Cookie’s Corner

Cookie's Corner - #228 - When did you realize you might become a professional musician (or otherwise)?

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 22:05:29 GMT

We support acoustic musicians playing live in the studio, at events and recorded to the highest fidelity possible. Are you looking for audio guidance, coaching or consultation? Send me an email - support@bluecoastmusic.com

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

If you buy two albums at Blue Coast Music, you can get a 3rd one free. Here’s how it works… first buy two downloads. After purchase, send us an email with your invoice, choice of the 3rd album and format you’d like us to put into your online account. Send an email to support@bluecoastmusic.com

When did you realize you might become a professional musician (or otherwise)?

Suggested listening - Track 01 - Journey Into Night - Qua Continuum - Continuum 11
https://bluecoastmusic.com/qua-continuum/continuum-eleven

I’ve been thinking about this question the last few weeks and asking those around me, “What event made you realize you were a professional and at what age?” It’s been amazing to hear the stories and how we seem to be able to pinpoint that exact moment. It’s almost like someone turned a light on in a dark room when the realization hit.

For me, it was more like a wake-up call when it happened. I had played music most of my life. My parents allowed me to explore the piano, violin and oboe through my elementary years as long as I practiced. I never thought about a career as a musician. I wanted to be an astronomer and fly in a rocket ship.

At 14, my piano teacher asked if I wanted to teach 6 students and I said, “okay.” That’s when I started making money as a musician but I wasn’t really professional yet. Then at t 16 I could drive myself to community orchestra where I played the oboe.

Back then, I was a wisecracking kid and a class s&^t disturber of sorts. That bad habit carried over to playing in the orchestra where I’d goof off when I should be counting measures…. until George Cleve took over the orchestra. George had just come to town after studying under the revered George Szell of the Chicago Symphony. It was a big deal for Cleve to handle our orchestra of about 60 people aged from 16 to 60.

At the time, I was playing 2nd oboe parts and ‘entertaining’ those around me. I never missed an entrance until one fateful rehearsal of Beethoven’s 6th Symphony where I had 50 measures or so to count and wasn’t paying attention. Oooooops! I missed my entrance.

Cleve threw down his baton and yelled strongly at me. I sat there and took it. He was right. I wasn’t upset - I was being stupid. Half of the violin section got up and left, angered by how he yelled at a 16-year-old. But George was right! I wasn’t paying attention. It was probably the best thing that happened to me. I never missed another entrance in any orchestra ever.

In fact, after that, he invited me to play 1st oboe in his Berkeley Chamber Orchestra. When I was 18, he took the job as the San Jose Symphony Orchestra conductor. He asked me to join the SJ Symphony as first oboe. I was honored, but I declined. I knew I’d never leave the orchestra and I had other things to do in life.

Looking back, the incident of my missing an entrance is when I decided to become a professional. I needed to step up and pay attention. For a lot of people this moment doesn’t come until their 20’s or 30’s. For me, I never looked back and decided music would be my path.

Did you have a moment like that? One that defined your path? Let me know in the comments or send an email.

For more listening…
enjoy a playlist of music that I’ve recorded, mixed or mastered over the decades. More than 48 hours of tracks from all genres of music (not just my Blue Coast Records recordings. :) Some tracks might surprise you. Shuffle and play.

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and
Enjoy your listening!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #227 - Do power cables make a difference listening to music?

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 16:46:35 GMT

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

Do power cables make a difference listening to music?

Suggested listening - Track 03 - Queen of Sydney - Art Lande, Paul McCandless, Bruce Williamson - Spirits
https://bluecoastmusic.com/art-paul-bruce/spirits

Changing power cables (or any cable for that matter) has been a controversial subject in the audiophile and professional audio world for a very long time. Whenever I see a laughing emoji in a social media post about cable, I’ve learned to ignore reading it. When I see or hear the words “snake oil,” I walk away. It’s anger management at its best.

What I will say is that if you can’t hear the difference, feel glad you are free from the price tag. Owning a studio for 40 years we get a lot of free gear to test, so I’m in a lucky position. But sometimes, we have every excuse for not inserting the gear into the system—mostly, we don’t have the time to thoroughly test or move the gear. Who wants to kick up decades of dust behind all that gear?

But last week was different. We had to move the power supply for our 48 channel mixing console while we reconstruct the studio. Understand the console serves many purposes… playback of various two-track systems and mixing from 48 channels. All of this goes out to 5 various speaker/amp systems for comparison listening when we’re mastering, mixing or recording.

While we were mastering a solo piano project from DSD, I got a wild hair to change the power cable and compare. We had installed an upgrade (I’ll call Blue) many years ago but putting in the original cable (I’ll call Black) was eye opening. The Black cable had more bottom mid and less gritty highs - on all 5 speaker systems. At the time I thought, leave the Black cable in. But sleeping on it and listening the next day, I realized I prefer a little more grit on the high end than a muddy sound.

But there was a third option—we’ll call it Gold. We tried that and it was the immediate winner. Suddenly, the same music had depth and perspective, high and lows all in balance…. and on all the speaker systems it was the obvious winner. One power cable improved 5 listening systems. Not bad.

It could be Gold was the most expensive power cable I owned. Specially made for us by the manufacturer. We were using it elsewhere in our recording chain at the time. This new sound effected so much of our listening that we had to keep this on the console power supply.

After that, we tried mixing and matching various power cables with speaker/amps and found that some power cables sounded better with certain speakers. It was amazing how the cables not only affected the depth and frequencies but also the image clarity. That could help or deter your listening environment.

But let’s face it….. do you hear the difference the next day? Unless you’re comparing, maybe not. But I do think you feel the difference and want to listen to music more when it’s a smooth and lovely ride.

A bigger reality is that most music isn’t recorded in a way that a power cable will make a difference. For us, recording, mixing and mastering music every day can be exhausting on the ears. A great listening environment makes a hugh difference for tackling an especially difficult project.

The suggested track - Queen of Sydney - is the track we used to compare. Piano, oboe and flute recorded to DSD. Qobuz has the non compressed Audiophile Edition master.

If you want to know what the cables were, write to us directly at support@bluecoastmusic.com and put “Cables” in the subject.

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and
Enjoy your listening!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #226 - What happens when captivating artistry meets superb recording quality?

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 16:54:06 GMT

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

Meghan Andrews - When captivating artistry meets superb recording quality - in the words of a true fan

Suggested listening - Track 02 - Venus Rising - Meghan Andrew - Just Let Go
https://bluecoastmusic.com/meghan-andrews/just-let-go

Today we celebrate our fans… It’s fan appreciation day and the winner is Adam!

Adam is the kind of fan every artist wants and needs. Someone who is willing to listen with his heart and ears and understands what you’re trying to achieve. And then, he’s willing to write about the music and tell others. Here’s a beautiful piece he wrote for Steve Hoffman’s audiophile forum.

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/meghan-andrews-blue-coast-records.1251083/

Adam chose to write about Meghan Andrews - a long time Blue Coast Artist whose ability to write songs and perform is exceptional. He chose to focus on these two albums.

Covers is an album of familiar songs Meghan makes her own with interpretations using her voice and acoustic guitar. On a few songs, she’s accompanied by electric guitar (Larry Mitchell) and Marco Ferrero (bass). Beautiful.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/meghan-andrews/covers

Just Let Go - is on Meghan’s own label. We added touches of bass, percussion, violin, electric guitar and background vocals to create a musical experience. Powerful in its delicacy.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/meghan-andrews/just-let-go

Venus Rising - the album - is the same vocal and guitar parts as Just Let Go. It was so beautiful Blue Coast Records released it before we had added the additional parts. Simple sometimes says it all.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/meghan-andrews/special-event-43

To quote Adam in his post…

“From the very first note you are drawn into a beautifully natural and lifelike soundstage, with extraordinary clarity, depth, and realism that makes every track feel intimate. These recordings reveal just how breathtaking DSD256 can sound.”

