Pro Sound Effects' Library Gives Sound Design Students a Competitive Edge

	Eric Kuehnl (engineer chair) with some of his music tech students, making magic in the studio at Foothill College

The music technology program at Foothill College in Silicon Valley has recently started to offer the Pro Sound Effects (PSE) library to students. Pro Sound Effects helps the students achieve professional quality sound design on their projects, including video games, TV commercials, and short form videos.

PSE's cloud-based delivery gives Foothill a distinct advantage over other schools in the area. These days, the majority of community college students take their classes online at all hours of the day. Their customized library, which includes PSE's Hybrid Library, gives these students access to over 90,000 professional sound effects with a user-friendly, keyword-rich, web-based search tool. The ability to shortlist the best possible sounds enables students to do better work, faster, with less frustration. The quality of the recordings allows novice editors to quickly calibrate their ears to discern the difference between the professional standard and the type of sound effects students can make on their own or sample from unlicensed sources online. Both the quality of the projects submitted and satisfaction from the students about their time in the class has risen dramatically since Foothill started working with their Pro Sound Effects library.

"Post-production offers a very realistic career path, one where companies of all types are seeking highly skilled candidates. It still takes a lot of hustle to be successful, but having solid, real-world sound design and editing skills is a great start," shared Eric Kuehnl, music technology program co-director.

"A lot of kids grow up with a dream of becoming TV stars, pop stars, or film directors, but that's not a sustainable long-term career option for most adults. Success takes a lot of luck and a lot of connections," Kuehnl had to say about the perception vs. reality for students with aspirations in creative fields. "Post-production offers a very realistic career path, one where companies of all types are seeking highly skilled candidates. It still takes a lot of hustle to be successful, but having solid, real-world sound design and editing skills is a great start."

Most students enroll in Keuhnl's class to earn their credit and move closer to their associates degree. In some cases, the experience of learning a new skill in a fun, creative, and fast-paced environment opens their mind to a new, potentially lucrative career in the media and technology industries.

Graduates leave Keuhnl's class well-prepared to either pursue a four-year degree or to look for entry-level work in the field. Not only can they access job opportunities in cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago that offer the greatest variety of film and TV post-production careers, graduates with solid sound design skills can find plenty of opportunities in the Bay Area especially with the Silicon Valley technology companies that surround Foothill's campus in Los Altos Hills.