Russ Hughes
Founder and Editor

Mike Thornton
Deputy Editor

Eric Johnson
Community Manager

Neil Hester
Windows Editor

James Ivey
Hardware Editor

Wolfgang Sussitz
German Editor

Franco Pellegrini
Spanish Editor

Philippe Faucher
French Editor

Russ founded the site in 2008 as a response to those who felt unable to use the AIR virtual instruments.

Russ has a background in production, writing and technical support for many top artists and spanning three decades - yes he really is old!

‘My passion is to help remove the barriers to creative freedom by equipping users with knowledge so that the technology becomes transparent’

By day Russ runs a marketing agency with a specialism in social media. In his spare time (funny) he enjoys cooking, watching movies and looking after his dog Wurly.

Mike has been working in the broadcast audio industry for all his working life, some 35 years. 

He has worked with Pro Tools since the mid 90s growing up with it when it was 4 tracks on a good day with a following wind! He has been recording, editing and mixing documentaries, comedy and drama for both radio and TV as well as doing the occasional music project. Add to that providing 24/7 Pro Tools support for 15 years, as well as being a broadcast audio consultant & trainer.

Regular readers of Sound on Sound will also be familiar with Mike’s Pro Tools column.

For Mike the line between work and hobbies is a very fuzzy grey one but to get away from technology he is building a live steam garden railway and doing Codeword puzzles.

Eric is trained in computer programming and has also run  a commercial studio - perhaps helpful for any Pro Tools owner.

Eric works to develop the community by looking after our users and cultivating strong relationships with all of our partners.

He is Mr Organised and spends a significant amount of time bringing order to the creative chaos that Russ generates.

In his spare time he looks after the audio needs of his local church and a Jazz festival.

Neil is a long time Windows Pro Tools User who works as a Broadcast Engineer at the BBC,

He was previously the Research & Development Engineer for Carillon Audio PC’s Sold through the Turnkey Music Store in London. He also built the machines and offered customer tech Support for all kinds of audio software and hardware.

Neil is our Windows guru and will be helping the community with Windows related Pro Tools queries.

Neil has also worked for some of the top Pro Audio stores in the UK as a Pro Audio product sales demonstrator.

In his spare time he has been in several bands and has some other musical projects in the pipeline, He also enjoys tinkering with electronics, building / modifying  vintage audio gear.

James Ivey, known to most simply as Jivey, has joined the Pro Tools Expert team to offer help and advice for guitarists using Pro Tools and Eleven Rack.

James is widely recognised as one of the leading authorities on Eleven Rack, as a freelancer he travels around the world demonstrating the Eleven Rack at trade shows, dealerships and other events.

However his skills do not end there, he is an accomplished drummer and studio owner - with an enviable collection of microphones.

Wolfgang hails from Austria but now lives in London, he speaks several languages including German.

Wolfgang produces music and designs sound for new media, games, film, TV and adverts.

He translates the blog and also contributes to the unique content for our German speaking audience.

Dividing his time between London/UK and his native Austria, he also runs a research project focussing on music in episodic television.

Franco translates the blog and provides content and videos for our Spanish speaking audience.

Franco is a songwriter and recording musician born in Lima. His passion to travel and his curiosity for all kinds of music has allowed him to meet performers of different styles, merging these influences into his creations.

After living in Europe for several years, Franco has absorbed new experiences, music genres and instruments that made him the musician and lyricist he is today.

His music has been featured on Network and Cable Television like MTV, the Sportsman Channel and Sony Pictures Television. Franco says that although he enjoys performing, his passion lies in the creative and technical process of sculpting a great song.

Philippe Lives in Aix-en-Provence, France and runs the blog for our French community members.

Having been previously part of the team at Avid he now works at Webmedialab. 

He is tracking and mixing music for local bands in the south of France and also creating web contents for some French companies.

Philippe is an Avid certified Pro Tools Operator and has been training official courses for CMI (the French Avid Pro School).

He wants to share his passion for music creation and music technology with anyone, anywhere and anytime. “Le chemin est le but”.