Ray Dolby (1933

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Biography

Ray Milton Dolby was an American engineer and inventor of the noise reduction system known as Dolby NR, which has been said to have "transformed sound reproduction".

Timeline

The story of Ray Dolby, told in moments.

1956 Life

Helped develop the first practical videotape recorder at Ampex while still in his early twenties. The machine weighed 1,500 pounds and cost $50,000. CBS used it first.

How do you help build the first videotape recorder in your early twenties? Did CBS using it first feel like validation? Was the 1,500-pound machine beautiful or absurd to you?

1965 Event

Founded Dolby Laboratories in London. He'd spent years studying at Cambridge and working in India for the UN. He was 32 when he finally started his own company.

Why start your own company in London instead of the US? What did Cambridge and India and the UN teach you before Dolby Labs? Was 32 late or right on time?

1966 Event

Invented the Dolby noise reduction system. It stripped hiss from tape recordings. Decca Records adopted it first. Within a decade, nearly every professional studio used it.

How does stripping hiss from tape change all of music? Did Decca adopting it first feel like a breakthrough? Was noise reduction your greatest idea or just the first?

Artifacts (15)

Don't be ridiculous! We're making a movie here! It's Mrs. Robinson!

tle "Mrs. Roosevelt". When Garfunkel reported this indecision over the song's name to the director, Nichols replied, "Don't be ridiculous! We're making a movie here! It's Mrs. Robinson!" Simon &...

Works Talk

It's getting mostly better; I'm pretty much there

d at the last minute due to an "unforeseen vocal issue". Speaking about his voice in February 2013, Garfunkel said "It's getting mostly better; I'm pretty much there" and that he was starting to book...

Works Talk

that he has decided not to return to touring for the foreseeable future.

and audiobook. On April 10, 2023, Garfunkel canceled his remaining concert dates and his management announced "that he has decided not to return to touring for the foreseeable future." In the fall of...

Works Talk

In the summer of '55, I had a lung infection. I couldn't run around, but I loved...

ily. As a young teen, Garfunkel became ill with a lung infection, leading to a love for basketball. He explained in a 1998 interview: "In the summer of '55, I had a lung infection. I couldn't run...

Works Talk

I was terrible, and crazy nervous. I leaned on Paul Simon and the affection of t...

ans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Due to his vocal cord injury, singing proved difficult for Garfunkel. "I was terrible, and crazy nervous. I leaned on Paul Simon and the affection of the crowd", he told...

Works Talk

Angel Clare

1973

Works Talk

Breakaway

1975

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Watermark

1977

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Fate for Breakfast

1979

Works Talk

Scissors Cut

1981

Works Talk

Twenty DB Audio Noise Reduction System for Consumer Applications

1983

Works Read Talk

The Animals' Christmas

1986

Works Talk

Lefty

1988

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Songs from a Parent to a Child

1997

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Everything Waits to Be Noticed

2002

Works Talk

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