Statewide occupation search

Sort your search results or select and compare details of two occupations. Find out if an occupation is in demand or not in demand in your local area, at Learn about an occupation.

Statewide occupation search

Sound Engineering Technicians

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Assemble and operate equipment to record, synchronize, mix, edit, or reproduce sound, including music, voices, or sound effects, for theater, video, film, television, podcasts, sporting events, and other productions.

Related: Audio & Video Technicians Broadcast Technicians Calibration Technologists & Technicians Lighting Technicians Media Technical Directors/Managers

Industries: Media & Communication Arts & Entertainment Hotel & Food

Summary
Details

Mix and edit voices, music, and taped sound effects for live performances and for prerecorded events, using sound mixing boards.
Set up, test, and adjust recording equipment for recording sessions and live performances.
Prepare for recording sessions by performing such activities as selecting and setting up microphones.
Convert video and audio recordings into digital formats for editing or archiving.
Report equipment problems and ensure that required repairs are made.
Separate instruments, vocals, and other sounds, and combine sounds during the mixing or postproduction stage.
Reproduce and duplicate sound recordings from original recording media, using sound editing and duplication equipment.
Record speech, music, and other sounds on recording media, using recording equipment.
Synchronize and equalize prerecorded dialogue, music, and sound effects with visual action of motion pictures or television productions, using control consoles.
Create musical instrument digital interface programs for music projects, commercials, or film postproduction.
Regulate volume level and sound quality during recording sessions, using control consoles.
Prepare for recording sessions by performing such activities as selecting and setting up microphones.
Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film.
Keep logs of recordings.

Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.

Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.

Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

Education

Postsecondary certificate

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

110950/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

53.34/hr

Currently Employed

510

Yearly Projected Openings

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Dependability
Attention to Detail
Cooperation
Stress Tolerance
Initiative
Persistence

Attenuators
Audio mixing consoles
Cassette players or recorders
Desktop computers
Digital voice recorders
Equalizers
Intercom systems
Loudspeakers
Microphones
Multimeters
Musical instrument digital interface MIDI interfaces
Notebook computers
Ohmmeters
Oscilloscopes
Personal computers
Radio frequency transmitters or receivers
Soldering iron
Voltage or current meters

Clustering software
Computer aided design CAD software
Desktop publishing software
Document management software
File versioning software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Internet protocol IP multimedia subsystem software
Metadata management software
Music or sound editing software
Object or component oriented development software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Presentation software
Process mapping and design software
Spreadsheet software
Video creation and editing software
Web page creation and editing software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Find Sound Engineering Technicians jobs Education and Training for Sound Engineering Technicians

Statewide occupation search

Statewide occupation search

Sound Engineering Technicians

Work Activities

Skills

Abilities

Knowledge

Education

Pay

Washington Employment Trends

Personality

Tools

Technology

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES