Audio Luminaries - Interacting

[skier]

I just learned that engineer Lou Ottens died last week. He worked at Philips most of his life and was the original creator of the cassette tape and also worked on the creations of the Compact Disk. If I remember correctly, he created the cassette initially to replace small reel-to-reel tapes in dictation – it was never initially meant to provide high-fidelity. But its size and convenience created its appeal and it soon replaced the 8-Track cassette which some of us (especially me) hated because it was fraught with problems such as tape or internal mechanism breaks. Ray Dolby improved the sound dramatically when he created the Dolby-B pre-emphasis/de-emphasis system for it. I had hoped to meet Lou and other such audio pioneers at AES in NYC which I have occasionally attended in October. I never did meet Lou and don’t know if he ever attended, but I did meet Dolby.

This all got me thinking this morning about pioneers I’ve met or hoped to meet and I thought it might make for an interesting thread. MJK mentioned yesterday how he’s been enjoying some of these more general threads occasionally as an escape (my words) into something less structured (my interpretation) and free-flowing (MJ, jump in and confirm or correct me as needed). Regardless, my aforementioned interpretations resonated and I realized why I, personally, have been enjoying these kinds of non-Tascam related topics also and was the genesis of this thread.

I'm sure there are others here that have had far more such interactions, and for those that'd like to share some of them, this should be the thread.

 

[skier]

There have been other individuals I’ve met and/or hoped to meet at some point before their demise ()hell, or my own – no guaranteed long-term expiration date for anybody ). I met Al Kooper once and got to speak with him for a bit. I was impressed with everything he’s done. He’s a “bigger then life” dude with strong opinions.

I met another inventor and kind of an audio gadfly online years ago, Steven St. Croix (aka Steven Marshall). He wrote the “Fast Lane” column for Mix magazine and was also an inventor. He was one of the creators of the Ensoniq PARIS DAW and that is where our paths crossed. We would communicate on the forum for PARIS just as we do here on this forum - that was my first DAW and I then migrated to Pro Tools when PARIS was no longer supported.

I very much liked Steven’s unusual view of things – he looked at things differently and I believe that’s why he was able to contribute so much to the audio world. I had also hoped to meet him at AES, but our physical paths never crossed. I did meet his business partner, who I believe coded much of the PARIS software, another bright, creative individual.

At this point, there are still many I hope to meet, such as George Massenburg, Al Smidt, Frank Filipetti, Bob Ludwig, Elliot Scheiner, Sylvia Massey, Eddie Kramer, and so many others.

Others, like Roger Nichols, Phil Ramone, Rupert Neve, Bruce Swedian and others are already gone.

 

[-mjk-]

The chief engineer of the studio where I was based, was Bill Ferruzzi. Not exceptionally well known to the general public, he was the original engineer for Ace studio. Legend has it, he engineered "Psychotic Reaction" and some other hits from the 60s (but I can't find any reference to him on the credits). He mentored Joe Chiccarelli who used to work at the studio before my time (there is a story about why Joe left, but I cannot tell it).

One day Bill showed me this vintage, green Altec vacuum tube mixer with rotary knobs. He asked me "Do you know what this is?"

"An Altec tube mixer?"

"No. This is what I used to mix the Beatles at Wonderland park in '64."

I genuflected.

 

[-mjk-]

In my youth, I met Tom Sholtz on 2 occasions. At that time I was more interested in discussing guitar amps than his recording techniques. I had pre-ordered a Sholtz R&D power soak and Tom personally took it out of the box and explained how it worked.

I just met Todd Rundgren a few days ago. I only had about 40 minutes with him but he was very forthright about things and gave some detailed answers. I will have a few thousand production questions to ask him next time I see him. Todd is a close personal friend of Grady, who arranged for us to meet. I did thank Todd for doing such a great job producing New England's last album, Walking Wild. They were good friends of mine.

 

[skier]

.... No. This is what I used to mix the Beatles at Wonderland park in '64."

I genuflected.

WHOA! That deserved a genuflection.

 

[skier]

I figured you'd have such stories based on our discussions. As I mentioned to an Arjan post a few weeks ago, we have all these members here, and we all go through our lives and interactions without knowing what others have done and some is very interesting - it's likely that way on many forums. I find that the most interesting people are those that have been and are involved in many other pursuits. But you can't short-change someone of any age who hasn't done it yet, because I have friends that started late, some not until they retired because work just consumed or even demoralized them, and once free of those shackles, they start to really blossom in ways we and they, could never have imagined. That's why I thought this kind of thread might potentially spark some very interesting discussions. (You placed that thought in my mind when you mentioned your comment about enjoying our general thread; you know, the one entitled "Antennas" that started on that topic, goes off and then returns to that topic, and in between, visits all kinds of other places? Please keep the inspirations coming; I may just need more help than others.)

