Total Sonic Media

01/22/2020

Gypsy Woman (She Is Homeless)

Around 27 years ago, working in Baltimore at Multimedia Productions, in my first job in a studio as an assistant, I was assigned to an evening session for the Basement Boys, who were just coming off a major success of producing a national hit by Crystal Waters - for the track "Gypsy Woman". I was soon dismissed out of the room though, as the Basement Boys had brought their own much more capable engineer along, and they just wanted access to Mutlimedia's Digidesign Sound Designer II workstation - one of maybe a few existing in Baltimore at the time that could do the incredible for the time act of editing and processing a stereo track of audio without leaving the digital realm. Luckily I didn't let that bit of discouragement phase me and ended up successfully running a few sessions for the likes of AIM Records and DJ Equalizer ok by myself later on there - but it was kind of nice to go full circle on this and be able to master an excellent new cover of the track that made the Basement Boys famous for a minute - from Netherlands' amazing Mell & Vintage Future. Check it! ->

https://open.spotify.com/album/6gZZHPyAnstuuEQxWf6skB?highlight=spotify:track:1ernKllF4rTqng0D2TZkHZ

Gypsy Woman (She Is Homeless), an album by Mell & Vintage Future on Spotify

12/23/2019

Total Sonic Media's cover photo

12/23/2019

Total Sonic Media's cover photo

12/23/2019

Always nice to close the year out with an attended session, in this case with Austin based engineer/producer/bassist Gregg White, who I have done unattended work for his previous band Western Youth. It was great to put a face to a name and get some engineers hang time for a couple of singles for his latest project "My Golden Calf." Now comes to the sprint to the finish in the next day and a half until Winter Break - just have an album and two singles to go.

12/23/2019

Silent Stereo Records Christmas Spectacular, by Various Artists

For your listening pleasure - some awesome Holiday music recorded lovingly onto analog tape by the retro-pop label Silent Stereo and mastered by yours truly at Total Sonic Media - wishing everybody a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Blissful Yalda, Ecstatic Saturnalia, Joyful Kwanzaa and a Blessed New Year to ALL!!

https://silentstereorecords.bandcamp.com/album/silent-stereo-records-christmas-spectacular

14 track album

12/22/2019

Tilting at Windmills, by Charles Emmett Freeman

Some beautiful and challenging music for your Solstice from the amazingly talented multi-instrumentalist Charles Emmett Freeman - honored to have gotten to master this at Total Sonic Media - check it! https://charles-emmett-freeman.bandcamp.com/album/tilting-at-windmills

7 track album

12/13/2019

The latest end of year upgrade for Total Sonic Media's gear list is a Compulab Airtop M - a completely silent fanless computer running Windows 10 on a fast i7 chip - to replace my studio's older self-built main capture DAW that is still running Windows 7 (which is finally going to stop getting security updates in April 2020). Combined with our even smaller fanless playback DAW computer from EITX we put into place a few years ago, we will now be able to have absolutely zero fan noise in here, without the need for a machine closet or isolation boxes either. Onward and upward!

11/22/2019

The AntiMatter Suite, by Sulu and Excelsior

I've been enormously blessed in my job to get to work with some incredibly talented artists, and nothing makes me feel better than also getting their return business with them entrusting me with the final polish for their creations. In this case, this is the second full album and third release I've had the honor of mastering for Steve Mallorca, the mastermind vocalist/multi-instrumentalist/producer behind the "Sulu and Excelsior" project. This is a truly unique hybrid that gives a retro-future soul, r&b latin hip-hop vision - with vibes of Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye hanging out with the likes of Dr. Octagon, Cachao and A Tribe Called Quest. Highly recommended! ->

https://suluandexcelsior.com/album/the-antimatter-suite

13 track album

11/11/2019

One Fader to rule them all ;)

09/06/2019

Vinyl Is Poised to Outsell CDs For the First Time Since 1986

It's less of a sign of how well vinyl is doing and more of a sign of how poorly CD's are selling - but vinyl is regaining its reign as king of the tangible audio playback formats once again ->

In the near future, the revenue generated by record sales is likely to surpass the revenue generated by CDs

08/06/2019

A mastering studio from the 1950's ->

07/31/2019

Happy 93rd B'day to a fellow immigrant to Texas, Mr. Rupert Neve. Always a pleasure to use one of his designs (the Amek "Medici The Equaliser") in my daily work. Thank you for making the world a better sounding place! :)

93 years young. Happy Birthday, Mr. Rupert Neve!

