Tom Dowd (October 20, 1925 - October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Audio engineering is the branch of engineering dealing with the production of sound through mechanical means. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Atlantic Records (Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American record label, and operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. ... Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the recording and re-recording of multiple sound sources, independent of time. ...

Career

Early years

Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew up playing piano, violin, tuba, and string bass. His mother was an opera singer and his father was a concertmaster. Manhattan is a borough of New York City, New York, USA, coterminous with New York County. ... Concert-master. ...

Dowd graduated from Stuyvesant High School in June, 1942 at the age of 16. He continued his musical education at City College of New York. Dowd also played in a band at New York's Columbia University, where he became a conductor. He was also employed at the physics laboratory of Columbia University. Stuyvesant High School, commonly referred to as Stuy, is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. ... The City College of The City University of New York (known more commonly as City College of New York or simply City College, CCNY, or colloquially as City) is a senior college of the City University of New York, in New York City. ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States and a member of the prestigious Ivy League. ... A conductor conducting at a ceremony A conductors score and batons Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Military work

At age 18, Dowd was drafted into the military with the rank of sergeant. He continued his work in Physics at Columbia University. He worked on the Manhattan Project contributing to the atomic bomb. The purpose of the work was unclear until 1945.^[1] Dowd planned to obtain a degree in nuclear physics when he completed his work on the Manhattan Project. Dowd decided not to continue, however, since the university would be unable to credit him for his four years of highly classified work as a physicist.^[1] The United States has employed conscription (mandatory military service, also called the draft) several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War. ... Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organisations around the world. ... The Manhattan Project resulted in the creation of the first nuclear weapons, and the first-ever nuclear detonation, known as the Trinity test of July 16, 1945. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... Nuclear physics is the branch of physics concerned with the nucleus of the atom. ...

Music

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Dowd took a job at a classical music recording studio until he obtained employment at Atlantic Records. He soon became a top recording engineer at Atlantic Records and recorded popular artists such as Ray Charles, The Drifters, The Coasters, Ruth Brown, and Bobby Darin (Dowd recorded the legendary "Mack the Knife") and capturing jazz masterpieces by John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Thelonius Monk, and Charlie Parker by night. His first hit was Eileen Barton's "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd a Baked A Cake". It was Dowd's idea to cut Ray Charles' recording of "What I'd Say" into two parts and release them as the "A" and "B" sides of one 45 rpm single record. Image File history File links Acap. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... Atlantic Records (Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American record label, and operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. ... Audio engineering is a part of audio science dealing with the recording and reproduction of sound through mechanical and electronic means. ... Ray Charles was the stage name of Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), a pioneering American pianist and soul musician who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues. ... The Drifters are a long-lived American doo wop/R&B vocal group, originally formed by Clyde McPhatter (of Billy Ward & the Dominoes) in 1953. ... The classic Coasters lineup. ... Ruth Brown (January 12, 1928–November 17, 2006) was an American R&B singer. ... Bobby Darin (May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) (born Walden Robert Cassotto) was one of the most popular American big band performers and rock and roll teen idols of the late 1950s. ... John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967), nicknamed Trane, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. ... Ornette Coleman (born March 19, 1930) is an American saxophonist and composer. ... Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917–February 17, 1982) was a jazz pianist and composer known for his unique improvisational style and many contributions to the standard jazz repertoire. ... Charles Bird Parker, Jr. ...

