Although frequently referred to as "MasterFrasco," my name is Chris Frasco. My history in audio is funny because I was completely oblivious to it in the beginning. I was always passionate about music. I started playing guitar in 3rd grade, and was practicing hours every day by 5th grade. In 7th grade, I began apprenticing for a mobile disc jockey... by 10th grade, I was a popular mobile/club DJ in Western Massachusetts. It never occurred to me that these two worlds were connected... I have no idea why.

In high school, I taught guitar at a local music school. In fact, I still teach private guitar lessons to this day because it's something I love to do. Meanwhile, I continued DJing on the side. I often did the between-play psych-up music at the Springfield Falcons' hockey games, and the Springfield Civic Center would ask me to tweak their huge graphic EQ before each game. Other events in the small arena often led to the sound system being all out of whack. I'm thankful that neither they nor I ever thought to write my settings down, because I got the opportunity to start anew each time. Even though I didn't recognize it, I think this was the start of something.

I went to Berklee College of Music, where I did not major in audio engineering. I majored in Contemporary Writing and Production, which is a modern way to say "Arranging." Ear Training class always felt like my Achilles' heel, except when it came to complex harmony. If the professor would play a long melody and ask the class to write down what they heard, I was usually lost after the eighth or ninth note... but when he'd just throw his forearm across the piano and say, "What do you hear?," I was always surprised by my ability to decipher it. Other students would be singing through the notes of the chords, but I knew the notes by how they vibrated off each other. Even though I didn't recognize it, this was definitely the start of something.

Anyway, this story is getting long, so I'll wrap it up. I learned audio engineering by research, trial and error, and advice from audio professionals who I was lucky enough to have as friends. My first dive into the process was recording my first album. It was difficult... really difficult, but I enjoyed learning to craft sounds. From that record, I had a hit song, which prompted other artists to ask me to record them. So, I did. And I mixed them. It was a blast. When I did my own second album, I decided that I would not only record and mix it, but I would master it as well. I don't recall why I thought that was a good idea. It's exactly what I tell people NOT to do these days, and the album was the poorer for it. BUT! Something clicked when I started working on mastering. I certainly wasn't good at it right off the bat, but it grabbed my interest and utilized all my natural talents like nothing ever had before. I was hooked. Still am.