Rob Fedson, Director of Education, Campus Director  - rob@mediatechinstitute.com
Rob Fedson has an extensive background in Music, Technology, Business and Education.
As a Performer he has appeared on national television, stage and recordings with industry giants
like George Strait, Paul Shaffer, Dave Brubeck, Marvin Hamlish and many more. Rob still maintains
an active schedule as a jazz performer. As an Educator he has taught music from primary grades
through University level and has been published in several educational and music industry trade
journals and textbooks. A recognized authority on music technology, Rob spent years as a clinician
for various software and hardware manufacturers such as Yamaha, Opcode Systems and Coda
Music Technology. As a business leader and administrator Rob spent over a decade with Apple
Computer, Inc. Managing training organizations around the world. Rob holds a Bachelor of Music
Education degree and a Master of Music degree focused on Percussion Performance.




Dan Childers, Instructor, AUD101 -  dan@mediatechinstitute.com
Dan holds a BA in Music from the University of Texas at Arlington where he studied among other
things, classical guitar with Charles Postlewate.

In Austin, Dan works as a freelance engineer and producer working out of various studios recording
a wide variety of music and artists.  Dan specializes in live recording and has engineered recordings
for the Austin City Limits Music Festival and engineered live recordings for The Allman Brothers,
The Black Crowes, Buddy Guy, The Robert Randolph Family Band, Guv’t Mule, Lyle Lovett,
Los Lobos, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and Franz Ferdinand.

Dan also works as a staff engineer at the Fine Arts Recording Studio and has engineered recordings
for The Austin Symphony, The Austin Lyric Opera and The UT Jazz Orchestra.

He has worked in studios in Atlanta, GA with Chuck Jopski at Summerhouse Sound, held positions
as staff engineer for Rising Star Records and mastering engineer for New Age Voice.

Dan has been committed to music technology education for ten years: teaching at Austin Community College for six years and an instructor at Mediatech Austin for Five years.

After moving to Austin Texas, and after additional study and an internship, he became part of the
recording staff for the University of Texas / Fine Arts Recording Studio and recorded various classical
and jazz artists as well as UT students and faculty. Concurrent with the Fine Arts Studio position,
he took on the job of Studio Manager for the then brand new Austin Community College Recording
Studio. He also worked on various projects in the Austin area such as the solo debut by local artist
Bill Small. After some time in Austin, Dan moved to Atlanta Georgia where he did work for commercial facility Summerhouse Sound Productions. While at Summerhouse, Dan worked with various Atlanta
artists such as The Marianne Faithfuls, The Charms, Too Far Gone, and local indie rock favorites,
Nillah. In addition, Dan held a position at Rising Star Records doing mostly remote classical
recordings. Projects include The Georgia Music Educators Association Band, Choir, and Orchestra Competitions and the Six Flags Over Georgia Music festivals. Dan also held a position as Mastering Engineer for New Age Voice. After his tenure in Atlanta, Dan returned home to Texas where he
teaches Audio at MediaTech Institute’s Austin branch and Austin Community College. He also holds
a staff position at UT Austin Fine Arts Recording Studio where his work includes recordings for the
UT Jazz Orchestra, The Austin Symphony Orchestra, and production for the weekly KMFA radio
show Performance at UT.

John “Mac” McDonnell, Department Chair: Live Sound Reinforcement, Career Services,
Austin, Instructor AUD401, BCM101 -  mac@mediatechinstitute.com
Mac started his professional 1 month after graduating from college. It was a case of being in the
right place at the right time. He went to work for Stanal Sound, Ltd in Kearney, Nebraska. His first
tour was with Johnny Cash. At Stanal he also toured with John Denver, Olivia Newton John,
Paul Simon, Donavan, and many others. He left Stanal Sound as Vice President of the Touring
Division to go to work for himself. This found him in Austin, TX.

