TIM BERNER

Tim Berner is a recording/mixing engineer and musician, based in Sydney and the Blue Mountains. Since graduating from SAE’s Sydney campus in 2017 (taking out Best Audio Studio Project along the way), he has garnered attention for his multifaceted projects across studio & live sound/lighting production, broadcast and musical performance

What inspired you to enter into the career you’re in?
I fell in love with the art and science of music production in high school. I had a crush on this girl in my class and thought it’d be cool to write a song for her, but I was too shy to play it, so I built a little microphone and started recording in my parents’ garage. I’d often spend all night in there writing and recording, and eventually started taking a rig to school to record their piano at lunch break.

What are your fondest memories of your time at SAE?
I absolutely adored being on campus, open til close as many days as I could. It always felt like everyone was having fun, constantly creating new things and learning from each other. I made a lot of great friends who I now have the pleasure of working alongside and watching do crazy stuff!

Are you able to shed some light on how studying at SAE lead you to where you are now?
Working in a live environment is fast paced – you need to know what you’re doing, and know that you know what you’re doing, in order to stay calm in the face of danger and engineer solutions quick smart. Studying at SAE provided that essential solid foundation in both my theoretical and practical understanding of sound and production, without which I’d not be able to do my job.

What are your career highlights?
Definitely my first live shift. I took a job at a large house of worship where I mixed front of house, monitors and live broadcast simultaneously for the 10+ piece band – that was mammoth for me at the time. I’d never been so stressed, but once we were up and running it felt like flying. Another noteworthy one was working at Qudos Bank Arena on a few Queen + Adam Lambert shows last year – it was a real insight into the big picture of how productions that size are managed. Critically listening to and analysing how that kind of acoustic environment responds to super loud music was incredible. Of course it was spectacular to hear them play in the flesh too!

What projects are you working on at the moment?
This week I’m stoked to be playing a couple of Bigsound shows with my band Purring – it feels like a big step in the right direction. I’m also very proud to be in pre-production of a new single for my buddy Jesse Napa! We’re heading over to One Flight Up, a studio I’ve always wanted to make something in, so I’m pretty excited for this one.

What advice would you give to students aspiring to become successful in their field?
Ultimately I think constantly nurturing your passion and growing ever more curious is the most important thing – for me, keeping my heart in the right place has made it so much less about my ego and more about facilitating the realization of other people’s dreams. I reckon that’s pretty cool.