Thank you again, Adam!

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and
Enjoy your listening!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #225 - Are your automatic computer updates ruining your playback audio?

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 04:31:00 GMT

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

Are your automatic computer updates ruining your playback audio?

Suggested listening - Track 07 - Firecracker - Tony Furtado - Firecracker
https://bluecoastmusic.com/tony-furtado/firecracker

If you oIf you own a computer, cellphone, touchpad or downloaded apps in the last 2 years, you’ve probably experienced an incompatibility where old or new apps fail with your current operating system. It worked last year but suddenly a reliable app starts acting bizarrely for no reason.

Most of us in professional audio have learned to take our digital audio workstations “off the grid” (the internet) to prevent automatic updates of any kind. We have five digital audio workstations: 3 off the internet and 2 on the internet (with duplicat systems on the internet for convenience with other use).

We have both Windows and Apple legacy systems and they work great…. until they don’t. About 2 years ago I discovered a Windows update that “normalized” all audio. It took a while to figure out why mixes and playback of music I knew suddenly sounded WRONG!

I’ve since learned to check all computers every quarter for any unauthorized “normalizing” on my systems and on my streaming services. They hide these things and move them around, but it’s good to check.

Consumer electronics often get hit because consumers seem to favor “convenience over quality”…. at least that’s what the computer companies think. My guess is we’d all prefer a little inconvenience in favor of equipment that works.

For 15 years we’ve had a stable system for digital mastering. It didn’t seem bothered by Windows updates so we got lazy and let it live on the grid. Until today.

Suddenly, every time we opened a file, a track would be corrupted. A file that we had heard many times in the past without errors. Of course it was random so finding the problem was hard. We had the computer rebuilt with a new power supply, motherboards, etc. All was fine until…..

Yesterday. More corrupted files in mastering. The main computer shut down, requiring a 24-hour rest period before it turned on again. We spent the morning troubleshooting to find the culprit.

We discovered an update had happened recently that mysteriously adjusts the ‘startup time,’ making it faster. I’m not sure why we needed to start up the computer faster since we leave it on all the time but I guess if you’re the kind of user that has a lot of applications on when you start things up, maybe it makes sense? That definitely doesn’t describe our use. We keep as few necessary apps open when we’re working.

We went through the task of finding the updates and turning off the startup speed updates. It worked so well, I went through all the office computers and laptops and turned that update off.

I noticed that the audio coming off all the speakers associated with a computer has more frequency response. Suddenly, my speakers were playing back the way I remembered these songs sounding. Fortunately, it didn’t affect the recordings. We went through a methodical process of checking all the files.

And now we wait…. hoping this and some of the other things we did will last for many more years.

Moral of the story… if you don’t have a dedicated system for audio… maybe it’s time to think about getting one. It’s making the return of CDs really attractive right now!

For your listening… enjoy a playlist of music that I’ve recorded, mixed or mastered over the decades.

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and
Enjoy your listening!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #224 - Happy Father's Day and enjoy your music!

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 17:48:26 GMT

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

Happy Father’s Day!

I’m so happy I found the baseball! It likes to travel.

My father gave this baseball to me long ago. It has the signatures of the all 1962 San Francisco Giants including Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda and more. My father turned me into a baseball player early on and I still have an appreciation for the team.

The baseball never left my house except for two times. The first time was in 1989 when the Giants had just lost to the Oakland Athletics. I carried it my pocket to the AES show in San Francisco. Tuck and Patti wanted to introduce me to John La Grou, founder of Millennia Media who was a huge Giants fan. When I pulled out the baseball, we instantly bonded, and he asked if he could take the ball home with him for a while. I’m not sure why I said yes to a total stranger but I did and I have never regretted that.

We are still great friends discussing the Giants. It doesn’t hurt that he builds exceptional studio gear that has become a crucial part of my recording setup. His new Imersiv DAC is spectacular.

The second time I took the baseball out of the house was for my dad’s celebration of life. Everyone loved him and especially appreciated his character and wisdom as he grew older. He passed too fast and too soon, even though he was 93.

We threw a huge party with friends and family. I wore his zip-up brown hoodie and carried the baseball in my pocket, bringing it out to show folks a small part of our history.

It was a fun, fun party but the unthinkable happened. Somehow in the chaos of the moment, the ball was lost. I was tormented by how I could have possibly misplaced it. I took it as some kind of signal from him to pay attention. He’d give it back when I was ready.

Nearly 3 years to the day, I finally sorted through all the stuff one acquires as parents pass or move to care homes. It’s time to rebuild 3 rooms in the studio, which I had been putting off. I needed to make decisions and clear out the stuff. Sure enough, there it was. A sign that I was ready and it was now okay to let go of all the things I’d never use and keep the most precious thing we have… our memories.

The baseball is back and secured in a safe spot where I see it every day.

At the bottom of my newsletter I always keep a few photos of my father to always remind me of him. Thank you and happy Father’s Day!Below is a playlist of albums I’ve engineered in various studios.

Not all, but what I could easily find on playlists. No AI used!

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and
Enjoy your listening!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #223 - Why AI music might win over sampling but not over humans - Dynamics Part 2

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 16:44:54 GMT

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

Why AI music might win over sampling but not over humans - Dynamics Part 2

The photo was taken during a session with John R Burr, Derek Jones and Jenna Mammina listening back to a track they had just played called “The Nearness of You.” Have a listen. It’s track 2 on this album.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/derek-jones/run-with-me

John, Derek and Jenna hadn’t played together for years before this session. Derek had gone to Las Vegas and was nearing year 20 as the bass player for Cirque du Soleil in KA. When Derek said he was coming to the Bay Area and wanted to record, I said, “Choose the musicians and let’s do it!” There wasn’t time for rehearsing. Just get together in the studio, set up the record chain and decide on which tune to play.

The Nearness of You is a classic song in the repertoire for jazz players. But with players of this caliber, they make it new, fresh and embrace it as their own. Derek sets down a pedal tone groove. John reacts with simple spacious piano melodies. Jenna sets the tone of the story with her gentle voice with whispers of joy to be near.

The photo shows the joy between 3 friends communing over music. There is nothing like being in the room when creation like this happens.

AI is here to stay in our world. It can do rubatos, groove and eventually might be able to learn how to execute true dynamics of sound (maybe in 20 years). We’ve already tested it for replicating a Beethoven sonata performance. Outside of spending a lot of tokens for AI to understand what “solo piano” means, it could execute a rubato at the end of a phrase better than sampling.

Sonically, both sampling and AI are miserable. I’m not sure the mainstream cares enough to demand better. But a few of us will. For that we will need our microphones, cables, preamps and musicians who can perform.

For me, I want to record that special moment when 3 friends can travel to one space and be with people they trust their magic sound with. We want to present you with the love and care only a live recording done well can do…. and bring you with us into the studio.

That’s what we do here at Blue Coast Records. Enjoy.

Below is a playlist of albums I’ve engineered in various studios.

Not all, but what I could easily find on playlists. No AI used!

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and
Enjoy your listening!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #222 - One who defined greatness through dynamics - Phil Aaberg

Tue, 26 May 2026 06:27:53 GMT

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

A master of piano has passed on - Thank you, Phil Aaberg

When Phil Aaberg left the Bay Area for a quieter life in Montana, we were sad, but he took his brilliance with him where ever he performed.

I met him when he was an artist on Windham Hill Records. His brilliance was unmistakable. The first time I was in the studio with him, I was blown over by his complete control of his instrument - the piano. I had never heard such dynamic range. From the softest pianissimos to the loudest fortes, no one matched his level of skill and creativity.

