Reftone’s Dave Hampton Interviews with Mix Magazine
REFTONE inventor and IME Partner Dave Hampton takes center-stage in this month’s MIX Magazine blog. Sharing an expert industry perspective in a style uniquely his own, Mr. Hampton discusses studio etiquette and working your plan towards success…
SHARED FROM MIX MAGAZINE ONLINE by Gino Robair
What do Prince, Lady Gaga, Herbie Hancock, Justin Timberlake, and Babyface have in common (besides Grammy awards, of course)? Each of them has leaned on the expertise of tech-guru Dave Hampton. Known for the broad range of skills he brings to the table, Hampton has helped these and numerous other high-profile clients with services ranging from engineering and production to studio design and live-rig support (including real-time 5.1 surround-sound engineering for Herbie Hancock’s Future2Future tour).
Hampton honed his production chops in the ‘80s LA music scene, while spending his formative electrical engineering years at Oberheim Electronics. Eventually, his breadth of knowledge about audio helped him become an in-demand studio designer, whose work spans large-scale facilities (Babyface, Marcus Miller, and Creflo Dollar Ministries) to highly personalized recording spaces (Herbie Hancock, Rafael Saadiq, Maxwell, Marcus Miller, and Organized Noyze). Hampton was even tapped to complete the restoration of Prince’s Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis. In addition, he has served as Technical Director at both Paisley Park and Hancock Music in Los Angeles.
Hampton is equally adept at designing touring rigs, including systems for Whitney Houston, Chicago, and Maxwell. His client list also includes Eddie Murphy, Teddy Riley, RZA, Bill Withers, Sinbad and M.I.A. He regularly does lectures and workshops on production and recording, and his book The Business of Audio Engineering (Hal Leonard) has become a standard text for programs throughout the world.
And if that wasn’t enough, Hampton has launched Reftone, a line of small monitors that are “designed to promote basic near-field monitoring principles,” he told me in a recent interview. “The goal is that the user, at any level of audio experience, can hear full-range signals clearly at low volume for placement and accuracy.“
Dave Hampton recently took time out of his busy schedule to speak with me on the phone.
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