Bobby Owsinski is an American

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduc ...

, producer, musician, and author based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He is best known as author of over 20 books in the field of music, music recording and social media, and audio engineering, especially in surround mixing with credits including

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

Weird Al Yankovic Weird may refer to: Places * Weird Lake, a lake in Minnesota, U.S. People *"Weird Al" Yankovic (born 1959), American musician and parodist Art, entertainment, and media Literature * '' Weird US'', a series of travel guides * ''The Weird'', a 20 ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...

, and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Early life

Bobby Owsinski grew up in

Minersville, Pennsylvania Minersville is a borough in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. Anthracite coal deposits are plentiful in the region. The population was 4,388 at the 2020 census. Minersville is located west of Allentown, northwest of Philadel ...

, where he played guitar and sang in regional cover bands throughout his high school and college years. Early success as a professional musician came as a keyboard player with The Other Side, touring along the East Coast and eventually recording one album for De-Lite/Polygram. Wanting to learn more about production and arranging, Owsinski enrolled in

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

where he studied composition and majored in guitar. After a brief time as a student, he was hired as an instructor in the school's then-new recording program, where he stayed for an additional year until moving to Los Angeles.

Career

Audio production and engineering

Owsinski has worked on projects as an engineer, producer, writer, and arranger for music, commercials, television, and motion pictures. During his early years in Los Angeles he worked with many artists including

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...

, and

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American baritone singer. He released 61 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably the song " You'll Never Find Another Love like Min ...

among others. In the mid-90s he worked in the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

scene producing recordings for

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

, Joe Houston, and ex-Rolling Stone

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...

. He was Taylor's music director for one tour. Owsinski was a co-founder of music-production company Surround Associates. He was among the first sound engineers to mix music specifically for DVD surround sound, working on projects for artists including

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

and

. He has consulted for a variety of music and audio-related companies including

Alesis Alesis is an American company that designs and markets electronic musical instruments, audio processors, mixers, amplifiers, audio interfaces, recording equipment, drum machines, professional audio, and electronic percussion products. Based ...

, Amek, IK Multimedia,

Lexicon A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word () ...

, Line 6, Neve,

PreSonus PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc. (often known and styled as PreSonus) is an American manufacturer of professional audio equipment and software, used to create, record, mix, and master music and other audio. This includes their line of digital a ...

, Shattered Music,

TASCAM TASCAM is the professional audio division of TEAC Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo Japan. TASCAM established the Home Recording phenomenon by creating the "Project Studio" and is credited as the inventor of the Portastudio, the first casset ...

, United Entertainment Media,

Waves Audio Waves Audio Ltd. is an Israeli developer and supplier of professional digital audio signal processing technologies and audio effects, used in recording, mixing, mastering, post production, broadcast, and live sound. The company's corporate headq ...

, and

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

. He also spent time as an educator, starting with teaching and authoring various audio-related courses at

, then moving on to Trebas Recording Institute and Nova Institute. Today he conducts guest lectures and presentations at colleges and universities around the world. Owsinski has appeared on ABC News' ''20/20'' speaking about the 2012

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

Inauguration Ceremony controversy, on CNN's ''New Day'', and other programs, podcasts, and radio shows. He has also been featured in artists in ''

Sound on Sound ''Sound on Sound'' is a monthly music technology magazine. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals. Due to its technical focus, it is predominantly ...

'', ''The Music Paper'', ''Mix Magazine'', ''EQ Magazine'', among others. Recent musical productions by Owsinski include

Snew SNEW is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California. The quintet consists of founders Curtis Don Vito (lead singer), Andy Lux (lead guitar), and Mark Ohrenberger (drums), along with Lenny Spickle (rhythm guitar), and Kelly Magee (bass) ...

and Adrianna Marie and Her Groovecutters, with her album ''Double Crossing Blues'' reaching #2 on the ''Billboard'' Blues Charts.

Writing

Owsinski has written numerous magazine articles for trade publications including ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', '' EQ'', ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', '' Mix'', ''

Electronic Musician Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

'', ''Grammy Magazine'', ''Film & Video'', ''Pro Sound News'', ''Music Connection'', and others. He has also written more than twenty books in the area of audio engineering and music production. His books outside of the music business include ''Social Media Promotion for Small Business and Entrepreneurs'' and the ''Cruise Vacation FAQ Book''. He maintains several of his own blogs and contributes to other notable industry blogs, most notably that of ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' where he provides commentary on the new music business and music technology. Many of Owsinski's books have also been released in video format via Lynda.com, now known as

LinkedIn Learning LinkedIn Learning is an American global massive open online course provider. It provides video courses taught by industry experts in software, creative, and business skills. It is a subsidiary of LinkedIn. All the courses on LinkedIn fall into fo ...

Books

Owsinski has authored books on the subject of music and audio engineering since the 1990s, the following list reflects latest edition dates. ;Audio-related books * (2024) The Mastering Engineer's Handbook Fifth Edition (original first edition in 2003) * (2023) The Recording Engineer's Handbook Fifth Edition (original first edition in 2000) * (2022) The Mixing Engineer's Handbook Fifth Edition (original first edition in 1999) * (2016) The Music Producer's Handbook Second Edition * (2016) The Drum Recording Handbook Second Edition (with Dennis Moody) * (2014) PreSonus StudioLive Official Handbook * (2012) Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust (with Ken Scott) * (2012) Audio Mixing Bootcamp * (2012) Audio Recording Basic Training * (2011) The Studio Builder's Handbook (with Dennis Moody) * (2010) Mixing And Mastering With T-RackS ;Music books * (2013) Deconstructed Hits Classic Rock Vol. 1 * (2013) Deconstructed Hits Modern Rock And Country * (2013) Deconstructed Hits Modern Pop And Hip Hop * (2011) Touring Musician's Handbook * (2011) Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook (with Rich Tozzoli) * (2010) Musician's Video Handbook * (2009) How To Make Your Band Sound Great * (2009) The Studio Musician's Handbook (with Paul ILL) ;Music business books * (2017) Social Media Promotion For Musicians Second Edition * (2016) Music 4.1: A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age Fourth Edition (original first edition in 2010) * (2013) Music 3.0 Guide To Social Media ;Books outside the music business * (2016) The Cruise Vacation FAQ Book * (2014) Social Media Promotion For Small Business And Entrepreneurs

References

External links

Bobby Owsinski's WebsiteBobby Owsinski's Online CoursesMusic Production BlogMusic 3.0 Music Industry Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Owsinski, Bobby Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American audio engineers American male musicians American male writers Record producers from Pennsylvania People from Minersville, Pennsylvania