Ray Staff

Ray Staff is a British mastering engineer, best known for his work with a diverse mix of artists including Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Clash and Black Sabbath. Most recently he has mastered albums for Muse.

Ray Staff
Birth name	Ray Staff
Origin	United Kingdom
Occupation	Mastering Engineer

Biography and career

Joining Trident Studios (a recording facility originally located at 17, St. Anne's Court in London's Soho district) in 1970, Ray Staff became part of the newly formed Mastering Department contributing to projects such as: David Bowie, Aladdin Sane, Ziggy Stardust and Elton John. Staff moved on to become Trident's first Chief Mastering Engineer.^[1]

For Monty Python, Staff created the world's first three-sided album by cutting two spirals on one side of the disc, creating the "hidden" third side. This was topped later with a Johnny Moped album for Ace Records, where the first track on the A-side was double cut, the two spirals then joined to play the remaining side of the album.

Whilst Senior Mastering Engineer at Sony's UK Studios, Staff became part of the international team developing Sony's proprietary archiving system.

Other classics mastered by Staff include Physical Graffiti and Presence by Led Zeppelin, Crime of the Century by Supertramp, It's Only Rock 'n Roll by The Rolling Stones and Hemispheres by Rush.^[2]

Recent years

He is regularly featured in Hi-Fi publications for his work on audiophile vinyl releases. He is also much sought after by labels Alchemy Soho^[3] from the worlds of jazz, world music, classical and crossover. Staff is also building an increasing number of surround mastering projects to his portfolio, including Gary Moore, Deep Purple, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Alice Cooper released during the past few months.

