Bringing Back Dynamic Range - Turn Me Up!

[Aaron German]

I just came across a group called "Turn Me Up." They want to develop a certification program for albums with greater dynamic range than is currently the norm. Here's an excerpt from their website ( http://www.turnmeup.org/about_us.shtml ):

"Founded by Grammy-winning engineer/producer Charles Dye, alternative indie artist John Ralston, and recording studio owner/podcaster Allen Wagner, Turn Me Up!™ is a non-profit music industry organization working together with a group of highly respected artists and recording professionals to give artists back the choice to release more dynamic records.

It's not our intent to discourage aggressively limited records, they are a valid creative choice for artists. But today, most artists feel they have no option other than mastering their records to be as loud as everybody else's.

And when everybody is doing this because everybody else is, who's actually doing it because they want to?

To address this we've created Turn Me Up! Certification, which would allow records meeting our criteria to display the Turn Me Up! Certified label to inform the consumer nothing is wrong, this record is simply more dynamic and all they need to do is Turn Me Up! Our goal is to create an environment where artists will feel comfortable making the creative choice to release a more dynamic record - without the fear of it being misunderstood by the consumer."

 

[Botch]

This will be welcome news on my musician's forums! Thanks for the link.

 

[PaulyT]

Cool.

 

[Aaron German]

This will be welcome news on my musician's forums! Thanks for the link.

Just to make sure it doesn't get missed, there are three ways to join or participate with this organization:

1) Join TMU! to officially register your support for more dynamic records.
• This is for anyone—music fans and music industry alike.

2) Submit a request for TMU! Certification to have your record TMU! Certified.
• This is for artists and labels only.

3) Apply to be a TMU! Mastering Facility to measure and certify TMU! records.
• This is for mastering facilities only.

Here's the link to the "join" page:
http://www.turnmeup.org/join.shtml

 

[Aaron German]

Cool.

I thought I'd let you know that I was lead to this site via an email Vialka sent out.

 

[PaulyT]

Ah! In fact, I got the same e-mail... just didn't read it all that carefully.

OT: how's their new album, have you heard it yet? I'm thinking about getting it, but can't figure out how to use the promo code from their e-mail...

 

[soundhound]

I wonder if restoring dynamics might be a case of "be careful what you wish for". I have a feeling many people will be disappointed in the more bland and lifeless sound of recordings with more dynamics after hearing compressed recordings for so long.

The audible impact of the type of limiting used today is not merely that of making the music "louder". Perhaps the most audible impact is that microdynamics are emphasized. The little sounds that normally wouldn't be noticed are brought out and emphasized. The effect is a lot like the HDR (high dynamic range) process in digital photography where small details of the picture are emphasized.

I predict that a lot of people won't like the un-limited / un-compressed music.

 

[Aaron German]

I wonder if restoring dynamics might be a case of "be careful what you wish for". I have a feeling many people will be disappointed in the more bland and lifeless sound of recordings with more dynamics after hearing compressed recordings for so long.

The audible impact of the type of limiting used today is not merely that of making the music "louder". Perhaps the most audible impact is that microdynamics are emphasized. The little sounds that normally wouldn't be noticed are brought out and emphasized. The effect is a lot like the HDR (high dynamic range) process in digital photography where small details of the picture are emphasized.

I predict that a lot of people won't like the un-limited / un-compressed music.

This issue is sort of addressed on their site. They say that they are trying to define "a level of dynamics that is considerably more dynamic than today's aggressively limited records, but not so quiet it wouldn't be an option for contemporary artists." They are "currently considering a level as dynamic as records were in the pre-brickwall limiting era of the late 80's and early 90's. These records were not lacking for loudness, power or intensity, and their dynamics retained a lot of the emotion and excitement of the original performances. The key is that this level cannot be just slightly more dynamic. To have any meaning or significance it must be distinctly more dynamic than today's records."

 

[Aaron German]

OT: how's their new album, have you heard it yet? I'm thinking about getting it, but can't figure out how to use the promo code from their e-mail...

I haven't listened yet, but I have been tempted to. I want to buy a physical copy and want to wait to listen until I have that (for some insane reason that I am not aware of (or, perhaps, for no reason at all)).. I may buy the vinyl version and then download the FLAC (assuming they give you a free digital download with the purchase of a record).

Sorry I can't help with the promo code.

 

[malsackj]

I like the idea for a serious listen, but feel most will not.

I was questioned the other day by my mother as to why she had trouble watching the bodyguard with all the volume shifts from soft to loud and back.

I changed the setting on the surround sound processor to the night mode and compressed the program. She told me she was much happier.

As more of the public has stressed their hearing and start to loose parts of their hearing they will be needing to compress and play there material at levels that need to be tightly controlled or they risk loosing more hearing.

