For a 'sound' career

To ask what one can do with sound is the equivalent of asking what one can do with sight. What sort of career can one get by using sight? One can turn into a painter, a pilot, a soccer player, an engineer or a cardiac surgeon.

Sight is an important sense. So is sound. Although it is often overlooked as a profession, sound is becoming a vital aspect of many different industries and is now recognised as a field of study on its own. As technology advances, our ability to generate and manipulate sound has grown. There are plenty of opportunities available in this field. But first, we must understand the fundamental differences between sound and music.

Often used interchangeably, there is a lot of confusion about the difference between sound and music. Most music is sound, but all sound is not music.

There are many professional areas in sound. The most common are audio engineering, sound design, and music production. However, there are many other fields that involve sound as well, such as acoustics, psychoacoustics, bioacoustics, archaeo-acoustics and sound studies to name a few. Each of these fields requires its own specific set of skills and knowledge.

Audio engineering

Audio engineers play a pivotal role by using their technical expertise to record and manipulate sound waves and create high-quality audio recordings. They work in a variety of settings, such as music studios, live venues, broadcast studios or post-production houses. Some common duties include recording sound, adjusting sound levels, equalising sound frequencies, and adding special effects. Audio engineers typically have a degree in audio engineering or a related field. Many of the great audio engineers have apprenticed in studios before learning the tricks of the trade.

Sound designing

The work of a sound designer involves creating sonic effects for films, video games, and other multimedia productions. Sound design may refer to the process of designing or creating sound by using a variety of tools to record, synthesise and manipulate sound. It refers to the process of composing and producing soundscapes and soundtracks. Since sound design often requires technical expertise in both audio engineering as well as music production, professional sound designers usually have a formal background in either of the two fields. However, there are many self-taught sound designers as well.

Spatial audio design

An exciting new technology that has been coming of age in the mainstream now is spatial audio — the technology of creating a three-dimensional sound field around the listener. It is the process of creating sounds that appear to emanate from a specific location in the virtual environment. This can include the creation, manipulation and playback of 3D audio content. Compared to traditional stereo sound, which is heard with two speakers, spatial audio allows for greater realism in sound reproduction.

In addition, spatial audio can allow users to better distinguish between sounds coming from different locations within an environment, which makes it important in applications such as immersive gaming and Virtual/Augmented Reality, where the user may want to experience the space with their ears. It has also been used in industrial applications to train people on equipment safety procedures or to simulate dangerous situations in controlled environments (for example, aeroplane cockpits). Spatial audio has been used extensively across a wide range of industries, including entertainment (gaming), education (VR/AR), automotive, military applications and more.

(The authors are researchers at The Indian Sonic Research Organisation)