The CRAS Faculty Makes The Difference

Director of Education Michael Jones brings a lifelong love of music and a wealth of experience to his role at CRAS. A guitar player since childhood, by age 12, Michael’s interest in music led him to experiment with his first audio recordings.

A native of Akron, Ohio, Michael moved to Arizona in 1985 and was soon free-lance engineering at several Phoenix and Los Angeles studios. He began teaching at CRAS in 1990, initiated the primary curriculum design for the Audio Recording and Production program in 1991 and became Director of Education in 1993. In 1996, he became one of the first AVID Certified Pro Tools Instructors in the world.

Michael is a past recipient of the Arizona Private School Association “Outstanding Teacher Award (Trade and Technical).” Jones has beta-tested products for Fender, Røde and Hafler Professional, and with the man himself, Les Paul. He has contributed product evaluations for Pro Audio Review magazine, and produced the audio recording of the accompanying CD for the Hal Leonard book, The Soul of Tone (Celebrating 60 Years of Fender Amps). In addition to his work at CRAS, Jones is an independent studio owner who engineers and produces both music and commercial projects.

Some of Michael’s engineering credits include: Evanescence, Disney's Lion King, Kevin Gilbert, iTunes, Yahoo! Music, Robbie Nevil, Wayman Tisdale, Kris Tyler, Jessie McGuire, Joe Morris, Chester Bennington, The Phoenix Suns, Arsenio Hall, The White House, and the 20th Century Fox motion picture soundtrack for “Alien Resurrection.” His commercial work has won Addie Awards and a Gold Medal from the International Film & TV Festival of New York. Through Michael’s extensive work with Fender Musical Instruments, he has mixed, mastered and edited for artists such as Eric Johnson, Sepultura, Bad Religion, Hatebreed, Cannibal Corpse, White Chapel, Brian Beller, Against Me, Strung Out, Tony Franklin, Simon Phillips, Willy Porter, Ozomatli, Autumn’s End, Jim Campilongo, Frank Bello & Charlie Benante of Anthrax, John 5, Gary Hoey, and Nils Lofgren.

Kevin is an educator, award winning recording engineer and a technical editor for Mix magazine, the #1 audio magazine in the USA. He has consulted on studio design and recording for numerous artists such as Kenny G and Arizona State University. Kevin was the lead audio consultant at the 2010 Esquire magazine "Signature Space" recording studio in Hollywood, CA. and has taught audio recording at Belmont University in Nashville, the Danish Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, and has a large online archive of articles and product reviews that can be searched via Google.

Jim is highly qualified in a number of areas, including audio, video and installation. He holds a degree in Electronics and has a variety of experiences in many aspects of the entertainment industry. Jim has spent the majority of his live sound career in “Monitor Land” for the likes of the Dixie Dregs, Dave Koz, and George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars among others. He spent 6 years away from music in project management and installation technology for a large audio/video systems firm and now directs his energies toward perfecting his skills and sharing information and his passion for the music industry as a CRAS instructor. Jim also owns and operates a DAW-based studio in Arizona.

John Berry is a former Artist-in-Residence and Director of Jazz Studies at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. He is a major composer and arranger of jazz ensemble music, with some 600 of his works published by Hal Leonard, Kendor Music, and Jenson Publications. John spent ten years with the U.S. Army’s famed Jazz Ambassadors as assistant director, chief arranger, and bass trombonist. His 160-page book, The Jazz Ensemble Director’s Handbook (published by Hal Leonard) has been selling internationally for 20 years. Mr. Berry holds a Bachelors Degree (BA) in Communications, a Masters Degree (MA) in Human Resources and has taught at Arizona State University, Indiana University, Mesa Community College and Ottawa University in Phoenix, AZ.

Robert Brock has worked at the Conservatory since 1992. As the head of the digital recording department “Brock” splits his time between classroom instruction and curriculum development. Brock spearheaded CRAS's award winning 1 to 1 laptop program (Studio In A Bag) which is just one example of his passion for seeking out ways to positively impact CRAS's learning environment and to create new opportunities for its students and graduates.

