Robert Woods-LaDue is a musician and educator, specializing in composition, arranging, percussion, keyboards, guitars, music production and mixing. He has extensive experience with multitrack recording, editing, production work, as well as vocal editing and tuning. He is an expert in afro-cuban folkloric percussion playing in styles such as rumba, güiro, benbe, palo etc. He releases music the pseudonym "ddb" (dennydennybreakfast) in a variety of styles and contexts. Robert is the bandleader of the metal band Onkos that releases through the record label I, Voidhanger records. Robert has experience with different genres of music, including jazz, metal, classical, and much more.

Point Loma Nazarene University

San Diego, CA
Currently enrolled
Preliminary Single Subject Credential
Current GPA: 4.0
Anticipated graduation: Spring 2025
pointloma.edu

California Institute of The Arts

Valencia, CA
MFA Music Performance and Composition
Graduated May 2008; summa cum laude GPA 3.9
Studied percussion with David Johnson
Studied composition with Rob Wannamaker and David Rosenboom.
Awards:
Dale Herklotz Scholarship, 2006-2007
Ahmanson Foundation Scholarship, 2007-2008.
https://calarts.edu/

University of Miami

Miami, Florida
BFA Music Instrumental Performance from the studio of Ney Rosauro;
Graduated May 2005; magna cum laude GPA: 3.75
Served as Special Events Coordinator for UM chapter of Society of Composers
Served as the Treasurer for the UM percussion Club.
Awards: Four year full-tuition Scholarship; Provost’s Honor Roll.
https://www.frost.miami.edu/

Private study with Jesús Díaz

Studied with master of percussion Jesús Díaz between 2014-2022. Focussing on Afrocuban Folkloric Percussion and Songs.
http://www.jesusdiazqba.com/

Private study with Sandy Perez

Studied with master of percussion Sandy Perez between 2010-2017. Focussing on Afrocuban Percussion; such as bata, congas and chekere.

Bakersfield College (bakersfieldcollege.edu)
Adjunct Faculty (August 2023-Current)

  • Taught “A Survey of World Music” course, where students learn basic music theory concepts, critically explore music cultures from all over the world, and learn to perform various styles of music in an ensemble setting.
  • Students learn the fundamentals of afrocuban folkloric percussion, African ewe music, South Indian Carnatic music and more by playing together as an ensemble.
  • Students are required to engage in large scale research project that exemplifies college level writing.

Bakersfield City School District (bcsd.com)
Music Instructor (August 2023-Current)

  • Taught guitar, modern band, and music composition classes for grades 6-8.
  • Guitar class instruction includes guitar technique, improvisation, and notation.
  • Modern Band instruction includes ensemble dynamics, understanding song form, responding to cues, instrumental technique
  • Music composition instruction includes using a digital audio workstation, music theory, music production skills, and composition techniques.

Smule, Inc (www.smule.com) San Francisco, CA.
Smule is a music focussed technology company founded in 2008. The karaoke singing app and social network, Smule empowers creators from all over the globe to connect via a musical medium.
Lead Music Producer (May 2016-Dec 2022)

  • Transcribed, arranged and produced songs for partner artist campaigns for the Smule Apps: Smule (karaoke), Magic Piano (piano), Autorap (rapping)
  • Managed Projects for international and domestic artists such as Gilberto Gil (brazil), Cita Citata (Indonesia), etc.
  • Defined standard operating procedures for the music production team
  • Reviewed and Edited arrangements from other team members for accuracy and aesthetic value, making improvements as to meet our QA standards.
  • Trained other team members on topics such as: advanced music theory, vocal production, mixing and mastering, transcription, etc
  • Produced vocals for major recording artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Tony Bennet, Lewis Capaldi, etc.
  • Composed, mixed and mastered new tracks as needed for various projects

Oracle Corporation (www.oracle.com) Redwood Shores, CA.
Oracle is a major technology corporation specializing in computer hardware systems and enterprise software products.
Principal Business Analyst, Cloud Operations (Nov 2015-May 2016)
IT Principal Consultant, Cloud Operations (Jun 2014-Oct 2015)

  • Worked to centralize and standardize processes within the Oracle Marketing Cloud for the Responsys product offering.
  • Defined requirements for the automation of Responsys processes.
  • Performed data reconciliation for all discrepancies in subscriptions
  • Managed internal communication, SOPs, and processes for the provisioning team.
*** Please note that on December 20, 2013. Oracle Corporation announced that it would acquire Responsys, Inc. This acquisition was completed in 2014. ***

Responsys, Inc. (www.responsys.com) San Bruno, CA.
Responsys is the leader of relationship-based marketing software
Account Configuration Team Lead (Aug 2012- May 2014)
Technical Support Specialist (Jan 2011-Aug 2012)

  • Managed configuration changes and change processes for customer accounts.
  • Worked to onboard and offboard customer projects to the Responsys structure.
  • Standardized processes for releases of new feature to the production environment.
  • Managed communication with partner agencies for mobile SMS messaging.
  • As team lead, managed internal communication, maintained SOPs for the account configuration team, and took the lead on priority issues.
  • Awarded the 2011 Technical Support Outstanding Contributor.

