So this was brought to my attention sometime ago, and I'm really wondering if Newgrounds masses realize this.
The term itself isn't a new one to the music industry. Back when the songs were much quieter than they are now, some producers came up with an ingenius idea. "Why not raise the volume of this CD so that it stands out?" And indeed they did that, and it worked. It helped sales, since the CD certainly stood out from the crowd's. Other producers saw this and started to do the same. As soon as every producer hit that trend of increasing their volumes, the general volume was louder and nothing stood out anymore. So what happened next? They raise it up yet another notch.
This was coined "The Loudness War." Producers trying to sell more CD's by making songs louder. It works to a certain extent. It's not so noticeable when all the songs are this loud now, but it's really noticeable when you listen to "remastered" versions of old songs. Compared to the old songs, they sound fresh and better.
Why? It's because of the way human hearing works. Sounds that are louder are automatically clearer and "better". Why is that so? It's rather simple. Practically, any minute detail that was quiet and inaudible is now audible. So a piano sounds richer because you can now hear every single resonating vibration of the strings. It's also why live performances are always better sounding than a recording. And in songs, the sounds that stand out are the ones that are louder.
But here's where the problem comes in. There's only so loud that you can make a sound. Hit above a limit and your sound cracks. So your loud sounds can't get any louder than the ceiling. So which sounds get raised? The quiet sounds. Okay, great. So now your quiet sounds are more distinguishable and clear. But now they also are nearly as loud as your loud sounds. What happens then?
Lack of Dynamics. Simply put, nothing stands out since everything is just as "tall". With that, it kills dynamics. Songs where there are really quiet parts, and really loud parts. Now for some songs, that really doesn't make a difference. But some songs, certainly those that are much more complex in composition, certainly suffer. Certain sounds are supposed to stay quiet so that the louder sounds can stick out better. But if all the sounds are just as loud, it all gets muddy-ed and nothing stands out. Certainly, it also kills out a lot of the expression that comes from wide dynamics.
Now why am I fussing over this? The reason is because too many people are too lazy to raise the volume. That is, they're rather impatient. A lot of listeners will listen to the first ten seconds and instantly establish that the song is too quiet and hence "not good enough." However sometimes the song needs to be quiet so that the full range of dynamics can fit in. So what's required? Turning up the volume on the speakers. However, people don't do that. So the widely dynamic songs are turned down in favor of loud songs that lack any dynamic outside of LOUD.
Below, I've embedded a good video that demonstrates this really nicely.
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And with this in mind, in the future the majority of my songs will be on the "quiet" end. Why? Because I'm in favor of dynamics, and a wide range of dynamics. That's how music should be - quality music.
So please, turn down the volumes on the songs in favor of more dynamics. And when you listen, please turn up the volume on your speaker. I guarantee you'll enjoy the experience much more thoroughly.
For more information, you can read about the Loudness War here.
Thank you to all for reading.
-HFX ^_^
JakBaronKing
I never meet another newgrounder who shares such passion for music.
Please tell me all about your favorite music.
Here's a list of my tracks I collected from youtube.
Let me know what you think.
<a href="http://jakbaronking.newgrounds.com/news/post/207935">http://jakbaronking.newgrounds.com/ne ws/post/207935</a>
Stay Cool Dude!