Bob Katz is an American

audio mastering Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via met ...

engineer and author of a popular book on audio mastering. Katz has mastered three

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

–winning albums and one nominated album. Projects he has worked on have received Grammys and acclaim from

audiophile An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. An audiophile seeks to reproduce the sound of a piece of recorded music or a live musical performance, typically inside closed headphones, In-ear monitors, open ...

s, and his book on mastering is considered by some to be the "definitive work on mastering".

Career

Katz taught at the

Institute of Audio Research The Institute of Audio Research (IAR) was an educational institution in New York City. Students of IAR were offered a wide variety of academic programs in the field of music production and audio engineering. Students could choose from courses in a ...

from 1978 to 1979. In 1988, Katz joined

Chesky Records Chesky Records is a record company and label founded in 1978 by brothers David and Norman Chesky. The company produces high-definition recordings of music in a variety of genres, including jazz, classical, pop, R&B, folk and world/ethnic. Ch ...

and began recording jazz and classical artists there, as well as producing oversampled commercial recordings. In 1990, he founded an audio-mastering company called Digital Domain Mastering, where he continues to work. In early 2015, Katz began a regular blog, Katz's Corner, on the headphone enthusiast site InnerFidelity.

Grammy Award–winning albums

Grammy Award–winning albums mastered by Bob Katz: * 1985:

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...

, ''The Words of Gandhi'' * 1997: Paquito D'Rivera, ''

Portraits of Cuba ''Portraits of Cuba'' is an album by Cuban musician Paquito D'Rivera, released through Chesky Records in 1996. In 1997, the album won D'Rivera the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz performance. Track listing # "La Bella Cubana" (White) – 5:14 ...

'' * 2001: Olga Tañón, ''Olga Viva, Viva Olga''

K-system, K-stereo and K-surround

Bob Katz proposed the

K-system The K-system is an audio level measuring technique proposed by mastering engineer Bob Katz in the paper "An integrated approach to Metering, Monitoring and Levelling". It proposes a studio monitor calibration system and a set of meter ballist ...

to measure audio levels and standardize

dynamic range Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of signals, like sound and light. It is measured either as a ratio or as a base ...

in recorded audio. He has developed the proprietary systems K-stereo and K-surround. These processes are designed to "recover lost or amplify hidden ambience, space and imaging, and generate stereo from mono signals without adding artificial reverberation".

References

External links

Digital Domain MasteringBob Katz credis at AllMusicBiography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Bob American audio engineers Living people Mastering engineers Writers from Hartford, Connecticut Writers from New York City Place of birth missing (living people) University of Hartford alumni Wesleyan University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Engineers from New York (state)