Supposedly there's a volume war going on in the music business, for what purpose is a little unclear, but some say it is indeed going on.
It is said that it is to grab your attention and make you buy the album as if volume is the one deciding factor you have. Now, I know I'm getting older so that'll be my excuse but when things are loud, I turn them down. That's just me. I mean, if I'm all alone and it really rocks, I'll crank it up, don't get me wrong, but it has to really rock for me to turn it up.
That's my prerequisite: it has to be good to demand an increase in volume. And I should be the one in control of the volume.
I think the greatest invention is Soundcheck in iTunes. When I first got my CDs ripped to iTunes I didn't notice it, but after I ripped them to my iPod and was running it was alarming how big of a difference in volume there was between songs. I didn't get it, but Soundcheck fixed all that and lowered the volumes of other songs to the lowest volume in my collection (I'm pretty sure that's how it works) allowing me to control how loud I want my music and to have it be even across the board.
I'm not the only one with this complain either. Relatives of mine, when I make them MP3 CDs often say they won't listen to them because a friend of theirs made them a CD that had radical jumps and dips in volumes and it's annoying to keep on top of the volume control. I get it, I say, don't worry about it with me since Soundcheck exists.
But is volume really so bad? Not really, especially when controls like Soundcheck are out there. If you were to make a CD louder than another that ISN'T a big deal.
It IS a big deal, a VERY BIG DEAL, when the volume the album is mastered in is SO loud that there is unwanted distortion in the music. Even with metal (some folks know where I'm going with this) where distortion is a welcome thing when it comes to guitars, and sometimes basses and even vocals, it is NOT welcome in the mixing as an accident or consequence of recording at such high volumes.
The latest release that upset a ton of people? Metallica's Death Magnetic.
The cynic in me would like to point out that since ANYTHING in the world is a possibility, it might be that Metallica recorded it at such a high volume to present a decoy to fans for them to complain about instead of the songs. This is not to say the songs are bad of course (I love them), but maybe they were unsure of how it would be received after the bomb that was St. Anger.
It's a possibility.
But what worries me is the differing tones I hear from the band about this. James Hetfield was saying before the album was released that Metallica is very interested in an upgrade to audio quality from your normal run o' the mill MP3 or even CD. Terms were tossed out like LP, HDCD, HDMP3, etc.
And then the album comes out and it is distorted, just listen to the drums. It makes me wonder why a band so concerned with audio quality would release something so obviously NOT concerned with audio quality.
Meanwhile, Lars Ulrich says that that's just how CDs are made nowadays, that it's 2008 and everything has to be louder to get your attention and jump out of your speakers to grab you. He said he hears nothing wrong with the album and that it smokes while he's listening to it in the car.
Now, I know Hetfield and Ulrich don't agree all the time but come on. With something so freaking obvious like sound quality, there's little to disagree about.
"Do we want the CD to be as clear as a bell?"
...
Why the pause? The answer is YES. Over and over again, yes! YES. YES. YES. YES!
The distortion is such a rampant complaint that 16,861 people as of right now have signed a petition to have the album remastered. If you're interested you can sign it here:
I didn't sign it, by the way. I don't think it should be remastered. I generally don't think ANYTHING should be remastered. Saying you want the album to remastered (to me) is saying you're willing to buy it again so long as they promise to fix the problem and I'm not willing to do it because the distortion isn't bad enough to warrant it.
It IS bad enough to complain about though, and I think Metallica and any other band who wants to do this should have to hear the complaints so long as the album is out there for sale and learn from the experience. When a child burns their hand on a stove, you don't turn the stove off, wait for it to cool down and have them touch it again to say "see, it's not so hot." Just let the kid know a stove is hot! No sense trying to address the original situation, it's already happened. Turn on some cold water and let it run over the burn and let them remember not to touch a hot stove.
Now, this is just one of a duo of Metallic blogs, all coming out today. Be on your toes for the next one. I promise it won't be nearly as long nor as complaining.
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