07/18/2019

Congratulations goes out to the amazing and talented The Dead South for achieving certified Gold Record status in Canada, for their single “In Hell I’ll Be In Good Company” - recorded and mixed by the super talented Orion Paradis - and mastered by Steven Berson at Total Sonic Media.

https://www.thedeadsouth.com/

07/17/2019

Janet LaBelle's "I Only See You" Is Spare, Haunting Ballad (premiere)

Always awesome to see some super talented friends that I've gotten to work with are getting some well deserved notice. Here is singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Janet LaBelle's latest video for a poignant ukulele driven ballad featured by PopMatters - mastered by Steven Berson at Total Sonic Media - and very well worth a listen and watch - check it! ->

With the music inspired by Roy Orbison and visuals influenced by French cinema, "I Only See You" spotlights Janet LaBelle's abilities as a powerhouse vocalist.

07/08/2019

Barrio Manouche - El Joven (Official Video)

Missed this awesome video when it first came out in March - but here's a truly cool mix of gypsy jazz ala Django Reinhardt blended with neo-retro Cab Collaway big band swing, a dash of flamenco and a modern groove heavy vibe - Barrio Manouche - excellent production by Juan Manuel Caipo, and mastered at Total Sonic Media by Steven Berson - check it! ->

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOw-KABSi9I

Barrio Manouche new single “El Joven” is now available worldwide. Stream and download “El Joven”: https://onerpm.lnk.to/ElJoven See Barrio Manouche live: htt...

07/01/2019

This visit was back in April but just got sent this pic so posting it now. Was great to get to hang out with some one I've known from exchanges on the SAWStudio forums for probably 20 years now but had previously never met in person. Carl Grout is an excellent producer, recording and broadcast engineer and voice-over artist - who has worked with the likes of Andy Williams, Chuck Berry, BB King, Billy Ray Cyrus, The Beach Boys, Pam Tillis, Ray Price, Rick Springfield, Lawrence Welk, Tony Orlando, and Three Dog Night among numerous others - so it was indeed an honor and a blast to get to get an afternoon hangout of some shop talk and listening to some great stories when he came by here. You can check out Carl's work at http://creativetrax.com

06/28/2019

¿Qué Pasó?, by La Perla

Honored and privileged to have gotten to master a couple more tracks for the super talented women of La Perla, who bring a modern update to the folkloric vocal and percussion music of Colombia - highly recommended!

https://laperlabogota.bandcamp.com/track/qu-pas

from the album ¿Qué Pasó?

06/27/2019

Got a nice package in today's mail. As noted back in February, the Grammy went to Buddy Guy for "Best Traditional Blues Album" of 2018 (and hard to argue with him most deservedly getting it) - but lucky for me The Recording Academy still sends you a "participation trophy" (or rather a nice frameable certificate) just for working on a nominated recording. Big thanks to Cedric Burnside, Brian Jay, and Single Lock Records for entrusting me with putting the final polish on their amazing music - and thanks again to the members of the Recording Academy that gave some props to some truly real deal, straight from the heart blues. #CedricBurnside #Grammys

06/15/2019

I am old skool, in that even though I get to listen to my clients' projects in 24bit hi-res glory before anyone else does, I still always appreciate getting copies of any tangible formats they decide to still go to (whether CD, vinyl, or in a few real throwback cases, cassette) as I love having the artwork and liner notes as well. So - it is a happy day whenever one of them sends me something in the mail for my collection - but even more appreciated when they send me something all the way from the Netherlands. Here's one of my favorite recent projects - some excellent slammin' neo-soul that I think fans of Adele and Roisin Murphy would definitely appreciate, featuring the pairing of ultra-talented singer/songwriter Mell with the skilled production and playing of the Vintage Future team. Recommended! And thank you Nico Brandsen for sending this my way!

