking Electroacoustic courses at Concordia University and writing music and making sound effects for small animations, films, flash games, and Xbox games. Lately, I've also been building up both courage and a sound effect portfolio to apply at various big-name game studios here in Montreal for a sound effect designer position.

Any advice for someone who hasn't applied at a sound effect job at a huge company before? What has more weight - versatility and talent or job experience? What kind of portfolio would really stand out? I've never made anything for games whose gameplay is longer than 30 minutes. :(

Do any of you compose, as well?

2010-08-12T00:05:14Z

I got into sound design when an open-source game I was on was flooded with composers, and we needed a sound designer. None of the composers on the game had anything beyond Finale but me, so I stepped up to the plate and haven't really looked back. I still write music, and would love to do that professionally, but I (currently) feel like sound design is the direction I'm going.

So, I was wondering, do any of you compose music as well as design sound? Did you start out writing music and moved into sound design?

UPDATE: Wow... I'm glad I'm not alone, but now I feel somewhat outmatched. :D

What does it all mean when people say : 'Come to the studio and see what we do...'?

2010-07-13T14:43:32Z

Hey Everyone,

This will be a LONG read, but I would Reall appreciate advice

For the last 3 months I've been phoning various post sound people around town (Zurich), sending them resumes and links to my Vimeo page to see my stuff, asking about the possibility of a trainee or intern position. But you know the drill: 'Sorry, at this time we do not have any....', seems to be the most common answer.

Out of the blue, this morning, I got 3 calls, which carried various possibly positive messages. Could you please give me advice on what it all means?

On my side I have 2 years production sound experience: corporate videos, the odd commercial, 5 short films and one or two TV shows. I have bascially no PRO post experience. I know Ableton, Nuendo and a bit of ProTools LE.

(No, i did not got an audio engineering school, but I am studying physics and math through the OU)

Ok, now for the calls:

A call from a well respected German film mixer who will be in Zurich to record ADR for a feature length doccie. He asked if I could sit-in for the 4 days he will be here...
- He doesn't really work from Zurich so I think he wants to meet me and maybe introduce me to some people.
A local sound designer has called me to 'help' him tonight and tommorow to do tracklay and sound deisgn for an animated video clip? What does this mean? Is this a test?

3.An engineer at a local studio has invited me to 'come and see what we do' for a few days this week and next.

For all of these, but especially for call no. 3, I really want to impress enough that I can get that elusive 'start from the bottom' inhouse job.

What should i do?

Or rather WHAT SHOULD I NOT DO?

Yours in excitement and trepidation,

Kurt

Career Potential in Field Recording

2010-06-25T16:09:28Z

Hi there. After using field recordings prominently in my own creative work over the last couple of years and going on a few workshops I'm seriously considering it as a bread and butter work line. My only education is as an MA fine art graduate where all the guidance was based around ideas and I was left to find my own way with equipment. Consequently I have little understanding of sound recording as an industry and this seemed like the perfect place to ask for advice as to where to put my feet next. I'm willing to work for very little to build up experience if it's necessary and am happy to move anywhere in the world to get this going. Love nothing more than just putting on some headphones and exploring.

Thanks for your time

James

If I do volunteer work unrelated to sound design, will that hurt my job prospects?

2010-07-06T16:12:51Z

After college, I really want to join a yearlong volunteer program called Americorps National Civilian Community Corps, or NCCC. It's a full time program, and I won't be able to complete any internships during my year there. I may be able to intern between graduation and the NCCC start date. However, if I was offered a job at the end of the internship, I wouldn't be able to take the job because I'd have to leave.

The million dollar questions: will employers look at my volunteer year as a wasted year? Does it really matter, as long as my demo reel's good? Should I take a year off during college instead of after college so I can avoid this?

Thank you so much for reading!

How would you get your career started?

2010-06-24T13:29:54Z

Hello world!

I'd like us to share our opinions on the best way(s) to start working in sound design and film sound in general. This is a recurring question that I am asking it to myself just now, and I've been for a while!

How do you get started, where do you get started, who do you get started with?...

I recently graduated in Digital Media, I have done some work in two years but now I'm done being a student, there is little time for me to begin getting serious! Now, I'm a person who sees all the problems, panics, and forgets about the potential solution :( I find the only cure is to shut up and get to work :)

The problem I identify (hopefully others can relate to it): there's no postprod studios where I live. I can start working on my own, BUT I won't learn and develop as fast.

Potential solution: there are some music studios around, BUT (again) music is not what I'm aiming at. It's ok, I'll keep working on my own, I might find a better opportunity later...

Discuss the solution: music is not what I want to do, but at least I'd get to practice recording, editing, maybe mixing, and I get to network with sound people (BUT not film sound people).

This is an example of how I go about never coming with a solution... So, what are you ready to do that's not a waste of time for you?

I've heard/read from a lot of people who came to film sound from the field of music production, but others took off in moviemaking right away. I also know that the techniques in music and film production are similar to a certain extent, but what is the limit for skills to remain transferrable from a field to the other? Knowledge and culture are one thing (and one should never draw a line to limit his learning) but isn't there a breaking point beyond which it's not worth going while in the early times of your career?

What would you have done differently?

2010-05-05T10:10:25Z

For those of you who have made sound design your career of choice, is there anything you would have done differently along the way? Are there certain choices you're especially glad you made? Would you rather have gone freelance/studio, film/games, east coast/west coast, local/international, analog/digital, etc.?

More than anything, I'm interested in hindsight.

And to make things more interesting, I've included a bounty.

Apprenticeship for Sound Designers?

2010-05-08T19:12:05Z

Dear All,

This might be a random question, but I want to ask it anyway:

I never went to film school or any type of post production school. I've basically taught myself by:

Watching enough movies to know what other sound designers do and what is appropriate sound design
Just doing it and making mistakes (sometimes bigger than I'd want them to be) but I learned from them and survived to use it as an experience of what NOT to do.

Now, I'm in my 8th year in the business and I've gotten a steady resident mixer/recordist/sound designer job, and I was wondering if it's possible to work out doing an apprenticeship with one of the studios or teams. Have you heard of something like that happening? I'm always set back by "only students can do internships". Is this true?

What are your thoughts? How did you go about learning your craft?