Every time we hear a good song, be it live or on the stereo, we normally applaud the musician behind the music. People usually can make out whether the quality of the music they hear is good or bad. However, not all of us are trained to point out towards the quality of the sound we hear.  We do know when things go bad though. When you can’t hear the lead guitar at a gig because of an issue with the sound or when we compare the mixing and mastering of a cutting edge CD against the good old cassette, we do realize that even if the song is the same there is a difference in the way it ‘sounds’. Vignesh Iyer takes a look at the people who work hard at bringing out that sound to us.

Camile @ The BlueFrog

Sound Engineering by itself is a very niche profession that is increasingly finding more takers in today’s technology driven world. There are now many academies that train students in the various branches of this profession. ‘Various Branches’ we say due to the fact that sound engineer or an audio engineer is a fairly ambiguous term. Such terms can refer to a person working in sound and music production, as well as to an engineer with a degree who designs professional equipment for these tasks. Try this – In German the Tontechniker (Audio Technician) is the one who operates the audio equipment, and the Tonemeister (Sound Master) makes recordings and is also expected to have deep knowledge of practical and theoretical music. While the Toningenieur (Audio Engineer) is the one who designs, builds and repairs equipments.

Experienced musicians all over the world have always preferred to work with good audio engineers. Martin Birch – a man who has worked with the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Iron Maiden, Jeff Beck, etc. is a perfect example. Pick out a CD of any of these bands to get an example of what a good contemporary recording must essentially sound like. There are plenty of other big names in the profession who are well respected within music circles. Owsley ‘The Bear’ Stanley (Grateful Dead) apart from having notoriously gained credit for successfully producing LSD in large quantities went on to design some of the first high – fidelity systems for rock music. His innovation and expertise culminated in forming the massive ‘wall of sound’ amplification system used by The Grateful Dead on their live shows.  Even if we might have heard the above mentioned bands for ages now, people hardly ever hear about the countless other names who constantly participate in the process of producing good music. The sound engineers are one such species, so to speak.

Good musicians will also tell you about the need to proceed with caution while dealing with your sound engineer. Especially, a lot more when you play live – ‘NEVER mess with your sound guy!’ is the mantra they all collectively and repeatedly hum. The logic behind this should be fairly clear by now. These guys control the sound emanating from the instruments that are being played, which also means that they can manipulate it! The success of a good gig or a record depends as much upon the sound man as it does upon the musicians themselves.

In India, there is a bustling music industry (thanks to Bollywood), the advertising industry as well as the independent music scene which is slowly but surely making its presence felt. Sound problems still are very much part and parcel of the independent music scene in India. There is a lack of competent sound engineers but the interest in the profession has surely risen. Tired of going to rock concerts as a youngster and having to come back home disappointed, Fali Damania decided to take up matters into his own hands, “It got to a point where I just got frustrated and decided to try out this ‘live sound’ thing so the audiences and the performers could experience better gigs.” From that point on he was hooked, “I started reading books and various manuals, just never looked back ever since,” states the man who has now worked with Pentagram, Motherjane, Raghav Sachar, Vishal – Shekhar, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, etc.

Engineer at work

For Sound Engineers, there is no permanent setting. Every other day one must work at a different live venue, a different studio, there are different artists to work along with, and then there are those who do both live and studio work. The job requires one to adapt at any given point in time.  Such unique demands placed before them makes it quite a stressful job on occasions and happens to be one of the reasons they expect a certain degree of professionalism from the artists they work with. “We need them to be honest about what they want from us in terms of sound. If the artists do not understand what they want their audience to hear, we would find it difficult to provide that to them,” says Camille, resident sound engineer at Blue Frog in Mumbai which is considered to be one of the premier venues for live sound in India.

It seems that the sentiment is shared, “Typically my job is to enter the venue, tune the house PA to sound good, get as much ready and tweaked before the artists arrive at the venue so they can do their sound check without much stress,” says Fali. “But there is nothing worse than an artist who doesn’t know what he/she wants or cannot make up their mind,” he declares.

We also spoke to Micu Patel, a sound engineer who predominantly works for the advertising industry and has also worked with Oscar winner A.R.Rahman. From his views it would seem like the situation might be slightly reversed within the confines of a studio. “We normally have to produce whatever is needed for the clients, let us say we need a sexy and seductive tone from a voiceover artist, then we need to bring that out not just from the artist but right from the recording mic, cutting across the music and into your television screen. The feel needs to have an impact and the way we mix the sound plays a crucial part,” he states. So it is the producer or the engineer who is the one making demands here apparently.

From an open ground to a pub or a studio, there are people everywhere and therefore knowledge about and interaction with people is absolutely vital in order to put out a good end product. There are plenty more challenges along the way. “I’ve also worked as a studio engineer and let me tell you, child artists are the most difficult to work with. You can give them the world but if they aren’t in the mood to perform, they will not,” says Camille.  This bit is not a revelation at all except for when we happen to completely forget that child artists are pretty much mainstay, especially when it comes to the advertising industry. “At times the biggest challenge is an under confident artist,” says Fali. “End of the day an unhappy artist means an unhappy show and an unhappy audience.”

