Warm Tape, part 3
For those who have been following my vintage reel-to-reel exploits, I ran into a bit of a snag. As mentioned in part 2, there was a balance issue that a technician suggested may be based around the tape I was using (too thick). As it turns out, new — and thinner — tape didn’t solve [...]
North Park Music Thing
Last year I was on an industry panel for a San Diego-based music festival called North By North Park (NXNP). The festival — now in its second year — is taking shape for August 7-9…and with a new name: North Park Music Thing.
I’m happy to say I’m on another panel: Music Industry 201: Taking [...]
Don’t Do This @ Home
I was in Monterey over the weekend and happened into a coffee shop. They had two speakers up in their loft, about 10 feet above customer’s heads.
The left one was buried between a beam and a bunch of empty boxes.
What the fø©!?!
You Can Run But You Can’t Hide
Before I was a mastering engineer my life was mainly consumed with writing and performing music for acoustic guitar. About 10 years ago I decided it was time to move on, and that’s when I started ZenMastering.
Proving that you can never escape your past, someone recently made reference to me — the guitarist — [...]
Article in New Issue of Tape Op
Just a quick note that I have an article in the new issue (May/June 2009) of Tape Op magazine. If you subscribe, check out page 54.
There’s also a cool feature on S.D.R.L, a San Diego-based recording studio.
Free Stuff Really Is Priceless
Everybody is selling something. Even schools sell education…and the promise of increasing your value if you buy their service.
When the economy started to tank last year, I wondered how ZenMastering would fare. I’m glad to say we’re doing quite well…in some ways better than normal. I attribute the business’s stability to a few factors…none [...]
Digital Shell Game
I now have social networking accounts with Facebook (two, actually…one personal and one for ZM), MySpace, and Twitter, and my blog. Oh, and ZenMastering’s website…but I’ve heard that’s obsolete.
The problem is that new sites keep popping up. Well, it’s what’s great and also what’s problematic. The more there are, the more work you have to [...]
Format and Process
I think that the downside to the digital audio movement is that musicians have lost sight of the process for the format. Here’s an example…
Amazon’s Kindle is becoming quite popular. Someday it (or something like it) may replace printed material, just as MP3 (and higher-res encoded files) is replacing physical media in music. But that [...]
Tidbits on Acoustics
I see a lot of photos online of studios that have recording rooms or console room where the walls are just covered in acoustic foam. This stuff isn’t really effective in blanketing your studio, other than soaking up high end and kind of deadening your space.
If you have acoustic issues with your room — and [...]
Timeframe for Mastering
I received an e-mail today from a musician who wanted to know if his band could get their EP mastered this weekend. Today is Friday.
As a general rule, most professional mastering facilities are booked weeks — sometimes months — in advance. In ZenMastering’s case, I currently am finishing up two projects and have my next [...]
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!
