Tonmeister is most often found as a job description in the music and recording industries. It describes a person who is a sound master (a literal translation of the German word): a person who creates recordings or broadcasts of music who is both deeply musically trained (in 'classical' and non-classical genres) and also who has a detailed theoretical and practical knowledge of virtually all aspects of sound recording, music mixing and mastering. Both competencies have equal importance in a tonmeister's work. A Tonmeister spans both art and technology: Working with musicians on a musical level to help them achieve the best Performance's and interpretation; and utilizing or directing the use of appropriate technology to produce the most communicative experience for the listener, including appropriate editing, sound balance and other post-production skills. One may say that a Tonmeister would utilize the techniques of scientific measurement (microphones, digital recorders, accurate amplifiers, etc.), but he or she is in the entertainment industry, too, using additional techniques to create experiences and illusions for performers and listeners. The word ''tonmeister'' was trademarked in 1996 for the UK by the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...

. Also within the UK, the SAE Institute registered the term ''SAE Tonmeister'', which has been abbreviated to ''tonmeister'' in their registrations in several other countries, but not including Germany, Switzerland, or Austria. Members of the VDT may call themselves Tonmeister VDT. When describing the full four-year UK BMus degree or its equivalent in Germany, the term is applied mostly to people who have graduated at bachelor's level in music and applied physics and who have gathered, under university supervision, at least a year of appropriate industrial experience in the music or recording business. Their musical training generally encompasses a full conventional classical training including instrumental studies, conducting, composition, historic and analytical studies and performance; together with applied physics and mathematics including calculus, the Fourier transform, complex numbers, information theory and modulation techniques, acoustics, electronics and much experience in recording techniques and music technology garnered in modern studios and on many locations. A portfolio of recordings must be offered in the final degree assessment.

Origins

The concept of a Tonmeister dates back to 1946, when

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

wrote a letter to the Chancellor of the University of Chicago suggesting a course to train "soundmen". Schoenberg wrote "soundmen will be trained in music, acoustics, physics, mechanics and related fields to a degree enabling them to control and improve the sonority of recordings, radio broadcasts and sound films".Arnold Schoenberg letters, p. 241
/ref> It was also in this year that the University in Detmold, Germany, started the first Tonmeister course ( see below).

Education

Many institutions offer honors degrees that are called Tonmeister: The Royal Danish Academy of Music Copenhagen (RDAM), the

Warsaw Academy of Music Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

, the Universität der Künste Berlin (

UdK The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

) and the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in Germany; the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien in Austria, the Conservatoire de Paris, the

in the United Kingdom; and (as a post-graduate study) th
SAE Institute
in Oxford, UK and Byron Bay, Australia. In 1998, the previous Course Director at the University of Surrey, Dave Fisher, characterised the Tonmeister course as a course for excellent musicians/scientists who wish to acquire the theoretical knowledge and practical skills of sound recording along with both an academic understanding of audio engineering and also an experiential understanding of the technology of the sound recording and broadcast industries. Its aims were described in this way: * a comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge base; * intellectual and practical skills; * technical, artistic and scholarly curiosity; * motivation and self-directed learning skills; * professional skills and training; * communication and presentation skills; * self-confidence; ...all acquired as appropriate for a career in audio engineering or sound recording.