More On The Loudness War (plus free download)

[7thangel]

http://www.dynamicrange.de/

this link shows the evolution of the dynamic range, or lack of, over the years
http://www.dynamicrange.de/sites/default/files/flash/EOLW_512k.swf

"The DYNAMIC RANGE METER displays the inner dynamics of a recording in whole numbers.
For technicians, this is the average cumulative difference between peak and loudness (RMS) over a specific period of time (duration of a song or album) and is a whole number value given in decibels. An analyzed song or album might have a value of of DR4 (DYNAMIC RANGE 4) for example. This represents an effective dynamic range of 4 decibels.

This is a very small amount and the music appears to be superficially punchy, but when listened to more closely, it is distorted, blatant, and tends to make the listener aggressive after a certain amount of time spent listening to it. Such a master suffers from being played back on radio stations or converted to MP3.
(Please read more on this under Tech Info. You can also simply search for "loudness war" or "loudness race" on the Internet where you will find a great deal of interesting and independent information.)

Less compressed music would be indicated by DR14 and would be perceived as being pleasantly musical and natural."

 

[Sanova]

I agree with this when making music for yourself or other musicians.

Only we can hear such things.. or care to pay attention to them whichever you prefer.

The general populace wants the music as loud and bass-driven as possible; on whatever sound system they have.

Especially here in So Cal, its funny/frustrating to engage in conversations about music with non-musicians... they claim how "Lil Wayne makes the best beats and he's the best rapper" same for Jay-Z, same for chamillionaire when i was in texas...

Since when do these guys make beats? at least good ones? I'm not sure, but i am sure that most people who listen to music for other reasons than to create it/analyze it/fully understand it; will not appreciate a sound mix over a loud one in the slightest bit.

Not to say everyone is like this, but a great deal of people. Record exec's know this, so do engineers, that's why it continues to be done, in my humble opinion.

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Lol, didn't mean to go off on a rant like that but i just had one of these conversations recently and it was bugging me , good download!

 

[Formant024]

...it`s a matter of turning up your volume...not screwing up a mix instead to gain result...upon the point where an artist states that the track should be louder, thats where the ME should crank up the speakers then kick the artist out and continue mastering. The thing is, this subject isnt much noted when it comes to dance music or hiphop since much of the sound is flat in dynamics so there arent any obvious mistakes in the mix or demand for detail in the sound as long as its loud.... you wont see this happening on jazz or classical productions but you wouldnt treat it any different to get the best results (aside from the mix of course). And yeah, people are idiots lol. I have had some points of criticism on my beats where i had people convinced that there´s nothing wrong with it, just turn up your volume. The same is with some dance music, at first on your home setup/hifi they dont deliver but do on a huge pa system...implying that more loudness is not the answer but your playback is (and i really do enjoy music loud, but not loud music).

 

[krysolite]

interesting video