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Apollo Solo Manual Universal Audio History 255
Bill Putnam Sr.
The name M.T. “Bill” Putnam retains a unique status in
the audio industry hall of fame- it’s legendary even among
those who are considered to be legends themselves. Called
the “father of modern recording” by no less a luminary than
Bruce Swedien, and a “visionary, responsible for motivating
new thinking,” by respected studio engineer Tom Hidley,
Putnam was a true renaissance man in the world of sound
and music.
As a record producer, engineer, inventor, writer, singer, technician, studio owner and
businessman, he excelled at combining his talents in a creative way. A pioneer in
recording studio acoustics, Putnam is acknowledged to be the first person to use
artificial reverberation for commercial recordings. He also developed the first multi-band
equalizers, and with his company Universal Audio, was responsible for the development
of classic equipment like the 1176LN and UREI® Time Align monitors. He was involved
in the early development of stereophonic recording, and founded studios in Chicago,
Hollywood and San Francisco whose legacy still lives on today.
Early Interests Born in 1920 in Danville, Illinois, he was influenced by his father, a
businessman who also put on radio programs, including a number one country music
show. Young Putnam’s interests surfaced early; in Boy Scouts he earned a merit badge in
wireless, building a crystal set and a one-tube radio. By 15 he was taking the ham radio
operator’s exam and constructing his own equipment. In high school both his artistic and
technical sides emerged full on. He worked repairing radios and renting out P.A. systems,
while also singing on weekends with dance bands (for five dollars a night, which included
the P.A. rental!), developing his interest in the music business, and realizing, as he has
said, that “musicians were my favorite people.”
Universal Recording Corp. Opens in Chicago Technical college followed, then work at
radio stations, and radio engineering work for the Army during World War II. In 1946
Putnam started his own recording studio, Universal Recording Corp., in Evanston Illinois.
His goals at the time, besides having a successful business, were the development of
new recording techniques and specialized equipment for recording studios.
To that end the manufacturing company Universal Audio, which later became UREI®,
was formed. Most of the equipment, including the console, for Universal Recording was
built by Universal Audio. It wasn’t long before the company relocated to Chicago, and
it was there, in 1947, that Putnam recorded what is generally accepted to be the first
“pop” record to use artificial reverberation. The founder of the group The Harmonicats,
Jerry Murad, wanted to record using an echo chamber like he’d heard on effects in
spooky radio mysteries. Putnam not only financed the record for a piece of the profits,
he came up with the idea of using the tiled men’s room at Universal Recording to create
that echo. The Harmonicats song “Peg-O-My-Heart,” became the first million seller
smash with more than 1,400,000 copies sold, and the rest was, well, history.
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