Arthur Rupert Neve (31 July 1926 – 12 February 2021) was a British-American
electronics engineer
Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active component, active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control e ...
and
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
, who was a pioneering designer of professional
audio recording
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...
equipment. He designed analog recording and audio mixing equipment that was sought after by professional musicians and recording technicians. Some of his customers were music groups
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
,
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
and
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
, and recording studios
Sound City Studios
Sound City Studios is a recording studio in Los Angeles, California, known as one of the most successful in popular music. The complex opened in 1969 in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles. The facility had previously been a production facto ...
and
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
. Companies that he was associated with included
Neve Electronics
Neve Electronics was a manufacturer of music recording and broadcast mixing consoles and hardware. It was founded in 1961 by Rupert Neve, the man credited with creating the modern mixing console. ,
Focusrite
Focusrite PLC is an English music and audio products group based in High Wycombe, England (with its history in Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd.). The Focusrite Group trades under eight brands: Focusrite, Focusrite Pro, Martin Audio, ADAM Audio ...
,
AMS Neve
AMS Neve Ltd is a privately owned audio engineering company who specialise in digital and analogue music consoles, outboard equipment and post production consoles. AMS Neve was the result of the amalgamation in 1992 of AMS (Advanced Music Systems ...
, and Rupert Neve Designs.
He received a
Technical Grammy Award
The Technical Grammy Award is a Special Merit Grammy Award presented to individuals or companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. The award was first presented in 1994 to Thomas Stockham, ...
for lifetime achievement in 1997.
Early life
Arthur Rupert Neve was born on 31 July 1926 in
Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...
, England.
He spent much of his early childhood in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, Argentina, where his father was a missionary with the
British and Foreign Bible Society
The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world.
The Soc ...
.
[ He began designing audio amplifiers and radio receivers from age 13. The start of World War II increased demand for radios and Neve began repairing and selling radios.] At 17 years of age, he served in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and was a member of the Army's Royal Corps of Signals
The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...
.
Career
Neve began his career after the war as a designer of public address system
A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...
s, and recorded speakers and singers on lacquer discs, including recording running addressal systems and recording prime minister Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
's speeches in the 1940s and distributing their recordings to radio stations for broadcast. He provided the public address systems for Queen Elizabeth, then a princess, at the opening of the St Andrew's Church, Plymouth
The Minster Church of St Andrew, also known as St Andrew's Church, Plymouth is an Anglican church in Plymouth. It is the original parish church of Sutton, one of the three towns which were later combined to form the city of Plymouth. The church i ...
, after it was rebuilt after being destroyed in the Blitz
Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to:
Military uses
*Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign
*The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War
*, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...
.
He worked in the 1950s with Rediffusion
Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV (commercia ...
, a forerunner of early cable TV systems. Neve left the company, and formed CQ Audio, a company specialising in the manufacture of hifi speaker systems. In 1961, he formed Neve Electronics
Neve Electronics was a manufacturer of music recording and broadcast mixing consoles and hardware. It was founded in 1961 by Rupert Neve, the man credited with creating the modern mixing console. , and began designing and building mixing consoles for recording studios. He started out by designing and building a mixing console for composer Desmond Leslie
Desmond Arthur Peter Leslie (29 June 1921, London – 21 February 2001, Antibes, France) was a British pilot, film maker, writer, and musician. He was the younger son, and youngest child, of Shane Leslie (a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill), ...
, from Castle Leslie
Castle Leslie, also known as Glaslough House is home to an Irish branch of Clan Leslie, is located on the 4 km² (1,000-acre) Castle Leslie Estate adjacent to the village of Glaslough, northeast of Monaghan town in County Monaghan, Irel ...
, Ireland, where the original desk is still housed. He built a transistor-based mixing console with an equalizer for Phillips Recording Studio in London in 1964. One of his customers during this period was The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
and their producer George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...
. He sold his company Neve Electronics and worked with Manchester based Amtek Systems in 1975. During the 1970s, he designed a training program for missionaries to use radio broadcasting equipment.
Neve worked on microphone preamplifier
The term microphone preamplifier can either refer to the electronic circuitry within a microphone, or to a separate device or circuit that the microphone is connected to. In either instance, the purpose of the microphone preamplifier is the same.
...
s, equalizers, compressors and early large format mixing console
A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic inst ...
s. Many of his long discontinued products are considered classic equipment and are sought after by the professionals in the recording industry. This has resulted in several companies releasing products that are Neve replicas or clones. He is often credited for designing the modern recording console. In 1989, he was inducted into the ''Mix
Mix, mixes or mixing may refer to:
Persons & places
* Mix (surname)
** Tom Mix (1880-1940), American film star
* nickname of Mix Diskerud (born Mikkel, 1990), Norwegian-American soccer player
* Mix camp, an informal settlement in Namibia
* Mix ...
