In Praise of Cheapness
I transferred and restored a 35-year-old recording from a cheap analog cassette today. And although it made me glad to have great restoration software (not to mention a great cassette deck, cables, and converters), it also made me marvel at the resiliency of the analog cassette tape.
This thing — that probably sat in drawers, garages, [...]
Our First Red Cross Donation of 2010
As I mentioned in a post at the beginning of the year, ZenMastering will donate 10% of its gross income each month to the American Red Cross. This decision was made prior the Haiti earthquake, so it seems prophetic looking back one month.
When I make Red Cross donations, I always choose the option on the [...]
Sometimes, Fuzz Beats Clarity
Cranesong’s Harmonically Enhanced Digital Device (H.E.D.D.) is, without question, the best digital box for emulationg analog magic; although it’s not a machine that can exactly replicate any specific tape machine or tube device. It just delivers a vibe. As the name suggests, it enhances.
I used it the other day on some electronic-based mixes to [...]
We Love Catch Phrases
As people, we are very catch phrase oriented. Political campaigns, TV shows, and advertising pretty much run on them. If you can come up with something that people find memorable and applicable to a situation, that will form their opinion more than research or fact.
We do it in audio, too. One catch phrase that was [...]
Test Driving the True Tape
I’ve had a chance to use the Neve True Tape on a few projects, as well some test files of a drum kit stem. One thing I noticed is that — at unity — there’s a lot of LF roll-off. I realized, as with a tape machine, the key is in driving it hard enough [...]
Critical Mass
Something interesting happened about 6 months ago. I stopped advertising for ZenMastering. I shut off Google’s AdWords and all other forms of electronic/online advertising. Flipping the switch wasn’t the interesting part…it’s what happened next.
Business didn’t slow down. In fact it maintained its steady pace and even picked up. I started getting calls from local engineers [...]
Remembering Who We Are
That was the title of a yoga workshop I went to last weekend. And although you may not think it has anything to do with mastering or making music, it does.
The teacher/lecturer remind the group that it’s easy to forget who we are, but each of us can remind the other. As an example, he [...]
This Was Fun
Producer: Several years ago I produced a CD for a band that [famous engineer] mastered. They have asked me to remove the vocals on two tracks. I wonder if you could master ‘em to sound close to the record for us?
Me: This shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Send me the no-vocal files and [...]
The Path of Progress
Of all the traps and snares that can exist in making an audio recording, you wouldn’t think that obtaining the files would be one of them. But I’ve found that just getting my hands on finished mixes has proven challenging at times.
A few people recently sent me tracks that actually ended up being .CDA files, [...]
New Iron
Since I’ve got my camera out, I figured I’d snap a pic of my recent hardware additions to ZenMastering.
The Cranesong HEDD and Neve True Tape are amazing pieces, and will be indispensable for delivering high resolution masters with analog integrity.
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!