https://www.mellvintagefuture.nl/

05/04/2019

Took advantage of FabFilter's recent 40% sale and added 2 excellent digital processors (yet more eq and de-esser options among many) to Total Sonic Media's massive arsenal. The FabFilter Pro-L2 has for a while been my main go-to for limiting chores, so the FabFilter folks certainly know how to code some great sounding stuff. Onward and upward!

04/26/2019

TopSong voor Mell & Vintage Future

Congratulations to the amazingly talented Mell & Vintage Future for hitting #1 in Netherland's NPO Radio2 charts with their latest single "Forever" - mastered at Total Sonic Media by Steve Berson. Check it! ->

We kunnen volgende week extra genieten van 'Forever' van Mell & Vintage Future, want het is TopSong!

04/18/2019

Throwback Thursday pic from 9 years ago - doing the all analog mastering for Bernie Worrell's "Standards" LP at the old Total Sonic Media in Greenpoint Brooklyn. They recorded to 24 track 2", mixed to 2 track 30ips 1/2" - and then I used only analog processing and gain from the Manley Backbone, captured back on one of Dan Zellman's Studer's to 2 reels of 1/4' 2 track at 15 ips - which then got transferred to lacquer masters at Salt Mastering by Paul Gold. The audio never touched a digital anything - and the LP sounds really great to my ear as well.
Tomorrow would have been Bernie's 75th Birthday. RIP Bernie - and thanks for the amazing music while you were here.

https://www.amazon.com/Standards-BERNIE-WORRELL/dp/B0052M31H0

04/10/2019

Songwriters, you have a choice

Great info for songwriters and music creators very well worth the read ->

If you make music for a living, you might have been aware of the passage of the Music Modernization Act last year. The law sets up a…

03/08/2019

I'd like to celebrate International Women's Day by mentioning some of the amazingly talented mastering engineers out there that are putting out excellent sounding work while dealing with an industry that has historically been a boys club - thank you for helping artists to put out some compelling works of art and often inspiring me to up my game as well.
Darcy Proper, Emily Lazar, Kimberly Rosen, Heba Kadry, Margaret Luthar, Piper Payne, Maria Rice, Mandy Parnell, Sarah Register, Stephanie Villa, Patricia Sullivan, Aya Merrill, Amy Dragon, Ellen Fitton, Anna Frick, Maria Triana, and whoever I have missed - more power to you all and keep doing what you are doing!

03/05/2019

The latest studio upgrade from some awesome makers based out of our old home of Greenpoint, Brooklyn - Total Sonic Media can now work from mixes on DSD (at 2.8MHz & 5.6MHz sample rates) as well as playback your PCM mixes up to 192kHz with some extra elegance. Thanks to Alan Silverman for an awesome deal on this box! Onward and upward :)

03/01/2019

Latest compiled sales figures from 2018 from the RIAA. Streaming service revenue (via subscriptions and ads) is now making up a majority 75% share, digital downloads have dropped to a low of 11%, physical formats (CD, vinyl, cassette, etc.) holding out at 12%, and synchronization licensing (to film/video/broadcast) at 3%. What a rapid change from just 10 years ago. Thanks to John Strohm from making me aware of this report.

