Re: (TV) (OT) It's not just me ranting this time!

[Joe Hartley <jh@brainiac.com>]

On Sun, 21 Jan 2007 00:01:40 -0800 (PST)
grntg <grntg@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I was also unable to master a few things at the
> levels of today's cd's unless I did the eq and massive
> compression.  I felt that the quality was comprimised
> so I left the levels down and sulked at my mastering
> skills.  I feel much better now!

I recently finished up a project in which a friend gave me the tracks
from an album he recorded a few years ago so that I could remix it.  (The
guy who originally recorded it overdubbed a lot of bad steel guitar and
cheesy 80s synth sounds - it really was wretched.)

Taking my test mixes into the car, I realized I had to turn the volume up
quite a bit to listen at the volume I'm used to.  No problem, that's what
mastering's for.  I learned a lot more about the mastering process as I
went back and started in on it.

There's a reason that mastering studios and engineers are not used for
the mixing process - you have to listen to the music in a different way 
during the mastering process.  You're tying to bring up the levels and
even out *some* of the dynamics, but (optimally) not squash everything
up to the top.  It's a delicate balance!  It's *easy* to squash the fuck
out of music and make it LOUD - just turn this little chromium switch, right
here, and instant loud.

Making a disc that has acceptably loud loud parts while retaining the
dynamics of a song is more difficult, requiring the mastering engineer to
*listen* to the process, and not just push the music through his super-
secret chain of EQs and compressors to come out at the end with the same
saturated sound which makes radioplay-driven label execs cream in their
shorts.

It makes all the difference in the world.

It really does kill the dynamics, especially when you consider that the
same radio stations that the label execs are trying to get airplay on
are themselves compressing the FUCK out of their signal so that they're
always pushing out the "hottest" signal available.  The end result?  A
product with no dynamics at all that hurts to listen to.

I can't wait for the labels to become completely irrelevant and be
removed as middlemen screwing with the music.

</Rant=off>

-- 
======================================================================
       Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh@brainiac.com
Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa
--------------
To post: Mail tv@obbard.com
To unsubscribe: Mail majordomo@obbard.com with message "unsubscribe tv"