Bil VornDick’s Celebration of Life

Bil VornDick’s Celebration of Life

Music Row veteran, William Thomas ‘Bil VornDick, 72, was remembered in a special ceremony at Ocean Way Studio in Nashville on Tuesday night, September 20. The audio engineer/producer to the stars handed away July 5, just five days subsequent a cancer analysis. His considerable effects on the tunes market spanned 5 a long time.

His memorial service began with a attractive musical prelude by celebrated harpist, Cynthia Wyatt, with her son, Zander, on mandolin.

Multi-instrumentalist, Craig Duncan, was the 1st spokesperson.

“I had the honor of functioning with Bil for 31 years in the studio. We are right here right now to honor, give comfort and ease, and assistance.”

Duncan went on to describe Bil with a person “L.”

“There ended up a few boys in his 1st quality course named Bill. His instructor claimed you will be Bil with a single L.

VornDick was Bil with a person “L” ever because.

Duncan, who recorded 105 albums with VornDick, shared some of Bil’s historical past, such as the importance of the internet site for the ceremony.

“Bil and Patricia prompt that Belmont University buy Ocean Way. He then taught here on Saturday mornings for 14 several years.”

 A arms-on teacher, VornDick would invite musicians to convey a assortment of devices to his course, indicating he desired to take a look at out recording various kinds. And he shared trade techniques. A sheet of very important information and facts was hung in his studio. He gave one to each student and many artists he recorded. Duncan exhibited his.

“It tells the frequency of all keys and what to do about recording. It is great having his memorial assistance listed here at Ocean Way.

 I labored with Bil from 1992 until finally May possibly (2022) on the final document he completed. He applied his ears about seems to record and it was best. He was often finding out to do the very best things. Bil was the most effective dude in punching in 16th note assignments. None of us could fork out what Bil was value.”

Duncan played the very first music of numerous musical tributes to the master audio engineer. An original tune, New Day Dawning, was rendered on the hammered dulcimer.

“It fits the right mood of memory and hope,” he concluded.

Duncan’s overall performance was followed by VornDick’s longtime good friends and recording artists, Jerry Douglas and Béla Fleck.

Fleck spelled out that Bil invited them to meet for breakfast. “He explained, ‘I want to engineer bluegrass things in Nashville.’ So we hired him. He kicked ass. He was quite free of charge with his data. He explained matters and built us much better musicians and in management of our very own tunes. He made a session enjoyable.”

Douglas complete-heartedly agreed. “Bil opened the door for us. He was the conduit that we played new music into for all unique formats of recording. Bil turned us on to so many distinctive items. I have a Grammy all due to the fact of Bil.”

Fleck continued, “He was the best engineer I understood. I was not absolutely sure he’d know what to do the Flecktones’ jazz recording. It stood up very well.”

Douglas praised VornDick’s innate expertise in the studio, and his skill to capture the most effective probable sound. “You would get his recording for mastering and they would say, ‘What do you want us to do?’”

The trio of dobroist Douglas, banjoist Fleck, and bassist Edgar Meyer executed several epic tunes originally recorded beneath VornDick’s supervision as part of the musical tributes in the course of the memorial assistance.

Several eulogies from his friends in the audio marketplace had been browse that bundled impactful statements such as…

“Bil was my Santa Claus simply because he often gave me items.”

And…

“Bil was this sort of as inspiration. He stated, ‘Every day of my lifetime, I tried using to be as considerably like Jesus as I could be.’”

Bil VornDick completed significantly in his 72 decades. In his youth, he was a 4-Her, an Eagle Scout, and drum major of his significant faculty. In 1979, he graduated from Belmont University and was employed by Marty Robbins to be his main recording engineer. In the 1980s, he worked in a new acoustic tunes genre, recording the Dillards, Rhonda Vincent, Dan Tyminski, and Doyle Lawson to name a couple. He helped found IBMA, grew to become an adjunct professor for Belmont, a chairman of AES (Audio Engineering Culture), a Boy Scout Leader, as perfectly as a 33rd-diploma Mason and a Shriner. He is survived by his spouse, Patricia, and two kids, Brittney and Wilson, their spouses, and five grandchildren.

Patricia shared a remark Bil had built at the time he realized he was dying. “I’m doing my closing fade.”

In the vicinity of the close of the assistance, VornDick was posthumously offered a life time accomplishment award from AES. Donations can be designed in Bil’s title to Nashville Engineer Aid Fund (NERF) or MusiCares.