Bob Ludwig is President of Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine. To date (May 2022), Bob is a 12x GRAMMY and 2x Latin GRAMMY winning mastering engineer.
After finishing his Master’s degree at the Eastman School of Music Bob started at A&R Recording with Phil Ramone where he learned the art of disk cutting and mastering. Bob became the first employee at Sterling Sound where he soon cut the famous (and now very expensive to buy) Led Zeppelin II album. He moved to Masterdisk (1976-1992) and then started his own Gateway Mastering Studios opening in 1993.
His mastering credits are extensive, and include albums for many major classical artists, such as the Kronos Quartet, Steve Reich, John Adams.
Jazz artists including Pat Metheney, Ornette Coleman, The Bad Plus.
And other artists including Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin , Jimi Hendrix, The Band, Phish, Tool, Avenged Sevenfold, Megadeth, Rush, Metallica, Gloria Estefan, Mariah Carey, The Police, Sting, Eagles, Nirvana, Queen, U2, Guns N’ Roses, Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, Lionel Ritchie, Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music, Tori Amos, Bonnie Raitt, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Bee Gees, Eric Clapton, Madonna, The Alabama Shakes, Beck, Wilco, Radiohead, Disney’s “Frozen” I & II soundtracks and Daft Punk to name a very few.
“I have done a lot of listening... I haven’t heard a single bar of music, of any genre, that didn’t sound its best on the LTA Z10e electrostatic amp with the CRBN headphones. It’s really a new paradigm for me: the cohesiveness of every note of the spectrum aligning just right. Bravo!””
For people not familiar with professional music production, describe your role in the process of making an album.
Music is recorded, then mixed down, then mastered to do the final creative tweaks, final editing and create the final sound of the recording. I hear the mix and imagine in my head how I would want it to sound like and then know what knobs to use to make it sound as I imagined. Then we create the masters used for vinyl production, CDs, streaming, downloads and Apple Digital Masters.
How did you get started in the music industry? Did you have a “big break” or was there some other influential moment or person that was pivotal to your journey?
I was finishing up my Master’s Degree at Eastman and my involvement as 1st Trumpet in the Utica Symphony when Phil Ramone came to an Eastman Summer Session Recording Workshop where I assisted him. He asked me if I wanted to join him at A&R Recording in New York City. I joined them and assisted Phil and the other engineers. (My fellow hires included Shelly Yakus and Elliot Scheiner!). Jay Messina taught me how to master and soon I developed a clientele and the rest is history.
What are some albums that you worked on that you’re particularly proud of and why?
There are so many: The Band, Led Zeppelin II and Houses of The Holy, getting to work on Bruce Springsteen’s catalog, the same with John Mellencamp, the Beck records I’ve done, Tool, Metallica, Daft Punk. Frozen was, globally, the best-selling album of 2014. Plus so many others records to be proud of!
Are you working on anything now - or recently completed - that you are excited about?
As usual there are some awesome new records I can’t talk about yet. Two I can are Bruce Springsteen’s “Only The Strong Survive” and Wilco’s rave reviewed “Cruel Country”. Plus the latest Steve Reich album I did for Nonesuch Records: “Reich/Richter”. It’s amazing!
What’s an album - whether you worked on it or not - you’ve found yourself listening to a lot lately?
William Walton’s 2nd Symphony conducted by Kirill Karabits.
Most people probably think you have a dream job. In many ways, I’m sure it is, but what’s the toughest part of your job?
Technology is the toughest part. Computers crashing or not doing what I expected etc. Software sudden demands to be updated only to find they removed a favorite feature. Tons of favorite 32-bit Plug Ins no longer supported in 64 bits.
Away from your work in the studio, how do you typically engage with music? Do you sit and listen critically on a hifi system or is it more casual for pure enjoyment?
I could never have my studio Eggleston Works “Ivy” speakers with bridged Cello amps at home so my audio nirvana there is listening to my Audeze CRBN electrostatic headphones driven by the amazing LTA Z10e dynamic and electrostatic headphone amp driven from my dCS Bartók streamer.
Do you have any additional comments or stories you want to share?
I was delighted with my new Audeze CRBN headphone, and I was pleasantly surprised that the LTA Z10e, out of the box sounded great, but as it broke in, it blossomed into one of the finest music listening experiences of my life! I continue to be amazed by it every day.
“I was also listening to music from The Band’s second album which I originally mastered in 1969 and it has remained one of my most favorite albums that I have ever worked on. I have heard this record often during the 53 years from the original vinyl, several re-masterings from time to time (including the recent anniversary editions). Well, with the CRBN/LTA Z10e combination I am hearing things I have never heard before, and that is amazing!”