minimize tape hiss and vinyl surface noise. Van Gelder was unusual compared to other recording engineers of the time insofar as he enjoyed ownership of the entire recording and post-recording process (excepting the pressing of the records themselves). This control gave Van Gelder the opportunity to ensure that the final records reflected the sound of the original tape recording, with each record baring his hallmark: a small 'RVG' inscribed into the run-out area. Though instrumental in developing the so-called 'Blue Note sound', Van Gelder's approach was often dictated by the production personnel with whom he worked. Blue Note's Alfred Lion worked closely with Van Gelder during sessions: Such close supervision rarely applied when Van Gelder was recording for other labels, such as Prestige or Savoy, enabling him to explore and pioneer new sound engineering techniques: Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio. The bassist and composer Charles Mingus refused to record with him. Taking Leonard Feather's "blindfold test" in 1960, he said that Van Gelder "tries to change people's tones. I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound. That's why I never go to him; he ruined my bass sound". Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a "Rudy special" on tape boxes. Richard Cook called Van Gelder's characteristic method of recording and mixing the piano "as distinctive as the pianists' playing" itself. This unique sonic quality is considered a key component of the Van Gelder sound. Such a piano sound was initially the consequence of recording in a living room rather than a purpose built recording facility, where close miking of the piano strings was necessary to avoid sound bleed from other instruments. Though creating a distinctive albeit compressed piano sound, critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos as a particular source of criticism: Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound. Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote: Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van