Brian Jackson

Brian is the creator of the Music Producer’s Guide coaching app for Studio.com.

Brian is an expert instructor with over 20 years of teaching experience. He is equally comfortable lecturing to large groups or providing one-on-one training, with students ranging from true beginners to Grammy winners. As one of the first five Ableton Certified Trainers in the world—certified at the inaugural event in May 2008 in NYC—he has played a pivotal role in music production education. He was co-owner and director of education at Devotion Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which also served as his Ableton Certified Training Center. Additionally, Brian is the author of numerous Ableton Live tutorial videos across various platforms, including Skillshare.com, and has served as the technical editor for multiple books on Ableton Live and Pro Tools, among others.

Since moving from San Francisco to NYC in 2002, Brian has taught music production and audio engineering privately and at institutions such as SAE, IAR, The New School, and DMX Touro. Beyond instruction, he has also served as the electronic music program coordinator at SAE and curriculum director at Dubspot. Currently, he is a senior instructor and head of curriculum at 343 Labs. This diverse experience has given him a unique perspective on audio and music production education—he knows what works and what tends to fall short for most students.

Brian’s involvement in DIY, independent, and underground music culture began in Detroit over three decades ago. He continues to produce electronic music in various styles and play bass in bands. His past roles include promoting club events, attempting a record label, and DJ’ing after-hours parties. His work—spanning award-winning experimental video art, indie games, and TV shows like “99 – Wer schlägt sie alle?” and “24”—has been heard worldwide. He has released solo works and remixes under the pseudonyms Infinite Volume and Ciphony, was half of the conceptual retro-future electro synth A/V duo Memory Systems, and co-founded the genre-bending band I Am Spoonbender (1997–2000). Whether serving as a recording engineer, mastering engineer, remixer, sound designer, or consultant, he has collaborated with artists and organizations such as Tribes of Neurot (Neurosis), Idris Elba, Chris Baio (Vampire Weekend), Bombay Dub Orchestra, Chemlab, DJ Riz, Ableton, Access Music, d16, and supporting members of David Bowie, The B-52s, Cyndi Lauper, and Rufus Wainwright.

Brian earned a BS in Sociology and Philosophy from Western Michigan University and an MA in East-West Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies (San Francisco). He lives and works at his studio, Form Labs, in Brooklyn, NYC.