How Does It Sound Now?: Legendary Engineers and Vintage Gear

How Does It Sound Now? features 32 interviews with top engineers and producers who have contributed to hundreds of millions of albums and CDs throughout their combined careers, including a new interview with Leslie Gaston-Bird for this second edition.

Winner of the 2010 Association for Recorded Sound Collections’ Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research, the second edition of How Does It Sound Now? allows readers to benefit from the collective experience of 32 industry heavyweights, whose interviews provide a comprehensive overview of the changes in methodology and equipment over the last 60 years. The collection focuses on engineers who made the transition through different technologies--analog to digital, wire to tape, and CD to mp3--and explores the methodology they employed when confronted with new and evolving technology. With a wide range of interviewees, from Phil Ramone to Geoff Emerick, discussions are centered around how producers and engineers retain quality and continue to create a product that conforms to their own high standards in the face of changing technologies.

The techniques described will be valuable to students of audio history or theory and recording courses, and will also be of interest to audio professionals, including home recordists and studio owners, who can use this book to educate their staff and offer to clients.

Gary Gottlieb is a long-time engineer, producer, writer, photographer, and music business professional, who refers to himself as a music generalist. As a recording engineer and music producer in New York, Gottlieb’s long and distinguished career includes numerous Grammy Award winners and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. After earning his Masters of Audio Aesthetics & Technology from Marlboro College, Gottlieb accepted a full-time faculty position at Webster University, where he created and Chaired their Department of Audio Aesthetics and Technology. During his fifteen years at Webster he published three books. Gottlieb has remained active in Audio Engineering Society leadership for over 20 years. He is currently the President of AES and resides in Ukiah, California with his daughter, their dog Bean, and their cat Silver, who makes frequent appearances during Zoom calls.