Ep086: Bernie Grundman & The Art of Record Mastering
The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds
Nate Goyer
4.7 • 579 Ratings
🗓️ 10 July 2017
⏱️ 80 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Bernie Grundman is credited on over 3000 records including Carole King's "Tapestry", Michael Jackson's "Thriller", Prince's "Purple Rain" and the Blue Note vinyl reissues to name a few. Today Bernie will share his story and give us insight on what makes a good record sound good. He's an absolute master craftsman at the top of his field, let's listen and learn.
If you like records, just starting a collection or are an uber-nerd with a house-full of vinyl, this is the podcast for you. Nate Goyer is The Vinyl Guide and discusses all things music and record-related.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The first step is to pour a thin layer of molten wax onto a hot plate, the beginning of the master record. |
| 0:08.6 | A hot flame melts all bubbles and floors out of the wax, which is of the purest possible grade. |
| 0:14.4 | This is done in a sealed, dust-proof, and air-conditioned room where the temperature is thermostatically controlled. |
| 0:22.5 | A second going over with the flame, and wax is ready for slow and careful cooling, almost ready for the |
| 0:28.0 | recording of the music. Meticulous examination ensures smooth perfection before the wax is |
| 0:35.0 | passed through a special slot to the recording room. |
| 0:38.0 | The perfect wax is put on the turntable. |
| 0:40.7 | A cutting point called a stylus is adjusted, and everything is ready to record again the most popular selection ever caught on wax. |
| 1:04.3 | Well, hey everyone, welcome to this week's episode of The Vinyl Guide, the podcast for fans and collectors of vinyl records. |
| 1:10.3 | And this week we have on the Vinyl Guide, a guy whose name you likely have on many of the LPs of your collection, audio and record |
| 1:11.7 | mastering engineer, Bernie Grunman. Now, Bernie is extremely well known in the music world |
| 1:16.4 | for his brilliant ear and his techniques for translating the artist's vision into its final |
| 1:21.6 | form, be it on tape, digital, or vinyl. Now, Bernie is the guy who top artists and record labels call when they need |
| 1:28.8 | the utmost care for their audio master, working with the likes of Pink Floyd, the Blue Note |
| 1:33.6 | record label, Prince, and Michael Jackson. We'll speak to Bernie about his history, how he became |
| 1:38.4 | an audio mastering engineer, and what makes a great vinyl record sound the way it does. Bernie's |
| 1:43.9 | going to drop some serious science on the art of record mastering, |
| 1:47.0 | how he approaches a project like the Blue Note Vinyl Reissues, |
| 1:50.0 | his experience in cutting Michael Jackson's thriller, and much, much more. |
| 1:54.0 | And this week's episode of The Vinyl Guide is brought to you by groove washer.com. |
| 1:58.0 | The world's greatest manual record cleaning system now has a little brother, |
| 2:02.2 | the groove washer stylus brush. Keep your stylus debris free and sounding its best, |
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