Bill Porter (sound engineer)
Bill Porter was an American audio engineer who helped shape the Nashville sound and recorded stars such as Chet Atkins, Louis Armstrong, the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, Gladys Knight, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Skeeter Davis, Ike & Tina Turner, Sammy Davis Jr., and Roy Orbison from the late 1950s through the 1980s. In one week of 1960, his recordings accounted for 15 of Billboard magazine's Top 100, a feat none has matched. Porter's engineering career included over 7,000 recording sessions, 300 chart records, 49 Top 10, 11 Number Ones, and 37 gold records.
Porter in 1972, wearing a lightning bolt pendant given to him by Elvis Presley, who was standing to his left.
Porter's console at RCA Studio B in Nashville
Porter with Elvis Presley and Paul Anka, August 5, 1972
An audio engineer helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, and reinforcement of sound. Audio engineers work on the "technical aspect of recording—the placing of microphones, pre-amp knobs, the setting of levels. The physical recording of any project is done by an engineer…"
Noted audio engineer Roger Nichols at a vintage Neve recording console
Acoustic diffusing mushrooms hanging from the roof of the Royal Albert Hall
The Pyramid Stage
Live sound mixing