Phil became one of my first call session players. Whether accompanying a pop singer-songwriter or a jazz artist, Phil knew exactly what to play and how. One jazz session had two pianists invited to play. You’d think the same mic technique could be used on the same day for the piano, but it was there I realized that’s not true. Great players attack a piano differently. It was impossible to keep the same mic distance from the piano when someone followed Phil.

There was another memorable moment when Phil hit the low end of the piano with such force that the fundamental tone from the strings disappeared. It was like there was no bottom end. Another lesson learned. We actually had to overdub low notes played with Phil using a softer touch to get the bottom end back.

Above all, he was a musician through and through. Phil, you will be missed but never forgotten. You’re music will live on.

Below is a playlist of albums I’ve engineered in various studios.

Not all, but what I could easily find on playlists and always adding more! No AI used,

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and
Enjoy your listening!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #221 - What do Robert Plant's Ramble On and Beethoven's Sixth have in common? Dynamics Part 1

Sat, 16 May 2026 17:30:56 GMT

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

Why learning to play an instruments involves so much more than sampling and AI

One of the most dynamic tracks I’ve ever recorded was Looking for a Home. It’s the first track on the Blue Coast Collection 1. Keith Greeninger and Dayan Kai give a lesson to musicians and audio engineers about what playing loud and soft really means. And it resonates with our listeners… it’s the most listened to and downloaded track on Blue Coast Records. You can listen to a preview here.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/blue-coast-collection

I’ve been a musician my whole life… first the piano, then violin, oboe and sitar. After being a private lesson music teacher, I took on the challenge of building a studio and becoming an audio engineer more than 40 years ago. Why? Because my band needed a demo and it was decided I had the best place to record.

What gave me the edge to last this long in the business was my musicianship background. Being able to empathize or make musical suggestions was important in my career growth. I never had a desire to sit in front of a computer all day and compose (even though I had to learn that skill, also). Working with people makes me happy... not having the latest plugin.

One thing I learned as a musician was dynamics - how to play loud and soft. Get a tone, play dynamics, get locked into the groove and pitch. Essentially, playing an instrument is about listening, feeling and breath. That’s what I try to capture in my recordings.

Life is about loud and soft. Controlling loud and soft is the most difficult part of playing an instrument.... and that includes the voice or electronics.

For instance, when you pluck a guitar string or hit a piano note forcefully, you get a very sharp sound - with lots of upper overtones. We call that “loud”. It has a very quick decay (sharply loud then soft). It’s recognizable. Sometimes it’s an accident and sometimes intentional. Controlling that loudness is musicianship.

Playing soft is even more difficult. The performer learns about breath and muscle strength. Complete concentration is needed to play softly. When you can hear a pin drop, you have the audience’s attention. Lightly stroke a guitar string and the lower overtones are accentuated. The notes last longer because the lower overtones are revealed, without the sharp attack of the note. On the piano, playing soft chords is one of the most difficult feats of strength there is. One finger out of line can ruin the ending of a song.

Loud and soft—we call this dynamics. Sadly, over the last few decades, we’ve lost dynamics in recordings to favor “loud”. Why? Because most people don’t listen and the money is in loud. Loud is entertaining. Loud music, loud concerts, loud noise everywhere. Soft is sensual and demands to be heard. Soft is for the few who want more than a quick fix.

For the recording engineer, the challenge is more than finding the right microphones. For instance, you need a headphone mix that allows the musician to perform with the correct dynamics or a performing environment that does the same.

With 40 years of synthesizers and samplers behind me, I can say that getting those instruments to perform true dynamics takes longer and costs more than hiring a great musician. What you get from these instruments is uniform and consistency. The same thing over and over… Boring. Making something louder means more than just turning up the volume on a track. The hard part is finding great musicians who can show up on the day you’re recording. That’s where sampling, AI and overproduction win.

I’ll talk about that in Part 2 of this idea along with why AI might have the edge over sampling but not over actual sound or dynamics.After you listen to Looking for a Home, you might want to check out Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony - an amazing one of a kind live performance of this beautiful composition. Also, Robert Plant’s acoustic version of Ramble On where the solo sections get ridiculously softer and softer. It’s truly amazing. Scroll below to the bottom of this article to find links. Enjoy. I did.

#206 Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony

#219 Robert Plant Ramble On.

Below is a playlist of albums I’ve engineered in various studios.

Not all, but what I could easily find on playlists. No AI used!

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and
Enjoy your listening!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #220 - Active vs Passive speakers - what's the difference?

Fri, 08 May 2026 16:03:30 GMT

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

If you like jazz with complex horn harmonies and touches of Keith Jarret piano - have a listen…

https://bluecoastmusic.com/jack-perla/swimming-lessons-for-the-dead

Jack Perla is an award winning composer, arranger and pianist. Have a listen to The Pearl, the second song on the album. The downloads are now on sale. You won’t find this album streaming (sadly). It’s now on sale and time to splurge!

Remember, MQD Gold CDs are moving fast and we maybe out of them by the end of this year. You’ll know the CD can play while you drive down the coast!

What’s the difference between active and passive speakers?

The quick difference between active and passive speakers is this…. Passive speakers require an amplifier to power the sound. The amp you buy colors the sound of the speakers. For instance, tube and solid state amps will give the speakers a different sound. That means the consumer can get an amp that suits their taste and budget. The speakers still work if there is any need to repair or replace the amp for an upgrade.

Active speakers come with amplifiers built into the speaker or an external amp is provided in the system. These are also called “powered speakers”. The manufacturer has determined what the power will sound like. Often there’s a digital component that adjusts the sound specifically to the taste of the developer. The good news is the total price includes the power so either you like the speaker/amp sound or not. The bad news is you have to replace the entire system if the amp/power stops working. If the company stops supporting the product (which seems to happen every 5-10 years) you may not find a way to repair the system.

We don’t often think about the cost of replacing our listening systems. Some audiophiles enjoy changing their listening environment often. As a music producer, much of my job is listening and comparing sounds. Consistency of the playback sound is important to me. Once I get a listening system in place, I don’t change it. In the control room, I add to it… as you can see by the photo above.

My studio opened in 1982 and I’m still using (and loving) my passive speakers I bought back then. Those are the Tannoys and the Auratones in the photo and still reliable. I now power them with a vintage Mcintosh amp, which sounds amazing. More than 40 years and still sounding great!

The large active speakers in the back I’ve had for 30 years. They are the Meyers 833. Actually, they’re kind of half powered and half passive. They require a manufacturer supplied pre-amp stage before the amp. Like active speakers, the preamp stage was to color the sound. These were terrific when you wanted a loud playback. Unfortunately, the preamp stopped working after 10 years so they currently act as diffusers for the room sound (joking not joking).

Twenty years ago I was introduced to the JMR Offrandes and paired them with a Nelson Pass amp. Still one of my favorite systems to listen to and never a problem through out those years. Their European sound offers incredible midrange that doesn’t overwhelm but provides a ‘real life’ sound.

The unusually shaped speakers are NHT M-60s, which were a gift from NHT when they won an award for “Best Sound at CES” using our music (Blue Coast Records). They became my near field go-to system and lasted for 10 years. When the “active” died earlier this year I was heartbroken. It has an outboard active amp with proprietary digital sound built in and custom cable ends. The company was sold and speakers are no longer made. My tech couldn’t fix the proprietary amp and I can’t just buy another amp. After a little cry for help in social media, an old friend who worked there might have an inside track to getting it fixed. So, for the time being I have another pair of diffusers for the room.

Throughout my home and studio I have another 5 pair of various speakers to monitor mixes including the Sony AR-1 powered with a Nelson Pass amp. These are perfect audiophile speakers for our artists to sit on a couch outside the control room to listen (and gives me space in the control room to think).

