Do you write your music that is to be performed with absolute dynamics? I understand writing absolute dynamics for something that will be realized only on a computer, but it seems that if a flute player sees a marking of mf in the low regester, he/she will hold in reserve a good deal for louder dynamics. If I played the Rachmaninoff 3 piano concerto (nothing more than a dream, for now), and at the end where the piano is playing only in the upper regester it said mf (I am not sure what the actual score says. I am just using a 'what-if'), I would assume that this part should not be played to the full potential of the piano. Obviously, this part is the huge climax of a huge piece, and should be played with all the power that has been built up through the rest of the piece. But, in using absolute dynamics to notate this piece, Rachmaninoff would have had to put something like a mf there, as the piano just cannot play an orchestral ff in that regester as loud as the brass that comes in.

    So my qestion is, are absolute dynamics a good option for music to be performed by an orchestra?

     Colin Thomson

@ColinThomson said:

So my qestion is, are absolute dynamics a good option for music to be performed by an orchestra?

 

 

 Colin Thomson

@ColinThomson said:

So my qestion is, are absolute dynamics a good option for music to be performed by an orchestra?

 

 

 Colin Thomson

Angelo makes a good point.  Good arranging skills will let the ensemble balance naturally.

And a piccolo can bury an orchestra.

Clark

So I see clarkcontrol...

You've gone over to the Dark Side.

LUUUKE....I AM YOUR FAAAAHHHTHER...

Angelo and I have been seeing each other for weeks now. Maybe its time that you and I broke up. Sorry I cheated on you, but I wanted to see if this new thing took before cutting you off.[6]

Actually, look back a page and you'll see that I've managed to thwart the recruitment of two new stormtroopers. They have now gone underground and are being trained in the ways of the pagan alliance.

Liberty and Freedom for all!

Clark

You are subtle, aren't you, Clarkcontrol? I had no idea that volume automation was the way of the pagan alliance.

Colin Thomson 

SSHHHH!!

The Empire is listening!

If they know that automating volume levels erodes the dark forces of a dynamic range template, they will find some sneaky way of adopting our weaponry into their paradigm, thus annexing our well-intentioned cure-all into their subversive attack on musical dignity everywhere!

Preserve the faith in your ears and your musical instincts!

Oh, yeah, and Liberty and Freedom for all!

Clark

@William said:

So I see clarkcontrol...

You've gone over to the Dark Side.

We would be honoured if you would join us!

We find your lack of faith disturbing. Search your feelings

or you have failed me for the last time, Admiral. You will

join us or die, master

@ColinThomson said:

You are subtle, aren't you, Clarkcontrol? I had no idea that volume automation was the way of the pagan alliance.

Colin Thomson 

To young luke warm Skywalker, 

@JohnnyMarks said:

Felix and others, "Intensities of Orchestral Instrument Scales Played at Prescribed Dynamic Markings" is a 1964 MIT paper, principal author William Strawn, available from AES online. I've uploaded a couple snippets to: http://homepage.mac.com/johnnymarks Useful data and interesting observations in the paper. Worth the $20 download. Cheers.

Nice find, thanks.

Before I make myself the stress to explain any further digital audio production specifications, I post a few links for my distinguished friends here.

Below some links to papers which deal with the subject of mastering, signal overload, transcoding etc.:

[B]Overload in Signal Conversion[/B]

A paper about the headroom needed in processing, routing and reproduction of digital signals to prevent distortion and listening fatigue from happening. It includes a discussion of AD, DA, sample rate conversion and data reduction systems.

by Soren Nielsen & Thomas Lund

[url]http://www.tcelectronic.com/media/nielsen_lund_2003_overload.pdf[/url]

[B]Mastering and Formats - Stop Counting Samples[/B]

Report from the frontline of the CD Loudness war, 2006: It's not over yet. Read about distortion developing in CD players, data reduction systems etc. The Appendix suggests improved procedures to follow in production and mastering.

by Thomas Lund

[url]http://www.tcelectronic.com/media/lund_2006_stop_counting_samples_aes121.pdf[/url]

[B]0 dBFS+ Levels in Digital Mastering[/B]

This paper examines the sonic consequences when 0dBFS+ signals are reproduced in typical consumer equipment. The performance of a variety of domestic CD players exposed to such signals are presented and evaluated.

by Soren Nielsen & Thomas Lund

[url]http://www.tcelectronic.com/media/nielsen_lund_2000_0dbfs_le.pdf[/url]

[B]Level Control in Digital Mastering[/B]

Music mastering is becoming a battle for maximum level rather than a quest for audio quality, because counting consecutive samples at OdBFS is not an adequate restriction of level.

by Soren Nielsen & Thomas Lund

[url]http://www.tcelectronic.com/media/nielsen_lund_1999_level_co.pdf[/url]

[B]The Secret of the Mastering Engineer[/B]

Mastering is an art and a science. In this acclaimed booklet, Bob Katz shares good advice about monitoring, metering and processing. About listening to the music and supporting it as the road to Nirvana - from one of the true yogis of our industry.

by Bob Katz

[url]http://www.tcelectronic.com/media/katz_1999_secret_mastering.pdf[/url]

cont.

