Concerns on the Epidemic of Hypercompression
- Date added:
- Thursday, 11 September 2008
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From: Danny Leake : drlurbang[a]aol.com
So am I right? Is the epidemic of inappropriate hypercompression almost totally traceable to incorrect assumptions about the end user experience and a flawed listening procedure engaged in by artists, producers, and record label executives?
In a word...Yes!
I had an artist call me about an album I had mixed for him. We had
kicked it back at least once because we thought some cuts were a tad
overcompressed to gain level. After we were happy with everything I got another call. He was
wondering why his CD was a tad lighter than a CD I had done for another artist.
I told him aside from the fact that his record was a well recorded Jazz
record and the other track was an Urban influenced, machine driven
track; to raise the level of his CD would mean "crushing" the dynamics again
and compromising the sound of his music. In other words, "Just turn up
the amp and call it a day!"
We had agreed after the mix that level was not going to be an issue
for his CD, that we wanted the dynamics that he had worked so hard for to
come through...however, when the old CD changer came into play, he
panicked and forgot what we were trying to do.
I had to remind him. What if he hadn't called me? Some artists will
but most Record Executives don't.
Danny Leake
Urban Guerrilla Engineers
Chicago