Session with Bernie Grundman —
mastering Dream Analog for vinyl.
What a thrill to sit and watch the magician do his work. I had never seen the mastering process before and was it an education! Bernie Grundman is an innovative, mastering legend. He added the final touch and that extra sparkle to many of the albums I cherished growing up. It was a true honor to have him care for our music and usher it through the mastering process for vinyl. If you don’t know who he is — check out this list of albums that he’s been involved in.
“Sound does matter” was proven further as I listened to Bernie talk about the power of analog sound. Of course I could not agree more! Much of what I intuited about sound, and why I decided to record all analog, was proven and reflected back to me by him.
Most of the equipment is custom designed to enhance the depth of sound and the listening experience.
To me there is more presence in analog recordings despite any downsides there might appear to be. It’s more holistic to my ears. There’s a lot to SOUND. I don’t think sampling the sound is as good as the whole enchilada. I’m just sayin.
You don’t get what’s referred to as listener fatigue from analog recordings. George Martin, producer for the Beatles, spoke about that in an interview where he said that he could not listen to a CD for very long. Digital recordings can cause Listener Fatigue. Maybe it’s because the in-between sounds are not recorded. A sample is never as good as the original. Again, just sayin!
In the mastering studio in Hollywood, we sat at a console facing a wall of speakers. You can’t see the speakers, it just looks like a wall. It was kind of like going to see the wizard of oz, but in this case… a real wizard.
Dream Analog on vinyl
April 18, 2020.
Recorded, Mixed, Mastered = ALL ANALOG
* Dream Analog will be available on 180g Vinyl, CDs, and as downloads.