Brock is also contracted with Apple Inc. as a Logic Pro trainer. In this capacity he has travelled worldwide, training instructors, resellers and end users on Apple's flagship audio production software. As a writer he regularly contributes articles to audio trade magazines and has contributed in both editorial and authorship roles for the Logic and Soundtrack Pro Apple Pro Training Series books published by Peachpit Press. In 2009 Brock was honored by being selected as an ADE (Apple Distinguished Educator) and currently serves on the ADE advisory board. He continues to work as an engineer, producer and audio consultant in addition to regularly performing as an accomplished keyboard player.

Chuck has been working in different facets of audio and music for over 20 years, where his early experience consisted of singing in a barbershop chorus, playing the string bass and performing in various classical ensembles and rock bands. His varied background includes audio for e-book publications, self published musical works, paranormal audio analysis, independent film scoring and recording studio consultation. He is specialized in digital audio recording, working primarily in Avid Pro Tools and Apple's Logic Pro.

A pianist since he was 6 years old, Brian comes from a musical family, “My dad wrote big band charts for the high school jazz ensembles that he directed. Following in his footsteps, I wrote my first big band chart when I was twelve.” Upon hearing the 18 parts played back by real musicians, “I was hooked.”

Brian’s professional life has centered around music and specifically, the engineering behind making the music we love, teaching others to play, playing for other peoples’ enjoyment, designing sound systems and composing music for radio, stage and film. Brian says, “CRAS gives me the opportunity to take my knowledge, and all the areas that I'm passionate about and put those things into the hands of the next generation of engineers.”

Terry has spent the last 25 years in Phoenix working as a pro-audio repair technician where he is certified for many of the largest musical equipment manufactures in the country. He also works as a professional musician and is a cofounder of the Desert Gumbo Band, with which he still performs. Terry has earned a Bachelors of Science Degree in Education from Penn State University and an Associates of Applied Sciences Degree (A.A.S.) in Electronic Engineering Technology from Mesa Community College.

Terry is a member of the Pi Lambda Theta International Honor Society and Professional Association in Education, and currently has his own business-Pro Audio Repair, specializing in the repair and modification of tube amplifiers.

Jay's many years working as a drummer in both touring and studio settings, sparked his interest in audio. His experience as a musician has given him invaluable insight into the perspective of how artists experience audio production environments. As an audio engineer, Jay has worked as a church live sound engineer where he's mixed live bands, worked with public speakers and recorded the services. In his spare time, Jay likes to record and mix and has done LPs for bands such as U.S. Hijinx and Sailin' On. He also enjoys writing 8-bit music and has used his construction background to design and build a studio in his own home.

Sean has been touring both as a musician and front of house (FOH) engineer for many years. Sean started making music at age 15 and at 19 began a non stop pace touring with his band “ Jermflux.” Sean has toured, mixed and worked with numerous bands and on projects including; Rancid, Buzzoven, The Melts and Today Is The Day. Evanescence, Dennis Rowland, Estaban, Razor, Sistah Blue, Mel Brown, John Herrera, Roger Cline and the Peace Makers. Fender Musical Instruments’ G-Dec, John 5, Sepultura, Tony Franklin, Ozomatli, Autumn’s End, Frank Bello & Charlie Benante of Anthrax, White Chapel, Chris Gough, Hatebreed, and Eric Johnson.

In the mid ‘90s Sean combined his love of music and the newly developing computer recording technology of Pro Tools. He has also worked in the computer industry as a programmer, on internet networking and at different professional studios both in Phoenix, and Massachusetts.

In 2003 Sean opened Burning Blade Studio as an engineer, mastering engineer, producer and owner, and also started teaching at CRAS.

Sean is a certified Pro Tools instructor who maintains as a computer technician multiple Pro Tools systems in and around the valley.

