bernie grundman mastering

local LS3/5a guru joseph ki, like me, is full of admiration for american bernie grundman as a mastering guru. in fact, jo thinks that bernie is the best of the lot, besting even doug sax of the mastering lab.

i called bernie grundman just now to ask about his rate. and he told me that it is going to cost USD2,600 (RM9,100) for 10 songs. expensive, but not exorbitant. our budget is already bursting at the seams, just how could we afford a mastering project that costs RM10,000, more than double of that asked by hong kong mastering guru, keith yip? we seriously need to crunch some numbers. i am very game cos bernie grundman is both a brand name and a credibility pull. i want to look for more investors.

budget constraint also prevents us from making two albums at one go (one for regine, one for winnie). jin liang suggested to have both the singers in one album, sharing half of the 12 songs. after some serious thinking, i don't think it is a good idea. first, it might lose focus and blur the image of both the singers. it also invites unhealthy comparison and competition. second, the singers themselves may not like it (we haven't consulted regine and winnie yet). we really have to think carefully about our strategy.

roger wang will be coming to town this weekend to perform at bangkok jazz and we are riding on the opportunity to call our first meeting among the producers, musicians and singers this saturday afternoon. apart from saying hi to each other, we would brainstorm on all aspects of the project.

also to set expectations, the whole team is coming to my house to listen to some recordings played thru my system. in particular, we want roger to compare his own recordings (double take albums) with some outstanding recordings in my collection, to identify weaknesses and shortcomings.

to add more spice to my weekend, i am entering the studio to witness guitar supremo jamie wilson (another guitarist we engage for our project) doing his guitar recording for an unrelated album.

fun!