Your "Day to Day" role?

[bobbybigbones]

hi all, im researching into a career as a sound designer and have been asked to write a case study on the day to day business of someone in the industry. what is your typical day like? what do you do on a day to day basis?

any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks, rob.

[georgia]

a typical day here for me.

0600 wake up
0700 wake up again
0730 crawl out of bed, make coffee, take shower, feed cat
0800 turn on "west wing" on bravo, check emails, drink coffee
0830 drink coffee, check digi forum, read more emails, answer questions on forums
0900 check Gear Sluts forum, answer questions of forums, drink more coffee
0930 open up facility, turn on lights, check answering machine, drink coffee
1000 staff and interns arrive, turn on systems, clean facility, ...drink coffee
1015 go over plan-of-the-day with team.... drink coffee
1030 start first project of day, meet with client review project, write quote
1200 finish client meeting regarding feature film, on phone with shooting crew for series "Lowie VS America", planning shoot in midtown for INKHEART premier
1300 talk to Glyph about rescuing a clients DOA Lacie drisk drive for a feature doc.
1315 edit "Mob Like Justice" picture for Pilot episode, drink coffee
1430 turn over new cut to team to begin sound design, review sound concepts with team
1445 Look over "Pets in the City" picture and begin planning sound design and a couple of pickup shots for shooting team.
1530 drink more coffee, see how the various teams are progressing on projects
1600 talk to client about up coming feature animated mix with coffee on hand
1645 fresh coffee handed to me by intern. Begin design of HD rig for room in midtown. so I can start mixing a bunch of XMEN/Wolverine episodes in French.
1730 meeting with clients for new series and music show... take client out for drinks.
1900 get home, nuke a cold cup of coffee, check emails and forums
2000 order food for the first time of the day... I'm starving by now.
2015 muck around with some sond design ideas for the titles of "Mob Like Justice"
2100 review footage of "Lowie VS America" episode
2200 give up for the day, visit with cat, watch some Turner Classic Movies
2400 crash...


thats a normal day. I kid you not one bit.

other days might be getting up and mixing all day on anything from a feature to a local ad, fixing a computer system, troubleshooting a network, installing upgrades or new software, holding a training session for the interns, picture editorial on TV show or
Feature, creating graphics in photoshop, authoring a DVD, tracking and mixing some music in midtown or here, cleaning up a mess, taking a client to dinner or drinks, updating a website, going on a production shoot and directing or just going on a shoot and doing sound..... it varies... thats why I love it.

cheers
geo

[bobbybigbones]

Wow thanks georgia, i never realised that there was so much coffee involved lol. maybe i would be better off selling coffee than getting involved in post production!

thanks for the quick reply, i have a few questions if you don't mind:

1445 Look over "Pets in the City" picture and begin planning sound design

what does planning the sound desgin actually incorporate? writing que sheets, listing sounds and foley which may be needed etc?

also, do you find yourself working 7 days a week? or do you make sure you have some "you time"? it seems like you are a very busy person.

thanks, rob

[philper]

Originally Posted by georgia

a typical day here for me.

0600 wake up
0700 wake up again
0730 crawl out of bed, make coffee, take shower, feed cat
0800 turn on "west wing" on bravo, check emails, drink coffee
0830 drink coffee, check digi forum, read more emails, answer questions on forums
0900 check Gear Sluts forum, answer questions of forums, drink more coffee
0930 open up facility, turn on lights, check answering machine, drink coffee
1000 staff and interns arrive, turn on systems, clean facility, ...drink coffee
1015 go over plan-of-the-day with team.... drink coffee
1030 start first project of day, meet with client review project, write quote
1200 finish client meeting regarding feature film, on phone with shooting crew for series "Lowie VS America", planning shoot in midtown for INKHEART premier
1300 talk to Glyph about rescuing a clients DOA Lacie drisk drive for a feature doc.
1315 edit "Mob Like Justice" picture for Pilot episode, drink coffee
1430 turn over new cut to team to begin sound design, review sound concepts with team
1445 Look over "Pets in the City" picture and begin planning sound design and a couple of pickup shots for shooting team.
1530 drink more coffee, see how the various teams are progressing on projects
1600 talk to client about up coming feature animated mix with coffee on hand
1645 fresh coffee handed to me by intern. Begin design of HD rig for room in midtown. so I can start mixing a bunch of XMEN/Wolverine episodes in French.
1730 meeting with clients for new series and music show... take client out for drinks.
1900 get home, nuke a cold cup of coffee, check emails and forums
2000 order food for the first time of the day... I'm starving by now.
2015 muck around with some sond design ideas for the titles of "Mob Like Justice"
2100 review footage of "Lowie VS America" episode
2200 give up for the day, visit with cat, watch some Turner Classic Movies
2400 crash...