Bobby has worked in virtually every aspect of professional audio. He was first attracted to the musical arts at a very early age, starting with guitar lessons at age 8. By age 12 he was in the recording studio doing television commercials. At age 14 he was playing professionally in a rock & roll band. Having spent many hours in recording studios, making demos, making records, sitting next to recording engineers & producers, it was a natural progression to enter into full time audio production at age 28.

Some of Frasier's credits include working with Lyle Lovett, Del Shannon, Al Casey, Hal Blaine, Thinline, Paul Sabu, Skip Saylor, Doc Severinson, Skitch Henderson, Midori, Billy Williams, Lee Hazelwood, Joshua Bell, Snuff Garrett, Bill Conti, and many others.

Frasier moved into the world of audio manufacturing, working for the #1 recording console company in the world, Solid State Logic. He then went on to work at Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Corporation as National Digital Audio Specialist, Alesis Corp. as Technical Training Manager & Yamaha Pro Audio as National Account Manager.

After living in Los Angeles for many years, Frasier returned to his native Phoenix, Arizona and took over a "few classes" at CRAS, at the bequest of Mr. Mike Jones who states, "Bobby's extensive experience as a product specialist, doing public speaking at trade shows, and teaching people how to operate his manufacturer's equipment made him a natural choice for the teaching environment. Plus, his extensive experience in high pressure recording environments, made him a perfect fit for CRAS."

Frasier still plays guitar on a regular basis, doing sessions and playing at local venues. His philosophy on the importance of music and craft are reflected in the values he emphasizes in the classroom.

With over 35 years of industry experience to the classroom, Jeff’s industry involvement began at the renown Record Plant Studios in New York. He then traveled to Los Angeles, and during a 17-year tenure at The Village Recorder, served as Supervisor of Electronic Studio Maintenance, Chief Recording Engineer, and General Manager. A move to Seattle followed where he worked as an Industry consultant. Jeff ultimately settled in Arizona in 1991.

His album credits include Animation’s "Obsession", Supertramp’s "Breakfast in America", Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake, & Palmer), The Phoenix Symphony, Wayman Tisdal, The Kingston Trio, Esteban and George Benson. In the realm of film, he has been involved with sound design for Disney’s "Tron", "The Seventh Sign" with Demi Moore, and Stephen King’s "Creepshow". His television post-production work includes many national commercials and the 1988 ABC Network Fall Campaign.

Harris currently operates Artefact Studio Services, a studio design and consulting firm and is in demand as an independent producer and engineer. He is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (voting member for the Grammys) and the Audio Engineering Society.

From an early age, Brandon started playing around with whatever microphones, tape recorders and musical gadgets he could find. By the time he was in high school, he was playing guitar and making trips to studios to have his band recorded. Always a perfectionist, and unsatisfied with the recordings that they would come away with, he realized that he should be handling the recording and mixing himself and began engineering solutions for low budget recordings of his and other bands. An early career move was working at Studiochicago, where he honed his skills and gained knowledge. Brandon’s freelance recordings were pushed to the next level and eventually, he was able to recognize his true calling in sound for film.

Besides his instructor duties at CRAS, Brandon spends his time working on independent film projects. He shares his insight into that world teaching audio postproduction and surround sound and continues to write, play, record and mix music, as well as contributing gear reviews to Mix Magazine.

Dave has over two decades of experience in recording, live sound, AV integration and video game production. He has played the guitar and has been an avid gamer since the age of eight. Dave’s love for video games began before the age of PONG, when he would play and create games on his Dad’s Apple IIe+ and Atari800 computers. His live experience includes touring as a musician and running audio for bands. During his career he worked as a Front Of House (FOH) engineer for many clients such as Merv Griffin, Jack Sheldon, GAP Fashion, Victoria’s Secret, the Johnny Walker Tasting Tour and Thrivent Financial. He’s also done custom AV integration and built video conferencing and “smart” rooms for corporate clients Alliance Medical and Equifirst. Dave’s engineering credits include CDs for the bands Session 3, Hip Graffiti and Ties. Dave brings his passion and energy for audio engineering into the classroom where he teaches the Video Game Audio, Mastering, SSL, and Intro to Audio Recording & Production classes.

