Bob Ludwig

Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, Bryan Ferry, Paul McCartney, Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen and Daft Punk[1] resulting in over 3,000 credits.[2] He is the recipient of numerous Grammy and TEC Awards.

Ludwig pictured in his mastering studio in 2008.

Biography

At the age of eight in South Salem, New York, Ludwig was so fascinated with his first tape recorder, that he used to make recordings of whatever was on the radio. Ludwig is a classical musician by training, having obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, New York. He was also involved in the sound department at Eastman, as well as being principal trumpet of the Utica Symphony Orchestra.[3] Inspired by Phil Ramone when he came to Eastman to teach a summer recording workshop, Ludwig ended up working as his assistant. Afterwards, he was contacted and offered work with Ramone at A&R Recording. Together, they did sessions on projects with The Band, Peter, Paul & Mary, Neil Diamond and Frank Sinatra.

After a few years at A&R, Ludwig received an offer from Sterling Sound, where he eventually became a vice president. After seven years at Sterling, he moved to its competitor, Masterdisk, where he was vice president and chief engineer. In 1993, Ludwig left Masterdisk to start his own record mastering facility in Portland, Maine, named Gateway Mastering Studios, Inc. He, along with Adam Ayan are the two mastering engineers who work at Gateway Mastering.

Work

Ludwig's mastering credits include albums for many major classic artists, such as the Kronos Quartet, and rock acts, including Jimi Hendrix, Phish, Motley Crüe, Megadeth, Metallica, Gloria Estefan, Nirvana, The Strokes, Queen, U2, Sting, The Police, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Beck, Guns N' Roses, Richie Sambora, Tool, Simple Minds, Bryan Ferry, Tori Amos, Bonnie Raitt, Mark Knopfler, Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, the Bee Gees, Madonna, Supertramp, Will Ackerman, Pet Shop Boys, Radiohead, Elton John, Daft Punk[1] and Alabama Shakes.[4]

He has occasionally undertaken longer projects, such as remastering the entire back catalogues of Rush, Dire Straits, Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Rolling Stones.[5]

Ludwig cites his most musically satisfying projects as: the CD reissue of Music From Big Pink (The Band), There's a Riot Goin' On (Sly and the Family Stone), Led Zeppelin II, Painted from Memory (Bacharach & Costello), Spirit (Jewel), Loreena McKennitt, and Ancient Voices of Children (George Crumb).

Ludwig remains an active influence in the music industry. As a judge for the 8th and 10th-14th annual Independent Music Awards, his contributions helped assist the careers of upcoming independent artists.[6] Ludwig is active in the Audio Engineering Society and is a past chairman of the New York AES section. He was Co-Chair of the Producers and Engineers Wing for 5 years and is presently on the Advisory Council of the P&E Wing of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.[7]

Awards and recognition

TEC Awards

Ludwig has won many Technical Excellence & Creativity (TEC) Awards.[8]

Year Award Work
1986 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Mastering Engineer N/A
1987 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Mastering Engineer N/A
1989 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Mastering Engineer N/A
1990 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Mastering Engineer N/A
1991 Les Paul Award honoring individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of recording technology. N/A
1994 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Mastering Engineer N/A
1994 Outstanding Institutional Achievement - Mastering Facility N/A
1995 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Mastering Engineer N/A
1995 Outstanding Institutional Achievement - Mastering Facility N/A
1996 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Mastering Engineer N/A
1996 Outstanding Institutional Achievement - Mastering Facility N/A
1998 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Mastering Engineer N/A
1998 Outstanding Institutional Achievement - Mastering Facility N/A
1999 Outstanding Institutional Achievement - Mastering Facility N/A
2000 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Mastering Engineer N/A
2001 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Record Production/Album Riding With the King, B.B. King & Eric Clapton
2002 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Record Production/Single or Track The Space Between, Everyday, Dave Matthews Band
2004 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Record Production/Album Hail to the Thief, Radiohead
2006 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Surround Sound Recording Brothers in Arms-20th Anniversary Edition, Dire Straits
2009 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Record Production/Single or Track "Viva La Vida", Coldplay
2009 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Record Production/Album Viva La Vida, Coldplay
2014 Outstanding Creative Achievement - Record Production/Album Random Access Memories, Daft Punk

Grammy Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result[9]
2003 The Rising Album Of The Year Nominated
2005 Avalon Best Surround Sound Album Nominated
2006 Brothers In Arms - 20th Anniversary Edition Won
In Your Honor Nominated
2008 Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Sings Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs Best Classical Album Nominated
2009 In Rainbows Album of the Year Nominated
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Nominated
2012 Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (Super Deluxe Edition) Best Surround Sound Album Won
Music Is Better Than Words Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Nominated
2013 Ashes & Fire Nominated
Love Is a Four Letter Word Nominated
Babel Album of the Year Won
Blunderbuss Nominated
2014 Random Access Memories Won
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Won
Annie Up Nominated
"Get Lucky" Record of the Year Won
Charlie Is My Darling - Ireland 1965 Best Historical Album Won
2015 G I R L Album of the Year Nominated
Morning Phase Won
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Won
Bass & Mandolin Nominated
Beyoncé Best Surround Sound Album Won
2016 Sound & Color Album of the Year Nominated
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Won
2017 Are You Serious Nominated
2018 Is This the Life We Really Want? Nominated
2020 Scenery Nominated
Riley: Sun Rings Best Engineered Album, Classical Won
Kverndokk: Symphonic Dances Best Immersive Audio Album Nominated
The Savior Nominated

Latin Grammy Awards

2004: Album of the Year - No Es Lo Mismo, Alejandro Sanz

2013: Album of the Year - Vida, Draco Rosa

Cinema Audio Society

2005: Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Non-Fiction, Variety or Music-Series or Specials: - Hammersmith Odeon London 1975, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

APRS

2012: Association of Professional Recording Services Sound Fellowship - received 27 October 2012[10]

Audio Engineering Society

2015: AES Gold Medal[11]

gollark: Fusion needs a lot of startup power.
gollark: For only sending stuff home, we have ender pouches, but that sounds really useful.
gollark: Wow.
gollark: Does the PL one still support autocrafting?
gollark: *turtle destroys entire base when fuel runs out*

References
  1. "Bob Ludwig". Gateway Mastering. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  2. "Bob Ludwig". All Music Guide. All Music Guide. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  3. Anderman, Joan (2001-11-08). "Sound judgment - Music stars find a master's touch in Maine". The Boston Globe. pp. D1. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
  4. Greg Milner (2019-02-07). "They Really Don't Make Music Like They Used To". The New York Times.
  5. Murphy, Steve (December 2002). "Remastering the Rolling Stones" (PDF). Pro Audio Review. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  6. PRLog
  7. "Recent Activities". McGill University. Archived from the original on 2006-08-23.
  8. "The TEC Awards". The Mix Foundation. Archived from the original on 2006-08-22. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
  9. "Bob Ludwig". Recording Academy. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  10. "Sound Fellowship Awards 2012". Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  11. "AES Gold Medal Award » Bob Ludwig". Audio Engineering Society. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.