Looking towards the future, Howie even has a mastering app (with his face on it)! 3. In 2011, he made the move to the west coast and set up his own studio in Laurel Canyon. The king of the 1990’s sound, and one of the instigators of the loudness war, he’s unquestionably one of the most influential engineers out there. Howie got his start mastering at Masterdisk in 1977, and has since mastered innumerable iconic artists and records such as Sonic Youth, RHCPs Blood Sugar Sex Magic, Smashing Pumpkins, RUN DMC and Nirvana’s Nevermind. – Sterling Sound president Murat Aktar on the art of mastering. Mastering ‘rockstar’ Bob Ludwig was even president for a time.ĭoes the mastered version, sound better, not just louder? Does the music, have more impact, to the average listener? Does it better convey what the producer, engineer and artist were trying to capture in the recording? Their engineer lists boasts some the biggest names in the industry, including guys like Ted Jensen, Greg Calbi, Tom Coyne, and the late George Marino.

Sterling is one of the most influential mastering houses of our day and at any given time, 30% of the American charts are likely to include Sterling masters. Sterling Soundįounded in NYC in the late 1960’s the airwaves at Sterling Sound have resonated with the music of everyone from Bob Dylan to Beyonce. Let’s learn a little bit more about each one! 1. Here’s the worlds 13 best mastering studios: This post is an homage to these masters of mastering and an introduction to the unfamiliar names that have polished the world’s favorite records. Incredibly, about 90% of the world’s biggest hits from the past 70 years can be linked back to 10-15 studios.

Mastering music service