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Topic ClosedProg rock and the loudness war

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darkshade View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2011 at 12:49
Originally posted by Anaon Anaon wrote:

Steven Wilson is aware of loudness war and he's definitely not into it. The last Opeth neither, great example of a recent dynamic production.

Neal Morse albums are a bit more smashed I find, it could sound more open and natural...


I kind of know what you mean, but if you go from a Morse album, to an album suffering from the Loudness Wars, you'll hear a big difference.

Also Portnoy is a loud drummer, nothing you can do about that.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2011 at 12:20
Originally posted by ExittheLemming ExittheLemming wrote:

We're talking about mastering compression here right? To my befuddled 49 year old ears most noughties CDs consider only two levels within which to replicate the infinitesimally subtle nuances of volume in a live performance i.e 'really loud' and 'louder than that'

I stopped going to live concerts years ago because the FOH mixing engineers clearly considered dynamics a historical artefact.

Classical music is the only genre I can think of that at least attempts to replicate a sound-world where the performance levels correlate to the final product.

I saw Explosions in the Sky last month and thought they had very good dynamics.  Maybe a little too good, because during the soft parts I could hear people talking.  (Very annoying!  Why did they come to a show if they were just going to chat the whole time!)

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2011 at 08:53
Steven Wilson is aware of loudness war and he's definitely not into it. The last Opeth neither, great example of a recent dynamic production.

Neal Morse albums are a bit more smashed I find, it could sound more open and natural...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2011 at 08:04
I think it's got better over the past ten years or so (and by better I mean less compression and more dynamics) - the trend is changing and in part this is due to more artists doing their own mastering and self-releasing material. I think in time overcompression will go the way of the gated snare drum, and take autotune with it.
What?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2011 at 07:36
We're talking about mastering compression here right? To my befuddled 49 year old ears most noughties CDs consider only two levels within which to replicate the infinitesimally subtle nuances of volume in a live performance i.e 'really loud' and 'louder than that'

I stopped going to live concerts years ago because the FOH mixing engineers clearly considered dynamics a historical artefact.

Classical music is the only genre I can think of that at least attempts to replicate a sound-world where the performance levels correlate to the final product.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2011 at 07:35
In the world of Prog Related, we have Metallica's Death Magnetic.

And Paradise Lost, from Symphony X, maybe.
"Prog is Not Dead and never has been." (Will Sergeant, from Echo And The Bunnymen)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2011 at 05:27
Originally posted by harmonium.ro harmonium.ro wrote:

Originally posted by Blackbeard Blackbeard wrote:

If you are a foobar user you can use this:
http://www.jokhan.demon.nl/DynamicRange/index.htm
to measue the degree of loudness.



Nice, I didn't know this. Thanks.
Yes it is important to the music that you do that.
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2011 at 04:14
Originally posted by Blackbeard Blackbeard wrote:

If you are a foobar user you can use this:
http://www.jokhan.demon.nl/DynamicRange/index.htm
to measue the degree of loudness.



Nice, I didn't know this. Thanks.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2011 at 03:58
I actually like Vapor Trails. Its a hard rock album (not a prog album) so the loudness is not a problem to me.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2011 at 01:08
If you are a foobar user you can use this:
http://www.jokhan.demon.nl/DynamicRange/index.htm
to measue the degree of loudness.

For GfD it gives me really good values:
================================================================================
foobar2000 1.1.8 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.0 beta 6
log date: 2011-10-23 08:04:59

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Steve Wilson / Grace For Drowning
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR         Peak         RMS     Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR13      -4.94 dB   -24.61 dB      2:06 01-Grace For Drowning
DR11      -0.02 dB   -16.30 dB      7:41 02-Sectarian
DR14      -0.10 dB   -17.24 dB      7:51 03-Deform To Form A Star
DR12       0.00 dB   -16.04 dB      5:44 04-No Part Of Me
DR12      -0.15 dB   -17.17 dB      4:29 05-Postcard
DR11      -6.33 dB   -21.42 dB      2:23 06-Raider Prelude
DR13       0.00 dB   -17.15 dB      9:27 07-Remainder The Black Dog
DR13      -4.04 dB   -21.87 dB      2:59 01-Belle De Jour
DR12      -0.37 dB   -15.77 dB      4:49 02-Index
DR12      -0.11 dB   -17.18 dB      4:15 03-Track One
DR12       0.00 dB   -16.94 dB     23:21 04-Raider II
DR14      -0.02 dB   -19.24 dB      8:01 05-Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks:  12
Official DR value: DR12

Samplerate:        44100 Hz
Channels:          2
Bitrate:           320 kbps
Codec:             MP3
================================================================================



Edited by Blackbeard - October 23 2011 at 01:11
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 22 2011 at 23:49
It's more a problem in metal than prog.  Grace from Drowning is in fact an example of how it should be done.  Although....the loudness war is kind of exaggerated because it is not just the amount of compression but the nature of the music that matters. Listen to the acoustic guitar strokes on Sectarian....how often do bands express tension so effectively with what are in actual fact soft textures. If you are going to play at 11 from start from finish, it's going to get boring and annoying after some time anyway and the loudness of the recording only aggravates your irritation. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 22 2011 at 23:45
Originally posted by Alitare Alitare wrote:

Bob Dylan's Infidels sure suffers from this lewdness war. Have you heard Jokerham? It's sure as hell a ruby-sappharie fears to bed a pinto bean. It's death metal. It's new wave. What is it?


But Infidels was a great album.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 22 2011 at 23:35
Umphrey's McGee's new album does not suffer from the Loudness Wars, neither do the new Dream Theater, Neal Morse, Karmakanic, Steven Wilson, The Tangent, Beardfish, Yes, even Opeth.

I will admit the new Symphony X album suffers from the Loudness Wars. I can't recall other recent albums that fell into this problem right now.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 22 2011 at 21:16
Bob Dylan's Infidels sure suffers from this lewdness war. Have you heard Jokerham? It's sure as hell a ruby-sappharie fears to bed a pinto bean. It's death metal. It's new wave. What is it?

Spruce Bringsteen's Infant-dells sounds too much like Bobert Zimmer-catches-skin-man's Another Slide. The answer, my friend, is blowing with astro-glide.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 22 2011 at 21:07
Ah k. Tongue
Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 22 2011 at 21:06
Confused
Sorry, I meant that GfD does not appear to be a victim of the loudness war.  It is very dynamic.  Perhaps too much!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 22 2011 at 20:55
Originally posted by JS19 JS19 wrote:

Originally posted by Horizons Horizons wrote:

What song? @ Infocat

Listen to Remainder The Black Dog. 

While the huge changes in dynamics definitely add another dimension to the song, it can be rather shocking when listening with headphones, as I found out on my first listen. (Think throwing the headphones off my ears in panic).

Well my opinion is slightly skewed because my first few listens were done by speakers. So the mid-section of the song didn't really surprise me or cause any cringe.

Though i guess i can see your point of view.

Also does the OP believe that the guitar solo or chorus to Wilson's Harmony Korine is an example?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 22 2011 at 20:44
Originally posted by Horizons Horizons wrote:

What song? @ Infocat

Listen to Remainder The Black Dog. 

While the huge changes in dynamics definitely add another dimension to the song, it can be rather shocking when listening with headphones, as I found out on my first listen. (Think throwing the headphones off my ears in panic).
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 22 2011 at 20:35
Opps! I'm sorry i completely forgot who posted the original statement about GfD.

That's embarrassing.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 22 2011 at 20:30
Originally posted by Horizons Horizons wrote:

What song?

I was agreeing with you, it's got amazing dynamics. I was shocked to see it listed in this thread.
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