Mike Shear

Digital Music ProductionDigital InstrumentsInstructional DesignLevel: Post-Secondary/UniversityMusic ProductionMusic TechMusic Theory
Written By Dr. Elisa Janson Jones
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I started playing music at a young age and was teaching guitar lessons by the time I started high school. I began to do live event production work nights and weekends while studying for an undergrad in music production at the Hartt School at the University of Hartford.

After college, I moved to Los Angeles, spending a short time as a staff engineer doing preproduction for Aftermath Records, I moved on to engineering for SST Records, where I stayed on as the studio engineer for over a decade. After SST, I moved on to engineer at Charleston Sound in South Carolina for a little over a year before moving on to teach undergraduate classes in music production and film sound design at both the Los Angeles Film School Online and the University of Central Florida.

I have been in higher education since 2016 while continuing to be active in all sorts of production work on the side. I completed a Masters of Science in Instructional Design from Full Sail University in 2021.

 
 
 

  • With the exception of students looking to learn theory (music theory, instructional design theory), most skills acquisition is is acquired through practice of practical applications. Practical applications vary widely depending on the skills the mentee is looking to acquire. If it is a guitar student, 2-octave scales run in triplets and thirds using alternate picking while learning different modes is a standard, while if it is sound design for film, setting the student up with a short film and an extensive sound library, and slowly going through different processing that allows them to alter the sound and make what is in their head come out of the speakers are both more effective than talking and reading about it.

  • I have taught guitar lessons off and on for the last 30 years, bass for the 25, and music production and software (Pro Tools, Logic, Adobe Audition, Adobe Premiere Pro) for the last 20 years.

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Dr. Elisa Janson Jones

Dr. Elisa Jones designs and scales learning systems for organizations and individuals. With an EdD in Instructional Design, an MBA in Strategy, and 20+ years building education platforms, she combines strategic thinking with hands-on execution experience.

She works at the intersection of people, systems, and technology—helping leaders and learners see what's actually working and what needs to change. Her approach is diagnostic, grounded in real-world constraints, and focused on outcomes that stick.

Learn more about her work at sovereign.plus, elisajones.ai, and the Music Teacher Guild.

https://elisajanson.com
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