Robert Honablue

Robert had an early interest in wanting to become a Recording Engineer through listening to Dave Brubeck's "Time Out" album - which Robert later made several Re-Masters of.

Robert was first employed by NBC Television Studios (NYC) in 1967 as a Video Tape Engineer for numerous shows that included the Tonight Show (Johnny Carson), Concentration and other game shows, NBC Nightly News, Another World and other daytime soaps, and an array of NBC Promo spots as well as other advertising ads.

In 1968 Robert, through his friendship with Dave Brubeck, became employed by CBS Records in NYC as their first ever Afro-American Recording Engineer. Robert started out as a Mastering Engineer and eventually graduated to becoming a Studio Recording Engineer. During his 4 years at CBS Records, Robert was responsible for the mastering or engineering of many projects for artists like Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Santana, Janis Joplin, Barbra Streisand, Weather Report, Ike & Tina Turner, Chicago, Sly & The Family Stone, and many others too numerous to mention. Robert is now the holder of more than 70 Gold and/or platinum certified RIAA awards from many of these artists -as well as artists from other major labels that were mastered by Robert at CBS Records.

For a brief period in the mid 70's, Robert partnered with George Benson and created Triangle Recording Studios in George's then Bronx, NY home. There Robert recorded many local artists in addition to recordings for George and his many friends.

In 1978 Robert moved to the west coast and worked for Motown Studios as a Recording Engineer. During his 2 year period there, Robert recorded many projects for the artists and songwriters of Motown's Record label (The Commodores, Charlene, Stevie Wonder, and others). Robert received many compliments for his engineering from Robert Gordy and the late Ron Miller.

Robert is now the current founder and owner of The Honablue Institute of Audio Engineering in Brooklyn, NY. With his wife, Natalya, and son, Devin, the school focuses on providing aspiring engineers with a broadened knowledge of sound by using analog recording as the basis. A lot of schools have shifted their studies to teaching digital technology -with very little emphasis on the basics of sound that Robert very proudly teaches.