July 11th, 2005 is a date I will always remember. I can hardly believe it was 20 years ago. It was my first day as a full-time mastering engineer. I tell the story often during public speaking engagements responding to the "How did you get your start?" question. It begins in December of 2004 during a mastering session with Kris Kimura for his Shue's Cafe record.
Repairing a power supply can seem daunting, but it's a valuable skill for any studio tech, especially for those working wi
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A question that is asked to me routinely several times a week is, "Why do my track titles show up as 'Audio Track 1' etc. . . when I put my CD in the computer?" There are several explanations for this occurrence.
SoundExchange is the non-profit performance rights organization that collects royalties from satellite radio, internet radio, cable TV music channels and similar platforms for streaming sound recordings. SoundExchangeis the sole entity in the United States to collect and distribute these digital performance royalties for artists, master rights owners, and independent artists who record and own their masters.
Where does the album artwork on my player come from? It is a common question in this digital age. Various players, like iTunes and Window Media Player, download the album artwork (along with the track names) from an online database like the Gracenote CDDB or the All Music Guide. This information is not actually on a CD itself, but foun
Run by Nielsen, Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada. They have been tracking sales since March of 1991. It is a common misconception that RIAA uses the Soundscan information to track sales and certify Gold and Platinum sales etc. They do not.
Austin-based mastering studio, Terra Nova Digital Audio, Inc., will celebrate 20 years in the music industry this week.
Thousands of musicians, including Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Marcia Ball, Johnny Cash, Eric Johnson, John Lennon and other well-known artists, have made their way through the studio, which opened in October of 1990.
Today I'm mastering my 1,000th album. It's a project that was recorded at Cristobal studios, owned by my friend Chris Kipp. Having a lot of fun and excited about the future.
Blue Book is the name given to the Enhanced Music CD or CD-Plus (a dual session yellow/red books) format. Its name comes from the series of books, also called the 'Rainbow Books' that define all compact disc formats. The first session on the disc is a red book session and can be played on any CD player. The second session is a yellowbook session. This can be any data readable by a computer. There is almost no limit to what you can add to you audio CD release.
Yellow Book is the name given to the data compact disc (a common CD-ROM) format. Its name comes from the series of books, also called the 'Rainbow Books' that define all compact disc formats. It was developed by the creator of the compact disc, Sony/Phillips, and is now one of the most common CD formats.
