World Rock Countdown Exclusive: Maor Appelbaum

Maor Appelbaum’s success has been earned through decades of hard work and determination. From humble beginnings in Israel, he is now an elite mastering engineer whose first studio job in America was working as part of Sylvia Massey’s (credits include: Tool, System of a Down) production crew. The opportunity to work with Sylvia, reinforced his desire to succeed and laid the groundwork for a truly stellar career.

You’ve become How Important is Mastering to your song/record? The mastering process is the final touch. It’s where you improve the experience of the listener, you can manipulate the sound and tone. It’s like going to a museum and seeing a picture on the wall. The frame of the picture and the lighting thats on the picture – its like the mastering. It will help you present the picture.

Why’d you chose mastering ? It’s about knowing what you’re best at. I believe that Mastering is my forte in the music production process. I have the skills to do mixing and other things, but my calling is mastering.

“If your dream is to work on music, either as a musician or a producer, do the best you can and work hard. There are a lot of sacrifices and if you really want to do it, then go do it because you may like it and be successful too.” – Maor Appelbaum, Mastering Engineer

He’s worked on some big albums from Armored Saint, Rob Halford, Faith No More, Starset and Butcher Babies. Check out his discography here : www.maorappelbaum.com