Dave Hampton

Bio

Dave Hampton is globally recognized for his expertise and prowess in the fields of Audio Recording, Production, and Studio Design. Having maintained a reputation for creating unique solutions for various situations and excellent client satisfaction, Hampton is trusted and called upon by some the entertainment industry’s biggest stars.

After early training in electronics and a course of study in Electronic Music and Recording at California State University Dominguez Hills, Hampton worked at Oberheim Electronics where he acquired an in-depth knowledge of analog circuitry from Tom Oberheim himself. During this period he also began working as an independent engineer, technician, and sound editor.

When the rising demand for home studios began, Dave played a significant role in educating artists as to the capabilities of defining their own creative spaces. He designed, built and modified studios for the likes of Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Rafael Saadiq, Maxwell, Jonathan Butler, and Organized Noyze, to name a few. On the other hand, Dave’s expertise allowed him to also design and build large format studios for Creflo Dollar and World Changers Ministries, Babyface, and Marcus Miller, as well as the recent restoration of Paisley Park Studios for Prince.

Dave has designed touring rigs for live concerts to include custom instrument modification for touring musicians like the band Chicago, and solo artists Maxwell and Whitney Houston. He has been pivotal in the production and engineering of projects for Grammy-winning artists Herbie Hancock and Marcus Miller. In fact, in the year 2000, he was the first engineer to use Pro Tools to mix a live concert show when Herbie Hancock toured Europe and performed entirely in surround sound.

Recent positions Dave has held include Technical Director at both Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis and Hancock Music in Los Angeles. In addition, he has engineered and mixed projects like national spots for BOSE, and live concerts for HBO.

Besides designing, consulting, writing, collegiate lectures and appearances, Dave is currently working on producing original audio/visual projects for MATK Corp. He also sits on the Advisory Council for the Producers and Engineers Wing of NARAS (The Grammy Organization). His new book release The Business of Audio Engineering is available now!