Why the Sound of Music Sucks Today – Part 2

In Part 1 we learned that the loudness of music we hear has an effect on how we perceive the way it sounds. More to the point we learned that a louder song sounds like it has more bass and treble and therefore sounds better on most small stereo systems. So what harm can it do for an engineer make their mix sound louder than someone else when the volume limits are set by the playback format and the listener?

Back when music was delivered on phonograph records there was a limit to how much information could be etched into the disc before it cut across the grove and rendered the disc unplayable. On magnetic tape there was a limit to how much magnetic energy the tape could hold before it became distorted. With digital audio there is a limit on how loud you can go when sampling the sound-wave. That limit in digital audio is called 0 db (zero).

If 0 is the limit, and no one is allowed to go over it, then we need to find a way to bring up the overall average volume of the audio in order to make it sound louder. In effect we are going to sacrifice the dynamic range of the music in order to gain a perceived volume increase.

The dynamic range is the difference measured between the softest and loudest part of the song. In music the dynamics are just as important as the tempo or the key in creating any kind of emotional connection to the music. Composers and musicians know that they can draw you in to a piece with subtle (or not so subtle) changes in dynamics. The chorus of a rock song is louder than the verse so you can feel that lift in energy. The second movement of a symphony is often softer than the first so the composer can play with melody and orchestration without banging you over the head. Imagine if a performer started singing the Star Spangled Banner as loud as they could right from the 1st line! I doubt they would get much of an emotional response from the audience, at least not a positive one.

So up until a few years ago in the battle of volume vs. dynamic range the winner, for the sake of the music, has been dynamics. Engineers who spent years learning their craft were given control over the volume of the recording secure in the knowledge that anyone who wanted it louder would TURN IT UP! You know. That little knob that says “volume” that most music playback devices have.

Take a look at these two pictures of music waveforms. The image on the left represents the waveform of music recorded with a large amount of dynamics. The image on the right shows what the waveform of a modern recording with almost all dynamics removed. Guess which one sounds louder? Guess which one has nice dynamic range and emotional context?

If you want a good example of dynamics then put on a pair of nice headphones, close your eyes, and put on Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”. Do you hear how the volume changes help create emotional rises and falls? Now don’t touch the volume knob and put on almost any new rock album. . CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU ARE NOW DEAF!

It seems we’ve lost our trust in the listeners ability to work the volume knob, and the radio station broadcast engineers ability to regulate the broadcast signal, so now we have music with no dynamics and it sucks. It sucks hard.

(Next time: the worst thing to ever happen to music – the MP3)