By David Glasser, Airshow Founder and Chief Engineer Any fan of the Grateful Dead would be thrilled – and a little nervous – if asked to remaster some of the best-known studio recordings of the past 45 years. Workingman’s Dead was my first real (and lasting) introduction to the band, and I wanted to be sure […]
Restoring “The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records”
By David Glasser, Airshow Founder and Chief Engineer Airshow received a call from Dean Blackwood of Revenant Records in January, 2013. We last worked with Revenant over ten years ago on the Grammy-winning “Screamin’ and Hollerin’ the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton,” and prior to that on projects by Captain Beefheart, the Stanley Brothers, […]
Surround mastering: The Grateful Dead’s “Sunshine Daydream”
On August 1st moviegoers will be able to see a film that Grateful Dead fans have been eagerly awaiting for decades. Though it’s long-circulated as a bootleg, Sunshine Daydream is finally getting the official release it deserves. The film is a documentary of a Grateful Dead concert from August 27, 1972 that was a benefit […]
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 […]
Analog Tape Series, Part 2: How to Keep Your Tape Deck in Top Condition
Care and Maintenance OK, now you own a cool new (old) analog tape deck. The first thing to know is that tape recorders should be aligned before every session! The tape path should be cleaned every time you change a reel of tape, or more frequently. I often clean the heads before playback of each […]
Analog Tape Series, Part 1: What to Know Before You Buy
Over the last couple years, I’ve had a remarkable number of projects come through my mastering studio originating on tape. Some of these projects involve restoration on past work of notable artists including the Grateful Dead and Doc Watson, but many are new recordings by artists intrigued by the unique quality of analog sound and […]
Multi-tasking Masters: Vinyl + Mastered for iTunes + HDTracks
Airshow clients’ interest in Apple’s “Mastered for iTunes” quality initiative is growing daily. Did you know that the same 24 bit master we create for your iTunes submission can be used to create additional high-res formats for sale to your fans? A 24 bit master file delivers high-quality audio to listeners and can be distributed in multiple ways including: […]
Record Store Day is April 20th!
Record Store Day rolls around on April 20th, and once again Vanguard Records has some interesting offerings from their eclectic catalog, chosen in a listener poll. Titles include Festival: The Newport Folk Festival 1965; Blues at Newport 1963; Country Joe and The Fish, I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die; Buddy Guy, Hold That Plane, and Big Mama Thornton, Jail, all remastered from the original master tapes […]