I know I’ve been guilty of being mezmerized by the sound of a system, but when I think of value… the passive speaker systems win out. When I think of craving a sound, it’s been active speakers… when they die and I’m heartbroken.

That’s my story with speakers and amps. Do you have a story? Leave it in the comments below or write to me directly at support@bluecoastmusic.com

Below is my playlist of albums I’ve worked on in the studio.

Not all, but what I could easily find on playlists. No AI used!

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and
Enjoy your listening!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #219 - I had to post this incredible acoustic version of Ramble On.

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:29:20 GMT

Welcome new subscribers! We support acoustic musicians playing live in the studio, at events and recorded to the highest fidelity possible. Are you looking for audio guidance, coaching or consultation? Send me an email - support@bluecoastmusic.com

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

“Robert Plant… please call me” - Cookie Marenco

Robert Plant sings “Ramble On” and features an accordion

When the San Francisco Giants are losing 8-0 in the 5th innings on a Friday night… I turn to youtube for some inspiration. This is what I found….

For those of you who don’t know who Robert Plant is… Does Led Zeppelin sound familiar? The video is Robert Plant doing an acoustic version of his hit “Ramble On” a few weeks ago.. live for late night tv. Accordion, cello, acoustic guitars and the likes. And NO AI… NO AUTOTUNE.. NO BEAT DETECTIVE. This is real, live performances. This is why I love what I do.

And… if you listen to your stereo… this is NOT a mono mix. Old school stereo featuring instruments on the left and right mixing without fear of losing an earbud.

Decades ago, Mr Plant was playing the banjo… during his Led Zeppelin days. Rumor has it he was a fan of Tony Furtado. Here’s a taste of Tony Furtado on banjo.

Tony Furtado - listen to the track “I Will”

Yes, the Beatles tune. Tony first recorded it with Allison Krause more than 30 years ago and it launched both their careers. Here, Tony does a solo banjo version of the same song. Recorded live in the studio direct to DSD. Have a listen!

https://bluecoastmusic.com/tony-furtado/firecracker

Remember, MQD Gold CDs are moving fast and we maybe out of them by the end of this year. You’ll know the CD can play while you drive down the coast!

Below is my playlist of albums I’ve worked on in the studio.

Not all, but what I could easily find on playlists. No AI used!

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and
Enjoy your listening!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #218 - Are music streaming services playing back your music the same way each time? Is convenience finally losing to quality?

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:36:36 GMT

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

“CDs + Cars = Great experience driving down the coast” - Cookie Marenco

Is Convenience going to finally lose to quality?

Paul McGowan has a wonderful company called PS Audio that builds incredible gear for audiophiles. Maybe even more amazing is that he has written a post every day for his followers about sound. Today’s post really hit a nerve.

Paul’s post on streaming

So I decided to write in and comment. Below is a summary of what I wrote on his post.

Most of my critical listening is downloads in the studio or on my ‘audiophile’ system. Those systems are not allowed on the internet and all the systems/versions of operating systems are stable. They sound great. Admittedly, in my office I have a ‘reasonable’ listening system attached to a desktop computer connected to the internet. I’m often testing music for Blue Coast Records to get the mainstream “consumer” experience.

With more updates and/or power changes the music from streaming services seems to degrade. With enough searching I can often find some unexpected setting change... but sometimes not. With enough restarts, I can usually get things almost back to normal. Still, I suspect the change sometimes happens at the platform’s end with subtle modifications to their systems to add/adapt to new technology, cut costs, or whatever. Basically, it’s out of my control.

The other issue is the internet. Being in the Silicon Valley, you’d think this wouldn’t be a problem but it is. The music gets stuck with the buffering wheel... annoying. And in the car, if you’re driving long distances through coastal areas (for instance) that have no cell service, you start to long for the CD again. On my last trip through Big Sur I thought “I need to get my CD player fixed in my car!” This alone is reason to bring back the CD or get a portable drive for downloads.

Are you experiencing strange issues with streaming these days? Please leave your comments on this post or write to us directly.

Meghan Andrews - Just Let Go - Listen to the track “Would”

https://bluecoastmusic.com/meghan-andrews/just-let-go

For downloads or previews, click on the link above.

This is an album on Meghan’s own label with more orchestrated versions of the same album we have on Blue Coast Records called “Venus Rising”. The track “Would” is an Alice in Chains song… yes, that same Seattle alternative rock song that you’d never imagine could be done acoustically with guitar and a stunning female voice.

In this version, Meghan adds beautiful vocal harmonies and other effects that make this song very special. Have a listen, then listen to the other songs… and maybe you’ll have another download in your collection.

Remember, MQD Gold CDs are moving fast and we maybe out of them by the end of this year. You’ll know the CD can play while you drive down the coast!

Below is my playlist of albums I’ve worked on in the studio.

Not all, but what I could easily find on playlists. No AI used!

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and
Enjoy your listening!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

A little relaxation……

No AI just a village of helping hands to make these nature videos possible.

Cookie's Corner - #217 - Forget spatial sound, let's teach our newest engineers how to mix in stereo! Why are new songs mostly mono?

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 04:34:11 GMT

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

“What is happening to stereo mixing?” - Cookie Marenco

Why are new songs mostly mono?

Was it Covid isolation? Was it the major studios going out of business for lack of budgets? Was it streaming that killed the musicians’ budget to record and mix with experienced engineers? What killed stereo mixes and good quality sound?

For the last 20 years I’ve been involved with the fringe group called “audiophiles.” You know… those people who buy expensive gear and argue about sound quality and whether cables make a difference.

Apple and speaker manufacturers tried to sell us on the idea of “spatial sound.” I have nothing against immersive sound. In fact, I entered the fray about 25 years ago and loved the sound! I sat on a few Grammy committees listening to the best of the best. I discussed good immersive technique with my peers and became incredibly disillusioned to find the cheap shot ways most people are working. Especially Apple - offering a slapstick “check this box” for spatial sound to artists who submit a 2 channel stereo track.

That’s behind me now after listening to the current pop music being presented to the new generation of listeners. Talking to my 20-something crew of schooled engineers, I’m told they really aren’t taught mixing skills. Their audience is listening mostly with earbuds. They tell me it sounds “weird” to have an instrument sound like it’s on the left or right side of an image. They tell me people often listen with one earbud, so musically it might be a bad idea to make something too stereo.

Gone are the big spacious sounds in the new artists’ work. Instead, the top artists, who can afford a great mix, are putting out overcompressed, no-high-end, mono tracks with an occasional sound effect that zips left to right.

Okay… I’m not a fan of most pop music but it’s part of my job to listen to as much music as I can. I won’t mention any names now, but go listen for yourself. Post me a comment on either of the top tracks and tell me if you think these mixes are good or bad.

I guess I’m kind of horrified thinking I’ve been living in my studio, closed in with my crew and incredible artists. I’m surrounded by great gear and 40 years of experience in making a great-sounding recording. Suddenly, I’m presented with the new world of sound… mono, no high end and overcompressed. It makes me sad.

And maybe I just have to get over it. Two hundred years ago people built furniture that lasted. Now it’s “modern design” with fake wood that falls apart in a few years. I think of my 40-year-old washing machine with knobs I twist… compared to an expensive digital washing machine that will turn on with my cell phone (and it breaks within a few years).

Thank you for reading. I just had to get that out of my system.

Below is an album I recorded to tape more than 20 years ago for Jenna Mammina. Incredible musicianship. Jenna has a beautiful voice. Have a listen to “Running to Stand Still” - a U2 song Jenna sang in one take with the band. Amazing. Paul McCandless plays an English Horn solo that will make you cry. Matt Rollings on piano - genius of space. Andre Bush, guitar, John Mader, drums and Troy Lampkin bass—it just doesn’t get any better. No autotune, no beat detective… real performances and real groove.