Level Practices

Part I: The 20th Century Dealing With Peaks

http://www.digido.com/bob-katz/level-practices-part-1.html

Part II: How To Make Better Recordings in the 21st Century - An Integrated Approach to Metering, Monitoring, and Leveling Practices

http://www.digido.com/bob-katz/level-practices-part-2-includes-the-k-system.html

.

Thanks very much, Angelo. I look forward to reading through those papers.

Colin Thomson 

@ColinThomson said:

Thanks very much, Angelo. I look forward to reading through those papers.

Colin Thomson 

You are welcome.

The three K-System meter scales are named K-20, K-14 and K-12.

Wide Range Music (K-20)

The K-20 meter is intended for wide dynamic range material, e.g., large theatre mixes, audiophile music, classical (symphonic) music, "audiophile" pop music mixed in 5.1 surround, and so on.

Pop Music (K14)

The K-14 meter is for the vast majority of moderately-compressed high-fidelity productions intended for home listening, e.g. pop, folk, and rock music.

Broadcast (K-12)

The K-12 meter is for productions to be dedicated for broadcast.

[invalid link removed - /Dietz]

Production Techniques with the K-System

First choose one of the three meters based on the intended application. Wide dynamic range material probably requires K-20 and medium range material K-14. Then, calibrate the monitor gain where 0dB on the meter yields 83 dB SPL (per channel, C-Weighted, slow speed). 0dB always represents the same calibrated SPL on all three scales, unifying production practices worldwide. The K-system is not just a meter scale, it is an integrated system tied to monitoring gain.

I have a simple question -

Why is this thread a sticky?  It is completely inaccurate information. 

[edited - /Dietz]

This thread is sticky because the _discussion_ of this topic is interesting. To allow for a healthy debate doesn't mean that everybody (or _anybody_) shares the opinions presented.

...  there' s a message from me at the very beginning of this thread pointing towards the critiques, making very clear that there is a lot to be said against the proposed system.

Kind regards,

 Thank you Dietz.

I will attempt to explain then what my specific objections are, simply as discussion -

It has to do with the nature of both conducting/performing/recording orchestral music and sampling. 

If you are present at a concert, you will notice many examples of dynamic ranges being altered by both the conductor and the player.  That statement will immediately raise eyebrows, as people will immediately think "How could a person change the dynamic range of his instrument?"  It is done every day in the orchestra.  Because a certain pp oboe note will be played completely differently in a Mozart symphony as compared to a Bruckner -  perhaps at mf, though articulated and phrased at pp.  They are two different entities both acoustically and musically. This cannot be gauged according to any numerical system, but is entirely subjective.  And yet it is done all the time. And that is only one minor alteration.  

As soon as you start talking about recording a live orchestra, everything is thrown out concerning any natural or standard dynamic range, because individual instruments are always altered - sometimes to the point of having absolutely no relationship to their real (or normal) dynamic range.  A solo flute will be brought way up, tympani will be brought way down,  overall levels will be compressed, etc. etc.  In the 1950s there was a purist approach in classical recordings sometimes used,  with a single perfectly placed microphone and nothing altered.  This is of course not at all the case now.  Anyone does, and can do, anything to make the final recording sound good.  And this includes totally distorting all semblance of standardized or naturalistic dynamic ranges.

And the third element which seals the doom of any standardized approach is SAMPLING.  Even more profound distortion of any relationship in dynamic ranges of orchestral instruments is introduced by sampling.  A tiny piccolo has the same range as a huge set of orchestral percussion in a sampled recording.  A huge violin section is indisitnguisable in level from a solo oboe.  This is of course necessary in recording, mainly to avoid increased noise levels.  But when these samples are translated into a performance of actual music, the performer must make enormous changes constantly in order to equalize these huge distortions of level and range.  This cannot be done by any theoretical system, because of the complexity of interaction between these different  aspects of sound.  It can only be done by listening in detail to each part, getting them right individually, and then comparing them to each other as they are added into the mix, and then adjusting overall sections in relation to each other, and then finally adding compression - usually in woodwinds, perhaps violas and basses - and further tweaking the entire mix.   In other words, there is no substitute for simply knowing how the instruments sound individually, and in relation to each other.  You must be able to FEEL the difference between a trumpet playing an ff solo over a section of strings that are also playing loudly but the soloist is making sure he is still heard loudly even when the other instruments threaten to obliterate him.  All of this is immensely and absolutely subjective and can NEVER be turned into a paint-by-numbers system.  Added onto this series of variations which reduces to meaninglessness any numerical system is the fact that different articulations in a matrix have equal dynamic ranges that may be accurate within themselves but inaccurate in relation to each other - for example, you will notice that a smooth sustain multi-velocity sample set will be rather loud in relation to a double sforzando, and so these must be adjusted relative to one another IN THE MATRIX - further complicating an already bewildering process. When faced with this sort of complexity, it become absolutely essential to apply artistic and subjective judgement - as the basic procedure, not an afterthought - in order to make sense at an intuitive level of something that is essentially an artistic process to begin with: music

I particularly object to the repeated statements here that every studio in the world uses this system and has done so for a long time as a normal professional standard. That is absolutely false.  No studio in the world has done sample performance of complex orchestral music that equals what is RIGHT NOW being done for the first time with VSL.  The demos you hear on this site are unprecedented in their complexity, expressiveness and realism, and in fact are setting a standard that other performers and studios are trying to figure out how to emulate.