A guitar player since his teens, David LaBounty has performed and engineered with Great Atomic Power, Lik Shotz, and currently with the Atomic Zeroes. Before instructing at CRAS Dave worked with an A/V company and as an instrument technician. His most exciting experience was touring as a tech with noted jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale. Since starting with CRAS in 1998, his own studio has grown and now accommodates many local acts, ranging in styles from Country to Hip-Hop.

Prior to becoming an instructor at CRAS, Alan worked at Psyko Ranch Studios, as well as at Conway Recording and El Dorado Studios in Los Angeles. He has worked on albums for a variety of artists including Marjorie Fair, Opiate for the Masses, Stevie Wonder, Britney Spears, Mya, Bad Religion, R. Kelly and The Game. In addition to his work at CRAS, Alan is an independent engineer and producer who has produced, engineered, and mixed works for independent artists and labels such as Rozaline, The City Speaks, Gemini Records, Goodbye to Pretty, Seed, Small Planet Audio, American Voodoo Records, Sunday Afternoon, Nhi, Vokél, After the Burn, The Spore, Outlaw Entertainment Group, Rising Pain, PC Music, Antidote, and Carbide.

Kicking off his professional career in Nashville, TN. Brett was a staff engineer at Tombstone Recording working with artists of many genres, such as, LeeAnn Womak, Ritchie MacDonald, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Gretchen Wilson, Howie Dorough, Buddy Jewel, Intruder, and many more. Brett also worked as an independent engineer, for various publishing companies, including, Peer Music, BMG, Sony, EMI, Warner-Chappel, various record labels and many studios throughout Nashville, Arkansas and Louisiana. Brett also has years of experience in studio construction and has constructed and designed several rooms and acoustic treatment for studios in Nashville, as well as, designed and built a mobile recording studio in Mesa, AZ. One of Brett's many hobbies is designing acoustical treatments for rooms using very small budgets and common materials found at most hardware stores. As a hobby, he also makes some great hot sauces.

Keith has spent the last 30 years in many different rolls in the audio business. Starting in the 1980’s as owner of ESP Sound & Lighting he provided sound and lighting systems for concert acts such as Pantera, Tool, Peter Frampton, and 100’s of other top touring bands. ESP also designed and installed many sound systems for churches, night clubs, and lecture halls like; Lattie F. Coor Auditorium at ASU, Sikh Darma Temple of Phoenix, Radiant Church, Toby Keith’s “I Love This Bar” in Phoenix, The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas and many, many more. Morris served as front of house (FOH) engineer for the band UFO and also mixed their Werewolf's In London live CD. Other FOH positions were with the Michael Schenker Group and John Norum (former guitarist for the band Europe) and Force it Live in Japan.

Pro Audio Seminars run by Robert Scovill also enlists Keith to teach the FFT fundamentals portion of The Complete FOH Seminars held all over the country.

Originally from Northern California, Phillip Nichols has been working with Pro Tools and other DAWs since 2002. He has worked with artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Robert Cray, The Killers, Keaton Simons, Michelle Branch, Smashmouth, and The Lovemakers. He specializes in Pro Tools software, vocal tuning, large format analog console operations, and synchronization.

A self-admitted "audio addict" with a particular weakness for old tube amps, Phillip has a strong passion for technology, music and his students’ success. He also teaches the TC Electronic System 6000 time-based and mastering processor, and is the engineer/guitarist for the project Anita|Exira.

At CRAS, Tony primarily teaches Solid State Logic large format console recording and mixing production along with theory and applications of dynamic processors.

