Pro Audio-Recording

The TEC Foundation for Excellence in Audio today announced the nominees for the 27th Annual Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards, to be held Friday, January 20, 2012, at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. Co-presented by the TEC Foundation and NAMM, the TEC Awards is the pro audio industry's most prestigious awards show honoring outstanding achievement in product innovation and sound production.

 Yoshiharu Abe is known as the father of personal multi-track recording in the audio engineering field.  He was one of the five founders of TEAC in 1957 and went on to become one of the company’s most important product designers.  Abe-son designed several landmark products over his long career including the 80-8 and the Portastudio series.  He later worked for Fostex and was a key player in the teams that created the B-13 and X-15.  Beginning in 1948 he also began writing extensively

 Ken Achard played such an important part of the industry that he was asked to write a book.  The book entitled “The Peavey Revolution” was released in 2005 and covers Ken’s long association with the innovative company and its founder.  Ken met Hartley Peavey in 1972, who entrusted Ken to open up the UK operations of the Peavey Company.  The task did not come without challenges, but as Ken put it, “It was a great opportunity to be a part of something big. 

Tom Beckman opened a music store with his band director while still in college in 1958. The relationships he created in the store lead to a road salesman job with C. Bruno. He traveled the country for nearly a decade before establishing his own distribution company, Beckman Musical. He later began a long association with Roland Corporation. Tom’s interview included a review of the changes he has witnessed in the industry over the past 50 years, including the growth of the NAMM show.
 

Ray Benson and two friends formed a country rock band in 1970 called Asleep At The Wheel. Ever since that time Ray has continued to play with the band, which has seen nearly 100 musicians come and go, but Ray remained! His colorful career has had its highs and lows, most of which he has expressed in song over the years including in 1975 hit “The Letter That Johnny Walker Read.” In more recent years Ray has worked with Willie Nelson and others on Asleep At The Wheel material, which has continued to find a growing audience for over 40 years.
 

Andy Bereza was on the team that created the now famous Portastudio products for TASCAM. In fact, Andy is credited with the mixer’s first blue prints as well as coming up with its clever name. The product forever changed the industry by offering a small mixer for home and road use. His work with TASCAM resulted in several products as did his association with Fostex and before that for the famed Allen & Heath Company. Andy’s mixing boards led him to work with several British musicians and bands such as Pink Floyd as well as with master engineer Yoshiharu Abe.

Sam Berkow has a deep rooted passion for acoustical design & sound measurement. Sam began his career in the era in which very little practical information was written on the subject of acoustical measurement. He applied his knowledge to both indoor music events as well as those set outside. Over the years he used his experience to design the SIA-SMAART software. Sam’s work within the software has become a standard tool for the industry and one he is proud of. In more recent years Sam has designed concert halls with acoustic design such as the home of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York as well as renovation work for the Hollywood Bowl and the Grand Ole Opry.

William Bevan has proudly served as an engineer at Shure Inc. for over 40 years. He was a key engineer in many of the company’s products from the early 1960s and running into the 2000s. He worked in the electronic development departments with a focus in his early years in photograph cartridges and microphone development. William often spoke of his enjoyment serving Shure and described his co-workers as “a family team.”

Athan Billias had a rather impressive vantage point to witness the growth and development of the synthesizer in the late 1970s and early 80s. After performing as a professional musician in New England for several years, Athan found himself working on the landmark M1 keyboard as an engineer for KORG USA. He was later asked to work in Japan, where he lived for six years before returning to the United States. He would later serve as Director of Marketing for Yamaha Corporation of America in the Pro-Audio Division, where Athan continues to serve the industry.
 

Graham Blyth began playing music at the age of 4 and studied electrical engineering in college, which led to his final paper on the topic of electronic organs. While writing the paper, Graham visited a local organ company and met friends who helped shape his ideas of having a career in the music industry. Graham built his own mixers, which were used by the Kinks and other bands. As the idea of a company grew from their product creations it was given the name Sound Craft Electronics and grew into a very successful and innovative company for the industry.