Jim Hamilton has been deeply involved with music for his entire life. His work as a drummer and percussionist has taken him all over the world including performances at the Grammys, World Music Awards, MTV , BET and VH-1 Video Music Awards.  Along with appearances on David Letterman and Jay Leno.  During the 1990’s, he toured with suchlegendary acts as Boyz II Men and Gerald Alston. After returning home to Philadelphia, he opened his own recording studio, which he operated for over fifteen years. During this time he toured Japan and Europe extensively with Ursula Rutker. On top of running his studio, he also became heavily involved in the Percussion scene in Philadelphia. He was a co-founding member of” Spoken Hand” and Alo Brasil. During his carrer he has recorded with a wide variety of artists including: John Blake, Oden Pope, Zakir Hussain, Dom Um Romao, Marshall Allen, Lee Smith, and Warren Smith. As a live performer he as shared the stage with Toni Braxton, Paul Winter, Jamaladeen Tacuma and Calvin Weston. Among others.

Michael is a talented Engineer originally from London. He took an interest in music and sound recording when at an early age he discovered he could connect an old tape deck to a radio and capture his favorite songs from the airwaves. At 13 he got the chance to get behind a mixing desk running sound for his high school theatre productions but found the allure of the studio to be irresistible. Upon leaving school, Michael quickly found himself in and out of various studios in London playing in different bands honing his craft and developing his recording skills. Michael took the opportunity to work with a variety of local and international acts of all genres including Barry Dread, Marcia Griffiths, Xantoné Blacq, Bomba Estereo, The Discovery Network and Sophie Coran.  He went on to open the doors to his recording facility TreacleMine Recording, before making the move to Philadelphia and joining the Rittenhouse SoundWorks team. He continues to make records but has now expanded his work to include sound design and post audio production for picture. He went on to do the sound design, foley and mix for "Besieged" the winner of the 2018 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival Best Narrative Short Award. He has had the pleasure of working with artists such as The Sun Ra Arkestra, Odean Pope, Lotus, The Crossing Choir, Lylyly, Emmett  Drueding and many more.

Tyler Ripley is one of our audio engineers and intern coordinator for our educational program. His passion for engineering began in early high school when he was in a band and was searching for ways to make his rough recordings sound better. He graduated from Penn State with degrees in Advertising/Public Relations and Music Technology. He has worked in various genres of music, which include artists like Vic Juris, Tony Miceli, Michael Ray (Sun Ra Akrestra, Kool and the Gang, Phish), Sprite Lee, amongst others. He also works as an audio engineer for the Philadelphia Eagles, where his work has been featured on national television and radio.

He founded an indie label, “Free Dive Records”, with the goal of developing Tri-State Area Artists. Free Dive’s first release “Daychange” by the indie-surf group “Dry Reef” debuted at #31 on the iTunes Top 200 Alternative Albums and charted in 10 countries.