Bob Katz
Encyclopedia
Bob Katz is an audio mastering
engineer who is known for his book on audio mastering. Katz has mastered three Grammy award-winning albums and one nominated album. He has received acclaim from audiophiles and his book on mastering has received acclaim, and some reviewers consider it the "definitive work on mastering". He has also came up with a proprietary system called K-Stereo and K-Surround. These processes supposedly "recover lost or amplify hidden ambience, space and imaging, and generate stereo from mono signals without adding artificial reverberation."
Katz taught at the Institute of Audio Research from 1978 to 1979. In 1988, Katz joined Chesky Records
and began recording jazz and classical artists there, as well as producing oversampled
commercial recordings. In 1990, he founded an audio mastering company called Digital Domain Mastering, where he continues to work.
to measure audio levels and standardize dynamic range
in recorded audio.
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
engineer who is known for his book on audio mastering. Katz has mastered three Grammy award-winning albums and one nominated album. He has received acclaim from audiophiles and his book on mastering has received acclaim, and some reviewers consider it the "definitive work on mastering". He has also came up with a proprietary system called K-Stereo and K-Surround. These processes supposedly "recover lost or amplify hidden ambience, space and imaging, and generate stereo from mono signals without adding artificial reverberation."
Katz taught at the Institute of Audio Research from 1978 to 1979. In 1988, Katz joined Chesky Records
Chesky Records
Chesky Records is a record label aimed primarily at audiophiles. For the most part, jazz, Latin jazz, classical, and adult contemporary CDs and DVDs are produced, but they also manufacture high end audio equipment. The label was founded and is run by grammy nominated composer David Chesky and his...
and began recording jazz and classical artists there, as well as producing oversampled
Oversampling
In signal processing, oversampling is the process of sampling a signal with a sampling frequency significantly higher than twice the bandwidth or highest frequency of the signal being sampled...
commercial recordings. In 1990, he founded an audio mastering company called Digital Domain Mastering, where he continues to work.
Grammy Award-Winning Albums
Grammy Award-Winning Albums mastered by Bob Katz:- 1985: Ben KingsleyBen KingsleySir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
, The Words of Gandhi - 1997: Paquito D'RiveraPaquito D'RiveraPaquito D'Rivera is a Cuban alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist. The winner of multiple Grammys and other awards, D'Rivera has lived in the United States since the early 1980s. He has worked in a variety of contexts, but is perhaps best known for playing Latin...
, Portraits of Cuba - 2001: Olga TañonOlga TañónOlga Tañón is a two-time Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy-winning Merengue and Latin Pop artist. Tañón has earned 5 Latin Grammy Awards and 19 Premios Lo Nuestro awards during her career.-Early years:...
, Olga Viva, Viva Olga
The K-system
Bob Katz proposed the K-systemK-system
The K-system is an audio level measuring technique proposed by mastering engineer Bob Katz in the paper An integrated approach to Metering, Monitoring and Levelling. It proposes a monitor calibration system and a set of meter ballistics to help engineers produce consistent sounding music while...
to measure audio levels and standardize dynamic range
Dynamic range
Dynamic range, abbreviated DR or DNR, is the ratio between the largest and smallest possible values of a changeable quantity, such as in sound and light. It is measured as a ratio, or as a base-10 or base-2 logarithmic value.-Dynamic range and human perception:The human senses of sight and...
in recorded audio.