Roots Archives Forum

Interesting piece here explaining what is wrong with sound today.

See [link](http://www.popmatters.com/pm/article/52 ... engineers/)


The youtube video is at the bottom, and despite youtube destroying the sound quality with low bitrate mp3 you can still clearly hear how badly the audio compression destroys all the punch and clarity...

"Now that songs are frequently bought as singles or heard on commercials rather than as part of an album, artists and labels feel the same pressure to *grab listeners in a few seconds.*"

Just don't buy music that falls into these catagories. Do you really buy music that requires you to be grabbed in a few seconds? I don't think so.

Obviously, 6anbatte, most of us here aren't going to buy this stuff.

What is worrying is that people are going to get used to this type of stuff, or already are. Then they will never realise what music is SUPPOSED to sound like.

This practice of loudening reckons by compressing the dynamic range is also being applied to 'digitally remastered' oldies. And that is bad news for all of us who like to get old time stuff on CD.

It also makes watching commercial television a complete pain in the butt as companies are using this method to circumvent the rule (In the UK at least) that requires ads to go out at the same volume as the programmes they are embedded into. And that *really* does my head in - just another reason why I watch so little TV.

To be honest I really don't think it's an issue with any of the music I buy on CD.

In fact, my experience is the complete opposite with much more care taken over how music is recorded for CD. This is the music I regularly buy, I hasten to add!

If I get a chance I'll replicate what it says in the liner notes on a recent purchase of mine just to show the extent they go to make sure the CDs sound superb. After all they are only releasing them on CD.

I was playing something recently and my wife actually thought it was me playing acoustic guitar as opposed to me playing a CD. I kid you not.

Don't the TVs in Lincoln have volume controls?

6anbatte wrote: Don't the TVs in Lincoln have volume controls?

Yes, but why should I have to adjust the volume during a show just because of this dirty trick?

And it doesn't effect me at all, I don't buy CDs any more. So in a way I couldn't give a flying ****.

But it is about the music, we love music and this is not good for music - let alone our kid's ears!

6anbatte wrote: Don't the TVs in Lincoln have volume controls?

yes they do! but people living there are still waiting for the remote control.

that link doesn't work for me, but I'm very familiar with the subject.
But you do have to realize that compressors have been around for quite a while and a lot of the music you listen and love would not sound as punchy and good without them.
And of course we're not talking about digital file compression. We know that don't we?
Compressors/Limiters have been common tools in music recording for about 40 years - I should look it up. What you are railing against is the abuse of the tool. That is the people who use them at fault of course.

Don't watch TV. that'll show them! Stop paying the license fee!
Almost nothing currently in any chart that I have heard for the past several years has been listenable so I trod on making my Dub and making sounds I really like - and learning the studio craft.

I use the new tech and some old and I would say that really what is a big issue is the abuse of software - to the point that it gets a bad name to people who have ears that hear. Music nowadays sounds bad. 'Sounds' bad. what is the music actually like - if you can get past being whacked on the ears continually making you partially deaf - a lot of the music IS bad, but some of the good stuff gets lost:
1: because it is subjected to the same competitive commercial compression.
2: because the producer/engineer chose to let the music lead and the production present the music in a musical fashion - old fashioned?

Yes, but right. Let the music lead

ACEtone wrote: Don't watch TV.

I don't have a TV in my room. Only the kids watch TV here. Music rules for me.

And my Hi-Fi doesn't have a remote control (nor even tone control) and I like it like that. It was probably made before Oras was born...

I have no remote control for anything.
My wife and kids control the tv/video thing and when something goes wrong blame me for doing something against them. they are a very paranoid people. My closely neighbouring family.
And they have the good sounding amp!!!
I don't hold it against them but they have turned the tables in an annoying way.
I'm forced to listening to iPod (variable quality - but pretty good on the Fisher) when cooking and cleaning for the fuckers.

Looks like I need a friend! I just go on and on and on...

ACEtone wrote:I have no remote control for anything.
My wife and kids control the tv/video thing and when something goes wrong blame me for doing something against them. they are a very paranoid people. My closely neighbouring family.
And they have the good sounding amp!!!
I don't hold it against them but they have turned the tables in an annoying way.
I'm forced to listening to iPod (variable quality - but pretty good on the Fisher) when cooking and cleaning for the fuckers.

Looks like I need a friend! I just go on and on and on...

You've got that all the wrong way around Ace.

Sounds like you need some assertiveness training. Try to adopt a more Jamaican attitude towards the wife and pickneys and put them in their place.

Yeah, I know, PC I am NOT!