16
HISTORICAL NOTES
NAT “KING” COLE WITH BILL PUTNAM SR.
Bill Putnam Sr. was awarded the 2000 Technical Grammy for his multiple contributions to the recording
industry. He was highly regarded as a recording engineer, studio designer/operator and inventor. Putnam was
considered a favorite of musical icons including Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Ella
Fitzgerald and many, many more. The studios he designed and operated were known for their sound and were
an experimentation ground for his continuing desire to push the envelope. Universal Recording in Chicago,
United and Western in Los Angeles (now Ocean Way and Cello) all preserve elements of his room designs.
The companies Putnam started, Universal Audio, Studio Electronics, and UREI, built products that are still in
regular use decades after their development.
In 1999 Bill Jr. and James Putnam re-launched Universal Audio and merged with Kind of Loud technologies - a
leading audio software company - with two goals: Reproduce classic analog recording equipment designed by
their father and his colleagues, research and design new recording tools in the spirit of vintage analog technol-
ogy. Today Universal Audio is fulfilling that goal, bridging the worlds of vintage analog and DSP technology in a
creative atmosphere where musicians, audio engineers, analog designers and DSP engineers intermingle and
exchange ideas every day. Analog or digital, UA remains committed to the “hand assembled” ideal that has been
forgotten by many audio manufacturers. Whatever the endeavor, every project taken on by the UA team is driven by
its historical roots and a desire to wed classic analog technology with the demands of the modern digital studio.
