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Sound technician vs mixing engineer

The differences between sound technicians and mixing engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a sound technician and a mixing engineer. Additionally, a mixing engineer has an average salary of $81,185, which is higher than the $43,270 average annual salary of a sound technician.

The top three skills for a sound technician include sound equipment, wireless microphones and audio equipment. The most important skills for a mixing engineer are audio equipment, R, and sound design.

Sound technician vs mixing engineer overview

Sound TechnicianMixing Engineer
Yearly salary$43,270$81,185
Hourly rate$20.80$39.03
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs6,621516
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 55%Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

Sound technician vs mixing engineer salary

Sound technicians and mixing engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Sound TechnicianMixing Engineer
Average salary$43,270$81,185
Salary rangeBetween $25,000 And $73,000Between $48,000 And $134,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between sound technician and mixing engineer education

There are a few differences between a sound technician and a mixing engineer in terms of educational background:

Sound TechnicianMixing Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 55%Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common majorMusicMusic
Most common collegeNew York UniversityJohns Hopkins University

Sound technician vs mixing engineer demographics

Here are the differences between sound technicians' and mixing engineers' demographics:

Sound TechnicianMixing Engineer
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 82.9% Female, 17.1%Male, 94.4% Female, 5.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 5.0% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 6.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 5.1% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between sound technician and mixing engineer duties and responsibilities

Sound technician example responsibilities.

  • Create new costumes, props and scenery.
  • Coordinate costumes for various roles and scenes.
  • Set up all audio and dj equipment for schedule events.
  • Create weekly PowerPoint presentations for Sunday services as well as other events as they occur.
  • Operate FOH for various live events including music concerts, comedians, presentations, and speeches.
  • Work as the projectionist in several shows and run computer programs for show monitors on stage.
  • Show more

Mixing engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage PowerPoint and mixing music at the same time.
  • Retain several local and national commercial clients while primarily engineering and producing music CDs.
  • Operate production board for high school basketball and baseball games without managerial supervision.

Sound technician vs mixing engineer skills

Common sound technician skills
  • Sound Equipment, 16%
  • Wireless Microphones, 13%
  • Audio Equipment, 13%
  • Technical Equipment, 5%
  • Live Sound, 5%
  • Live Productions, 4%
Common mixing engineer skills
  • Audio Equipment, 23%
  • R, 15%
  • Sound Design, 7%
  • Music Videos, 4%
  • SSL, 4%
  • Studio Equipment, 4%

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