Mastering is the voodo magic of audio production. Everybody knows of it but few hazard themselves into the subject, leaving mastering up to the professionals. Michael Romanowski is one such professional. He’s been mastering in the Bay area for almost 20 years, doing work with clients such as Norton Buffalo, The Radiators and Dredg to name a few.
I had the opportunity to discuss the creative aspect of mastering, the quality of analog as well as the evolution of the home studio. Due to amount of insight Michael shared with me during our conversation I’ve edited it into two parts, first of which can be read below.
How did your career in audio engineering start?
I played in bands when I was younger, and went to a lot of concerts. After a while I started noticing the sound engineer that was working in the back of the room. I knew he was obviously affecting the sound. And so I started hanging out, and I asked him all sorts of questions. At the same time, the band I was in was trying to do some recording. I started to realize that there were some similarities between the live sound and the recording process.
I kept going and hanging out and asking this live sound guy questions. After bugging him for several months, one night he said, "Hey, I’m going to go take a break. You want to run it for a little bit?" And so I did that a few times. After a little while he said, "I’m taking the night off. Do you want to be the sound guy for the night?" And I said, "Okay, great." Finally he said, "I quit. Do you want to be the house sound guy?" And that’s how I started.
As I started doing live sound, I was also starting in the studio and saw that there were a lot of similarities. I was always the one in the band paying attention to what was going on. Where the mics were being placed, gear and stuff like that.