Also on the album is an array of top musicianship on accordion, cello, violin, and more.

You can preview, download or have an MQD Gold disc made at this link.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/jenna-mammina/meant-to-be

My playlist of albums I’ve worked on in the studio. Not all, but what I could easily find on playlists. No AI used!

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Thanks for reading and

Enjoy your listening!
Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Enjoy our new 20 second relaxation shorts! We’ll be releasing one a day for a few months!

https://youtube.com/shorts/8zGb2_Nerb8?si=RZOcJ8SiqfPvmZqy

Cookie's Corner - #216 - Why we support old devices and keep several old operating systems alive.... Part two - Digital Computer Devices and Software

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:41:41 GMT

Welcome new subscribers! We support acoustic musicians playing live in the studio, at events and recorded to the highest fidelity possible.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

“Once you get the DAW to work, don’t ever put it on the internet!” - Cookie Marenco

Forty years of changing audio systems….. Computers

Being in the Silicon Valley put us close to the early developers of digital audio and we became beta testers for many of them. Sometime around 1983 we became close friends with Gerry Kearby who, with his co-founder, Rob Modeste, developed the Dyaxis - the first Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) developed for the Mac Plus (remember those?). They required very expensive, stable hard drives for optimum sound.

A few years later, Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks, founded DigiDesign - the inventors of Protools. Before developing DAWs, these two were creating sound chips for the Linn Drum. We knew them through renting gear to test their drum chips and later became beta-testers for Protools.

When Dyaxis sold to Studer, many of our technical buddies took jobs at DigiDesign where I had inroads for my endless complaints to support as to why Protools wasn’t working. Somewhere around operating system V4 we realized that we could never update a DAW that was working. An operating system, PT upgrade or an application would often conflict with allowing the DAW to work properly. We later discovered that any contact with the internet could create issues.

By the mid 90’s I was back on 2” tape for multitrack recording, frustrated with every new upgrade and loss of sonic quality on the DAWs. With the prolieration of CD, digital mastering became more accessible and without the complications of vinyl mastering, many of us also added “mastering” to our mixing and recording routines.

In 1997, Gerry Kearby asked me to join his newly founded Liquid Audio company, the first to allow worldwide delivery of audio where the consumer paid for the downloads. I had access to many independent artists and small labels who didn’t really understand sending their music directly to customers through the cloud but unlike Napster, consumers paid for the downloads.

I recorded the first live concert that was uploaded to the internet and available worldwide within minutes after the concert ended. We often thought of it as if we had just landed on the moon. No physical media? Immediate availability? Artists and labels thought we were crazy.

When Liquid Audio was sold, I was dissenchanted with the quality of sound digital was offering. It was getting worse and worse along with internet issues failing computer audio in general. The reliance of fix-it plugins like autotune and beat detective had me go in search of passion in the music and better sound.

In the early 2000’s Gus Skinas enlightened us to DSD digital audio - the Sonoma. It was DSD64 with a special twist… Meitner ADDAs that sounded amazing. It worked on the Window XP with no upgrade path since Sony abandoned the software. Later came the Pyramix with it’s DSD256 and DXD software for editing. Pyramix worked with Windows 7. We kept those DAWs off the internet with no upgrades. To this day these systems are working.

In the mid - 2000’s Ampex stopped manufacturing tape. We knew the end was in sight for our beloved tape even though our Otari still worked great. Sometime in 2017 we bought a used completed Protools system (yes, I did throw my Mac over my deck in the mid 90’s). It was an older operating system but the Mac computer was loaded up with CPU and plugins so if we kept it off the internet it would still work - and it still does. We route it through our tape machine and mixing console for warming up the sound, using our analog effects and easy digitizing when we need. We do the same for the Sonoma and Pyramix.

As a mastering software we settled with Samplitude, which has been the only software able to withstand being on the internet and multiple operating system upgrades. To test and keep up with some plugins on Protools we purchased the latest version and keep it on the same “internet” computer with Samplitude. True to form, it’s caused problems and often doesn’t work. Thankfully, we don’t rely on this Protools for work.

I want to mention the importance of the ADDA. The Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog device can change the sound (for better or worse) more than the sampling rate. We have dozens and have beta tested many. Some of the best sounding are the older devices. We do comparison tests all the time. I can’t describe how much better the Meitner ADDA for the Sonoma sound over our Protools or Pyramix systems.

Fortunately, we have someone like Patrick to keep our systems working and backing up our audio. Our assistants use various other DAWs if we need. I have thousands of tapes at the studio to make me feel warm and cozy along with hundreds of terabytes on drives for backup. We also have a great analog tech, Steve, who keeps our board and effects operational.

If I add up the cost of keeping up the DAWs versus my 2” Otari machine (that still works great), I’m going to say that analog is both a cost and time saver. Sadly, tape is the inconsistant issue. More and more the engineers of today are working in their home studios or getting Protools certification (which is fairly meaningless). Few learn from studio mentors. The information for good sound is getting lost as big studios vanish.

AI is going to make things worse before it gets better. “Easy to learn” seems to get more attention than sound quality or real performances.

I don’t want to see our sonic education get lost and have a personal goal to pass down the information to new audio engineers. If you have a question, feel free to leave a question in the comments so that everyone can learn. Sound quality and artistic performance are important to me… along with the community we’ve built.

Today’s featured album is a thank you nod to all the Blue Coast Artists I get to work with! Blue Coast Collection 5! You can preview here or buy the download in 9 different formats. Remember the MQD Gold disc are being discontinued at the end of this year due to the price of gold. I would have continued them even with the price increase but the manufacturer is not going to produce them any more. Get it while you can.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/blue-coast-collection-5

Here again is my playlist of albums I’ve worked on in the studio. Not all, but what I could easily find on playlists.

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

thanks for reading my latest rant and

Enjoy your listening!
Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #215 - Why we support old recording devices - Part 1 - Analog and digital tape

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 16:19:39 GMT

Welcome new subscribers! We support acoustic musicians playing live in the studio, at events and recorded to the highest fidelity possible.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

Remember, if you buy two albums at Blue Coast Music, you can get a 3rd one free. Here’s how it works… first buy two downloads. After purchase, send us an email with your invoice, choice of the 3rd album and format you’d like us to put into your online account. It’s just that easy. Send an email to support@bluecoastmusic.com

“If they made consistently good tape, I’d still be using it” - Cookie Marenco

Forty years of changing audio systems…..

I opened my studio in 1982 with a 1/2” Otari 8 track and a 1/4” Otari stereo recorder. By 1986 we had moved on to an Otari 2” 24 track machine and a 1/2” Otari - 2 track. I sold the 8 track (which I’m shaking my head in angst about now - why? because I still have the 8 track tapes and can’t remix them).

My studio rooms are surrounded in 2” tapes that have become great diffusers as we store them for digitizing. We also have a few Sony F-1 digital devices and lots of beta tapes we recorded to (remember those?) Cassette and DAT devices of all kinds with high hopes of digitizing these tapes to the computer. Yes, both analog and digital sound was stored on tape.

Think you might about analog tape, but I know that the tapes I’ve stored or recorded can still be played and my machines still work. Not only does that provide long term value, but the legacy of many artists.

Longevity isn’t so true with digital tape. What we learned about the DATs and BETA tapes was that we needed to keep 3 machines with varying degrees of headwear active if we didn’t want drop out of the sound.

I could spend the rest of my life going through all the recordings we store to see if we have music worth releasing. We’ve started actively teaching our assistants how to restore the tapes.

Much of the music may not have been released because someone played a wrong note here or there that no one else would notice. When enough time has passed, the artist is often surprised how good it sounds and the bad notes are forgotten.

