Anyone working in music/audio/sound related job?

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OHADOHAD
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Anyone working in music/audio/sound related job?

Post by OHADOHAD »

What's up? question pretty much in title...
I've just resigned from a creativity killing corp job I was at for the last 4 years.
I'm looking for something more music related and looking for ideas or thoughts on what to look for...
Just a short background on my skills... Living in Berlin, Audio engineering degree from SAE, producing music/sound design, Dj (had a radio show where I've been presenting new unknown music to the world..)..
Unfortunately engineering/production not bringing in enough cash at the moment to just do that... some month I'm doing well, some none... :roll:
So just interested to know if anyone of you actually working in a music related job.
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Lost to the Void
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Re: Anyone working in music/audio/sound related job?

Post by Lost to the Void »

Every toilet cleaner in Berlin is a sound engineer man.
Saturated market, move somewhere where your skills are more valuable.

I run a mastering studio as my job.
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rktic
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Re: Anyone working in music/audio/sound related job?

Post by rktic »

I worked as sound designer and musician for games 10 years ago when the overall inflation kicked in and resigned.

If you've got your shit together try getting a job at SAE and rip off poor fucks who share the vision you've got right now. ;)

OHADOHAD
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Re: Anyone working in music/audio/sound related job?

Post by OHADOHAD »

Haha.. yeah I know everybody in Berlin are either an engineer/dj/sound designer/snores in a musical way
I get my mixing and production work thru an online platform, soundbetter if you know it... but it's not consistent enough.

No real vision here, I know there's no point of opening my own studio or something like that... over saturation in that area here..
Also I went to SAE London, my German is rubbish and pretty sure they are looking for German speakers here...

Thought maybe going A&R or music curator as I'm pretty good at it (finding new music and such...) but also most of Berlin think of themselves the same way - bloody hipsters, plus - all these shitty companies/labels only offer internships which in Berlin is no money or "don't know how can anyone live with this amount money".

My wife is originally from Luxembourg and we actually thinking about making a move there.. there's no scene there of anything, might be worth taking the chance and start something there... even a Techno night or something...
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Lost to the Void
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Re: Anyone working in music/audio/sound related job?

Post by Lost to the Void »

Luxembourg could be amazing. Do some investigation. Don`t be a little fish in an overcrowded barrel, jump out and find a nice clean pond with fewer fish.
The potential for work could be greater, and by putting on a night you are starting a new scene, elevating yourself and adding to the growth of the music, contributing much more to the overall world of techno than just being in berlin waiting to suck on the rotten techno titty.
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dubdub
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Re: Anyone working in music/audio/sound related job?

Post by dubdub »

Everyone I know here in Berlin that has an engineering degree is doing live event sound (unless you're lucky, generally not techno but concerts and corporate events etc.) But it's not exactly super stable work either but getting a 9-5 salaried audio engineering position seems kind of impossible unless you get lucky or are really good.

You don't HAVE to speak german well but it will definitely help a lot and get you ahead compared to a lot of people that don't speak german. If you only speak english well you will only ever be able to get a job in that tiny techno-startup-neukölln-friedrichshain-kreuzberg-bubble that is so much smaller than most expats realize. Berlin's so much bigger than techno. But if you definitely do want to do something techno related moving might not be a bad idea.

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winston
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Re: Anyone working in music/audio/sound related job?

Post by winston »

one of your skills you listed was living in berlin, but then you said your german is poor? i know you can get by in berlin with english and some very basic german, but this is a major failing imo. i am also an expat (not in eu) and there is a big difference in outcomes between those that can speak the language and those that can't/don't/won't.

it sounds like a tricky situation for you mate. i know some folk with audio engineering degrees from back home and none of them do it as a job.

OHADOHAD
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Re: Anyone working in music/audio/sound related job?

Post by OHADOHAD »

winston wrote:one of your skills you listed was living in berlin, but then you said your german is poor? i know you can get by in berlin with english and some very basic german, but this is a major failing imo. i am also an expat (not in eu) and there is a big difference in outcomes between those that can speak the language and those that can't/don't/won't.

it sounds like a tricky situation for you mate. i know some folk with audio engineering degrees from back home and none of them do it as a job.
Yeah, sorry bout that, it is a bit confusing.. putting Berlin under skills.. it should have been under a different line non related to skills.
I am getting mixing and production work here (and from around the world.. thanks to the platform I'm using).. but has mentioned, it's not stable or enough at the moment.
I'm really not tide to the all mixing/studio 9-5 job, I'm interested in a job thru the all spectrum of the music world... but at this point at time everything is either internship or just non exist...

As I see it at the moment my options are:
- try and push more somehow on the mixing/production work and try and get more of that.
- take an internship for no money/low low money for 6 month and hope to impress
- move to a different city/country and start doing my own thing (of course also dependent on my wife will)
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Will Frances
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Re: Anyone working in music/audio/sound related job?

Post by Will Frances »

There is actually a surprising number of variations in audio related jobs around but they are hard to find, weather it be TV Shortform, long form, advertising, voice recording, game sound design, cleaning up audio restoration for domestic or professional use, music editing, jingle composition, radio work etc etc.

Cant you look to work for music technology companies? anent NI over there? What about ad agencies or tv related businesses? teaching music or music tech could be a consideration. I dont really know the playing field over in Berlin.

Some people like to keep their hobbies and their work life seperate as often the job isnt what people thought it would be when they get there. If you havent checked out this thread then it might be worth a look

http://www.subsekt.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7972


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