Proactive Beats Reactive
I’m a big fan of being proactive: being prepared. It bears out its value in everything from investing to making an audio CD.
When projects finally make it to mastering, a lot of times there’s not chance to go back to mixing and things that could have been handled easily (and more effectively) in mixing [...]
Mysteriously Dissolve
When I sit back and take stock of the interests I have in life, they all seem to have one common thread: mystery. It’s not the solving that intrigues me, but the connection with something universally large that I may anchor myself to…with the chance to achieve a glimpse to something “bigger”.
I started playing guitar [...]
Welcome, StudiOB
Just a quick note that long-time friend Chuck Schiele has ‘officially’ launched StudiOB: a home-based recording studio in Ocean Beach, CA.
Chuck is a talented musician and producer. I started mastering albums for him a few years back, after already knowing him for about a decade. In addition to great record production, Chuck’s studio offers professional [...]
Signs You May Be Taking Youself Too Seriously
—– Original Message —-
From: ZenMastering
To: TapeOp Editor
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008
Subject: Letter to the Editor
TapeOp,
I read your Purity and Honesty in Recordings Seal of Approval in the Sept./Oct. 2008 issue and have a few thoughts.
I applaud the overall idea of putting the music first and technology second. This is a concept that has become lost [...]
(Re)Mastering Metallica
Seems there’s some hubub about how Metallica’s latest album, Death Magnetic, sounds better on the the Guitar Hero 3 edition (apparently a different mix and master) than the CD. In fact, there’s a petition to re-mix and/or remaster it. Has it finally dawned on people that obliterating a mix and master with hypercompression (at both [...]
The Devil’s in the Detail
You’ve probably heard that a million times without batting an ear. To me, it means that 1% change sometimes takes 99% effort. Or, it’s the small things that are really hard to nail.
I just wrapped up a mastering project for a great band from Pennsylvania. Great recording, songwriting, and performances. After they heard the first [...]
Getting That “Analog” Sound, part 2
If you read part 1, you know that I had to jump through a bunch of hoops to get the sound a client was after. And although I felt that each iteration I did had its own merits, the client had a specific texture in mind.
What’s interesting is that all of the processors I used [...]
Getting That “Analog” Sound
I recently mastered a song for a client: a hip-hop track. The client specifically wanted an “analog sound,” saying he wanted a “fatter” sound than what ProTools had provided. To make a pretty long story (and mastering session) short, I had to do six (!) iterations.
Here’s what I used (in bold), and how he [...]
ZM Clients SDMA Winners!
Last night, Sept. 17, was the San Diego Music Awards. Five ZenMastering clients were up for nomination. I’m happy to report that the following artists won their categories:
Veronica May — Best Acoustic
Tribal Seeds — Best World
Congrats…and we hope to see you up there again next year!
Slow Burn
For years I’ve read about the benefits of burning CDs at slow speeds. It used to be that mastering engineers would burn masters @ 1x. Today, though, I don’t think any production CD burners support that slow a speed. 4x is the slowest (firmware reasons?), so that’s what ZenMastering burns at.
Until recently, though, I’ve never [...]
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!