Discography

Year	Album	Artist	Role
2016	Use Less U	Mosquito-B	Mastering
2012	Life as a Routine Classical	Hakan Yurdakul	Mastering
2002	24 Hour Party People Soundtrack	Various artists	Remastering
1997	Sueños en tránsito	Nicole	Mastering
2001	37 Brits 2001 Hits: Brit Awards	Various artists	Mastering
2005	Adam Ant Remasters Remastered, limited edition box set	Adam Ant	Remastering, digital remastering
2000	African Fantasy	Trilok Gurtu	Mastering
1988	African Typic Collection	Various artists	Mastering
2004	Afterlife	Joe Jackson	Mastering
2004	Afterlife Bonus CD	Joe Jackson	Mastering
2000	The A-List	A1	Mastering
1996	Alive at Ronnie Scott's	Carol Grimes	Engineer
1972	All The Young Dudes	Mott the Hoople	Mastering
2006	Amaral Christmas edition	Amaral	Mastering
2004	AM-FM	The Gift	Mastering
2001	Aura	Asia	Mastering
1996	Authentic	Tim Whitehead	Mastering
2000	Balengu Village	Brice Wassy	Mastering
1997	Beautiful World	Paul Carrack	Mastering
2002	Becoming Something Else	Sugarcoma	Mastering
2004	Belle-Issima!: Sweet Memories...	The Belle Stars	Mastering
1993	Benga Blast!	Daniel Owino Misiani	Mastering
2007	Betcha Bottom Dollar	The Puppini Sisters	Mastering
2006	Betcha Bottom Dollar UK edition	The Puppini Sisters	Mastering
2001	Biografias Do Amor	Sérgio Godinho	Remastering
2001	Bitter Suites to Succubi	Cradle of Filth	Mastering
1970	Black Sabbath Japan bonus tracks	Black Sabbath	Remastering
1972	Black Sabbath Vol. 4	Black Sabbath	Remastering
1998	Black to the Future	Hugh Masekela	Mastering
1995	Blue Valentine	Sarah Jane Morris	Mastering
1983	Born Again	Black Sabbath	Remastering
2001	British Steel Bonus tracks	Judas Priest	Cut
2002	California	Perry Blake	Mastering
1998	The Cappuccino Songs	Tanita Tikaram	Mastering
1976	Child in Time	Ian Gillan Band	Mastering
1991	Clash on Broadway	The Clash	Remastering
2004	Clash on Broadway 2004 reissue	The Clash	Remastering
2002	The Clash / London Calling / Combat Rock	The Clash	Remastering
2000	Code: Brasil - Target: Recipe	Various artists	Mastering
2001	Coincidências	Sérgio Godinho	Remastering
2005	The Collection: British Steel / Point of Entry / Screaming for Vengeance	Judas Priest	Cut, mastering
2004	The Collection: The Clash / London Calling / Combat Rock 2004 long box set	The Clash	Remastering
2005	The Collection: The Clash / London Calling / Combat Rock 2005 small box set	The Clash	Remastering
1982	Combat Rock	The Clash	Remastering
2005	Concrete and Street Lamps	Jake Searson	Mastering
2003	Conversations with the Unseen	Soweto Kinch	Mastering
1998	Convocatoria	Claudio Gabis	Mastering
2007	Trinity Revisited Vinyl	Cowboy Junkies	Mastering
2006	The Cradle of Filth Box Set	Cradle of Filth	Mastering
2003	Crossing the Stone	Catrin Finch	Mastering
1996	Cuando te vi Partir	Claudia Puyo	Mastering
1995	The Curse of the Cat People: The Film Music of Roy Webb	Roy Webb	Supervisor
2005	Dakshina	Deva Premal	Mastering
2003	Damnation and a Day	Cradle of Filth	Mastering
2003	Damnation and a Day Japan bonus tracks	Cradle of Filth	Mastering
2006	Desafio	Malú	Mastering
1991	Direction Ov Travel	PTV3	Engineer
1978	Disguise in Love	John Cooper Clarke	Mastering
2005	Disguise in Love Bonus tracks	John Cooper Clarke	Mastering
1990	Don't Fret	Martin Taylor	Mastering
2007	Double Trouble Bonus tracks	Gillan	Mastering
2003	Dream Soldier	Des'ree	Mastering
1980	Duke	Genesis	Mastering
1998	Dum Dum Baby	Baby Fox	Mastering
1998	Dum Dum Baby Japan	Baby Fox	Mastering
2006	The Early Years Bonus CD	The Early Years	Mastering
1998	Educating Rita Soundtrack	David Hentschel	Mastering
2006	"Eighteen"	¡Forward, Russia!	Mastering
2007	Eighteen 6 tracks	¡Forward, Russia!	Mastering
2000	El Alquimista (The Alchemist)	Juan Martín	Mastering
