Falconer native Randy Merrill recently won two Grammy awards for his work with Beck and the film “A Star Is Born.” The awards were for Best Engineer For A Non-Classical Album and Best Song For Visual Media. Submitted photo

FALCONER — A local native recently won two more Grammy awards for his work on two music albums

On Feb. 10, Randy Merrill received awards for Best Engineer For A Non-Classical Album and Best Song For Visual Media for Beck’s album, “Colors,” and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s song, “Shallow,” respectively. “Shallow” is one of the songs included on the soundtrack for the 2018 film “A Star Is Born.”

Merrill was also nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Shallow,” Best Alternative Music Album for “Colors” and Best Pop Vocal Album for “Sweetener” by Ariana Grande. Merrill is a senior mastering engineer at Sterling Sound of New York City.

Of the categories he was nominated for, Merrill thought he had a better chance for Record of the Year with “Shallow.” He based this on the fact that “Shallow” had already won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and received many accolades including an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.

Merrill said the big surprise for him was the Best Engineer award.

“It was a pleasure to work with Beck on this album (“Colors”),” Merrill said. “I have been fortunate to have worked with him on other projects since.”

Merrill also credits Beck for being meticulous and having “some of the best ears in the business.”

Merrill previously won in 2017 for Record of the Year and Album of the Year. The awards were for Adele’s “25” album and its accompanying song “Hello” respectively. During that time, received his awards with the singer during the ceremony.

Music has been Merrill’s passion from an early age.

“Since I was young, I have been drawn to sound and music. I wasn’t confident as a performer of music, yet was also drawn toward the technology of making music,” he said.

Merrill is a 1992 graduate from Falconer Central School and valedictorian of his class. Merrill had initially planned to attend the State University of New York at Fredonia to study sound recording technology. However, at that time, he learned that the sound technology program was being discontinued. As a result, he chose to attend Jamestown Community College where he studied audio production.

Shortly before he graduated with an associates degree from JCC he learned that the sound recording technology program at SUNY Fredonia was being reinstated.

At the time he won his first awards, Merrill told The Post-Journal that the timing of that news proved to be a blessing in disguise. The reason for this was that he now had a strong foundation and background in recording technology. He also felt capable of passing the required audition to be admitted to SUNY Fredonia’s School of Music.

While at SUNY Fredonia Merrill, studied music, audio engineering and acoustics. After he graduated in 1997, Merrill worked at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. He moved to New York City in 1999 and worked with many studios there.

He was a technical engineer at Avatar Studios for five years. During that time he developed his love of being a mastering engineer.

A mastering engineer has experience in creating musical content by mixing analog and/or digital domain data in mono, stereo or multichannel formats. The engineer then prepares to use the content in distribution on various physical media platforms. Examples include vinyl records, compact discs or streaming audio platforms.

In 2006, Merrill worked with Scott Hull Mastering as a production engineer and developed his own clientele. When Hull purchased audio production company Masterdisk in 2008, Merrill worked as a staff engineer.

In 2013, Merrill began work at Sterling Sound. During his time there, he served as assistant and co-engineer to music projects by fellow Sterling engineer Tom Coyne. Coyne’s previous work included sound cutting for various musical acts such as The Rolling Stones, Dionne Warwick, Billy Ocean and Kool And The Gang.

Merrill’s list of work includes collaborations with Justin Bieber, Little Mix, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Lorde, One Direction, Maroon 5 and Muse.

When asked what type of audio format he likes to work with, Merrill said he uses whatever is needed at the time he records.

“Sometimes I use a combination of both (analog and digital), and sometimes I only use digital,” Merrill said. “In addition to my classic analog tools, I have found many modern digital tools are exceptional in sound and functionality, and help me achieve the sound I desire.”

Merrill said his favorite digital audio workstation is Magix Sequoia.

“It’s the most reliable and long-standing current application for mastering,” Merrill explained. “It’s audio engine sounds excellent. It is highly configurable, suits my workflow and allows integration of VST (virtual studio technology) compatible plugins.”

Merrill said he purposefully avoids trying to create music for the sake of being noticed for a Grammy. At the same time, he said he gives attention to every project he works on to create quality music.

“As a matter of course, I don’t approach my work in a way that revolves around winning Grammys. I just put my best into every project in hopes it will be successful for its creator and enjoyable for the listener,” Merrill said.

Looking back on his career, Merrill is grateful for being able to work in the music industry.

“Since my days at JCC I have been attracted to working in studios, and fortunately I have been able to make a career out of it,” Merrill said.