While at the Berklee College of Music, Elff became affiliated with several regional sound system vendors; he worked after class, and on weekends, providing tech support for shows around the Boston area, which led to his first international touring opportunity immediately after graduating in 1991.
After graduating, Elff worked with several New York based productions companies and has provided sound support for events at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, and many other venues.[4][5][6] Elff also provided mixing and technical support for several early MTV productions.[7]
Throughout the 1990s, Elff continued to tour in the US and internationally with various artists including New York Voices, Diana Krall, Hothouse Flowers, and others.[8] In 1999 Jody began a decade-long association with Laurie Anderson, starting with her "Songs and Stories from Moby Dick" project, and over the next 10 years included numerous tours, installation and recording projects.[9][10]
Elff's work has expanded to include a diverse range of projects, from live concert audio to film composition, opera and theatrical sound design, field recordings, studio recording projects, fine-art installations and technical innovation.[4][7][2][11][12] Primarily music-driven, his work spans all genres.[4]
Elff has recorded and mixed dozens of albums, including the 2017 Grammy award-winning "Sing Me Home" by Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.[1][13][14] His fine art sound installations have been presented internationally, including the permanent installation "STRATA" in Lyon, France.[14]
In collaboration with the composer Anna Clyne, Elff has developed The Augmented Orchestra (AO), which involves audio processing integrated with live orchestral performances, thereby expanding the sound of an acoustic orchestra in real time.[15][16][17]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Elff began exploring a long-simmering idea about how to mix high channel-count audio in real time over distance, resulting in a patented methodology to do so.[2] This inspired the formation of a new company, Harris Elff Audio Resources (HEAR) with long-time friends and colleagues John Harris and Robert Macomber.[18] HEAR now stands as an industry leader for live audio recording and broadcast in North America.[18][19][11]