thats a normal day. I kid you not one bit.

other days might be getting up and mixing all day on anything from a feature to a local ad, fixing a computer system, troubleshooting a network, installing upgrades or new software, holding a training session for the interns, picture editorial on TV show or
Feature, creating graphics in photoshop, authoring a DVD, tracking and mixing some music in midtown or here, cleaning up a mess, taking a client to dinner or drinks, updating a website, going on a production shoot and directing or just going on a shoot and doing sound..... it varies... thats why I love it.

cheers
geo

HEY--I just read that drinking lots of coffee is supposed to stave off Alzheimer's! So you can keep doing this grind into your 80s! Oops--time for my refill!

This a great illustration of how much time and attention a sound business requires that is not devoted to actually working with sound.

I'm in and out of the studio all day long, even on days that are supposed to be studio-only days. It's amazing that any movies actually get mixed here....

Philip Perkins

[Etch-A-Sketch]

Originally Posted by bobbybigbones

hi all, im researching into a career as a sound designer and have been asked to write a case study on the day to day business of someone in the industry. what is your typical day like? what do you do on a day to day basis?

any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks, rob.

There are MANY different jobs within post production audio... Most of us have to do all of them on a daily basis and some of us can focus on only one most of the time...

So, for your case study, do you want specifically a sound designer's day to day business... or just different post produciton people's day to day business.

As you can see from Georgia's description of her day... Sound Design is just one of the many hats that she wears on a day to day basis.

You might want to try to find a couple books on post production sound and sound design to help you start this case study. Having an overall idea of what sound design really is for example, will help you ask more focused/specific questions...

I think the more important theme that Georgia's post will hopefully show you is that, most of the time, in post production you will end up doing many different things, even if you mainly want to focus on sound design. I know a few guys that edit sound effects and do sound design for films and TV show... one of them just finished cutting dialogue for the next Tim Allen movie coming out in a couple months... What does cutting dialogue have to do with being a sound designer? Not much, but being able to take on various roles within the post production process makes you more "well-rounded" (as your parents might say!) and gives you the opportunity to WORK more often than if you were to just wait for a "sound design" job to come your way... and more importantly... one job will lead to several others... I did dialogue editing for a feature film, which led to a gig scoring a short film, which led to a gig mixing a feature...and so on...

[georgia]

..as the guys offered.. the more diverse, both cross abilities and depth of abilities the better it is in this business... as much as I love mixing feature films... I edit both sound and picture, do sound design, Foley, ADR, Dialogue recording and editing, Music tracking, mixing, editing, even directing and producing shoots.... it helps in cross pollination of work and to keep the bills paid. And I still get to Mix features!

cheers
geo

[soundboy]

I try to limit my days to 8 hours. "try" being the key word here. It's a choice I have made because I don't want to miss seeing my son grow up. I'm usually in front of the mixing board most of that time. Sometimes I'll come in early and do maintenance and cleaning. After my boy goes to bed, I'll do billing and paperwork.
I'm a tea drinker. At least I think I am. I can't remember......

[ggegan]

As a mixer, my routine is entirely different from Georgia's.

I come in at 8:00am to 8:30am (my call is 8:48am) grab a coffee, I sit down and I mix my a** off until lunch, break for an hour and then mix my a** off until at least 7:00pm (I stay until the client says it's time to go). I get out of my chair to go to the bathroom or get some coffee, but most of the time I'm sitting at the console mixing or tweaking edits. I don't make or take many phone calls because there isn't time, and I don't go to meetings because I'm getting paid to mix, not talk. I don't burn very many calories so it's difficult to keep the weight off, but at the end of the day I'm generally pretty beat and looking for a quiet corner to relax in.

I probably only work 30 to 35 weeks a year, and believe me, that's plenty. I need the time in between projects so I can have a life.

