How Much Does Sound Designers Get Paid

It's nearly impossible to properly represent the creative process of any creative field, without showing both sides. This should be no different with sound design.

How we listen to music is affected by everything that's going on: the sound mixing, the production, the songwriting, the artist's stage presence, and, yes, how good the sound is.

Despite its many faces, sound design is just one of the myriad creative contributions we receive from a single artist. How much of that is truly owed to the sound, or the production, is debated by those both inside and outside the field.

But the truth of the matter is that sound design has absolutely nothing to do with the artist's music; it's just the most visible component of that production.

However, sound design does have the potential to be a major part of that production, and can significantly add value to a project's sound.

When discussing what is "real" sound, we often use an example of sound design done for film, like "The Shining," to highlight just how big a role it can play.

But really, what people should be looking at is the work of a top-tier composer, or the music composition itself.

Why isn’t sound design considered “Real” sound?

But why isn't sound design considered "real" sound?

As the division of labor within the film industry has become more clear, the type of creative contribution we see paid the most is often times compositional.

What's the difference? Even with the value that audio designers provide in mixing, sound effects, and additional production, most films are fully composed without any consideration for the sounds of a scene.

Sound designers have no way of re-engineering an existing piece of music, or writing new music that completely sits in the place of a background score.

The mixing process is not like a composer writing music for a live performance. The mixing process is more like a sculptor working with clay, or a sculptor who builds out a sculpture by adding small details.

Compositional music can often be composed in an airtight, temporal, structural manner, and brought to a "standing still" resolution through editing.

If the piece of music being mixed is not perfect, then the sound designer can simply bring it to a "standing still" resolution. A sound designer does not have the same tool set as a composer.

How do sound designers make a difference?

"Too many times there is a scene that I would give anything to change," an audio designer said to me recently.

While that was the toughest feedback that I've received, there are many instances where it's true. It's really a combination of things:

Audio engineers are only one piece of a film's team. Sure, everyone knows the importance of getting the best mix possible, but most people don't fully understand what it takes to get that mix the right way.

The mixing process for a film has nothing to do with the engineering team.

It's about getting a singular point in the mixing process that matches the image in the film's first draft. It's almost as if you're working with two different pieces of clay: clay that works for the film, and clay that works for the mix.

A sound designer may have a whole other tool set to make adjustments for the original clay. And while this is a small part of what a sound designer does, it's extremely valuable.

If you're doing everything by committee, then every member of the team is going to be unhappy, because every person has a different opinion.

Everyone has an opinion of how they see the film, how they'd like it to look, and how they'd like it to sound. You have to find a way to create harmony through compromise.

A sound designer has the ability to "think outside the box." In the writing process, a sound designer will spend countless hours gathering information about the characters, the scene, and their stories.

The sound designer then becomes the director of that piece of the movie, and they get to know the characters and their stories intimately. This is a rare ability to have, and it's what sets the top-tier sound designers apart.

Since the early 1990s, I've heard many times that a good sound design is as important as a great script. From that perspective, it is. But that doesn't mean sound design alone is enough.

What does sound design do in bad pictures?

In any given scene, it's not only about what the director wants. It's also about what the audience needs, and what the crew needs to create the best possible shot.

An entire discussion could be held on this topic, but in the short version, there are three main factors that create a bad sound design:

Unless the budget of the film is over $5 million, the sound editor isn't responsible for creating the sound design. When the DOP, the SFX supervisor, and the second unit director are all creative people, the sound editor is basically the department jack-of-all-trades.

On set, the DOP is the person in charge of the audio, but the audio director must often feel more like a cameraman. For this reason, the DOP is much more involved in the sound of the film than the sound engineer.

There is a lot of turnover in the audio department. A sound designer may have to change each day, week, month, or even year.

All of the aforementioned points may seem like a negative for a sound designer, but it's all about the experience.

What does sound design do in good films?

With a good sound design team, the list of responsibilities is reversed: the director is in charge of the audio, while the sound designer is the department jack-of-all-trades.

When the sound designer enters the editing room, the sound editor usually lets them work on their scenes independently.

If a scene is going to be loud and big, then the sound designer and DOP will each