David Earl

sflogicninja
Logic & Synthesis Instructor

David Earl, AKA sflogicninja, is currently the second-highest-ranked YouTube guru for his intimate and concise training tips on Apple's Logic Studio.  There are over 10,000 people following him, and those numbers are growing everyday as he helps viewers get into the world of music composition and production.  Recently invited to present as sflogicninja during Remix Hotel at Winter Music Conference 2009 in Miami Beach, David wowed audiences with his skills.

With classical training in both Piano and Brass, David uses his deep knowledge of music combined with his intuitive grasp of technology and composition to help create the Pyramind Production Sound.  And he uses all of these skills daily at Pyramind, applying glitch and electronic textures and ambiences to create unique and intricate orchestral arrangements.

David's background pre-Pyramind includes twiddling knobs for Mickey Hart, co-producing the former Tower of Power singer Lenny Williams, producing and writing for the dynamic electronica duo "Marrow", and writing music for countless commercials under the supervision of Andy Newell at Ripesound.

And fortunately for students, the only thing David enjoys as much as writing and producing music is teaching.

Lennie Moore

Game Audio 301 Instructor

For over 30 years, Lennie Moore has been a proven force as an accomplished composer, orchestrator and arranger of music for videogames, film, and television.

His credits include Star Wars: The Old Republic, Kinect Disneyland Adventures, Halo Combat Evolved 10th Anniversary Edition, The Walking Dead Motion Comic, Watchmen Motion Comic (2009 G.A.N.G. award winner), Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers, Dirty Harry, Dragonshard, War of the Ring, and Outcast (2000 nominee for Best Music by the AIAS - Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences).

Lennie has also developed and taught Composing for Video Games courses at the USC Thornton School of Music, UCLA Extension, and developed the first accredited degree program for Game Audio and Interactive Media at Pinnacle College.

Matt Boudreau

Advanced Audio Fundamentals

Hometown: Las Cruces, NM

I'll spare you the details of my childhood except for a few things. I was was born and raised in New Mexico. I started playing drums in the 6th grade. In junior high I met Max Butler and Brennan Hester who I would end up playing with in a band called the Sextants. Max and Brennan had a great punk band called MFC (Manson Family Christmas) that went through a lineup change and I became the drummer. The name and sound was changed and the Sextants were born.

In 1988 I moved to San Francisco with The Sextants. Brennan's sister Lori joined us on bass Brennan could play guitar. In 1990 we signed a record deal with Imago Records, created by Terri Ellis of Chrysalis records fame. Larry Hirsch (Los Lobos, John Hiatt, Bonnie Raitt) would produce our debut album "Lucky You" at Ocean Way and Sunset Sound Factory in Los Angeles. We toured all over the US and Canada but were eventually dropped from the label.

The Sextants broke up and I joined Seven Day Diary in 1993. Seven Day Diary signed with Warner Bros./Reprise soon after. Producer Joe Chiccarelli (Frank Zappa, Tori Amos, American Music Club, White Stripes) did an EP with us called "Fig. 6" at Coast Recorders in SF. We then went on to make a full-length record ("Skin and Blister") with producer Gil Norton (Echo & The Bunnymen, Counting Crows, Foo Fighters) in London at Britannia Row and Swan Yard. The band would tour all over Europe with moderate success but unfortunately would suffer a similar fate as The Sextants and we eventually broke up as well.

During my time in Seven Day Diary around '94 I worked part time at a small studio in San Francisco on a 1-inch 16 track and ADATs while also working in pro audio retail. In that same year I did my first gig as a producer for a band called Spackle. In 1998 I went full time, bought a Pro Tools system and never looked back.

In addition to teaching at Pyramind, I also operate a small recording studio, Broken Radio Studios, where we have recorded artists ranging from Keith Urban, to Jello Biafra, Tower of Power, and more.

For more information, visit: www.brokenradio.com

Timo Preece (aka "Gravity Terminal")

Ableton Live, Production

Hometown: Tokyo, Japan.

