How can you learn and apply new audio production skills?

Personally, I'm all about listening, plus, I'm a tinkerer. When I hear something either a movie cue, new song, etc. anything that grabs my attention. I like to delve into it, deconstruct it, and figure out how they got there. I also like to mess around with new plugins, samples, etc. just to get a sense of how well they work. Usually, doing this leads me to research, finding out who else is using a particular app, what they're doing with it, that sort of thing. Hands on is the most important way of learning

always learn hands-on. otherwise you can't make mistakes. read some, then do 5x as much as you read. go to youtube University. then go do 10x as much work as the length of the video. always hands-on in all you do. listen to the world (say, iTunes) through your system everyday for reference. then get your hands on the gear again.

This may be a bit of a controversial statement, but I believe spreading a wider net, and learning as many audio skillsets as possible, in as many different mediums, styles, genres, etc as possible, will ensure you're keeping busy in this competitive field.

The first paragraph and we've already come to a contentious debate in the audio community. Jack of All Trades, or master a niche? In my experience mastering a niche will only ever limit the type of work you can get. So many audio skills translate incredibly well to each other that there's absolutely no reason to let your existing skills sit there with completely untapped potential in other fields. Do I prefer sound design and technical audio engineering for video games? Yes. But I've also worked with film, animation, music, podcast editing, audio restoration, foley recording, field recording, and voiceover recording. I started with Sound Design but if I had stopped there I would have missed many opportunities and chances to grow.

Honestly? By taking courses, doing tutorials, and more importantly, playing around. There is no better way to learn something than to go hands-on.

Learning by doing always helped me combined the passion to learn. Then when things get a little bit more challenging it's good to find one person which knows a lot or little bit more and is more experienced. Then tag along. Get yourself involved with the tribe, so get in to the proper forums, socials, etc.

Understand there are purposes to processing. This mindset was a game changer for me. We don't necessarily need to do anything. If we are seeking a specific sound, there are tools to accomplish those, seek them out and understand how it will effect the sound. To much processing leads to audio degradation, so choose your battles. On the flip side if it sounds amazing the way it is....just leave it alone

Years before I went to school for audio production, I did not know the fundamentals. Sonically, I was able to put things together that sounded natural but could never get the level of production in reference to the songs on the radio. Years later, the fundamentals became a game changer. I understood more...the process, the workflow, the resonance, the fundamental frequencies, etc. Learning the basics comes with a bit of boredom, however they are literally fundamental. Knowing and understanding them helps long term and in more ways than just working with audio. So, pay attention and focus on the basics because once you have a good understanding of them, there is no limitation in the world of music, sound, and audio.

I would like to add to this: Find. A. Mentor. There are loads of communities for audio professionals, be active in those communities and you'll likely find someone who's willing to talk shop with you and show you hands-on. It can be a pro, or a hobbyist, so long as they're experienced. Having direct advice from someone in the industry is, in my opinion, the most valuable asset for learning you can have. Beyond that just jump into any DAW and experiment, either recording different sounds or applying different effects to a piece of dialogue or even just some white noise. Add different plugins, adjust the settings, and adjust the order on the effects chain, it's important to experiment to really HEAR what things do and develop your own style.

Speaking from personal experience, I want to emphasize the importance of confidence in your journey. When I first started, it wasn't always easy to be accepted or have my work appreciated. However, I learned to trust my abilities and not let external advice affect my self-belief. While it's essential to listen to constructive feedback from experienced professionals, remember to stay true to your vision and trust your instincts.

I first want to say that, "practice brings improvement." If you want to improve and become better then you need to practice. It does not have to be every day, every minute, or every second. Just practice and focus on areas you want to improve on. Do not focus on everything at once! Be selective and focus on one area at a time because you have nothing but time. In the audio industry, there is no such thing as overnight success. You put time in to design, form, and perfect your craft. It takes countless hours over days, months, and years. The only difference is knowing when to present it instead of believing when it's ready. This profession is all about creativity and creativity is subjective. Be creative! Improve through practice!

I love the mention of competitions here. That's how I got my audio career started and it's honestly an incredible resource because it teaches you how to have an efficient workflow and how to accept your work without being a complete perfectionist. Additionally, I would suggest doing redesigns of audio you like in whatever field you'd like to get into (if you want to edit dialogue see if you can find raw dialogue from existing podcasts, for film or animation download scenes you enjoy and put your own sound design over them, for games redesign cutscenes or find open source games where you can mod the audio in the engine, etc.), once you've done a few of these projects do the first one again without listening to it and see how you've improved.

