[Ged Leitch]

Originally Posted by dcollins

Circa 1983 I was doing electronics full time but always had a fancy home stereo, was interested in recording and was a half-assed guitar player. A guy moves in next door and I start hanging out in his garage on weekends shooting the breeze as people do. Turns out he is the chief engineer for the 20th Century Fox scoring stage (Jim Walker). He asks if I have any experience laying out PC boards "I am an expert" I reply (never done it before).

So, I get a probably illegal non-union job on the stage laying out a PC board. The scoring mixer there is the great Armin Steiner, and we become friends as he has a Sinclair PC that he's having trouble with. At this point Armin and Bruce Botnick have started a company called Digital Magnetics to rent out Sony digital gear to mastering studios for the coming Compact Disc.

Around '84 I begin working at their new company, which basically involves going around to every mastering studio in Hollywood and babysitting the digital gear during the transfers. This was a good thing, as it turned out, because I was able to really get a look at how different studios approached their work. Bernie and Doug were really doing it right, imo.

Later, Digital Magnetics decides that they should get in on some of this mastering action (previously editing only) and put together a room that attracts Joe Gastwirt, then of Sony Records, to come do his mastering there. I sit in on many sessions with Joe and begin building custom A/D's, etc. as well as put together a system for Laser Disc mastering from 35mm mag.

Then later to A&M Studios in 1988 and to my own place in 2004

How the time flies!

DC

Great post Dave,

Very cool to read how you arrived where you are today!