Ron Obvious
Ron Obvious (born Ron Obvious Vermeulen) is a New Zealand recording engineer, producer, studio designer and acoustic consultant.
Ron Obvious | |
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Birth name | Ron Obvious Vermeulen |
Born | Levin, New Zealand |
Origin | Vancouver, Canada |
Genres | All music styles. |
Occupation(s) | Recording Engineer and Acoustic Design. |
Instruments | Mixing console, Computer CAD. |
Years active | 1976–present |
Associated acts | Pointed Sticks, D.O.A., Spirit of the West, Mise En Scene |
Website | http://dragonflymobilerecording.com |
After completing an electronics degree in Toronto, He started working in the recording industry, September 1976 at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver. Working as a technical assistant to John Vrtacic, while also working in the dubbing room and assisting on recording sessions. In the following years he was the engineer on many jingles and assisted on various movie soundtracks.
In the evening hours, Obvious along with Bob Rock and Mike Fraser, started recording the early punk/new wave bands in Vancouver around 1977. These included Tim Ray A/V, Pointed Sticks, Magic Dragon, D.O.A., The Subhumans, Bob Coulter, Go Four 3, Popular Front, and UJ3RK5. He also helped record the first albums by Brandon Wolf (Barney Bentall) and Spirit of the West. After assisting on the 1984 Loverboy album, Lovin' Every Minute of It, on the newly installed SSL 4048 E in Studio B, he made the move to a full-time technical future.
Upon leaving LMS in 1991, he went on to design and build studios for Bryan Adams "The Warehouse Studio",[1] Jim Vallance "Armoury Studios",[1] k.d. lang (private), Bob Rock (private), Colin James (private), and Mutt Lange (private), Obvious also completed the acoustic and technical design for a number of recording schools in British Columbia, Canada.
He retired from the recording industry as technical director of The Warehouse Studio in August 2003, and moved to Gimli Manitoba, where he owned and operated an art gallery "Mermaids Kiss Gallery". During his time in Manitoba he designed his own mobile recording studio, Dragonfly Mobile Recording. In 2015, he moved to the Comox valley on Vancouver Island, where he has finalized the installation of Summit Recording Solutions. He is technical director and engineer at the facility.
At the 2013 Vancouver Music Industry Awards,[2] Obvious was awarded the John Vrtacic Memorial Award for his many years of technical contributions to the studio industry.
He is a longtime friend of Katie Sketch, lead vocalist for The Organ and has recorded two EP's by the Manitoba-based band The Paps. More recent engineering/co-production projects have been albums by Mise en Scene,[3] Little House (in December 2012) and Moon Tan (in September 2013).
Obvious has continued his acoustic consulting business, including major P/A and acoustical upgrades to, The Fanny Bay Hall, St. Andrew's United Church – Nanaimo, St Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Nanaimo and The Neighbourhood Church in Nanaimo.
References
- Schultz, Barbara (2000). Music producers: conversations with today's top hit makers. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 20. ISBN 9780872887305.