taking a stand
CryojenX
Posts: 32
I've had it, I mean I have just f**king had it! I am sick and tired of the way the record industry is ruining the music listening experience by hard limiting during the mastering process. The loudness war has got to stop! I am sick and tired of having to explain to people, only to have musicians tell me it's not a big enough deal for people to get worked up about, and that the average person doesn't and wouldn't understand anyway. I'm sick to death of all this rationalization!
I feel utterly and completely helpless in this. It's actually very depressing, I know that Thesounds strange but you have to understand that music means everything to me. music saved my life when I was growing up, I mean it literally is life to me.
I was listening to Soundgarden's 1994 masterpiece superunknown this evening, I had forgotten how good CDs could actually sound! The drums would jump out of the speakers, it was dynamic exciting, and dramatic. It makes you want to throw your body around like a maniac! CDs used to sound like this! Then the next CD I listen to is one from 2005, and i really understood how severe the situation has become. It sounded flat and completely unexciting, and I was no longer able to enjoy that music.
Seriously it was like watching a digital 3-D movie like monsters versus aliens but on a 2-D television screen, in black and white!! Seriously I suggest you try it sometime, get a CD that came out even in the early 90s and contrast it with a modern CD. Sure it'll probably sound louder, but if you really listen it's a flat experience!
No wonder final is making a comeback! This isn't a problem on vinyl, I don't want to have to pay more for vinyl, and end up having to deal with a much more fragile and cumbersome medium when CDs are completely capable of this kind of dynamic range. Everyone has become caught up in this race to the lowest common denominator and most of the world doesn't even realize it!
This is the age of online distribution people! Even if this was all CDs were capable of, we can buy files online now we shouldn't have to deal with this! But CDs are completely capable of amazing sound if they are mastered properly! and what's even more baffling, is that even if an artist buys the bogus argument that louder sounding music spurs album sales, which on its face is ludicrous as album sales have been in a freefall since the late 90s, why can't they offer an option for people who want to hear the music at least somewhat resembling how it sounded win the artist settled on a final mix?
Why are they going through all that trouble to get a decent mix down, if they're just going to go let someone butcher it anyways? This makes no sense to me and it is so frustrating! When are we going to say enough is enough, and actually speak out and take a stand? People say consumers aren't educated enough to know what they're missing, well start educating them! Please! We have a chance to impact the music industry for the better, but instead people are just sitting back and making excuses!
If someone really truly loves music, then they should be willing to do what they can to help it live on and be presented in its best light. But I'm seriously beginning to doubt how many people actually care about music, no wonder the iPod generation has turned it into nothing more than background noise. It's because we don't care enough anymore to treat like anything better than just background noise. Quite frankly that's pathetic, and we should all be ashamed for just sitting around and making excuses.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
I feel utterly and completely helpless in this. It's actually very depressing, I know that Thesounds strange but you have to understand that music means everything to me. music saved my life when I was growing up, I mean it literally is life to me.
I was listening to Soundgarden's 1994 masterpiece superunknown this evening, I had forgotten how good CDs could actually sound! The drums would jump out of the speakers, it was dynamic exciting, and dramatic. It makes you want to throw your body around like a maniac! CDs used to sound like this! Then the next CD I listen to is one from 2005, and i really understood how severe the situation has become. It sounded flat and completely unexciting, and I was no longer able to enjoy that music.
Seriously it was like watching a digital 3-D movie like monsters versus aliens but on a 2-D television screen, in black and white!! Seriously I suggest you try it sometime, get a CD that came out even in the early 90s and contrast it with a modern CD. Sure it'll probably sound louder, but if you really listen it's a flat experience!
No wonder final is making a comeback! This isn't a problem on vinyl, I don't want to have to pay more for vinyl, and end up having to deal with a much more fragile and cumbersome medium when CDs are completely capable of this kind of dynamic range. Everyone has become caught up in this race to the lowest common denominator and most of the world doesn't even realize it!
This is the age of online distribution people! Even if this was all CDs were capable of, we can buy files online now we shouldn't have to deal with this! But CDs are completely capable of amazing sound if they are mastered properly! and what's even more baffling, is that even if an artist buys the bogus argument that louder sounding music spurs album sales, which on its face is ludicrous as album sales have been in a freefall since the late 90s, why can't they offer an option for people who want to hear the music at least somewhat resembling how it sounded win the artist settled on a final mix?
Why are they going through all that trouble to get a decent mix down, if they're just going to go let someone butcher it anyways? This makes no sense to me and it is so frustrating! When are we going to say enough is enough, and actually speak out and take a stand? People say consumers aren't educated enough to know what they're missing, well start educating them! Please! We have a chance to impact the music industry for the better, but instead people are just sitting back and making excuses!
If someone really truly loves music, then they should be willing to do what they can to help it live on and be presented in its best light. But I'm seriously beginning to doubt how many people actually care about music, no wonder the iPod generation has turned it into nothing more than background noise. It's because we don't care enough anymore to treat like anything better than just background noise. Quite frankly that's pathetic, and we should all be ashamed for just sitting around and making excuses.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Crystal
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I was with you all along, and then this came up and my support for your argument was solidified. I've thought for a while now that the actual sound and presentation of music has long been taken for granted. Sound is no longer the main concern in producing music, and it's a sad, sad story considering that music is sounds, and the sound of music should be handled very carefully. Loudness doesn't resonate as well as clarity and sustain to me, and apparently I'm not the only one.
I miss the days of music not being digital to be honest. Sure, I buy digital music, but only as a last resort. I'll scavenger each record store I can in order to find what I'm looking for. I'll even have it special ordered if it is an option.
Slightly on the topic, here is some food for thought: I've heard many people argue that Myspace and other websites of the like have done wonders for the music industry. Me personally, I disagree. While it has certainly helped underground musicians find a little bit more of an opening, I believe that our now vast world of music via internet has overloaded our plates with heaps of shit music that we're left to filter through to find something relevant. To me, it has transpired into the work ethics of our modern musicians.
That last paragraph was pretty useless to your argument and I realize this, but I found it to be a good opportunity for my two cents.
In the end, I'm with you...I miss the days of recognizing sound as an important element of recorded music.
6/12/08 - Tampa, FL
8/23/09 - Chicago, IL
9/28/09 - Salt Lake City, UT (11 years too long!!!)
9/03/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 1
9/04/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 2
I totally agree!! I know that MySpace & YouTube have supposed to have been this awesome revolution for those struggling bands out there, but what ever happened to starting at the bottom and struggling to the top of the heap!! There are so many crap one hit wonders out there now who get huge exposure through those sites and then fail to produce anything else substantial!!
I also agree with the crap standards of digital music, my friends think its funny how I still buy CD's but the quality to my ear is far superior to the tinny, flat sound of digital.
In one of my moves, I got rid of all my old records and when I occasionally re-buy these as cds, I notice that they don't sound as good. (!)
Can I just use Hollywood Undead as an example? They came from myspace. Now, I'm not normally one to rag on someone's perosnal taste, because liking music is nothing but an opinion and a matter of taste....but, if you like Hollywood Undead you may want to consider re-evaluating your life...
6/12/08 - Tampa, FL
8/23/09 - Chicago, IL
9/28/09 - Salt Lake City, UT (11 years too long!!!)
9/03/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 1
9/04/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 2