[LAU] Questions from an audiophile to some engineers

[Arnold Krille]

Am Freitag, 13. April 2007 schrieb Bearcat M. Sandor:
> Is it really about selling more music? I'm still not convinced that it

Its not always about selling music but about getting (wider) audience.
Unless you do your music only to torture your relatives on family 
reunion... ;-)

> sounds better on average consumer level electronics though.  If the
> complaint is about some passages being too quiet because there is too much
> dynamic range, well that's not the kind of music it's done on anyway is
> it?  If the idea is to make the whole thing subjectivly louder why not
> just leave it to the listener to turn up the volume?

Ever seen a worker in the factory change the volume on his radio with every 
song?
A song that is less loud than the others means 3:30 mins of silence for them, 
which the radio-station wouldn't allow to happen since they loose listeners 
and thus ad-money everytime that song is played.
So: If you want your song to be played on the radio it has to be loud.
Moreover if your song stands out over the other songs in (subjective) loudness 
it will be recognized. And that is what you want. So you try to make your 
song louder than the others. Only problem is that every other producer tries 
the same thing and that is where song are compressed to much and get screwed 
by producers that force their technicians to use much higher compression than 
most of them want to use...

> Some of the things i 
> have that are compressed aren't even played on the radio. I can only
> really speak to that in the States though so i'd admit i was wrong quickly
> on that one.

While radio is the primary broadcast if you want your songs to be heard, the 
same rule above also applies to CDs. At least to some degree. (But most bands 
produce CDs that could be broadcasted directly without asking the band for a 
special broadcast-version.)

Yes, you can do recordings completely without compression. Even good old 
instruments/classic can be recorded that way. But what do your 
wife/kids/neighbors say if you turn up your amp to get the full >80dB 
dynamic-range between the silent flute-solo and the big tutti finale? (*)

Think of compression as a tool the same as equalizers. Learn to use them and 
use what sounds best. Not every channel needs EQ and compression by default.

But be aware that good compression takes more experience than EQ. And the 
characteristics of the EQ change if you put the EQ before the compressor, 
which can be desired or unwanted...

Arnold

(*) I do have a recording of Haydn's creation where the passage "And there was 
light" has almost that dynamic-range. I can only really listen to that and 
enjoy the range on big PA's during soundcheck or on my headphones. (Or when 
my wife is on holiday/work...)
-- 
visit http://www.arnoldarts.de/
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