The audio industry has three categories of jobs: pre-production, production, and post-production. Pre-production requires a producer, director, copywriter, concept manager, voice actor, and liaison with the client. Production jobs include sound mixer, sound designer, recording technician, and sound assistant. Post-production jobs include post-production mixer, sound editor, dialog editor, and post-production coordinator. Each job requires specific skills.
While there are several jobs in the audio industry, each job falls into a specific type. There are three broad categories of jobs in the audio industry including pre-production, production and post-production. Pre-production refers to the planning and setup phase of a recording session. Production involves starting the recording session and taking the necessary shots to generate the audio needed for the project. Post-production involves refining the audio project – mixing and adding any special audio effects. Each category requires technicians and specialists with specific skills.
The list of jobs in the pre-production audio industry is quite sparse, and in some areas overlaps with jobs in the production audio industry. Generally, the pre-production phase of an audio recording project requires a producer, director, at least one copywriter, a concept manager, talent such as a voice actor, and a liaison with the client who commissioned the project. The producer is responsible for all personnel decisions, from acquiring the talent and commissioning the writer to explaining the overall concept to the director and the production and post-production team. Some types of audio projects require the producer and director to be the same person. The liaison is responsible for coordinating client input to the production team, and the writer and concept manager create content for the recording project.
Jobs in the production audio industry include sound mixer, sound designer, recording technician and sound assistant. All of these positions deal exclusively with recording the project’s audio, under the direction of the project’s producer or director. The mixer usually works in the post-production phase of a project, but monitors the recording in progress to capture the truest, highest fidelity sound possible. The technician and designer are responsible for procuring and setting up all necessary equipment to be used during the project, under the direction of the producer or director. The sound assistant is responsible for providing any technical assistance required during the production phase.
Post-production jobs in the recording industry include post-production mixer, sound editor, dialog editor, and post-production coordinator. The post-production team is responsible for turning the raw, recorded audio into a polished final product. The post-production mixer finalizes the mix of sounds using a sound card to achieve the highest possible quality. The sound editor takes all the raw audio, including sound effects and overlays, recorded during production and puts them together in the proper sequence, working closely with the post-production mixer. The dialog editor takes all the raw audio from the spoken speech and puts it together as per the producer’s guidance.
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