Transformation

02006-05-20 | Uncategorized

The shaman and the musician have in common the ability to transform suffering. For the musician suffering transformed becomes increased depth. If natural talent and dedicated practice are the height and width of the matrix in which the musician places her/his notes, suffering transformed gives this matrix depth. Suffering does not have to mean great illness or life-threatening injury, it can mean alienation, separation, despair…

Dynamic Range

02006-05-17 | Uncategorized

What Happened To Dynamic Range
What happened to dynamic range? That’s a question that should be asked of record labels, producers, artists, and last but not least, recording and mastering engineers. The question needs to be asked because we’re the ones responsible for what’s happened to our music. The music we listen to today is nothing more than noise with a beat (see the sine wave reference in the chart below). It’s not because it isn’t good music. It’s because it lacks dynamic range. When music lacks dynamic range, it lacks punch, emotion, and clarity. The record labels blame Napster, MP3s, CD burners, and a host of others for the lack of CD sales. While there is some truth to their constant whining, they only have themselves to blame for the steady decline in CD sales. The record labels need to reevaluate what they consider to be good music.

Please click on title link to continue reading this article on the extreme compression and therefore lack of dynamics found in much of todays music. By the way, one guitar formerly known as Tears in the Rain is not compressed at all.