Sound & Music Careers

Atmospheric music and life-like sound take visual storytelling to the next level. Learn how Composers, Sound Designers, Boom Operators, and others use their craft to help create stories that impact viewers.

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Foley Artist

A Foley Artist performs custom-made sound effects, props and footsteps for film and television. They differ from Sound Editors who take pre-recorded sounds and make them fit the picture. Learn More Avg. Salary: $450 per 8-hour day Alt Titles: None

Boom Operator

The role of a Boom Operator is to place and hold the boom microphone to record the dialogue for Actors during a film or television shoot and to know the basics of the use of wireless microphones and... Learn More Avg. Salary: $72,000 Salary Range: $37K-$121K Alt Titles: Boom Person, Boom Man, Boom Woman

Music Supervisor

The Music Supervisor oversees all music that takes place in a motion picture, selecting tracks that fit the mood and tone of each scene, and sometimes sitting in during recording sessions. Learn More Avg. Salary: $54,086 Salary Range: $44K - $65K Alt Titles: None

Sound Designer

The Sound Designer oversees the creative aspects of how a film will feel sonically and what its unified sound aesthetic will be. Learn More Salary Range: $30K- $100K Alt Titles: SDx, Supervising Sound Editor

Composer

The Composer creates the score for a motion picture through writing, revising, and recording new music to elicit an emotional response. Learn More Avg. Salary: $49,300 Salary Range: $42K - $59K Alt Titles: Film Composer

Re-recording Mixer

The Re-recording Mixer provides the final theatrical sound mix for a cinematic production. Their goal is to create a mix that tells the story effectively. Learn More Avg. Salary: $73,698 Salary Range: $30K - $158K Alt Titles: Dubbing Mixer

ADR Mixer

ADR Mixers correct dialogue and sound that was problematic in the original production. They remove background noise, re-record dialogue with lip-synching and clean up production audio. Learn More Avg. Salary: $76,799 Salary Range: $51K-$114K Alt Titles: ADR Recordist. (This used to be a separate job, but is now under the remit of ADR Mixers.)

Foley Engineer

The Foley Engineer works in the Sound Department, setting up microphones and recording the sound effects Foley Artists create for a motion picture Learn More Salary Range: $200 to $400 a day Alt Titles: Foley Recordist

Field Recording Mixer

The Field Recording Mixer works on a production to capture all dialogue and provide a rough mix for the picture edit. Learn More Avg. Salary: $40,827 Salary Range: $25K - $68K Alt Titles: Production Sound Mixer