 

[Phil Tipping]

Great topic Jerry.
I met a guy called Del Newman a few years ago at a local open-mic session. Nothing special, just a once-a-month meeting in a local village hall, about a dozen amateur musicians with skills ranging from raw beginners (like me) to very competent. He never played but just sat quietly next to a friend of mine, watching & listening. The friend introduced me to him while we on a refreshment break in the kitchen, and said he'd written a music book. I said hello and shook his hand, but then said I had to dash back into the hall as the music was about to restart. When I got home, I googled his name... turned out he was Derek Newman, an unsung & uncredited orchestral arranger who'd worked with Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Elton John to name but a few... and I'd more or less ignored him!
Anyway, I did get to chat to him properly after that, and he was a really great guy, still composing (showed me his computer setup running Sibelius) and gave music lessons to the locals... and yes, I bought his book (and got it signed). He told me he'd listened to the CD I'd engineered for the mutual friend and said he was very impressed, so that made my day.
Sadly, he passed away last August (link), but if you get a chance, look him up. The book was 'A touch from God - it's only rock and roll'.

 

[Arjan P]

I just learned that engineer Lou Ottens died last week. He worked at Phillips most of his life and was the original creator of the cassette tape and also worked on the creations of the Compact Disk

Yeah, it was big on the news here in The Netherlands, obviously with Philips (one L) being a Dutch company with Ottens as the head of development in the sixties and working there his whole career. The big success of the Compact Cassette was based on the size of it (at the time, the competition were also working on portable tape recorders/players but all with bigger cassettes) and - very importantly - the decision by Philips to not charge a licensing fee for others to use the technology (specifically the way the play/rec head was interfacing with the tape in the cassette).

When asked in his older years (Ottens lived to be 94) how he felt about the return of the Compact Cassette in popular music - in the recent 10 (?) years that is - he wasn't impressed. He didn't see how the quality of the Audio CD could be ignored..

Another fun fact I read after learning of his death: in WWII, as a teenager, he built a radio to listen (illegally) to Radio Orange, the official Dutch government's station broadcasting from London where our government had flead to. It even had a primitive directional antenna to avoid the German jammers. We're full circle!

 

[-mjk-]

Some time ago I started a thread about recording anecdotes. It may be time to add some to that thread.

Sometimes though, the "audio luminaries" that we deal with aren't always so illuminated. No matter what happens here on the Tascam Forums, there is one place that is even worse:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YaqTft4KNgBJg9Zu5

 

[Peter Batah]

So, basically someone (sound of me clearing my throat) should or could setup a whole separate sub-forum appropriately titled: "NAME DROPPING"

 

[-mjk-]

@Peter Batah sorry it took so long for me to respond. I was doing a thing with Brian May and Phil Tipping. You may know him from the band Queen.

Great idea! We could place it directly under the Mutual Admiration thread.

 

[Peter Batah]

@-mjk- No worries. I was busy watching you throw back a few Teacher's single malt.

 

[-mjk-]

Busted!

 

[Peter Batah]

@-mjk- Oh, and your disco dance partners in mini skirts. That will be our little secret. You know that I got your back

 

[-mjk-]

Thank you Peter. You're a true friend.

 

[skier]

... Philips (one L) ....

Resolved - thanks. Hey Arjan, what are the chances I can send you several documents each day for review? In fact, I might want to rent you out - and yes, I'll cut you in for a piece of the action!

 

[skier]

Great topic Jerry.
I met a guy called Del Newman a few years ago at a local open-mic session. Nothing special, just a once-a-month meeting in a local village hall, about a dozen amateur musicians with skills ranging from raw beginners (like me) to very competent. He never played but just sat quietly next to a friend of mine, watching & listening. The friend introduced me to him while we on a refreshment break in the kitchen, and said he'd written a music book. I said hello and shook his hand, but then said I had to dash back into the hall as the music was about to restart. When I got home, I googled his name... turned out he was Derek Newman, an unsung & uncredited orchestral arranger who'd worked with Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Elton John to name but a few... and I'd more or less ignored him!
Anyway, I did get to chat to him properly after that, and he was a really great guy, still composing (showed me his computer setup running Sibelius) and gave music lessons to the locals... and yes, I bought his book (and got it signed). He told me he'd listened to the CD I'd engineered for the mutual friend and said he was very impressed, so that made my day.
Sadly, he passed away last August (link), but if you get a chance, look him up. The book was 'A touch from God - it's only rock and roll'.

Glad you like it, Phil! Your story exemplifies why I thought this might be fun.

 

[skier]

Yeah, it was big on the news here in The Netherlands, obviously with Philips (one L) being a Dutch company with Ottens as the head of development in the sixties and working there his whole career. The big success of the Compact Cassette was based on the size of it (at the time, the competition were also working on portable tape recorders/players but all with bigger cassettes) and - very importantly - the decision by Philips to not charge a licensing fee for others to use the technology (specifically the way the play/rec head was interfacing with the tape in the cassette).

When asked in his older years (Ottens lived to be 94) how he felt about the return of the Compact Cassette in popular music - in the recent 10 (?) years that is - he wasn't impressed. He didn't see how the quality of the Audio CD could be ignored..

Another fun fact I read after learning of his death: in WWII, as a teenager, he built a radio to listen (illegally) to Radio Orange, the official Dutch government's station broadcasting from London where our government had flead to. It even had a primitive directional antenna to avoid the German jammers. We're full circle!

I'd not heard that about him building the radio hear Radio Orange. But everything I've read about him over the years is that this was a guy who saw a need and had few qualms about attacking and solving a problem - quite impressive.