March 16th 2012 is Dynamic Range Day. Woo-hoo, and so what?
Here's what - there is a phenomenon which has been called "The Loudness Wars", apparently brought about by the fear that if your tracks are not as "loud" as the hottest commercial release of the moment then no-one will listen to them, therefore no-one will play them, and you will be doomed to poverty, obscurity, loneliness and misery. Let's be clear, this is nothing new and it's not even completely irrelevant; back in the days when juke boxes played 45s it was important that your disk was as loud as the one played before and after, and when your CD is stuck in a multi-changer at a party then it matters there too! That's about it though - radio levels loudness, my MP3 player can level loudness, my PC media player can do it, my car stereo can do it - so being "loud" REALLY DOESN'T MATTER (mostly).
Here's what - there is a phenomenon which has been called "The Loudness Wars", apparently brought about by the fear that if your tracks are not as "loud" as the hottest commercial release of the moment then no-one will listen to them, therefore no-one will play them, and you will be doomed to poverty, obscurity, loneliness and misery. Let's be clear, this is nothing new and it's not even completely irrelevant; back in the days when juke boxes played 45s it was important that your disk was as loud as the one played before and after, and when your CD is stuck in a multi-changer at a party then it matters there too! That's about it though - radio levels loudness, my MP3 player can level loudness, my PC media player can do it, my car stereo can do it - so being "loud" REALLY DOESN'T MATTER (mostly).
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