Like-Minded Notions
It’s been my experience that good ideas are often universally applicable. One idea that makes a lot of sense is the concept that The Vanguard Group espouses: building your nest egg more efficiently by paying out less in fees. Or, keeping more of what you have. In the game of compound interest, it can make [...]
Cables
So here’s a subject worth broaching…but probably one that you’ll never get a definitive answer on. You get a great collection of outboard gear. But then you patch it together with cable from Radio Shack? Of course not, but have you seen the price of boutique cable in the audiophile market? It can easily be [...]
how to make it LOUDER
This isn’t going to be a holier-than-thou rant by a mastering engineer about people who always want their music louder. It’s a realistic reply for people who do want louder mixes: make your recordings clean and good. Now, by “clean and good” I mean two things. First, make sure that you recording/tracking is clean. Is [...]
Drums From Hell
…no, not the bad kind. The good kind. I’m just finishing up mastering a San Diego-based singer-songwriter’s album. When I first heard it I said to him, “wow, these drums sound good.” He kind of had a coy look when he said, “oh, those are Drums From Hell samples.” The funny thing is that when [...]
Know Your Place
In life, everyone has their place. The problem is, most people have a bit of a distorted idea of what their place is. Generally, they put themselves higher in the food chain than they actually belong. This was made evident a few years ago when I saw a study about the wealthiest Americans. Over 7% [...]
Adolescent Pride
I went to get my mail today and saw a package marked par avon/royal mail. At first I though, “FINALLY! That investment with the Nigerian merchant banker is paying its dividends.” But when I opened the package I saw it was a CD that I mastered about a year ago for a band called OneDayLife. [...]
Glad People Are Reading
Just taking a moment of repose here to say thanks to everyone who’s reading. This blog doesn’t get a lot of comments, but people mention in phone calls and other e-mails that they enjoy it. One person recently even mentioned they’d read “months of archives.” It touches the heart…and makes me think that I’m not [...]
Compromise and Your Gut
One of the topics that came up at the NXNP music panel I sat on last weekend was posed by a well-known San Diego DJ. He said that up-and-coming musicians need to be ready and willing to compromise their art on the road to making commercial progress. I agree, but added that there’s a fine [...]
Dubious About Dubai
I saw a 60 Minutes piece on Dubai last night. Like everyone else, I’ve heard LOTS about this emirate and was curious to learn more about it. Perhaps it’s the way 60 Minutes portrayed it (and its prime minister), but Dubai struck me as a big version of Las Vegas: an “add water” oasis in [...]
NXNP, post mortem
Sat on the Music Business 101 panel yesterday @ NXNP. It was a very positive experience. I got the chance to see some old acquaintances (Ben Moore and Ken Leighton) as well as meet some new folks. I was really impressed with the “togetherness” of the whole group. Everyone had something of value to add [...]
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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!