After 3 months in Austin, he met Kirk Whalum, 8-time Grammy Nominated Saxophonist. Kirk had
just released his first Vinyl record on Columbia Jazz and was at the very beginning of his career.
Again, Mac was in the right place at the right time. After a few months of mixing miscellaneous
shows for Kirk, he hired Mac as his Tour Manager and Front of House Engineer. 22 years and
18 records later, they are still on the road together. This relationship with Kirk has led to many
other tours with jazz artists like Larry Carlton, Bob James, Fourplay, 4 Guitars and Saxe’s tours,
Wayman Tisdale, Warren Hill, BWB, Philippe Saisse, plus many production management gigs.
He has toured the world with these artist’s and has Kirk to thank for this continuation of his career.

In 2004, Mac received a call to teach a Live Sound and Production Class at Mediatech Institute in
Austin. Having never taught, Mac was quite apprehensive about facing young inquiring minds.
After the first session, Mac found he really enjoyed watching the “bulb go off” as the young students understood various audio principles. He is now the Department Chair of the Live Sound Department
and is also the Placement person for the Austin Campus.

Mac's world travels as a professional sound man have finally combined with his love of photography
to represent Mac's newest passion in business Mac McDonnell Photography, an online digital photo distribution business founded in 2008. Check out Mac's beautiful pictures at his web site here >>




Michael Mordecai, Instructor, BOM101 - michael@mediatechinstitute.com
Michael Mordecai is a freelance trombone player and is the musician/contractor for the Performing
Arts Center, Paramount Theater, Riverbend Church, and Austin City Limits.  He has recorded and performed with Beto & the Fairlanes, Willie Nelson, Little Joe y la Familia, Carole King, Maynard
Ferguson and more.  

He owns BBA/Management & Booking and  Fable Records. Through BBA, he has booked bands for concerts, clubs, and parties. As president of Fable Records he has produced several albums.

He has been both a guest artist and a guest speaker for several colleges in Texas including the
University of Texas, Texas Tech, and North Texas State University. He has taught music business
courses at Southwest Texas University and Austin Community College in the areas of Music
Business: Overview, Management, and Concert Promotion.

He has served on the Austin Music Commission, the Austin Federation of Musicians Board
of Directors, Board of Governors for the National Association of Recording Arts & Sciences
(the Grammys) and is past State President of the Texas Music Association.




Craig Robinson, Instructor, AUD102.201 - craig@mediatechinstitute.com
Craig holds a BA in Music with an emphasis in Sound Recording Technology from Southwest
Texas State University. He teaches MIDI and Pro Tools classes as well as the freshman recording
labs for SWT. Over the years Craig has consulted with a hundred plus clients regarding their
MIDI / recording needs and has engineered over a dozen projects with local bands from the
Beaumont and Austin areas. We welcome Craig’s experience and enthusiasm as an audio
instructor for MediaTech Institute in Austin.




Mark Wilson, Instructor, AUD301 - m.wilson@mediatechinstitute.com
Mark Wilson developed his love of the Performing Arts at an early age. His grandmother - an organist
and a vocalist, who taught grade school choir, and his mother - also an organist/pianist and flutist, encouraged him with piano lessons at an early age. When he entered sixth grade Mark was
encouraged to join the middle school band as a trombonist. Since those early years he has been
involved with the Performing Arts. Mark is an accomplished musician, award-winning Songwriter,
and Film and Multimedia Composer who has been producing audio and performing professionally
since 1980.

He has performed in bands and as a solo artist. His skills as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist
(including piano, guitar, bass, drums, mandolin, violin, and trombone) led him to become Lead
Composer for Austin based software developer Human Code Inc., between 1993 and 2002,
creating music for many award winning software titles released during that time for clients such
as Discovery Channel Multimedia, Knowledge Adventure, Motorola, IBM, Dell, CBS, and Disney
Interactive and artists such as Garth Brooks. During his years at Human Code Inc. Mark spent a
great deal of time as an Audio Director for the Business to Business group, and a Script Editor and
Talent Director, where he cast local and national level talent for their voice acting and on camera
skills. Mark has also worked professionally as an on camera actor, voice actor, and on the stage as
a Magician. He has also appeared in several independent films and stage productions. Including the
short Independent horror film “Dark Light” where he portrayed an aging magician and he created all
of the audio for and appeared in the cult favorite Counting Crows parody video “Dr. Jones”.
His music has appeared on web sites, Kiosks at Disney’s Epcot center, corporate training and
marketing videos, independent films, and his tracks can even be heard backing up some of magic’s
greatest performers.