Tony became obsessed with recording his own music at an early age, and later he turned it into his career. While living in New York City, Tony worked at Classic Sound studios where he recorded orchestral and symphonic music, including sessions at the historic Carnegie Hall. Tony also worked on recordings for artists such as Ravi Shankar (Live at Carnegie Hall); André Previn (Live at the Jazz Standard); David Finck; Broadway musical writer William Finn and The MET Chamber Ensemble conducted by James Levine.

In Arizona, Tony has worked with a varied roster of artists like The Foo Fighters, Jessie McGuire Mel Brown and Evanescence, for whom he has done mixes for their Yahoo! Music Live Sets. Rounding off his resume, Tony has also done work for instrument manufacturers such as Fender Musical Instruments and Hughes & Kettner. He is also a contributing writer for Mix Magazine.

Starting at SoundMaster Recording in Chicago back in 1971, Glen is entering his fifth decade in the music/recording industry. "Back then, we had an 8-track Scully tape machine, and thought we died and went to heaven! Working with gear and microphones now viewed as 'vintage'... It was great!"

Glen started his own label back in the ‘90s, which focused on 5.1 channel, surround music. During this period he garnered much personal experience in contracts, distribution, copyright, trademark, and many other topics that Glen teaches today in the CRAS Music Business Department. Glen is a US Naval Air veteran, involved with underwater acoustics - a fascinating tangent dealing with properties of sound underwater.

Cory has worked as the head audio engineer for the Improv Comedy Club in Tempe, Arizona, where he recorded SNL’s Darrell Hammond, Comedy Central’s Carlos Mencia, actors Kevin Pollack and Nick Swardson, Fear Factor’s Joe Rogan and Celebrity Fit Club’s ANT among others. Aside from teaching at CRAS, Cory continues to work as a freelance audio engineer; this includes regular live sound duties at Alice Cooper’s, Cooperstown. Cory is certified in the operation of EAW’s Smaart software, Digidesign’s Pro Tools and the JBL VerTec line array audio system.

Before attending the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences, Cory attended Northwest College in Wyoming, where he received an Associates degree in Music.

As an instructor of console and synchronization classes, Paul is always looking for ways to make his students’ time at CRAS an experience beyond schooling.

In addition to being a CRAS instructor, Paul runs Small Planet Audio, a mobile multitrack recording service; he has recorded over 150 concerts of the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, capturing performances by Yo-Yo Ma, Andre Watts, Evelyn Glennie, and Hilary Hahn. His engineering credits include Delcoa, Ben Ripani, Ashley E. Norton, Redemption's Call, Jay Allan, Out Of Reverie, Grove Street, Shannon Carlton, Phoenix Youth Symphony, and the St. Olaf’s College Symphony Orchestra. He has edited audio books, including "Strange Things Happen," the biography of Stewart Copeland (the Police).

Paul is also the Audio Director and Head Engineer for Resonation Multimedia, a Phoenix-based company working nationally with colleges, universities, high schools, community bands, and churches to record and monetize concert performances.

Additionally, he has been a product review writer for Pro Audio Review magazine and is a graduate of both CRAS and Michigan State University.

Jason has been involved in recording as well as performing (guitar and singing) music since 1992 and has been working with MIDI and digital music since 1995. He is an Apple certified trainer in Logic, as well as being certified in ProTools and Reason. He is also experienced in Cakewalk Sonar, web programming and graphic design. Jason’s “extracurricular activities” include singing with the band “Save Kenny” as well as engineering live recordings for local artists. He also has a degree in Communications from Utah State University.

Eli Teaches classes in Pro Tools, introduction to the C|24, D-room surround sound, Melodyne and Reason. A guitarist who works on original music in his home project studio, Eli has also engineered “front of house” for artists such as Yellow Second, Showbread, O.C. Supertones, former members of Five Iron Frenzy and Roper. His outside interests include serving as the Director of Sound for the Tempe Vineyard Church. Before attending the Conservatory, Eli received a B.S. degree from Colorado State University- Pueblo where he studied Mass Communications with an emphasis in radio broadcasting and a minor in music. Eli is a collector of guitars, action figures and LEGO.

