www.psneurope.com
May 2013 l 21
studionews UNITED KINGDOM
DRD organiser: loudness awareness is improving
Mastering engineer Ian Shepherd is cautiously optimistic about an eventual end to the loudness wars, although far too many mainstream releases are still “ending up completely squashed”, writes David Davies
THE FOURTH annual Dynamic Range Day (DRD) attracted thousands of viewers for a dedicated webcast and reached hundreds of thousands of people via viral content on Facebook – proof that, as organiser Ian Shepherd observes, artists and engineers are increasingly upfront about their disdain for “the sound of loudness war ‘casualties’”. Instigated in 2010, DRD
encourages recording, mixing and mastering engineers to be mindful of over-compression and aim for an overall dynamic range of at least 8dB (DR8).
“Loudness wars could soon just be one of those things we laugh about”
Ian Shepherd
A majority of mainstream releases, he says, are still averaging DR6 or less – Biffy Clyro’s Opposites and David Bowie’s The Next Day being recent examples. It’s a persistent tendency that,
argues Shepherd, runs counter to a “groundswell of opinion” about loudness in recorded music, as illustrated by new cross-industry initiative the Music Loudness Alliance (MLA). Drawing together audio, technical and production experts including EBU PLOUD Group chair Florian Camerer and mastering legend Bob
Ludwig, the MLA’s recently issued White Paper urges loudness normalisation of file- based music along the lines of the ITU-R BS.1700-2 standard being implemented for international broadcasting. The supposed link between loudness and sales is also looking increasingly tenuous, says Shepherd. Topping the Billboard 200 on its release in May 2012, former White Stripes frontman Jack White’s critically acclaimed Blunderbuss averages DR11 on the Pleasurize Music Foundation’s TT Dynamic Range Meter. These developments – along with an increased number of enquiries about DRD before this year’s event – lead Shepherd to believe that the loudness wars could soon just be “one of those things we laugh about”. But he could hardly be accused of resting on his laurels; in addition to the ongoing DRD project, Shepherd was due to speak about loudness at the AES Convention in Mexico City at press time, and is also working with Ian Kerr from MeterPlugs on a new plug-in, Perception, that is designed to allow users to hear their music in the same way as a mastering engineer. Previewed during the DRD
webcast, Perception bears “no agenda” and can be used “to get the best possible results making your music really loud if that’s what you want”, says Shepherd. “But as with the TT meter, I think once people start using it they’ll find they choose to squash things less, not more, because it makes them sound better – especially in the ‘real world’ of streaming and broadcast. “The TT meter has been an amazing way of raising awareness of the issues over the last few years, helping people to learn all about loudness. Now my hope is that Perception can take this to another level.”n
www.dr.loudness-war.info www.productionadvice.co.uk/ perception
Oppositesis one of many mainstream albums averaging DR6 or less
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