"It all begins with the initial tone coming from the cabinet, but EQ at the board is very important"
About this Quote
Anyone who thinks guitar tone is a single magic knob has never stood in the messy middle of a real mix. Daisy Berkowitz’s line draws a clean, almost maternal boundary: the “initial tone” has to be born in the cabinet first, but the job isn’t finished until the console gets its hands on it. It’s a musician’s version of tough love for gear romanticism. Start with the source, yes. But don’t pretend the source lives in a vacuum.
The intent is practical and quietly corrective. “Cabinet” signals the physical world: speaker choice, mic placement, air moving in a room, the grit and bloom that players chase with near-religious devotion. Berkowitz grants that primacy, then undercuts any fantasy that authenticity equals untouched signal. “EQ at the board” is where sound becomes culture: where it’s shaped to sit beside drums, vocal sibilance, bass fundamentals, and whatever the song needs to communicate.
The subtext is about collaboration and power. The cabinet is the player’s domain; the board is the shared space where engineers, producers, and the realities of translation (radio, headphones, clubs, cheap speakers) assert themselves. Berkowitz isn’t surrendering artistry to the studio, she’s acknowledging that records and live shows are mediated experiences. Great tone isn’t just “good in the room”; it’s intelligible, purposeful, and emotionally legible in context.
Coming from a musician, not an engineer, the line reads like lived experience: a reminder that the bravest move isn’t hoarding purity, it’s embracing the chain that turns a personal sound into something everyone can actually hear.
The intent is practical and quietly corrective. “Cabinet” signals the physical world: speaker choice, mic placement, air moving in a room, the grit and bloom that players chase with near-religious devotion. Berkowitz grants that primacy, then undercuts any fantasy that authenticity equals untouched signal. “EQ at the board” is where sound becomes culture: where it’s shaped to sit beside drums, vocal sibilance, bass fundamentals, and whatever the song needs to communicate.
The subtext is about collaboration and power. The cabinet is the player’s domain; the board is the shared space where engineers, producers, and the realities of translation (radio, headphones, clubs, cheap speakers) assert themselves. Berkowitz isn’t surrendering artistry to the studio, she’s acknowledging that records and live shows are mediated experiences. Great tone isn’t just “good in the room”; it’s intelligible, purposeful, and emotionally legible in context.
Coming from a musician, not an engineer, the line reads like lived experience: a reminder that the bravest move isn’t hoarding purity, it’s embracing the chain that turns a personal sound into something everyone can actually hear.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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