Soundgarden is an online sound-skills learning space for artists, musicians, composers, content creators, and everyday people. We offer sessions in 1-on-1 and group formats, both online and in-person.
Our goal is to offer full-range support for your sound projects:
- sound recordings, music releases
- production, composition, beat-making
- content creation, podcasts
- musician workflows (self-recording, gear for live-sets)
- arts & interdisciplinary projects
During sessions, you can bring work you are doing, and we will share techniques and workflows relating to tools you are working with. You can start from where you are, and feel fully supported each step of the way.
Sessions are fun and hands-on, grounded in values of respect, listening, and intuition. We gladly work with people of all ages, experience-levels, genres, and artistic disciplines.
Supporting the technical and artistic growth of creators
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Learn audio skills with us Fili1-on-1 learning sessions
Fili 周 Gibbons
Pronouns: we / they / them
Artist, Engineer, Sound skills mentor
Our background
- 20+ years as a musician (cello player)
- Masters in Sound Recording, McGill University
- 6 years of professional production experience in sound (Studio Apothicaire)
- 100+ professional sound projects realized: recordings, music productions, sound design, composition, livestreams, podcasts etc.
- Recording and performance experience across genres — traditional, pop, rock, roots, beats, improv, classical, contemporary, electronic.
→ turn into SG about
Why learn with us?
Learning sound-tech skills can be confusing. We are overwhelmed with blogs and videos giving us mixed messages—how to ‘work like a pro,’ or how to sound like ‘famous person X‘. With this his kind of of input, how we actually stay true to our creative process and keep technology work meaningful and enjoyable?
When something stops working, it’s easy to lose the flow of creative work. Reading manuals and technical papers can feel oh so dry and lifeless… it takes us away from doing the actual creative work we wanted to do in the first place! This kind of experience builds up resistance and over time it’s easy to feel that we are
The technical material is often written in a way that assumes you a white male what methods how to sound ωmake a kick drum ‘fat’, how to make vocals sound ‘pro’, or how to sound like famous person ‘X’. It’s also not always clear how this advice can be used in our own creative process. With all this conflicting input, how can we stay true to ourselves and keep the technology work meaningful and enjoyable?
When something stops working, it’s easy to lose the flow of creative work. Reading manuals and technical papers can feel oh so dry and lifeless… it takes us away from doing the actual creative work we wanted to do in the first place!
We created Soundgarden to help creators stay in flow and make technical learning painless and enjoyable. By accompanying you individually in your sound work, we’ll be able to walk through the skills step by step, and offer feedback that directly relates to your unique creative process.
Drawing from formal studies
- Get started on your sound project, learning relevant skills as you go.
- Free up time for the creation—get beyond technical details, troubleshooting, and information overwhelm.
- Build confidence as a media creator and collaborate knowledgeably with other sound people.
- Grow steadily through a supportive, fun, and human connection, with regular sessions giving you accountability to your progress.
- Bring greater quality and polish to your sound work.
Sound-tech topics
- Creative sound skills - music creation, composition, electronic music, live performance etc.
- Sound recording - Microphone techniques, setup, tools and workflow
- Audio software / DAWs - Ableton, Logic, Pro Tools, Reaper etc.
- Specific audio skills - Podcasts, multichannel / immersive audio, field recording, archiving and restoration, audio for video, live sound.
- Post production - Audio editing, audio repair, mixing, basic mastering and other post-production skills.
- Sound processing - EQ, compression, vocals, FX etc.
- Setting up a personal studio - methods, equipment, room treatment.
- Live sound for performers - Collaborate with engineers and venues to optimize sound quality in live performances.
- Going deeper - Physics, acoustics, digital audio, measurements.
Our approach
Audio mentorship is meaningful to us because we (Fili) know how challenging it can be to work with audio tools. As an intuitive artist— it often felt challenging to make sense of technical details, dense manuals and acoustic concepts. We (Fili) only kept going because we were in love with music and sound. From our humble beginnings making beats in our basement as a teen, to our formal studies at university—we always had to slow down, take detailed notes, and find ways to simplify concepts in order to keep them clear in our mind.
Drawing from familiarity with the creative process, we found ways to give life to the technical topics, translating them into creative choices. We can teach the professional standards—but also the importance of going beyond them, following one’s own unique way of listening, and the resonance of sound in the body. Drawing from this awareness, we guide creators in developing a level of ‘sound quality’ that is deeply linked to artistic feeling.
- 3 years of formal technical training (Masters Sound Recording, McGill University)
- 6 years of professional experience as an engineer, and audiovisual producer for diverse artists and organizations
- 80+ professional sound projects realized: music projects (albums, EPs/singles), community workshops, artistic collaborations, sound design, podcasts, audio post-production, and other sound projects.
- 20+ years as a musician and cello player
- Experience recording and performing across genres — Western classical, traditional musics, percussions, pop, rock, hip hop, improv, contemporary, electronic music.
- Experience across sound disciplines (sound design, immersive audio, outdoor recording, electro-acoustics, live sound) and interdisciplinary arts (live-streaming, performance, theatre, dance, video).
Testimonials
“Fili is actually the best! Can’t imagine being next to anyone better to hold your hand through the creative process.”
Tina Hanaé Miller
Producer, composer & vocalist (New York)
Testimonials
How to book a session
If we’ve haven’t worked together already, you’re welcome to book a free 15-minute session where we can get to know each other, and learn more about your work and interests.
