My name is Beau Sorenson. I am an audio professional living in
Portland, Oregon. I make recordings of sounds and help other people
make recordings of their sounds.
If you want the longer version, read on:
EARLY
I grew up in the woods. We lived on a dirt road. I had piano lessons
and guitar lessons, but also spent lots of time fiddling with old
electronics and lots of taking things apart. My dad had a cassette copy
of Brain Salad Surgery, and I memorized every second of it. I made
noises in garages. I got a four track. I got a guitar. I built a
theremin and a synthesizer. I broke a lot of stuff.
I had a small pickup truck with four cassettes: Greetings from Asbury Park, Bob
Marley’s Legend, Pet Sounds,
and Green Day’s Dookie, and I can still remember
when Pet Sounds
finally wore out. At some point, I recieved a copy of Morton Subotnik's
Silver Apples of the Moon.
SMART
I worked at Smart Studios
in Madison, WI for the better part of a decade. Smart was an amazing
little studio, packed with a fantastic assortment of esoteric recording
equipment and incredible people. I had the good fortune to work with a
number of incredibly creative and talented individuals, and managed be
part of some excellent recordings. Highlights included (but were not
limited to): Sparklehorse, Death Cab For Cutie, Tegan and Sara, Mr.
Gnome, Garbage, Czarbles, Awesome Car Funmaker, and the Ericksons.
NOW
Smart Studios announced that it would be closing in 2009, and so
I decided (in the words of Robert Fripp) to become a 'small,
independent, mobile and intelligent unit'. This meant continuing
my work as a freelance recording engineer / producer, but also taking
on other
projects: collaboration, teaching, studio consultation, recording my
own compositions, session non-musicianship, location recording, music
for films, and
numerous other audio-related endeavors.
BEAUNOISE
I write and record my own music under the name Beaunoise.
~
I am also part of several band-like objects:
Gardening, Not Architecture, with my friend Sarah Saturday.
Exurbs, with dear friends Jeff Sauer (Czarbles) and Andrew Fitzpatrick (All Tiny Creatures). On Zod Records in 2011.
OTHER
When I’m not working, I pretend to play the drums, or the guitar,
or the piano. I spend a lot of time with synthesizers (the Buchla
200e
in particular) and tape machines. Or I read. I like
building and fixing electronic gadgets, and I like owls. I enjoy
drinking coffee.