He has scored several documentaries and Independent films including Elizabeth Fernia’s
“The Road to Peace: Israelis and Palestinians” and “The Rise and Fall of Booker T. Cox” and
the winner of the Famecast season 4 online film contest “Playing Chicken” both directed by
Bradley Jackson. Mark has served as both Panelist and Mentor at the annual SXSW Multi Media
conference held each year in Austin Texas, and his name appeared in print when he was recognized
by Electronic Musician magazine for his work on “The Cartoon History of the Universe”. Twice he
has been co-winner of the "Best Rock Song" category of the Austin Songwriters Songwriting Contest
that is held each year in Austin, Texas. When he is not performing music or magic and writing music,
Mark works as a music and video technology Consultant and Educator. Besides teaching at
MediaTech Institute, Mark has held the position of “Adjunct Professor” at Austin Community College
since 1999 and has taught in both the Commercial Music Management and Radio Television and
Film departments. In addition to teaching, performing, and scoring films, Mark owns and operates Entertaining Solutions, a company that specializes in offering solutions for live events and audio/visual productions. Mark currently lives in Georgetown Texas with his wife and two daughters.






Mark Nathan, Instructor, AUD401 - mnathan@mediatechinstitute.com
Mark Nathan began his interest in music when he received a guitar from his grandmother on his
9th birthday.  He continued playing in bands, cover and original, continually through high school and college.  At Brown University, he studied modern culture and media (similar to an RTF degree), and
took full advantage of the 16-track ADAT studio which was offered to electronic music students.
During college, a very close friend dropped out to return to Austin to pursue a career with a band.
After a few visits to Austin, Mark was hooked, and decided to move there after graduation in 1994.

Once in Austin, he quickly found himself playing in several indie/punk bands, consistently playing
in Austin and doing some touring in the US and some festivals abroad. The bands were always
broke, so getting a quality recording was difficult, but necessary to keep the bands moving forward.
Using his old college recordings and practical experience to get his foot in the door, he landed an internship, which eventually led him to intern at Bismeaux studio, which is owned by Ray Benson
of Asleep at the Wheel.  Mark worked up to the staff employment that was available, and got to
engineer many sessions there.  He received a participation Grammy award for engineering on the
Asleep at the Wheel track “Cherokee Maiden,” which won a Grammy in 2000. 

Bismeaux did some major downsizing in 2001, so Mark began to freelance at several other Austin
studios, including Congress House, Top Hat, and Stardog.  Working at several different studios was
a great experience, and Mark learned to use analog, ADATs, DAW’s like Pro Tools and Nuendo, and became familiar with many different mics and pieces of outboard gear. During this period, he opened
his own studio with a few partners.  Mark designed and helped build the studio at a location that
formerly housed a metal shop. The studio was open for three years, and evolved from 1” 16 track
to 2” 24 track with digital. 

To make ends meet, all throughout his studio career Mark supplemented his income by doing
live sound. He has done a fair amount of FOH mixing at Emos, and contract work for Music Lab,
a local company which does PA and backline rentals. He also did several U.S. tours doing
monitors for a major label artist. 

Upon recommendation from a local studio owner, Mark came to Mediatech in 2006 as a lab
supervisor, providing one on one instruction to students working on projects. He continues to
serve in that capacity, and also teaches the 401 live sound class at the Austin campus.     




Jon Carroll, Instructor, AUD101 - dub@mediatechinstitute.com
Jon Carroll, aka Jonny Dub, has been performing live as a solo artist and bandleader for over
5 years, and producing records for 8. His current projects include his solo debut, 'Atom No. 5,' an
LP with singer / songwriter Gustavo Monsante, and a 3 song EP with bluesman Gabriel Allen.
Other credits include Producer / Engineer for the Badanks, “Experience,” Producer on Jimi Lee’s
‘Pocketful of Soul,’ and Assitant Engineer on Dan Dyer’s self-titled album. Jon teaches Audio 101,
and plays frequently around Austin solo acoustic, fronting the Jonny Dub Band, and with Kari
Kuwamura in their project Kua Dub. Jonny lives with his dog Ringo, and enjoys spending time
with his girlfriend Lauren.




