By Larry Lange
The rock band Boston is familiar to just about anyone with a radio. But few fans may realize that the creative force behind Boston's distinctive sound is an engineer.
Indeed, Tom Scholz' engineering acumen helped propel Boston to se emingly instant stardom back in 1976, and it's keeping the band's signature sound vital as Scholz prepares a new Boston recording for release later this year.
"Tom Scholz is a modern-day Renaissance man an engineer's engineer," said D.C. Williams, a Carson City, Nev.-based electrical-engineering consultant and Scholz fan who runs a Web site devoted to Boston .
Songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist Scholz is both the creator of and techno-brains behind the Boston phenomenon. He's a producer, sound technician and inventor, with nearly 35 patents in his portfolio. Indeed, Scholz' innovations have earned him renown among audiophiles and recording professionals: His unique Rockman line of guitar amplifiers and effects boxes revolutionized the way professional music has been re corded over the past two decades.
"Most people live their life around what other people do," Scholz told EE Times in a recent, rare interview. "They watch their life go by in somebody's else's vision. To me, that doesn't seem like a good idea."
So Scholz mapped out a journey for himself that has taken him from music stardom to the annals of audio electronics.
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