Imperfect sound forever: loudness wars, listening formations and the history of sound reproduction

Devine, Kyle

doi:10.1017/s0261143013000032

Cited by 40 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The current results show that popular music has been getting louder, more compressed, and more bass-heavy. While increases in loudness and compression in music recordings are well known (e.g., Devine, 2013;Oehler et al, 2015;Serrà et al, 2012;Vickers, 2010), far less attention has been devoted to differences across the frequency spectrum. We observed that during the last The evolution of recorded music partly mirrors evolution of technology.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased levels of bass over time in popular music recordings and their relation to loudness

Mj¹,

Vuust²,

Stupacher³

2018

Preprint

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The sound of recorded music changes over time, and can be captured by changes in audio features. Over the past decades, popular songs have shown clear increases in loudness (RMS energy), but far less attention has addressed whether this upward trend is more prevalent in specific frequency bands, such as the bass. Bass frequencies are especially important for movement induction and might offer competitive advantages of capturing attention and increasing engagement. Here, we examined the evolution of audio features, such as RMS energy and spectral fluctuations (changes in the audio signal’s frequency content) in 10 frequency bands from songs on the Billboard Hot 100 charts from 1955 - 2016. Over time, RMS energy increased and dynamic range decreased. The largest increases were found in the bass range: Spectral flux increased most strongly in the lowest frequency bands (0 - 100 Hz), and when controlling for overall RMS, only the lowest frequency bands showed an increase over time. The upward trend of bass could reflect changes in technology and style; but based on links between bass and movement, it is likely a widespread technique to increase engagement and contribute to chart success.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased levels of bass over time in popular music recordings and their relation to loudness

Mj¹,

Vuust²,

Stupacher³

2018

Preprint

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“…As has been shown by Devine (2013), loudness wars did not begin in the 1980s, rather they had been present at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries at the beginning of electronic sound amplification. The result-if sound quality is defined by the detailedness, life-likeness, and undistortedness of the sound-was serious damage, distortion, and radical simplification of the sound in every case.…”

Section: Values Meanings Ethics: Cultural Factors In the Formation mentioning

confidence: 96%

Continuity and Change in the Relationship Between Popular Music, Culture, and Technology: An Introduction

Tófalvy

2020

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“…Certain genres such as heavy metal or dance music demand more loudness than other more dynamic ones: jazz or classical. Since the loudness of a master depends upon comparison to other recordings a result is the 'loudness wars' wherein there is competitive pressure for audio mastering engineers to achieve loudness at the expense of dynamic range and clarity to attract and satisfy clients (Devine, 2013).…”

Section: The Creative Industry Of Audio Masteringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automating the black art: Creative places for artificial intelligence in audio mastering

Birtchnell

Elliott

2018

Geoforum

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In this paper, we consider the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the creative economy of music production. One sector in particular, audio post-production, is experiencing rapid change due to AI and various other forms of automation. This spells major changes, now and in the future, for skills, employment and work. Many accounts on the role of machine automation in occupational instability-specifically, reductions in human employment-have focused on the manufacturing (assembly lines) and service (financial, legal and administration) sectors: so-called blue-and white-collar jobs. However, there are as yet only limited forays into the possible consequences of AI in the creative economy, in particular on 'no-collar jobs'. Creative occupations were previously understood to be immune from the disruptions of AI due to the high levels of intuition, affective knowledge, 'gut instinct', and other human 'assets' difficult to replicate by complex algorithms and intelligent machines. Drawing on empirical research on AI in audio post-production, this article contends that there are conflicting notions of the possible impacts of these new innovations on human expertise and digital skills. The article highlights change underway in this profession of audio mastering as workers in the creative industries collaborate and compete with AI-driven technological innovation.

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Imperfect sound forever: loudness wars, listening formations and the history of sound reproduction

Abstract: This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link

Cited by 40 publications

References 24 publications

Increased levels of bass over time in popular music recordings and their relation to loudness

Increased levels of bass over time in popular music recordings and their relation to loudness

Continuity and Change in the Relationship Between Popular Music, Culture, and Technology: An Introduction

Automating the black art: Creative places for artificial intelligence in audio mastering

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