Bill Putnam
| Bill Putnam | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Milton Tasker Putnam |
| Born |
February 20, 1920 Danville, Illinois US |
| Died | April 13, 1989 (aged 69) Riverside, California US |
| Occupation(s) | Audio engineer, songwriter, record producer |
| Associated acts | |
Milton Tasker "Bill" Putnam (February 20, 1920 – April 13, 1989) was an American audio engineer, songwriter, producer, studio designer and businessman, who has been described as "the father of modern recording". He was the inventor of the modern recording console and is recognised as a key figure in the development of the postwar commercial recording industry.
Former colleague Bruce Swedien described Putnam's achievements thus:
Putnam was the first person in the US to use artificial reverberation using echo chambers for commercial recording. (The BBC's broadcasting studios in Savoy Hill, London, used for both broadcasting and commercial recording, were the first anywhere to use purpose made echo chambers with both echo send and returns and cue sends and multi-band EQ, and recording to disc and tape as early as 1931.) He also developed the first US multi-band audio equalizer, and with his company Universal Recording Electronics Industries (UREI), he was responsible for the development of classic recording studio equipment including the UREI 1176LN, the UREI Time Align Monitor, and the Universal recordings consoles, which soon became standard equipment in studios all over America. Alongside his friend Les Paul, Putnam was also involved in the early development of stereophonic recording and he founded several major independent recording studios in Chicago, Las Vegas, Hollywood and San Francisco.
In 1947, Putnam made the first recording of a single artist singing more than one line on a recording made with Patti Page and George Barnes (musician), who suggested the "duet." Page sang one vocal line of "Confess", and the second part was recorded onto a large 17.25" disc, then played back as she sang the main vocal line; the two vocals and accompaniment being wedded onto a wire recorder. Les Paul followed in short order with his own quite different technique for doubling vocals.
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