Zackery Belanger is educated in gravitational physics, trained in acoustic architecture, and immersed in pitting these two experiences against each other. His savvy is in the shaping of any material for acoustic performance, from small pores and fibers to the large sweeping curves of rooms.

He was the inaugural Researcher-in-Residence at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer (Troy, NY) – a building which he helped design - and has built a reputation for merging sound and light in the design process. In 2022 he was awarded an Architect Magazine R+D Award for Long Range. Zackery has spoken extensively on the future of acoustic design. He is the author of the long-form essay Acoustic Ornament.
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Zackery’s work, broadly under the name Arcgeometer, split recently into three parts: Umbel, an acoustic shell project called Recurve, and artistic work now carrying forward the name Arcgeometer. He also flirts with impossible codebreaking.

Elizabeth Teret spent many years as a musical instrument builder, working for Mason and Hamlin Pianos and Bourgeois Guitars. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Oberlin, and earned a Master’s Degree in Architectural Acoustics from Rensselaer in 2015. Since then, she has been an assistant professor at Berklee College of Music, where she teaches acoustics and the technology of musical instruments. She lives in Maine, where it’s mostly quiet.

Shireen Mehrpay resides in Hamtramck, MI, where she has been involved in the local experimental music scene for several years. She spends a large amount of time exploring ways to perceive and arrange sounds into music, and now extends her interest and skills into the field of acoustic architecture.

Nick DeMaison is a musician, writer, and acoustic collaborator. As a musician, he performed in some of the world’s “finest” acoustic spaces (including EMPAC, in Troy, NY and New York’s Carnegie Hall), some of the world’s “worst” acoustic spaces (parking garages, empty warehouses, black box theaters, jazz clubs, the old Avery Fisher Hall, the outdoors), and some of the world’s weirdest acoustic spaces (Tsai Performance Center in Boston, NCPA Beijing, a now demolished racquetball court in New Hampshire). His recordings are available on New Focus, Mode, BrightShiny, and several streaming platforms. His interest in discovering the sounds most suited to the particular acoustics of a space led him to Umbel. He lives in the Hudson Valley.

Huseyn Mehrpay is a trusted business consultant, audio engineer, music producer, vocalist, and acoustician. After having built and run two recording studios in his early twenties, he studied acoustics and honed his audio engineering skills for nearly a decade under late Detroit audio engineering legend, Edward J. Wolfrum. Huseyn has recorded, produced, and mastered a wide variety of music from solo rap artists to 100-piece symphony orchestras. He began advising Zackery Belanger in 2018, eventually moving into a business strategy and acoustic research role, which he continues today as part of the Umbel team. Huseyn maintains an artistic practice under the pseudonym, B.Aware, where he explores his interests in acoustics, field recording, composition, sound design, and the psychology of creativity.

Eleanor is a fifth-year architecture student at Syracuse University where she is also pursuing a minor in applied data analytics. Eleanor has a background in music and has performed in bands, orchestras, and chamber ensembles at Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall and Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She sought out acoustical architecture experience as a way to combine her interest in spatial design and its impact on sound, specifically music performance. She started working for Umbel in summer 2024. Eleanor lives in Syracuse, New York.

Joshua was born and raised in Metro-Detroit and recently graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from Lawrence Technological University, where he developed a skill set in computational design + analysis. During that time, he held the position of Freedom by Design Director through AIAS (American Institute of Architecture Students) and worked with a team of his peers to complete real-world projects for local clientele. This work led Joshua to read Acoustic Ornament, which sparked his interest in architectural acoustics.