2003	The Essential Clash UK bonus track	The Clash	Remastering
2003	Estrella de mar	Amaral	Mastering
2004	Estrella de mar Bonus tracks	Amaral	Mastering
2003	Evolution: The Hits	Dead or Alive	Remastering
2003	Evolution: The Hits Limited edition	Dead or Alive	Digital remastering
2005	Exits	The Boxer Rebellion	Mastering
1995	Exuberancia	Irakere	Engineer
2001	No More Shall We Part	Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds	Mastering
2002	Film Works	Ryuichi Sakamoto	Mastering
2000	"Freedom" Australia CD	Erasure	Mastering
2000	"Freedom, Pt. 1"	Erasure	Mastering
2005	Friend or Foe Bonus tracks	Adam Ant	Remastering
1998	Fruit Cocktail	Various artists	Engineer, mixing
2007	Future Shock Bonus tracks	Gillan	Mastering
2004	Gaze	The Beautiful South	Mastering
1944	Get with Cab	Cab Calloway	Cutting engineer
1992	Ghostsongs	Ian Shaw	Mastering, mixing
1984	Give Daddy the Knife Cindy	Naz Nomad and the Nightmares	Post production, post producer
1978	Give 'em Enough Rope	The Clash	Remastering
2006	Give Me a Wall	¡Forward, Russia!	Mastering
2007	Glory Road Bonus tracks	Gillan	Mastering
2004	Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs	The Beautiful South	Mastering
1992	Groovin'	Zachary Breaux	Engineer, mastering
1990	Guitar Paradise of East Africa	Various artists	Mastering
1999	Healing Angel	Touched by an Angel	Mastering
1978	Hemispheres	Rush	Mastering
2004	Heroes Sony	Various artists	Remastering
2000	Highland Cathedral	Phil Coulter	Mastering
2001	History	Penguin Cafe Orchestra	Remastering
1989	Home Ground	Battlefield Band	Mastering
1996	Hot	Roy Ayers	Engineer, mastering
1994	Hot House	Reykjavik Jazz Quartet	Mastering
1996	I Gotta Right to Sing	Marion Montgomery	Engineer, mastering
1999	I Gotta Right to Sing / Nice and Easy	Marion Montgomery	Engineer
2007	I Love the Future	Caufield	Mastering
2004	I Only Wrote this Song for You: A Tribute to Johnny Thunders Diesel Motor	Various artists	Duplication
1995	I Only Wrote this Song for You: A Tribute to Johnny Thunders Essential	Various artists	Mastering
1965	In a Mellow Tone	Ben Webster	Mastering, preparation
1996	In Memory of Thunder	José Neto	Mastering
1986	The Indestructible Beat of Soweto	Various artists	Mastering
1995	Indestructible Beat of Soweto, Vol. 3: Thunder Before Dawn	Various artists	Mastering
2005	It Was Not Here	The Afterthought	Mastering
2005	Jazz Warrior	Abram Wilson	Mastering
2001	Kilas o Mau da Fita	Sérgio Godinho	Remastering
1991	The Kings and Queens of Township Jive: Modern Roots of the Indestructible Beat of Soweto	Various artists	Mastering
1996	Kon'ko Man	Madala Kunene	Mastering
1997	Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space	Spiritualized	Mastering
2001	Lake of Shadows	Phil Coulter	Mastering
2006	Last Dance	The Alps	Mastering
2003	Let Freedom Ring!	Denys Baptiste	Mastering
1979	Life on the Ceiling	Michael Chapman	Editing
2000	Linn Box One	Martin Taylor	Mastering
2000	The Linn Box: 3	Claire Martin	Mastering
2006	Live at Montreux	Rory Gallagher	Mastering
2006	Live at Montreux 1996	Deep Purple	Mastering
2007	Live at Montreux 2002	UB40	Mastering
1991	Live at Ronnie Scott's	Irakere	Mastering
2007	Live at the Budokan Special Edition	Ian Gillan Band	Mastering
1994	Live at the Point	Christy Moore	Mixing
1998	Live Evil Remastered	Black Sabbath	Remastering
2007	Live in Asia	Asia	Mastering
2004	London Calling 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition	The Clash	Remastering
2002	Love Is Here	Starsailor	Mastering
2006	The Love that Whirls (Diary of a Thinking Heart) Import Bonus Tracks	Bill Nelson	Mastering
2000	Loveboat	Erasure	Mastering
1996	Lozko	Maanam	Mastering
2007	Magic Edsel Bonus Tracks	Gillan	Mastering
1997	Majoun	Richard Horowitz	Mastering
