homeIndexpage

Former Nirvana Audio Engineer Murdered


07.20.2009


 2009-07-20-murder
Tom Pfaeffle
Credit: Rane.com
By Clive Young.

New York (July 20, 2009)--Tom Pfaeffle, a recording and live sound engineer who worked with Nirvana, The Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Rodney Crowell, B.B. King and others, was killed Friday night while vacationing with his wife in Twisp, WA.

The 49-year-old engineer, who owned The Tank Studio (Black Diamond, WA), was shot at the Blue Spruce Hotel, after apparently trying to use his key in the wrong room door. The 57-year-old suspect, being held for second degree murder and assault, shot Pfaeffle in the chest through the door; the engineer died at an area hospital two hours later. A second shot apparently went through a wall and nearly struck another person; police have not released the suspect's name and are investigating a motive.

 
Over the course of his career, Pfaeffle, who also taught live sound production at the Art Institute of Seattle, handled live mixing for The Black Crowes, Heart, Love Mongers/Ann Wilson and Queensryche, and had worked as a sound technician for the Scorpions. He had also worked as rental manager for American Music, and as a freelance recording engineer, with clients including Nirvana, UB40, Aerosmith, Great White, Alice Cooper, Rodney Crowell, and B.B. King.

Members of indie band Kay Kay and the Weathered Underground told Seattle TV station KING, "He is a Seattle icon of sound," adding, "Anybody who has a studio in town or anybody who is a live sound guy with a venue in town learned from Tom."

The Tank
www.thetankstudio.com

Pfaeffle's Rane Profile
www.rane.com/apps/rane/live3.html





SPONSORED LINKS
 
 
 

COMMENTS (11)
07/22/2009
I was in Tom's Concert Sound and Advanced Recording Classes for a year From 2007-2008. Everything I know about mixing live and recording live I learned from Tom Pfaeffle. I had the honor of working with one of his clients: Random Manor. The circumstances of Tom's death anger me, but I know that it is not within my control to change them. Tom was a great man who was a family man first and a great audio engineer second. He worked closely with Jim Rivers (Paul Rogers, Bad Company, Queensryche) and Jim reportedly named Tom "one of the best engineers he had worked with". He will forever be missed as a friend and as a mentor. The Art Institute of Seattle will never be the same.

07/21/2009
Tom was a teacher of mine 10 years ago at the Art Institute. I learned a great deal from him and remember how we all wanted classes with Tom. He will be missed by many. My condolonces to all his friends and family.

07/21/2009
Damn........

07/20/2009
Sad news. Thoughts and prayers to Tom's family. I didn't know Tom, but he sounded like a great guy. Any gun owner should know to never shoot without first positively identifying the target. Who would shoot through a closed door?!?! Interesting that other writers assume that the shooter is a man. This shooting could have easily been perpetrated by a woman...

07/20/2009
This is such sad, sad news. Tom was a client of ours and a wonderful guy to work with. He loved teaching his students and he was a real contributor to the art of quality sound. All of us at Royer Labs mourn his passing and the nonsensical way he was taken from this world.

Leave a Comment:
 
Text Only 2000 characters limit
Enter the word as it is shown in the box below: (Why?)
(case sensitive)
download
prosoundnews.com audiomedia.com proaudioreview.com eqmag.com musicplayer.com nbmedia.com