Rupert Neve, a prime mover in the development of the modern mixing consoles, will deliver the Keynote Speech at the 119th AES Convention on Friday, October 7th at New York’s Javits Center. No surprise, Mr. Neve will focus on recording, storage, and reproduction of sound. “Have we got it right?” he asks.
Neve began his life in audio by repairing radios in Argentina. Arriving in England at the age of 17, he bought an old US Army ambulance, which he converted into a mobile studio, recording choirs, music festivals, and public events onto 78RPM lacquer disks. These early experiences led to his pioneering development of the modern recording console. The Neve Company defined what a mixing console should look like, work like, and most importantly sound like.
By 1964, Neve had developed high-performance transistor equipment that replaced traditional vacuum tube designs. The success of these units gained Neve a reputation for sonic clarity and excellent workmanship. Demand grew rapidly and by 1973 the Neve team had over 500 members worldwide. During this period Neve introduced the first moving fader system. In 1976, a Neve 16/4 console had been equipped with machine control and legendary producer George Martin was invited to try out the new system. After a day remixing masters, his comment was, “How soon can I have one?”
Rupert Neve was inducted into the Mix Magazine Hall of Fame”>Mix Magazine Hall of Fame in 1989 and in 1997, he was recipient of the 1997 Technical Grammy Award. He was honored as “Man of the Century” by Studio Sound Magazine in 1999, and was selected by his peers as the Number One Audio Personality of the 20th Century.
Have we mentioned that you can get a free pass to the AES show compliments of Sweetwater! When you register online, be sure to enter “SWVIP” as your VIP code.