PACHECO, CA — Studio recording engineer and front of house mixer Tom Size passed away early in the morning of October 30, 2016 after a long struggle with melanoma skin cancer. Size had worked with a variety of artists, including Aerosmith, the Steve Miller Band, Mr. Big, Sammy Hagar, David Lee Roth and Journey during his nearly-40 year career, but was perhaps best known as the studio and FOH engineer for many tours with rockers Y&T. He was 57.
Born Oct. 10, 1959 in Albany, NY, Size spent his formative years in the San Francisco Bay Area, He developed an interest in audio technology from an early age, working with high school bands at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, CA and after graduation in 1977, studied electronic engineering at California Polytechnic State University. In between, he filled in doing industry-related jobs such repairing audio gear, working as a guitar tech, running a home 4-track studio and a stint as the house audio and lighting engineer doing live theater at the Walnut Creek Civic Arts Theatre, a 300-seat live performance venue in his home town that was eventually replaced by the state-of-the-art Lesher Center for the Arts.
“I first met Tom Size back in 1978, during his days at WCCAT, when I was the IATSE guy assigned to work a two-year series of monthly travelogue lectures at various venues throughout the Bay Area,” recalls FRONT of HOUSE editor George Petersen. “Here was this kid of 19 who showed an amazing dedication to quality and an unquenchable thirst for audio knowledge. Information wasn’t so accessible back then and in-between the matinee and evening shows, we’d check out trade magazines and he would constantly barrage me with questions about every aspect of audio. There was something special in this kid. We became lifelong friends and worked on numerous studio and live projects together over the years.”
After college, Size worked as a staff engineer at leading SF Bay Area recording studios, including three years at the Music Annex in Menlo Park and 11 years at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. During this time, he worked with many top artists, and developed a close association with Y&T and vocalist/guitarist Dave Meniketti while engineering the band’s 1990 Ten CD.
Eventually, the band wanted to take that Tom Size magic on the road, and the combination clicked, leading to a decade of him mixing the band’s many shows and world tours. Meanwhile, his studio history with Y&T continued, with Size engineering and mixing Y&T’s 2010 Facemelter CD, the 2012 Live at the Mystic CD and mixing the One Hot Night DVD, as well as other Y&T and Meniketti recording projects.
“I always felt like Y&T, and the Meniketti band, were blessed by having Tom be our live sound engineer,” commented Dave Meniketti. “His experience mainly came out of studio work, of which there is a mountain of great records he’s been involved with, a few of Y&T’s among them. When he agreed to do our live sound, we knew we had something special. A guy with great ears, superb technical knowledge and a love for the band. All the Y&T shows he was involved with benefited from his skill behind the console and the fans worldwide have appreciated his beautiful work.”
With the passing of Tom Size, the industry not only loses one of its great practitioners of the craft, but also a wonderful person with a love of life. He will certainly be missed by the many who knew him.
Note: At press time, no memorial arrangements had been made.
