We Love Catch Phrases
Posted on | January 24, 2010 | No Comments
As people, we are very catch phrase oriented. Political campaigns, TV shows, and advertising pretty much run on them. If you can come up with something that people find memorable and applicable to a situation, that will form their opinion more than research or fact.
We do it in audio, too. One catch phrase that was pretty much borne out of the digital era was “analog warmth”. Before digital, do you think anyone talked about “warmth”? They were focused on getting the noise floor down and retaining clarity through numerous analog versions, from mix to master. They were focused on all the stuff about analog that bugged them, not its glorious warmth.
Yet, somehow, now all we talk about is “analog warmth”. As I’ve written before, the best analog gear is more transparent than colored…though it does still impart an intangible magic to the linearity of digital. But nobody wants to hear about “analog transparency”. That sounds like something from the Obama White House.
Truth be told, I wouldn’t want to go back to the analog days of recording. The flexibility of digital allows for so much more creativity — if even just to try an idea — that it makes it worth it. The key is to have good analog equipment to integrate into your digital gear. To take it outside the box to get the best of analog, but bring it back to digital to allow for flexibility.
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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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