Nancy Scharlau is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. Her passion for recording live music eventually led her to relocate to San Francisco where she worked as a staff assistant / engineer for six years at Different Fur Recording. While in the Bay Area, Nancy had the opportunity to work with a diverse group of artists including, George Winston, Primus, Faith No More, Bobby McFerrin, Thomas Dolby and Henry Butler. She is also the owner and operator of Joey Mobile Recording.

Nancy brings 20 years of engineering experience to her students, and says, “The audio industry is always changing so I find it very exciting to be in a continuous learning cycle. As soon as I learn something new I can’t wait to pass it along to the students.”

Jeff brings over a decade of major-label level experience to CRAS. Working with notable producers like David Foster, Trevor Horn, Nile Rodgers, and Tony Visconti, he has earned 7 Platinum and 3 Gold Records while engineering at such renowned Los Angeles studios as the Village Recorder, Royaltone, Sunset Sound, and Conway. Jeff won a Grammy working with legendary producer Quincy Jones. Jeff’s other engineering credits include Don Henley, Rod Stewart, Smashing Pumpkins, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, Paula Abdul and the Rolling Stones.

Joining the CRAS team in 2006, Bradley has worked as Chief Engineer for several studios in Arizona where he has recorded over 50 bands and solo artists. His engineering credits include albums for labels such as Century Media, Hammermill, and Storms of Steel. Artists he has worked with include Matthew Moon, Scott Kusmirek of the Gin Blossoms, national award-winning guitarist Richard "The Crawdaddy" Dance, A Breath Before Surfacing, Pantheon, Our Daily Trespasses, Pathetic, and many, many more.

Bradley has also worked in Live Sound, running front-of-house for shows that range from small clubs and bars, to large scale venues with head counts in the thousands, he has mixed live bands for broadcast on NBC, continued to record as a freelance engineer, recorded audio for video games, and run front-of-house for the Venue of Scottsdale during their New Year's Block Party.

Ghery is a free-lance Engineer who has worked at Track Record in Hollywood, CA, the Hit Factory and Sony Studio C in New York, NY, and at La Fountaine in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has worked on projects with producers Quincy Jones, Brendan O'Brien, Andy Wallace, Jimbo Barton and Tony Peluso. As an engineer, he has been awarded Platinum records for his work with Kiss, and Quincy Jones (Q's Jook Joint). He has also worked in the studio with Iggy Pop, Belinda Carlisle, Weezer, and Lauren Christy.

Ghery is also a published writer/songwriter. As a musician, he has played bass on recordings for the Dogg Pound, and Michele'.

Jason is the head of the CRAS IT Department and specializes in student laptop support, including software and hardware support, and continuing education with Apple. He is a Digidesign certified Pro Tools instructor and creator of the Conservatory's 5 Tiered Pro Tools certification program. In addition to Pro Tools instruction and curriculum development, he is an APSA certified adult educator, Conservatory AES faculty advisor, and has designed certifications for Antares and Propellerhead software companies.

Jason is the head engineer and studio manager of a private studio in Phoenix, AZ. As an engineer and studio repair technician, Jason has worked with Adam Sandler, Nick Swardson, Todd Glass, Amare Stoudemire, and members of Lyle Lovett's large band.

Starting from a very young age, Jess built his foundation for both audio recording and computer technology. He spent his youth immersed in the technological arts spending all of his spare time playing guitar, composing and arranging his own style of experimental/electronic music, learning digital imaging and computer networking. This “techno-journey” led him through many experiences, from radio station personality, studio engineer and now network administrator and instructor.

Jess is certified in Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Reason, and AutoTune. He takes part in the continuing Pro Tools Tier Certifications, as well as AutoTune Certifications, and specializes in Apple computers and Mac OS X.