[1] He met gamelan composer Lou Harrison in 1975 at the Center for World Music in Berkeley.

[2] Schmidt participated in frequent discussions with Harrison and others that helped inspire his work in both construction of gamelan instruments and composing for them.

In addition to gamelan instruments, Schmidt has collaborated with Paul Dresher in inventing and building the instruments for several traveling performances, including "Sound Stage" and "Schick Machine," as well as an interactive exhibit called "Sound Maze.

"[4][5] Schmidt is a gamelan composer in addition to his instrument building work.

An LP album of In My Arms, Many Flowers was released in the spring of 2016 on the Recital label.