And so, he came down Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments.
The stone tablets that spoke the word of God…
Moses was one smart cookie. He chose the right side to be on. Away from demi-gods and mythical godlike figures.
You see, it was cool to worship many different gods back in olden times. But nowadays, not so much.
It’s usually just the Big One.
The G-O-D.
But back then, people worshiped some really cool deities.
One-eyed Odin with his hammer-throwing son Thor.
(That’s a particular favorite of mine…)
The falcon-headed sun-god Ra.
Poseidon, the god of the sea. Seriously, this guy created islands out of earthquakes. That’s one powerful trident he has if you ask me.
Some cooky gods running around Europe back then. Personally, I love all that old mythology. It’s like the superheroes of their time, all with special powers and domains. They’ve even turned one of them into a full-fledged superhero, my brother Thor over there.
But they’ve all faded away into history, with only the big one left. And Moses lead the way with the Commandments.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
The first commandment paved the way for monotheism, the belief in only the One True God.
Monotheism brought many people together, even of different faiths.
That got me thinking about the word monotheism.
Isn’t that exactly what we audio engineers need.
A belief in mono? A reminder that even though the coolest of stereo effects can create some amazing sounds they’re worthless if they don’t work in mono.
Stereo widening can play tricks on you if you put too much faith in it. It can ruin your mix if you don’t check it in mono.
Mono is the true judgement of whether a mix sounds good or not.
If it doesn’t work in mono, then the stereo effects aren’t worth it.
Don’t pray for that stereo delay to work on every speaker, radio station and playback system out there.
Have mono tell you. Mono doesn’t lie.
“Thou shalt not stray from mono.”
Learn more about my Commandments of mixing with Mixing Strategies:
Image by: Lord Jim
