Volume Wars
Posted on | March 21, 2008 |
Are the volume wars finally over…or settling down? Over the past few years I’ve noticed fewer and fewer clients obsessed with the overall volume of their albums, and more interested in sonic quality.
Of course, getting the volume in a “competitive level” is still a priority/concern of many artists. But I think I see a positive trend (at least in my own clients) toward quality. And also trusting me as an engineer to do the right thing.
At the end of the day, it’s always been my opinion that crushing a recording just so it sounds as loud as the next disc in the CD changer (or, nowadays, the iPod) is a bad idea. Music needs to be mastered appropriately for its genre. Speed metal should be smashed. It wouldn’t sound right if it wasn’t. Conversely, acoustic-based music needs air to breathe…and it would sound just as ridiculous smashed as speed metal would if it had lots of dynamics.
Genres and taste aside, if you’ve never read it you should check out Frank Foti and Robert Orban’s treatise on what happens when music is played on the radio…and how it’s processed. It may change your mind on the concept of “radio ready”…as well as how smashing a track in mastering can really “F things up” when it comes to radio play.
Comments
Leave a Reply
About This Blog
From Ohm to Om reflects the opinions of mastering engineer Paul Abbott, owner of San Diego's ZenMastering.
We welcome comments from readers...pro or con!
