Courses of Study:

Certified Martin Audio M-Tech

Las Vegas, NV

In September 2013, I completed training at On Stage Audio on Martin Audio's MLA system. It is truly a game changing loudspeaker system. At the conclusion of the course, I became a certified M-Tech.

SYN-AUD-CON

As a member of SYN-AUD-CON, I have used their web-based training as refresher courses to keep up to date and remain sharp. I have successfully completed the following online courses:

100-Principles of Audio
200-System Optimization & EQ

Full Sail

Winter Park, FL

Graduated from Full Sail in October 1994 with a Specialized Associates Degree in Recording Arts. In addition, I was class valedictorian and had perfect attendance.

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN

Graduated from the University of Minnesota in March 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communications and an emphasis in broadcasting. I did not have perfect attendance.

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities from my dorm room circa spring 1990. Early on, I wasn't a very good student. However, once I decided on a path, everything kind of lined up and became simple. This is where I learned how to learn. I miss college.

This is me at Full Sail Studio A in the fall of 1993. Studio boasted a 72-input Neve VR with Flying Faders automation. I remember being intimidated at first, but then became really easy. Damn, I was young then!

Say what you will about a Full Sail education. We've all run in to graduates who don't meet our professional expectations. I, however, am not one of those graduates!

The SSL 4000E was the other large format studio console in the Full Sail arsenal in the mid-90s. I actually preferred it over the Neve VR. I would eventually come to LOVE the vintage Neve consoles and seemed to gravitate towards them in future career decisions.

The Studer A800 24-track 2" Tape machine was awesome! I've never got in to the cliche analog vs. digital arguments, but I do miss 2" tape. A lot of emphasis in the recording program was placed on learning how to properly calibrate this beast, and I think I could still do it!

In 1994, a group of Full Sail students decided they wanted to put on a day-long festival-type event where all positions were done by students. I'm pictured here doing my gig as record mixer. The headliner that day was a band called Tabitha's Secret who went on to be signed by a label and changed their name to Matchbox 20.

Here is the crew photo from Summerfest 94. Audio, lighting, video, promotion, photography, security, stagehands, and everybody working on this event (with instructor supervision, of course) were students. What did we learn? You can't always do set changes in 15 minutes.

I got a lot out of Full Sail, but my internship at Pachyderm Recording Studio was where I learned the most. I made coffee and paid my dues, but I was thrown in as an assistant right away.

Working at Pachyderm was possibly the best time of my life. I didn't have many days off. I slept on the couch in the control room many nights. I didn't eat well, and I didn't get paid very well, but I wouldn't trade my time there for ANYTHING!

I am so excited about Martin Audio's MLA loudspeaker system! I admit I was skeptical the first time I was putting a rig up, but you cannot argue with the sonic results. Thank you to OSA for including me in your training!