Production Advice

Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends, We’re so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside…

I know, it’s been ages.

And, the way things are looking at the moment, it’s going to stay slow for a while longer yet…

So, stay tuned to the RSS feed for future updates, including a brief summary of all the goings-on of Dynamic Range Day – but in the meantime – enjoy this video about the recording and mixing of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

I was going to say “please enjoy this video”, but honestly, if there isn’t something to delight or amuse you in here, you’re reading the wrong blog.

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AND YOU KNOW WHAT ?

I’m not going to shout about it.

Even though that was the whole idea – to be honest, I’ve been SHOUTING non-stop since midday yesterday, and I’m getting a bit of a headache. (“Shouting” on the internet means typing in ALL CAPS)

When I suggested this gimmick for Dynamic Range Day, I had no idea how good an analogy it was be for the Loudness Wars. It’s not my original idea, by the way – I can’t remember who made the comparison originally, I think it was on one of the mastering forums.

BUT ONCE YOU START TO DO IT, TYPING IN ALL CAPS STARTS TO FEEL REALLY ODD, BECAUSE ALL THE SUBTLETY, MEANING AND NUANCE OF WHAT YOU’RE TYPING IS GONE.

And when you connect that to music, it really does make the point incredibly well. Exactly the same thing happens to music when we push the level up and up – so that there’s no contrast, no light and shade, no subtlety or room for impact.

TYPING IN ALL CAPS I FIND MYSELF LOOKING FOR *NEW* WAYS TO GET EVEN MORE IMPACT AND I JUST FIND MYSELF GETTING MORE AND *MORE* FATIGUED…

…just like listening to hyper-compressed music.

So, does that mean I think the idea is a huge success ? Well, yes and no.

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…Wow.

I hoped it really was a good idea, but I never expected this kind of response.

I announced the idea of Dynamic Range Day almost exactly one month ago now, inspired by Derek Siver’s thoughts on starting a movement and Seth Godin’s suggestion to Declare A Holiday to publicise issues we care about.

Now, we have over 2500 people signed up to take part on the Facebook Event page, another 1000 who may be “attending”, and over 5000 more who have been invited.

People are posting on blogs and websites and talking about it on forums all over the place – here are just a few examples:

Sonic State
The Gear Page
Audio Geek Zine
Turn Me Up !
hb. hifi
Home Studio Corner
0dB.pl
AVI HiFi
Pleasurize Music Foundation
braindance.co.uk
Big Toe Studio
Digitube Blog

I’ve even been asked to support and contribute to a proposal for university research into the Loudness Wars – more on that in a future post !

And in less than 24 hours, RIGHT NOW, Dynamic Range Day will be is here !

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It’s hard to write something that does this video proper justice, to be honest.

Watch it, and you’ll see what I mean.

I came across it by chance, following a link in my Twitter stream. I don’t want to spoil it by saying anything in advance, really – if you read either of my blogs you’ll find all kinds of things to interest you, but there’s more to it than first appears, and if you’re like me the real message will shock, surprise and move you.

Watch it, and then click this link.

OK, I think it’s time to come clean. This may shock some of you, so brace yourselves…

I’m not a Pro Tools expert.

…I know ! How can that be ?!? I’m a mastering engineer, a pro audio geek and I write blogs on music production – HOW can I not be a Pro Tools whizz-kid ?

Well, before you unfollow me, block my email address and blacklist my RSS feeds – let me explain.

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