Recording Studio Guide 2004: Terra Nova Digital Audio

Texas' own master of mastering records

Photo by Jimmy Brunch Jerry and Diane Tubb opened Terra Nova Digital Audio after finding that Austin had no mastering studios. 'Mastering ought to be like a superfine-grain polish on a paint job,' Jerry says.

For those in the know, Jerry Tubb's ears are some of the state's finest. Back in 1990, Tubb, a jazz guitarist and music teacher at Midland College, came down for South by Southwest and realized there was no place in Austin for mastering. So he and his wife, Diane, sunk their savings into Terra Nova Digital Audio, Austin's first mastering studio, working on everything that came through the door, from roots to country to noise rock.

They still do. But these days, the Tubbs work in a much nicer studio. Terra Nova's Studio A is a space rendered as acoustically perfect as can be, so the sound is the same wherever you are in the room. It's Terra Nova's third location and the first that was custom built.

But some things never change. Since the beginning, if you wanted Jerry, you needed to go through Diane, Terra Nova's vice president, manager, scheduler, publicist, cheerleader and all-around den mother. Everything that doesn't involve touching a mastering console, she does.

"A lot of what we do with clients is education," Diane says, "educating musicians on exactly what mastering is."

And even musicians who have been in the business for years don't know how important the mastering process is to their final product. During mastering, an engineer carefully listens to the recording, which is then electronically enhanced, with unintentional pops and glitches erased. It's sequenced and readied for the pressing plant.

It's a delicate job that, when done well, leaves no trace of itself.

Terra Nova has become a destination studio for thousands of Texans, including such heavyweights as:

• Willie Nelson (many albums, including Nelson's Grammy-nominated "Night and Day" and "Rainbow Connection").

• KGSR (every one of its wildly popular "Broadcast" albums).

• Austin City Limits (Jerry recently put the finishing touches on the brand-new ACL Fest live album).

But in some ways, Tubb is still a neighborhood guy, a smiling, gregarious music nerd who got his first guitar at Gibson's discount store in Lubbock after seeing the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

"I often encounter musicians when they are starting out," Tubb says, "working on their first record. Then they get a big major label deal and their label sends their records to one of the big names in Hollywood or New York for mastering.

"Then I see them again after the infamous third record that didn't sell so well." He pauses for effect. "I get to ask 'em, 'Well, how'd it go?' " He starts to laugh.

How long Tubb spends on an album depends on how much work there is to do. "But some just need a little tweaking," Tubb says. "Mastering ought to be like a superfine-grain polish on a paint job."

Some albums need serious work, hours and hours of work, be it due to poor recording or multiple source tapes, for example. Tubb and an artist or band or producer will spend hours fiddling with the sound. Should the bass be louder? Should the middle? Can you hear all the nuances? Tubb's usual start time is around 1 p.m., breaking for dinner around 7, and sometimes going as late as 2 or 3 a.m. This is what the man loves to do. This is what he's good at.

"There's never any judgment from Jerry on what he's working on," Diane says. "The goal is a great-sounding record, no matter what it is. It's great to see a client come in with a recording they think is really terrible and leave with a huge smile on their face."