Dubai-based audio specialist Delta Sound is currently hosting Atoussa Zamani and Ismat Assafiri in their Sound Engineer intern programme, which facilitates engagement by Delta’s highly experienced team of experts and sharing of valuable industry knowledge during the UAE’s busy event season.
“We believe you should not only love what you do, but do it to the highest possible standard, and the principal way that you achieve that is to learn from the best in the business,” said Delta Sound MD Andy Jackson. “This is such an important gate-way to a competitive industry and if we can identify ardent students who fit the mould, then we will always have an open door for interns to develop their skills and launch their careers.
“It’s so important to give back, and help foster new starters, it provides them with an unrivalled opportunity and it also ensures that not only our knowledge is passed on, but also our integrity, work ethic and dedication is ingrained into these young woman and men. It’s a wonderful legacy to provide.”
“Normally students have to do a two-week internship of around 80 hours, but I chose to do a six-month internship with Delta Sound I also started one trimester earlier than everyone else,’ stated Zamani. A student at the SAE Institute in Dubai, Zamani made it her mission to bring her skills level up to the highest standards and she sees her opportunities at Delta Sound as a way of making them a reality. “What I am most interested to excel at is to become a professional live front of house mixing engineer. I need job satisfaction and I am all for working hard to reach big goals, so for me, I believe it is very fulfilling. A journey of hard work that starts in the warehouse and ends in front of a cheering crowd of some sort.”
Of course, not all interns are students. Assafiri is currently employed as a lighting and video engineer with VenueTech. He explained: “I’ve had experience in permanent installation projects within the lighting and video fields. My interest in acoustics and the physical elements of sound space have made me focus on ease calculation and acoustic simulation on a theoretical level, although I lack the on-site experience that is, in my opinion, the most valuable knowledge to fully understand sound in any element and be able to become a professional.’
Assafiri is looking to compliment his lighting and video skills. “My aim is to able to fully grasp a working audio system it’s integration, and the various methodologies to run any live or installed projects by gaining experience and knowledge about audio solutions for every unique application,’ he stated.
Throughout the program, interns are given tasks that suit their skill set. Delta provides them with a spectrum of diverse projects with a variety of audio system configurations and event communications networks across multiple locations.
So what message do Delta Sound’s interns have for other people chasing a sound engineer career? – If you are serious about your professional future and you are willing to work towards it, this is the place to be. No one else’s future depends on yours and they don’t know you exist or what you are capable of, until you show up and show them; so, it is solely your job to grab this opportunity and turn it into a life changing one, internships are a blessing to any student with the right attitude.
