Al Schmitt

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Oral History Information

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Job Title
Recording Engineer

Al Schmitt’s career as a recording engineer covered more than 60 years of innovations in pro audio development in nearly every musical style. Al was the recording engineer for many musical legends from Frank Sinatra and Sam Cooke to Henry Mancini and Quincy Jones.  He worked on over 160 Gold and Platinum albums and earned 23 Grammy Awards including the Grammy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. Over the years Al was active with the TEC Awards for which he was honored for his excellence in audio engineering. He was inducted into the TEC Hall of Fame in 1997. Al was the first recording engineer to be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014. In addition to these impressive credits was the man himself, who mentored many engineers and was a friend to countless others. Al passed away in April 2021 at the age of 91.