Sting, one of the music industry’s most popular and creative talents, was presented with the coveted Les Paul Award, and Tom Dowd, who engineered countless hits over five decades of recording, was inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame at the 15th Annual Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards, held September 25 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City.
Les Paul and Henry Juszkiewicz, president of Gibson Musical Instruments, presented Sting with a custom Gibson Les Paul guitar, following a tribute by engineer/producer George Massenburg. Later, producer, songwriter and Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun provided a moving Hall of Fame presentation to Tom Dowd, his close friend and the man responsible for engineering most of the groundbreaking hits for Atlantic in the ’50s and ’60s. One of the giants of modern recording, Dowd worked with such artists as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart and the Allman Brothers.
TEC Awards were also presented in 27 categories, covering Institutional, Creative and Technical Achievement. The ever-popular Father Guido Sarducci hosted the evening’s event. Presenters included engineers Chuck Ainlay, Jimmy Douglass and Frank Filipetti, producers Phil Ramone and Tony Visconti, songwriter Julie Gold, and bass players David Santos and T.M. Stevens.
The House Ear Institute’s Sound Partners campaign and Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers (H.E.A.R) will once again receive 50% of the evening’s proceeds to continue their efforts in hearing conservation. The remaining funds will be divided between the AES Educational Foundation, the SPARS student assistance program, various scholarship programs throughout the United States and the winner of the TEC Awards Scholarship Grant (see “Current” on page 12 for details).
The 15th Annual TEC Awards were partially funded by the generous donations of:
PLATINUM SPONSORSIntertec Publishing’s Entertainment Division
JBL Professional
Lexicon/dbx
Quantegy
GOLD SPONSORSAKG Acoustics
Alesis Corporation
AMS Neve
Audio-Technica
Digidesign
Ex’pression Center for New Media
Gibson Musical Instruments
Kurzweil Music Systems
Meyer Sound Laboratories
Mix Magazine
Panasonic
Transcontinental Studios/Professional
Audio Design, Inc.
Shure Incorporated
Solid State Logic
Sony Professional Audio
Soundelux
TC Electronic
Warner Music Group
Yamaha Corporation of America
SILVER SPONSORSA-1 Audio/ProMix
Aphex Systems
Apogee Electronics Corporation
Clair Brothers
Eastern Acoustic Works
Emtec Pro Media-BASF
Mackie Designs
Neumann/USA
Neutrik USA
Ocean Way
Oram
Recording Academy
Roland Corporation U.S.
Studer North America
BRONZE SPONSORSAkai Musical Intrument Corp.
CAD
Keith Hatschek & Associates
Skywalker Sound
Tascam
TGI North America Inc., Tannoy/
DPA Microphones
Ultra Sound/Pro Media
Westlake Audio
1999 TEC AWARDS WINNERS OUTSTANDING INSTITUTIONAL ACHIEVEMENTAcoustics/Facility Design CompanyRuss Berger Design Group, Dallas, TX
Sound Reinforcement CompanyShowco, Dallas, TX
Mastering FacilityGateway Mastering, Portland, ME
Audio Post-Production FacilityTodd-AO Studios, Hollywood, CA
Remote Recording FacilityRecord Plant Remote, Ringwood, NJ
Recording StudioRight Track Recording, New York City
OUTSTANDING CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENTAudio Post-Production EngineerGary Rydstrom
Remote/Broadcast Recording EngineerKooster McAllister
Sound Reinforcement EngineerDave Kob
Mastering EngineerTed Jensen
Record ProducerGlen Ballard
Recording EngineerEd Cherney
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENTAncillary EquipmentApogee PSX-100
Amplifier TechnologyBryston 9B-ST Pro
Mic Preamplifier TechnologyTC Electronic Gold Channel
Computer Software/PeripheralsSonic Foundry ACID
Microphone TechnologyNeumann M147
Sound Reinforcement Loudspeaker TechnologyMeyer PSW-6 Cardioid Subwoofer
Studio Monitor TechnologyJBL LSR-28P
Musical Instrument TechnologyKurzweil AES (Audio Elite System)
Signal Processing Technology/HardwareTC Electronic M3000
Signal Processing Technology/SoftwareTC Works MasterX
Recording Devices/Storage TechnologyOtari RADAR II
Workstation TechnologyDigidesign Pro Tools|24 MIX
Sound Reinforcement Console TechnologyHarrison Live Performance Console (LPC)
Small-Format Console TechnologyMackie Digital 8-Bus
Large-Format Console TechnologySolid State Logic Axiom-MT
LES PAUL AWARDSting
HALL OF FAMETom Dowd