[danijel]

Originally Posted by soundboy

I try to limit my days to 8 hours. "try" being the key word here. It's a choice I have made because I don't want to miss seeing my son grow up. I'm usually in front of the mixing board most of that time. Sometimes I'll come in early and do maintenance and cleaning. After my boy goes to bed, I'll do billing and paperwork.
I'm a tea drinker. At least I think I am. I can't remember......

Charles, look what I put as my browser home page:
YouTube - Harry Chapin - Cat's In The Cradle Karaoke

Just to remind me every day to absolutely NOT do anything unnecessary while I'm at the studio. I leave whatever I can for home (like emails and forums), after the girls (pictured to the left) are asleep.

The world would be a much better place if that link was the default home page when you install a browser

[smurfyou]

Yes, wear many hats. Today I did a cassette dub. That was the first thing waiting for me this morning. I had to confirm that the client actually wanted another cassette....

Sometimes I edit, sometimes I mix, sometimes I fix things. Occasionally help with IT and Nortel stuff. And if I finish early I come on this forum

[santacore]

My days are almost always the same. Look for work, do some work. Repeat.

[charles maynes]

On my favorite work days.... (which make up about 2 to 5 weeks a year...)

(after driving 8 hours to Arizona or Nevada)

get up at 4:30am, scurry to get dressed, and maybe even shower-
between 5:30 and 6am load all my recording gear in to the 4runner
at 6:30am hit the road to drive between 15 and 80 miles to recording location
7:30 unload truck
8:00 set up mic stands and lay cables
9:00 setup recorders in back of truck
10:00 start shooting machine guns or blowing stuff up-
repeat until about 4:30pm
pack up gear before sundown
Shoot some guns that are at the location (either rented or mine)
drive the same amount back to civilization
7:30 eat
9:00 arrive at lodging and secure gear
from 9:30 to 12am copy files on to backup hard drives.
go to bed.
repeat as necessary.

[georgia]

Originally Posted by charles maynes

10:00 start shooting machine guns or blowing stuff up-
repeat until about 4:30pm
pack up gear before sundown
Shoot some guns that are at the location (either rented or mine)
.

I want to come play!


cheers
geo

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by georgia

I want to come play!


cheers
geo

we'll have to go shoot next time your around these parts.... I am still trying to get Marti and Chris to go....

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by charles maynes

we'll have to go shoot next time your around these parts.... I am still trying to get Marti and Chris to go....

Well, gee, I have lawyers and guns, too...I could just use more money ( I know, Warren Zevon is turning over...

[santacore]

we'll have to go shoot next time your around these parts.... I am still trying to get Marti and Chris to go....

Put me on that list. I've got a SD722 and a Sanken CSS-5 that are about to walk themselves to a pawn shop if they don't get used soon.

By the way, how much time do you allocate to getting the dirt out of your hair, nose, and teeth after a day of shooting?

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by santacore

Put me on that list. I've got a SD722 and a Sanken CSS-5 that are about to walk themselves to a pawn shop if they don't get used soon.

By the way, how much time do you allocate to getting the dirt out of your hair, nose, and teeth after a day of shooting?

I was going to set a gunshoot up a few years ago, maybe we can do something up at Burro Canyon under the auspices of "just shooting" If we dont require the whole range, and are willing to put up with some other shooters we could do a session there for educational purposes pretty inexpensively.

pm if you or anyone else wants to give it a go....

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by kk@jamsync.com

Well, gee, I have lawyers and guns, too...I could just use more money ( I know, Warren Zevon is turning over...

Excitable Boy was anthem for me in High School.....of course until the Clash and Sex Pistols happened....

Of course you are welcome KK- and perhaps I can visit a spell this summer as my daughter is doing her Southern Belle thing down in Columbia....

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by charles maynes

Excitable Boy was anthem for me in High School.....of course until the Clash and Sex Pistols happened....

Of course you are welcome KK- and perhaps I can visit a spell this summer as my daughter is doing her Southern Belle thing down in Columbia....

If you're near here, definitely give a call and come over. I know you're pretty familiar with the town, but I think a few things may have changed since you were last here.

My mom just gave me a hexagon barrel rifle from the 1800's. She had it cleaned and oiled, but I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet (kind of wondering if it will work or blow up, etc.).

