Creating Controlled Chaos
Posted on | June 22, 2008 |
I had a meeting with a San Diego-based studio owner the other night. Good studio that has a good reputation, and also offers mastering. Not so much a networking meeting as just finally getting to sit down and meet the owner/engineer (and his mastering guy) to talk shop and get acquainted.
The meeting covered various topics, but one was about how the engineer likes a “crunchy” sound from his preamps (i.e. things like the UA 610 channel strip and some Germanium and Neve pres, when pushed). The studio (and engineer’s) bailiwick is rock and alt-rock, and so they go for a more colored sound. I get the feeling their mastering is of that ilk as well.
So how does an audiophile (i.e. me) offer something relevant in a non-audiophile world?
Well, for the task of mastering, I think that having an audiophile setup and perspective is always relevant. If a studio/engineer/producer favors a crunchy sound and uses a lot of the things listed above — as well as other coloration tools, like distressors — one of the real keys is knowing how much you can push a colored/lightly distorted signal in mastering before it starts to bite back. And the only way you can decide that is with a playback system (speakers, amps, cables, converters, and room) of exquisite clairty.
There are a lot of very musical recordings that fall into this category. And they may sound as if they’re blindly slammed to the wall, but like a Jackson Pollock painting people learn that creating controlled chaos takes tools of exacting precision.
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From Ohm to Om reflects the opinions of mastering engineer Paul Abbott, owner of San Diego's ZenMastering.
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