Back to School Special
What a summer! Since June we’ve mastered 25 projects from 8 different states, styles ranging from rock to classical to surf to folk to jazz to country. Oh, and 1 DVD! To say thanks, we’re offering 20% off all mastering projects booked from now until Sept. 15. Wrapping up a recording? Drop us a line.
My Responsibility
I’m working on an album for a San Diego-based rock band. I did a sample for them and they decided to use ZenMastering, at which point I e-mailed the bassist, “I have all the final mixes and everything sounds good. The songs rock, the performances are tight and the engineer did a great job on [...]
2010 SDMA
I’m proud to announce 2 of our clients are nominated in the 2010 San Diego Music Awards: Best Alternative Band: New Mexico (formerly Apes of Wrath) Best Jazz Album: Steph Johnson, “Mysterious Feminine”
Paul’s Principles of Audio Production
Audio production is a combination of art and science. It’s helpful to be familiar with both subjects. Equipment is important, so buy the best you can afford. It doesn’t matter if you’ve bought the best gear in the world, if you don’t know how to leverage its capabilities you’re not going to get great results. [...]
Lessons From a Compilation
I just finished mastering a compilation disc for an artist who is putting together a fundraiser. It’s other people’s recordings of his songs done over the years. So I got to hear recording techniques and quality from a 10-year span. It was educational, to say the least. There were only 2 new songs that needed [...]
Piracy
I saw this video today. It’s good advice.
Great Story
If you’re a fan of the electric guitar, this story by Dweezil Zappa will make you smile.
Slow Down…You Move Too Fast
I recently received a note from a prospective client that went something like this… “I’ve just wrapped up recording an album I’ve been working on for the last year (and writing for about 15). I’m looking to wrap it up as quickly as possible.” My reaction was, what’s the rush? Seriously. If you’ve been working [...]
Analog Tape Texture for Drum Stems
I’m starting to offer a new service @ ZM, which is running clients’ L/R drum stem mix-downs through my analog tape processors, and then giving them back to replace in the mix. It’s something I’ve been working on (in concept and reality) with my Iconic Audio mix engineer — to accurately get that analog punch [...]
Article in the Latest Issue of Tape Op
I have an article in the latest issue (May/June 2010) of Tape Op magazine. If you subscribe, check out the End Rant on page 74. This is my fourth article in Tape Op and I’m grateful they continue to support my ideas and articles. Interestingly, the last article was published exactly a year ago, in [...]
keep looking »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!
