Mark Orton grew up in a musical family. The son of a conductor, he began formal study of both piano and guitar at the age of four. By the beginning of high school, he was exploring jazz, classical, and world music, and had begun his studies in both composition and theory with Danny Deutsch. Orton went on to study composition at The Peabody Conservatory with Jean Ivey, and at The Hartt School Of Music with David MacBride and Robert Kyr. After school, Mark served as chief engineer at The Knitting Factory in N.Y., allowing him to work extensively with artists ranging from Laurie Anderson and The Kronos Quartet to John Zorn and Marisa Monte. He used this experience to work as both a live-sound and recording engineer, touring with many bands including Bill Frisell, John Lurie and The Lounge Lizards, and Mr. Bungle in Europe, Japan, and America.

Mark is a multi-instrumentalist. He continues to add instruments to a growing list that includes guitar, dobro, banjo, madolin, lute, and cavaquinho, as well as piano, and percussion. With the Portland, Oregon based Americana band "The Old Joe Clarks", he plays both electric and steel guitar. Outside of Tin Hat, Mark is active as a film and radio composer. He has written scores for both documentary and feature films including "The Slow Business Of Going", directed by Rachel Tsangari (best director: New York Film Critic's Circle ) and "The Good Girl", directed by Miguel Arteta and starring Jennifer Anniston.