Speaks Volumes - A Podcast About Mastering and Life Outside Mastering

Show NotesAbout Our GuestJJ Golden is a mastering and vinyl cutting engineer at Golden Mastering in Ventura, California, the family run studio hisfather John Golden opened in 1992. JJ joined full time in 1998 after training at SAE Technology College in London and working as a technical supervisor there. He mastered the Grammy nominated Black Pumas self titled album, reissues for Sunny Day Real Estate and Band of Horses, and albums for American Music Club, Calexico, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings.Topics We Covered• A childhood spent listening for the details. Growing up around Golden Mastering, riding in his dad's 1964 Ford Econoline van, and learning to hear things like a well placed reverb on a snare hit from the passenger seat• The Tascam 388 years. Buying the eight track reel to reel Porta Studio in 1988 for junior high and high school experimentation, backwards guitar solos, blown channels, and a machine he still owns today• London, SAE, and Pathway Studios. Getting married at 20 and moving to London for a nine month audio engineering course, grading student mixes as a signal flow supervisor, and the 24 hour solo session at the now defunct Pathway Studios that ended with a kick drum that had gone missing for half a song• Coming home to mastering in 1998. Choosing the steadier rhythm of mastering over the unpredictable pace of tracking sessions, and starting full time at his father's studio right as digital was taking over• The hidden zero track. DASH machines, 1630 videotape CD masters, SADiE and Sonic Solutions, and the enhanced CD era trick of hiding reversed audio before Track 1• The global lacquer blank shortage. Test cuts, cutter head overheating, tariffs and supply chain squeezes on lacquer blanks, and how the entire global vinyl industry now depends on a single manufacturer in Japan since the Apollo plant fire in 2020• Taking the limiter off for vinyl. Why a heavily peak limited digital master loses depth and impact on a lathe, and the client conversation that comes with asking a band to hear their record without the squash they fell in love with• New Slang, Garden State, and a run of Grammy nominated records. Hearing The Shins' "New Slang" for the first time while working on the original Oh, Inverted World!, baking half inch tape to restore Band of Horses' "The Funeral" for its 20th anniversary reissue, and a mastering career that includes multiple Grammy nominations• Phone calls, landlines, and life on two wheels. Why a five minute call beats a week of emails, the old school answering machine that keeps work off his personal line, and riding a Triumph through the orange groves near CamarilloLinks• Golden Mastering: https://goldenmastering.com• JJ Golden at Golden Mastering: https://goldenmastering.com/engineers/jj-golden/• The Shins, Oh, Inverted World! (Sub Pop, 2001): https://www.subpop.com/artists/the_shins• Band of Horses, Everything All the Time (20th Anniversary Edition, Sub Pop):https://www.subpop.com/releases/band_of_horses/everything_all_the_time_20th_anniversary_edition• Black Pumas: https://blackpumas.com• Muttering, "Saturday Afternoon" from Love, Keep Me Afraid: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/muttering/1548588841

About Our GuestIdania Valencia is a mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, where she has worked for 11 years, starting as a production engineer for Tom Coyne. Originally from Mexico City, she studied music composition at Academia de Música Fermatta before Full Sail University's recording arts program, and now works out of Sterling's Los Angeles location. Her mastering credits include Sam Smith, Shawn Mendes, Charli XCX, Ariana Grande, Coldplay, and Of Monsters and Men.Topics We CoveredThe backup plan that wasn't. Growing up around music through her non-musician, bohemian father, choosing composition for college, and her parents' insistence on a backup plan that happened to sound like "an engineering" degreeFinding mastering on purpose. Trying recording and a physically demanding, male-dominated live-sound gig first, and being drawn to mastering specifically because it was the mysterious, unexplained part of the processThe resume that got the callback. Applying to every studio in New York, getting turned down by Sterling for an internship, and going in person anyway with a resume in a nice folderTrained by QC, not theory. Years assisting Tom Coyne, mentored by Aya Merrill and Will Quinnell, learning to tell the difference between a mix problem and a mastering problem one distortion at a timeThe moves nobody else can hear. EQ changes so small other engineers insist they're inaudible, but they're the difference between a master getting approved or rejected. Feel and instinct over pure technical processStacking limiters. Why she sometimes runs two or three limiters instead of one, same type or different, for more control than any single limiter gives herLUFS, true peak, and the loud-ref epidemic. Her real-world targets (around -8 to -6 LUFS depending on genre), rarely applying true peak limiting herself, and her nuanced take on loud references: it depends entirely on who the mixer isBurnout, fibromyalgia, and finding balance. The insanely paced years assisting Coyne and then Randy Merrill, the chronic pain that followed, and the therapy and boundary-setting that got her to a healthier placeNYC vs. LA. Sterling's self-contained East Coast culture versus the more open, curious engineering community she's found since moving, and why Mexico City always felt more like LA than New York ever didLinksSterling Sound: https://www.sterling-sound.comIdania Valencia at Sterling Sound: https://www.sterling-sound.com/engineer/idania-valenciaIdania's Mix with the Masters mastering workshop: https://mixwiththemasters.com/masters/idania-valenciaRose Gray, "Club to Your Arms": https://rosegray.lnk.to/clubtoyourarmsAcademia de Música Fermatta: https://www.fermatta.edu.mxFull Sail University: https://www.fullsail.eduMaddie Ettrich: https://www.maddieettrich.com

