Scheidt grew up in the province of Alberta, Canada. He first studied percussion and composition at the University of Victoria (British Columbia), but his interest in technology, and particularly the use of the computer as a compositional tool, drove him to study computer science at Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario). After a few pieces for solo piano and Synclavier in the early '80s, he turned to computer creation. His first works from the mid-'80s are solo computer pieces, but he quickly turned to writing software applications that could interact in real-time with an improviser. A few world-renowned musicians commissioned pieces from him, including trombonist George Lewis, percussionist Trevor Turesky, and clarinetist Lori Freedman. Examples of his pieces for instrumentalist and computer are documented on his first CD, Action/Réaction, released in 1991 on Empreintes DIGITALes. ~ François Couture, Rovi