Music news and articles

machinebacon
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Music news and articles

Unread post by machinebacon » Wed May 20, 2015 4:13 am

Didn't know where to put this, so that's a new thread for news and articles around music.

A pretty interesting article on the death of chords in popular music:
http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/ ... 2/5/150081
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GekkoP
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by GekkoP » Wed May 20, 2015 8:24 am

^ great topic, thanks!

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rhowaldt
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by rhowaldt » Wed May 20, 2015 9:06 am

think i posted it somewhere before but it belongs here: https://medium.com/cuepoint/why-do-all- ... 30ba863203
Why do all records sound the same? Desperate to get their music on the radio at all costs, record labels are employing powerful software to artificially sweeten it, polish it, make it louder— squeezing out the last drops of its individuality.
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vic
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by vic » Wed May 20, 2015 9:37 am

^Sad but true, thanks for the article rhowaldt.
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by machinebacon » Wed May 20, 2015 11:30 am

^^ Without clicking the link, I guess the article has to do with the "loudness war"?

http://dynamicrangeday.co.uk/about/
http://productionadvice.co.uk/loudness-war-secret/
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by rhowaldt » Wed May 20, 2015 11:47 am

it does, and i am aware there are plenty of articles on it out there. this one, however, seems the most informative because to me it does a really good job at explaining the complex audio-related parts of the subject, as well as giving good and interesting examples. in short, it might be worth a read even if you are already familiar with the concept, i think.

edit: to clarify: it does not exclusively deal with the loudness war. a big part of the argument is also an explanation about how a lot of modern pop songs are created, aside from the audiocentric parts of it. by which i mean: who writes the music, who writes the lyrics, what is the role of the artist.
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by machinebacon » Wed May 20, 2015 1:13 pm

^ thing is, I couldn't open it before :) (so not that I ignore, it's rather a political reason)
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kexolino
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by kexolino » Wed May 20, 2015 1:50 pm

Interesting, I never knew there was actually a term for this, but I often notice when comparing a popular song with the stuff I usually listen to - the pop song will usually sound more "full", for a lack of a better word.

It's also noticable as you listen to a band's albums in succession. The earlier records will sound more raw most of the time and are more original too. One (to me) weird example of this originality thing was when I read a random Slayer interview and one of the guitarists (Kerry King I think), talked about how their producer directs them. Which is weird, because they're supposed be metal and to not give too many fucks, yet still, they listen to this person who knows what's popular and do what he says, instead of dealing with their music themselves...

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ivanovnegro
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by ivanovnegro » Wed May 20, 2015 2:28 pm

Very interesting articles. Thanks guys. I love this stuff.

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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by rhowaldt » Wed May 20, 2015 5:48 pm

@jules: aaah okay, i didnt understand, thanks :)
@kex: when he says "directing", that can mean a lot of things. i once directed a band for a live performance as part of a theatre play and all i did was be the one "outside the box". that means listening for the sound, trying to get them to play things in a way that sounds nicer, etc. this does not necessarily mean "sound nicer for the mainstream", but simply "hey, you guys thought up this riff/motive/whatever, but i think it would be much more effective if you ended it with three quick drumrolls". perhaps you are right but i like to think of Slayer as, indeed, one of the original bands out there, and people who don't make compromises when it comes to their music. that is why i think it is more likely that the scenario is as i described above than as them "catering to the mainstream", so to speak. i might be wrong though, and that would shatter my view of Slayer. hope not.
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by rhowaldt » Wed May 20, 2015 5:54 pm

for those into electronic music at all, consider keeping an eye on createdigitalmusic.com. they have a combination of reviews, hacks, experiments, mixes and philosophical pieces that get posted, and they are often worth a read.
added bonus blast from the past: http://createdigitalmusic.com/2008/07/a ... in-reason/ - that's me :)
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by kexolino » Wed May 20, 2015 6:03 pm

^^ You might be right, I honestly don't remember enough about the article to know how it actually was. Though when a band stated that they have a new producer, it usually means new sound/direction, at least with the ones that I know of, for example The Offspring, or Fu Manchu. I'm not Black Ivan though :D

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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by rhowaldt » Wed May 20, 2015 8:48 pm

^ true, but i suppose it will always depend on the band. i'm sure there's plenty of examples of bands that got a new producer yet didn't stupidly change their entire sound.
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by machinebacon » Thu May 21, 2015 5:09 am

^ /trollmode-on
METALLICA?
/trollmode-off
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by rhowaldt » Thu May 21, 2015 8:32 am

^ Metallica is indeed one of the best examples of how a band succumbs to the loudness war. their album Death Magnetic has been criticized for the heavy compression used, making it sound bland because all the detail is torn from the tracks.
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by wuxmedia » Thu May 21, 2015 8:37 am

or a band makes a nicely dynamic track and then they play something over the radio and it compresses the fuck out it anyway :)

I have a suspicion phones and smaller devices employs some compression/limiter to get the most out of tiny speakers, I know my wife's laptop does.
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by ivanovnegro » Thu May 21, 2015 11:25 am

machinebacon wrote:^ /trollmode-on
METALLICA?
/trollmode-off
Definitely.
rhowaldt wrote:^ Metallica is indeed one of the best examples of how a band succumbs to the loudness war. their album Death Magnetic has been criticized for the heavy compression used, making it sound bland because all the detail is torn from the tracks.
/Rant mode on
It sounds awful and I just heard it because one of the articles linked to their music. Apart from that it sounds shitty, the whole music is bad. The sound is so distorted that I have really no idea wtf they did there.
Every Metallica album beginning with the black covered piece of mainstream is just bad and sounds like someone is beating against a box of paper and a load of *metallic* (coinicidence?) equipment.
/Rant mode off

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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by machinebacon » Thu May 21, 2015 11:27 am

Because it's fran-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tock :D
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by rhowaldt » Thu May 21, 2015 8:53 pm

@ivo: isn't the distortion you are hearing simply the result of insanely overdone compression etc? at least that is what i understood it to be.
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Re: Music news and articles

Unread post by rhowaldt » Thu May 21, 2015 8:56 pm

@wux: indeed. another thing some stations do is play all tracks at +3% speed. barely noticeable, but studies have shown audiences get enthusiastic from faster songs easier, so if they play them faster they will get more listeners.
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