Politics Unusual
Readers of this blog know that, from time-to-time, I veer away from things audio and touch on politics. Now’s another one of those times. I can’t say how glad I am at how the Obama presidency is unfolding. Critics will no-doubt stay focused on his economic stimulus package, calling it undisciplined spending. But there are [...]
Speak the Language
As audio engineers, we can sometimes get caught up in geek-speak: ratio, threshold, decibel, crest factor, linear phase, etc. But a lot of that is boring garble to clients. A lot of what helps me relate to musicians is my knowledge of…well, music. Making a Tony Levin reference when someone refers to the good low-end [...]
Details…and Other Important Stuff
I just finished mastering an EP for a local producer…or so I thought. I posted the ref. tracks and got this response: “These sound amazing Paul. Can I pick up a disc from you this evening?” To which I replied, “of course”. So, I set about cutting the disc, then error-checking and a final listen. [...]
Setting Up Your Monitors (part 2)
OK, so a few months back (!) I posted Setting Up Your Monitors (part 1), with the intent of doing part 2 (and 3, if necessary) soon thereafter. The road to hell…I’m tellin’ ya. I was looking for a cable connector online today, and came across this video on Crutchfield’s web site. Although a bit [...]
Done Doesn’t Always Mean Done
I work with a musician-producer from Pennsylvania on a pretty regular basis. He’s a well-known musician who works with some international groups and players, so the work he sends me is very well recorded and played…pretty high-profile stuff. We’ve been working together for a few years and he asked me to master his solo album [...]
Hype…er, Critical
It came to my attention recently that a lot of my blog posts end with, “…and that’s why you need ZenMastering brand professional mastering.” So I thought I’d take a minute to dispel what may appear as self-congratulatory hype. The main point of this blog is to pass on audio recording tidbits and advice from [...]
Balancing the Many and Few
There’s a great adage: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.” As students we see things with an open mind. As we gain expertise we tend to set up the parameters of probability. Unfortunately, that often turns into the perception of possibility. In some ways this is [...]
Right Tool for the Job
In mastering, it’s important to have the right tool for the job. Sometimes the tools are expensive, but a lot of tools I rely on are inexpensive or even free. It doesn’t matter how much they cost. What matters is that they do what I need them to with accuracy and consistency. I was in [...]
The Subjective Side of Mastering
I’ve mentioned before that mastering is objective — in that you’re analyzing music in a calibrated environment — and it’s also subjective, in as much as my opinion about how much bass is enough may not be the same as my client’s opinion. If a client asks for minor balance adjustments, I try to accommodate [...]
Lessons of Organic
Things that are true – REALLY TRUE – transcend from one concept to another. Like what we learn from organic farming vs. using pesticides. We’re learning that organic, sustainable farming is more effective than using pesticides; mainly because it works with nature, not against it. In audio recording a similar philosophy applies. If you work [...]
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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!
