RIP: Rupert Neve 1926-2021.

We are very sad to report the death of Rupert Neve, perhaps the most important and influential designer in recording-studio history. Mr. Neve passed away at the age of 94 in his adoptive home of Wimberley, Texas, but his name will be forever associated with the British company he founded in 1961. He was quick to see the potential of solid-state electronics, designing his first all-transistor console in the mid-’60s, and would go on to create seminal designs such as the 1073 and 1084 preamp/EQ modules. Neve consoles became first choice for recording studios and broadcasters all around the world, and by the time he and wife Evelyn sold Neve Electronics in 1975, the company employed over 500 people.

In the early 1970s, Neve designed the $75,175 mixing console that was the centerpiece of Los Angeles’ famed Sound City studio, where artists as diverse as Barry Manilow, Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, and Nirvana recorded many hits. There’s a hilarious scene 15 minutes into the eponymous 2013 documentary about the studio’s life and death in which the courtly Neve explains in detail to a befuddled Dave Grohl (of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters) the engineering principles behind the studio’s desk. When Sound City closed, Grohl would buy the desk for his own studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kREXK5sVjQ4&feature=emb_title

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): I didn’t know Rupert well, but he and I were friends on Facebook for over a decade, and he was a lovely, well-rounded and generous guy. I had, of course, admired his technical skills for decades before.