P1297to1298 Obits
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
In Memoriam illiam Savory, AES fellow and long-time audio engi- Wneer, died February 11, 2004, at his home in Falls Church, Virginia, at the age of 87. The cause of death was congestive heart failure. Savory was involved with the team led by Columbia Records engineer William Bachman that succeeded in 1 bringing the first 33 ⁄3 r/min long-play record albums to market in 1948. A master of the art of disc cutting, Savory made the first transfers from disk to tape to LP master. Among these were the on-site recordings of the historic Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert of 1938 and a Tchaikovsky violin concerto, which won him a dollar when he bet the vio- linist, Isaac Stern, that he could make an undetectable splice during a long William Savory with analog tape machine in the 1950s. trill. “I bet him a dollar he’d never find where the splice was made, and he didn’t,” Savory recalled. “So he and joined the United States Navy for and represented EMI on the first engi- paid me a dollar.” active duty during World War II, neering staff of the newly formed A musician who developed an including a stint at the U.S. Naval R.I.A.A. when the primary aim of interest in sound engineering, Savory Research Laboratory in Washington, that trade group was to establish a began building his own recording D.C., where he worked in the cen- standard recording curve. After EMI devices in the mid-1930s, but soon timeter wave research division. After purchased Capitol Records, he was learned the necessary electronics were a year in Washington, he returned to transferred to the West Coast in 1957 not readily available. While making a New York and Columbia Records, where he became senior engineer in piano demonstration record of his this time as a member of the team that Ed Uecke’s Engineering Develop- own in one of midtown Manhattan’s developed the LP and as fill-in ment Department. There he built a small independent studios, Savory recordist and engineering trouble- stereo mixing room in the new Capi- was able to fix some of the equipment shooter for location dates. Involved in tol Tower studios, completed just that broke down during the session. the early stages of setting up Colum- before the advent of stereo recording. He was offered a job on the spot and bia’s legendary 30th Street Studio in a In 1960, Savory left Capitol and soon established service arrangements former church, Savory worked with was soon called back to active duty with several independent New York William Bachman to help bring the during the Berlin Call-Up. When he studios. acoustics of the enormous room “into returned to the U.S., he joined with In 1938 he worked on a system for focus” as he put it, part of which former NRL colleagues to form the National Vocarium to electroni- included designing special baffles, in General Electronic Labs and did cally reproduce Edison wax cylinders. particular a set of unique 8-foot para- consulting work on the Mattel In 1940, Columbia Broadcasting Sys- bolic reflector panels on wheels used “Talking Doll.” He was then hired tem hired him to help operate and by singer Johnnie Ray, among others. by TRW and sent to Washington, maintain its new recording facility in He left Columbia in 1953 to join D.C., at which time he settled in Chicago. He left Columbia in 1942 Angel Records/EMI as chief engineer Falls Church, Virginia. In 1976 ➥ J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 52, No. 12, 2004 December 1297 In Memoriam he retired from the Naval Reserve ater sound system for a performance with the rank of commander. called “Laterna Magica” in the Throughout his life, Savory pur- Czech pavilion at the EXPO 1958 in sued what he called a “self-education Brussels. regimen,” studying electrical engi- In 1959 Merhaut founded the neering, physics, mathematics, and Research and Design Institute of related disciplines at different times at Electroacoustics, where he was head Harvard, University of Chicago, until his appointment as professor at Catholic University, and Columbia the faculty of electrical engineering at University. He was a charter member the Czech Technical University in of the AES, the Sapphire Club, the Prague in 1964. There he became IEEE, and the AIP. head of the department of audio and Savory founded Lyricon Records, visual technology (1968) and later Inc. in 1980 and consulted on com- also served for a time as vice-dean. munications security systems at Merhaut also made a significant con- Tracor Applied Sciences, Inc., tribution to international standardiza- where he was senior scientist and Josef Merhaut tion. He worked for a number of years director of the R&D Prototype Lab- 1917-2004 in IEC, TC29, also in WG1 on loud- oratory. At the 87th AES Conven- speakers. From 1978 to 1984 he was tion in October 1989, he received a osef Merhaut, AES life member president of IEC. He was also an hon- fellowship “for technical expertise and fellow of the Acoustical orary member of the Czech Acousti- in the field of recording art with JSociety of America, passed away cal Society, where he was active for particular emphasis on historically at his summer-house in the south of many years. important recorded material the Czech Republic on July 30, 2004. Since the beginning of his profes- (archival and restoration).” He was 87 years old. sional career, Merhaut had been inter- He recorded via phone lines the Born on November 5, 1917 in ested in theoretical work, mainly in historic May 29, 1938, jazz marathon Prague, Czech Republic (Czechoslo- the theoretical basis of electroa- at Randall’s Island Stadium, an all- vakia at that time) he began his study coustics. He continued working in day swing concert for the benefit of at the Czech Technical University in this field during the time he headed Local 802’s Hospital Fund. He also 1936. Because all universities in the the institute, which he founded, and made many airchecks and phone line territory that is now the Czech then as a university professor. He recordings of Benny Goodman, some Republic were closed by the Nazis published many papers in the Journal of which he played for Goodman dur- during World War II, Merhaut was of the Audio Engineering Society on ing a recording session in 1950. not able to complete his study until electroacoustics, mainly on electroa- Goodman was so pleased with what after the war. He graduated with a coustic transducers. His book Theory he heard that he asked for more, and degree in electrical engineering in of Electroacoustics (1981) published the result was Columbia’s 1952 1946. His postgraduate study earned by McGraw Hill (ISBN 0-07-041478- release of the “air checks” album, him a doctorate in 1948 and in 1961 5) is often used as a textbook. 1937-38 Jazz Concert No. 2 later he earned a Dr. Sc. degree. Professor Merhaut was highly rereleased on CD as On the Air After his graduation in 1946 he regarded not only because of his pro- (1937-1938) (Columbia Legacy, joined TESLA works, where he fessional achievements but also for 1993). After retiring in 1989 he began his professional career, work- his lifelong readiness to listen and devoted much of his time to the digi- ing mainly on audio electronics and help others. Especially for those who tal conversion of many aircheck electroacoustic transducers. His first knew him personally, he was fabled recordings he made during the 1930s professional achievement was devel- for his racy and wise sense of humor. and ‘40s from hotel broadcasts, con- oping a sound reinforcement system He managed to keep himself hale, certs, and sponsored radio programs. for a very large open stadium in remarkably bright, and active up to Savory’s survivors include sons Prague, used especially for extreme- his last day. Eugene and William Stephen ly large synchronized athletic All of us, who knew Josef Merhaut, Desavouret, Phillip Savory, daughter performances. For this use he also or even who had the opportunity to Michele Savory, and two grandchil- designed an original rain-and-sand- work under his leadership, will miss dren. His wife Helen Ward Savory, a resistant loudspeaker system, which him deeply. He is survived by his singer, died in 1998, and his son could be imbedded into large open wife Anela, two sons, one daughter, Mark died two weeks after him. sports grounds. He then led the and seven grandchildren. Susan Schmidt Horning development of the four-channel the- Tomas Salava 1298 J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 52, No. 12, 2004 December.