5 Worst Audio Trends of the Noughties
Here are my picks for the Top Worst Audio Trends since 2000. Feel free to add your own comments and picks.
-  The End of Hi-Fidelity – Digital distribution of music has lowered the fidelity bar to new levels offering consumers less quality than ever. George Massenburg recently spoke out on the effects of compression formats that introduce distortion, destroy stereo image and generally sound awful giving us something to think about and the knowledge to fight back.
- Illegal Downloading – The popularity of illegal peer-to-peer music “sharing” eroded the power of copyright and greatly affected the bottom line of our industry. The Supreme Court came down on the side of copyright holders but not before the damage was done and an entire generation grew to feel they were entitled to free music.
- Pitch Correction Abuse – Pitch correction software is nothing short of amazing, but in many cases it created a music culture where talent is optional and production is driven by “fix it later” instead of “get it right.”
- The Death of Dynamics – While audio pros continue to fight the misconception that louder is better, it keeps rearing its ugly head, even in mainstream media where Metallica fans cried foul when they realized that Guitar Hero: Metallica game mixes sounded better than the record because the songs had more dynamic range.
- Staying Inside The Box – There’s no question that digital audio workstations, modeling software and plugins are here to stay and have changed our industry. But completely eschewing analog processing and recording in favor of staying “inside the box” denies adding a flavor and color to music that can never be modeled. Case in point, The Dead Weather’s Horehound which was recorded on 2″, 8-track analog tape and is a feast for the ears.
Related Topics: TechTicker
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:32 pm
1. I totally agree with the “end of high fidelity”! I try to explain to younger listeners that when “I was your age” we went to a “record store”, bought a new record with beautiful, legible liner graphics, put it on a turntable, and listened to it through an amplifier with tubes (because they were cheap, not trendy), and heard a recording that was recorded on analog multitrack, mixed through a discrete console to an analog two-track, and put on vinyl without ever once being A/D’d or D/A’d. It is very likely that those born after a certain year will have never heard an uncompressed digital recording/playback, let alone a pure analog recording/playback.
5. Having said all that (and revealed my enhanced chronological status) I work in Pro Tools HD from tracking to mix. It’s not that I have an aversion to a good analog console, it’s just that I a. can’t afford one, b. don’t have room for one, and c. am scared about iffy repeatability when I need to revise a spot that I did four years ago and change nothing but a voice tag and have everything else exactly as I saved it. If I could have an analog console before and after my PT digital converters I would, but alas my clients would not want to pay more or it, and in the end it would be a huge bill to pay for something that looks (and sounds) really cool, but is not, in the world of audio post for video in a small regional market, a saleable item.
That being said, if I won the lottery, I already have the custom API Legacy, patchbay, outboard racks and audiophile analog tape machines all designed!
Thanks for many years of a great magazine!
Shaun M. Mullins
Buffalo, NY
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 pm
I think these five trends pretty much encapsulate the hot button issues within the industry. While I agree on much of whats been said I do have opposing opinions on a couple of them. First on quality, I think it’s quite subjective. While I’m a hi-fi buff and can get quite excited about a perfectly formed recording, most of the population do not know the difference, not that we should pander to the lowest common denominator.
Most people listen in the car, on iPods, or as background at home. The quality difference is marginal and it’s way more convenient to download.There should always be choice though and for those who like to sit in the sweet spot and enjoy a great production, well they can buy the CD. I do both. Like downloading movies, a big Hollywood blockbuster is HD all the way but a comedy I may opt to go SD.
I can think of a few occasions when checking out a girlfriends hi-fi I find the speakers stacked on top of each other or in separate rooms, the graphic eq looking like a smily face, mole hill or mountain range and the whole system wired out of phase…do they ever notice, or care? When I was in my teens I used to record my albums to cassette tape to listen in the car, quality? and while I’m on the subject of cassette tapes, how about sharing music?
