FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Local company that helped define the sound of hit music of the last 36 years is honored by TEC Hall of Fame Award; Thirty years after his initial invention, Anthony Agnello continues to make the tools that make music.
LITTLE FERRY, NEW JERSEY, December 10, 2007 - The prestigious TEC Awards Hall Of Fame Committee recently inducted local company, Eventide, for its 1974 innovation: the H910 Harmonizer® effects processor, which has been said to have turned music production on its head and ushered in a new era of music creation. The Eventide H910 Harmonizer effects processor forever changed the complexion of music enabling producers and artists to add texture to their recordings and performances in ways heretofore unimaginable.
Yes vocalist, Jon Anderson, tested the first prototype. Users soon found all sorts of applications, ranging from regenerative arpeggios to bizarre sound design effects to lush guitar or vocal fattening. Early customers included New York City's Channel 5 putting an H910 to work, downward pitch shifting the audio portion of "I Love Lucy" reruns that were sped up to squeeze in more commercials. Music engineered on the H910 became the soundtrack of the seventies and eighties drawing praise and extensive use from a select group of top artists and producers.
Ideal for vocals, guitars and horns, the Eventide H910 was invented by then-engineer, now-chief technology officer, Tony Agnello. In 1974, Agnello conceived of a harmony processor but had little idea that he was creating a classic tool for the most successful artists of their generation. Jimmy Page was an early fan, incorporating the H910 into his guitar rack, and, similarly Frank Zappa employed it heavily as part of his guitar sound. Producer Tony Visconti used the H910 to achieve the now-legendary snare sound on David Bowie's Young Americans, and Tony Platt did likewise on AC/DC's Back in Black. Eddie Van Halen and Steve Winwood also used the H910, each owning two of the units and incorporating them into their live and studio set-ups.
"I conceived the H910 as new kind of musical instrument. My goal was to give musicians and engineers a new way to create and sculpt music; to create an instrument that allowed them to change pitch, to add depth, and to layer harmonies," Agnello said today. "I was ecstatic that people like Frank Zappa and Tony Visconti embraced it and used it to explore new audio landscapes. After all, I was just a young engineer and we were a small company on the margins of the New York City studio community. Now, we're all a little older and a bit more established in the business, and the TEC Award Hall of Fame Award is especially gratifying."
The Eventide H910 offered pitch shifting and digital delay with feedback enabling subtle thickening on voices and guitar tracks. Since 1971, Eventide has evolved and grown and has become a staple in the music production community with various hardware and software tools for the artist and producer. Commenting on the award, Ray Maxwell, Eventide vice president of sales and marketing said today, "The New York-New Jersey metro area has proven to be a fertile environment for a technology company like Eventide. We have access to a rich pool of creative engineering talent and have similarly close contact with the artist community. As such, Eventide has been able to meet the needs of musicians and producers with its unique tools that are technologically innovative and creatively expressive. We're very pleased to receive this award from the TEC Awards Hall Of Fame Committee and Eventide will continue to make Little Ferry an intersection of great technology and great music."
Founded in 1971, Eventide is a leading developer and manufacturer of digital audio processing products for recording, broadcast, and live performance, as well as, digital communications products for public safety institutions. Headquartered in Little Ferry, NJ, Eventide invented the first digital logging recorder in 1989, and introduced the H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer effects processor in 1987. Visit Eventide on the web at eventide.com.
Eventide and Harmonizer are registered trademarks of Eventide Inc.