Michael Moss

Assistant Professor
mmoss@berklee.edu
Telephone
617-747-8285

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Michael Moss is an assistant professor in the Department of Music Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music. His diverse resumé includes three Grammy Award nominations for audio books; a prestigious Audie Award from the Audio Publishers Association; a long history as a saxophonist touring with the Cab Calloway and His Orchestra; extensive performances in the studio and on stage with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Gil Evans, the Four Tops, Frankie Valli, and Bo Diddley; and a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory.

Moss has been working with MIDI since its inception, and it is an inextricable part of his scoring work as founder and owner of Soundscape Productions, an in-demand project studio in Boston that provides production and sound services for education, industry, and advertising, including big-budget clients such as Gillette, Coca-Cola, and Warner Bros. His music has appeared in more than 100 audiobooks, including The Polar Express. Moss has worked as a composer for clients such as National Public Radio, Simon & Schuster, and Gillette.

Career Highlights
  • Founder and owner of Soundscape Productions, audio production facility specializing in audio for educational, medical, and technology fields
  • Composer of more than 130 scores for children’s audio books
  • Accomplished woodwind instrumentalist
  • Extensive touring experience with Cab Calloway and His Orchestra and numerous traveling rock bands
  • Performances with Bo Diddley, Gil Evans, the Four Tops, Aretha Franklin, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, and Frankie Valli
  • Member of the Boston Horns Big Band, the White Heat Swing Orchestra, and numerous freelance groups
  • Recordings with Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, the Joe Mulholland Sextext, and numerous session recordings
Awards
  • Audie Award
  • Oppenheim Platinum Certificate
  • Three Grammy Award nominations
Education
  • New England Conservatory of Music
    Master of Music (MM)
    Jazz Performance
  • New England Conservatory of Music
    Bachelor of Music (BM)
    Jazz Performance
In Their Own Words

"When you have a killer song, and you have fantastic musicians, and the recording's sounding really good, when you're done, you have this almost magical thing—a physical representation of musical artistry. The synthesis of great equipment and great music, with the right atmosphere to facilitate creativity—it's just such a pleasure to be a host to that."

"I try to teach complex concepts in a plain-language, simple way, so that students understand the processes behind the techniques that engineers and producers use. Humor can be a great tool. I'll march around or use a strange voice to act out the part of electrons, or parts of a circuit."

"I teach exactly what happens in the real world, and I'll summarize what's going on in my recording studio that week—the good and the bad. I acquaint students with the business process; how we estimate how long jobs will take, how we do bids, what the competitive marketplace is like; how we engineer and master audio, what equipment we use. In the summer, I have an associate's program, where I'll hire four or five extra engineers from the student body, or from qualified applicants who send me resumés. I generally hire some of those students after graduation. Out of the six engineers I have working now, five of them are Berklee grads."

"The ultimate test is when they get out in the real world, will they sink or will they swim? And I'm very happy with what I see. What's happening here—it's just getting better all the time."

 

Additional Related Links
Soundscape Boston