Audio-visual technician to sound mastering engineer
An audio-visual technician already meets 45% of what the sound mastering engineer role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
49.6/ 100
1 How much of what a sound mastering engineer is expected to do is already part of an audio-visual technician’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the sound mastering engineer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A sound mastering engineer role treats 6 of its required skills as things an audio-visual technician already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assess sound quality
- audio editing software
- audiovisual products
- coordinate audio system programmes
- edit recorded sound
- manage sound quality
What stands in the way is 6 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 7 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A sound mastering engineer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an audio-visual technician background worth leading with.
- already held assess sound quality constructing
- already held coordinate audio system programmes working with machinery and specialised equipment
- already held manage sound quality constructing
- already held audiovisual products arts and humanities
- already held audiovisual equipment arts and humanities
- already held audio editing software information and communication technologies (icts)
All 7 carried skills, including the 6 the sound mastering engineer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 11 missing skills fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn audio mastering required
- still to learn audio technology required
- still to learn types of audiovisual formats required
- optional, not held audio post-production optional
- optional, not held musical instruments optional
- optional, not held musical theory optional
- optional, not held musical genres optional
- still to learn operate audio-signal processors required
- optional, not held operate an audio mixing console optional
- still to learn adapt to artists' creative demands required
- still to learn convert different audiovisual formats required
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a sound mastering engineer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 adapt to artists' creative demands practise this
- 02 audio mastering study this
- 03 audio technology study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 7 skills that carry over
- already held assess sound quality skill
- already held audio editing software knowledge
- already held audiovisual products knowledge
- already held coordinate audio system programmes skill
- already held edit recorded sound skill
- already held manage sound quality skill
- already held audiovisual equipment knowledge
5 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held audio post-production optional
- optional, not held musical instruments optional
- optional, not held musical theory optional
- optional, not held operate an audio mixing console optional
- optional, not held musical genres optional
30 held skills the sound mastering engineer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role acoustics knowledge
- not needed by the target role adapt to type of media skill
- not needed by the target role apply health and safety standards skill
- not needed by the target role assess power needs skill
- not needed by the target role assist multimedia operator skill
- not needed by the target role calibrate electronic instruments skill
- not needed by the target role cinematography knowledge
- not needed by the target role coordinate activities in audio recording studio skill
- not needed by the target role create moving images skill
- not needed by the target role determine visual concepts skill
- not needed by the target role digital media knowledge
- not needed by the target role maintain audiovisual equipment skill
- not needed by the target role maintain electrical equipment skill
- not needed by the target role maintain electronic equipment skill
- not needed by the target role operate a camera skill
- not needed by the target role operate audio equipment skill
- not needed by the target role operate broadcast equipment skill
- not needed by the target role operate remote broadcast equipment skill
- not needed by the target role operate sound live skill
- not needed by the target role operate video equipment skill
- not needed by the target role photography knowledge
- not needed by the target role plan audiovisual recording skill
- not needed by the target role receive appropriate permissions for use of recorded audiovisual examples skill
- not needed by the target role set up audiovisual peripheral equipment skill
- not needed by the target role set up cameras skill
- not needed by the target role set up sound equipment skill
- not needed by the target role support audio system installation skill
- not needed by the target role transfer uncut audiovisual material to computer skill
- not needed by the target role use a telecine skill
- not needed by the target role use audio reproduction software skill
7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn audio mastering required
- still to learn audio technology required
- still to learn types of audiovisual formats required
- optional, not held audio post-production optional
- optional, not held musical instruments optional
- optional, not held musical theory optional
- optional, not held musical genres optional
Common questions about this move
Can an audio-visual technician become a sound mastering engineer?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. An audio-visual technician already covers 45% of what a sound mastering engineer is expected to do: 7 skills carry over, 6 of which the sound mastering engineer role treats as required.
What skills does an audio-visual technician need to become a sound mastering engineer?
6 required skills are missing, plus 5 optional ones. They fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by arts and humanities. The single most important is adapt to artists' creative demands.
How hard is the move from audio-visual technician to sound mastering engineer?
Its learning distance is 49.6 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.