People will not find the joy of looking for the details or the nuances of the sound stage between the speakers and how good the recordings are at creating the mood.

Very few find it to much to stick there nose into the boom box as sound hound has asked us to try to enjoy the true lack of crosstalk and quality recordings. Creating this sound in the home is very difficult and the more we try the more fun we have. Others dont find this fun. Do you find it fun doing cross stich? Quilting, Model Rail Road or Model building?

 

[Dennie]

This is very welcome news. I hope it will catch on, but as others have said, I have concerns. I don't know that "kids" today care or have the patience to "LISTEN" and "Enjoy" the higher dynamics!

Thanks for posting it Aaron!


Dennie

 

[malsackj]

Additionally I have found this article on teaching youth.

http://mixguides.com/education/articles ... ow_listen/

 

[Aaron German]

Additionally I have found this article on teaching youth.

http://mixguides.com/education/articles ... ow_listen/

It's good to educate people about hearing loss. I think learning some facts helps to motivate hearing protection.

What I have also found helps is buying my friends hi-fi earplugs. I got a pair of Etymnotic Research hi-fi plugs, and I have loved them from day two. The friends I buy the plugs for continue to thank me. They think live music sounds BETTER with the plugs in. Many times it does, I think, because the amps are turned up too loud, and turning down the volume with earplugs really helps clear up the sound quite a bit.

I should note that the "they" here is only two people, but both do appreciate them.

 

[malsackj]

Most likely cause is the speakers are not flown. Most bands have speakers on stage or speakers on sticks. Because my speakers will be on the ground I usually will not run the SPL above 110 at the speaker because people will be walking and sitting in front of them. This makes the back of the room low in volume, I use a pair of Behringer DSP110 (sharks) to digital delay and high pass (100) the stereo feeds for a second line and run a pair of speakers on sticks to help fill the back of the room. This rear set will be around 50 to 75 feet from mains.

The speaker opposite of the cable runs will be a wireless delivered using an AT lavalier mic to a receiver (100 to 15k) and a mono amp. This summer I will be playing with a cardiod sub pattern to get base off the stage. Two subs, two amps, digital delay. The heart shaped pattern will also help in putting the deep base signal in the party area and not into a neighbors yard ( omni directional ).

 

[malsackj]

Clipped this segment from Pro Audio site on hearing loss.

The Big Three
In the broadest sense, there are three types of hearing loss people can inherit or acquire over their lifetime.

Conductive loss refers to damage in the ear before the cochlea. Examples of conductive losses are an object in the ear canal (such as too much earwax or a cyst), a perforation or plaque growth on or around the eardrum, a growth onto, or disarticulation of the middle ear “hearing bones” and etc. Typically, this type of loss can be fixed with either pharmaceutical or surgical therapy.

Central auditory processing disorder indicates damage or faulty processing in the neural pathways and/or hearing centers of the brain.

Sensorineural loss refers to damage to (or after) the cochlea. This may or not include neural damage from the auditory nerve to the early auditory processing centers in the brain. A sensorineural loss is permanent, often progressive (it becomes worse over time), and cannot be completely or perfectly restored to normal hearing by medical or surgical intervention.

Damage from overexposure to loud sound can affect the hearing mechanism (the cochlea in particular) as well as the body. Our ears were designed to hear over a 100 dB range of acoustic sounds, but not to tolerate sounds over 130 dB SPL or greater.

The human cochlea is a real-time frequency analyzer, capable of bioelectric transduction of signals ranging from about 20 Hz to 20 kHz, as well as recognizing streams of acoustic information, while at the same time being able to discriminate as little as 1 Hz differences in the mid-frequency bands. The healthy hearing mechanism can focus on a sound source in order to extract information in noise, and can localize these sound sources in space.

The typical “noise induced” hearing loss (NIHL) results in a sensorineural loss with a characteristic drop in hearing sensitivity at or near 4 kHz. Ultimately (and sometimes prior to seeing a reduction in thresholds at 4 kHz), there is an accompanying high frequency hearing loss above 8 kHz.

Loss of high-frequency hearing impedes our ability to localize sounds (the high-frequency cues we use for this task are no longer available to the listener with a high-frequency hearing loss) and also effectively causes a subtle “smearing” effect across different frequency regions of the cochlea.

In addition, loss of hearing due to overexposure to loud sounds may affect the way a sound is referenced or perceived (loudness) in relationship to its actual sound pressure level.

Historically, audiologists call this “loudness recruitment”, but work by Dr. Mary Florentine at Northeastern University in Boston has demonstrated that what is really occurring is a loss of sensitivity to soft sounds, rather than an abnormal growth of loudness. Loudness in fact, is not “growing abnormally”, rather, NIHL results in a loss of the lower portion of the listeners dynamic range.

link to complete article
http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/iem_ ... t_we_dont/