ID Tech (Internal Drive Summer Technology Camp) (www.idtech.com) Southern California Region
ID Tech is one of the largest technology camps in the world for children ages 7-18.
Lead Instructor (June-Aug 2009)
Camp Instructor (June-Aug 2008)
Camp Instructor (June-Aug 2007)

  • Taught classes in web design and video game creation for children ages 7-18.
  • Other summer camp duties that relate to the care and supervision of children.

Century Strings (www.centurystrings.com) Chino, CA
Century Strings is a manufacturer of violins, violas, cellos, basses, bows, cases and other accessories.
Traveling Salesperson (Jan 2009-Jun 2009)

  • Planned and completed large scale sales tours around the United States.

Honor Roll Music (honorrollmusic.com) Miami, Fl
Honor Roll is a record label that produces recording artists as well as scores music for commercials, movies, and television shows.
Freelance Recording Artist and Producer (May 2007-Feb 2008)

  • Wrote, recorded and produced music for television advertisements as well as other commercial productions.
  • Worked as a touring drummer for the band Awesome New Republic.
  • Rehearsed new material and recorded an album with Awesome New Republic

Works with notated scores available. Please visit this page to view notated scores for some selected pieces.

Filmography. A selection of films for which I have composed music.

"The Harm Series" is now available on the ddb bandcamp. This album is a stereo interpretation of a multi-speaker work that focusses on manipulating the tones from the harmonic series to create an eerie soundscape across which the sounds of afrocuban percussion recorded on a tascam 4-track recorder are stretched

"The Odd" , a recent album by ddb on bandcamp. This was composed during Song a Day for a Month in July 2022. During each day of this month, I composed and recorded one song from this album. Each day's lyrics are a continuation of the previous day's lyrics. This album chronicles the journey of three travelers to a mysterious location where one of them becomes possessed by an entity seeking revenge.

"Fantastic Tones for Human Bones" is a podcast hosted by Mark Pascucci-Clifford and Robert Woods-LaDue featuring discussions with musical artists about their work and practice.

Onkos is a metal band featuring unusual instrumentation and song structures. The first album features a percussion ensemble of 5 chekeres where one might expect a drumset, and many detuned acoustic guitars where one might expect electric guitars on distortion. The synthesizers and harmonies also add both a beauty and complexity to the whole mixture. The second album will be released in early 2023. This album expands the ensemble to include some homemade drums and a small winds and brass section. The songs on this album also exploring a wider variety of domains including some solo acoustic improvised pieces, as well as an instrumental wind and brass sextet.

FYI Birds is a free improv trio featuring Robert Woods-LaDue, Richard Haig, and Devin Smith. The pieces that we have performed primarily only designate the length of time for a section. We focus primarily on creating an ominous vibe, but everything else is improvised.

Walk on the Frame is a dance and music collaborative piece written by Robert and Sarah Woods-LaDue. This piece is one of many artistic collaborations Sarah and I have worked on together. We believe the distilled, essential substance of composition and choreography to be the same thing at it's core. This piece features modular chords and melodies that can cascade across one another without conflict. .

TFPP is a collaborative music project between Matt Hettich and Robert Woods-LaDue. Working primarily with Renoise software, we seek to produce our own kind of electronic music with vocals. Our album "Mattpuut" is perhaps our finest work, and I would encourage you to have a listen.

SFCD Residency: "Modular Structures". In this artist residency at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Sarah and I had several goals. First, we wanted to create music and dance in a single artistic effort, rather than music that is composed to accompany dance, or dance that is choreographed along to a piece of music. We also created an extensive fabric of 'if-->then' relationships that are layered on top of the choreographed phrases and the notated music. The dancers and musicians in this piece operate independently to give and react to cues at their own discretion. Cues were established at micro and macro levels to indicate either a minor change to a phrase, or a larger move between sections. Cues could be given by any performer at any time, and responded to at each performer's own discretion. Every time the piece is set in motion, a unique variation of the base materials is created.

"Medal" is a piece written for a chamber orchestra, composed from 2006-2008. This piece divides the orchestra into instrument families that speak as one voice while overlapping across the other families as the entire ensemble spins through winding chord progression that does not seem to properly resolve. This piece deals with the idea of rhythmic dissonance, where tension can be built and relaxed by the relationship of complex rhythmic ideas.

"Brady Bunch Videos" on Youtube.
During the early pandemic days in 2020, I started making videos like this as a means of practicing music, since I was not able to play with others. I found that it worked so well as a practice technique I have just kept making these videos ever since. Since they are merely a practice method, some turn out better than others, but they are extremely valuable as a technique for practice.

Languages HTML, SQL, basic experience with Python, Java and Javascript
OS: MacOSX, Windows, Unix/Linux CLI
Music Production: LogicPro, Renoise, Protools, Melodyne, Izotope RX
Notation: Sibelius, Finale, Noteflight
Design and Video: Adobe Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Premier, Multimedia Fusion 2
Other: SQL Developer, Microsoft Office Suite, Google Suite, Jira and Confluence.