The Genius in Not Screwing Things Up
Posted on | January 29, 2009 | 1 Comment
On the heels of yesterday’s post, I’ll add a little p.s. here that sometimes the real skill in life lies in not screwing things up. And the best way to do this is STICK TO THE BASICS. Or, as the adage goes, Keep It Simple, Stupid (K.I.S.S.). Less is more. Call it what you want.
Let’s go to one of my favorite analogies: finances. A few years back, our government thought they had the system wired by deregulating things. All of the sudden, banks are creating these so-called “exotic” financial instruments that — it turns out — no one understands all that well. But, they spec out perfectly on paper. Fast-forward to about six months ago. Oh [Insert expletive here].
In my opinion, the same logic applies to making recordings. All the fancy gizmos — from electronic room equalization to multi-band everything and “one-step mastering in a box” — amount to stuff that looks good on paper. Ignore the laws (whether they be financial or sonic/physical) and sooner or later it will hit the fan.
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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!
January 29th, 2009 @ 2:20 am
Here’s hoping Henry Paulson stays out of the mastering business.