On the one hand, I think "artist intention." On the other, I wonder, "artist indifference?"
This is the stuff that got me interested in recording in the first place. Two anecdotes:
There's a local singer/songwriter whose music is very appealing to me. I'd go see him at some small local clubs, where the sound of terrible PA systems dominates. His albums, likewise, sounded hot and compressed; looking at the actual dynamic range using Keith Howard's nifty little app confirmed my ears' impression. One evening, he did a "secret" show in a pedestrian tunnel running under 6th Street. No amplification, just voice, guitar, and banjo. Absolutely brilliant! Why couldn't his albums sound like that?
A few months later, I attended a recording session for his first live album and had a chance to talk with his engineer/producer. E/P explained to me that "microphones don't work like your ears." Gee, thanks. He assured me that they only used minimal compression and EQ and said (swear to god), "Trust me, I'm a professional." This was NOT something I found reassuring. As expected, the sound of that show was flat-out magnificent. No crappy PA, wonderful acoustic instruments played by performers with insane talent. Then the album was released... hot, compressed, all the instruments sounding generic, all the subtleties of the playing and singing squashed out of it. 20dB dynamic range at best. Thanks a fucking lot, Mr. Professional. When I talked with the performer about it, he seemed genuinely surprised; "E/P really is a fanatic about high quality sound. Maybe it was the mastering..." Bottom line: tough noogies, if you want my music, you'll just have to deal with the rotten sound, that's how we want it.
Second anecdote: I hired a really talented young alt-country guy out of Houston to play a house concert. His first album was a home recording deal, complete with high compression, searingly hot high end, and clipping. Again, a fellow with a terrific voice, nice sounding guitar, but you'd never know it from his recordings. We hung out after the show, putting away a few bottles, and listened to some music- this was his first exposure to a truly high end hifi system (all my stuff is home built). Eye opener was putting on his album after listening to some really well-recorded and largely uncompressed music in the same genre. He immediately asked, "Can I bring in a CD from my car? It's a mix for my next album." Well, duh, of course! We put it on and it was definitely an improvement (hadn't been mastered yet), but still, not with the sort of natural, easy sound of the good recordings. Bottom line, I decided then and there to start recording, and he agreed to participate in a truly naked project: minimal miking, all acoustic, no compression, minimal EQ.
Now, I'm the owner of some decent ribbon mikes (Cascade X-15, with custom transformers replacing the stock units), mike preamps (my design, home built), and a 24/96 interface (ditto). First test recordings in high-res are everything I could have hoped for and more. And even better, a couple of other local guys have heard them and asked if they could participate in the project as well. I'm hoping that by summer's end, I have enough material for a sampler album for release in high res format.
This sort of thing places a great demand on the performers, but with talented musicians playing good instruments, it's hard to go back to that mystery meat sound that so many people are aiming for. And I now have one more avocation to distract me from my real work!
Sorry to go long here, but this is my bete noir. I hope more people who are bothered by Loudness Wars will do what I did, get off their complaining asses and do something about it.
Down with the loudness wars!
