So when I originally posted this last night I had a whole page of commentary on this article. Not sure why it didnt make it over to the original post, but I figured might as well get the ball rolling and blame yahoo for it!
Anyway, has anyone out there heard of code? I assume I've only heard about it because I've been in the business so long as an engineer. Whatever the reason is, its a shame that it hasnt become more popular since this article was written.
I love T-Bone Burnett's work, I've heard most of his albums, soundtracks and even seen him live. He is what a musician should be, jack of all trades. Whether its composing, producing, engineering, performing, he does it better than most. As a producer he dug up all those great traditional songs for O Brother Where Art Thou? and also chose some of the less traditional songs found on The Big Lebowski, so its safe to say the man knows his music. So why in the hell isnt anyone listening to him? He has some really great points and ideas about the future or lack there of in the music industry. He's here to save us all from shitty over compressed music with no dynamics and nobody seems to care.
All of us who have been around long enough to hear the sonic changes in our music or any audiophiles out there can clearly hear the difference. It's been going way down hill really since the release of CDs, then it just went WAY bad once we started using MP3s, so why is it ok with people? It's been a problem for so long now that I think this new generation doesnt even know about or care about the difference, which is a shame.
I agree with what he is trying to do, but T-Bone, Im afraid focusing on any kind of physical format is a losing fight. After so many years in the industry I've seen so many new physical formats crash and burn, we live in a new age and nobody wants to buy CDs or DVDs at a store anymore. Im not even sure how many stores are left! Best Buy, FYE....??? I know there are some attempts out there now like HD tracks and Mastered for iTunes, heard them, doesnt work for me. The issue is, like T-Bone said, these songs need to be made/mixed/mastered for specific formats. If you want a MP3, they need to mix for it. Essentialy the major labels, and everyone for that matter are creating formats from other formats. This is completely changing the music and even cutting out frequencies that you are supposed to hear! In the long run, the artists are really the ones who lose out, like he said, they hand in one thing and the label puts out another. Its true! You know how I know? Because I was that guy! I pushed the buttons, when i was told to make WAVs from MP3s for release because "thats the only file we have" I had to do it. It payed my bills, of course i hated myself for it but thats why I walked away from a sweet gig as an engineer for a major label.
I can go on and on about the loudness wars, over compression and my disdain for the major labels...but thats another 10 or so blogs coming to you soon. Either way, God speed Mr. Burnett, please keep up the fight and save our ears from shitty sounding music while giving these artists the sound that all their hard work deserves!
Believe me I’m not proud to be associated with this one, and we can only hope that some good will come from this in some form of backlash against volume above all else.
Even the professionals are ashamed by the recent trend of brick-walled releases.
My favourite example of needlessly brick-walled albums still has to be the Diana Krall Christmas album from 2005. "The loudness makes it more festive".
