Thank you..!
I have been in the recording industry in one way or another for years, but I also possess an FCC license that started out as a first class license for radio, when they were 'hard to get'. Put bluntly, there are legal restrictions that AM/FM broadcasters need to adhere to, and they limit such things as dynamic range. They MUST have gear that restrains/maintains things in those areas. They are NOT going away, they can't. With that in mind, at the very least record companies/producers/engineers/mastering engineers should understand this. Radio CAN'T change this, it is the law. Sure, they have some latitude as to how the gear is adjusted, but less than you might imagine. Once it seemed like this was just common recording engineering knowledge, I must be getting old...
As a result, they have to be pretty inflexible as to their processing. Sure, they also want to be the loudest station as you tune across the dial in most cases... But that WILL happen, HAS happened for more years than I've been alive. Still, they have more restrictions actually placed on them that the rest of the recording chain. This was not true when vinyl was king, it was different but 'similar' in discipline. If the industry was in fact recording and mastering to fit the needs of radio, it wouldn't sound like it does right now.
A good deal of yesteryear's best broadcast compression/limiting chain is to be now found in the possession of the best recording engineers doing fine mixes. Fairchild, anyone ? Tubes, don't ya know... Still, one should NEVER overdo a good thing... But a old broadcast tube limiter set to small settings is very nice indeed. Again, just IMHO..
..and yes, I'm not a 'tube guy'. My eyes are well and truly open...
-----Original Message----- From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mike Richter Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 8:23 PM To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Libraries disposing of records
Scott Phillips wrote:
I just have to respond to this, even though I agree with 90% of it...
Use sound forge or similar and look at a remastered LP at the least, or a current recording... The results are a LOT of square waves that result from the misuse of plugin compressors or 'mastering' software.
There is a page on the subject at one of my WWW sites: http://www.mindspring.com/~mrichter/
While it has little that will be new to those on this list, it may be useful in communicating with others.
Mike -- mrichter@xxxxxxx http://www.mrichter.com/