Based in Pune, India, Hozaifa Sayed is an alumnus of the SAE Masters programme.
With a love for music tech, sound engineering and teaching, Hozaifa decided to take on a Masters of Science in Audio Engineering.
Having now completed the one-year course, he runs his own Waves Krāft Mastering company, a venture that has been recognised as an Ableton Certified Training Centre. The business has seen him work on over 650 track masters across various musical genres with independent artists and labels alike.
In our interview, we learn more about Hozaifa’s time with SAE and how it helped advance his audio career.
what led you to study with SAE?
SAE is world renowned for its audio education and I have known about the institution through online resources from the start of my aspirations in studying to become an audio engineer. I was taught by SAE alumni and they held the learning ethos and SAE’s project-driven approach in high regard.
Having completed a diploma in sound engineering in 2012, and worked as an Ableton Certified Trainer and Mastering Engineer over the past decade, SAE felt like the right place for me to put my acquired skills and knowledge to the test and to grow academically into securing a masters.
I learned about the specific programme through an online introductory and overview session conducted by the Dean. This was extremely insightful and laid the foundation for my learning journey with SAE.
how did you find your time on the course?
I completed my MSc in Professional Practices, Audio Engineering and my research topic was based on my mastering practices in establishing a measurable and recreatable workflow for mastering rock and electronic music.
My time throughout the one year full time degree helped formalise my knowledge and practice with the help of a very well informed learning advisor, who worked closely in providing guidance which proved invaluable. We also had weekly sessions with extremely knowledgeable tutors who provided the broader framework in establishing research methodologies, developing the project title, abstract, presentation, the major project proposal, final dissertation and practical work.
What did you study as part of the course?
A variety of topics were covered across the three term span of the masters. Topics such as research methodologies, literature review, ethics in research, presentation skills, critical awareness, critical thinking and insights, project planning, self direction, originality in application of knowledge, strong decision making, were some of the main topics of discussion and were steps towards preparing a portfolio of work in presenting research topics and eventual findings.
I was mentored towards conducting mastering case studies, taking measurements and formalising methodology for control over the frequency, amplitude, dynamic range and tonality when mastering music.
I also reviewed new technologies, mastering practices, took an online mastering course for reference and learning, and carefully assessed the implication in the practical development of a reliable mastering workflow for rock and electronic music.
How did it fit into your career aspirations?
Learning never ends, though developing a workflow, receiving peer feedback and securing a masters helped me build confidence and credibility in my career aspirations of being an educator and mastering engineer.
What were the most essential things you learned while studying?
Most essentially, I learned how to focus on a topic for my research, conduct research, present and discuss findings, refine practical implications. Also, how to create knowledge that can be measured, observed, taught and recreated with artistic levy based on a scientific approach in working with digital audio for mastering processes.
Can you talk about what you are doing now that you have completed the course?
As a natural outcome of my studies, I continue to work and develop my skills as a mastering engineer as the sole founder and engineer at Waves Krāft Mastering.
In my career as a mastering engineer, I have now completed working on over 650+ track projects with independent artists and record labels alike. I do this with more confidence in my abilities and workflow for control over crucial aspects of the audio spectrum. I also continue to teach and mentor students across degree and diploma sound engineering and music production programmes at Seamedu, Pune as an adjunct faculty.
My topics of interest include digital audio, studio equipment, signal processing and music mixing. As a mastering engineer, I also mentor mixing engineers, independent producers via 1-1 online music mixing and production courses. I was awarded my own online Ableton Certified Training Center for my efforts of teaching over 30+ students on a 1-1 basis during the pandemic. I am currently also trying to spend more time on music production and sound design in leveraging my skills and exploring newer soundscapes as a practicing music enthusiast and ableton certified trainer.
What are your ambitions for the rest of the year?
Having completed an academic milestone, for the rest of this year, I am continuing to focus on current ongoing education and mastering duties, while I actively seek new clients (producers, independent artists and record labels alike) to assist with mastering services, and also seek out a full time teaching opportunities abroad.
What is your relationship with Ableton?
Ableton Live wasn’t a part of my music production and audio engineering diploma course back when I was a student. Though being a renowned DAW for its time, I was keen.
On joining Seamedu two years after completing my diploma, I took it upon myself to learn Ableton Live and formalise a curriculum to be embedded into the degree and diploma programmes. This was with version 9, the current being version 12. Soon after, I formally became one of our country’s first Ableton Certified Trainer through their certification programme conducted in India for the first time in 2016.
I helped establish India’s first Ableton Certified Training Center, later my own online training center that I managed and taught on a one to one basis. I am commissioned at times by Ableton to represent them at events in India, and I am currently set to conduct a workshop on the Push 3 standalone instrument at the school I teach. I hope to develop this relationship with Ableton into becoming a product specialist for the region, or even bringing in more audio engineering knowledge and expertise to producers in need of upskilling.
Do you have any advice for aspiring masters students?
Go for it! Whether it is the MA or MSc outcome that your masters topic, experience and background warrant, it is highly advisable to apply for the course based on a problem you’re trying to solve in your creative or technical media stream. It’s worth committing a year to this programme.
I highly benefited from the refinement in my thought process, writing abilities, and timely review of any developments in working closely with a learning advisor. SAE does provide a learning advisor who has expertise in your creative and technical field that can be highly valuable in broadening the scope and project development.
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