I’ve been working professionally with audio now for over a decade.
(My qualifier for “professional” is having earned $1 – maybe it’s low, but you have to start somewhere.)
In that time, I’ve gotten paid for a lot of different kinds of audio work.
Music with live concerts and records.
Corporate event audiovisual tech.
Film production and post production sound. (yes, films, commercials, web series, and TV – all of it)
Live theatre.
Podcasts, and terrestrial radio before podcasts were a thing.
Architectural audiovisual design.
even live audio for a stunt plane pilot who sang while flying.
and yes, video games.
When I was coming up in “the industry” – I thought that this is what everyone did, worked on anything that made noise. It’s certainly how younger people market themselves now – “I’ll work on anything! Sound Design, Composing, Implementation, and Programming!”
But what I’ve found in reality is, this isn’t actually true. Most audio professionals tend to get into one discipline, stick in it, and not move very often. Then those people talk about how other sound people can’t do their discipline of choice because it’s “too different” (the only valid argument with that right now is games, interactive audio is very different than non-interactive).
Being different from many other audio professionals gives me a pretty unique perspective. I’ve worked with a ton of different clients. I’ve worked freelance, owned my own business, been an in-house employee, and in just a few days I’ll be out on my own again.
That last part – the “I’m losing my job, again” point – has been a considerable point of stress for me recently. You’re probably not shocked with that.
But it also made me remember what’s probably the best piece of advice I can possibly give you if you’re in or pursuing a career in audio.
Continue reading The Only Real Stability in Audio
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