Exploring and sharing engaging ideas in sound, music, and synthesis.
We are a small group of nerds passionate about making tools artists love to use.
From Eurorack to software to pedals, however you like to make music, Noise Engineering is working hard to bring something exciting to you.
California has a rich history of musical innovation and we are thrilled to be immersed in it. It was a hotspot during the birth of the electric guitar, with luminaries such as Leo Fender, Paul Bigsby, and Les Paul trading ideas at backyard get-togethers. The 1930s and '40s saw the emergence of SoCal companies like Rickenbacker, Bigsby, Fender, and Mosrite, whose innovations and designs continue to grace concert stages and recording studios around the globe. A couple decades later, up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Don Buchla would create electronic instruments so unique that the term "West Coast synthesis" is an entire style of synthesis.
It's about giving back. We believe in doing what we can to make our community and the world a better place. Here's how we're doing that:
Our Commitment to the Environment
Electronics are a resource-entensive product, but that doesn't mean we can't do our part. One of our core values is Sustainabilitas. Learn more about the way we give back and work toward sustainability here.
Our Commitment to Community
Music is a place for everyone. We believe that all people should be treated with acceptance and respect and we welcome everyone into our community. We also believe that we have a responsibility to use our platform for good, and we work to support and feature a diverse range of artists and creators in our social media campaigns. The official Noise Engineering Sample Packs are produced by a diverse range of artists, and all proceeds go directly to them. We also strive to support as many community-oriented events as possible.
Our Commitment to our Team
We believe that balance in life is key: work hard, play hard is something we all firmly believe in. Each one of us brings a unique perspective to the company, to our products, and to our community, and we work to make sure our team has a fulfulling life outside of work as well as in the office. We support that with a living wage, competitive benefits, paid time off, and volunteer time off. We would be nowhere without our team, and we work hard to make sure everyone at NE knows they are highly valued.
Our Commitment to Conservation Efforts
The world is a wonderful place, and we believe it's our responsibility to help make it even better. So far, we've partnered with Bat Conservation International and Save Pangolins to contribute to bat and pangolin conservation. A portion of the proceeds from each collaboration product go to these awesome groups. We have also worked with amphibian and parrot conservation groups. More partnerships to come!
Our Commitment to Education
Synthesis can be difficult to wrap your brain around, and we believe that it's our job to help to lower the barrier to entry. We work extensively with users to help them learn and grow in their artistic endeavours. We produce blog and tutorial content on our products and on general synthesis. We support various educational endeavors and we teach workshops that run the gamut from introductory topics to specific concepts.
Everybody here was someone else before. Now we're a bunch of folks passionate about music and making the products we wished existed.
Stephen and Kris met in the Daily Pint, a bar in Santa Monica, in 2007 and bonded over spreadsheets and sound. They got married four years later and in 2016 left their previous careers to make Noise Engineering their lives. When not modularing, they enjoy feeding friends, board games, spreadsheeting, and the Oxford comma.
Noise Engineering started in the office Stephen and Kris shared in a tiny condo many moons ago. Once upon a time, it was confined to just a tiny desk, a pilfered o-scope, and a Looney Toons mug.
Early prototypes were hand-built by Stephen (sometimes with some help from Shawn) and assembled with acrylic panels he milled in the garage on a tiny CNC. They never *quite* fit in cases right, but they were good enough for testing a first pass.
When we moved out of our tiny condo, Noise-E upgraded to its own room. Suddenly the hobby started to take over substantially more space and became a bit more real. Noise-E was still here when we decided to go all in, together.
In 2016, we blew up our lives, quit our previous careers, and moved into our current house to make Noise Engineering our full-time gig. Kris's 'corner' office is an upstairs bedroom of the house that's full of modules, computers, stuffed frogs, toys…and plenty of dog beds.
Stephen's office (another bedroom) is bigger than ever, and darker than ever. And also full of dog beds. From his command center, he can monitor software builds, work on firmware, jam on hardware, and pet two dogs.
Kris spends a lot of time at her computer designing schematics and making PCBs for our hardware. Multiple screens are extremely helpful for this. Careful placement means she can route a PCB and pet a dog at the same time.
If you need something, there's a good chance it's on Stephen's desk. There's also a good chance you won't be able to find it on Stephen's desk.
Today we have a small but mighty team who has a great time working to make the products you know and love.
