Bill Putnam

Milton Tasker "Bill" Putnam (February 20, 1920 – April 13, 1989) was an American audio engineer, songwriter, producer, studio designer and businessman, who has been described as "the father of modern recording". He was the inventor of the modern recording console and is recognised as a key figure in the development of the postwar commercial recording industry. Former colleague Bruce Swedien described Putnam's achievements thus: "Bill Putnam was the father of recording as we know it today. The processes and designs which we take for granted — the design of modern recording desks, the way components are laid out and the way they function, console design, cue sends, multitrack switching — they all originated in Bill's imagination." Early life and education Bill Putnam was born on February 20, 1920, in Danville, Illinois. Putnam's father owned several business enterprises related to the coal mining business, and also ran a radio program at WDZ in Tuscola, Illinois. While in the Boy Scouts, working toward a 'wireless' merit badge, Putnam built a crystal radio and a one-tube radio with his father's help, sparking his love of electronics. At thirteen, he tried and failed to become a licensed ham radio operator but at fifteen he succeeded, earning a Class B call sign W9PUK and building his own ham radio.