BTW...I'm assuming you mean the Athenaeum? Sounds like fun! Bet those hoop skirts are plenty hot, though!

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by kk@jamsync.com

If you're near here, definitely give a call and come over. I know you're pretty familiar with the town, but I think a few things may have changed since you were last here.

My mom just gave me a hexagon barrel rifle from the 1800's. She had it cleaned and oiled, but I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet (kind of wondering if it will work or blow up, etc.).

BTW...I'm assuming you mean the Athenaeum? Sounds like fun! Bet those hoop skirts are plenty hot, though!

be careful with the rifle- I know there is a really good gun shop down in Franklin right off the freeway.... they could likely test-fire it... I would think it is a cap and ball rifle- they are good (not at all clean) fun....

And yes, it is the Athenaeum.... she went there 2 years ago and loved it.... we spent the week tooling around the fine state, then another week on the road back to SoCal...

I wish I had a better knowledge of the area there- it is amazing the history of the region (I am a Virginia kid)....

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by charles maynes

be careful with the rifle- I know there is a really good gun shop down in Franklin right off the freeway.... they could likely test-fire it... I would think it is a cap and ball rifle- they are good (not at all clean) fun....

And yes, it is the Athenaeum.... she went there 2 years ago and loved it.... we spent the week tooling around the fine state, then another week on the road back to SoCal...

I wish I had a better knowledge of the area there- it is amazing the history of the region (I am a Virginia kid)....

Thanks for the info...I'll look for that shop.

My family's been here nearly 200 years and I moved back from Boston twenty years ago to take over the family farm administration...too bad I've never liked country music, but at least I speak the language well enough to communicate with the farm hands.

[Etch-A-Sketch]

Originally Posted by kk@jamsync.com

I moved back from Boston twenty years ago

Where in boston did you live?

[Rick Sanchez]

Originally Posted by charles maynes

I was going to set a gunshoot up a few years ago, maybe we can do something up at Burro Canyon under the auspices of "just shooting" If we dont require the whole range, and are willing to put up with some other shooters we could do a session there for educational purposes pretty inexpensively.

pm if you or anyone else wants to give it a go....

Put me on the list. I'm in Glendale.

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by Rick Sanchez

Put me on the list. I'm in Glendale.

send me your contact info - charles@furyandgrace.com

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by Etch-A-Sketch

Where in boston did you live?

Brighton and Woburn, with rehearsal spaces in Cambridge and South Shore (eventually those turned into portable studios...). '74 to '89. It was wonderful and I miss it a lot.

[Etch-A-Sketch]

Originally Posted by kk@jamsync.com

Brighton and Woburn, with rehearsal spaces in Cambridge and South Shore (eventually those turned into portable studios...). '74 to '89. It was wonderful and I miss it a lot.

Very cool...I've lived in Somerville, Lynnfield and Waltham. I definitely don't miss the cold!!! Especially lately :-)

[bobbybigbones]

Thanks for all the replies! (well the first 12 atleast lol).

So, for your case study, do you want specifically a sound designer's day to day business... or just different post produciton people's day to day business.

i think i would like to focus on the traditional role of a sound designer and how that role may have changed in recent years.

[bobbybigbones]

hey guys, i've got a few more questions if anyones willing to help:

1. in your experience what skills and experience do you think an employer is looking for in a sound desinger?

2. what is more important: verstility and the ability to be able to use all sorts of programs and equipment or be an expert with one specific program or in one area?

3. judging from some of the answers nad my research i take it that quite a few people in this industry nowadays are freelance, how does this change the work you do that is not directly link to sound? for example do you need to learn about accounting, web design and other admin tasks.

4. is creativity more lor less as importantas technical knowledge and experience when it comes to sound design?

any replies will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rob.

[Etch-A-Sketch]

Originally Posted by bobbybigbones

hey guys, i've got a few more questions if anyones willing to help:

1. in your experience what skills and experience do you think an employer is looking for in a sound desinger?

2. what is more important: verstility and the ability to be able to use all sorts of programs and equipment or be an expert with one specific program or in one area?

3. judging from some of the answers nad my research i take it that quite a few people in this industry nowadays are freelance, how does this change the work you do that is not directly link to sound? for example do you need to learn about accounting, web design and other admin tasks.

4. is creativity more lor less as importantas technical knowledge and experience when it comes to sound design?

any replies will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rob.

