Shaping Sounds

Stevie Wonder, DEVO, the Synth Revolution and My Life Behind the Music

De: Robert Margouleff, Jim Reilly - contributor, Mark Mothersbaugh - foreword

Narrado por: Robert Margouleff

In Shaping Sounds, visionary music producer Robert Margouleff shares his stories of pushing the boundaries of musical innovation, art, and technology while helping to create some of the most significant and influential music of our time.

Beginning on the set of his first film, Ciao! Manhattan, with Andy Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick, Robert Margouleff captures the tragic beauty of New York’s East Village and Warhol’s Factory as he discovers a powerful new way to score his movie: the Moog synthesizer. This discovery leads him to meet a studio engineer who would become his long-time partner, Malcolm Cecil, with whom he would collaborate to invent the world’s largest analog synthesizer, TONTO (The Original New Timbral Orchestra). Together, Margouleff and Cecil used TONTO to help unleash Stevie Wonder’s genius on his era-defining classic albums, Music Of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, and Fulfillingness’ First Finale.

In legendary studios like Electric Lady and the Record Plant, Margouleff became a pioneering producer and engineer for artists like Billy Preston, Jeff Beck, DEVO, The Isley Brothers, and David Sanborn. A true sonic innovator, he was an early adopter of immersive audio and surround sound, developing new mixing techniques for home theaters that brought some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters to life.

Standing on the Edge is so much more than a chronicle of music history. It’s a story about creativity, collaboration, and artistic courage. Margouleff interweaves his personal experiences with the teachers, friends, mentors, and influences that shaped him, revealing how empathy and curiosity fueled his life’s work. This memoir is a rich and entertaining narrative of a key period in music history that brings listeners deep into the world of record and film production and will inspire new generations of music-makers and dreamers.

©2026 Robert Margouleff (P)2026 Pushkin Industries

What a life!

This is a 9.5 hour book that flies by.

He is a great story teller, and manages to share knowledge, history, and emotion of the different times of his life.

Spoiler alert: He's been pretty much involved in 80% of the coolest moments in audio and music history.

Multi-talented, humble, funny, a great listen overall.

If you like music, you'll love this book!