2000	Maroon	The Webb Brothers	Mastering
1971	Master of Reality	Black Sabbath	Remastering
2002	Me Without You: Music from the Motion Picture Original Soundtrack	Various artists	Remastering
2003	Mediterraneo	Marc Antoine	Mastering
2004	Meets Scientist in a Midnight Rock Dub, Vol. 1	King Tubby	Mastering
2004	Melek	Candan Erçetin	Mastering
1989	Mettle	Hugo Largo	Mastering
2006	Mettle Bonus tracks	Hugo Largo	Mastering
1999	Michael Flatley's Feet of Flames	Ronan Hardiman	Mastering
1979	Mick Taylor	Mick Taylor	Mastering
2000	Midian	Cradle of Filth	Mastering
2002	Mods Mayday '79 2 Disc	Various artists	Cutting engineer
2001	"Moon & the Sky"	Erasure	Mastering
1977	Moroccan Roll	Brand X	Mastering
1977	Motörhead	Motörhead	Post production
1990	Motörhead Bonus tracks	Motörhead	Post production
2007	Mr. Universe Bonus track	Gillan	Mastering
2005	MTV Unplugged	Giorgia	Mastering
2005	Multitudes	Illapu	Engineer
1996	Murder Ballads	Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds	Mastering
2007	Music for Astronauts and Cosmonauts	Húbert Nói and Howie B	Mastering
2005	Music for Films III Bonus tracks	Brian Eno	Mastering
1995	Naked Flame	Tony O'Malley	Mastering
1994	Nebuchadnezzar	Alec Dankworth	Mastering
1978	Never Say Die!	Black Sabbath	Remastering
1996	N'ga Funk	Brice Wassy	Mastering
2005	Nice Guy	Jake Searson	Mastering
1963	Night and Day	Tubby Hayes	Mastering, preparation
1986	A Night at Ronnie Scott's, Vol. 3	Various artists	Mastering
2002	Nil Dünyası	Nil Karaibrahimgil	Mastering
2006	Nine	¡Forward, Russia!	Mastering
2001	No More Shall We Part	Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds	Mastering
2001	No More Shall We Part Bonus tracks	Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds	Mastering
1996	A Normal Family	Baby Fox	Mastering
2005	Nova Latino, Vol. 4	Various artists	Mastering
2006	Now Listen	Shakin' Stevens	Mastering
2005	Nude	Iconcrash	Mastering
2000	Obsession	Tony Hadley	Mastering
2010	Oh Vanille/Ova Nil 180g audiophile vinyl [2010 Reissue]	Diane Cluck	Mastering[4]
2000	Open Mind	Glen Matlock	Mastering
2001	Origin of Symmetry	Muse	Mastering
2006	Out in the Sun Bonus track	Patrick Moraz	Cut
1979	Over the Rainbow	Trevor Watts	Cutting engineer
2003	Overgrown Eden Japan bonus tracks	InMe	Mastering
1971	Paranoid	Black Sabbath	Remastering
2004	Pastora	Pastora	Mastering
2001	De Pequenino Se Torce O Destino	Sérgio Godinho	Remastering
1998	Perfect Time	Moya Brennan	Mastering
1980	Permanent Waves	Rush	Mastering
1998	The Philosopher's Stone	Van Morrison	Mastering
2005	Picture	Kino	Mastering
2007	The Pirate Queen Soundtrack	Claude-Michel Schönberg	Mastering
2007	Platinum Collection EMI Bonus Tracks	Lesley Garrett	Mastering
1978	Pleasure Signals	Wilding-Bonus	Mastering
2001	Point of Entry Bonus tracks	Judas Priest	Mastering
2001	Pré-Histórias	Sérgio Godinho	Remastering
1979	Product	Brand X	Mastering
2007	Prog	The Bad Plus	Mastering
2001	À Queima-Roupa	Sérgio Godinho	Remastering
1997	Quiet Nights	Django Bates	Mastering
2015	Reaching For The Light	King King	Mastering
2015	Reflections	The Mentulls	Mastering
1996	Rocket	Primitive Radio Gods	Mastering
1996	Rocket Edited, clean	Primitive Radio Gods	Mixing
1977	Round the Back	Café Jacques	Mastering
2005	Rush Hour	Sean Hargreaves Trio	Mastering
1973	Sabbath Bloody Sabbath	Black Sabbath	Remastering
1996	Sabotage ESM	Black Sabbath	Remastering
1993	Sabroso!	Various artists	Mastering
1989	Sabroso!: Havana Hits	Various artists	Mastering
2001	Salão de Festas	Sérgio Godinho	Remastering
1982	Scatterlings	Juluka	Mastering
1981	Scientist Meets the Space Invaders	Scientist	Mastering
1999	Searchin' / Hot	Roy Ayers	Mastering
1986	Seventh Star	Black Sabbath	Remastering
1990	The Sheltering Sky	Ryuichi Sakamoto	Mastering