Está muy bien escuchar críticas constructivas, pero hay que saber quién te las da. Hay gente que habla de la producción musical, mezcla, mastering al mismo nivel que el aficionado de fútbol que se cree por encima del entrenador profesional. Por norma general tener una autocrítica fuerte, comparar con la música que te gusta, y hacer un ejercicio de introspección suele ser lo más importante

Due to the complexity and the maturity of the audio technologies, it is easy to access a very large amount of tools and technology. This brings the benefit of allowing every sort of experiment, but also the risk to get lost in an ocean of ready-made toys. A good approach is to start with the basic tools and invest time in learning it deeply, investigating on how their tuning correlates with the sound they generate or process and, ultimately and most importantly, with the listening experience they generate and the artistic message they convey.

Let me start by suggesting that it's incredibly important to learn how to get the most out of the current equipment you own, both hardware & software. Once you have, there is an increased benefit to using well designed audio products. With most manufacturers providing trial periods for software / plugins, that is a great way to discover new powerful tools that may help improve your game and efficiency. Technology has come a long way and plug in manufacturers are creating tools that are proving to be crucial in producing world class audio.

Hay herramientas muy útiles actualmente, pero como dije en otro artículo. Si algo hace todo por ti con un click y no sabes qué ha pasado. No estás mejorando, seguramente seas inconsciente de lo que está pasando, y tu resultado final pueda ser mejor, pero si no entiendes el proceso, cómo llegaste a él, etc; tienes una laguna de conocimiento que te podrá penalizar en el futuro.

Honestly, if I were to choose one skill that's more important in the audio industry than any other it would be networking. You could be the greatest, most skilled, talented, knowledgeable, and experienced audio professional in the world and if you can't network you'll still be overlooked in favor of someone fresh out of college who knows how to talk to people. Networking not only helps you build knowledge and get feedback, but it also helps you get work. Employers will hear about you through your network, and other audio professionals might even ask you to help them meet a deadline for a cut of the contract. You may even get pulled into a project by a friend in the industry who learns their employer needs someone with your skillset.

Musician collaboration, an age-old practice, amplifies collective creativity. Historically rooted in ensembles, it’s now evolved with genre-blending and digital tools. Benefits include skill augmentation, exposure, and learning. However, challenges like creative differences and copyright complexities arise. Modern collaborations see classical mix with rock, and jazz with electronic. Tools like CoLabs bridge distances, but clear agreements on royalties and rights are crucial. Live collaborations electrify, and the future, with VR and AI, promises richer synergies.

Learning is universal. A person should always keep learning, and in the audio profession, almost every day you should try to learn something new. Not because to further improvement but because the industry is always changing on a yearly basis. That is technology. There is no stalling or waiting period. Every year, every month there is something new affecting our industry. So, we have to keep learning. Even the top professionals of the industry continue to learn. And you do not necessarily have to go to school to keep up. There are plenty of blogs, communities, even YouTube videos where learning new things in the industry are possible. We just have to be always willing to continue to learn and expand our knowledge.

I could not agree more. This is the real fun of working in the audio industry. It is a relentless evolving field which requires continuos learning. The good thing is that the "mix" of learning+experience leads to secure success.

After completing your production always take a step back and rest your ears. Take the necessary time to get a distance from what you produced. This helps a lot in letting you judge your work more neutrally. Only then you can evaluate more relibly the effect that your production would do on others and thus you can focus on the details to improve it further.

First and foremost, love what you do! There will be many times that you question this career path but the love for it will get you through. We get to do something as a career that we also love and embrace as a passionate pursuit of heartfelt artistic expression. How fortunate!

Personally for me, it starts with research. Research a ton into your favorite sounding styles and tones and replicate it in your own creative way. It's a great starting point. Learning new software like Dolby Atmos can be intimidating, especially for editing podcasts. The more you learn the more fun it becomes. And finding examples of how others have used it can help you in the learning phase. Stay updated, as new software is continually getting better. Join communities. There's a ton of Facebook groups on new production skills/hardware/software. And network within the groups. You'll learn a lot from your peers. Experiment a ton, don't stall. Procrastinating will kill you, try different techniques, thats how innovation fosters.