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Obituary Henry Edwards 1952 – 2007
Henry Edwards 1952 – 2007
Born on June 5th 1952, Henry Edwards devoted his entire career to the industry he loved so much, amassing an extraordinary wealth of knowledge about every aspect of professional audio information he was never less than delighted to share with others.
Joining RG Jones as a technical engineer at the age of 20, Henry cut his teeth working on location jobs with the BBC and independent television companies before moving on to Trident Studios in 1977 as technical manager of the recording studio, mix room, mastering and disc cutting facilities. There he met a young Steve Angel, now HHB’s sales director, who had just arrived for his first day at work.
“I went for an interview and they started me making tea right there and then,” recalls Steve. “Henry was kind enough to show me where the kettle was and when he returned the next day, he was surprised to find that I’d been there all night! I had to prepare for a Brand X session later that day and I’d never seen a multitrack tape recorder before, let alone lined one up. If Henry hadn’t have been patient enough to show me how, my career in the recording industry probably wouldn’t have lasted more than 24 hours.”
In 1981, Henry joined CTS and Lansdowne Studios where, as technical manager of the recording complex, he witnessed the transition from analogue to digital recording from a unique vantage point, taking responsibility for the technical implementation of the worldıs first all-digital multitrack recording facility.
Chris Hollebone, then at Sony, remembers a man that was always charm personified. “They were the pioneering days of Sony’s CD mastering systems and DASH digital multitracks, and Henry was very much in the hot seat. While the feedback we received from some early adopters was perhaps understandably a little emotionally charged, the feedback we received from Henry was always carefully analysed, fully documented and professionally delivered. Henry played a very important part in the digital audio revolution of the 1980s, and of course he did it in his typically modest and understated way.“
In 1992, Henry took up a position as technical manager at Masterpiece Mastering (formerly Copymasters) with responsibility for all technical aspects of the nine-room facility.
An HHB customer since the Trident days and a friend from then onwards, Henry joined HHB in 1998 as new products manager and soon set about bringing his vast experience and considerable talents to bear on the development of a series of innovative new HHB products including the Portadrive Location Sound Recorder and FlashMic Digital Recording Microphone. Always in touch with the needs of the customers, it was Henry’s attention to every detail of the development process that ensured the success of these products.
Henry’s passion for his subject and skill as a communicator were as evident when explaining the basics of recording to a young student as they were in a high-level technical development meeting and it was these qualities, coupled with a naturally cheerful and amiable nature, that won him the respect and admiration of audio professionals the world over.
Affectionately referred to by some at HHB as ‘The Old Speckled Henry’, Henry’s love of a decent pint was well known. Indeed, as a popular member of HHB’s travelling trade show team, Henry seemed to effortlessly combine the roles of last man standing in the bar at night, with first man on duty the next morning.
“More than a great ambassador for HHB, Henry was a great ambassador for the professional audio industry,” said HHB’s managing director Ian Jones.
Away from work, Henry had a lifelong passion for steam engines and attended steam fairs all over the country. He also enjoyed the British countryside, preferably viewed at around 1 mph from the stern of a narrow boat. Henry was a devoted family man, married to Carol with whom he had a son, Niall, and a daughter Tamzyn. It was with great pride that he announced the birth last year of a grandson, Finn.
Henry died peacefully with his family around him on July 11th.
20th July 2007
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