Biography

Mr. Pfeifer comes from Abilene, Texas. In 1995, he attended Baylor University in Waco, TX, completing his Bachelor of Music Education degree under the direction of Larry Vanlandingham and Michael Haithcock. During his time at Baylor, Mr. Pfeifer enjoyed many musical honors that include, assistant timpanist, and principal percussion positions with the Waco Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Pfeifer finished his career at Baylor that not only included many percussion recitals, but also with many extra-curricular courses of study in electrical engineering, and acoustical physics. In the summer of 1998, Mr. Pfeifer toured with the famed Madison Scouts from Madison, Wisconsin, as center tenor. Mr. Pfeifer was also a member of many popular Texas bands, touring the state and playing in Texas’ most notorious musical and theatrical venues.

Mr. Pfeifer moved to Valencia, California in the summer of 2000. He entered master’s studies at the California Institute of the Arts the following fall, studying with legendary musicians John Bergamo and Joe LaBarbera. He immediately became extremely active on the Los Angeles live music scene, playing with rock bands, jazz combos, corporate bands, and touring extensively throughout the U.S. and Mexico. His final year at CalArts met Mr. Pfeifer with a healthy teaching schedule, maintaining a private instruction studio, and assisting in the teaching of the rhythm theory course for CalArts undergraduate music students. Mr. Pfeifer was awarded his Master of Fine Arts degree, graduating in the top academic tier of his class in May of 2002.

In 2003, Mr. Pfeifer began teaching percussion in several Los Angeles Area schools. During this time, his primary goals were composing original works and arranging for percussion ensembles and indoor competition drumlines. These percussion groups toured within SCPA (Southern California Percussion Alliance) and WGI (Winter Guard International). Beginning in early 2004, My Pfeifer became involved with The Procrastinators, an urban percussion group. With The Procrastinators, he sound-designed and co-produced several stage performances.

In 2004, Mr. Pfeifer was invited to join the Novo Philharmonic, a Los Angeles based orchestra with a very unique mission. The 91-piece orchestra records new works by innovative composers, pairing the orchestra with everything from electronics to jazz combos.

In the final months of 2004, Mr. Pfeifer completed his first major book, Advanced Pedal Applications: A Comprehensive Study of Pedal Bridging and Multiple-Pedal Setups. The book deals with new ideas for multiple-pedal drumming, allowing drummers the opportunity to completely rethink everything they have ever learned about double-bass. Advanced Pedal Applications was the result of not only years of study, but also the pursuit of using the standard drumset in a more efficient way. Excerpts from "APA" were published in Modern Drummer magazine in the Summer of 2005. Mr. Pfeifer is a current student of Gregg Bissonette and Thomas Lang.

In his present musical endeavors, Mr. Pfeifer plays drumset, hand percussion, and electronics for a variety of musical groups, does dj (yes, dj, as in turntables) work around Los Angeles, builds and bends electronic circuits for audio applications, writes and records electro-acoustic works, and is constantly making additions to his collection of rare and unusual musical instruments. He also plays and builds theremins (thanks to Mr. Brian Green of Houston, TX for the guts of the first theremin), and is a freelance sound designer. If not on stage, you'll probably find Mr. Pfeifer flying down the slopes of one of California's many ski resorts.