1991	The Sheltering Sky Capitol	Ryuichi Sakamoto	Mastering
1976	Shouting and Pointing	Mott	Mastering
1990	Shumba	Thomas Mapfumo	Mastering
1998	Silence Between Waves	Tim Whitehead	Mastering
2004	Sixties Rebellion, Vol. 7: The Backyard Patio	Various artists	Mastering, cutting engineer
1998	Slain By Urusei Yatsura	Urusei Yatsura	Mastering
2001	Smiling & Waving	Anja Garbarek	Mastering
2001	Os Sobreviventes	Sérgio Godinho	Remastering
1991	Solo Piano	Chucho Valdés	Mastering
1983	Sonero	Henry Fiol	Mastering
1964	Sonny's Blues Live st Ronnie Scott's	Sonny Stitt	Mastering, preparation
2005	Soul Providence	Carleen Anderson	Mastering
1995	Spirit of the Eagle	Various artists	Mastering
2005	Standard Issue	Liane Carroll	Mastering
1978	Stižemo	Laza & Ipe	Cutting engineer
2006	Stranger on the Sofa	Barry Adamson	Mastering
2005	Strip Bonus tracks	Adam Ant	Digital remastering
1997	Sueños en tránsito	Nicole	Mastering
2006	Superbi	The Beautiful South	Mastering
1996	S'Wonderful	Elaine Delmar	Engineer, mastering
2004	Thank You for the Years	Shirley Bassey	Mastering
2007	The Elements Standard version	Second Person	Mastering
2007	The Elements Limited Edition version	Second Person	Mastering
1977	The Clash UK version, [UK	The Clash	Remastering
1979	The Clash US Version, US	The Clash	Remastering
1995	The Violin Player	Vanessa-Mae	Mastering
2007	Live at Montreux 2006: They All Came Down To Montreux	Deep Purple	Mastering
2007	Live at Montreux 2006: They All Came Down To Montreux DVD	Deep Purple	Mastering
2004	Timeless: Daniel O'Donnell and Mary Duff	Daniel O'Donnell and Mary Duff	Mastering
1997	To Have & to Hold Soundtrack	Various artists	Mastering
2000	Trabendo	Les Négresses Vertes	Mastering
2006	Truth and Lies	Jake Searson	Mastering
2005	"Truth and Lies" Single	Jake Searson	Mastering
1996	Under Wheels of Confusion: 1970–1987	Black Sabbath	Remastering
1994	The Unspoken Word	Chico Freeman	Engineer
2006	Until the Next Time	Daniel O'Donnell	Mastering
2002	Up the Bracket	The Libertines	Mastering
2002	Up the Bracket	The Libertines US Bonus Tracks	Mastering
1998	Victim of Circumstance	David Newton	Mastering
1999	The Violin Player Limited Edition Bonus CD-ROM	Vanessa-Mae	Mastering
1993	Virunga Volcano	Samba Mapangala	Mastering
2005	Vive Le Rock Bonus tracks	Adam Ant	Digital remastering
2007	Wait for Me	The Pigeon Detectives	Mastering
1995	The Waiting Game	Claire Martin	Mastering
2003	War Child: Hope	Various artists	Mastering
2002	Warriors Bonus tracks	Gary Numan	Original mastering
2001	Welcome to the Madhouse	Shy	Mastering
1997	Welcome to the World	Psycho Motel	Mastering
2003	The Well's on Fire	Procol Harum	Mastering
2007	When I Fall in Love	Lesley Garrett	Mastering
1999	Whisper to the Wild Water	Máire Brennan	Mastering
2004	Wide Eyed And Legless: The A&M Recordings	Andy Fairweather Low	Mastering
1983	Work for All	Juluka	Mastering
2007	Xitintoday Bonus track	Nik Turner's Sphynx	Mastering
1978	Zimbabwe Frontline, Vol. 2: Spirit of the Eagle	Various artists	Mastering

References

1. "Ray Staff Biography". Air Mastering. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
2. "Ray Staff". Discogs.com. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
3. "Alchemy Soho's website". Alchemysoho.com. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
4. "Oh Vanille / ova nil 180g audiophile vinyl". Dianecluck.info. Retrieved 17 August 2020.

Further reading

• "Mastering: How the pros do it...". Sound on Sound. Cambridge, UK: SOS Publications Group. October 2005.
• "Preparing your tracks for mastering". Sound on Sound. Cambridge, UK: SOS Publications Group. September 2005.

External links

• Ray Staff at airstudiosmastering.com
• Ray Staff on Recordproduction.com