“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. ”

— Victor Hugo

Jae Shanks

 I'm a sound designer currently living in Kansas City, but headed to Oklahoma City in the fall. Although originally from Austin, Texas. I am quite at home here in the Midwest with its tempestuous weather and religion of coffee. I do miss good pickles and smoked barbeque though.
I write in my spare time, and any time I have left is spent cooking with local ingredients. I stay busy!

I was a pianist first; I've been playing since I was six years old. Sound design happened quite accidentally in undergrad; I stepped up to a role that was vacated during a show. My first full sound design was Machinal: a two hour soundscape with original music: nothing like starting small. Since then I've gone to grad school at University of Missouri Kansas City and been freelancing in the Midwest. Sound design adds an emotional quality to shows that is hard to qualify, but important nevertheless. Music pulls at the soul and it is a privilege to be a part of a production's emotional journey.

Thank you for listening!

Sample Compositions

Press links

An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkin
An Old-fashioned yet Transgressive Piece of Theater

Marilyn/God by Rosary Hartel O'Neill
Visually Arresting Tour de Force

Sample videos

Inquiries

My Resume updated on 15 May 2018 74.7 KB

Press photos

Antigone stands before her king as the two actors stand before their prison guards

Antigone stands before her king as the two actors stand before their prison guards

Huntington's begins to warp her mind with sound, chaos and fear

Huntington's begins to warp her mind with sound, chaos and fear

Hamlet floats over a great abyss, feeling as if the world is spinning out of control.

Hamlet floats over a great abyss, feeling as if the world is spinning out of control.