Nicholas Drashner
Sound Designer/Projection Designer/Composer
ndrashne@kent.edu
O: 330.672.3172
www.drashner.com
Education
Master of Fine Arts in Sound Design for Theatre and Dance 2009-2012
University of California San Diego
Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts - Music 2004-2008
University of California San Diego
Summary of Skills
Sound
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Audio System Design and Optimization, Electroacoustic Composition, Spatialization
Interface Design and Implementation, Recording/Editing/Mixing/Mastering, Live Audio Mixing
Computer Music, Improvised Performance, Immersive Media, Interactivity
Yamaha DM2000, Yamaha 01V, DiGiCo SD9, Behringer X32, Native Instruments
Qlab, ProTools, Reaper, Ableton Live, Studio Manager, Smaart, MAPP, Melodyne
Video
• Isadora, After Effects, Photoshop, Watchout, Mad Mapper, Touch Designer
• Final Cut Pro, Adobe Suite, Jitter, GEM, Vectorworks
Computing
• Software Development, Max/MSP/Jitter, Max for Live, Pure Data, C++, VST Programming
Teaching Experience
Assistant Professor of Sound Design for Theatre
Kent State University
Sound and Design Technology II - 2015
Making Theatre: Culture and Practice - 2015
Graphics for Theatre - 2015
Adjunct Lecturer
University of California San Diego
Introduction to Sound Design for Theatre – 2012, 2013, 2014
Teaching Assistant
University of California San Diego
Introduction to Design - 2012
Introduction to Design - 2011
Sound Practicum - 2011
Introduction to Theatre - 2011
Sound Practicum - 2010
Introduction to Theatre - 2009
Guest Lectures on Sound Design for Theatre
“Synthesis and Sound Design” Course at The Art Institute of California, San Diego - Winter 2013
“Synthesis and Sound Design” Course at The Art Institute of California, San Diego - Spring 2013
“Introduction to Theatre” Course at University of California, San Diego - Fall 2012
Sound Design for Theatre
Orpheus & Eurydice
Kitimat
In The Next Room
The Astronaut Farmworker
Suzette Who Set to Sea
Orpheus & Eurydice
The Nutcracker
Kingdom City
Fool For Love
Beijing Spring
Lifeblood and Harmony
Macbeth
Suzette Who Set to Sea
The Amish Project
Man with a Load of Mischief
Chagall
Perfect Wedding
One Hundred Feet
Lonely Boys Guide to Survival
Words By
Topdog/Underdog
A Man, His Wife, and His Hat
Spring Awakening
Live in the Wake
A Man, His Wife, and His Hat
Kasimir and Karoline
Body Parts
Phantom Band
Fish Without a Bicycle
The Trip Theatre @ Theatrelab
Pomona College
Pomona College
La Jolla Playhouse 2015 Pop Tour
Honolulu Youth Theatre
The Trip Theatre
New Village Arts Theatre
La Jolla Playhouse
Chalk Repertory Theatre
East West Players
Malashock Dance
The Trip Theatre
La Jolla Playhouse 2014 Pop Tour
Mo’olelo Theatre
North Coast Repertory Theatre
Malashock Dance
North Coast Repertory Theatre
Space4Art/UCSD
La Jolla Playhouse 2013 Pop Tour
North Coast Repertory Theatre
Ion Theatre
Moxie Theatre
UCSD, Mandel Weiss Theatre
UCSD, Mandel Weiss Theatre
UCSD, Mandel Weiss Forum
UCSD, Theodore Adele Shank Theatre
UCSD, Arthur Wagner Theatre
UCSD, Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre
UCSD, Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre
Assistant Sound Design for Theatre
Siavash: The Prince of Hope
Blood and Gifts
Scarlet Stone
Milk Like Sugar
The Threepenny Opera
The Seagull
Camino Real
Aga Khan Museum
La Jolla Playhouse, Mandel Weiss Forum
Persian Arts Society, Freud Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse, Sheila and Hughes Potiker
UCSD, Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre
UCSD, Mandel Weiss Forum
UCSD, Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre
dir. Tom Dugdale 2015
dir. Janet Hayatshahi 2015
dir. Giovanni Ortega 2015
dir. Nicholas C. Avila 2015
dir. Eric Johnson 2015
dir. Tom Dugdale 2014
dir. Kristianne Kurner 2014
dir. Jackson Gay 2014
dir. Charles Oats 2014
dir. Tim Deng 2014
dir. John Malashock 2014
dir. Tom Dugdale 2014
dir. Eric Johnson 2014
dir. Delicia Turner Sonnenberg 2013
dir. Rick Simas 2013
chor. John Malashock 2013
dir. Matthew Wiener 2013
chor. Yolande Snaith 2013
dir. Michael J. Bobbitt 2013
dir. David Ellenstein 2012
dir. Delicia Turner Sonnenberg 2012
dir. Janet Hayatshahi 2012
dir. Anthony Luciano 2011
chor. Kyle Sorensen 2011
dir. Joshua Kahan Brody 2011
dir. Larissa Lury 2010
dir. Larissa Lury 2010
dir. Tom Dugdale 2010
chor. Janet Hayatshahi 2010
dir. Shahrokh Yadegari 2014
des. Shahrokh Yadegari 2012
dir. Shahrokh Yadegari 2011
des. Andre Pluess 2011
des. David Corsello 2011
des. David Corsello 2010
des. Omar Ramos 2009
Projection Design, Multi-Media and Interactivity
Beijing Spring - 2014
Projection Designer and Sound Designer
Audiovisual design for Beijing Spring produced by East West Players in Los Angeles CA involved
implementation of projection design system which included Watchout software and three projectors for
a design that featured historic images and footage, abstract visual animation, and 300 subtitle. All
projected material was synced to the music using a Qlab3 connection to Watchout via MIDI Show
Control.
