Tom Coyne (music engineer)

Biography

Coyne was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey and grew up in nearby Union where he graduated from Roselle Catholic High School in 1972. He attended Kean College where he received a degree in Commercial Design. Following college, Coyne's first job was at Dick Charles Recording where Lee Hulko, former owner of Sterling Sound, got his first job in the states after arriving from Thunder Bay, Ontario. In the six months Coyne worked at Dick Charles, he watched Dick master records on the lathe and soon began cutting his own after hours. Coyne then was hired at Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs, assisting under Dominic Romeo, known for cutting 45s for The Rolling Stones, The Four Seasons, Frankie Valli and Dionne Warwick among others. For the next ten years, Coyne primarily cut records for dance bands with his first big record being "Ladies Night" by Kool and the Gang. In 1989, Coyne was hired by the Hit Factory where he spent another five years mastering mostly Hip-Hop and R&B records by artists such as Black Box, Billy Ocean, Tribe Called Quest and De la Soul. In 1994, Coyne was offered a job by Lee Hulko who now operated Sterling Sound. In 1998, Coyne, Ted Jensen, Greg Calbi, Murat Aktar (Absolute Audio co-founder) and the UK based Metropolis bought Sterling Sound from Lee Hulko.

Coyne died on April 12, 2017 from multiple myeloma at the age of 62.

Awards and recognition

During his career, Coyne won six Grammy Awards and one Latin Grammy Award and had over 35 category wins.

Studio

Sterling Sound is located in New York City, occupying the top floor of the Chelsea Market in the Meatpacking District. It was designed by Fran Manzella, FM Design.

Selected works