Eric Boulanger is an American mastering engineer and professional violinist. Eric is owner and chief engineer of the Bakery, an audio and vinyl mastering studio located in Los Angeles, California. Boulanger has worked with artists including

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

the Carpenters The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...

, and on the soundtrack to the film ''

La La Land ''La La Land'' is a 2016 American musical romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a struggling jazz pianist and an aspiring actress who meet and fall in love while pursuing ...

''. In 2018, Eric won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album for ''50 Años Tocando Para Ti (Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá)'' with

Rafa Sardina Rafael Sardina, known professionally as Rafa Sardina, is a basque recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer known for his work with Alejandro Sanz, Luis Miguel, Calle 13, D'Angelo, The Clare Fischer Big Band and Lady Gaga. Sardina ...

. He also won as the mastering engineer on ''¡México Por Siempre!'' by Luis Miguel, which won Album of the Year at the 2018 Latin Grammy Awards.

Career

Boulanger is a classically-trained violinist who studied at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

, and the

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

Festival. In 2006, he took an internship with

Al Schmitt Albert Harry Schmitt (April 17, 1930 – April 26, 2021) was an American recording engineer and record producer. He won twenty Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto (band), Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jone ...

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

in Los Angeles, and Schmitt introduced Boulanger to mastering engineer

Doug Sax Doug Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six Pink Floyd's albums, including '' The Wall''; Ray Charles' multiple ...

, who hired him the next year. Boulanger graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering. He then went to work for Doug Sax at the Mastering Lab in Ojai, CA. While at the Mastering Lab, Boulanger worked as a mastering engineer and maintained the studio's custom analog equipment. Boulanger has been cutting vinyl since 2009, which he learned at the Mastering Lab. At the time, he had no experience with vinyl, and his first task was to build the lab’s vinyl cutting lathe.

Mastered for iTunes

Boulanger was the first engineer to work on an iTunes "Mastered for iTunes" release for

Colbie Caillat Colbie Marie Caillat ( ; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame on the social networking website Myspace in 2005. She signed with Universal Republic Records to release her debut studio album, '' Coco'' (2007), w ...

's ''All of You'' (released July 12, 2011 on the iTunes Store). The MfiT was a collaboration (between

NARAS National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

and

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

) to improve the quality of digitally downloaded music, and Boulanger collaborated with Apple's engineering team on the project. Boulanger mastered the

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

' album '' I'm with You'' as the second "Mastered for iTunes" release (August 22, 2011).

The Bakery

The Bakery opened on the Sony Pictures Lot in Culver City, CA. in 2015 after the death of Doug Sax, and the closing of the Mastering Lab. In 2020, Boulanger mastered Diana Krall's '' This Dream of You''.

References

External links

The Bakery Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boulanger, Eric American audio engineers Living people 1985 births