Operate audio recording equipment

Little of this can be handed to software today.

This happens in the physical world, so software agents do not touch it. Automation here means robotics and machinery, which is a different market from the one mapped on this site, on a much slower clock.

Key facts about this work activity
How automatableBarely automatable
Kind of workPhysical, manual and inspection work
Jobs that do it6 occupations
Tool categories that applyNone
O*NET activityControlling Machines and Processes (4.A.3.a.3)

What this looks like on the job

Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 6 occupations that perform it.

  • Produce recordings of music.
  • Record and edit audio material, such as movie soundtracks, using audio recording and editing equipment.
  • Record sound onto tape or film for radio or television, checking its quality and making adjustments where necessary.
  • Set up, test, and adjust recording equipment for recording sessions and live performances.
  • Record needed sounds or obtain them from sound effects libraries.
  • Record messages, suggesting rewording for clarity or conciseness.
  • Prepare for recording sessions by performing such activities as selecting and setting up microphones.
  • Record speech, music, and other sounds on recording media, using recording equipment.

What we would actually use

Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.

Our pickBuy nothing

Nothing on this site applies. Automation here is robotics and machinery, a different market on a much slower clock, and no software subscription moves it.

Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.

Who does this work

6 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.

Work that goes with it

O*NET groups these under “Operate audiovisual or related equipment”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.

Related work activities
ActivityJobs
Operate still or video cameras or related equipment8
Operate control consoles for sound, lighting or video7
Operate surveillance equipment to detect suspicious or illegal activities4
Operate audiovisual equipment4
Operate audio-visual equipment1

Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.