Choose A Major Paper (Eureka Assignment)

Hannah Thrasher
Careers and Lifestyles
Tues, June 28, 2011

Choose A Major Paper: Recording Arts

    I fell in love with the idea of working in Post Production Audio while watching the audio featurette in the Special Features of the Extended Edition DVD set of The Two Towers. I was especially intrigued and excited by the Foley Artists. My dream job is to be a Foley Artist, because it just looks like so much fun. But I'd also like to work as a Sound Effects Editor and Sound Designer. Unfortunately, there are basically no programs in Foley walking, but there are some in Recording Arts, which is a good starting point, I think.
    In a Recording Arts program, you learn about how to capture, enhance, and manipulate audio. You take classes in sound editing using Digital Audio Workspaces (DAWs), such as ProTools, the industry standard in audio editing programs. You may take courses in recording techniques, such as microphone placement when recording (or supporting) a musical performance, or you may learn how to record sound in the field (meaning not in a studio). You will likely take a course in sound design, and in electricity. In addition, if the program is offered through a music department, you will take courses in music, such as Music Theory. If the program is offered through a film department, you will take film production courses.
    A Foley Artist doesn't actually need to be able to use DAWs or do any editing, but sound editors and designers use DAWs to digitally combine and manipulate sound to make sounds that would be too difficult or expensive to actually create and record, so the sounds are created digitally.
    Getting a job in the audio industry is difficult. Experience and skill is a must and is more important a degree. You can have a degree in audio recording but without real experience you will find it difficult to get a job. It's very competitive because applicants far outnumber the available jobs, especially in big cities where pay is usually highest. Getting a steady job is extremely difficult because there are so few available, so a lot of sound engineers are free lancers. That means that they are hired to work on one project, and once the project is complete, they're out of a job again. The hours are long and it's common to work well beyond midnight, to work holidays, evenings and weekends. It tends to be a very high pressure job, and you work with a lot of egos.
    A very successful sound engineer can make over $50,000 a year, but most make between about $22,000 and about $48,000. A very successful Foley Artist can make about $1000 a day. Entry-level job seekers should expect to do volunteer and/or grunt work for a few years before they can start making any decent amount of money.