Single Session
1-on-1 session with Fili
Length: 1 - 3 hours $60 USD | $75 CAD per hour
Monthly memberships + Group class
Group Class
$120 USD | $150 CAD
Weekly group sessions: 4 per month x 1 hour
Group + 1-on-1
$170 USD | $215 CAD
Weekly group sessions: 4 per month x 1 hour
1-on-1 sessions: 1 hour per month*
Personal
$260 USD | $330 CAD
1-on-1 sessions: 5 hours per month*
* Additional session time available at a discount for subscribers ($50 USD | $65 CAD per hour).
All monthly packages include:
- Online resources access (beta).
- Drop-in online coworking space.
- Cancel anytime.
- Note: No refunds available on processed payments.
10 hours, prepaid — $345 USD / $400 CAD
- 10 hours worth of sessions, divided as needed ie. 10 sessions of 1 hour, or 5 sessions of 2hrs
- sessions are booked in advance within a 3-month period.
- payment made in advance.
- If you want to preorder 4 or more sessions at once, we can offer a discount — you can ask a quote by email: studio.apothcaire@gmail.com
- We cannot refund prepaid sessions that have been booked in advance (Option 2 & 3), but if a session time no longer works for you, we can reschedule this to a different time.
- We need at least 24 hours advance-notice to reschedule a session.
- If you are not able to attend a pre-booked session we cannot offer a refund.
USD | CAD | |
1 hr session | $50 | $65 |
2 hr session | $95 | $125 |
3 hr session | $135 | $175 |
Both in-person and remote sessions are possible:
- In-person:
If we are in the same area, you can get in touch with us saying you would like to have an in-person session, and we’ll be happy to coordinate this.
- Remote: We can also set up remote sessions over video call (Zoom). We use screen and audio sharing to work on projects that are using computer software. We can also observe and give feedback on equipment and recording techniques using the webcam.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
How do sessions work?
- We book a time for a video-conference meeting. (Or we sit down in-person, if we’re in the same place!)
- You bring your creative ideas / projects, questions, or audio tools you are working with.
- We spend the session listening to your work—offering skills and advice relevant to your practice.
- After our session, you can keep working on your project on your own, and we can meet again whenever you feel it’s useful.
We love working in person, and this is one of the best ways to learn audio skills! When reaching out, let us know that you are interested in in-person work. Please note — because travel involves expenses and time, we may need ask a fee to cover this. We set travel rates on a project-by-project basis. Alternately, if you are looking to work together closely in-person on a project for many hours, you could consider hiring us to work on your sound project. We can block hours specific to your timeline and reduce the back-and-forth travel expenses.
We can plan sessions according your specific needs and learning style. Usually, this might flow between three different kinds of process:
- Talk session
- Hands-on coaching
- Production-learning
Maybe you already have an idea of some audio work you want to do (like ‘making a podcast’, ‘learning how to record’), but you’re not sure where to start?
In a talk session, we can think though some production ideas and offer technical advice. We can answer questions, or offer recommendations on specific tools and software you are considering. This can also be a good choice for going into theoretical concepts like acoustics, physics of sound, digital audio, etc.
If you are already working on something, or trying out a new audio technique, you can bring this to a session. We’ll accompany your process, trouble shoot technical issues, all while offering guidance and answering questions. This is probably one of the most fun and immersive ways to improve your audio skills in a short time.
The session can be focused around any sound or audio task or practice that you want to do, and whatever tools or devices you are using.
In ‘production-learning’ sessions, we/Fili can do the main part of the work, but you can sit in with us to learn about the workflow. As we go through the process, we’ll explain our process and share relevant skills and knowledge that relates to the project.
This is great if you want to learn about the process, but also maybe you don’t feel up to doing the whole project on your own.
Send us a message! We want our sessions to be accessible, and we’ll work together to try and find a pricing or exchange that works for your situation.
Group workshops
We also offer workshops for a group on request — i.e. for an organization, a collective, or a school. These workshops can be structured according to the interests and learning objectives of the group.
The workshops can be held in person, or over video conferencing software. For more information or to request a workshop, you can reach us at:
studio.apothicaire@gmail.com
Why learn with us?
Learning sound-tech skills can often feel confusing. We are overwhelmed with blog posts, youtube videos etc. telling us things like—how to make a kick drum ‘fat’, how to make vocals sound ‘pro’, or how to sound like famous person ‘X’—but it’s not always obvious how to translate this advice into our own creative process? And with all this conflicting input, how can we stay true to a creative process that is enjoyable and meaningful?
When technology stops working, it’s easy to lose the flow of creative work. For creative people of an intuitive mind, reading manuals and technical papers is terribly dry and lifeless… it can feel like a barrier to doing the actual creative work.
Soundgarden sessions are an interactive way to make technical learning painless and enjoyable. By accompanying you individually in your sound work, we’re able to walk through tools and techniques you need in the moment, and attune what we offer according to match and support your unique creative process.
Soundgarden sessions will enable you to:
- Start your sound project now (even if you don’t know anything), and learn new skills exactly when you need them.
- Free up hours of precious creative time that would otherwise be spent on technical details, troubleshooting, and information overwhelm.
- Build confidence seeing your artistic work become a reality
- Grow steadily through a supportive, fun, and human connection, with regular sessions giving you a sense of accountability to your own progress.
- Maintain artistic control and become more intimately involved in your sound work.
- Collaborate knowledgeably with sound people in venues, in a studio etc.
- Bring greater quality and polish to your sound projects.
it’s not clear… is it artistic accompaniment or sound skills training?
generally the choice of images feels a bit flimsy, it doesn’t convey the sense of the coach who worked with artists from LA and New York
The blog-style layout makes it seem a bit flimsy
This is the site where we sell our services, but we don’t have to sell ourselves. All the back story can exist on other pages, it’s the thing that gets people here.
