Chairs

• 

  Rob Jaczko

  Title: Chair
  Department: Music Production and Engineering

  "The ongoing goals for the Music Production and Engineering Department are centered in three critical areas: curriculum, faculty, and facilities. Every topic, class, and assignment has been evaluated for its relevance, emphasis, timing, and balance. And with 12 studios operating 22 hours per day, seven days per week, it is critical to maintain a state-of-the-art technical infrastructure.

  "Our MP&E graduates have the distinct advantage of being world-class, Berklee-educated musicians and having deep training in production and engineering topics. The education that we supply arms graduates with skills that transcend fads or genres. It's an education that has a long lifespan. We know this is true, as we've enjoyed watching our alumni receive numerous Grammy Awards each year, and even Academy Awards for their work in film. This industry validation speaks volumes.

  "As a teacher I am patient, but demanding. I'm still very excited about the craft of recording and record production. And if students are going to excel in the industry, they are going to have to display an intense passion for the process and an unflagging work ethic. I really respond to students who are eager to learn and willing to go all out to achieve their goals.

  "The best thing about teaching—flat out—is the students. In MP&E, our application process to the major is so competitive that our students have to be extremely focused, passionate, and driven to succeed. I'm addicted to that type of energy."

  • B.M., Berklee College of Music
  • Independent record producer and recording engineer
  • Former staff engineer at A&M Studios, Hollywood, California
  • Credits include Vinnie Colaiuta, Sheryl Crow, Hall and Oates, Don Henley, Graham Nash, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Ron Wood, Warren Zevon, and others
  • Former president, On Site Entertainment, specializing in new media/Internet development

  Related Links:

  • http://www.jaczko.com

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• 

  Daniel M. Thompson

  Title: Assistant Chair
  Department: Music Production and Engineering

  "From the production side, it's easy to lose sight of that ultimate goal by getting 'lost in the toys.' Obviously when you're in school it's important to try out a lot of different techniques, and to get facile with the tools. But ultimately we want to make the technology disappear—to be in service of the process and the creative moment. We're trying to get out of the way, to be masters of the tools and not slaves to them.

  "One of the most important lessons I learned while at Harvard is that there isn't necessarily one single truth; facts and circumstances can be interpreted in various ways. I took away the realization that two perfectly intelligent and thoughtful people can completely disagree, given the same facts.

  "I think that has certainly informed my teaching style. I tend to emphasize critical thinking and problem solving. We look at a situation and try to come up with the best approach, understanding that, in fact, people can have different approaches to the same problem.

  "We see those differences all the time. We have some very high-profile visiting artists come through MP&E and get to watch them record or mix. They each get spectacular results, but through vastly different approaches. It reinforces the fact that each of us needs to go through our own process to get to the ultimate goal: the intended emotional impact that connects an artist with a listener.

  "From the production side, it's easy to lose sight of that ultimate goal by getting 'lost in the toys.' Obviously when you're in school it's important to try out a lot of different techniques, and to get facile with the tools. But ultimately we want to make the technology disappear—to be in service of the process and the creative moment. We're trying to get out of the way, to be masters of the tools and not slaves to them.

  "In this field the tools change so quickly that learning is less about the tool itself than it is about the process of learning. It's also about gaining the confidence that, even if you haven't seen something before, you know you can approach learning it in the same way you've approached everything else you've learned."

  • B.M., Berklee College of Music
  • B.A., Harvard College
  • Independent writer, producer, and recording engineer
  • Writing, production, and engineering credits include work for Geffen, Stone Bone, and Coil Records, feature films such as Swimfan (20th Century Fox) and The Sweetest Thing (Sony Pictures), primetime network and cable television series such as ER, The Sopranos, CSI Miami, Providence, Melrose Place, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Soul Food, and Touched by an Angel, and numerous network and cable television movies on NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, UPN, WB, Showtime, and HBO
  • Author of the textbook Understanding Audio: Getting the Most Out of Your Project or Professional Recording Studio (Berklee Press/Hal Leonard)
  • Author of the Berkleemusic.com online course Critical Listening
  • Author of articles on music technology for Electronic Musician, EQ, and SB&O (Student Band and Orchestra) magazines
  • Presenter and clinician on music technology topics at the Panama Jazz Festival and at the Universidad de San Francisco de Quito
  • Member AES, ASCAP, and NARAS

  Related Links:

  • Study Online with Dan Thompson

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  Top Five Producers

  	Russ Titelman Including Rickie Lee Jones’s Rickie Lee Jones and Steve Winwood’s Back in the High Life. Three-time Grammy winner, brilliant old-school producer, able to help mold the sound of a new artist or reinvent the sound of a veteran.
  	Hugh Padgham Including the Police’s Ghost In the Machine and Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales. Multi-Grammy-winning producer and engineer, master of the clean British pop sound.
  	Rick Rubin Including Tom Petty’s Wildflowers and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Stadium Arcadium. The Zen master of production, cofounder of Def Jam while still in college, seemingly able to work magic with any kind of artist, from L.L Cool J to NIN to the Dixie Chicks.
  	Daniel Lanois Including Peter Gabriel’s So, Emmylou Harris’s Wrecking Ball, and most of U2’s catalog. Gifted songwriter/singer/guitarist/artist, Lanois has brought his edgy and atmospheric experimentation to a host of all-time seminal records.
  	Prince Genius.