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RECORDING COMPANIES HURTING MUSIC, EARS WITH LOUDNESS
ADAM SHERWIN, TIMES UK - Rock music really is getting louder and now
recording experts have warned that the sound of chart-topping albums is
making listeners feel sick. Record companies are using digital
technology to turn the volume on CDs up to "11". Artists and record
bosses believe that the best album is the loudest one. Sound levels are
being artificially enhanced so that the music punches through when it
competes against background noise in pubs or cars.
Britain's leading studio engineers are starting a campaign against a
widespread technique that removes the dynamic range of a recording,
making everything sound "loud".
"Peak limiting" squeezes the sound range to one level, removing the
peaks and troughs that would normally separate a quieter verse from a
pumping chorus.
The process takes place at mastering, the final stage before a track is
prepared for release. In the days of vinyl, the needle would jump out of
the groove if a track was too loud.
But today musical details, including vocals and snare drums, are lost in
the blare and many CD players respond to the frequency challenge by
adding a buzzing, distorted sound to tracks. . .
The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication, branded "unlistenable" by
studio experts, is the subject of an online petition calling for it to
be "remastered" without its harsh, compressed sound.
Peter Mew, senior mastering engineer at Abbey Road studios, said:
"Record companies are competing in an arms race to make their album
sound the 'loudest'. The quieter parts are becoming louder and the
loudest parts are just becoming a buzz."
Mr Mew, who joined Abbey Road in 1965 and mastered David Bowie's classic
1970s albums, warned that modern albums now induced nausea.
He said: "The brain is not geared to accept buzzing. The CDs induce a
sense of fatigue in the listeners. It becomes psychologically tiring and
almost impossible to listen to. This could be the reason why CD sales
are in a slump."
Geoff Emerick, engineer on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album, said: "A lot
of what is released today is basically a scrunched-up mess. Whole layers
of sound are missing. It is because record companies don't trust the
listener to decide themselves if they want to turn the volume up."
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/
music/article1878724.ece
VIDEO: THE LOUDNESS WAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ
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RECORDING COMPANIES HURTING MUSIC, EARS WITH LOUDNESS
ADAM SHERWIN, TIMES UK - Rock music really is getting louder and now
recording experts have warned that the sound of chart-topping albums is
making listeners feel sick. Record companies are using digital
technology to turn the volume on CDs up to "11". Artists and record
bosses believe that the best album is the loudest one. Sound levels are
being artificially enhanced so that the music punches through when it
competes against background noise in pubs or cars.
Britain's leading studio engineers are starting a campaign against a
widespread technique that removes the dynamic range of a recording,
making everything sound "loud".
"Peak limiting" squeezes the sound range to one level, removing the
peaks and troughs that would normally separate a quieter verse from a
pumping chorus.
The process takes place at mastering, the final stage before a track is
prepared for release. In the days of vinyl, the needle would jump out of
the groove if a track was too loud.
But today musical details, including vocals and snare drums, are lost in
the blare and many CD players respond to the frequency challenge by
adding a buzzing, distorted sound to tracks. . .
The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication, branded "unlistenable" by
studio experts, is the subject of an online petition calling for it to
be "remastered" without its harsh, compressed sound.
Peter Mew, senior mastering engineer at Abbey Road studios, said:
"Record companies are competing in an arms race to make their album
sound the 'loudest'. The quieter parts are becoming louder and the
loudest parts are just becoming a buzz."
Mr Mew, who joined Abbey Road in 1965 and mastered David Bowie's classic
1970s albums, warned that modern albums now induced nausea.
He said: "The brain is not geared to accept buzzing. The CDs induce a
sense of fatigue in the listeners. It becomes psychologically tiring and
almost impossible to listen to. This could be the reason why CD sales
are in a slump."
Geoff Emerick, engineer on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album, said: "A lot
of what is released today is basically a scrunched-up mess. Whole layers
of sound are missing. It is because record companies don't trust the
listener to decide themselves if they want to turn the volume up."
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/
music/article1878724.ece
VIDEO: THE LOUDNESS WAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ
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