What Do Engineers Do?
Audio Engineering
As an audio engineer, you may...
- work at a digital audio workstation and program sounds to make hit CDs of your favorite artist;
- edit sound cues in a film postproduction studio;
- perform groundbreaking research on computational acoustics, environmental acoustics and hydroacoustics;
- use images produces by sound waves to probe the human body and test materials for industry.
Most people take the sounds we hear every day for granted. But it may surprise you to learn that the creation of audio is a unique endeavor that blends both art and science. Did you ever stop to think how they created the sounds in a video game, or in a move, TV show or at a concert? There are literally thousands of different jobs available in this field that are as rewarding as they are challenging.
In writing a compact disc (CD), sound is converted to digital code by sampling the sound waves at 44.1 KHz (thousand samples per second) and converting each sample into a 16-bit number. It requires almost a million and a half bits of storage for each second of stereo hi-fi sound.
There are many career choices in the field of Audio Engineering. Perhaps you are a musician, are interested in electronics and sound, or like the idea of working with people who produce and perform in the many fields of entertainment. You will find challenging and fulfilling work in audio engineering.
Salary
$50,260
Meet JETS Extreme Engineers
Rajeev Bajaj
Read the PE Times issue
November 2004, Issue #34
Related Links
Audio Engineering Society
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