We all used to record each others albums to cassette, make mix tapes and loan out our albums to friends, how is this much different to todays music sharing? I’m an artist with a CD out, it gets lots of airplay, sells pretty well, but to me if someone burns a copy for a friend it’s just great promotion, maybe they will buy the next and I have another fan. Music has always been about sharing. Part of the problem is the exorbitant prices the labels charge for CD’s when they are cheaper to produce than ever before. Steve Jobs was right to set the price at $9.99 on iTunes, thats fair value and it helped the industry recover (even though they won’t admit it!)
Happy Holidays to everyone…
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:44 pm
You’re right on every count. However, these technical disappointments are not the death of quality, but a catalyst that could spark a new demand for it. It’s a huge whole in the current entertainment market.
Added value sells products (BluRay vs. DVD?), and quality is added value. All that’s missing is a concerted will to develop, package and sell it. When all the fish are swimming west, swim east.
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:13 pm
I’d add inverted polarity to your list, e.g. Susan Boyle, I Dreamt a Dream CD seems to be inverted. For more information about polarity please go to my website: http://www.UltraBitPlatinum.com and click on the links to the polarity think piece and “The List” that has polarity designations for over 1,100 CD labels and CDs.
Best regards,
George S. Louis, CEO
Digital Systems & Solutions
Phone: 619-401-9876
Email: gslouis@gslouis.com
Website: http://www.UltraBitPlatinum.com
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:22 pm
#’s 1,2, and 3…Aaugh! #4 has been a perennial problem, exacerbated by #1. #5 may sadly be an obituary, though my techie optimism hopes this brave new sonic world will someday prove to be a better one.
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:36 pm
I don’t know that i’m qualified to say what the top 5 SHOULD be, but I think at least 4 of these 5 shouldn’t be making the “naughty in the noughties” list.
1. Has hi-fidelity died with the digital age? By and large yes. Does this sonically suck? Absolutely. Should we give resistance? As an engineer and producer…yes, you should always fight for the best product for your clients. HOWEVER…the reason we’re in this place is because we didn’t embrace where the masses wanted to go, trying to exclude instead of share. We should have been anticipating instead of resting on our laurels.
2. Is illegal downloading wrong? Absolutely. Does it effect the bottom line of nearly every artist? Definitely. Does it suck? Maybe not. Maybe every artist needs to wake up to the fact that fans can only take abuse for so long, and that our industry had become a bunch of exclusive fat pigs, holding out on the very people that made any of it exist…the fans.
3. Pitch correction. Are the tools cool? Very. Is it ridiculous how many untalented people are faking their way into stardom? Of course. But I’ll tell you why Pitch Correction is great…..it really helps further emphasize the artist that DOES have IT, and puts the emphasis on the LIVE performance, the hard-working gigging musician who can consistently, without gimmick put on full production rock sets or intimate acoustic sets with vocal integrity. This is where the true talent shines through. When we have a pitch corrected album and an artist that can’t back it up….that’s when we have a chance to see the chink in the armor of the Old Music Industry model, and that’s when we can see a glimmer of hope that is irresistable.
4. Death of Dynamics. I can agree with this. I call it the dumbing down of the ears of america. Louder is definitely not better in most cases.
5. Is analog sweet? for sure…the more of it I can get the better! But in-the-box daw’s are for recording what digital record outlets are for distribution….awesome for the independent artist! The old model said unless you were rich, lucky, or willing to go into a ridiculous amount of debt, you couldn’t have a professional recording. Today’s tools have enabled a whole new generation of musicians to express themselves. Is there a lot more crap because of it? Of course. Is it more difficult for quality to cut through the noise? Definitely. But I would argue it has given music back it’s liberty, and that should be music to anyone’s ears…especially anyone willing to work hard for their fans.
Studios, producers, and engineers don’t like it because it makes them have to work harder. Shame on them. If you have skill, and continue improving that skill, you will be sought after. Maybe we all need to learn to live with a lot less!
December 23rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
my picks are kind of the same but with the focus on cut and paste vox instead of picking the best take we now pick the best phrases, what’s up with that laziness in my opinion (artist, engineers and producers. It’s ok for Rap but not so ok for singing.
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