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Doug Sax

{{More citations needed|date=November 2024}}{{Short description|American mastering engineer (1936–2015)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Doug Lionel Sax

| image = Doug Sax.jpg

| caption = Sax in 2014

| birth_name = Douglas Sax

| birth_date = {{birth date|1936|4|26}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|2015|4|2|1936|4|26}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| occupation = Mastering engineer

}}

Doug Sax (April 26, 1936{{cn|date=May 2023}} – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six Pink Floyd's albums, including The Wall; Ray Charles' multiple-Grammy winner Genius Loves Company in 2004, and Bob Dylan's 36th studio album Shadows in the Night in 2015.

Early life

Sax was born in Los Angeles on April 26, 1936, to Mildred and Remy Sax.{{cn|date=May 2023}} While attending Fairfax High School in West Los Angeles, Sax played the trumpet alongside trumpeter Herb Alpert. Upon graduation, Sax attended University of California, Los Angeles and then was drafted into the Army where he played trumpet in the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra from 1959 to 1961.{{cite web|title=7th Army Symphony|url=http://7aso.org/htmldocs/asbiosps.html#ss|access-date=March 30, 2015}}

Career

File:Doug Sax with 4 Lathes.jpg

From an early age, Sax was interested in recorded sound, and although he had established a career as a symphonic trumpeter, on December 27, 1967, along with Lincoln Mayorga, a friend from junior high who had become a music arranger and pianist for Capitol Records, and Sax's older brother Sherwood (Bert), an engineer, he opened The Mastering Lab. One of the first big albums Sax mastered at The Mastering Lab was The Doors' debut album which was inducted into the Library of Congress on March 25, 2015.{{cite web|title=New Entries to National Recording Registry|website=Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2015/15-041.html|access-date=March 27, 2015}}

The Mastering Lab uses equipment designed by Sherwood, which features handcrafted electronics, from the tape machines to the equalizers, compressors / limiters, A/D - D/A converters, and monitoring amplifiers.{{cite web|title=Mastering Lab CEO|url=https://www.linkedin.com/pub/doug-sax/18/938/483|access-date=March 21, 2015}} That, combined with his ears and expertise, helped Sax forge a long and successful career at The Mastering Lab.{{cite web|title=Engineers|url=http://themasteringlab.com/engineers/doug-sax/|access-date=March 21, 2015|archive-date=February 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226172437/http://themasteringlab.com/engineers/doug-sax/|url-status=dead}}. In 1970, Sax and Mayorga founded Sheffield Lab Recordings, an audiophile label which produced direct-to-disc classical and jazz albums.{{cite web|title=Oral History - Doug Sax|url=https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/doug-sax|access-date=March 30, 2015}}{{cite web|title=Sheffield Lab History|url=http://www.sheffieldlab.com/historyofsheffield.html|access-date=March 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150311025654/http://www.sheffieldlab.com/historyofsheffield.html|archive-date=March 11, 2015|url-status=usurped}}

In the 1970s, he helped establish the audiophile record company Sheffield Lab, with his friend Lincoln Mayorga. Known for their Direct-To-Disk and Live to 2-track recordings, they recorded such artists as Tower of Power, Dave Grusin, Thelma Houston, Harry James, James Newton Howard, Michael Ruff, Pat Coil, and Clair Marlo.

By 1972, Sax was mastering 20% of the top 100 chart in Billboard magazine. Albums mastered by Sax and released in 1971 included such titles as The Who's Who's Next, Harry Nilsson's Nilsson Schmilsson, The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers and the Eagles' self-titled debut album. During his career, Sax cut thousands of LP masters with his custom designed, all-tube signal path including Pink Floyd's The Wall (and all subsequent Pink Floyd releases up to 2014's The Endless River), the reissue of the Slayer thrash metal group's Vinyl Conflict box set and Pantera vinyl reissues, the Eagles' Greatest Hits, and Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin.

Death

Sax died in Los Angeles on April 2, 2015, aged 78, from cancer.[http://www.analogplanet.com/content/legendary-mastering-engineer-doug-sax-has-passed-away Legendary Mastering Engineer Doug Sax Has Passed Away], analogplanet.com; accessed April 5, 2015.

Recording engineer and producer Al Schmitt released a statement on Sax's death:

{{blockquote|Sorry to say but one of my dearest friends and in my opinion the greatest mastering engineer in the world passed away this morning. He mastered all of my recordings and I don't know what I will do without him. He taught me so many things. I will miss his silly jokes and the great lunches we had whenever I was mastering with him. I love you Doug Sax, mastering in heaven just got a lot better.{{quote needs citation|date=May 2023}}}}

Selected works

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Awards

Grammy Awards

  • 2004 - Technical Grammy Award{{cite web|title=Technical Grammy winners 2004|url=http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/technical-awards|access-date=March 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116183245/http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/technical-awards|archive-date=January 16, 2013|url-status=dead}}
  • 2005 - Grammy Award for Best 5.1 Surround Sound Album for Genius Loves Company{{cite web|title=Best Surround Album|url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&field_nominee_work_value=&year=2004&genre=All|access-date=March 21, 2015}}
  • 2005 - Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Genius Loves Company
  • 2005 - Grammy Award for Record of the Year for Genius Loves Company

TEC Awards

Sax has been nominated seven times for the Mix Foundation TEC Awards for Creative Achievement, winning twice for:

  • 2002 - Record Production/Album - Look of Love, Diana Krall{{cite web|title=Mix Foundation TEC Awards 2002|url=http://legacy.tecawards.org/tec/2002.html |access-date=March 20, 2015}}
  • 2005 - Record Production/Album - Genius Loves Company, Ray Charles{{cite web|title=Mix Foundation TEC Awards for 2005|url=http://legacy.tecawards.org/tec/05winners.html |access-date=March 20, 2015}}

AES (Audio Engineer Society) Lifetime Honorary Membership Award{{cite web|title=Oral History - Doug Sax|url=https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/doug-sax |access-date=March 20, 2015}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{AllMusic|id=mn0000198526|label=Doug Sax}}
  • {{Discogs artist}}
  • [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/doug-sax Doug Sax Interview] NAMM Oral History Library (2012)

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Category:1936 births

Category:2015 deaths

Category:Musicians from Greater Los Angeles

Category:Grammy Award winners

Category:Mastering engineers

Category:United States Army soldiers

Category:Deaths from cancer in California

Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni

Category:Fairfax High School (Los Angeles) alumni