August 2020

Mastered By Bob Ludwig
An Exploration Of His Career And Techniques

  Bob Ludwig is the owner of Gateway Mastering and a 11-time Grammy award winning mastering engineer. Gateway Mastering Studios goal is to produce the very best sounding masters for their clients – both creatively and technically perfect. Their exceptional team accomplishes this by challenging the edge of audio performance while exceeding our customers' expectations with excellent service.

As an 8-year-old child in South Salem, New York, Bob Ludwig was so fascinated with his first tape recorder he used to make recordings of whatever was on the radio. Ludwig is a classical musician by training, having obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, New York, where he was also involved in the sound department and played Principal Trumpet with the Utica Symphony Orchestra. Inspired by Phil Ramone when he came to the school to teach a summer recording workshop, he ended up working as his assistant for the course. Phil asked him if he would like to work at A&R Recording. Together, they did sessions on projects with The Band, Peter, Paul & Mary, Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach etc.

After a few years at A&R, Ludwig received an offer from Sterling Sound becoming their first employee, where he eventually rose to become a Vice-President. After seven years at Sterling, he moved to Masterdisk, (the 2 companies were once owned by the same public company), where he was Vice President and Chief Engineer. In 1992, Ludwig decided to take control over his career by starting his own record-mastering facility in Portland, Maine named Gateway Mastering.

His mastering credits are extensive, and include albums for many major classic artists, such as the Kronos Quartet, Steve Reich and rock acts, including Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Phish, Megadeth, Metallica, Gloria Estefan, Nirvana, The Strokes, Queen, U2, Guns N' Roses, Tool, Simple Minds, Bryan Ferry, Tori Amos, Bonnie Raitt, Beck, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, the Bee Gees, Madonna, Supertramp, Will Ackerman, Pet Shop Boys, Radiohead, Elton John, Disney's "Frozen" soundtrack and Daft Punk to name a few.

Bob Ludwig was a former co-chair of the Steering Committee and currently a member of the Advisory Council of the Producers and Engineer's Wing of The Recording Academy. Ludwig holds an APRS Sound Fellowship and as well as being a Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society. He was awarded the AES Gold Medal at the last convention.

The below video features Bob Ludwig with Jett Galindo from Bakery Mastering in Los Angeles. Jett hosts a conversation with legendary mastering engineer Bob Ludwig as his career began during an era when mastering technology looked very different than it does today. The interview explores Ludwig's perspective on all things mastering including how he has navigated those changes, his observations about what has changed, exploration of technology old and new, and insights into how he approaches his work. We'll hear a sampling of some of his work and learn, what does "Mastered by Bob Ludwig" mean?

Gateway Mastering Studio
428 Cumberland Ave
Portland, Maine 04101

Voice: (207) 828-9400
Email: staff@gatewaymastering.com
Website: www.GatewayMastering.com