/https://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/RIAA-2018-Year-End-Music-Industry-Revenue-Report.pdf

01/27/2019

My current favorite "plugin" for dialing in a little bit of tube saturation. Why "emulate" it when you can just actually do it, is my take on this ;)

12/22/2018

What were the best Austin records of 2018? We take a long look

Austin has a pretty amazing local music scene - so given all the excellent releases from the past year it is truly nice to have the honor of seeing that 2 out of the top 10 in Austin 360's "Best of 2018" list were mastered here at Total Sonic Media. Congrats to Western Youth and Andrew Nolte on making this list!

https://www.austin360.com/entertainmentlife/20181220/what-were-best-austin-records-of-2018-we-take-long-look

Austin360 On The Record is a weekly roundup of new, recent and upcoming releases by local and Austin-associated recording artists. This week, we take a

12/07/2018

Congratulations to Cedric Burnside and everyone at Single Lock Records for the Grammy nomination of "Benton County Relic" in the category of Best Traditional Blues Album - which I was honored and privileged to get to master at Total Sonic Media. Really nice to see an incredibly talented artist that is truly making music straight from the heart and the gut get some recognition for his excellent work from my fellow Recording Academy members. Guess we need to decide whether we are going to come out to LA in February to see if Cedric gets the award in person. :)
#CedricBurnside #Grammys

12/04/2018

♫ I Only See You - Janet LaBelle. Listen @cdbaby

Always a great honor to get to work on the music from super talented friends and past collaborators - in this case an EP from the most excellent singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Janet LaBelle - check it!- https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/janetlabelle3

Click to listen at CDBaby

11/22/2018

Sneaking in mastering a few tracks before tonight's dinner. Extremely grateful for all the amazing musicians and producers who have entrusted me with polishing their creations and enabling me to be my own boss. Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!

10/18/2018

Fellow Recording Academy members - for your Grammy consideration in the category of "Best Traditional Blues Album" is this release from Cedric Burnside, the grandson of the legendary R.L. Burnside, that Total Sonic Media's Steven Berson was privileged and honored to get to master. Cedric brings some truly deep and gritty spirit onto all the tracks on this and to me without a doubt deserves some accolades for his work - thanks in advance for your support!

https://cedricburnside.bandcamp.com/album/benton-county-relic

09/15/2018

TSM - Vinyl Pressing

Just did an update to my list of what to the best of my knowledge is all the actual vinyl record pressing plants in the world - with a number of plants opening this past year in Canada, USA, China, Taiwan, Austria, France, Sweden, etc. - amazing to see the fine art of squeezing pvc between a couple nickle stampers continues its resurgence. :)

http://totalsonicmedia.com/vinylplants.htm

09/15/2018

♫ Don't Leave Home (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Michael Montes. Listen @cdbaby

Always a pleasure to get to work on the soundtracks from brilliant NY based composer Michael Montes - this one for a work that goes from ethereal to eerie for Michael Tully's horror flick "Don't Leave Home" - audio mastered at Total Sonic Media by Steve Berson - https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/michaelmontes13

Click to listen at CDBaby

09/06/2018

We're blessed to get to work with some amazingly talented artists here that while maybe being lesser known are creating truly excellent and compelling new music. :)

08/28/2018

Total Sonic Media's cover photo

08/28/2018

current view

08/09/2018

A little "Sheen" can sometimes save the day - #RupertNeveTheDesigner #MediciTheEqualiser

07/25/2018

Volume 2, by The Miracle Sweat

These days living in a near instant digital world I very often see the albums I worked on up the very next day after I send the files out - but once in a while I send it out and get to wonder whatever happened to it once it was out in the ether. This is a case of the latter - I think I worked on this last year and just got notice that this excellent bit of funk, soul and rock out of Toronto Canada via "The Miracle Sweat" has just seen the light of day - check it for some sweet grooves and tight songs, mastered at Total Sonic Media by Steve Berson ->
https://themiraclesweat.bandcamp.com/album/volume-2

8 track album

07/17/2018

Studio 601

I've been honored and privileged to get to master a bunch of projects from the hands of super talented recording and mix engineers Eric Harrison and Michael Ingber - if you are looking for a comfortable studio in ATX to record your next project in the tracks I have heard from Studio 601 has been consistently excellent - highly recommended! Nice to see them in a well deserved feature they did for ADAM Audio - check it ->

http://studio601recording.com/

Here's the full video guys! We're so honored to feature these speakers for ADAM Audio, they're incredible!