Daniel Flickinger

Daniel Flickinger

Daniel N. Flickinger was an audio engineer in the late 1960s and 1970s, who designed and manufactured some of the era's most important music recording consoles. He designed recording consoles for Sly Stone,[1] Curtis Mayfield, Ike Turner's Bolic Sounds,[2] Johnny Cash, and Funkadelic, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Motown Records, Cinderella Records, and United Sound Systems among many others.

Flickinger revolutionized recorded music through the "sweepable EQ," an original equalization scheme. Many credit[citation needed] Flickinger with the first design of a working sweepable EQ, while others[citation needed] contend he was one of many who did important work in early EQ innovations. Either way, Flickinger's design of these EQ's would influence his own circuit design, and the work of others worldwide.

Flickinger Innovations


--development of 'audio control surface' concept now in wide use in digital audio consoles.
--invention of remote-controlled gain devices: Remote-Gain Preamp.
--development of modular bar graph illuminated metering, known as Level Lites. Ubiquitous in consumer audio now in LED form.
--invention of the first in-line recording console [3]
--advancement of assorted equalization schemes.

Flickinger's work has since become highly esteemed among recording professionals; Steve Albini wrote "I will go to my deathbed claiming Flickinger consoles are the best sounding mixing desks ever made. Period." [4]

Recording Studios Using Flickinger Consoles

Studio Black Box, Noyant-la-Gravoyère, FR
The Distillery Costa Mesa, CA USA
Keyclub Recording Company Benton Harbor, MI USA
Rock City Studio Ann Arbor, MI USA
Montrose Recording Richmond VA, USA

References