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  • 32nd Annual TEC Awards - The Re-Boot

    By Anderton |

    32nd Annual TEC Awards 

    The venerable industry awards ceremony re-boots - and shines

     

    By Craig Anderton

     

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    Left to right: Alice Cooper, Robert DeLeo, Johnny Depp, and Joe Perry perform at the TEC Awards finale.

                                                                                    (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for NAMM. All other photos by Lee Anderton)

     

    The TEC Awards were created in 1985 under the aegis of Mix Magazine, back in the heyday of print. Its goal was to give recognition to the “individuals, companies, and technical innovations behind the sound of recordings, live performances, films, television, video games and other media.” It’s basically the “Oscars” for the music industry, as well as a chance to contribute to a good cause (the NAMM Foundation), attend a banquet with friends and associates, and be entertained by some pretty high-power acts—Pete Townshend, Steve Vai, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Slash, Chaka Khan, and many, many more over the years—as well as see people like George Lucas, the late Les Paul, Rupert Neve, and other luminaries accept their awards.  

     

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    Geoff Emerick, best known for his engineering work with Beatles as well as Ultravox, Elvis Costello, Jeff Beck, the Zombies, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and others, was the first award presenter of the evening.

     

    Full disclosure time: last year, I was asked to advise the TEC Awards Executive Board, which solicited my opinion of the 31st annual awards show. I felt it was too long, too self-congratulatory, too loud, and didn’t recognize that the world has changed since Big Studios ruled the world.

     

    They didn’t take offense…they took notes, and paid attention to the feedback from participants, board members, manufacturers, and of course, those who attended the awards.

     

    What a difference a year makes. For 2016, the TEC Awards hit the sweet spot of entertainment and honoring the best this industry has to offer—while retaining a light touch, streamlining the proceedings, upping the ante for the visuals, and also, stepping cautiously into the future.

     

    ABOUT THE AWARDS

     

    There are various components to the TEC awards: the Hall of Fame to honor pioneers of audio technology (this year, it was legendary producer Jack Douglas), the TECnology Hall of Fame that recognizes particular audio products and innovations, the Les Paul award to honor those who exemplify the creative application of recording technology, and a series of awards for both Technical Achievements and Creative Achievements.

     

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    Jack Douglas, who worked his way up from being a janitor at the Record Plant to working with John Lennon on Imagine and Double Fantasy as well as projects with Aerosmith, Miles Davis, Patti Smith, Cheap Trick,  and the New York Dolls, was inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

     

    The TEC Awards have been part of NAMM since 2010, with the profits going to the NAMM Foundation. The event is held on Saturday, the third day of the NAMM show, in the Pacific Ballroom of the Hilton hotel next to the Anaheim Convention Center. Perhaps not surprisingly, the technical quality of the show is top-notch in terms of sound and visuals.

     

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    Although the TEC Awards is about technical innovation, some might think the true innovation is an awards show with food that's actually good (that's Aerosmith's Joe Perry in the background).

     

    The event starts immediately after the show, with an open bar/”meet and greet” hour, after which attendees sit down to a catered dinner (with—amazingly enough—really good food, not the usual rubber chicken with vintage wine from “Tuesday”). That’s followed by presentations of various awards, punctuated with music from the house band directed by production/industry veteran Larry Batiste. He brings the musical direction skills that have served the Grammy Awards Pre-Telecast since 2006.

     

    This year, the awards included video clips from previous TEC Awards ceremonies during the on-stage personnel changes. It was a welcome addition that added a touch of nostalgia, sped up the proceedings, and provided an alternative to the musical bumpers typically used for these kinds of shows. And returning for another year, host Sinbad often went into truly hilarious directions, with a light touch that kept any potential self-importance to a minimum.

     

    AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…JOE PERRY!

     

    Aerosmith’s Joe Perry won this year’s Les Paul award, and he brought the Hollywood Vampires with him for entertainment: Johnny Depp on guitar, Alice Cooper on vocals, the Stone Temple Pilots’ Robert DeLeo on bass, and Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford on guitar. How about some photos?

     

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    Johnny Depp introduced Joe Perry prior to Joe winning this year's Les Paul Award.

     

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    Alice Cooper was outstanding...the dude has charisma.

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    Johnny Depp (left) and Joe Perry (right),

     

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    Johnny Depp taking a turn on vocals.

     

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    Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, and Brad Whitford

     

    The band was top-notch, but I have to say I was particularly impressed by Alice Cooper. He may be 68, but man, that guy can rock and he remains the consummate entertainer. You could tell he loved doing what he does, is in great shape, sang his heart out, and had the same kind of enthusiasm you’d expect from someone a third his age. Meanwhile Joe Perry poured out lick after lick, while Depp and Whitford provided the chordal anchors, and DeLeo held down the bottom end. Yeah, it got a little too loud at the end, but hey—it’s rock and roll, right? That’s entertainment.

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    Left to right: Johnny Depp, Robert DeLeo, Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, and Brad Whitford rock out for the TEC Awards finale.

     

     

    THE AWARDS

     

    Oh right…the winners! Well, we don’t need to re-invent the wheel, because you can get the entire list at the TEC Awards home page. This year added two new, and well-deserved, categories: Audio Education Technology (iZotope won for “Pro Audio Essentials”) and DJ Production Technology (congratulations, Native Instruments, for Traktor Kontrol S5).

     

    The TEC Awards will continue to evolve, tweaking the show and the process. This year they promised it would be 2.5 hours long and end at 9:30 PM, which no one believed…the show always runs way too long. Yet it ended exactly on time, and if that isn't an indication of a sea change at the TEC Awards, I don't know what is. And when it was over, you could either attend the after-party if you had VIP tickets, or go back to your hotel room and steel yourself for the final day of NAMM.

     

    I’m already looking forward to next year. 

     

     

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     Craig Anderton is Editorial Director of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

     

     




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