Hey Everybody! I’m going to be reviewing current audio equipment, commenting on various topics and generally will get in the way from time to time. Hope you don’t mind! Ha!
You might know my byline from Mix Magazine where I’ve been writing hi-end professional audio gear and software reviews since 1997. And since the ’80s, I’ve authored a new products column in L.A.-based Music Connection Magazine called “New Toys.” In the meantime I learned to code and built my own Web site in 1994 and it is now some 3,000 pages deep—take a look at this resource of stories, reviews, studio tips, information, links and equipment recall sheets and manuals from Barry Rudolph.
My History
My interest in electronics and things technical goes back to grammar school when I entered (and sometimes won) science fairs with various homemade gadgets I built. After high school I worked my way through university by working at night as an electronics technician at various aerospace companies in the Orange County area (South of Los Angeles). These were small computer/electronics companies—some contracted by NASA.
I would trouble-shoot individual digital circuit boards and later I moved into testing more complex and detailed digital systems. With these few years of experience and my degrees, I fully expected to become an aerospace electronics engineer upon graduation. After graduating I was laid off and was wondering what to do. That all changed in 1969 when on a whim, I wandered into a four-track studio and thought: “wow music and electronics—this is for me.”
Moving on to L.A. at the beginning of the 1970s, I landed a starting position at Larrabee Sound Studios in West Hollywood and by 1972, was fortunate enough to have recorded and mixed my first #1 record for producer Jerry Fuller called “Show and Tell” by Al Wilson.
From there I started my freelance recording engineer career working with producers such as Tom Dowd and artists Rod Stewart and Lynyrd Skynyrd; Steve Cropper who was producing artists Keith Moon, Ringo Starr and John Prine; Chris Bond producing Daryl Hall and John Oates; Ken Mansfield producing Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter; Donald “Duck” Dunn producing Levon Helm; and later on Oliver Leiber and John Shanks who produced the Corrs and BB Mak together.
I am thrilled to have been in the room while the “magic” happened with a diverse collection of artists like: Tony Williams, Roy Buchanan, El Chicano, Mick Jagger, Rick Rubin, Lakeside, Wall of Voodoo, Shalamar, The Beach Boys, Enrique Iglesias, Selena and so many more.
These days I love mixing music here at my Tones 4 $ Studio in North Hollywood, CA; I still write reviews and I’m a teacher and Instructional Designer at Musicians Institute, Hollywood, CA.