Random Things Relate to Music
Posted on | October 27, 2008 | No Comments
There are a lot of things in life that, in essence, have nothing to do with music or mastering…but have helped me become a better musician and mastering engineer.
When I got out of college I moved to San Francisco and got a job at Peet’s Coffee & Tea as a barista. At the time it was just a paycheck while my band gigged and tried to move further down our music biz path. In the process, though, I learned how to make a great latte (among other fineries…such as how to pull an espresso and the art of Turkish coffee). To this day I relate a good mix (and the process of mastering) to making the perfect latte: milk at the bottom (low end), espresso in the middle (midrange) and foam on top (high frequencies). If any one of them is out of proportion, you’re screwed.
My interest in Zen philosophy and yoga is another good example. Both have given me a philosophical vantage point where I try to achieve a balance of sound with as few steps as possible. Some people might think of this as “audiophile”, but I think that puts a connotation on it I’m probably not interested in having. I’ll do whatever needs to be done to get the sound I’m looking for (some of which might make an audiophile cringe), but I always see the challenge to get from A to B as efficiently as possible.
Although I’m always interested in learning something new about music (and the craft of mastering), I’ve found that other areas of life have given me perspectives I probably couldn’t have realized if I hadn’t gone down those paths.
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From Ohm to Om reflects the opinions of mastering engineer Paul Abbott, owner of San Diego's ZenMastering.
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