sound engineer Ray Dolby, RIP

a bowtied Ray Dolby in the mid-’50s

Audio engineer Ray Dolby, who literally changed the way recorded music sounded, died at his San Francisco home on Thursday (9/12). He had been suffering from Alzheimers and was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. His contributions to music and film cannot be overstated:

“In ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind,’ the sound of the spaceship knocked the audience on its rear with the emotional content,” said Sidney Ganis, a film producer who is a former president of Paramount Pictures and a former president of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “That was created by the director, but provided by the technology that Ray Dolby invented.”

The Dolby name became synonymous with high fidelity. For his pioneering contributions to audio engineering, Dr. Dolby received an Oscar, several Emmy Awards and a Grammy. He was also awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Bill Clinton and was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

Trained in engineering and physics, Dr. Dolby started Dolby Laboratories in London in 1965 and soon after introduced technology that produced cleaner, crisper sound by electronically reducing the hiss generated by analog tape recording.

Decca Records was the first customer to buy the Dolby System. The noise-reduction technology quickly became a staple of major record labels. – [NY Times]

Rest in peace, Mr Dolby.

Check out a Dolby Labs memorial video below…

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