Sadly, one of the reasons we stopped using tape was because the manufacturers have not been consistent with providing new tape that works as well as the old tape. Cost is the other factor for most artists. New 2” reels run about $400 for 15-30 minutes of recorded music. With music not selling as it did before, the budgets for recording have gone drastically down…. and with it, the sonic quality of the releases on streaming.

In Part 2, I’ll talk about the many, many digital audio workstations we keep alive and the old software that goes with it.

In the meantime, have a listen to one of my favorite albums I had the opportunity to record. Art Lande, Paul McCandless and Bruce Williamson performing contemporary jazz. On the album “Spirits”, Paul and Bruce play every combination of saxophones, double and single reed horns you can imagine while Art weaves his piano between. Truly amazing if you love a sonic adventure with an ECM twist.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/art-paul-bruce/spirits

Enjoy your music!

Cookie Marenco
Producer and Founder
Blue Coast Records and Music

Big THANKYOUs to those who corrected my typo! Below are the correct links to the 48 hours of my recording/production projects. Yes, Qobuz is now correct!

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Your Five Minute Meditation.

Cookie's Corner - #214 - A playlist of breath and beating hearts - more than 48 hours of musical bliss

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 17:50:38 GMT

Welcome new subscribers! We support acoustic musicians playing live in the studio, at events and recorded to the highest fidelity possible.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

The Cookie Marenco Experience - Radio for days!

Over the last 40 years I’ve had the joy to record, mix and master hundreds of artists and thousand of tracks. From jazz to folk to Americana to new age and some really strange music created by the most gifted people on the planet.

Some names you’ll recognize and some you won’t. Some music you’ll wonder why it wasn’t a major hit. One thing you’ll recognize is the passion that the music was created with - something I cherish and seek as a producer. Perfection be damned.. give me music with breath and a beating heart.

From legends to hidden talents…. Charlie Haden, Oregon, Mark Isham, Tony Trischka, Diamanda Galas, J.A. Deane, Peter Apfelbaum, Kevin Kern, Kelly Joe Phelps, Vijay Iyer, Krishna Bhatt, Zakir Hussain, Brain, Buckethead, the entire artist roster at Blue Coast Records and many artists you wished you had heard of.

The tracks are only a partial list of incredible talent I’ve worked with. I continue to add to this list as I remember the albums. Notably many albums made before streaming never made it to streaming platforms for this generation of music lovers. Artists like Max Roach and his last album (that I had the joy of recording) never made it to streaming. Winter Solstice II that I produced and have a gold record for never made it to streaming.

We’ve got some ideas to bring those titles to you but for now, let this first 48 hours give you joy and revive your enthusiasm for great musicians performing with passion and great sound to boot.

Send me an email with your favorite albums on this list. support@bluecoastmusic.com

I am one lucky girl to have been part of all this incredible music.

Qobuz -
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24982748

Tidal -
https://tidal.com/playlist/40012258-926a-4130-9364-5cc7b3ed2661

Youtube -
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2Wb5DNSwFkESHFCCEV64gKm

Spotify

Test DSD for Free! One song - 9 formats

https://bluecoastmusic.com/free-downloads

Ready to test you DAC for DSD playability?

The link above to Blue Coast Music directs you to get free downloads. One song, multiple formats in DSD, WAV and FLAC…. 9 formats to be exact and none of them are mp3.

We don’t advise anyone download to their cell phone. DSD files could be as large as 1g per track. It’s hard enough to download to your computer. All said, it’s not impossible if you have the gear and do a little research.

You will need a special DAC to play DSD and possibly some additional software. If DSD doesn’t work - try WAV or FLAC. Still much larger than mp3 but usually can be played. Remember that google search is a wonderful tool, not perfect, but can get some answers for “how to do” something.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. If you need help send an email to:

support@bluecoastmusic.com

Thanks again for reading. We hope you enjoy, subscribe and consider supporting us with a paid subscription.

Enjoy your listening!
Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #213 - Is there a DSD revival coming to the next generation? Test DSD for Free!

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 07:12:00 GMT

Welcome new subscribers! We support acoustic musicians playing live in the studio, at events and recorded to the highest fidelity possible.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

“In the middle of the confusion that AI brings, there seems to be an opposite reaction from young folks who want to know more about great sounding audio - specifically DSD.”
Cookie Marenco

Test DSD for Free! One song - 9 formats

https://bluecoastmusic.com/free-downloads

Is there a DSD revival coming to the next generation?

At my recent visit to NAMM, I was introduced to several audio engineers who were asking about DSD. They also had a knowledge of how consumers played back DSD. Believe me, that is unusual!

I’ve also met a few college students who’ve come to my studio and surprised me with their intelligent questions about DSD.

It’s not easy to be an engineer working with DSD. We record directly to DSD multitrack and listen through an analog console using traditional outboard gear for efx when we need. Then we mix directly back to DSD256. We’ve treated it like a tape machine more than a digital workstation.

Working this way keeps us in DSD256 without ever having to go to PCM. We also do two different mastering sessions. Mastering is the process that preps tracks for distribution and sale. Streaming, downloads, vinyl, CD and other consumer formats require very different mastering techniques.

Now, with the confusion AI brings to recordings, we’re happy to say that avoiding plugins (some are a form of AI) means we are AI free. A bonus we didn’t anticipate….

Ready to test you DAC for DSD playability?

The link above to Blue Coast Music directs you to get free downloads. One song, multiple formats in DSD, WAV and FLAC…. 9 formats to be exact and none of them are mp3.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. If you need help send an email to:

support@bluecoastmusic.com

Thanks again for reading. We hope you enjoy, subscribe and consider supporting us with a paid subscription.

Enjoy your listening!
Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Scroll to the bottom of this email to get a new 5 minute video of ocean waves at Sleep Relax Dream. Subscribe and like!

Cookie's Corner - #212 - What is NAMM and 3 reasons to attend

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 01:27:13 GMT

Welcome new subscribers! We support acoustic musicians playing live in the studio, at events and recorded to the highest fidelity possible.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

3 Reasons to attend NAMM

NAMM is the National Association of Music Merchants. What does that mean? It’s the place where people who make instruments/gear for music make deals for their products to retail and distribution outlets. That’s the simple answer.

NAMM has become the go to show for artists to mingle for sponsorship deals, drool at new gear, develope relationship, etc. It’s held about the 3rd week of January at the Anaheim convention center. As an audio engineer, I generally hangout in the pro audio building but there is so much more.

Last year I brought the entire studio crew plus friends of the studio to NAMM. This year, I attended alone. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go but I had some interesting meetings and dinners planned with old industry friends.

I have to say that the most fun part was meeting people you only knew from social media and the friendships made with total strangers sitting at the Hilton Starbucks. This year’s adventures included an evacuation of the entire Hilton Hotel on Saturday night during an awards show. Yes, it was a first for me.

I’ll give more details in an upcoming post but for now - here are seven reasons to go to NAMM if you’re an artist

Develope relationships with manufacturers to learn about their gear and if you’re lucky you might become a beta tester one day.
Have dinner with those manufacturers/great people you met long ago and enjoy the great company they bring
Meet people you had no idea you’d ever meet in your life
Mentor the young ones who will replace you one day and help assure the industry is on good footing
Have extended conversations and forget to actually do the interview cuz the conversation was too good
Attend panels where either you or old friends are twisting history just a bit
Be reminded of all the people you don’t recognize after decades and embarrass yourself. Apologize and ask questions.

Thanks again for reading. We hope you enjoy, subscribe and consider supporting us with a paid subscription.

Enjoy your listening!
Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #211 - What's a Flash Jamm and The Voice That Is?

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 19:40:37 GMT

Welcome new subscribers! We support acoustic musicians playing live in the studio, at events and recorded to the highest fidelity possible.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

AI can’t create an assembly of musicians to perform live in any room.

Below are photos ways to record music. A mixing console you touch and musicians in a room playing together.

