Dave Collins (audio engineer)

Last updated
Dave Collins
D Collins.jpg
Background information
Born Hollywood Hills, California
Genres
Occupation(s) Mastering engineer
Studio Owner
Years active1983-present
Website Official website

Dave Collins is an American Grammy Award winning mastering engineer. [1] He has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including Alice in Chains, Metallica, Soundgarden, Weezer, Grateful Dead, Madonna, Linkin Park, The Police, Porno for Pyros, Oingo Boingo, Alice Cooper, KMFDM, Sepultura, Puscifier, Chris Cornell, Bon Jovi, Buckcherry, Monster Magnet, Sting, Flogging Molly, Bad Religion, Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Chevelle and Bruce Springsteen. [2] [3]

Contents

Collins has also mastered motion picture soundtrack albums such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Passengers, Jurassic Park, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Schindler's List , and Braveheart .

Life and career

Dave Collins was born and raised in Hollywood Hills, California. Collins started his career in 1983 as an assistant to Armin Steiner, the American sound engineer and mixer. He worked with Steiner on the 20th Century Fox Scoring Stage until he was hired to work for Digital Magnetics, a new company created by Armin Steiner and his business partner Bruce Botnick, the American sound engineer and record producer. Collins worked as a recordist with the Sony Compact Disc Mastering System for Digital Magnetics in Hollywood from 1983 until 1988. In 1988, Collins was hired by Shelly Yakus, American recording engineer and mixer, to manage the mastering department of A&M Studios in Hollywood. [4] In 1995, Dave Collins was promoted to oversee the four studios as Chief Mastering Engineer at A&M. [5] Collins worked there as Chief Mastering Engineer for 14 years for until the studios were acquired by PolyGram Entertainment in 1999. After A&M’s closure, Dave Collins opened his own mastering studio on Western Avenue, Hollywood, California. In 2016, Collins moved to Pasadena after building two custom studios with Thomas Jouanjean by utilizing the principles of architectural acoustics. [6] [7] This location was also home to Hinge Studios owned by Craig Bauer the American mixing engineer. Collins is married to Christina Preston. [8] [9]

Awards and recognition

During his career, Collins has worked on 9 Grammy award winning projects and over 30 Grammy award nominated projects. Recently, Collins received two Grammys at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards for his mastering of D’Angelo’s 2016 record Black Messiah which won the Best R&B Album and Record of the Year. [10] [11] [12]

Grammy awards

YearArtistAlbum or SongCategoryResult
1989Danny ElfmanBatman MovieBest Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for TelevisionNominated
The Batman ThemeBest Instrumental CompositionWon
1991James HornerGloryBest Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for TelevisionWon
Danny ElfmanEdward ScissorhandsBest Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for TelevisionNominated
1992John BarryDances with WolvesBest Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for TelevisionWon
1993Danny ElfmanNightmare Before ChristmasBest Musical Album for ChildrenNominated
Luther VandrossHow Deep is Your LoveBest R&B Male Vocal PerformanceNominated
Heaven KnowsBest Rhythm & Blues SongNominated
Little Miracles (Happen Every Day)Best Rhythm & Blues SongNominated
StingDemolition ManBest Rock Vocal PerformanceNominated
1994Barry WhitePractice What You PreachBest Male R&B Vocal PerformanceNominated
John WilliamsJurassic ParkBest Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for TelevisionNominated
1995John WilliamsSchlinder’s ListBest Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for TelevisionWon
SoundgardenSpoonmanBest Metal PerformanceWon
Black Hole SunBest Rock PerformanceWon
Barry WhiteBaby’s HomeBest Male R&B Vocal PerformanceNominated
The Icon is LoveBest R&B AlbumNominated
1997Bruce SpringsteenThe Ghost of Tom JoadThe Best Contemporary Folk AlbumWon
1999Chris CornellCan’t Change MeBest Male Rock Vocal PerformanceNominated
2006BuckcherryCrazy BitchBest Hard Rock PerformanceNominated
2010Barry ManilowThe Greatest Love Songs of All TimeBest Traditional Pop Vocal AlbumNominated
2012Avett BrothersThe CarpenterBest Americana AlbumNominated
2016D’Angelo and The VanguardBlack MessiahBest R&B AlbumWon
Really LoveBest R&B SongWon
Seth MacfarlaneNo One Ever Tells YouBest Traditional Pop VocalNominated
John DaversaKaleidoscope Eyes: Music of the BeatlesBest large Jazz EnsembleNominated
Lucy in the Sky with DiamondsBest Arrangement, Instrumental or a CappellaNominated
Do you want to Know a Secret?Best Arrangement, Instrument and VocalsNominated
2017MetallicaHardwiredBest Rock SongNominated
Hardwired…To Self DestructBest Rock AlbumNominated
2018MetallicaAtlas, RiseBest Rock Song NominationNominated
Anita WilsonSunday SongBest Gospel AlbumNominated
Seth MacfarlaneIn Full SwingBest Traditional Pop VocalNominated
2019Alice in ChainsRainier FogBest Rock AlbumNominated

Selected discography

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References

  1. "American Grammy award winning". audiophilereview.com. 21 October 2018.
  2. "Artists and musicians worked with Dave Collins". AllMusic .
  3. "Inside Track: Metallica 'Moth Into Flame' (2017)". Sound on Sound. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  4. "Dave Discography". amstudios.net.
  5. "Dave Collins's career". audiophilereview.com. 21 October 2018.
  6. "WCA #165 with Dave Collins » Working Class Audio".
  7. "El Dorado County Arts: Dave Collins in Sounds of Success | Style El Dorado County Foothills". www.styleedc.com.
  8. "Hinge Studios". prosoundnetwork.com. 28 August 2018.
  9. "D6 DAVE COLLINS (2000)". samstudios.net. A&M Studios. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  10. "2016 Grammy Awards". billboard.com .
  11. "58th annual Grammy Awards". billboard.com .
  12. "D'Angelo win best R&B album Grammy for Black Messiah". The Guardian .