The first project I mastered for Bob was a 12-inch dance mix of the Stones’ “Miss You.” I was at Masterdisk, and Bob’s reputation as a young hotshot mixer preceded him. I put up his mix and — holy cow! — I’d never heard anything like this before. In my opinion, Bob created a whole new way of mixing, and there was a period of time in the late ’70s, early ’80s where every engineer tried to match his style. Bob was chief engineer at Power Station when they opened, and they only had Altec 604E monitors. Bob found these NS-10Ms, so he brought them in, thought they were a little bright and put a Kimwipe® over the tweeter and mixed hit after hit. Engineers trying to copy him also bought the Yamahas and it became a de facto standard! When I think about Bob, the word “consistency” comes to mind. Time after time, excellence! When I get a project from Bob, I know it will be a pleasure. He is amazing, and now that he has his own room at home, his mixes have taken on another level of that sharp focus. People are still trying to follow Bob.
— Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer/owner, Gateway Mastering
