Don Garbutt studied music theory and performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music and York University. He has many years of experience as an educator, researcher, lecturer, product specialist, consultant, electronic music artist, multi-instrumentalist, sound designer and composer.  As a guest researcher at IRCAM, he assisted in the development of their Buchla 400 computer musical instrument database. Other roles include guest lecturer at many post-graduate institutes to include Queen’s University, St. Lawrence College and York University, composer-in-residence at The Ontario Science Centre, resident synthesist for Bronze Records at Roundhouse Studios and Berwick St. Studios in London, sound designer for the Dinosaur Walk Museum and the International Digital Media Awards, and founder of the Electronic Music Program at Trebas Institute and The Harris Institute for the Arts, where he has served as the Director of Electronic Music for 27 years. He is a valued instructor in the Music and Digital Media Program at St. Lawrence College, Kingston.

Don’s technical troubleshooting and problem-solving skills have lead to many research and consultant scenarios such as product specialist and regional distributor for the Canadian-made PiTechnos Acxel, advisor to Idarca’s Acxel II, consultant to IMAX, technical support for PPG (Direct Synthesis), beta-tester for SYCO Systems, London and beta-tester/advisor to Genaudio Inc., Colorado. He has contributed preset design for the new Sugar Bytes Factory synthesizer and XILS Labs XILS-3. He has been tech support, sound consultant and sound mixer for the International Beaches Jazz Festival, Tom Cochrane, Glass Tiger, Chalk Circle, Platinum Blonde, The Barra MacNeils and others.

Winner of numerous awards including a Gold Record and Juno Award, he has produced music in many studios in England, France, Canada, USA and Germany, including the world’s first bi-national 3-M digital multi-track album. He has provided technical support for Procol Harum, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Oscar Peterson, Hunter/Ronson, Garth Hudson and Richard Bell (The Band), The Tragically Hip and Lou Reed amongst many others. His collaborators include Esthero, Freda Payne, Chubby Checker, Henry Butler and The Barenaked Ladies, and was the piano tutor to Dennis Quaid for the film Great Balls of Fire.

Don has composed music for numerous network television productions and stock music libraries. His unique science-inspired electronic music compositions have received critical acclaim from physicists including Robert Forward, Cliff Pickover, Paul Steinhardt, Lev Kofman, Lubos Motl and John Hutchison.

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