QUOTE
Technical Credits
Paul Northfield - Engineer, Vocal Producer
John Petrucci - Producer
Mike Portnoy - Producer
Hugh Syme - Art Direction, Illustrations
Vlado Meller - Mastering
Frank Solomon - Management
Paul Northfield - Engineer, Vocal Producer
John Petrucci - Producer
Mike Portnoy - Producer
Hugh Syme - Art Direction, Illustrations
Vlado Meller - Mastering
Frank Solomon - Management
Т.е. сведением и мастерингом альбома занимался Владо Меллер, звукорежиссёр последних альбомов Red Hot Chili Peppers... Для тех, кто не в курсе, поясню - данные альбомы наряду с "классикой" - альбомом группы Oasis "What the story, morning glory" - считаются многими хрестоматийным примером, как не нужно сводить звук. Все эти альбомы отличает напрочь порушенная динамика звука, в пользу громкости - музыка "заточена" под проигрывание в первую очередь на lo-fi-системах, радио и в автомобиле.
Вторая очень неприятная особенность данного "веяния" в звукорежиссерской среде - "клиппинг", т.е. финальный мастер содержит много участков, где звук превышает пороговое значение амплитуды (0 dB). Поскольку звук не может превышать амплитудное значение, происходит обрезание всех значений сигнала выше 0 dB, что воспринимается на слух как "дисторшн". Устройство, которое выравнивает звук подобным образом, называется многополосный компрессор - это так, для справки. Вообще-то это явление где-то даже нормальное (в частности, для пиковых значений амплитуды, создаваемых ударными инструментами), но лишь на короткое время.
Следствие этих двух факторов - человек быстро устает от прослушивания записи - по той причине, что музыка практически не содержит "тихих" участков, плюс "клиппинг" вызывает ощущение перегрузки. Сие не есть гут, мягко говоря.
QUOTE
Dream Theater. I've not seen anyone mention their stuff yet, which maybe means that not many people listen to them. A prog-metal band who prides themselves on their technical proficiency (deservedly so, though many of their songs seem written to show off that proficiency). But many of their albums are mastered really loud.
The worst-sounding of them all is 1997's "Falling Into Infinity". The album gain is around 8.5 if I remember correctly, so not extremely loud compared to other hard rock, but the sound is so obviously compressed, very badly. It can be a pain to listen to on a number of songs, which isn't true for most of their other albums, even other ones that are mastered just as loud or louder. It's really a curious thing for a band who likes to think of themselves as appealing to audiophiles.
>>Very bad masters are Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication and Stadium Arcadium. Labels should put a warning sticker on albums mastered by Vlado Meller.
No, Vlado Meller should put a warning sticker on the CD that the label forced him to destroy the dynamics.
-- Hydrogenaudio forums
"You listen to these modern records, they're atrocious, they have sound all over them. There's no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like — static."
-- Bob Dylan in Rolling Stone magazine.
"The mistaken belief that a 'super loud' record will sound better and magically turn a song into a hit has caused most major label releases in the past eight years to be an aural assault on the listener. Have you ever heard one of those test tones on TV when the station is off the air? Notice how it becomes painfully annoying in a very short time? That's essentially what you do to a song when you super compress it. You eliminate all dynamics."
-- Angelo Montrone, A&R / Sony Music, vice-president
The worst-sounding of them all is 1997's "Falling Into Infinity". The album gain is around 8.5 if I remember correctly, so not extremely loud compared to other hard rock, but the sound is so obviously compressed, very badly. It can be a pain to listen to on a number of songs, which isn't true for most of their other albums, even other ones that are mastered just as loud or louder. It's really a curious thing for a band who likes to think of themselves as appealing to audiophiles.
>>Very bad masters are Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication and Stadium Arcadium. Labels should put a warning sticker on albums mastered by Vlado Meller.
No, Vlado Meller should put a warning sticker on the CD that the label forced him to destroy the dynamics.
-- Hydrogenaudio forums
"You listen to these modern records, they're atrocious, they have sound all over them. There's no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like — static."
-- Bob Dylan in Rolling Stone magazine.
"The mistaken belief that a 'super loud' record will sound better and magically turn a song into a hit has caused most major label releases in the past eight years to be an aural assault on the listener. Have you ever heard one of those test tones on TV when the station is off the air? Notice how it becomes painfully annoying in a very short time? That's essentially what you do to a song when you super compress it. You eliminate all dynamics."
-- Angelo Montrone, A&R / Sony Music, vice-president
Русскоязычных ресурсов по Loudness War я, к сожалению, не нашел (мало искал?). Вот англоязычные ресурсы, посвященные проблеме.
Wikipedia - Loudness war
Austin360.com loudness war article
http://brianstagg.co.uk/p_t_a_clipressed/
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....ter&f=1&t=27691
Примеры...
Dream Theater - The Dark Eternal Night (практически вся запись имеет уровень громкости ~0 dB).
Dream Theater - The Dark Eternal Night (примеры клиппинга).
Dream Theater - The Dark Eternal Night (статистика уровня сигнала).
Пример "классического" мастеринга.
PS. По многочисленным опросам энтузиастов аудио, худшим мастером всех времен признан альбом RHCP "Californication". Но наш любимый Systematic Chaos от него недалеко ушел - уровень клиппинга на нём превышает все нормы, а динамические характеристики записи таковы, что прослушивать её лучше всего на бумбоксе...
