Maine’s Bob Ludwig is bringing home Grammy Awards for the fourth straight year.
Ludwig, a mastering engineer, stepped on stage during the live CBS broadcast of the Grammys Sunday night after winning Album of the Year for “Morning Phase” by Beck.
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Earlier Sunday, Ludwig won Best Surround Sound Album for “Beyonce” by Beyonce and Best Engineered Album Non-Classical for “Morning Phase” by Beck. Those wins came at the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony, a non-televised event where most of the Grammys are given out.
Ludwig had also been nominated in the Album of the Year category for “Girl” by Pharrell Williams, and in the Best Engineered Album Non-Classical category for “Bass & Mandolin” by Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer.
The other nominees in the Album of the Year category were “Beyonce” by Beyonce, “X” by Ed Sheeran and “In The Lonely Hour” by Sam Smith. Ludwig mastered the surround-sound version of “Beyonce” but not the version nominated for Album of the Year.
Ludwig won four Grammys last year, as well as one Grammy each in 2013 and 2012.
Ludwig was at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday with his oldest daughter, Erika. Last year he brought his youngest daughter, Alexandra.
Ludwig, based at Gateway Mastering in Portland, has been one of the leading mastering engineers in the music business for more than 40 years.
Mastering is the final part of making an album or single, the final technical tweaking after the songs have been recorded. Most of the artists Ludwig works with don’t come to Portland; they trust him to do his work on his own.
Mastering engineers are eligible to win a Grammy in only five categories: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Engineered Album Non-Classical, Best Surround Sound Album, and Best Historical Album.
But Ludwig’s work is crucial to many Grammy Award winners, even when he is not a named nominee.
On Sunday night, when Beck won Best Rock Album for “Morning Phase,” he thanked Ludwig for his contribution on air.
In 2014, Ludwig won four Grammy Awards: Record of the Year for “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk, Williams and Niles Rodgers; Album of the Year for “Random Access Memories” by Daft Punk; Best Historical Album for “Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland 1965” by the Rolling Stones; and Best Engineered Album for “Random Access Memories” by Daft Punk.
In 2013, he won in the category of Album of the Year for “Babel” by Mumford & Sons and in 2012 he won Best Surround Sound Album for “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” by Derek and the Dominos.
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