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The Death of High Fidelity
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This article is pretty interesting. It talks about how producers are mastering for mp3, and shitty computer speakers. Using compression to make things sound louder on ipods, and the loss of detail.
It kind of makes me sad.
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12/29/07
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rrooyyccee
i personally think computer speakers sound better than boomboxes, or worse yet, those really bass heavy all in one stereos ubiquitous in the 80's and 90's. . . the ones with cd/radi/dual cassette. check out the creative t40s for example.
so blaming the technology doesn't make much sense.
i don't mind compressed guitars and vocals. that is an effect. but i don't know what to make of super compressed real drum kits, multiple mics wide panned: i don't know what it means when a record sounds like you are hearing everything from the drum stool.
12/29/07
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jdg
also, ppl complaining about music need find something better to do. YMMVIANAL
12/29/07
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tantan
been ranting about this for years now - but, I am very glad to hear that it may be shaping up.
I was pleasantly suprised by the remaster of Joshua Tree. After previous recent remasters of classics resulted in unlistenably shitty, flattened mixes, I was really glad to hear that dynamics were largely left intact on Joshua Tree. The album was made much louder, no doubt, but the relative peaks and valleys were left pretty much intact.
Thinking about this again also inspired me to take more care with some new tracks to make sure that I'm not squeezing the life out of them. The thing about this, is that this mixing style gets under our skin whether we want it to or not. We do, after all, tend to listen to our stuff over computer speakers as well, as well as on mix CDs and the like, and we want our hard work to be good and audible. Like everyone has been saying, we have to find a way to balance both of these impulses. In some sense, I think that mastering has only become more difficult for those of us who give a shit about creating dynamic, emotionally effective work when we also have to make sure that it packs some punch even on the shittiest of speakers.
12/30/07
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Logo
jdg said: "one more thing i want to add, electronic music, especially some aggressive styles, sound great uber compressed and smasshed.
so, for most of us, that article does not apply... we have our own ideas of sound."
Totally on point. That's exactly what I don't understand about any mixing/mastering wisdom I try to absorb (it's all geared twords the rock/pop crowd and seems irrelevantly towards anything I'm interested in).
The more I hear about this controversy, the more I realize that I don't listen to any of the suspects implicated... so whateverz, let them eat cake...
12/30/07
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astroid
Logo said: "let them eat cake..."
let them eat crap
12/30/07
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bla
i like compressors
12/30/07
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subset
I think the drive to scream for attention is still huge in some circles, but is less prominent in others. There are so many niche markets now, and people making great music not-for-profit, that each has its own standards and opinions on the matter. It's really only the radio people fighting for money who are destroying their music to convince you that it's good. People who really do care about the music more than/instead of the money are trying to do it right.
I do think over-exposure to the awful sound can condition your ear to think it's preferable, but a bit of perceptive intelligence can bring you back from the edge. But even reworking the ugly-ass obnoxiousity of it all can have some value, done intelligently. I wish I could think of some examples now, but I need more coffee.
12/30/07
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Ochre
Music can only get so loud before it becomes unlistenable (already crossed that threshold for many of us with many pop releases), so I'm happy to see more and more articles like this that bring attention to the importance of dynamics, and the destructive effects of overcompression and limiting. It seems we're finally starting our collective U-turn back towards something resembling concern for fidelity over loudness. Oh, and link
12/30/07
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rrooyyccee
ochre,
that is really cool but i dont know that i would bother myself.
i'll be thinking more about this debate the next time i mix.
12/30/07
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deltasleep
The thing that really pisses me off: people like T Pain and a whole bunch of other rap producers who are clearly not producing songs, but 3 minute long ringtones.
12/30/07
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jdg
nothing sounds better on a ringtone then overly autotunned vocals
12/30/07
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drummergirl
I'm going to agree with astroid's Jamie Lynn Spear's effect, and deltasleep's ringtone comment.
Technology changing the way (or range) of music we hear is really evident.
I guess the trickle down effect this is having on mixing, mastering, and production, is that the engineer working in the big production house knows that too. So it's not even a question anymore of 'how do I get the clearest mix' it's I need to turn this out for profit.
Commercial rap these days is soo bad in most cases, that they'd better make their money on the ringtone and compress specifically for that, cause that single and the artist are going to be forgotten about in 3 seconds.
In commercial pop music in most cases the newest artist is not picked on talent so much as a ton of cash changing hands, or the popular and recent trend of nepotism. When your choosing an artist with no range and already you need to autotune and bring in back ups, you are also catering to an audience who probley doesn't care to much about range either, and remastering accordingly.
So its technology and the music is following on the technological trend. It works together.
However, that leaves us to have all the fun with remastering, and I intend to do just that.
12/30/07
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emulsion
Quote from Cory Doctorow/Boing Boing who also linked to this article:
"In a fascinating article about trends in sound engineering, Rolling Stone notes that producers are now specifically mixing tracks to compensate for the failings in MP3 -- it seems to me that as a society, we're happy to sacrifice fidelity for ease of use, flexibility and low-cost (see, for example, the trend from landlines to cordless phones to mobile phones to Skype). Designing for that, as opposed to lamenting it -- is a damned good and realistic thing to do."
I understand where he's coming from on this but it makes me sad.
12/30/07
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tantan
auto-tuning - fuck I hate this trend. There have been a couple of holiday related TV adverts this year that I have to mute immediately, because they use recent pop songs with vocals that are so idiotically manipulated that I can't stand listening to them. I can stomach it in a Spears sort of song because they're so over-engineered already, but I'm hearing more it now in very mellow, even acoustic songs, and it just makes my skin crawl.
01/02/08
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n9
just to reiterate: over use of limiting has *nothing* to do with digital distribution. The article is wrong in it's base claim. Consider the other points at your own risk.
People freak out about how 78s sound better for vocals than ProTools. There is no 'correct' way.
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