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Sound technician vs sound designer

The differences between sound technicians and sound designers 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 sound designer. Additionally, a sound designer has an average salary of $71,949, 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 sound designer are audio assets, pro tools, and wwise.

Sound technician vs sound designer overview

Sound TechnicianSound Designer
Yearly salary$43,270$71,949
Hourly rate$20.80$34.59
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs6,62150,235
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 55%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

Sound technician vs sound designer salary

Sound technicians and sound designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Sound TechnicianSound Designer
Average salary$43,270$71,949
Salary rangeBetween $25,000 And $73,000Between $42,000 And $120,000
Highest paying City-Novato, CA
Highest paying state-Pennsylvania
Best paying company-Meta
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between sound technician and sound designer education

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

Sound TechnicianSound Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 55%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorMusicMusic
Most common collegeNew York UniversityNew York University

Sound technician vs sound designer demographics

Here are the differences between sound technicians' and sound designers' demographics:

Sound TechnicianSound Designer
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 82.9% Female, 17.1%Male, 86.0% Female, 14.0%
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, 8.2% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 5.1% White, 63.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between sound technician and sound designer 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

Sound designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage PowerPoint and mixing music at the same time.
  • Record live performances to multitrack DAW.
  • Implement audio using FMOD, Maya and proprietary tools.
  • Edit and master pre-record shows and audio clips and prepare for play on air.
  • Supervise load in and load outs and sound checks and run FOH day of event.
  • Set up, run and break down live shows.
  • Show more

Sound technician vs sound designer skills

Common sound technician skills
  • Sound Equipment, 16%
  • Wireless Microphones, 13%
  • Audio Equipment, 13%
  • Technical Equipment, 5%
  • Live Sound, 5%
  • Live Productions, 4%
Common sound designer skills
  • Audio Assets, 24%
  • Pro Tools, 10%
  • Wwise, 6%
  • Video Games, 5%
  • PC, 4%
  • Audio Production, 4%

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