Cameron Rogers, Admissions Representative - cam@mediatechinstitute.com
Cam is a product of the MediaTech Institute Recording Arts Program and remains an active part
of the Austin music scene while serving as the specialist in admissions and enrollment for the Austin campus. As well as recording & engineering many local Austin bands, Cam plays the drums and
creates electronic beats. He has provided rhythm tracks for several Texas hip-hop, rock and
electronica artists. Recently, his music was featured in the independent documentary film
"$2.13/hour". Among numerous other performances with his rock band, SpaceTruck, Cam has
twice performed on stage at the prestigious Austin City Limits Music Festival. Cam and his band
also won an Austin Music Award in 2003 for 'Best Jam / Space / Experimental Rock Band'.




Chris Kachilla, Financial Aid Advisor/Student Services - ck@mediatechinstitute.com
Chris Kachilla has been a musician all of his life, from piano training as a young lad, through
trumpet and french horn performances during high school, to self-training on bass guitar during
college. After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin (Bachelor of Arts Pre-Med), where
he enjoyed three years as the electric bass player for the UT Basketball Band, he began his journey
into the art of audio recording studying audio engineering at Houston Community College followed
by many years of experimentation and practice. He especially enjoys capturing the ‘magic’ of improvisational sessions with skilled musicians. He often records his band of twelve years,
Low Rent. He worked for ten years in the restaurant industry in Austin and Houston and spent six
years as a computer technician in San Antonio and Austin. He now distributes his time between
his family, MediaTech, playing basketball, and making and recording music.




Spencer Braly - s.braly@mediatechinstitute.com
Spencer grew up in Tyler, Texas, where he started playing guitar at 14 and was soon playing
in his father’s band. And became was active in the technical side of local theatre productions.
After graduating high school he attended MediaTech Institute in Dallas and received his diploma
from the Recording Arts Program in 2003. Spencer moved to Austin and started working for the
MediaTech campus there as a studio manager. He has worked as a tape-operator for three Austin
City Limits Festivals, and he has engineered shows during four South by Southwest Music Festivals.
He also has played and toured actively with many bands during his time in Austin, opening up for
bands like Riddlin Kids, Fall From Grace, and U.S. Bombs. He is also a founding member of
Bean Dip Records, a punk-rock label. Currently, Spencer has set his sights on his solo act
performing and recording under the moniker Spin.




Charlie Guidry - c.guidry@mediatechinstitute.com
Charlie Guidry, an audio engineer by trade and musician by heart, is a Lab Technician at
Mediatech's Austin campus. After graduating from Mediatech's Audio Engineering program in
2004, Charlie went on to provide sound support for bands such as the Wailers, Medeski Martin
and Wood, The Roots, The Nevelle Brothers, Cake, Deep Dish, Desmond Williams, Mark Farina,
and Charles Feelgood and engineered albums by artists such as The Alpha Rhythm, OHN,
Dead End Lake, Steamroller, Spoiled Royals, The Thulsa Doom, and On the One. His most
memorable work includes assisting during Robert Plant's studio session at Arlyn Studios in 2005.
In addition to his work with Mediatech, Charlie is Co-owner and Director of Music Production at
Earthbird Music and produces original tracks and remixes for commercial release. His work has
been featured in a variety of television and film projects including productions by Synthetic Pictures
and Phame Factory. He is also the bass player for Spoiled Royals, a Texas boogie rock outfit
currently touring in the Southern US. You can befriend Charlie on MySpace by visiting www.myspace.com/charlieguidry.




Henry Hilliard - henry@mediatechinstitute.com
Henry credits his Grandfather’s playing old Mexican tunes on piano as his inspiration.
Henry started playing violin at the age of 8. He moved to the Cello and Stand up bass at the
age of 9. Henry found the guitar at 10 and has never  looked back. At 15 he played in Punk
rock bands in Corpus Christi with some of the best musicians there to date. Henry entered the
Navy at the age of 18 and was a Flight Deck Director on the USS Eisenhower. In the Navy he
enjoyed playing in a Rock band with "again" great musicians. Henry served for 3 years then
moved to San Antonio and played with another rock band, which he wrote music for. After playing
with the band for 5 years Henry moved to Austin to help out on his parents ranch and the band
broke up. In Austin Henry discovered Mediatech. He started experimenting with Cakewalk
products around 2000 and has been interested in recording ever since. Henry is fluent in
Protools, Micing techniques, Reason 4, and he has a great way of getting along with people.




