Advancing Music

As a freelance engineer for over 20 years, I’ve worked in nearly every audio industry field from music to film to games. Some of my favorite work was with Grammy® award-winning artists Cee Lo Green and Dirty Vegas; Golden Globe® winning actor Stacy Keach; and public figures US President Carter and the Dalai Lama. In 2012 I was awarded an Emmy® for Outstanding Commercial - Single Spot and received front-page honors in the press by Audio Solutions. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have worked on music from so many of my musical icons as well as chart-topping and emerging artists of today. I’ve also been lucky to have collaborated with musical legends Teddy Riley and Dan Wilson, along with other amazing musicians to create new music experiences in 3D audio for their already incredible art. I’m a member of the AES and NARAS and have been featured in American Songwriter, Forbes, Mix Magazine, Variety and more.

I’m a researcher at heart — always pushing the boundaries of what I know and understand, simply because I can’t stop asking “why.” Since 2014, my work has focused on the auditory perception of 3D audio recording techniques and mixing methods in auditory environments — in other words — the study of how the human brain perceives and understands audio engineering decisions made to the sound we hear within a given space and location. I based my research both in the real world and the virtual world to include visual elements as well through a sponsored academic research relationship with Oculus that helped facilitate the study of virtual environments in VR. The intent of my work was to better understand how everyday listeners experience 3D audio - specifically music produced in 3D audio, along with understanding the effectiveness of the processes made in 3D audio by audio engineers. From this understanding, my hope was that engineers, artists and creators would then be able to create even better mixes and tools for artists in the emerging immersive formats such as Binaural, Atmos, Sony 360RA, DTS-X, Auro 3D, and 22.2 surround. A few years before these formats became widely available, I began building software tools of my own to first pan in 3D, then mix, then master, and finally, to evaluate 3D audio from the listener’s perspective. This pioneering work extended into my 3D audio tech startup Audible Reality®, founded in 2015 (which commercially built and licensed 3D audio software technology). Once 3D audio launched on streaming platforms in the music industry, I went back to my roots to spend most of my time at Spatial Mastering™ — where everyday, along with my mixing partner Alan Han, we are using all of our years of experience in audio engineering and 3D audio to mix and master hits in spatial, stereo and more. Our goal is to bring more opportunities and musical experiences to artists and fans everywhere.

After about 15 years in the business, I packed up for Montreal to get my Ph.D. in Sound Recording at McGill University under legendary engineers George Massenburg and Richard King. My research focused on the sensation and perception of auditory listener movement in virtual audio environments, with a special interest in spatial perception and mixing. Basically — what do you need to know to make your original stereo mix sound badass in 3D audio? I’ve since been actively involved in pushing the audio industry forward as a musictech entrepreneur and speaker at industry conferences and events.

Prior to McGill, I worked for American University for 10 years where my work was essential to the growth, design and success of its acclaimed Audio Technology Program, university projects, and recording studios. In fact, the image of me at the top of this site is from my favorite studio still to this day: ”Control Room A” at American University. In addition to my Sound Recording PhD from McGill, I hold an MA and BS in Audio Technology from American University. If you’re interested in my research please read my thesis here — I spent 3 very long years writing that painful thing and it would make me smile to know someone actually read it! It’s actually really good for anyone that wants to know more about 3D audio perception.

My first love is music and I made a valiant run at it for a long time from my teens to my early 30s. But, despite gigging up and down the east coast and multiple album releases with several bands including my short lived solo career…life decisions happen, and I finally realized making money as a musician wasn’t going to be my long term plan. But ask me to write, produce, or play and I’m there ready to rock, any day!