Takarazuka!!! - 2014
Title Design and Assistant Sound Design
Produced subtitle design for East West Players production of Takarazuka!!!, and assisted in Qlab
programming. All projected material was synced to the music using a Qlab3 connection to Watchout via
MIDI Show Control.
Spellbound - 2013
Lead Developer, Composer, and Programmer
http://drashner.com/filter/interactive/Spellbound
“Spellbound” is an interactive audio/visual installation that explores ways of allowing users to effect
audiovisual and musical content through a network of parameter-control assignments. Presented by
Initiative for Digital Exploration of Arts and Sciences in collaboration with UCSD and Calit2.
Line Sound - 2012
http://drashner.com/filter/interactive/Line-Sound
“Line Sound” was performed at Calit2 in December 2012 as part of the UCSD Crossing Boundaries
Performance. It was a proof-of-concept piece using the MUGIC protocol with Calit2’s Vroom wall.
Projection Design for Live in the Wake - 2011
Projection Design, Sound Design, and Composition
http://drashner.com/filter/theatre/Live-In-the-Wake-1
“Live in the Wake” was a structured-improvisation Dancer Theatre work choreographed by Kyle
Sorensen, which was based on the idea of selective memory as it is stored, suppressed, and imagined
within and through the body.
Transport Phenomena - 2011
http://drashner.com/filter/interactive/Transport-Phenomena-1
“Transport Phenomena” was a work that was developed and performed in collaboration with
Choreographer Kyle Sorensen, in which the gestural input of a dancer was used to control sound via the
Microsoft Kinect.
Shadow Play - 2009
http://drashner.com/filter/interactive/Shadow-Play
“Shadow Play” was an audio/visual exploration in feedback and delay that was performed at the 2009
UCSD Crossing Boundaries Performance.
Film, Video Games, Software Development
Harsh Weather Sweepstakes - 2014
Sound Design and Composition
A short film by Jay Drose
http://drashner.com/filter/film/The-Harsh-Weather-Sweepstakes
Mikumentary - 2012-Present
Composition and Sound Design
"Mikumentary" is an ongoing series of short, non- commercial documentary films about the Hatsune
Miku phenomenon.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckjOdS9USlo
Episode 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-nJABvZlO8
Episode 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqx5R22xgiM
Episode 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhmQDph5yAs (presented at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo)
Episode 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrezB5X3Mdg
Episode 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FXCOZotCy0
Episode 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_jfxD3Cvr4
Viva Voce - 2012
Audio Mastering
http://www.vivavoce.ch/
https://vimeo.com/channels/vivavoce
“Viva Voce” is an installation that celebrates vocal performance art in an interactive and experimental
context and through his lens explores voice, body, relationships, and the self.
Gorge VST Plug-in - 2012
Software Developer and Leak Programmer
http://drashner.com/filter/software/Gorge-­‐VST “Gorge” is an interpolated circular delay line with a compressor in the feedback loop. It is best used in
producing and manipulating feedback drones.
Collapsor - Pure Data Instrument - 2012
Software Developer and Leak Programmer
http://drashner.com/filter/software/Gorge-­‐VST “Collapsor” is a granular synthesis instrument, which includes four grain-copy modules with individual
playback speed control and randomization of grain paramaters. All modules read from the same buffer,
which ultimately produces a sense of self-referentiality in the resulting signal.
Modular Samplers - 2011
Software Developer and Lead Programmer
http://drashner.com/filter/software/Collapsor
Designed a sample-based instrument for composer Katharina Rosenberger consisting of a series of
granular synthesis and pitch shifting modules customized for improvised performance for the
PORTFOLIOproject in collaboration with Christoph Boesch and Thomas Peter.
Drama in the Delta - 2011
Sound Design
http://dramainthedelta.org/
“Drama in the Delta” is a non-profit, educational 3D role-player video game that puts the player into the
experience of two Arkansas concentration camps where the U.S. government interned 15,000 Japanese
Americans during World War II.
Delay Matrix for Threepenny Opera at Sheila & Hughes Potiker Theatre - 2010
Lead Programmer
http://drashner.com/filter/software/Delay-Matrix
The Delay Matrix was a Source-Oriented Reinforcement System; a low-latency 24-channel-in by 24channel-out delay matrix with accompanying UI for saving/recalling zone presets and
incrementing/decrementing scenes.
Ambisonics Interface - 2009
Software Developer and Lead Programmer
Designed and programmed a spatialization interface for composer Katharina Rosenberger based on
Ambisonics for a work that premiered on April 17,2009 at the Festival Weimarer Frühlingstage in
Germany.