Ron Thaler

Thaler at Rhythmbase in Glasgow Scotland for a drum clinic, 2008

Thaler was 11 years old when he first picked up drumsticks, after playing piano for three years.[4] He joined the high school jazz-band, and played his first professional shows at age 16 with jazz saxophonist Gordon Clements and with The Island Big Band.[5] In his late teens, Thaler moved to Vancouver, Canada[6] and toured with electronica band Moev in support of their release Yeah Whatever (Nettwerk Records). Thaler worked as in-house drummer and percussionist for various emerging artists on Nettwerk Records, Arista, Sony/ATV, Warner Canada and Atlantic Records,[7] recording at Mushroom Studios, Greenhouse, The Armoury, Little Mountain Sound, and Curryhouse Studio.[8] Thaler performed with Ultramarine (Rough Trade/Sire), Mark Hasselbach (Smooth), and Ian McDougall (Concord).[6]

In 1993, Thaler began recording at Envy Music House & Ludlow Productions on music jingles for the Cartoon Network, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and ESPN, and performed in Latin-jazz group Conosur along with Manolo Badrena and Al Di Meola, and with Paul Simon/soukous artist Dominic Kanza.[7] In 1994 Thaler recorded the east coast sessions for Arista Records artist Jonathan Robbins album "You Got Me", with drummers Jeff Porcaro and John Robinson tracking drums on the west coast sessions. Ron recorded drumset, percussion, and drum stool on the title track.[9]

As a touring drummer, studio drummer Thaler has performed with DJ Logic, Bethany Joy Lenz, Taylor Dayne, Sophie B. Hawkins, Jonathan Robbins, Taj Mahal, Simaku, Mercedes Ferrer, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Judie Tzuke, Yoko Ono, Rufus Reid, and Hiram Bullock.

Thaler performed with Willie Nelson, Los Lonely Boys, Hank Williams Jr. and 5th Of July at Alltel Stadium during the 2005 Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. In 2011, Thaler toured the USA with Anita Prime, Joe Lynn Turner and members of Orleans as part of the 2011 All Star Rock Tour.

Thaler has appeared on CTV's Canada AM,[10] City TV's Out There with Melissa DiMarco,[11] TV1[12] and TV3[13] New Zealand, Lounge Radio Budapest,[14] Muzic 'N Me Radio (Australia),[15] England's Hot 102.7,[9] CBC TV,[16] feature performance with artist Moev, rebroadcast from Brave New Waves, Apr. 18, 1992. Retrieved September 29, 2014.</ref> and MuchMusic,[17] "NAMM 2013 in Photos", Jan. 28, 2013, and "Montreal Drumfest Roundup", May 1997. Retrieved September 29, 2014.</ref> JazzTimes,[18] Jazziz,[19] Talking Drums,[20] France's L'Est Republicain,[21] New York Times,[22] Pulse Magazine,[23] Canadian Musician Magazine,[24] Batteur Magazine,[25] Australia's DrumScene,[26] Drums Etc.,[27] Le Délit Magazine,[28] Rip It Up,[29] Experience Hendrix Magazine,[30] Drum!,[31]

Thaler at Sony Tree Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, 2010

Thaler is a multi Grammy-Award nominated producer and arranger, and is a credited songwriter on Kelly Saint Patrick's In The Margins (2009 Grammy ballot for Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal, Producer of the Year), Project Grand Slam's Play (2009 Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist, as well as nominations for Best Pop Instrumental Album and Producer of The Year), Jason Yudoff's Tragic Hero (2008 Grammy ballot for Best New Artist, Album of The Year, Producer of The Year), and also on Alicia Keys No One (2008 Double Grammy winner, #1 Billboard).[32] Thaler credits his time working with producers Phil Ramone, Matt Knobel, Frank Fillipetti, Jerry Wexler, Bruce Fairbairn, and Arif Mardin for teaching him the art of music production,[8] for helping him develop "sonic landscapes... (that are) equal parts analog confection and digital sweetening",[28] and for what the New York Times calls "a virtuosity that touches great depth, eliciting that special emotion from listeners well beyond the mere consideration of technical mastery".[22]

In 2010, Thaler produced and co-wrote Anita Prime's Destiny, Lewis Copeland Roots at Sony/Tree, Oh Hello's One Trick Pony, and Heavy Road's Everything Changed.

In 2011 Thaler produced and co-wrote Anita Prime's single Complicated reaching #3 on Billboard,[29] The Royal Canadians Lonely Whale, a VIMA Album-of-the-Year nominee, Mahavishnu Redefined's Timeless, and Isunray's Balancing Act.

In 2012, Thaler produced and co-wrote Gareth Barker's Hello World, and Project Grand Slam's Spring Dance (Cakewalk Records).

In 2013, Thaler produced Traum Diggs Major Journalism and Martin Rybak's Live For The Day.

In 2014, Thaler produced Darren Hodson & Southern Companion's 1000 Days Of Rain, Eran Phillips' The Beatles Lullaby, and produced and co-wrote several songs on Robert Miller's Twenty.

In 2015, Thaler produced Secondhand Habit's "Chinese Whispers" (Blackstream/Sony), Mark Edwards "Hallelujah Chorus 2.0", Dorothy Melody's "Walk On Water", Nate Jolley's "Love Apocalypto", and contributed vocal production to Joey Clarkson's single "Loving You Is Breaking Me" (37 Records).

In 2016 and 2017, Thaler produced The Run Dogs "The Run Dogs" (RD/MusicBus) as well as a version of Morrisey's "How Soon Is Now" with the band for an NBC/Universal film production, Yola Rage's "Sugar" (AMR/Warner), Andy Pratt's "It's Not The End Of The World" (Columbia Legacy), Kelly Saint Patrick's "Recover" (Willhemina/SBM), country star Amy Jack's "Don't Lose Your Soul Over It" (ESPN), and contributed to new tracks by Shy'm (Warner), Wyclef Jean (Universal), and Capcom's game platform "Dead Rising: 4".