Why we created Flash Jamms 10 years ago

It was October 2016 at the Rocky Mountain Audiofest where audiophile equipment manufacturers gathered to show their wares to a hungry group of people who craved the best audio they could afford. RMAF was one of the biggest conventions of its time and Blue Coast Records had found wanting listeners of our high crafted DSD recordings of incredible musicians.

Blue Coast Records is a small label dedicated to great artists performing live at their highest level. Conventions with fans who loved sound and acoustic music was a match and we often brought artists with us to showcase in our room. It was a natural place to meet other musicians who also cared about sound.

In 2016, Blue Coast Records was able to host Meghan Andrews (guitar and vocals), Marco Ferrero (bass) and Valerie Joyce (vocals). Larry Mitchell (electic guitar) and Dawn Avery (cello) came to support the Magic Bus. These were great musicians in one place that might not ever happen again and it dawned on me…..

What happens if we put these musicians in one room to perform without rehearsal…. find a song they all knew… listen to each other, improvise and play live infront of an audience spontaneously?

The Voice That Is - Thank you Doug White for letting us take over your room!

It was the afternoon of October 8, 2016 when the idea hit me. I talked to all the musicians about this concept of a “Flash Jamm” - taking over a room at the convention and just start playing. They loved it.

We needed a room that would host such an event. Imagine a room filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of audio gear letting 6 musicians crowd into their room without fanfare and take over. Doug White had a room - The Voice That Is - showing some of the most expensive gear possible. Crazy to think he’d let us do this in his room but hey, he loved our music and we loved him. Let’s ask.

Doug said yes! so we planned for us to show at 5pm that day… and we did. The song was “Wild Horses” and Doug filmed it with his phone. The crowd gathered and the room was packed. It was a hit.

After that first Flash Jamm we did more .. with PS Audio and Paul McGowen and with David Solomon - with many of the companies he worked with, most notably Qobuz. Every convention we tried to bring Flash Jamms - music to the people who loved it live and spontaneous.

The initial group was so fantastic we brought them into our studio to perform live with our collection of vintage mics, highend preamps and DSD256. Here are the 3 songs that came from that session

https://bluecoastmusic.com/meghan-andrews/sneak-peek

This is Doug White and The Voice That Is - high end audio gear

https://thevoicethatis.com/

Below is the youtube video that Doug took on his cellphone live from the room that day.

Thanks again for reading. We hope you enjoy, subscribe and consider supporting us with a paid subscription.

Enjoy your listening!
Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

Cookie's Corner - #210 - What does it mean to be a musician in the world of AI - is mediocrity okay?

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:33:17 GMT

Welcome new subscribers! We support acoustic musicians playing live in the studio and recorded to the highest fidelity possible.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

The winter holidays are in the past. A fresh start is in the air. Time to dive into the future.

What does it mean to be a musician in the world of AI - is mediocre okay?

There’s a lot of talk and anxiety about being a musician with the adoption of AI in the music world. Streaming services like Spotify are paying less and less to artists every year - and it’s not because of AI - it’s because streaming uploads 100,000 tracks a day with no gatekeepers. More and more of the music coming out sounds bad and less interesting.

We’ve started a newsletter devoted to AI in music and arts. The good, bad and ugly of it all.

We’ll offer subscribers audio to hear for yourself, learn about the true/false of copyrights and more. We’ve already learned a lot of things that are not being talked about.

Below are photos of how we used to work to record music. A mixing console you touch, musicians in a room playing together, myself taking notes on a track sheet with my 2” tape machine remote close by so I can hit “record” with a push of a button.

These days are not all gone, but they are changing.

So what really changes with AI? Should we be scared?

Rather than complain about AI, at OTR Studios we decided we would take a deep dive into AI and see what’s really going on. So we took out a subscription to the most common AI program out there to meet reality vs fantasy head on.

This is AI - What Creators Need to Know

To read our first substack on AI go to…

AI - What Creators Need to Know

This is AI - What Creators Need to Know - Coming Soon

This is AI - What Creators Need to Know…

8 months ago · Blue Coast Music Store

Did you ever use autotune or melodyne to fix a bad note? Ever use beat detective to make something perfectly in time? Ever ask AI to write something for you or make lighting changes to your photos?

As artists, we have to face reality and change. The music industry is changing like it does every decade or thereabouts. So is film, video, graphics, journalism, writing - you name it. If you’re in the creative arts, you’re probably feeling the change…

We hope to have a couple of issues from myself and others on the subject of AI every month. We already have dozens of test audio for you to listen to so you can make up your own mind.

Personally, I think AI is a good reason to support acoustic musicians more than ever! Real performances can’t be replaced. That’s why I started Blue Coast Records

Enjoy your music and have a wonderful week!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer Blue Coast Records and Music

In the meantime… settle down for a little soothing video… we hope you like and subscribe to the Sleep Relax Dream youtube channel.

Sunrise in Cambria - A Sleep Relax Dream video

These have become wonderful ways of living in the moment of creation to achieve the purpose of making something from nothing. This video was taken while on a visit to Cambria, CA. A very special place where waves on rocks are a live concert of songs.

The videos are shot on my travels to the coast which happens often.

My businesses…..

What is Blue Coast Records? It’s our record label.

We own the sound recordings and release them through digital music stores like Blue Coast Music, HDtracks, Qobuz, Spotify, Amazon, etc. You can find each album at bluecoastrecords.com with links to streaming and downloads store.

What is Blue Coast Music? It’s a high resolution download store

BCM sells DSD and 9 other formats including Master Quality Gold CDs directly to audiophiles.

What is OTR Studios? It’s a recording, mixing, mastering and production studio.

I started OTR Studios more than 40 years ago.

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Thank you to the 38,000 subscribers we have on Cookie’s Corner. If you’d like to unsubscribe, you should find the link below.

If you’re feeling in the mood for listening to acoustic recordings of more modern songs, recorded live in the studio, have a visit to Blue Coast Records playlists.

https://bluecoastrecords.com/listen/

Enjoy and have a great week!

Cookie's Corner - #209 - The hardest part of creating is getting started. Happy New Year!

Sat, 27 Dec 2025 21:35:17 GMT

Welcome new subscribers! Remember, if you buy two albums at Blue Coast Music, you can get a 3rd one free. Here’s how it works… first buy two downloads. After purchase, send us an email with your invoice, choice of the 3rd album and format you’d like us to put into your online account. It’s just that easy.

https://bluecoastmusic.com/store

The seasonal holidays are over. Reflecting on 2025 is almost past and it’s time to think about the future. A fresh start is in the air.

A new Qua Continuum Sleep Relax Dream video

Please subscribe to the Youtube channel above, leave a comment and hit “like” to help us continue.

It’s been several years since our last NEW 5 minute video. It takes a village to create these Sleep Relax Dream videos made for the purpose of soothing calm. These have become wonderful ways of living in the moment of creation with a purpose of making something from nothing. Getting from Point A to Point B is a fulfilling exercise in itself.

We started with a goal of one hour track of sound and a concept .. Qua Continuum

https://bluecoastmusic.com/qua-continuum/pebbles-on-green-sand-continuum-seven

First, one hour sound sculptures are created by Brain (Bryan Mantia) and myself by bringing various live instruments, synthesizers and pre-recorded sound samples to provide a palette of randomized sound. Not as easy as it sounds….

Once the digital palette is filled with colors of sound, the mix is planned. It’s a little like getting ready for the Indie 500 with a finish line that is one hour away - you either crash or get to the finish line. Each mix is performance art and no remix will be the same. There is no digital perfection. There is no cut and paste.

On mix day, Patrick O’Connor and I are in the studio, getting all the tools in place for a live analog mix using an old fashion console. The analog delays, reverbs, outboard gear are all set to trigger, re-trigger, create feedback and other mischief.

