Greg Calbi

Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is a Grammy Award-winning American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey, United States.

Greg Calbi
Photograph of Greg Calbi inside a studio.
Background information
Born (1949-04-03) April 3, 1949
Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Mastering engineer
Associated actsBruce Springsteen, John Lennon, David Bowie, The Ramones, The Strokes, Jim Steinman
Websitesterling-sound.com/engineers/greg-calbi

Biography

Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949 in Yonkers, New York, United States, and raised in Bayside, Queens. He graduated in 1966 from Bishop Reilly High School in Fresh Meadows. Calbi earned his bachelor's degree in Mass Communications at Fordham University where he studied with Marshall McLuhan and his staff for 3 of those years. He then earned his master's degree in Political Media Studies (Speech Department) at the University of Massachusetts. During these college years, Calbi drove a NYC cab and sold ladies shoes, and was intent on becoming a documentary filmmaker. However, Calbi was asked by someone who worked at the Record Plant to drive a truck to Duke University to record Yes on the Close to the Edge Tour and soon after that began his career in 1972 as an assistant studio engineer at the Record Plant, working alongside engineers Jack Douglas, Jay Messina and Shelly Yakus, and Jimmy Iovine who was an assistant engineer at that time. In two years, Calbi began cutting vinyl in the mastering room with his high school and college friend, Tom Rabstenek, who had taken over The Cutting Room when George Marino left to go to Sterling Sound. During this time, Calbi helped Tom cut the lacquers for Stevie Wonder's Innervisions among others from the notes that George had left. In his first year as a mastering engineer, Calbi mastered his first platinum record, Eric Carmen by Eric Carmen, John Lennon's Walls and Bridges and in 1975, Calbi mastered David Bowie’s Young Americans and Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run. Calbi worked at the Record Plant until 1976 when a position was offered to him by Lee Hulko, owner of Sterling Sound.[1]

During his early years at Sterling, Calbi worked alongside Lee Hulko, George Marino and Ted Jensen, and became known for mastering punk classics for The Ramones, Talking Heads and Patti Smith, as well as Tom Petty, Bill Frisell, Aretha Franklin and Todd Rundgren among others.[2] In 1994, Calbi left Sterling for Masterdisk where he worked until 1998 when Calbi, Ted Jensen and Tom Coyne, along with Murat Aktar (Absolute Audio co-founder) and UK based Metropolis, purchased Sterling Sound from Lee Hulko.[3]

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2007 Continuum Album of the Year Nominated
2014 The Blessed Unrest Album of the Year Nominated
2019 Golden Hour Album of the Year Won

TEC Awards

Calbi has garnered 12 Mix Foundation TEC Award nominations for Creative Achievement, winning two of them.[4]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2007 Waiting on the World to Change Record Production/Single or Track Won
2007 Continuum Record Production, Album Won

Selected works

Calbi has mastered over 7500 albums during his career; a list of noteworthy music Calbi has mastered includes:[5]

Note to Greg from John Lennon

Catalog Remastering Highlights:

gollark: Cogito ergo cogito sum, to horribly mangle a phrase.
gollark: What IS free will anyway?
gollark: Is that not *somewhat* generalizing it?
gollark: You'd expect, though, that if universe-level ontotechnological meddling was possible, someone would already have done it.Unless they already have.
gollark: Ah, but you could also add magic energy destroyers to your laws of physics.

References
  1. "Greg Calbi: Sterling Mastering Maestro". Tapeop.com. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  2. "Presenters". AES New York 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  3. "Billboard Sept 26 1998". Billboard p.148. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  4. "TEC Awards Past Winners". TEC Awards. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  5. "Biography of Greg Calbi". Sterling Sound. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
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