'' Hall of Fame, and in 1997 he was the third person to receive a Technical Grammy Award
The Technical Grammy Award is a Special Merit Grammy Award presented to individuals or companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. The award was first presented in 1994 to Thomas Stockham, ...
for lifetime accomplishment. In a 1999 survey conducted by ''Studio Sound'' magazine he was selected by his peers as the number one audio personality of the 20th century. Dave Grohl
David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...
interviewed Neve for the 2013 documentary '' Sound City,'' a documentary about the recording studio of the same name. Some of his customers included music groups Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
, Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
, and recording studio Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
in addition to Sound City Studios
Sound City Studios is a recording studio in Los Angeles, California, known as one of the most successful in popular music. The complex opened in 1969 in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles. The facility had previously been a production facto ...
.
Associated companies
Neve and AMS Neve
Neve's first company was a manufacturer of high-end recording consoles in England. It operated out of Neve's home at first, and moved to its own premises in the late 1960s. It was sold in 1973 to Bonochord Group of companies and Rupert Neve left the company in 1975. The original Neve group was sold to Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
in 1985. Siemens then merged Neve with another UK audio console manufacturer and formed AMS Neve. The company was later sold to Tom Misner of the School of Audio Engineering
The SAE Institute (SAE, formerly the School of Audio Engineering and the SAE Technology College) is a private for-profit college with campuses and facilities, including licensed franchise operations, in 50 cities in 20 countries. It was foun ...
.
Focusrite
Focusrite
Focusrite PLC is an English music and audio products group based in High Wycombe, England (with its history in Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd.). The Focusrite Group trades under eight brands: Focusrite, Focusrite Pro, Martin Audio, ADAM Audio ...
was founded by Neve with his wife Evelyn. The company manufactured equalizers, processors, and amplifiers. The company made rack-mounted recording equipment, outboard gear, dynamic processors, and equalizers. The company was liquidated in 1989. Phil Dudderidge
Phil Dudderidge (born 6 February 1949 in Radlett, England) is a British sound engineering entrepreneur. He is a notable figure in the professional audio industry, having worked as Led Zeppelin's concert sound mixer, and later co-founding Soundcra ...
, who incorporated a new company, Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd, bought the assets of the company.
ARN Consultants
Neve started ARN Consultants, a consulting firm, with his wife in 1975, during a period of non-compete agreement
In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition again ...
with Neve Electronics. In 1989, the firm partnered with Amek Systems design a range of outboard equipment and consoles. ARN consultants also helped design the ES pickup system for Taylor
Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to:
People
* Taylor (surname)
**List of people with surname Taylor
* Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah
* Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron
* Justice Taylor (disambiguation)
Plac ...
's acoustic guitars. Rupert also designed the K4 preamplifier for Taylor. ARN Consultants also designed the 2-channel mastering box, called the Masterpiece, for Legendary Audio.
Rupert Neve Designs
Neve established Rupert Neve Designs in 2005, to market a variety of microphone preamplifiers, equalizers, compressors, and other recording equipment. The company entered the project studio market with its Portico series, which enabled modular mixing and recording components. The company also manufactures a line mixer, the 5088. The company won multiple TEC Awards The TEC Awards is an annual program recognizing the achievements of audio professionals. The awards are given to honor technically innovative products as well as companies and individuals who have excelled in sound for television, film, recordings, ...
in recognition for their product innovation.
Neve partnered with sE Electronics in 2008, to design the "Rupert Neve Signature Series" of microphones. As of April 2015, three models had been introduced: the RNR1 active ribbon microphone, the RN17 small-diaphragm condenser microphone, and the RNT large-diaphragm vacuum tube condenser microphone."sE Rupert Neve Microphones"
''Seelectronics.com''. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
Personal life
Neve was married to his wife, Evelyn, for nearly 70 years until his death. The couple had five children and moved to
Wimberley, Texas
Wimberley is a village in Hays County, Texas, United States. It is still predominantly a ranching area outside of town. The population was 2,839 at the 2020 census.
History
Wimberley started as a trading post settlement near Cypress Creek in ...
, United States, in 1994, and became U.S. citizens in 2002.
Neve died on 12 February 2021 in Wimberley due to
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
and
heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
.
He was aged 94.
References
External links
*
*
*
Rupert NeveNAMM Oral History Interview (2008)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neve, Rupert
1926 births
2021 deaths
People from Newton Abbot
British Army personnel of World War II
English audio engineers
English businesspeople
Manufacturers of professional audio equipment
Grammy Award winners
People from Wimberley, Texas
Audio equipment manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Royal Corps of Signals soldiers
English emigrants to the United States
English expatriates in Argentina