What might start as 12 tracks of sound becomes 48 tracks of faders to manage plus 15 or so outboard analog devices. That means fading smoothly up or down, increasing gains to outboard delays, triggering those delays to trigger other sounds and harmonizations, dealing with new unexpected sounds for an hour. Full attention is required… it’s like brain surgery.

An unexpected sound or an uncontrolled feedback loop can destroy your speakers at any moment. Just like a car crash at the Indie - it’s gonna happen. Mixing can be dangerous! :)

After several attempts and often getting half way through only to crash, you finally make it past the tough part and the mix settles in. You can see the finish line of an hour, Patrick is giving cues every minute and finally, you’ve made it. The master fader is down and the piece is silent as it began. Complete.

Then we repurpose the music for 5 minute pieces

Patrick and I create the graphics for each Qua piece and give them titles to reflect the atmosphere created. And yes… we have created 2 and 3 hour mixes. Crazy.

An hour of music is great, but we thought we could repurpose the 12 hour long pieces into 5 minute pieces for easier upload to streaming services. With an army of assistants, we cut up the hours into smaller sound sections. Qobuz is the only service that has all the albums and various playlists of these 5 minute sections. Here are a few.

https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/6850407

And then the pandemic hit….

When the pandemic hit, I found myself figuring out ways the studio crew could work at home and learn without me. Testing video programs we could share seemed like a great idea. On my travels to the coast (which happen often), accompanied by my tripod and iPhone, I’d find colorful places in nature to film. The goal was one minute of stationary video.

The crew would edit and crossfade these clips into 5 minute clips (and later one hour or two hour clips) with the idea of bringing the ocean to the viewer. If you couldn’t make it to the ocean, you could feel like you’re there - mesmerized by nature’s beauty and oddities.

Natural audio was used in combination of effects which was an interesting study in human behavior. We decided to repurpose the Qua Continuum pieces as part of the sonic architecture. The crew would add sound effects to their liking. Not only was this a great way to learn video, but also to develop a ‘community’ tone.

We then created Sleep Relax Dream on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@SleepRelaxDream

Three years ago we joined the online community of ambient music and sound on Youtube. Talk about a learning experience! Youtube is an onslaught of learning.

I found that these video pieces did a great job of soothing - especially for helping to sleep. After the 5 minute videos, we created one and two hour videos and learned a lot about the Youtube community. It’s a world of its own.

When the pandemic ended, we went back to the studio and put the videos and soundart to the side. But, I found that I was still using all these pieces for sleeping and often gave me the best sleep.

So, we’re starting up again in 2026 with a new plan…

The video above is the newest release on Sleep Relax Dream. What I’ve learned is that if I “loop” the video at Youtube, it seems to go on unlimited looping without commercials. Maybe this trick will work for you.

We hope to release more 5 minute videos, more one and two hour videos…. and also video shorts for 45 seconds. Maybe even some remixing of the original Qua pieces. Maybe some new pieces.

We’ll also be releasing one Qua Continuum piece a month to all the streaming platforms for the rest of 2026. Finally, you’ll have the hour long pieces at the streaming services.

We haven’t forgotten Blue Coast Records! New music coming…

So much to do… so little time! Along with the studio regulars we’re working with, we have at least 10 projects in the vault that we are revisiting for Blue Coast Records and more in discussion. It’s starting to feel like we can turn off the news and get back to living life in the creative community. YES! We hope you find your creative community, too.

Happy New Year… here’s to a calmer world, less stress in the media, and building creative communities,

Safe travels!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer
Blue Coast Records and Music

My businesses…..

What is Blue Coast Records? It’s our record label.

What is Blue Coast Music? It’s a high resolution download store

BCM sells DSD and 9 other formats including Master Quality Gold CDs directly to audiophiles.

What is OTR Studios? It’s a recording, mixing, mastering and production studio.

I started OTR Studios more than 40 years ago.

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Thank you to the 38,000 subscribers we have on Cookie’s Corner. If you’d like to unsubscribe, you should find the link below.

If you’re feeling in the mood for listening to acoustic recordings of more modern songs, recorded live in the studio, have a visit to Blue Coast Records playlists.

https://bluecoastrecords.com/listen/

Enjoy and have a great week!

Cookie’s Corner

Cookie's Corner - #228 - When did you realize you might become a professional musician (or otherwise)?

When did you realize you might become a professional musician (or otherwise)?

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Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #227 - Do power cables make a difference listening to music?

Do power cables make a difference listening to music?

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Cookie's Corner - #226 - What happens when captivating artistry meets superb recording quality?

Meghan Andrews - When captivating artistry meets superb recording quality - in the words of a true fan

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Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #225 - Are your automatic computer updates ruining your playback audio?

Are your automatic computer updates ruining your playback audio?

In case you missed these issues….

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #224 - Happy Father's Day and enjoy your music!

Happy Father’s Day!

In case you missed these issues….

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #223 - Why AI music might win over sampling but not over humans - Dynamics Part 2

Why AI music might win over sampling but not over humans - Dynamics Part 2

Below is a playlist of albums I’ve engineered in various studios.

In case you missed these issues….

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #222 - One who defined greatness through dynamics - Phil Aaberg

A master of piano has passed on - Thank you, Phil Aaberg

Below is a playlist of albums I’ve engineered in various studios.

In case you missed these issues….

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #221 - What do Robert Plant's Ramble On and Beethoven's Sixth have in common? Dynamics Part 1

Why learning to play an instruments involves so much more than sampling and AI

Below is a playlist of albums I’ve engineered in various studios.

In case you missed these issues….

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #220 - Active vs Passive speakers - what's the difference?

If you like jazz with complex horn harmonies and touches of Keith Jarret piano - have a listen…

What’s the difference between active and passive speakers?

Below is my playlist of albums I’ve worked on in the studio.

In case you missed these issues….

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #219 - I had to post this incredible acoustic version of Ramble On.

Robert Plant sings “Ramble On” and features an accordion

Tony Furtado - listen to the track “I Will”

Below is my playlist of albums I’ve worked on in the studio.

In case you missed these issues….

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #218 - Are music streaming services playing back your music the same way each time? Is convenience finally losing to quality?

Is Convenience going to finally lose to quality?

Meghan Andrews - Just Let Go - Listen to the track “Would”

Below is my playlist of albums I’ve worked on in the studio.

A little relaxation……

In case you missed these issues….

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #217 - Forget spatial sound, let's teach our newest engineers how to mix in stereo! Why are new songs mostly mono?

Why are new songs mostly mono?

My playlist of albums I’ve worked on in the studio. Not all, but what I could easily find on playlists. No AI used!

Enjoy our new 20 second relaxation shorts! We’ll be releasing one a day for a few months!

In case you missed these issues….

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #216 - Why we support old devices and keep several old operating systems alive.... Part two - Digital Computer Devices and Software

Forty years of changing audio systems….. Computers

In case you missed these issues….

Interested in music recorded direct to DSD? Buy DSD downloads here.

Interested in Blue Coast Records Radio? Here are a few links

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #215 - Why we support old recording devices - Part 1 - Analog and digital tape

Forty years of changing audio systems…..

In case you missed these issues….

Interested in music recorded direct to DSD? Buy DSD downloads here.

Interested in Blue Coast Records Radio? Here are a few links

Thank you, Dad! Gone but never forgotten….

Cookie's Corner - #214 - A playlist of breath and beating hearts - more than 48 hours of musical bliss

The Cookie Marenco Experience - Radio for days!

Test DSD for Free! One song - 9 formats

Ready to test you DAC for DSD playability?

In case you missed these issues….

Interested in music recorded direct to DSD? Buy DSD downloads here.

Interested in Blue Coast Records Radio? Here are a few links