I am a passionate audio enthusiast which has led me to an awesome career that I love and enjoy immensely. Sound and words rule my personal universe.
My career as an audio engineer spans 34 years since the first day I began to record and mix songs on my Tascam PortaStudio (cassette 4-track) in the early ’80s while attending college at UC Berkeley. I formed a couple of bands and sang lead (sometimes playing rhythm guitar) until 1988 when I discovered the “behind-the-scenes” tech realm was much more to my liking. I love how you can control the ENTIRE sound mix and not just your own instrument. I then began a career as a live sound engineer and toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe as front-of-house sound engineer for a multitude of bands on various record labels (most notably “Medicine” on American Recordings) and was a staff engineer at the venerable Bottom of the Hill nightclub from their inception in 1991 until 2012. The club and its staff are like family.
I have maintained a live sound production company since 1989 called dcj Productions that has provided sound to the Bay Area community (mostly in the non-profit sector) in both large outdoor sound events as well as nightclubs and music halls.
In 1991, I started recording bands on an 8-track Tascam TSR-8 analog tape recorder and moved into the digital realm in 1993 to 16-tracks of Alesis ADAT connected to a Soundcraft Ghost console in my home studio.
In 1995, I advanced to Pro Tools and have been recording exclusively digital ever since, combining audio skills in sound for film as a location recordist as well as an engineer in post-production sound design and mixing. I remained “strictly analog” in my live sound mixing until just this past year (2012). Now that live sound digital mixers are really good at the affordable prices, it’s time to check out digital for live. I now have a Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2 to work on with my students to give them much needed hands-on experience with a digital console.
I co-owned and ran APG Records & APG Studios, a record label and recording studio from 1999 – 2004 which had a distribution deal through EMI. The company folded in 2004 and re-emerged as Potrero Post, though I am no longer connected to it. I continue to record music and engineer live performances at many Bay Area venues in addition to full-time teaching at City College of San Francisco.
In 2001, I was hired to the part-time faculty at City College of San Francisco in the Broadcast Electronics Media Arts department where I have taught many of the classes including Digital Media Skills (BCST119), Basic Audio Production (BCST120), Digital Audio Production (BCST124), Sound Recording Studio (BCST125), Sound For Visual Media (BCST126), Advanced Sound Recording (BCST127), Sound Reinforcement (BCST128), Audio for the Web (BCST135), Video for the Web (BCST136), and Field Video Production (BCST145). I became a member of the full-time faculty in 2011. I have also taught classes in sound design, audio for animation and games, music video, and computer applications at Art Institute of California-San Francisco, Globe Recording Institute, and Laney College in Oakland, CA.
A few CCSF Projects:
– Produced a promotional video titled “Quadratic Rap” for the Math department’s Bridge Program.
– Produced a new employee orientation video for the Human Resources department
– Coordinated audio for camera – SF Mayoral Debate, Fall 2011
– Coordinator of Audio Industry Advisory Panels for BEMA, 2011 – present
– Co-Coordinator of Video Industry Advisory Panel for BEMA, Spring 2012
Outside Affiliations:
Co-Director of SoundGirls and Chapter Head of Bay Area SoundGirls
– member of Audio Engineering Society
– past member and contributor of Women’s Audio Mission
– past V.P. and Interim President Board of Directors – Bay Area Girls Rock Camp
– past member of Bay Area Women in Film and Media
– past Board Member of Camp Reel Stories
“A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.”
-E. Ionesco
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