Technology Changes, Art Remains
As people (you and me) who make and manipulate recordings, it’s interesting to ponder that some of the most influential recordings ever created with made with very little technological horse power. Now I know that’s a subjective statement, because when the Beatles were breaking in the four-track recorder, it was cutting-edge. But today, it’s laughable [...]
Audio Economics
You might think there’s no correlation between making audio recordings and the economy, but you’d be wrong. I recently watched an interview with Warren Buffett where they grilled him on a number of questions regarding Federal Reserve rate cuts, President Bush’s monetary incentive checks and other related issues. His bottom line answer was that there’s [...]
Stereo vs. Binaural
To jump back a few days and make a comment on Rick Wilkinson’s last sentence (and link): if you’re not aware, binaural and stereo are two different animals. In really blunt terms, stereo (in playback) is two speakers interacting with a room and the listener (as a fixed point) experiences it. Binaural is what happens [...]
Lending a Hand…not Just an Ear
I want to veer off the audio path for a post and make mention of some things that have happened around the world recently. As everyone’s aware, it’s been a pretty bad few weeks for natural disasters: the cyclone in Myanmar, the earthquake in China and some pretty devestating tornados in America. Sadly, I’m sure [...]
Disdain for Reverb
If you know me, even mildly, you probably know that I abhor reverb. And that’s for one simple reason: it don’t work. Well, technically…it do. But applied to every instrument in a mix like a cure for the common cold…well, there is no such thing.
People use reverb because they’re trying to create dimension and space [...]
Can Recordings Sound “Musical”
In music production and post-production, there’s lots of technical aspects: thresholds, ratios, headroom, spectragrams, noisefloor, etc. I mean, that’s what the whole process is: a technical rendering of a real thing…just like a photograph, but auditory instead of visual. But even when everything’s done right (and by the book), some recordings still sound more “musical” [...]
Sacred Sound
As I seem to like to do posting “followups”, here’s another one, for the Not What, But Who…part 2 posting.
I went to be part of the student’s judging panel for her graduating project. It was a very nice experience, in that she (first of all) did a great job and (second) had a very neat [...]
“Innerview”
The May issue of the San Diego Troubadour features an extensive interview with ZenMastering owner and chief engineer Paul Abbott.
It’s a good read, so check it out!
San Diego Magazine Songwriting Contest
San Diego Magazine is holding a songwriting contest for local artists to submit a song about San Diego.
In the spirit of supporting local musicians (and giving everyone a fair chance…whether or not they have the money for lots of production), ZenMastering will master any local musicians submission for a special discounted price. Contact us details.
You’ve [...]
Not What, But Who…part 2
As a follow-up to my Not What, But Who… post a few weeks back, here’s another good example of networking and generally just knowing people via doing work over time.
I received this e-mail from an old acquaintance, going back 20 years when I worked at a guitar shop during the summers while I was in [...]
About This Blog
From Ohm to Om reflects the opinions of mastering engineer Paul Abbott, owner of San Diego's ZenMastering.
We welcome comments from readers...pro or con!
