[
Date Prev][
Date Next] [
Thread Prev][
Thread Next]
[
Date Index][
Thread Index][
Author Index]
Re: Why contemporary music sounds terrible
Krispen Hartung wrote:
> ...all the different ways you can increase levels (for CDs to sound
> comparable to other professional CDs in your player), yet maintain
> natural dynamics, etc. Now, it has occured to me that often times when
> I hear a CD, especially pop/rock CDs, and I think to myself, wow that
> is a really hot and "in your face" level", the mix also doesn't have
> much of a dynamic range...some guy is screaming his lyrics, or you can
> tell that is is practically blowing his brains out to get that tone
> out of his horn...but it is no louder than the section where he is
> wispering poetry over an ambient section. It's like compress,
> compress, compress, limit, limit, limit....turn that wave form into a
> solid bar, and then raise it to 0db...in your face, 100% of the time.
> Below is the first time I've seen this referred to as exhausting, but
> it makes sense. Even if you turn your stereo down, there might be
> something to be said of giving the human pyche a break with natural
> dynamics and more space.
> Tension....release....tension...release....louder....softer, etc, etc.
In the Subject: line, I would have said "Why contemporary mastering
practices sound terrible" instead of "Why contemporary music sounds
terrible." I wouldn't want anyone thinking that I hate "contemporary"
music.
But you are so right. I'm mixing my Celtic band's demos and am fighting
the urge to slap that multi-band compressor across the output bus inside
of Sonar. If I *do* use it, I hope that I at least use more
conservative settings than the presets provide.
Cheers,
Bill