About Our GuestGreg Obis is a mastering engineer and the owner of Chicago Mastering Service, where he has worked since 2012. He has mastered records for artists on labels including Sub Pop, Matador, ANTI-, Numero Group, Sacred Bones, and International Anthem. He also co-founded Born Yesterday Records and plays guitar and sings in the band Stuck.Topics We CoveredFrom intern to owner. Greg's path from Bennington College and an Electrical Audio internship to offering Bob Weston studio chores in exchange for a foot in the door, then a decade climbing from QC and archiving to a full mastering workloadBuying CMS. How Bob's move to Portugal turned into a handover instead of a shipping container, why building a new room from scratch priced itself out of the running, and the "child emperor" phase of suddenly running the showWearing every hat. Taking over project management, invoicing, and scheduling while keeping his own clients happy, and how coming up through quality control made him a better communicatorRevisions and being the fall guy. Why the mastering engineer, like a monitor engineer, is the last one in the chain and the first to catch blame, and why recall requests are the most valuable education in the businessReference mixes. Greg's listening playlist: "Bastards of Young" by The Replacements, Yes, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kendrick Lamar, and Converge for when he needs something absurdly loud. Plus the legend of a Daft Punk record allegedly mastered twiceLacquer cutting. Learning on Bob's Neumann VMS 70, the fear of a blown cutter head, how cutting changed his digital work, and the great lathe-versus-house-down-payment debate now that the VMS 70 lives in PortugalPeak limiting and loudness. Greg's "limiter on or limiter off" philosophy, asking clients for unlimited mixes, 32-bit float delivery, and talking a client back from the loudness ledge with help from Tone Projects Uni-LWhen to say no. Mostly when it's a mix problem mastering can't solve. Otherwise: offer the professional opinion, then respect that it's their recordLife outside the racks. Stuck's new album Optimizer, touring while running a business, cooking, weightlifting as a third space, and Greg's dream of a gloriously unlistenable side project made purely for the joy of itLinksChicago Mastering Service: https://chicagomasteringservice.comGreg Obis: https://www.gregobis.comGreg's Substack, Live. Laugh. LUFS.: https://livelaughlufs.substack.comStuck, "Sicko" from Optimizer (Exploding In Sound Records): https://stuckchi.bandcamp.com/album/optimizerBorn Yesterday Records: https://www.bornyesterdayrecords.com

Our guest today is Sarah Register, a mastering engineer, from New York City, NY, USA.Sarah has worked with The Shins, Lee “Scratch” Perry, John Mayer, Meshell Ndegeocello, The Donnas, and Wye Oak.We talk about early memories of experiencing music, starting out mastering records in NYC, managing your body and time, how community plays in to work and life, working with Kim Gordon, keeping physically active, and what does success mean?This episode’s music is brought to you by Bel from Philadelphia, PA - USA. For more information on Bel, head to instagram: @iz.furFor more information about Sarah:Check out: https://sarahregister.com/And Instagram: @  _sarah_register

