| Author
|
MIXING & MASTERING AMBIENT MUSIC
|
Upavas
Upavas
Started Topics :
150
Posts :
3315
Posted : Apr 5, 2013 06:42
|
|
PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
162
Posts :
8087
Posted : Apr 5, 2013 07:02
|
not all.. i often find dynamic is not enought used to really give emotion ect in ambient.. it s mixed to much like psytrance while it s possible to mix it to really capture attention of listeners and get them hooked ,big dynamic is really a plus for that..after it need good system to really apreciate...people listen on laptops ,low end hifi ect there it don t really matter as much so i guess they dont bother.. but once you listened some great ambient on a great system, it s really a experience.. you sure dont want to ruin it with no dynamics after that.
all the squashed stuff anyway sound like crap on great system not only ambient. |
|
|
Upavas
Upavas
Started Topics :
150
Posts :
3315
Posted : Apr 5, 2013 07:21
|
Agreed on that, but in order to sell your music to the movies, it has to be compressed if not squished into oblivion, I have sold a few tracks now, and I tried the "more dynamic" route, and failed... the reason given was, it's not loud enough! That said I had Colin master my last ambient album, and while loud I for one think his job was awesome, emotions and all! Check it out here:
http://upavas.bandcamp.com/
 Upavas - Here And Now (Sangoma Rec.) new EP out Oct.29th, get it here:
http://timecode.bandcamp.com
http://upavas.com
http://soundcloud.com/upavas-1/ |
|
|
|
frisbeehead
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
10
Posts :
1352
Posted : Apr 5, 2013 13:19
|
Will check it out for sure 
Yep, but the cheap hi-fi on laptops just proves the point: sometimes you need to attach some headphones to be able to listen to the movie imo, 'cause the dynamics on some of them are quite big. Selling music to cinema is a different thing: it gets mixed in with the rest by the producer that handles the sound for the movie, but usually get very big dynamics compared to commercial music. That's why you notice the volume go up on commercials on tv - those are really squashed to pieces, over compressed material - to get the attention of the public.
Nowadays, you have plenty of people listening to music in less then average systems, like laptop speakers and cheap ear buds on portable players. And there's also a lot of them listening to music online on soundcloud, youtube, so forth and so on, where quality is even lower then a regular 320 mp3.
This is like two sides of the same coin. We have this loudness war going nuts on the one side - because of radio and people wanting to sound as loud or louder then competition, many times sacrificing the precious dynamics that would contribute to a more enjoyable listening experience on a proper system that could translate it well. And of course, cheap reproduction systems that many times can't even handle cd quality, like ipods - they simply can't handle lossless quality on those, no wave support at all.
|
|
|
|
Upavas
Upavas
Started Topics :
150
Posts :
3315
Posted : Apr 5, 2013 13:41
|
Quote:
|
On 2013-04-05 13:19, frisbeehead wrote:
Will check it out for sure
...'cause the dynamics on some of them are quite big. Selling music to cinema is a different thing: it gets mixed in with the rest by the producer that handles the sound for the movie, but usually get very big dynamics compared to commercial music.
|
|
You are mistaking dynamic range with clever volume automation!
Quote:
|
That's why you notice the volume go up on commercials on tv - those are really squashed to pieces, over compressed material - to get the attention of the public.
|
|
The volume going up on commercials has to do with audio encoding formats, not with the dynamic range of the music used in the ad! When compressing audio into Dolby Prologic 2 or DTS (the most commonly used formats nowadays)a compression format is used where you can choose how loud the end result will be. The TV channels have a rule, most of them limit the center channel compression to -27 dB, some to -31dB but ads don't fall under the rule in most countries, so they might use a compression rate of -6dB which is a hell of a lot louder... as TV stations make money from ads, the ad makers get to dictate how loud they want it. Here in Canada this has recently been changed (last September), the compression rate for any ad is not allowed to exceed the rate for the movie...
Upavas - Here And Now (Sangoma Rec.) new EP out Oct.29th, get it here:
http://timecode.bandcamp.com
http://upavas.com
http://soundcloud.com/upavas-1/ |
|
|
|
PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
162
Posts :
8087
Posted : Apr 5, 2013 14:53
|
|
i tought the movie music example causee there is some that is not squashed, lower in volume with more dynamic than electronic music.. but i think i could have take classical music as other example. same here they can play a lot with dynamic to transmit emotions.. while some ambient can be flat 2d line the way it s arranged and mixed. |
|
|
|
PsyGalaXy
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
68
Posts :
437
Posted : Apr 5, 2013 18:09
|
|
makus
Overdream
Started Topics :
82
Posts :
3087
Posted : Apr 5, 2013 19:14
|
Quote:
|
On 2013-04-05 18:09, PsyGalaXy wrote:
steve roach for me is a good example of loudness
|
|
wanted to mentioned him also. great production.
www.overdreamstudio.com |
|
|
|
Upavas
Upavas
Started Topics :
150
Posts :
3315
Posted : Apr 6, 2013 01:50
|
|
frisbeehead
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
10
Posts :
1352
Posted : Apr 6, 2013 03:37
|
Quote:
|
On 2013-04-05 19:14, makus wrote:
Quote:
|
On 2013-04-05 18:09, PsyGalaXy wrote:
steve roach for me is a good example of loudness
|
|
wanted to mentioned him also. great production.
|
|
will check. is it ambient? |
|
|
|
PsyGalaXy
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
68
Posts :
437
Posted : Apr 6, 2013 06:27
|
|
UPsYdoWn
Started Topics :
0
Posts :
10
Posted : Apr 6, 2013 15:30
|
Really good advice here 
[/quote]
That's one of the problems, right? How to control the dynamics without killing the track? One simple answer: you must preserve the transients, so that's your compressor's envelopes, your attack should allow the transient to pass, so as to preserve clarity and maintain a natural feel. While the release time should allow for a natural (musical) breath (in and out of compression) between elements. If much compression needs to be applied, there's usually a problem in the mix. But even so, you're not forced to use only one compressor, you can tame the highest peaks gently, then apply another compressor and define volume a bit more, so forth and so on. Many engineers do that. It's no sin.
Another thing that usually does the trick, is to mix using groups: applying a bus compressor to glue elements, such as drums, for example, is usually a good idea. Such compression is hardly noticeable as an effect, but you gain the feeling that different sounds are somewhat closer. Same goes for other processing, specially reverb: if you send many sounds to the same reverb, you gain a sense of space that's very cohesive and sort of makes sense, because the same space is shared for the whole thing.
Another one: parallel compression. Leave the sounds as they are, and create another channel (a double) with a heavy dose of compression that you mix with the other signal. This way you get the transient clarity, and the extra punch and weight of compression. Sometimes it works like magic and is just the needed touch.
[/quote] |
|
|
|
fruitopia
Started Topics :
1
Posts :
418
Posted : Apr 7, 2013 00:07
|
|
ta |
|
|
|
Babaluma
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
18
Posts :
729
Posted : Apr 7, 2013 15:27
|
|
PsyGalaXy
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
68
Posts :
437
Posted : Apr 8, 2013 05:52
|
|
