[MLA] The Evolution of Contemporary Western Popular Music

[Bob Katz]

Yes, Kevin. We know about the statistical dynamic variability being 
conserved (LRA). As a matter of fact, between 1950 and 2010, LRA 
actually increased slightly! Please see my book, third edition, quoting 
the statistics garnered by Rudy....  but the key, as Thomas Lund and I 
have pointed out numerous times, is that LRA is not an arbiter of sound 
quality. PLR is a far more reliable indicator of sound quality, and PLR 
decreased notably between 1950 and 2010.

So the article is a clear key of "lying with statistics" or at least 
"lying with ignorance."


Bob



On 2/18/17 5:46 PM, Kevin Gross wrote:
> I found this part interesting, "...although music recordings become 
> louder, their absolute dynamic variability has been conserved, 
> understanding dynamic variability as the range between higher and 
> lower loudness passages of a recording. However, and perhaps most 
> importantly, one should notice that digital media cannot output 
> signals over 0 dBFS, which severely restricts the possibilities for 
> maintaining the dynamic variability if the median continues to grow."
>
> Over the period studied, loudness came up but "the absolute difference 
> between the first and third quartiles of x remains constant around 
> 9.5 dB." I would suggest that the increase in loudness is because 
> improved digital processing allows it. In the first paragraph I 
> quoted, the authors /predicted /a future loss of dynamic range due to 
> the 0 dBFS limit. But what appears to have happened instead in the 10 
> years since the most recent data in the study is that as we hit that 0 
> dBFS limit and fundamental limits of dynamics processing, the 
> intensity of the loudness war has abated leaving us with the constant 
> 9.5 dB loudness variability.
>
> On Sat, Feb 18, 2017 at 2:44 AM, Grimm | Eelco <eelco at grimmaudio.com 
> <mailto:eelco at grimmaudio.com>> wrote:
>
>     I found this interesting article in Nature about the Evolution of
>     Contemporary Western Popular Music. Even when skipping the hard
>     core statistics, it offers interesting insights...
>
>     http://www.nature.com/articles/srep00521
>     <http://www.nature.com/articles/srep00521>
>
>     All the best,
>     Eelco
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-- 

If you want good sound on your album, come to Bob Katz 407-831-0233 
DIGITAL DOMAIN MASTERING STUDIO Author: *Mastering Audio *Digital Domain 
Website <http://www.digido.com/> No trees were killed in the sending of 
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