The Sound Machine

Which work is more challenging then? Live or a studio? “Both are equally tough and take years of experience to get good at. However the challenge of dealing with ten musicians and ten thousand fans makes live sound more stressful,” states Fali. The fundamental difference for sound engineers between the studio and at a live venue is the challenge of producing a mix which can appeal to the listener even through the basic two in one player or when live, through a huge PA system. The objective is straightforward – get the best possible sound, please the artist, please the listener and life’s good.

The competition in the field only seems to be increasing as the years pass by but the engineers do see a huge scope for a newbie if one can retain the passion required for the job. “I see a demand for professionals. Everything’s about technology these days and just about every little thing to do with music or sound requires a sound engineer,” states Camille. Micu Patel is of the opinion that the easily available technology is at times counter-productive for an upcoming sound engineer. “Nowadays you can start recording with the touch of a button, there are various kinds of software applications. However kids ignore the basics of the profession while they dabble in it. Everybody wants to do a full – fledged recording straight away, I wouldn’t say it is that straight forward at all,” he argues.

A thoroughbred professional is required to know his job inside out and it is no different for these people. However, apart from the million challenges these guys work with, there is one more of them to deal with! The ever so complicated equipments they use. “It is extremely important to be well versed with your equipment which means you have to read manuals, experiment with different equipment and constantly upgrade your skill set,” asserts Fali Damania. “While you do that, it is also extremely advisable to know the limitations of the equipments you work with. Be it speaker systems, consoles, outboard gear or processors.”

The instruments and vocals at concerts blend together perfectly courtesy Sound Engineers

Being the sound man is a thankless job on many occasions as they hardly ever get the recognition they deserve. However they aren’t complaining, “I’d say that this profession is a tough one which requires one to put in long hours but it is rewarding in its own way for those who are totally committed and passionate about it,” says Micu Patel.

So, the next time you go to a gig and wonder about the guy saying “check – one two three” into a mic repeatedly, you’d know why he’s doing that.  It is that guy’s job to make sure the lyrics don’t seem to come out as if the vocalist has a bad cold and is singing through his nose. Unless of course, the vocalist happens to wear a cap, sports a beard and usually sings with his trademark nasal twang!

Article by Vignesh Iyer

Aamir Khan is not the only one who went home grinning after 3 Idiots. With all that Boman Irani bashing, finally, our parents have decided to support us in whatever WE choose as our field of endeavor. The Big M knows that you want to cash on that before they change their minds.

So, we decided to present a ‘hatke’ field as OUR CAREER OF THIS MONTH – Sound Engineering. To give you an accurate account, we decided to jam the studios. Ravi Pratap, a lecturer at SAE Technology College and an assistant sound engineer in Spectral Harmony Studios; along with Prithvindra Paul, a freelance in the field of audio post production, were our mentors.

Who is a Sound Engineer?

The sound engineer plays a major role in the music industry. The main job of the sound engineer is to shape the sounds and tweak them accordingly so that they sound nice, polished and enhanced. For example, if you want to brighten up the vocals or create space between the instruments you know exactly who to look out for. Sound Engineers come in many guises and none of these are mutually exclusive, a good sound engineer will have a balance of most of these skills.

A Midas X18 - The mixing board allows the sound engineer to mix the various sounds - guitar, bass, drums, vocals - so that they are in balance

A Sound Engineer is not a DJ or Music Composer

Our mentors couldn’t have emphasized more that people have a misconception that by becoming a sound engineer they can be music composer. A sound engineer deals with the technical aspects of the sound. Paul adds, ‘when we say technical, people think of DJ. A DJ mixes compiled music, whereas, a sound engineer makes music out of raw sound.’ Wow! That sounds creative. In geeky terms, a studio is the lab and a sound engineer is the scientist who experiments with various sounds to enhance the creativity of a composition.

Can I be a sound engineer?

If you have an ear for different types of sounds and fair idea of how they react with each other, plus an appetite for the nitty-gritty of music, then, according to our mentors, you can be. “Youngsters aspiring to make a career out of this field should have an ear for different genres of music. As they say, the more the better. Moreover it is not only important just to listen to music but also hear between the lines to understand the intensity …for example, the timbre of a certain instrument and how it is tweaked according to the nature of the song”, illustrates Pratap. Apart from having a sensitive ear, a sound engineer should be able to nurture interpersonal relationships and should be socially active. In the words of Paul, “if you want to be in the industry, you have to be the industry.”  A good engineer will be able to mix a variety of different styles well. A good sense of pitch, timing and rhythm as well as a knowledge of electronics and acoustics works in your favour.

So I have the talent, but how to go about it?

Live sound engineers make sure that the instruments and vocals at concerts blend together

Pratap suggests that it is always better to have a personal home setup which requires a good configuration PC, a pair of good speakers, a decent entry level sound card and a pair of speakers or headphones. If you have enrolled for a course in a particular institute they provide special placement assistance to the candidates. If you have not done a course you can directly approach the studios to start off. Many institutes have sprung up in recent years which provide specialized courses in this field, SAE being one of the leading institutes.

Show me the money

Paul informs that with a plethora of channels and broadcasting stations coming up in the industry, there is a huge potential and demand for such a job. Salary ranges from 15000-70000 according to the level of skill and the quality of work and experience.

Article by Kirti Tarang