Michael Graves is an American audio engineer. He specializes in audio mastering, audio preservation, audio restoration and forensic audio restoration.
Graves' main focus is historical audio that was recorded on deteriorating or obsolete media, as well as more recent recordings where the sound is obscured for various reasons. He works with record labels, such as Dust-to-Digital and Analog Africa, that specialize in historical recordings. He has also remastered recordings for commercial release by artists such as Vince Guaraldi, Duke Ellington and William “Piano Red” Perryman.
In 2009, the 4-CD box set, “Art of Field Recording, Vol. I: 50 Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum” released by Dust-to-Digital received the 2008 GRAMMY Award for Best Historical Album. Michael Graves received a GRAMMY Award as the mastering engineer along with the album’s producers, Steven Lance Ledbetter and Art Rosenbaum.
2004: Oaxaca - Vince Guaraldi, D&D/Siriso
2005: Vince Guaraldi with The San Francisco Boys Chorus, D&D/Siriso
2005: Fonotone Records - Various, Dust-to-Digital
2006: North Beach - Vince Guaraldi (audio restoration only), D&D
2006: Art of Field Recording: Sampler - Various, Dust-to-Digital
2006: Desperate Man Blues (Soundtrack) - Various, Dust-to-Digital
2006: I Belong To This Band (Soundtrack) - Various, Dust-to-Digital
2006: How Low Can You Go? Anthology Of The String Bass - Various, Dust-to-Digital
2006: Friendship Next Of Kin - Selwyn Lissack, DMG ARC
2007: The Lost Cues From The Charlie Brown Television Specials, Volume 1 - Vince Guaraldi, D&D (audio restoration only)
2007: Art of Field Recording, Vol. I: 50 Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum – Various, Dust-to-Digital
2007: Black Mirror - Various, Dust-to-Digital
2007: Melodii Tuvi: Throat Songs and Folk Tunes from Tuva - Various, Dust-to-Digital
2008: Victrola Favorites - Various, Dust-to-Digital
2008: The Lost Cues From The Charlie Brown Television Specials, Volume 2 - Vince Guaraldi, D&D (audio restoration only)
2008: 1st Album + Live at CBGB 1980 - Curlew, DMG ARC
2008: Todos Santos - Wayne Horvitz, self-released
2008: Nine Below Zero - Wayne Horvitz, self-released
2008: The President - Wayne Horvitz, self-released
2008: Larks, They Crazy - Robin Holcomb, self-released
2008: Dinner At Eight - Wayne Horvitz, self-released
2008: I Got Two Wings - Elder Utah Smith and Various Artists, CaseQuarter
2008: Live On The Air - Vince Guaraldi Trio, D&D (audio restoration only)
2009: Art of Field Recording, Vol. II: 50 Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum – Various, Dust-to-Digital
2009: Jesus Christ from A to Z - Rev. Johnny L. "Hurricane" Jones, Parlortone/Dust-to-Digital
2010: Excavated Shellac: Strings - Various, Parlortone/Dust-to-Digital
2010: Afro-Beat Airways - West African Shock Waves - Various, Analog Africa
2010: The Lost Atlanta Tapes – Piano Red, Landslide Records
2011: Ain't No Grave: The Life and Legacy of Brother Claude Ely, Various, Dust-to-Digital
2011: Luk Thung: Classic & Obscure 78s from the Thai Countryside - Various, Parlortone/Dust-to-Digital
2011: Never a Pal Like Mother: Vintage Songs & Photographs of the One Who's Always True - Various, Dust-to-Digital
2011: Funky Rob Way - Rob, Analog Africa
2011: ...i listen to the wind that obliterates my traces: music in vernacular photographs 1880-1955 – Various, Dust-to-Digital
2011: Route Two - David Earle Johnson, John Abercrombie, Dan Wall, Landslide Records
2011: Song For The Night - Dan Wall, Landslide Records, 2011
2011: Bambara Mystic Soul - The Raw Sound of Burkina Faso 1974-1979 - Various, Analog Africa
2011: Opika Pende: Africa at 78 RPM - Various, Dust-to-Digital
2012: Qat, Coffee & Qambus: Raw 45s from Yemen, Parlortone – Various, Dust-to-Digital
2012: Orchestre Super Borgou de Parakou: The Bariba Sound - Various, Analog Africa
2017: Cait Brennan - Third
Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC)
Board Member and technical advisor to Music Memory, an organization dedicated to the preservation of large, rare 78 rpm collections
The International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA)
The Audio Engineering Society (AES)
Georgia Music Partners (GMP)
Voting member for the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS)
The Producers and Engineers Wing Committee of the Atlanta Chapter of NARAS
Served on the Lifetime Achievement Award Committee for NARAS
The advisory board of the Rialto Center for the Arts in Atlanta, GA
Served a term on the Board of Governors for the Atlanta Chapter of NARAS