Timo has been teaching, creating and producing both music and sound art in Los Angeles, California and in Tokyo, Japan. He obtained his ethnomusicology degree at UCLA and has done a number of studio recordings and live performances with noteworthy individuals including, Craig Harris (Disney, documentary music producer), Frank Serafini (film score and music video producer- TRON), Abhiman Kaushal (classical Indian tabla master), Kobla Ladzekpo (Ghanian master drummer), Francisco Aguabella (Latin jazz master), Gerald Wilson (Grammy award winning jazz musician and producer), Jun (D&B DJ), Echoplex, Medicine Drum, Dubstract, and others.

For four years, Timo was based in Tokyo, Japan working to create a new electronic based music - ranging from designing and creating music and sound design for web sites, DJ events throughout Tokyo, live electronic shows, radio, CD/DVD productions and audio mastering. In addition to DJing original music, Timo created a live electronic band which performed at events such as: 'Eyesaw' for their 13th annual Arts events which took place at Le Deco, (Shibuya), Garage (Shimokitazawa, live house), Milk (Ebisu) and Radio on Active (Gaienmae). As a producer, he has mastered tracks and CDs for artists such as South African DJ Shane Berry, Saloman and Eyesaw's interactive CD.

Back in California and now based in San Francisco, Timo plans to continue teaching and working with electronic based music, digital audio, sound design, post production, and synthesis. Currently, in addition to instructing at Pyramind, he is teaching DAW and Advanced Post Production labs at Expression College for Digital Arts.

For more information, visit: www.gravityterminal.com

Chris Lum

Advanced Remixing

Hometown: Redondo Beach, CA

Chris Lum has been a mainstay of the San Francisco dance music scene for over fifteen years. Lum moved to the city in 1993 from LA, where he helped open and run the famous store Beat Non Stop.  Arriving in San Francisco he earned a gig behind the counter at the much-missed BPM Records on Polk & Post, where he slung records, ordered the cream of domestic dance music of that era, and advised fledgling DJs and newcomers to the scene about what to spin and how to spin it. 

Between 2001 and 2005, Chris had 80+ songs pressed and published on labels from around the world including notable names like Defected, Strictly Rhythm, Hooj Choons, and Arista. In 2004 he was honored to be nominated for a Grammy Award for a Jill Scott remix, and since he has remixed artists such as Alicia Keys, Mary J Blige, Missy Elliot, Luther Vandros and Mariah Carey. 

Chris has also been a working DJ since 1992, and began traveling the world in 2002. He has played at major venues and festivals including: The Southport Weekender in the UK (twice), Field Day and Home nightclub in Sydney Australia, Ministry of Sound and Neighborhood in London, Cielo in NYC, Electric Circus in Adelaide Australia and anywhere in Melbourne Australia.  Other cities include:  AUSTRALIA (Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Byron Bay, and yes, Wollongong), BRAZIL (Sao Palo, Rio De Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Curitiba), CANADA (Vancouver and Toronto), EUROPE (Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Skopje, Barcelona, Mallorca and the Canary Islands), UK (London, Southport and Glasgow), U.S. (Seattle, Portland, L.A San Diego, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Denver, Chicago, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Orlando, Gainesville, Baltimore and N.Y.C). 

On top of all this Chris is also the sole owner of Moulton Media, and has been a mix and editing engineer for artists like Kaskade, Halo and Gregory Del Piero.  Current projects include founding a new imprint, Harlum Music, with David Harness, and to open the famed Moulton Media production facility to the general public, continuing his never-ending mission to better the music scene of San Francisco and beyond.

For more information, visit www.moultonmedia.net

Brian Trifon (aka "Trifonic")

Synthesis

Hometown: Berkeley, CA

Brian Trifon is the co-founder and head composer/producer/sound designer of Trifonic, a music group that specializes in cutting-edge electronic and alternative music.

After graduating from USCʼs Thornton School of Music in 2004 with a degree in Guitar Performance, Brian worked as a music programmer and guitarist for renowned electronic artist BT. In his time at BTʼs studio, Brian contributed additional music and programming to several films, TV shows, and video games, including: Catch and Release (Sony, 2007), Look (2008), Battle In Seattle (2008), Kevin Hill (UPN, 2004) and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (EA Sports).  Brian also played guitar, provided additional programming and toured in support of BTʼs studio album, This Binary Universe (DTS, 2006).