OK... I'll answer some of the questions although others may have better answers.

1. Personality, first and foremost. You have to be an easy guy to work with. You can't be bitchy, obnoxious, self-righteous, egotistical, etc... There are a few people I've worked with that I will NEVER recommend for a gig. When someone tells me how good their sound effects are, and how long they slaved over them, and how they went above and beyond for this project even though they weren't getting paid even close to what they are worth... and then I start mixing the film and NONE of the sound effects are cut to perspective, half of them don't match the picture (don't use a silenced pistol sound unless the pistol has a silencer on it, please!!), the BG tracks almost sound random (why would you have outdoor birds in an underground parking garage!?!?), and half the spots that needed foley cut in were "overlooked".

Second thing I look for in people I work with, an acute attention to detail. Especially if you are a sound designer/editor. You have to be the type of person that can hear the difference between a wine glass clink and a champagne glass clink and not sleep until you find "that" perfect sound that matches the picture. You also have to be someone that can "see the forest through the trees" kind of thing or an "out of the box" thinker. You don't necessarily just hear sounds for what they are, but what you can do to them/with them.

2. The only important thing is that you can serve the picture and help tell the story with whatever it is you are doing. So many young people/students think that their talent is knowing the tools of the trade, instead of the trade itself. Try rephrasing this question for another industry, like say carpentry. "what is more important: verstility and the ability to be able to use all sorts of hammers and saws or be an expert with one specific specific saw for one specific purpose?" The most important thing is not the tools you use, but what you build.

3. You should always learn about accounting, regardless of what you want to do. The most important class I took in college had nothing to do with sound. It was Finance Management. It said in the class description, "learn what to do with your money once you start making it" and I said, that is the class for me!

I think any technical skills can be an asset. We all have to deal with project and file management, and in this day and age it is all done with computers. Being technical/computer savvy is advantageous. I might go so far as to say, it is a requirement, but I'm sure there are some people who don't really need to be... i just don't know of any. LOL

4. Sound design is a weird animal when it comes to the question you ask. I would say, with technical knowledge and experience comes creativity. For example... if you don't know anything about sound, nor have you worked as an assistant to someone who does sound design, and I asked you to create a completely new sound from scratch for an object I have in my movie... where would you begin? Likewise, if I played you the sound of the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park or the roar of the original King Kong, or Godzilla, could you tell me what sounds they used and how they used them to make what you are hearing in the film? As you start to learn the techniques to sound design and you start to see what can be done (ie knowledge and experience) you can then start to be EXTREMELY creative. But before that point, it's really not creativity, it's just accidental luck. If you don't know what you are doing and are just turning knobs and moving sliders randomly like a 5 year old and you just happen to somehow find a crazy sound... is that really "creative". I wouldn't consider it that. But knowing, "I want something to sound like [this] so I need to take this original sound and do these specific things to it to make it sound like what I hear in my head" is creative.

I have a friend who does sound design for video games and he has a bachelor's degree in sound synthesis. I've watched him sit down and say, "hmmm... I need to create a new sound for this game I'm working on..." and he will literally start with a sine wave generator and some filters and start adding more sine waves at different pitches and different filters and after a couple minutes he has a totally unique laser blast sound. From scratch. No sampling, no sample libraries, just sine waves and filters... Now to me, that is the ultimate definition of creative sound design. He can literally "hear" a sound in his head and know what that sound is constructed of and make it. I've seen him make everything from buzzer sounds for a "game show"-style game to metallic footsteps for a robotic battle game, to the sound of an arrow being shot from a bow. He once wrote a song where he created all the sounds of all the instruments from scratch. And he did all these things with nothing more than his knowledge of (and experience with) sound and a signal generator.

To use music as metaphor for your question, do you think someone like bach, beethoven, Mozart, Charlie parker, miles davis, quincy jones, steve vai, hans zimmer, David Foster, James Newton Howard, etc could be as creative as they are if they didn't know anything about music nor had any experience with music?

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by bobbybigbones

hey guys, i've got a few more questions if anyones willing to help:

1. in your experience what skills and experience do you think an employer is looking for in a sound desinger?

Sorry for the hijack! Most of the times I've done trailers and films, people wanted to check out samples of what I had done. I have no idea what they're looking for these days because I'm doing content development so I'm hiring myself!