Sylvia started in the San Francisco alt-punk scene in the eighties, fronting her own all-girl band, “Revolver.” They played at iconic North Beach nightclubs like the Mabuhay, On Broadway, the Stone, and the Chi-Chi Club. Their self-produced demos caused quite a stir in the underground music scene and led to other bands seeking Sylvia's expertise in the studio. This collaboration allowed her to work with notable Bay Area acts such as Tuxedomoon, Exodus, MDC, Verbal Abuse, Christian Death, the Beatnigs, Mojo Nixon, Skid Roper, Raw Power, Doggy Style, and the Adolescents.

In 1986, Sylvia co-produced an album for the Sea Hags alongside up-and-coming guitarist Kirk Hammett, who had recently joined Metallica. The success of this collaboration facilitated the Sea Hags’ signing with major label Chrysalis Records, prompting them to relocate to Los Angeles. Not wanting to miss out, Sylvia moved to Los Angeles and embarked on a serious music industry career.

Within two years, Sylvia ended up at Larrabee Sound, where she worked with a roster of artists including Prince, Paula Abdul, Big Daddy Kane, Julio Iglesias, Seal, and Aerosmith. Her big break came when she produced Green Jello's debut album, featuring the hit “Three Little Pigs.” This success opened the door for her to record the first two Tool albums for Zoo/BMG Records.

Later, Sylvia took on major projects through her association with Rick Rubin, producing System Of A Down’s debut album, Danzig’s “Lucifuge II,” the Geto Boys’ debut, Johnny Cash’s “Unchained” album, Donovan’s “Sutras,” as well as contributions to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, and Tom Petty’s “She’s The One.”

AUGUST 10 - 16

Cost for course - $6,000

George Massenburg has participated (individually and collaboratively) in over four hundred records over the past 45 years. His work includes recordings of Earth, Wind & Fire, Linda Ronstadt, Little Feat, Lyle Lovett, Aaron Neville, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Natasha Bedingfield, Herbie Hancock, Arlo Guthrie, Billy Joel, the Dixie Chicks and many more. His studio work has gained him international recognition and four Grammys (including the Grammy for Technical Achievement in 1998, at the time making him one of only seventeen individuals to receive that honor) as well as numerous Mix Magazine TEC Awards. In 1988 he also won the Academy of Country Music Record of the Year Award. George has designed, built and managed several recording studios, and has contributed to the acoustical and architectural design of many other studios, including George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound.

In 1982, he founded George Massenburg Labs, a pioneering audio electronics company that has released an extensive range of innovative recording technologies, all based on his original designs. George was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music by Boston’s esteemed Berklee College of Music. Regularly published in professional journals and trade magazines worldwide, George Massenburg received the Gold Medal from the Audio Engineering Society in 2008. In 2013 he was awarded a patent # 8,510,361 in the US (as well as other countries) for a variable exponent averaging detector and dynamic range controller. He is also a member of the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress and an advisor to the Committee for Library Information Resources. George serves as the Chief Technical Officer of META (the Music Engineering Technical Alliance), a strategic union of music producers and engineers dedicated to the highest standards of audio and delivery of music.

Currently he is an Associate Professor of Sound Recording at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and a Visiting Lecturer at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston and Valencia Spain, and the University of Memphis in Memphis, TN. He and his wife, Cookie Rankin, live in Montreal, Quebec.

AUG 20 - 24

Cost for course - $5,000

Joe Zook began his career in music as a musician in Boulder, Colorado, playing guitar in bands while he was in elementary school and junior high. As a 16 year old employee at Robb's Music in Boulder, Joe worked for store credit and amassed as much gear as his hourly toil could afford him. He moved to Austin, Tx. at age 19 where he began playing guitar for the band House in Orbit.

The group toured for a time, but Joe's heart was in recording.  After attending recording classes and landing an internship at a local studio, he recorded mixed everything from world beat and jazz records to ESPN fishing shows and political ads.
From Austin he moved to Miami where he embarked on a degree from the acclaimed University of Miami, where he studied music theory, jazz, music business, and digital audio. He played guitar in the Stevie Wonder Ensemble and the James Brown Ensemble.  He was also a founding member of 'Cane Records, and producer of two records for them. ('Cane Records is still thriving today)

In 1997 he made his way to Los Angeles, where he got a gig as a runner at well-regarded Conway Studios.  Six months later, he began working as a second engineer at the legendary studios Sunset Sound and Sunset Sound Factory. It was there that he assisted Tchad Blake and Mitchell Froom on multiple projects, and also learned the craft from Quincy  Jones, Don Was, Neal Avron, Dave Sardy, Rich Costey, Joe Barresi, Andrew Scheps, John Paterno, Niko Bolas, Val Garay, T-Bone Burnett, Tony Visconti, Greg Wells, Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnampf, John Fields, Greg Fiddleman, Jim Scott,  David Khane, Craig Street, Dave Rideau, Raphael Saadiq, Dave Way, Geoff Gillette, Dori Caymmi, Glen Ballard, and many other talented producers and engineers.

After four years at Sunset, he met iconoclastic producer Jack Joseph Puig. The two struck up a professional relationship that took Joe through nearly two years of record making, primarily as Pro Tools engineer- though he shared engineering and recording duties on JJP productions.  Joe worked with artists such as Mick Jagger, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Vanessa Carlton, No Doubt, and dozens more.

 In 2002, Joe began free-lancing.  Since then, he has mixed and/or recorded albums totaling worldwide sales of over 50 million (see discography). Joe is also a proud father and husband.

SEPT 25 - 29

Cost for course - $5,000

Six-time Grammy winner Frank Filipetti is a world-renowned music producer, engineer and mixer. Born in Bristol, Connecticut, and based in New York since 1971, Frank was one of the first engineers to embrace digital mixing. His early credits include his first number one album, Foreigner’s “Agent Provocateur” which included the single “I Want to Know What Love Is”; Foreigner’s “Inside Information” which he also co-produced; KISS’s, “Lick It Up”; Carly Simon’s “Coming Around Again”, The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame”, Courtney Love’s “Celebrity Skin”, and Rod Stewart’s “The Great American Songbook” Volumes 1 and 2.

Active in film and theatre as well, Frank’s work as producer, engineer, and mixer earned the Aida Broadway Original Cast Album a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album in 2001, and he has since produced Wicked, Spamalot, Disney’s Aladdin, The Book of Mormon, and Gigi. His work in film includes the soundtracks for Mike Nichols’ “Working Girl”, and “Postcards From the Edge”; “The Pirates of Penzance” with Linda Ronstadt and Kevin Kline; Julie Taymor’s “Across the Universe”; Disney’s “Enchanted”; Pixar’s “Cars”, and “August Rush”.

Frank’s full discography is available online here and in other formats by request.

In addition to his recording and producing talents, Frank has been busy since the early 1980’s designing the acoustics for all three Right Track rooms in NY, and in 1999 Frank joined with Simon Andrews to design and build New York City’s premier orchestral recording studio. The result, Studio A509, was one of the most highly praised sonic achievements in a city known for incredible studios. In 2005 Frank became a founding partner of METAlliance, a collaborative community of globally-recognized audio engineers and producers that works alongside technology manufacturers to ensure the highest standards of audio production.

OCT 5 - 11

Cost for course - $6,000