The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society announces the 6th Annual George and Carolyn Counnas Innovation Award goes to Burnie Grundman, a multi-Grammy-winning, multi-platinum mastering engineer.
The name Bernie Grundman is synonymous with Mastering. His world renowned facilities, responsible for a consistently large percentage of chart recordings, were launched in 1984, following Grundman’s 15-year tenure with A&M Studios. In 1997, Grundman opened his Tokyo mastering studios and in 1998 relocated to expanded facilities in Hollywood.
Bernie Grundman’s mastering credits include Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Van Halen, Prince, The Carpenters, Steely Dan, Herb Alpert, Barbara Streisand, Jack Johnson, Mary J. Blige, Maroon 5, and Outkast, among thousands of other top recording artists.
Grundman was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and moved to Phoenix, Arizona, at the age of eight. As a teenager, he was a hi-fi enthusiast and worked part time as a drummer for various groups throughout the city. By the age of 19, he owned and operated a jazz club. In 1965, after serving in the Air Force Electronic Countermeasures Division, he started working for a small studio in Phoenix as a second engineer. In 1966, Grundman moved to Los Angeles where he became a mixer, mastering engineer and maintenance technician for the studios of the highly respected Contemporary Records label. In 1968, he started A&M’s mastering division, one of the top operations in the industry.
Mastering is described by Grundman as “basically post-production for the recording industry — the final creative step before delivery to the manufacturer for mass production.” To accomplish his work, today’s top mastering engineer utilizes a specialized console with both analog and digital signal processors and a computer workstation for editing and sequencing. Grundman technology sets the digital streaming and CD standard today, but Bernie is still an expert with the LP cutting lathe.
Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood operates seven studios, including a 5.1 mastering room. All processing devices can be completely bypassed, resulting in sonic quality that is unsurpassed in the mastering industry. Virtually all digital and analog formats are accepted for mastering, with the facility providing high-quality disk masters, sub-masters for CD, and digital streaming.
Grundman’s custom consoles are built in-house with all discrete electronics, featuring a 20-band graphic EQ. Digital mastering is done through modified Weiss, dB Technologies, and Apogee processors and converters. The primary workstation is Audio Cube, but the studio also has Sonic Solutions and ProTools, as well. Studer A-80 tape decks are customized for 14-inch reels and feature all discrete playback electronics. Modified Scully lathes are controlled by Compudisk 80 mastering computers with Haeco/Westrex cutting heads. Monitors are Tannoy bi-amped systems with inhouse-built passive crossovers driven by rare Crown CD-300 amps with no coupling capacitors. The studios are crisp and functional with a gallery atmosphere featuring paintings by internationally known artist Claire Chene.
Innovation Award Winners
This award represents innovation in the design and engineering in the reproduction of music.
The 2019 First Annual Innovation Award went to George and Carolyn Counnas, owners of Zesto Audio
The 2021 Second Annual Innovation Award went to Dragoslav Colich, chief design engineer at Audeze Headphones
The 2022 Third Annual Innovation Award went to Holger Stein, owner of Stein Music
The 2023 Fourth Annual Innovation Award went to John Curl, a legendary electronic designer.
The 2024 Fifth Annual Innovation Award went to Bill Schnee, Multi Grammy-winning engineer-producer.
