Job Title for a Sound "Person"

mbenonis

Wireless Guy
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What is the correct job title for a person who handles sound in a theatre? More specifically, someone who manages the sound equipment for a show, plans out and designs the sound cues, and mixes a show?
 
well, if u want to get all technical then BAH! i would jsut say "Sound Tech"; "Sound Techie";, "Sound Technician"; "Sound Guy"; "Hey dude with the cables and mics"; "techie"; "technician"; "Hey u"; "Hey, dude up in the booth slacking off"; "hey u, give me my mic"....yea, i think all of those work, haha. and in the case for lighting i would say, hmmm, i dunno, how bout "god" haha :D
 
There's a couple of gems in there. :) "Hey, dude up in the booth slacking off".

However, I was looking for something a bit more, *ahem* important sounding, such as Sound Engineer or Sound Technician. Also, is it correct to call a theatre sound engineer a front-of-house sound engineer or am I using this term incorrectly?
 
In australia, we refer to the guy that sets up, patches and rings out a sound system as the "System Engineer" or "Sound Engineer" and the guy that operates the desk, if it isnt the other guy is just the "Sound Operator"
 
Ok, dont get mad but you can not be called an Engineer anything until you have the Engineer degree, you can get in some trouble saying that you are a Sound Engineer when you have no degree for it. now Sound Technician is ok. just don't go around calling yourself a Sound Engineer until you have worked your butt off and earned the degree and right to call yourself that.

_____________
Derek Gaul
Sound Engineer/Owner
D.M.G. Productions
[email protected]
 
No offense taken; that's good information to know. :)
 
O yea mr lighting ENGINEER, well thats great for u and all, but im a TECHIE (YEAH) i do everything form lights to sound to construction to stage crew, but my favorite is lighting :) , i like to be well rounded, so i can do more, its fun. and mbenonis1, i think ur title should be "squeek" (thanks for the idea ship) so squeek, thats ur new name, and btw that mac in the booth is leaving by september '04 at the latest.
 
There's the term Sound Designer, which is kinda weird, but it looks nice, and is more "honorary" thatn anything else.
 
However, if you INSIST on being called an 'Engineer', you probably don't deserve to be called one.
 
I dont particuarly like been referred to as a "engineer" its merely a piece of paper, and what is a title... its open to many interpretations, if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?

At work, my job title is "theatre technician" so meh i do sound and lighting and visual if it is needed!
 
We break things down this way, and I've seen it done this way in a lot of major shows:

Sound Designer: Person who plans out and designs the overall sound for the show

Sound Board Operator: Person who runs the sound console and mixes the show

Sound Designer/Board Op: Person who would happen to do both:)

Same categories can be applied to lighting.
 
Generally the guy doing the sound where I work is call "The guy over there with the beer." But for the most part we are Audio Techs.
 
dmgproductions said:
Ok, dont get mad but you can not be called an Engineer anything until you have the Engineer degree, you can get in some trouble saying that you are a Sound Engineer when you have no degree for it. now Sound Technician is ok. just don't go around calling yourself a Sound Engineer until you have worked your butt off and earned the degree and right to call yourself that.

haha, no offense, but i think that's bull. most of the best engineers i've ever worked with have no formal training. of course, i am talking about live sound, or concert sound, not theater sound....so you guys may have a different standard. in the concert business though....i think it's an unspoken rule that you're not really a sound engineer unless you've been doing sound for a while and really know your crap. of course, on a resume, or in front of a band's manager, you can call yourself the sound engineer....it's impressive. i always go by sound guy though....only my resume calls me an engineer.
 
dmgproductions said:
Ok, dont get mad but you can not be called an Engineer anything until you have the Engineer degree, you can get in some trouble saying that you are a Sound Engineer when you have no degree for it. now Sound Technician is ok. just don't go around calling yourself a Sound Engineer until you have worked your butt off and earned the degree and right to call yourself that.

It kind-of depends on the field and jurisdiction and whether any licensing is involved.

I was given the title "Sr. Electronics Engineer" by an employer, despite the fact that I don't have a degree, on the basis of merit - I have a solo patent, was a contributor on several others, and was responsible for development of several profitable products. While my forte has always been electronic hardware, I know several software engineers who are quite successful sans sheepskin.

I don't want to imply that a degree means nothing. It's important as a gauge of a persons potential to do well in a field, but gives no indication that he or she will live up to that potential. In some cases, it's better at indicating a person's tolerance for rote memorization than it is at indicating any level of creativity or problem-solving skills. That depends to a large extent on the institution awarding the degree.

In some jurisdictions, on the other hand, a license is required before one is allowed to take the title. In most cases, a degree is a prerequisite for the license test. In my home state of Illinois, my employer could legally call me an Electronics Engineer. However, I'd need to complete at least a four-year degree and pass a pretty comprehensive test to earn a Professional Engineer's license - needed to find employment as a structural or civil engineer.
 
I don't want to imply that a degree means nothing. It's important as a gauge of a persons potential to do well in a field, but gives no indication that he or she will live up to that potential. In some cases, it's better at indicating a person's tolerance for rote memorization than it is at indicating any level of creativity or problem-solving skills. That depends to a large extent on the institution awarding the degree.

This is why many courses are either in the process of becoming, or have become 'problem-based learning' (PBL) courses, rather than didactic lecture based. PBL has been around for several decades now after being introduced at McMaster in Canada in the 60's.

Would be interested to see if such styles of learning are employed in the theater tech courses.

Oh - an by the way, we use sound technician or sound engineer over here, but you can call me Sir 8)
 
FOH Engineer
MON Engineer
REC Engineer
Systems Tech/Engineer
Lav Tech
Stage Tech

and the god almighty...
***DESIGNER***
 
back at school it was me and my mate on sound.
thats it.
no seperate "MON Engineer" or any of that bollocks.
we were the sound guys.
nothing fancy, nothing 'we-love-ourselves-so-we-want-to-make-ourselves-sound-really-important' or anything like that.
just sound guys.

also.. i agree with the point that you cant call your self an "engineer" unless you have an ENGINEERING DEGREE.
 

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