Gebre Waddell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gebre Waddell
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Gebre Waddell at JUCE Summit, London
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| Born | November 28, 1981 |
| Occupation | Chief Executive Officer, Mastering Engineer, Author |
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Notable work
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Sound Credit, Complete Audio Mastering, Refinement, ReasonRhodes |
Gebre Waddell (born November 28, 1981) is an American entrepreneur, author, and audio engineer. He also works as a software engineer. He is from Memphis, Tennessee.
He is well-known as the CEO and co-founder of Sound Credit. He also wrote the book Complete Audio Mastering: Practical Techniques. This book was published by McGraw-Hill. Waddell has been nominated for two GRAMMY Awards. He has worked as an audio engineer for famous music artists. These include Ministry, Lil' Wayne, Rick Ross, Public Enemy, and The Bar-Kays.
Contents
Early Life and Family History
Gebre Waddell was born in Memphis, Tennessee. His family has a strong connection to the civil rights movement. His father, James Waddell Jr., was a respected sculptor. In 1968, he created the first sculpture of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This was after serving in the Vietnam War.
Eight members of Waddell's family were at Dr. King's last speech. One family member even sang in the SCLC choir that night. Waddell's uncle, Lucious Matthews, was in many important photos from the civil rights movement. He was known as the 'man in the brimmed hat' during the Memphis sanitation worker strike. These photos show peaceful strikers facing National Guard soldiers and tanks.
Waddell studied at the University of Memphis. He earned degrees in Accounting and Music.
Career Highlights
Leading in Business and Music Technology
In March 2024, the state of Tennessee passed a new law. It is called the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act, or the ELVIS Act. This was the first U.S. state law to regulate artificial intelligence. It focuses on protecting a person's publicity rights. Waddell helped create this law. He used his knowledge about attribution from his work with Sound Credit. He even wrote the first version of the law himself.
In June 2023, Waddell was chosen as one of four national officers for the Recording Academy/GRAMMYs. He became the Secretary/Treasurer of the Board of Trustees.
In February 2023, Waddell announced big news for Sound Credit. He is the founder and CEO of the company. They secured $30 million in funding. They also partnered with PPL, a UK music licensing company. This partnership helps American performers collect royalties from other countries.
In 2020, Waddell was elected to the national Board of Trustees for the Recording Academy/GRAMMYs. This board includes famous artists like Yolanda Adams and John Legend. He was also appointed by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. He joined the Tennessee Entertainment Commission in late 2019. Later, he became the chairman of the board.
Waddell appeared with supermodel Karlie Kloss in 2020. They discussed how to expand computer science education for everyone.
On March 17, 2019, Waddell was featured on the TV show 60 Minutes. The show talked about the Revolution Fund. It also showed how Revolution connects industry leaders like Eric Schmidt (from Google) with new entrepreneurs.
In 2018, Waddell was one of eight winners of the Revolution Fund's Rise of the Rest tour. This tour provides funding for new companies. Investors in the Revolution Fund include Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt. Their funding for Sound Credit was matched by Innova Capital. Later that year, Inside Memphis Business magazine named Waddell the 2018 Innovator of the Year.
In 2016, Waddell became the co-founder and CEO of Sound Credit. This company is a music technology business in Memphis, TN.
In 2013, Waddell created something called Refinement. It is an audio processor that helps control harsh sounds in music. He licensed it to Brainworx Germany. They then made a product called bx_refinement. This product is sold through Plugin Alliance and Universal Audio. It was the first audio plugin released on both platforms at the same time in 2014.
Waddell also created a software instrument called ReasonRhodes. It copied the sound of a classic Fender Rhodes piano. ReasonRhodes was featured on the cover of Keyboard magazine in 2006. The story covered Waddell's work in creating the instrument.
Achievements in Audio Engineering
Waddell was elected President of the Recording Academy Memphis Chapter in 2017. He was first elected to the Board of Governors in 2016. He also became a co-chair of the Producers & Engineers Wing.
In 2013, Gebre Waddell's book, "Complete Audio Mastering: Practical Techniques," was published.
In 2010, Waddell created a special chart. It shows the sound frequencies of common musical instruments. The chart is called The Frequency Domain. You can find it in studios and universities. These include Stanford University and Harvard University. It is also in the office of famous audio expert, Rupert Neve.
He got his first big breaks in 2005 with a project produced by John Tesh. In 2006, he worked with Public Enemy on their album, "How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul."
In 2003, Waddell started his own mastering studio. It is called Stonebridge Mastering. It is located in downtown Memphis, TN.
Boards and Organizations
- National Board of Trustees, Recording Academy / GRAMMYS
- Tennessee State Office, TN Entertainment Commission
- Innovator of the Year, Inside Memphis Business (2018)
- Chapter President, The Recording Academy / GRAMMY Memphis Chapter (2017–19)
- Board of Directors, Smithsonian Rock and Soul Museum (2018–19)
- Tennessee State Office, TN Interactive Digital Media Council (2017-)
- Board of Directors, Roots & American Music Society (2016-)