Jacob Sciba - j.sciba@mediatechinstitute.com
Jacob Sciba is one of Austin’s busiest audio engineers and squeezes in time to also work as
a lab supervisor at MediaTech Institute, Austin campus. Originally from Tyler, Texas, Jacob has
been playing and recording music since he was 13 years old. As a bass player, he studied jazz
throughout grade school and continues to play and write today.  As an audio engineer, Jacob
started his professional career after graduating from MediaTech Institute in Austin in early 2003.
He is the studio operations manager and staff engineer at Pedernales Studio as well as a lab
supervisor at MediaTech Institute in Austin.  He has professionally recorded such artists as
Willie Nelson, Ray Price, Robert Plant, Gov’t Mule, Warren Haynes, Taj Mahal, Johnny Bush,
Nashville Pussy, The Los Lonely Boys, documentary film “Before the Music Dies,” and many
of Austin’s favorite local bands.




Daysha Taylor - daysha@mediatechinstitute.com
When she's not busy managing Mediatech"s online social media properties, Daysha Taylor is
the Associated Editor at Pluck. As an editor for Pluck's BlogBurst product, Daysha manages the
placement blog content on mainstream publisher sites such as Reuters, USAToday, and FoxNews.
She is also CEO of Earthbird Music www.earthbirdmusic.com and manages the booking,
music / video catalog, and online presence of artists such as the Sangre del Sol Fire Troupe,
Keister, Afrofreque, Tolera Storm, and the Alpha Rhythm. Prior to her work with Pluck, Daysha
was an editor covering the Entertainment, Leisure, Film, and Media industries at Hoovers,
a leading provider of online business insight and information. You may learn more about
Daysha’s work by visiting www.earthbirdmusic.com




Shawn Worley - shawn@mediatechinstitute.com
Shawn Shawn R. Worley Studio Tech DOB: 8/2/77 Birthplace: Dallas Texas,
Company: Mindzi Productions Instruments: Guitar(guitar instruction),Bass, Instrumental
Programmer. Live Sound Gigs include: Ice Cube,Talib Kweli, Drowning Pool, Hellified Funk Crew,
The Sword, The Dillinger Escape Plan,Pyrexia, Dead Static, Longboard Ranch,The Adicts,
Jonny Mancilla, Bang Tango, The Rezillos, Pimpadellic, UK Subs, EJ Emmons, Ian Moore,
The Zodiacs.




Robert Zipp - zipp@mediatechinstitute.com
Robert, aka Zipp, is a sixth generation Texan. Born in Beaumont, he attended school there until
moving to College Station where he finished high school at A&M Consolidated. He then obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, where he also enjoyed writing and recording music with his friends. After a few years of working “regular” jobs, he found out about
MediaTech Institute and applied immediately. He graduated in May of  2008 and was then offered
a job as one of two “weekend night guys” that he happily accepted. His technical title is
Studio Technician. 

Robert enjoys working for Media Tech at Arlyn Studio in Austin. He loves to help students when
problems arise as well as helping them with side recording projects. He plays piano whenever he can,
and loves to have a go at any other instrument he can get in his hands.

If you have any questions about Media Tech’s recording program from a former student’s perspective,
or any questions about living in Austin, TX, feel free to email Robert: zipp@mediatechinstitute.com.



DJ Pennington - dj@mediatechinstitute.com
David “DJ” Pennington is a recent graduate of the MediaTech Institute Recording Arts Program
and an Austin native. While in school, David distinguished himself as a bright student with a passion
for all things audio. He combines this passion with his life long pursuits as a musician to bring both
strong technical skills and a “good ear” to his work with the students and staff at MediaTech.
David stays busy as a self-employed producer and live sound engineer for several churches and
faith based performers in and around Austin.





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