New CD´s sound is scaring the sh*t out of me

[NazRat]

BTW, does anyone else here think that, in addition to whatever else they did, on the new remastered Beatles albums they've done a good bit of this sort of squashing?

Agree on the stereo, not the mono. Still think the 1999 remix/remaster Yellow Submarine was the best.

Sorry . . . back to the business at hand.

[daniel.sneed]

Not to open the can of worms :
What happens to CD sound is somewhat related to what happened to popular music. More money is expected in exchange of less heart and musical talent.
Maybe some day...

[FMiguelez]

The scary thing is that there is now a creeping trend to introduce the Loudness Wars to classical and jazz CD's!

That would certainly be the end of the end...

Do you have a particular classic recording in mind?

Berlioz competing to be as loud as Metallica? Can you imagine that?
Imagine a beautiful furious climax all squashed that sounds as loud as a gentle andante intro

[daniel.sneed]

[...]a beautiful furious climax all squashed that sounds as loud as a gentle andante intro

That's just what I hear hour by hour on the radio. Sigh!

[Phil O]

Feel free to torture yourselves, right here:

Now I hear what you're talking about. Ouch! Doesn't sound like an expensive Nashville production, does it?

Phil

[RonaldDumsfeld]

Interesting thread.

Hadn't heard Carrie Underwood or Miranda Lambert before. So I looked them up on Spotify. I can see what you mean. Carrie's records in particular could be dancefloor techno.

There is a silver lining however. Spotify uses a version of replay gain. So when I played some Alison Krauss as a direct comparison the apparent volumes were the same. Both records make you cry but for opposite reasons.

So that's what I'd recommend you do. Play your clients Alison vs Carrie and Miranda in a proper ABX. Might help them see the light.

Good luck.

[SixStringGeek]

They use autotune because if they sing good, they wouldn't use it! What GREAT singers use autotune? None that I know of anyway.

Mariah Carey can REALLY sing. But they don't let her anymore. 2009 vs 1993.

Talent has been outlawed, we must all sound like average singing robots.

[toodamnhip]

Interesting thread.

Next yr I plan on having a few latin Grammys so I'll do my best to help weed out the noise ok?..lol...

I was seriously depressed by this yrs grammies and the pitchy vocals, and in general, the songs suck too.

It's not just squashed EQ, it's ALL aspects of the industry that is sliding.

Perhaps we are starting to really see the effects of the anarchy of No record co., lax quality control with everyone making their own records?

It's been yrs since I've heard a truly amazing song.

I'll do my best to put some great ones out soon.

Let's all do the same and be the SOLUTION.

[newrigel]

They use autotune because if they sing good, they wouldn't use it! What GREAT singers use autotune? None that I know of anyway.

Mariah Carey can REALLY sing. But they don't let her anymore. 2009 vs 1993.

Talent has been outlawed, we must all sound like average singing robots.

Since you mention Mariah Carey, she really doesn't have the greatest range that everyone claims she has... their just mesmerized by her squeals.... Minnie Riperton did that years ago and smokes MC IMO!
The true record is held by a woman named Betty Wright and there are different techniques known as "super head voice" and "whistle voice" in which they can't be used in the guinness book because they are not done with true supported epiglottal placements. There's men that can do what MC does and even in the GBWW they state that "the extremes of these ranges have NO musical value" so when MC goes into her little squeals, it's in the spectrum of annoyance IMO.
It's just the pop sectors and a few others have gotten into a trend thats putting true performance in the back seat... the machine does the work, not them.
But talent hasn't been outlawed in the Metal genre... they do what they do, and do it live... no autotune in any Metal I listen to or on my vocal work.

[bongo_x]

You really have to try and balance the current trends against making a classic sounding record that will stand up over time. You need to give the people what they want, but you have to remember that that's what all those people were doing in the 80's with the digital reverbs. There are some 80's records that aren't reverb overkill, those people struck a balance. You can insist on only making records the way you want them to sound, but you have to be willing to pay the price. Personally, I would fire an engineer that insisted on working that way.

I would not over explain all the reasons behind what you do to your client. They will not understand, and even if they do they may later blame you for "talking them into" something. I just listen to what they like, try to figure out what they like about it, and say "sure, we can do something like that". They're probably not loving the fact that it's squashed to hell, there's something else about it that they like. Often what people are hearing in a piece really surprises me. They'll say they like the drums on something and play something truly terrible sounding. If I talk to them more I'll find out they just like the fact that it's clean and energetic, or noisy and vintage sounding, or something, but they aren't really set on having that particular sound. Find out what they really want.

bb

[SixStringGeek]

Since you mention Mariah Carey, she really doesn't have the greatest range that everyone claims she has

Perhaps, but she doesn't need autotune either. She's a perfectly competent singer with a lovely warm voice that has been squashed beyond all recognition in her latest release.

[SixStringGeek]

OK, this has gone too far.

I'm sitting here watching the late night TV unable to sleep and a damn margarine commercial came on featuring a woman singing and dancing in a grocery store with the stuff and the vocal was all autotuned to heck.

Might as well quit using it because when they're using it to sell margarine, it is no longer cool.

[zed]

I am shocked that we live in a world where enough people think this current music trend and modern production insensibilities are acceptable. I sure am glad that so many thousands great records were recorded in the past, because that has become almost all that I listen to.

When I first heard the Cher song with the autotune effect, I thought it was cool, like everyone else. But it is so out of control now. It has become the most repulsive and annoying effect in the history of recorded music. I will never include that effect in any song that I ever records. EVER.

But I do have a talkbox...

[newrigel]

Might as well quit using it because when they're using it to sell margarine, it is no longer cool.

Don't get me wrong... Mariah has a wonderful voice.

[SixStringGeek]

But I do have a talkbox...

But I'll bet you don't play every single guitar lead though it.