From Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust

The Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont University kicked off the new year with an esteemed and fully attended seminar. The seminar entitled “From Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust” featured Ken Scott and Bobby Owsinksi, two producers/engineers who found success in widely different decades and domains. Owsinksi’s success is seen in his authorship of popular trade oriented books including Audio Mixing Boot Camp and Music 3.0 that appeal to a younger, aspiring demographic. Ken Scott is a seasoned engineer who has worked with acts such as The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, Jeff Beck and much more.

Scott shared stories of being in the studio with the Beatles and the thrill of working with early analog recording technology. “Working with the Beatles was the best learning experience I could have asked for. They never wanted anything to sound the same, so there was always a need for exploring new sounds- the perfect learning experience.” Scott encouraged students to be okay with mistakes, “we’re human” and proceeded to point out a mistake he made on a George Harrison album that turned out to be a creative blessing.

Owsinksi talked about social media as a tool for the artist, the topic of his most recent book entitled Music 3.0. He revealed some interesting statistics pointing to the best time of the day for one’s Facebook status or tweet to be best received. Apparently, at  three in the afternoon a Facebook status will receive the most attention and four o’clock for a tweet.

Although Owsinksi and Scott operate in and appeal to different areas and eras of music, the sharing of their experiences and trade made for an inclusive approach to the recording industry. In fact, Owsinksi’s next, yet to be released project involves a collaboration with Scott: A novel entitled “From Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust” which from the title, can be speculated to be filled with stories of the mystifying hours in the studio with the legends of early Rock n’ Roll.