# Anyone follow Recording Engineers / Mastering Engineers?



## Truckload (Feb 15, 2012)

Do any of you buy CD's based on the recording or mixing engineer? Is that a practical way to pick which CD to purchase?


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Walter Legge in the mono recording era: he knew the score!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

The Decca guy *John Culshaw* that's the man, Mono and Stereo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Culshaw


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

Bert Whyte (1920-94), recording engineer for Everest Records.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everest_Records


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## shomanca (Feb 1, 2016)

I will often buy a CD if I have seen that Tony Faulkner was the recording engineer


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

shomanca said:


> I will often buy a CD if I have seen that Tony Faulkner was the recording engineer


Do tell us more, company, artist, label ?


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## shomanca (Feb 1, 2016)

Pugg said:


> Do tell us more, company, artist, label ?


He is an independent recording engineer - his company is called Green Room Productions - but you will see his name on a vast array of CDs ... labels such as Hyperion, ASV, Nimbus, Telarc, RCA, Teldec, Finlandia, CPO and more.
The composers are numerous including Bruckner, Brahms, Sibelius, Beethoven ..... check out his discography on Discogs

He is generally regarded as one of the best, if not the best, in the business for the last 30 years or more


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

shomanca said:


> He is an independent recording engineer - his company is called Green Room Productions - but you will see his name on a vast array of CDs ... labels such as Hyperion, ASV, Nimbus, Telarc, RCA, Teldec, Finlandia, CPO and more.
> The composers are numerous including Bruckner, Brahms, Sibelius, Beethoven ..... check out his discography on Discogs
> 
> He is generally regarded as one of the best, if not the best, in the business for the last 30 years or more


Thanks, will do :tiphat:


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## Truckload (Feb 15, 2012)

shomanca said:


> He is an independent recording engineer - his company is called Green Room Productions - but you will see his name on a vast array of CDs ... labels such as Hyperion, ASV, Nimbus, Telarc, RCA, Teldec, Finlandia, CPO and more.
> The composers are numerous including Bruckner, Brahms, Sibelius, Beethoven ..... check out his discography on Discogs
> 
> He is generally regarded as one of the best, if not the best, in the business for the last 30 years or more


Now that is the kind of interesting information I hoped would turn up in this thread. Thanks.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Truckload said:


> Now that is the kind of interesting information I hoped would turn up in this thread. Thanks.


That's exactly why I ask the poster


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## shomanca (Feb 1, 2016)

Truckload said:


> Now that is the kind of interesting information I hoped would turn up in this thread. Thanks.


Glad to help


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## dsphipps100 (Jan 10, 2016)

Can't say anything about individual engineers, but you've got about a 99.9% chance of getting great sound on anything recorded by Telarc. (Of course, then there's the performance......)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

dsphipps100 said:


> Can't say anything about individual engineers, but you've got about a 99.9% chance of getting great sound on anything recorded by Telarc. (Of course, then there's the performance......)


To be fair, they have jewels in the catalogue, it might be not your taste/ choice but that's a whole different discussion


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## dsphipps100 (Jan 10, 2016)

Pugg said:


> To be fair, they have jewels in the catalogue, it might be not your taste/ choice but that's a whole different discussion


Oh certainly, I didn't mean at all to seem disparaging about Telarc's performers. They have a large number of absolutely fabulous performances in their catalogue, including my all-time favorite Mahler 7th Symphony (Levi-Atlanta), among others. I just simply meant that the performance is a separate element from the recorded sound.









(Their Wagner "The Ring Without Words" with Lorin Maazel and the Berliner Philharmoniker is especially a _huge_ amount of fun for any Wagner fans.)


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

TxllxT said:


> Walter Legge in the mono recording era: he knew the score!


He did stereo as well. I just checked my superb Klemperer/Philharmonia/EMI/1963/stereo Mahler 2 thinking, I bet that's Walter's, and it is, along with two other Producers, three balance engineers, and a 2000 digital re-mastering by Andrew Walter.

I do find the recording quality varies greatly and think it would be a good idea if I did take more notice of the recording engineers. Some critics seem to be able to put up with any level of naff recording (e.g., Penguins.) Maybe they know the score too well and that's playing in their minds rather than the recording


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I knew I forgot someone:*Erik Smith
*
He almost single handedly did the job on the Philips Mozert edition ( amongst many other things)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Smith


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## Jan9Pot7ck1 (May 17, 2018)

Many years ago when I was a teenager I read John Culshaw's book _Putting the Record Straight_. I was browsing at the public library and saw the title. It interested me. I enjoyed reading his book a lot. Because of what I read I listened to the recordings of Wagner and Britten that Culshaw produced. He enriched my life.


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## Joe B (Aug 10, 2017)

When I first started collecting, recording engineer John Eargle of Delos, recording engineer Lawrence Kraman of Newport Classic, and Mastering Engineer Bob Ludwig were always on my radar.


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## crispi (Jun 14, 2018)

For historical recordings from 78-rpm era, be on the lookout for the work of mastering/transfer engineers Mark Obert Thorn, Ward Marston, Seth Winner. They do excellent work. Labels: Pearl, Biddulph, Naxos Historical, APR.


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