Exclusive blog for PMFC Global by Bob Katz - Grammy winning Mastering Engineer and author of hugely popular Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science Heinlein’s Aphorism Applied To Audio I distinctly remember a passage from a Science Fiction book I read as a kid, Robert A. Heinlein’s
By Rich Steve Beck Knackered doesn’t even cover it. You’re slogging through endless hours, eyes stinging from the screen, back aching from the chair, and for what? A pittance that barely covers the bills. Life’s a relentless treadmill when you’re overworked and underpaid. The days blur
By Rich Steve Beck Fists tighten at the thought of that rotten moment someone stepped over the line. Life’s a tangle sometimes. Work rubs the wrong way. Old rows bubble beneath. Unresolved anger’s a heavy load. A friend gets a sharp word for no reason. A petty slight
By Rich Steve Beck You’re knackered, hunched over your desk, stuck on that one moment you wish you could redo. Life chucks stuff at you. Work grinds you down. Choices you didn’t make—or made wrong—stick like mud. Regret’s a heavy bugger. You sink hours into
By Rich Steve Beck I’ve spent hours obsessing over what people think of me. A comment on how I run my community, who I've recently liked or followed, which person I've added as a friend to network with, and critiques of how correct or incorrect
By Rich Steve Beck I’ll admit it—there are nights when I lie awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering if I’m the only one who can’t switch off. My mind races through unfinished tracks, unanswered emails, and that one note I still need to fix. The irony
By Rich Steve Beck I’ll admit it—there are days when my brain feels like it’s moving through molasses. I sit down to work on a track or sketch out an idea, and nothing comes. Not because I’m uninspired, but because my mind is too foggy to
By Rich Steve Beck You’ve probably been there—lying awake at night, replaying an unresolved issue or stressing over something you didn’t quite finish during the day. I know I have. In the music world, where creativity and deadlines often collide, letting problems linger can feel like carrying
By Rich Steve Beck You’ve probably felt it—the exhaustion of pretending to be “normal” when your brain operates on an entirely different wavelength. I know I have. Masking is like wearing an invisible suit that doesn’t quite fit, one you feel forced to keep on just to
By Rich Steve Beck Burnout doesn’t announce itself with fanfare. For me, it was quieter—a creeping sense of dread, a heaviness in my chest when I opened my laptop or picked up my guitar. You might know the feeling: that moment when creating music shifts from joy to
By Rich Steve Beck If you’re like me, it’s easy to get stuck there—replaying old gigs, old moments, questioning decisions, or dwelling on missed opportunities. Maybe it’s the time I didn’t nail that high note during a performance or the collaboration I turned down that
By Rich Steve Beck Let’s be honest—time feels like it’s always slipping through our fingers, doesn’t it? For you and me, as musicians, engineers, and producers, deadlines are everywhere. There’s the album you promised yourself you’d finish, the gig you need to prepare for,