Stephen Desper

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Stephen W. Desper
BornApril 30, 1942
Occupation(s)Sound engineer
Associated actsThe Beach Boys, Frank Zappa

Stephen W. Desper is an American audio engineer who is best known for his work with the Beach Boys during the early 1970s and for inventing the Spatializer.[1][2][3] The Spatializer is an effects unit which employs psychoacoustic techniques that emulate three-dimensional ambience via traditional stereophonic units, and can be heard in the Bonnie Raitt album Longing in Their Hearts (1994).[1][4]

While in the US Army, he served as an audio engineer during President Kennedy's “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner) speech at the Berlin Wall in June of 1963.[5]

In the mid-1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, working on the sound crew for MGM studios on several films and television projects, including the original Star Trek series.[6]

In 1967, Desper was brought in to assist the Beach Boys with their touring sound system. Over the course of the next few years, he became the main touring audio engineer, designing a system to serve as both the touring console as well as the main console in the home studio of Brian Wilson.[7]

Stephen Desper was the house engineer for the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967. Through the Beach Boys subsidiary American Productions, the band loaned their touring sound system to the festival. He accompanied the equipment from the Beach Boys storage warehouse up the coast with Beach Boys road manager Jon Parks. Desper ended up mixing the house system for the entire three-day festival.[8]

By the second half of 1968, Desper became the primary audio engineer for the Beach Boys serving in this capacity until December of 1971.[9]

In 1972, he became the road engineer for Frank Zappa after Zappa purchased the sound system Desper designed for the Beach Boys. Additionally, he engineered recording sessions that were featured on Frank Zappa's "Over-Nite Sensation" and "Apostrophe (')" albums.[10]

He continued to design and supervise the building of several recording studios. By the late 1970s, Desper became a pioneer in the research and development of spatial audio, which cumulated into his company . At its peak, Desper served as the CEO with 220 full-time employees and offices in five countries. The Spatializer rack unit became a highly sought-after piece of equipment in the late 90s-early 2000s.

Steve Desper continued to serve as an audio engineering consultant working with Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Sir Elton John, Roger McGuinn, and the Olympic Games committee.

In 1998, he self-published a memoir of his time with the Beach Boys entitled "Recording the Beach Boys". A second edition was made available in 2002. This version was limited to 100 signed copies and included a home 'spatializer' circuit that could unlock the original sound matrix of the Beach Boys albums Sunflower and Surf's Up, allowing the user to experience the spatial information that was originally mixed into the albums from the standard stereo versions.

Starting in 2012, Desper released a series of study videos that detailed the engineering methods he utilized with the Beach Boys under the fair use doctrine. Eventually, a greatly expanded three-part video version of his 'Recording the Beach Boys' memoir was released. As of late 2021, these videos are the only way to experience the Beach Boys' "Sunflower" and "Surf's Up" albums with their intended original spatial audio decoded.

Today, Steve Desper continues to develop new audio technologies and answer questions from Beach Boys fans about his work.

Engineering credits[]

The Beach Boys


Frank Zappa

Other


References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Magazines, Hearst (October 1994). "Popular Mechanics". Popular Mechanics Magazine. Hearst Magazines: 64. ISSN 0032-4558.
  2. ^ Badman, Keith (2004). The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio. Backbeat Books. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-87930-818-6.
  3. ^ Stebbins, Jon (2011-09-01). The Beach Boys FAQ: All That's Left to Know About America's Band. Backbeat Books. p. 234. ISBN 978-1-4584-2914-8.
  4. ^ Ferstler, Howard (July 1999). The Digital Audio Music List. A-R Editions. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-89579-438-3.
  5. ^ Interview with Steven W. Desper, 2014
  6. ^ Interview with Steven W. Desper, 2014
  7. ^ Interview with Steven W. Desper, 2014
  8. ^ Desper, Steve (9 February 2013). "Live Sound at Monterey". SmileySmile.net. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  9. ^ Interview with Steven W. Desper, 2014
  10. ^ Allmusic.com

External links[]

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