On Thu, Mar 21, 2013 at 1:55 PM, Ken Norton <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Doesn't stop me from wanting to punch the mastering engineer in the face,
> > though.
>
> Can't always blame the mastering house. We're seeing what is given to
> the mastering engineer something that already is already "Finalized".
> Unfortunately, everybody is using ProTools today and we're throwing
> every plugin made at every song. It's hideous. I'd love to see these
> guys try to do a two-channel live mix without substitutions and
> side-chaining effects. (of curse, I can't live without my side-chain
> effects, but I'm, uh, "mature" about using them--grin).
>
> Hee hee....
I have to agree. Too many mix engineers just get "MegaSquash 3000" plugins
and think they can out-do the mastering engineer. Rush's "Vapor Trails",
for example... classic example of a binary waveform, but according to an
interview I read with Lifeson, they can't really do much about it since the
original multitracks have digital distortion on them and even mastered
properly, would still sound sub-par. Sad, especially given a band of
Rush's caliber.
> But, in all fairness, I'm not sure it matters much. The average
> listener thinks that MP3s and YouTube videos sound great. (And, no, I
> totally disagree with Ken Rockwell on Apple's compression).
>
> And sadly, the average listener today is listening through $15 earbuds.
Kinda negates what the engineer listening on $15,000 monitors can do, huh?
> My biggest grouse is the amount of "compressor pumping" were getting
> on otherwise well-produced stuff by top artists. It makes me wonder if
> the current trend away from near-field monitors to mid-fields has
> changed the ability to discern this. And if the listening levels are
> so high (I could swear that the typical mix engineer is deaf these
> days) you're not going to hear it either.
>
>
Agreed. Used to be an occasional thing, like Steve Perry's vocals on the
Journey albums. But now you can definitely hear comps slamming on pretty
much everything.
--
Paul Braun
Music Junkie
"Music washes from the soul the dust of everyday life." -- Harlan Howard
--
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