Jimmy Douglass

Jimmy Douglass

Jimmy Douglass is a American recording engineer and record producer, whose prolific career has spanned four decades. Having worked for many artists since the 1970s, Douglass has served as the main engineer for contemporary R&B/hip hop producer Timbaland since 1996.

Career

Jimmy Douglass started his studio career as a part-time tape duplicator in the early 1970s at the Atlantic Records studios in New York City. At the time he was still attending high school, and working evenings. There he learned how to operate the studio's custom made 16-channel console and observed the work of great engineers, and Record Producers, including Tom Dowd, Jerry Wexler, and Arif Mardin. For his first time behind the faders, he was encouraged by Wexler to engineer the session recording for a demo of a new band.

Douglas is best known for bringing unconventional techniques into the studio, and encouraging artists to transcend genre restrictions. He is credited with bringing a raw edge to a sound, and specifically bringing a heavy funk bass sound into rock music.