Audio Perception's core is a partnership between David Knauer and Jason Atkinson that has its roots in Arizona starting in the late 80s. They met while both working in Phoenix; David was a studio owner and Jason was working at Musician Electronic Exchange. After years of knowing each other they lost contact when first, David moved to Los Angeles, then Jason to Seattle. One afternoon in 2001 as David was working as an engineer at a rented house for Bad Boy Entertainment and P. Diddy, Jason walked into the studio to pick up some rented gear that was being used. That reunion led to Audio Perception.
At Audio Perception we believe that we have a unique advantage in our business, as we are working audio engineers that have been around for analog tape, digital tape, and the newest computer based recorders, and we have a thorough technical background, that when put together, provides complete support for our clients.
David: I started my career in music at the early age of ten when I learned to play the piano. Throughout the next 8 years I moved on to play the trumpet, the french horn and finally the guitar. My other passion during this time was computer programming, and by the eighth grade I was programming my own video games. Never once did I realize what connection music and computers would have in my future.
While playing in bands during high school, I got my first four track recorder and started to record my bands music. In no time, I started to record other local bands and artists as well. In 1987, while still in the 11th grade, I opened my first studio. Then, literally the very next day after graduation, I left for the summer to attend The Recording Workshop's audio engineering program in Chillicothe, Ohio.
Over the next 11 years, my studio grew from analog to digital and from 4, to 8, to 16, and finally to 32 tracks. I also began to produce most of the bands I was recording. During that time computers began to take on a big role in the recording process as we moved into a digital, and then a software based studio environment. By the early 90's, I had my studio, was teaching at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences as a mixing instructor, and was chief engineer and manager of another large commercial Phoenix studio.
In 1996 I relocated to Los Angels and started my company, Knight Thyme Productions. As I started working in LA, I began to realize that there was a huge need for combining audio engineering and technical engineering with the type of clients I was working with. I started to focus on providing a wide range of services for TV and film composers, musicians, actors, producers, just about anyone who had a private or home studio and needed help. Since I was always very computer, electronic, and mechanically inclined, it was a natural fit for me.
Over the next 7 year period, my company began to grow and change focus from just an audio based company to offering support for all technical aspects as well. In 2003, as Knight Thyme Productions was growing swiftly and I was looking to expand my services, I began to hire Jason regularly to work with me in supporting my diverse clientele. Over the next 4 years we began to develop what has now become Audio Perception.
Jason: My music endeavors also started at a young age in my home town of Winslow, AZ. At around age 9, my first guitar was a Sears strat shaped electric. Horrible action, terribly manufactured, but it was cool. I also started playing trumpet in 4th grade. My first "summer" band was around age 13, that's when I played my first real gig in front of, gulp, like 10 people. It was terrifying, yet exciting. Over the years I've played in many bands. Moved to Los Angeles to attended the Musician's Institute (G.I.T.) in 1988 and graduated from the 1 year program.
I moved back to Arizona, but landed in Phoenix, where I worked for a music store. Back in the early 90'sm while living in Phoenix., I started recording my songs with a 4 track cassette, figuring out basic recoding methods, etc. Next I moved up to 8 tracks of cassette and started recording other people. At this point, I was using Cubase on an Atari Falcon computer, doing all my sequencing and syncing to tape. The next step was moving up to 2 ADAT's while still sequencing on my Atari with Cubase, syncing with the DATASync.
In 1997, I moved from Phoenix to Seattle. There I played in bands and worked at Mackie Designs in the tech support department. I was on phone support for the D8b, Ultramix, Hui, and most of the analog mixers. While at Mackie, I learned a lot about troubleshooting audio and computer related issues. My work at Mackie helped prepare me for the work I now do in Los Angeles.
1997 was when I first started learning Pro Tools, partly due to the use of Mackie Products with Pro Tools (D8b, Hui). That's when I bought my first Mac for home (8500) and started using a free version of Pro Tools that ran on the built in hardware for my Powermac 8500. From that point, I've been using Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Digital Performer, Reason, Live, etc.
Finally moved back to LA in 2001, and worked for a Pro Tools rental company. After a few years, I left that company to pursue freelance support and engineering work and started my own small business, Sound Mac Consulting, and David started hiring me to occasionally help some of his clients. Which takes us to this point, where we have combined our talents and resources to form Audio Perception.