Al Schmitt, 23-time Grammy-winning engineer, reportedly dies at 91 By MusicTech.net 12 mins ago Share Al Schmitt Grammys Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Al Schmitt, the engineer behind countless hit records, has reportedly died. Reports of his death have streamed in from social media, with many paying tribute to Schmitt and his legacy. Gearspace, Mix With The Masters and Antelope Audio are just a few who have posted tributes. Hearing that the great Al Schmitt has passed… what a tremendous loss. One of the all-time greats. RIP and many condolences to family, friends and colleagues. Posted by Gearspace.com on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 Over Schmitt’s impressive career, he won Grammy Awards for engineering on 10 occasions. The first was for 1962’s Hatari! by Henry Mancini, and he landed more with George Benson, Toto, Steely Dan, Ray Charles and Quincy Jones. At 19, in his first job as an apprentice at Apex Recording Studios, Schmitt unexpectedly had to record Duke Ellington and his Orchestra. He relocated to Los Angeles in the late 50s, and had his next run of success as the staff engineer at RCA in Hollywood, engineering records for Sam Cooke, and even for Elvis Presley. After RCA, Schmitt’s career as a freelance producer exploded, producing records for Jackson Browne, Neil Young and engineering the likes of Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Al Schmitt is also closely associated with Capitol Studios in Hollywood. Schmitt called Capitol his “favourite place to work,” in a Universal Audio interview, partly on account of its underground reverb chambers, designed by his friend Les Paul. Al Schmitt had also recently put his name to a new plug-in from Leapwing Audio which is designed to recreate the legendary engineer’s workflow. The TEC Awards Hall of Fame inducted Schmitt in 1997 and he was even honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015 for his work as a pioneer of recorded music. |