Dowd worked as an engineer and producer from the 1940s until the beginning of the 21st century. He recorded albums by many artists including: Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rod Stewart, Wishbone Ash, Cream, Chicago, The Allman Brothers Band, The J. Geils Band, Meat Loaf, Sonny & Cher, The Rascals, Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, Kenny Loggins, James Gang, Dusty Springfield, Eddie Harris, Booker T. and the MGs, The Drifters, Otis Redding, The Coasters, Bobby Darin, Aretha Franklin and Ruth Brown. ^[2] Dowd received a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in February 2002. Eric Patrick Clapton CBE (born 30 March 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award winning British guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. ... Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced lĕh-nérd skin-nérd) (or IPA pronunciation: ) is a U.S. Southern rock band. ... Roderick David Stewart, CBE (born January 10, 1945), is a Scottish singer born and raised in London. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Cream were a 1960s British rock band, which consisted of guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. ... Chicago is a pop-rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. ... The Allman Brothers Band is a band from Macon, Georgia, labeled by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the principal architects of Southern rock. ... The J. Geils Band was an American rock band, formed in 1967 in Worcester, Massachusetts, that had a successful R&B-influenced blues rock sound in the 1970s, before moving towards a more pop-influenced sound in the 1980s, which brought them MTV airplay and their 1982 international hit single... This article or section may contain excessive or improper use of copyrighted images and/or audio files. ... Sonny & Cher were an American rock & roll duo, made up of husband and wife team Sonny Bono and Cher in the 1960s and 1970s. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress, whose musical repertoire spans R&B, soul, disco, jazz, and pop. ... Kenny Loggins (born Kenneth Clark Loggins on January 7, 1948) is an American singer and songwriter best known for a number of soft rock and adult contemporary hit singles beginning in the 1970s. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Dusty Springfield OBE (16 April 1939 - 2 March 1999) was a popular English singer whose career spanned four decades. ... Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934–November 5, 1996), was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. ... Booker T. & the M.G.s is a soul band, most prominent in the 1960s and 1970s. ... The Drifters are a long-lived American doo wop/R&B vocal group, originally formed by Clyde McPhatter (of Billy Ward & the Dominoes) in 1953. ... Otis Ray Redding, Jr. ... The classic Coasters lineup. ... Bobby Darin (May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) (born Walden Robert Cassotto) was one of the most popular American big band performers and rock and roll teen idols of the late 1950s. ... Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American soul, R&B, and gospel singer, songwriter, and pianist. ... Ruth Brown (January 12, 1928–November 17, 2006) was an American R&B singer. ... The Grammy Trustees Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to individuals who, during their careers in music, have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording [1]. Through 1983, performers could also receive this award. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ...

He died of emphysema on October 27, 2002 in Florida, where he had been living and working at Criteria Studios recording studio for many years. Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area South Florida Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... Criteria Studios is a music studio in Miami, Florida started in 1958 by Mack Emerman. ...

Legacy

Tom Dowd helped to shape the artists that he worked with, and because he worked with an array of great artists on some of the world's greatest recordings, Dowd was highly influential in creating the sound of the second half of the 20th Century. It was he who encouraged Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records to install an Ampex eight-track recorder, enabling Atlantic to be the first recording company to record using multiple tracks.^[3] Ampex is based in Redwood City, California. ...

Dowd is credited as the engineer who popularized the eight-track recording system for commercial music and popularized the use of stereo sound. Although stereo was invented in the 1800s, Dowd was the first to use it on a record. He also invented the use of linear channel faders as opposed to rotary controls on audio mixers. He devised various methods for altering sound after the initial recording. ^[4]

In 2003 director Mark Moormann premiered an award-winning documentary about his life entitled Tom Dowd and the Language of Music. In the 2004 biopic Ray, Tom Dowd was portrayed by Rick Gomez. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Ray is a 2004 biographical film focusing on thirty years[2]of the life of legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles. ... Richard Harper Rick Gomez (born June 1, c. ...

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Biography from the film Tom Dowd and the Language of Music
2. ^ All Music Guide's list of Tom Dowd's engineering and production credits
3. ^ Dobkin, Matt (2004). I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You: Aretha Franklin, Respect, and the Making of a Soul Music Masterpiece. New York: St. Martin's Press, pp 142-143. ISBN 0-312-31828-6. 
4. ^ Daley, Dan, The Engineers Who Changed Recording, Sound On Sound, October 2004

External links

• Tom Dowd and The Language of Music
• Discography