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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Mark London <mrl@psfc.mit.edu> |
| Subject | Re: a record was constantly loud |
| Date | Sun, 26 Dec 2004 13:21:35 -0500 |
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>From: "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com>
>I just had this argument with someone who hated our Klaatu remasters saying
>that we'd compressed the crap out of the first two albums and that the
>remastering engineer needed his hearing checked.
>The two albums are now 5 to 7db's LOUDER than originally released......and
>now you can actually hear what the act had intended.
>All the subtle nuances from the studio sessions are now present. As the boys
>said after finishing the sessions -- this is the closest this material has
>sounded since the day we laid down the tracks in the studio.
I don't mind if the mixing process just involves increasing the
volume of certain instruments that weren't loud enough in the
original mix. However, when you simply compression to make music
louder, that is likely to change the way the instruments actually
sounds. Sometimes it's subtle, otherwise not. It's especially less
subtle when listening to the music with headphones, which most people
seem to be listening to music these days, via their IPODs, or
whatever.
Compression can especially ruin the sound of drums, because that they
are usually the loudest sound to begin with, so they'll be most
affected. And if people are used to listening to the way the
original mix sounded, they are more likely to notice such subtle
changes. Plus, some of the instruments that weren't loud to begin
with, may not be too pleasant to listen when louder. I.e., I have
one record where the original guitar sound had a lot of distortion,
perhaps to make up for the fact that it wasn't too loud. The CD
version made the guitars much louder, but now the guitar sound is
very annoying, because of that distortion.
That's why I have to laugh when someone claims that their need remix
is louder, as if it's a good thing (you're just one of many people
who do that, so it's not your fault). Louder doesn't necessarily
mean that the music is better to listen to it, because you end up
changing the dynamics of the music, and sometimes that's for the
worse.
I know it's too late now, but it would be nice if fans of a
particular music, were asked about what their preference was of how
the music should sound like, rather than letting that decision be
left to aging (and likely hearing impaired) band members.
Mark
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