What the work actually involves

This is template design, not annotation. Frontier labs need simulated desktop environments where an AI agent can be asked to do real audio work — consolidate stems, fix a routing error, hit a delivery loudness spec — and be graded automatically. That only works if someone who has actually shipped mixes builds the underlying session material. Day to day you will be mapping what REAPER and Ardour can genuinely do (supported formats, render options, routing behaviour, plugin handling), authoring base assets like multi-track raw sessions, `.RPP` and Ardour project files, effect chain and plugin presets, reference mastering targets, and stem/mixdown specifications, then completing representative tasks yourself to produce reference solutions.

The part that distinguishes a strong SME here is the write-up. You are not just marking an export correct — you are explaining why -14 LUFS integrated with -1 dBTP true peak is the right target for a given brief, why a stem bounce with bus compression baked in breaks the deliverable, or why a phase-inverted null test is the honest way to verify a consolidation. Engineers then turn those statements into automated checks, so ambiguity in your documentation becomes a broken grader downstream.

What the screen looks for

  • Verifiable hands-on time in REAPER or Ardour specifically — not "I've used a DAW," but routing, folder/bus structure, render matrices, project file behaviour.
  • Real multi-track project history: producing, mixing, or mastering sessions with actual track counts and delivery constraints.
  • Fluency in EBU R128 and ITU-R BS.1770 / LUFS, including the difference between integrated, short-term, momentary, and LRA, and where true peak fits.
  • Ability to state a pass/fail criterion precisely enough that a script could test it.

Logistics

Fully remote contractor assignment, roughly five weeks, with immediate onboarding. Turing states 40 hours per week with at least four hours of overlap with PST. Pay is undisclosed on this listing — Turing describes it as competitive, and on comparable SME template work rates are typically negotiated per assignment rather than posted. No medical or paid leave; flexible hours within the overlap window.