Audio engineer, what do they do?

[africaking]

Can anyone tell me the basics of what an audio engineer does?  Also what a music producer does?  what is the diffirence?

Any info would be great, I need help (not medical!)

[sampride000]

a sound engineer is the guy that knows the in's and outs of the equipment, knows exactly what the buttons, sliders andfaders do and how precisely mic the instruments and record the song.

The producer's job is to get the best possible performance out of the musicians, create the final mix down (changing eq levels, volumes and adding external and onboard effects) and even add creative input. eg. the pop songs with no live band playing along have computer created backing tracks - generally composed by the producer with aid from the management of the artist or artist themself.