Our guest today is Jeff Lipton, a mastering engineer from Boston, Massachusetts, USA.Jeff has worked with Agnostic Front, Arcade Fire, Click 5, Throwing Muses, Superchunk, The Magnetic Fields, and Andrew Bird.We talk about process/quality control, getting started in the Boston music scene, Fort Apache, working with Stephin Merritt, how it used to be with A&R historically, video chats for mastering sessions, never figuring out a work/life balance, working in and educating clients about spatial audio, and Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies.This episode’s music is brought to you by Valories from Nashville, Tennessee. For more information on Valories, head to instagram: @itsvaloriesFor more information about Jeff:Check out: https://www.peerlessmastering.comAnd Instagram: @peerlessmastering

Our guest today is Chris Gehringer - a mastering engineer from Edgewater, New Jersey. Chris has worked with Dua Lipa, Drake, Ed Sheeran, The 1975, Rihanna, Harry Styles, and Selena Gomez, and is part-owner of Sterling Sound.We talk about getting started at Greene Street Recording, Trutone Records, and the Hit Factory, changes and evolutions in the music industry, teaching newer clients what mastering is and isn’t, caring about your sound and individuality, being cognizant about balancing work and family life, listening to music passively and actively seeking out new music, credits for records, meeting new people and networking, NAMM, struggles in your career, respecting the mix, and your favorite limiters.This episode’s music is brought to you by Plant Dad from Baltimore, Maryland. For more information on Plant Dad, head to instagram: @plantdad_musicFor more information about Chris:Check out: https://sterling-sound.com/engineer/chris-gehringer/And Instagram: @chrisgehringer

Our guest today is Izzy McPhee - a mastering engineer from Bristol, England. Izzy has worked with Dream Wife, Marla Kether, Walt Disco, and COWZ.We talk about getting started as DJ, mentorship, how the virtual mastering house Weird Jungle functions, the community of the Bristol music scene, building a studio in your house, managing routine, working in the box, and accessibility in the music industry.This episode’s music is brought to you by Peter Groppe from New York, New York. For more information on Peter, head to: Instagram: @_petergroppeFor more information about Izzy:Check out: https://www.izzymcpheeaudio.co.ukAnd Instagram: @izzymcpheeaudio

Our guest today is Anna Frick - a mastering engineer from Boulder, Colorado. Anna has worked with Wood & Wire, Billy Strings, John Denver, Clay Street Unit, Della Mae, The Grateful Dead, and Third Man Records.We talk about getting started at AirShow Mastering and the audio industry as a whole, the weight and responsibility of working on Glee, audio restoration with analog tape, being a metadata geek, and actually managing your business.This episode’s music is brought to you by Stevie Matthews from Queens, New York. For more information on Stevie, head to: https://www.mynameissteviematthews.com and Instagram: @stevie_zucchiniFor more information about Anna:Check out: https://allysound.comAnd Instagram: @frickinanna

Our guest today is Simon Lancelot - a mastering engineer from Paris, France. We are also joined by Speaks Volumes’ original creator, Dan Coutant.Simon has worked with Dijon, Mk.gee, Kelela, Hendrix Harris, Abel31, and Hovvdy, and Bren Joy.We talk about working with tape, taking risks and working out of your comfort zone, making pizza, and working with Dijon and mk.gee.This episode’s music is brought to you by Jenna May from Boston, Massachusetts. For more information on Jenna May, head to: https://www.mayroseandmagic.com and Instagram: @mayroseandmagicFor more information about Simon:Check out: https://www.simonlancelotmastering.com/And Instagram: @masterinparis

Our guest today is Amy Dragon - a mastering engineer from Portland, OR.Amy has worked with Big Thief, Sam Prekop, Marisa Anderson & Tara Jane O'Neil, Silversun Pickups, and girlSperm.We talk about how having a background in social work and community advocacy can influence your workflow, cutting lacquers, being a DJ, listening to records as a whole, knowing when to do nothing, and the open-mindedness and kindness of the mastering engineer.This episode’s music is brought to you by Gerecki from Novi Sad, Serbia from their upcoming EP. For more information on Gerecki, head to:https://www.instagram.com/gereckigerecki/For more information about Amy:Check out:https://amydragon.comAnd you can find her on Instagram: @amy__dragon