RIP Steve Barker

[fifthcircle]

Probably not a whole lot of you know Steve, but he died this morning as a result of complications from an infection. He was relatively young (about 55 years old) and still going strong with his work... I considered him a friend and a mentor- he's probably one of the people responsible for teaching me as much about audio as anybody. When I apprenticed for him, he brought me from a kid who could only record with a pair of SM-81's and a Mackie 1202 to somebody comfortable with designing and mixing shows with 40+ channels going at once.

He was also an incredible designer of gear- one of the best I've seen. His knowledge of tube circuits was second to none. He designed the Vac Rac line of gear, the ADL 200 tube direct box and lately had been a consultant to Inward Connections, PMI Audio and Royer Labs.

One of his strengths as a designer and an engineer is using older technologies and techniques to achieve modern results. He began his career under the direction of Wally Heider and hearing his work compared favorably in sound and technique. One such recording of his that is amazing was one that is up on the Royer Labs website of the Waillin' Jennies. It was done with a mostly with a single Royer SF-24 and you'd never know by listening to it (there also was a single spot on some of the stuff, but the vast majority of the sound was one mic). Royer Labs Ribbon Microphones

Here is the page that Royer put up on their site: Royer Labs - About Us

The attached photo is one from several years back on a gig that I worked with him. Steve is the person in the center.

He will be missed.

--Ben

[swisha31]

damn man sorry to hear about that loss. I hope you can get through it ok

[lucey]

Condolences. Sounds like a great guy.

The infection, was it from a hospital procedure gone wrong, or something else?

[e-cue]

Sorry to hear it 5th... my condolences to you and his family...

[hackenslash]

My condolences. 55 is too young. :(

[patrox247]

He will be missed.

[jdunn]

Originally Posted by lucey

Condolences. Sounds like a great guy.

The infection, was it from a hospital procedure gone wrong, or something else?

I just heard about this from the friend who originally introduced Steve Barker to Steve Firlotte (thus Vac Rac was born). Apparently it was complications from diabetes. He had an infected toe that threw his whole system out of whack. Very sad. Steve made wonderful recordings in addition to his brilliant tube design work.

[fifthcircle]

That is right... This is the reason why you need to take care of yourself- Especially if you have a condition like diabetes. It is pretty incredible how quickly these things can happen (literally, Saturday he was out in the field working and on Sunday he was in the hospital on a ventilator. Monday morning he was gone).

This is, of course, a huge shock and a rather sobering reminder of how precious and fragile life is.

--Ben

[APerry]

My condolences. So very sorry.

[snarks]

Hi Ben. Long time no see, but I was the production intern with the Cal Phil two summers ago when you were working there with Barker.

Stumbled across your post when looking for an obit/services for him . . .

. . .got the news last night in the middle of a concert and was completely floored. I still can't quite believe it. I'm glad I got the chance to work with him and yes, he will be missed. The technical theater world lost an artist and a scientist. :-(

RIP, Steve. I'll miss sharing iced tea and snarky comments with you.

[fifthcircle]

Memorial is Saturday Afternoon in La Canada Flintridge- for those that knew him, contact me if you want details.

--Ben

[Plush]

Hello Ben,

I'm very sorry to hear of Steve's passing. The sudden turn for the worse and the shocking result feels like a body blow here.

Steve was always very helpful to me and I greatly admired his design and recording knowledge.

Terrible news and I hope that the memorial service is of some comfort.

Hudson Fair

[caniegirl]

Dear Ben and everyone,

It is so comforting to read all of your comments about Steve. He was my boyfriend for six years and we were working on getting back together when this suddenly happened.

I will not even talk about the vac-rac and other equipment he designed and built since all of you know much more about that than I ever will.

There are many other aspects to this amazing man. In addition to being a musical, electronics, design, and recording genius, Steve was the sweetest and most generous man on the planet.

He always made time to help those less fortunate than himself. There were numerous times that, at 2:00 a.m., after a gig or concert, he bought meals for homeless people he met at the Pantry. He gave rides to strangers, rescued homeless animals, calmed screaming children with his cartoon voices and singing, and did countless gigs for no money or at a monetary loss to help a worthy cause or a good friend.

He was also a consummate music historian, with a seemingly unending knowledge of all types of music. Whether classical, opera, jazz, pop, world, folk, operetta, sacred, or any other genre, from the oldest primitive music to the newest hip-hop, Steve knew the music. He read along with the conductors' scores when recording and reinforcing live orchestral performances and went with the set lists, or flew by the musicians' whims, when recording and reinforcing improvisational jazz or pop. Although Steve did tons of studio recordings, his favorite "work" was live, spontaneous, music - the kind when he - and the audience - and often, the musicians - did not know what would happen next.

I will miss him more than I can comprehend right now. I love you, Steve.

~naomi

[jdunn]

I went to the memorial service yesterday. Ben, you did a great job with the music. I meant to introduce myself, but I didn't want to interrupt your conversation with someone else after the service. I'm the portly guy with the black shirt who was sitting nearest the aisle next to Steve Firlotte. Firlotte is really torn up over this. Not only were they close friends, but they were collaborating on 3 new projects, including a tube console. They had just spoken two days prior to Steve's passing.

The memorial made it clear that Steve Barker was a great man who will be missed by many. It was especially touching to see his young daughter take the mic and talk about her dad.

[pan60]

Sorry to hear :(
my condolences.

[RobertM]

I knew Steve Barker years ago when he and I did the Ojai Classical Festival together for 9 years. We did other gigs as well and I learned so much from him. He was a sound engineering genius in my book, whether it was classical, jazz or rock and if he needed something and it didn't exist, he built or invented it.

He also had a great sense of humor and working with him was an education as well as a good time. I was looking him up on line to catch up and see how he was doing this afternoon (10/15/09) when I stumbled upon this news.

He will be missed. May he rest in Peace.

Robert

[toneguru]

I knew Steve and we had worked some shows together. I was House Engineer at the Ashgrove back in 1997 and he came in with a rack of 10 tube vacrac pre's and damn they made SM58's sound great.

Same thing at McCabe's Guitar Shop. A few times he would come in and record the band while I did FOH. I worked at McCabe's for ten years as house engineer and it seemed like every year Steve would be there to record a show. Damn I miss McCabe's I miss Steve too, he was a gentle giant.

About fifteen years ago he did FOH at a hall in Hermosa. Shorty Rodgers and Gerry Mulligan. I snuck in from the backside and walked across the stage like I belonged and damn that show was great. The musicians were on and I hung with Steve at the mix position.

RIP my friend and say hi to Mr. Mulligan for me.

[AllAboutTone]

my condolences

[MikeTSH]

Aww I'm sorry man.

He sounds like an awesome guy.

[bee]

Super sorry to hear this!