DUTIES OF A SOUND ENGINEER 

Alright, so what exactly does a sound engineer do? The typical visual is of someone in front of a huge soundboard with all its levers, dials and panels. That's part of it. In truth, the person sitting at the soundboard may be a sound engineer or an audio engineer. The roles are similar, but a sound engineer has more responsibility for the success of a project than does an audio engineer. In fact, spending time as an audio engineer may be a stepping stone to becoming a sound engineer. 

A sound engineer is responsible for the technical side of a recording or live performance. The sound engineer designs and manages sound levels and outputs, and is responsible for maintaining the physical sound equipment, like amps and microphones. 

When a sound engineer is working on a recording, the responsibility doesn't end with the act of recording the performance. The sound engineer is then responsible for editing, mixing and mastering the tracks so they present the best performance consistent with the artist's vision. Everyone pretty much gets what "recording" is. Let's get more precise about these other phases: 

• "Editing" a track is the process arranging what's been recorded. Recorded performances are rarely played once, full through. Instead, different movements and passages will be repeatedly performed. Editing is the process of selecting the best pieces and putting them together into one single, coherent performance. Indeed, not every performer may even be recorded at the same time. 

• "Mixing" a track is the technical work of adjusting sound levels through the entire recording. So if the piano track overtakes the cello track in a recording of Schubert's Serenade, the sound engineer can fix that during the mixing stage. 

• "Mastering" is the last step in of audio post-production. It's basically all the technical work that needs to be done to ready a recording for distribution. Most recordings include multiple songs and performances, and mastering the recording brings consistency of sonic levels and quality to them all. Mastering a recording eliminates this. Mastering a recording is also the stage where the sound engineer technically prepares the recording to be reproduced, manufactured and downloaded. The steps required vary based on how the publishers intend to distribute the recording. 

Most projects are large enough that there won't be just one person taking on all these roles. Yet someone must hold ultimate responsibility for the sound quality of the recording. That's the sound engineer, even as more junior sound engineers may be taking on specific roles or phases within the project. 

Now, this isn't to say that sound engineering is only needed for recordings. Sound engineers are also used in live performances, whether a public speech or orchestral performance. In these cases, the initial duties of a sound engineer remain the same – managing output levels, equipment maintenance and setup, and ensuring the highest quality of sound reaching the audience.