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, and concerts. ''TEC'' is an acronym for Technical Excellence and Creativity.

History

The awards were founded in 1985 by ''Mix'' magazine, with awards events held annually at

Audio Engineering Society The Audio Engineering Society (AES) is a professional body for engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or product ...

conventions. In 1990, the TEC Foundation for Excellence in Audio, a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...

(non-profit) public benefit organization that also offered scholarships and worked to mitigate

noise-induced hearing loss Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a hearing impairment resulting from exposure to loud sound. People may have a loss of perception of a narrow range of frequencies or impaired perception of sound including sensitivity to sound or ringing i ...

, assumed responsibility for the awards. In 2011, the TEC Awards program was held at the

NAMM Show The NAMM Show is an annual event in the United States that is organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), who describe it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...

, and in 2013 the TEC Foundation was merged with the NAMM Foundation, the educational and charitable arm of NAMM.

Awards process

The TEC Awards list of nominations are compiled annually by the TEC Awards nominating panel, a committee of more than 100 industry professionals. The list of nominees is published on the Foundation's website. The winners are announced and the awards presented at a ceremony held at the ''

'', one of the largest trade shows for the music products industry, held each January in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

Other honors

TEC Awards Hall of Fame

Similarly, a pioneering or innovative person is chosen annually for the honor of induction into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame. This special award was established in 1988 and the winner is selected by the TEC Awards nominating panel.

Les Paul Award

In addition, through the Les Paul Award, the TEC Awards nominating panel and the board of directors of the TEC Foundation honor "individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of audio technology." Gibson Musical Instruments, maker of the

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typ ...

electric guitar, was a sponsor of the Les Paul Award. This special award was established in 1991. In 1997,

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz guitarist, jazz, country guitarist, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid body ...

presented his namesake award to

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

and in 2003, jointly with

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Que ...

, he announced that

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originato ...

, who was unable to attend the event, would receive that year's award. In 2007, at age 92, Les Paul presented the award to musician, songwriter, and producer

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...

TECnology Hall of Fame

The TEC Awards nominating panel may choose to honor a number of pioneering or innovative audio products with induction into the TECnology Hall of Fame. A product must be ten years old to receive the honor. At the establishment of this award category at the AES Convention in San Francisco in October 2004, the initial 25 inductees included the venerable

Edison cylinder Phonograph cylinders are the earliest commercial medium for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity (c. 1896–1916), these hollow cylinder, cylind ...

(1877),

Emile Berliner Emile Berliner (May 20, 1851 – August 3, 1929) originally Emil Berliner, was a German-American inventor. He is best known for inventing the lateral-cut flat disc record (called a "gramophone record" in British and American English) used with a ...

's flat disc recorder (1887), and

Alan Dower Blumlein Alan Dower Blumlein (29 June 1903 – 7 June 1942) was an English electronics engineer, notable for his many inventions in telecommunications, sound recording, stereophonic sound, television and radar. He received 128 patents and was considered o ...

Stereo Patent (1931).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tec Awards Music halls of fame Audio engineering awards American television awards Awards established in 1985 American film awards American music awards 1985 establishments in New York City