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CorkyTart · 20th May 2006

I found this to be an interesting yet retarted scenario. I mixed a song for a band and I knew off the bat that they were interested in competing in and winning the loudness war. So without telling them (THATS THE KEY), I did a mix and master that competed in the war and one that did not compete in the war. I played the two mixes at the same volume so the mix wouldnt be judged on volume.

They basically said that the mix that competed in the war sucked balls which I of course agreed with. They then went on to express their satisfaction with the quality and clarity of the mix that didnt fight the war. After the assesment, I explained to them what I did and how the volume on the better mix would not be as loud etc. They then started to change their tune and disregarded the quality of the mix and ultimately went with the mix that was louder KNOWING it didnt sound as good.

This kind of pisses me off because it can make any engineer (mixing or mastering) look like a jerk off. Your basically taking something that you worked hard on and got to sound as good as you can and taking a hacksaw/limiter to it and ultimately that represents your work. However, if you dont give the client what they want, they dont use you. So there is the artistic side and the business side.

Hmmm....................

20th May 2006	#1
CorkyTart Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2004 Location: In a house Posts: 1,378 Thread Starter	Loudness war thoughts I found this to be an interesting yet retarted scenario. I mixed a song for a band and I knew off the bat that they were interested in competing in and winning the loudness war. So without telling them (THATS THE KEY), I did a mix and master that competed in the war and one that did not compete in the war. I played the two mixes at the same volume so the mix wouldnt be judged on volume. They basically said that the mix that competed in the war sucked balls which I of course agreed with. They then went on to express their satisfaction with the quality and clarity of the mix that didnt fight the war. After the assesment, I explained to them what I did and how the volume on the better mix would not be as loud etc. They then started to change their tune and disregarded the quality of the mix and ultimately went with the mix that was louder KNOWING it didnt sound as good. This kind of pisses me off because it can make any engineer (mixing or mastering) look like a jerk off. Your basically taking something that you worked hard on and got to sound as good as you can and taking a hacksaw/limiter to it and ultimately that represents your work. However, if you dont give the client what they want, they dont use you. So there is the artistic side and the business side. Hmmm....................