Mastering “30 Trips Around the Sun”

Airshow HQ sat down with mastering engineers David Glasser and Jeffrey Norman to talk about the massive undertaking of “30 Trips Around the Sun,” due to ship out this month. We even got Grateful Dead Archivist David Lemieux to chime in! DL: When we started working on the “30 Trips Around The Sun” box set, […]

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You’re Not Alone – Millions of Analog Audio Recordings Await Digitization

Report from ARSC – Everybody Has Something Ann Blonston represented Airshow’s Restoration Center at the 2015 ARSC conference in Pittsburgh in late May. She describes the event as a entertaining mash-up of archive professionals and obsessive collectors. In these modern times, we have hundreds of thousands of recorded media items available to be listened to […]

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Dave Glasser Spots Positive Trends at AES

I returned from the annual AES (Audio Engineering Society) Convention in Los Angeles, held there after a 12-year hiatus. (AES has dropped San Francisco as a west coast convention site.) I love San Francisco, but it was great to be back in LA where so much of the music, film, and recording industry is based. […]

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Eight Steps to Protect Your Collection From Disaster

The fires and floods that struck Colorado in summer 2013, after a series of devastating wildland fires between 2010 and 2013, raised our awareness about the threats facing our studios and Airshow’s media archive. Recognizing the unpredictability of Mother Nature is one thing, but having a tangible plan to prepare for – and respond to […]

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Quality Control: What and When

Quality Control, or QC, is an important part of the production process. Whether you are making a physical product or a digital one, QC makes sure everything is made as was designed. Many companies will hire a 3rd party to oversee quality control in the production of physical goods, especially if hiring a factory from […]

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How to Plan A Vinyl Release Without Delays and Headaches

Increased demand pushes the supply chain Since 2012, when Nielsen reported that 4.6 million vinyl LPs were sold, vinyl sales have nearly doubled. Nielsen projects 2014 sales over eight million vinyl units. These stats likely undercount indie vinyl releases, or 7” or 10” discs (the smaller projects that many Airshow clients favor). Infographic courtesy of […]

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Is it Time to Rethink Your Master Parts Order?

Many recordings are released these days in several formats – CD, downloads in multiple resolutions and file formats, LP’s, and streaming. While the CD master at 16-bit/44.1 kHz resolution remains the most useful master format, one master does not fit all! With the growth of DIY digital sales platforms and Apple’s Mastered for iTunes (MFiT) […]

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Analog Tape Series, Part 3: Studio Settings and Collaboration

Setting Up Your Studio to Work Efficiently for Tape Recording Now that you have your tape deck and have completed the basic maintenance on it you can take a look at the gain-staging of your whole recording setup. Most professional studio equipment is designed to operate at a nominal +4dBu; when a VU meter on your tape deck or […]

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