Growing up in Colombia, Martin Velez fell in love with traditional Colombian folk music, called cumbia, and taught himself how to play the guitar as well as record his own songs. In school, he was fascinated by computers, which led to him pursuing sound engineering in university, a perfect confluence of music and technology.
As a child Martin dealt with heart issues and would often visit cardiologists, where he’d be hooked up to different machines to monitor his heart. When it came time to choose his course of study for his MFA at the California Institute of the Arts, he wanted to use those same machines to create what he was most passionate about—music. His studies focused on biofeedback music, which uses electrodes connected to the human body to create music and visuals via feedback like brain waves and heartbeats.
Martin’s role as an associate engineer at TechMD enables him to continue pursuing his love of technology and sound, contributing with three-dimensional sound for VR to projects like the Museum of the Bible and the Griffith Observatory. He likes to balance being in front of computers all day with the outdoors, including biking, skating, and soccer. Martin has also stayed true to his musical roots, forming a band with friends that plays electronic cumbias music.