In January 2007, Brian founded Trifonic with his brother Laurence and began work on their debut album  Emergence, which they released in February, 2008. Trifonic has licensed music to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS, 2007), Playstation Home (Sony, 2008) and several other advertisements  and TV shows.  Trifonic's track “Parks On Fire” is featured on Hybridʼs latest mix album  Soundsystem 01 (Nettwerk/Hope Recordings, 2008), along with tracks by Massive Attack, Trentemøller, Sasha, and Hybrid.

For more information, visit www.trifonic.com

Steffen Franz (aka "Stand Out Selector")

Music Business

Hometown: New York, NY

President and Founder of Positive Sound Massive Recordings and Independent Distribution Collective and is also Label Consultant for Epiphyte Records. Stand Out Selector, aka Steffen Franz is well known as a dancehall innovator. As a DJ/Producer/Remixer and the owner of PSM Recordings, he has brought his conscious reggae vibes to people from New York to Hawaii (and San Francisco in between). Since forming PSM, Steffen worked as reggae buyer for Rough Trade Records in San Francisco, and as Reggae Editor for American Music Press. From 1994 to 1998, Steffen was the Production Manager of the Paradise Lounge /Transmission Theater in San Francisco. In the summer of 1998, he began tour managing Mix Master Mike, traveling the globe on Mike's solo tours as well as with the Beastie Boys. Steffen has also tour managed Linton “Kwesi” Johnson and Lee “Scratch” Perry across the USA.

In the Late 1990s, SOS DJ’d hundreds of shows throughout California, Nevada, Washington, New York and even Australia & New Zealand, where he played opening and break sets for the Beastie Boys "Hello Nasty" World tour. SOS has produced tracks for artists such as Nicodemus, Shinehead, Barrington Levy, Rocker-T, Jamalski, Wookie J., Karney, DJ Collage, and San Francisco’s New Dealers. In the past few years, SOS has been running Positive Sound Management which currently represents Rocker-T, Poetz4Peace, Haji Mike, Cas Lucas, Ian Collins, and Karney. SOS also plays bass in the rock band Not For Not, raps in Karney and is a member of "biL" a dancehall, surf, hip hop, band.

Other recent developments include launching Independent Distribution Collective in 2004, which grew from 9 labels to over 200 products in 3 years, and now includes digital distribution and film and DVD distribution. Recent studio works include production of over a dozen albums including: Nuffsed "Ignite the Fuse", Rastrillos "Se Acabo El Reve", Haji Mike "The Storyman", Jahson Ites "Forward Outta Babylon", and new releases from Bhi Bhiman and Lou Dog Trio.

Steffen also now brings his diverse experience and knowledge to bear as an instructor for the music business classes at Pyramind, and to consulting for Pyramind's label, Epiphyte Records.

Lynda Arnold (aka "Divasonic")

Piano Workshop, Production

Hometown: East Hampton, NY

Lynda Arnold has worked as an educator, artist, producer and promoter since moving to the Bay Area in 1999. She received classical training in piano and flute from DePauw University, as well as audio production and recording training from Ex’pression College for the Digital Arts in Emeryville.

In the past decade, Lynda has recorded and produced several solo albums under her ‘Divasonic’ moniker in addition to playing with other bands and composing for dance company Capacitor. In 2004, she established her own label and production company Digital Bliss Productions, which releases her music as well as that of other women producers and performers in the field of electronic music production.

Lynda understands the need for well-rounded next generation audio producers and professionals and is excited to be sharing her knowledge and skills with the Pyramind students and staff.

More more information, visit: www.divasonic.com and www.digitalblissproductions.com

Jeff Schmidt

Game Audio

Hometown: Albany, NY

Jeff Schmidt is the Creative Director in charge of all audio branding/sound design at KFOG/KSAN Radio in San Francisco.

Additionally, Jeff manages the station’s live performance studio where he has produced sessions with some of music's biggest artists; including Dave Matthews, REM, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant, Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette and many others.

A composer and electric bassist - Jeff won the 2005 International Contemporary Solo Bass Competition hosted by Bass Player Magazine and Victor Wooten - Jeff's original Sound Design is heard daily on hundreds of radio stations around the world and in video games: World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Diablo 3.

Jeff was trained in Rock Band video game authoring at the Harmonix corporate studio in Cambridge MA.