Rest in Peace, Todd Mariana aka Opcode66

[Steve E.]

This was posted on the Deep Groove Mastering page on Facebook.

"It’s with a heavy heart I must announce the passing of a close friend, brother and amazing human to all that knew him.

Todd Mariana has transitioned to the other side. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Let us not grieve in sorrow but celebrate the life and amazing times we all shared together.

From one flame, an
infinity of candles may be lit..."

Rest in Peace, opcode66.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/B2gY4ig4nagAsSDM/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Todd was one of the all-time most devoted posters on this site. I talked to him for hours --adding up to days?-- over the years; I had a very enjoyable evening sharing beers with him in Chicago, many years ago.

He posted here literally thousands of times. There is plenty of inspiration to be gained from the work, knowledge and spirited debates he shared here.

It bears mentioning, as well, that he was extremely generous in financially supporting the site in its early fundraisers, and is a big part of the reason it is here today.

An episode of highly disruptive drama, a few years ago, lead me to disable his account. I simply didn't have the bandwidth to police whatever it was he was going through in an ongoing manner. After giving him a chance to talk it through with me, which he refused, I felt I had no other sensible choice. I continued to run the Deep Groove Mastering banner here, in thanks for all he'd contributed.

I retained tremendous respect for his talent and his devotion to the art of record cutting. And I always wished him well, and I hoped he thrived. I believed in him and his path.

This is tragic. I'm grieving, as are many others here. Much love, condolences to his family and friends.

Thanks, Todd, for all you brought to this site.

I invite others to share their remembrances here.

[Steve E.]

I want to add: i don't feel what I wrote even begins to qualify as an adequate tribute. I'm still processing the news. I do hope others write some good stuff.

[Thelatheofus]

Just saw this on facebook, really sad news
I learned a lot from his posts and videos... Rip Todd, you will be missed

[Soulbear]

Thanks, Todd, for all you brought to this site.
I invite others to share their remembrances here.

It is with great sadness that I read here of the passing of Todd Mariana, I send my deepest heartfelt sympathy to his friends' and family.

Todd and I did not always share the same view of the world, and we did have some interesting and lively telephone and email discussions. But from me there was always a great deal of respect for his dedication, innovative approach and knowledge to this " Dark Art" called Gramophone Record Cutting.

Easy to "Swap-out" Drivers for his Mantra Cutterhead is just one thing that springs to mind, I am sure other Lathetrolls can add many other things to the list.

A great loss

Rest in Eternal Peace Todd

[MEGAMIKE]

"REST IN LOVE BROTHER"

I feel so guilty arguing with him back and forth so many times but in the end I loved him even more

[tragwag]

I'm really sorry to hear about his passing, Rest In Peace Todd.

We spoke a few times when I was just starting out cutting, we connected about his punk/HC record collection, and how he kept those records around despite being a big dance music guy at the time. He rewound my Olson cutting head, lent me a Presto shank diamond stylus to try out, and I admired how he blended working full time in tech with building up a small cutting clientele.
His mind worked in a different way than most people I know - this made him hard to see eye to eye with, but it also made him unafraid to challenge the norms that us record cutters can sometimes get stuck in.
I know for certain we'll be referencing his insights and work for years to come, his sound file to groove image process, his Plastic Cutting Guide instructional video, and the development successes he had with his Mantra cutterhead and PSL-20 desktop lathe cutter he showed at Namm 2020.
While we weren't close I'm saddened that his work in record cutting never seemed to blossom to the level he had hoped.

Sending my love to all his family and friends who knew him well.

[emidisc]

Rest in eternal peace Todd,
This is very sad news,
Paul

[Dubcutz]

My heartfelt condolences to the Mariana family. He was taken from us far too soon.

[Steve E.]

Email I just received, posted with permission:

"Hi

I found your forum after searching for information about Todd. A friend of mine was a friend of his neighbors. She reached out to me about his dog Bob, a husky. I went and rescued him just now from the animal shelter. I heard his dog was his life and I just wanted to let you all know he’s in good hands.

Take care"

[Bonati]

Very sad to hear this news. Took me a minute to write up this tribute. I have been out of touch with Todd for quite some time now, starting when he moved from Chicago to LA.

I first met Todd when he bought his VMS70 system from Al Grundy, who was my mentor in so many ways - I bought _my_ VMS70 from Al, and helped him restore other systems he had in his shop in New Brunswick, NJ. I recall that Todd drove out with a friend to pick up the lathe. He had a camera and videotaped us talking about the basic operation of cutting and inspecting records, general parts of the lathe, etc. I mostly kept in touch with him after that when he needed help with all of the various VMS70 issues that pop up.

I liked that Todd was a technical person, but not in the normal DIY analog audio way that we’re used to in this scene. His coding / computer experience was good to have around here.

There was a record that Todd cut that I really like - Detroit producer Todd Osborn’s “Superdisc” 12” on Portage Garage Sounds. When I finally got a copy of the 12” and checked the credits I was delighted to find out that he cut it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm8HtPCW2FI&t=25s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eszQMxLw9fc&t=38s

Todd’s Discogs page: https://www.discogs.com/artist/4255427-Todd-Mariana

RIP Todd, RIP Opcode66

[mossboss]

Brilliant guy, right out there, controversial? yes, unconventional? yes, knowing his shit and sticking to it? yes, rub people the wrong way? yes, tolerating fools? no, i certainly miss the guy, what a shame he is not around any longer! great loss to our oddball community, he was an egghead amongst eggheads, very saddened to hear about it.
May be he has found the likes of us wherever he is, that will make him very happy, RIp
C

[dietrich10]

Todd was invaluable to our craft. I was still in touch with him when it was possible with his situation. Sad for sure

We would like to keep Todd's ideas and projects alive. working now on better info and pictures for his lathe and cutterheads. if anyone is interested please drop me a line. trying to see what drawings etc are able to be saved off his computers now.

[farmersplow]

Unfortunately, I never got to meet Todd in person. But his contributions were very inspiring and instructive for me and many others. May he rest in peace and live on forever in the minds of the troll community.

[symatic]

Been a while since I logged in, this is very sad news. Todd rewound my 5C head for me and that helped get things started for me, so I'll remember him every time I use it.
I learned a lot from his videos and he had some great ideas. I always wanted to have playable graphics on wax and he made a version of that idea called Groove Graphics which was so cool. I almost splashed out to get him to cut one of my records so i could include the Groove graphics but it was gonna be a huge mission with the Atlantic Ocean in between us.... I ended up going for Etched graphics and it looked amazing, but of course would have been even cooler with Todd's method
Big respect and thanks Todd!

[zdenek]

I didn't know that this man was dead, it's a pity, a great loss. I watched his projects on YouTube, he was very honest and had amazing projects and ideas. I gained a lot of information and knowledge from him, I think he would have gone far and it's a great pity. that he did not have time to complete and implement all of them. He had an absolutely great contribution to this engineering.
Rest in peace, great man!