In 2018, Thaler produced PuKa's "Higher" (6Ways), Amy Jack's "Who The Real Ones Are" (E3/Sony), and Perrenque Films "La Voz Magica De Edith" (PFI/ABC).

In 2019, Thaler produced PuKa's "Rabbit Hole" (6Ways), 12XPretty's "12XPretty" (6Ways), Amy Jack's "Dallas Till I Die" (E3/Sony), Danielle Thaler's "The Lady Of Brody", and Isa Ruiz's "Luna" (IRMusic/UMG).

Thaler has also produced Eric Hill's Second Sight, Elimotion's Elimotion 1, The True Story Band's "Grain" (EFA/JVC), Jeff Fiorello's Jeff Fiorello, Nika Brightn's Television, Amelia Terry's "Road Less Travelled", and others.[15]

Thaler is a pioneer in the field of 360° immersive sound and spatial music creation, having launched SoundSphere Studios, CineSphere, and Lysten 360 Sound Systems in 2017 with partner Steven Boardman.[33] SoundSphere Studios is focussed on the creation of 360° immersive music and its capture, and CineSphere and product Lysten360[34] provide spatial sound experiences for cineplex, auditorium, and other large scale environments. Thaler has directed educational initiatives in 360° sound at post-secondary facilities in North and South America, with curriculums focussed on industry transformations taking place in the worlds of spatial sound capture, music creation and 360° immersive sound transmission.[33]

In 1994 Thaler began performing under his own name, showcasing his original compositions, and would record ...Works (TP Records/OMD) with jazz musicians Ray Anderson, Hiram Bullock, Rick Margitza, Rufus Reid, Adam Rogers, and Oskar Cartaya. The group performed at The Montreal Jazz Festival, The Vancouver Jazz Festival, The Zebrock Festival, and other venues in Canada and France.[25]

In 1997 Thaler formed "The True Story Band", with jazz musicians Mike Stern, Chris Clark, Ron Bertolet and Jeff Carney. Thaler toured "The True Story Band" through Europe, Canada and the USA in support of the group's two releases, 1997's Medium Rare Grounds (TP/Factor) and 1998's Grain (EFA/JVC).

In 2000 Thaler took to reworking the music of Led Zeppelin for an instrumental context. Thaler recorded Jazzed & Confused: The Led Zep Project (TP) in 2001. The album includes Led Zeppelin compositions "Kashmir", "Whole Lotta Love", "The Rain Song", "The Ocean", and "Dazed & Confused", and 25 musicians including guitarists Mike Stern and Dweezil Zappa, violinist Miri Ben Ari, turntablist DJ Logic, harmonica player Hendrik Meurkens, trombonist Dave Panichi, trumpeter Vinny Cutro, and flamenco vocalist and dancers Amparo and Racquel Heredia. The album is produced by Thaler and Goo Goo Dolls/Maroon 5 alumnus Michael Landolt.[26]

In 2008, Thaler formed the experimental music group Elimotion, with bassist Matt Garrison, turntablist DJ Logic and guitarist Elijah Steele. The group's first release, Elimotion 1, was recorded at Manhattan Center Studios NYC, and released in 2014.[31]

Thaler is a frequent lecturer at international music industry, synchronization, and AR/VR conferences discussing topics such as music economics, networking, industry contracts and content synchronization issues. He has been a keynote speaker at: E3, Sync Summit (New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Barcelona, Prague),[35] Future Music Forum, South By Southwest, CMW, NAMM, BOMM, BAM, at university institutions including The Collective NYC (where he is also an artist-in-residence/visiting faculty member),[3] Music Academy International (France), Haberiana University (Bogota), Manhattan School of Music, The New School, UVIC, UBC, McGill University, The Sorbonne, Mainz Music College, SAE College, and Prime Music Academy in New Zealand.

Thaler has delivered many drumming clinics, seminars and educational workshops internationally. He has performed at The 1996 Montreal DrumFest,[36] The 2003 TUDW Ultimate Drummers Weekend International Drum Festival (Australia),[26] The 2004 KOSA Drum Festival (solo performance and trio performance with drummers Johnny Rabb and Steve Smith),[26] The 2006 Fort Myers Drum Festival,[6] The 2010 Victoria International Drum Festival,[5] The 2010 National Association of Music Manufacturers (NAMM) International Music Fair,[6] The MIDEM Music Conference in Cannes France,[31] The 2011 CMW Music Conference in Toronto Canada,[31] The 1998 Music West International Music Conference in Vancouver,[24] The 2004 Paris Zebrock Music Festival,[7] at Drummer's Collective New York City,[31] Music Academy International (France),[27] University of Victoria,[7] University of British Columbia,[24] Music Arts Academy (Geneva, Switzerland),[7] SAE College (Auckland New Zealand, Barcelona Spain),[31] Prime Music Academy (Wellington, New Zealand),[31] and others. Thaler has been featured on Drumeo TV,[20] and on four segments for the Daddario/Evans Educational Webcast Series.[9]

In 1998, Thaler released an instructional drumming video called Phraseology And Individuality On The Drumset.[37] The video was voted one of the "Top 25 Must-Have Instructional Drumming Videos of All Time" by readers of France's Batteur Magazine in 2007.[27]

In 2015, Thaler was invited to The Collective music school in New York City as an "Artist-In-Residence", as a visiting educator of Studio Drumming, Music Production, and Music Business & Industry.

In 2003, Thaler worked on the low-budget independent, Canadian short film project "Tilt" as a soundtrack composer.[38]