EDBZ BLOG #36

We’re rolling into Summer here in Burbank, though the days are still pleasantly 80 degrees or lower. May is coming with Cruel World and Swervedriver, as is my week away from work and stress. I’ll be doing a show with Meagan Masingill while in San Diego and doing a show with Greg and John of Beyond The Beaten Tracks later in the month. I’ll be airing their shows on the station in a few months, so look at the schedule for more info when it is added.  Listen here: mixcloud.com/beyondthebeatentracks/btbt-episode-1-starting-points

We’re looking for guest DJ’s for the fifth anniversary weekend on July 4-7. I’ve got former Vapour Trail host Greg Peters, along with my other former Vapour Trail Live cohost Meagan Masingill, Goran and Ronny of Damokles and hopefully more. Hit me up at bret@eardrumbuzz.net with the subject line Fifth Anniversary Guest show. Get them to me by the first week of June. The earlier I get them the better placement on the schedule. 

I’ve also added some more stickers to the Store: eardrum-buzz-radio.printify.me/

You might see a familiar face modeling the items.

Now for the grumpy old man stuff:

To give you some context of who I am and where I’m coming from in regards to music, I’m an INTJ, Highly Sensitive and have tinnitus. Music has been my only constant in life that has given me pleasure and helped me get through an otherwise uncaring and chaotic world. While I try to keep my routine close to the same every day, I go to work, I watch TV, I eat a small variety of things at a few places, I do love an eclectic variety of music. I love what a melody does to me, the memories it evokes, the stories told in lyrics and arrangements. I’ve air-drummed to Neil Peart, air-guitared to Eddie Van Halen and Dave Mustaine, sang along with Siouxsie Sioux and Danny Elfman until my voice was hoarse, danced until I was soaked through to Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and Orbital. I wrote about music and interviewed musicians for Highwire Daze magazine for almost 30 years, forgotten about more live shows and albums than most people ever attend or hear in their entire lives. Music is a celebration, a source of joy and hope.

I’m not sure if it’s mainly because I have tinnitus or if it’s because I was raised with analog recorded songs and intelligent people taking the time to make sure music actually sounded good coming out of my speakers and headphones, but I have noticed that the vast majority of music releases today are pretty much ruined by brickwalled mixes. That means, to quote the mighty Motorhead, known to be the loudest band in the world, “Everything louder than everyone else”. The end result is that all the various elements of each song, from drums to bass to guitar to vocals are all mixed at such a high volume and so closely together in dynamic range that the entire song turns my ears to mush. There is no dynamics, no space for our ears to relax for even a second, no reprieve from the constant barrage of 100dB source material where all the elements are within one or two decibels from each other in the mix. This constantly loud and closely mixed aesthetics leads to ear fatigue. This doesn’t mean that breaks with fewer instruments are not mixed lower, which do give our ears a break, but that the vast majority of the song is just really fucking loud the whole time.

I can tell within the first few seconds of hearing songs that come through my speakers if a mix is too loud or brickwalled. Imagine a person, a coworker, a family member who doesn’t understand that they are a loud talker. I get this from strangers talking on their phones, or should I say yelling at their phone. Don’t you also find it annoying when people don’t use their phone like a phone (putting it up to their ear) or don’t care that everyone else hears their conversation on speaker phone? Talk to the person on the other side of the phone like you’re talking directly into their ear. You know, like a phone works. So why should we think that all the parts of a song should be yelling at us?  Rhythm guitar doesn’t have to be up front. Lead guitar could be higher in the mix, various drums and cymbals in the kit could be higher or lower depending on what the band is going for, the bass guitar prominent or lower in the mix and the vocals could be right up there in the center of the mix with the lead guitar dancing around the left and/or the right channels at about the same levels. Leave space between all the elements and make sure you don’t get overtones or frequencies all battling for the same space. That leads to some wonky and unintended effects and just sounds weird in a song. If your vocals are in the same range as the bass or lead guitar, sculpt one or the other so they don’t blend/overlap. Make each part distinct.

I’m using Audition. Here is a screenshot of the newly released B-Movie album from the early 80’s. Listen here: youtube.com/watch?v=aQfC7Ow5GHo&t=22s

There are dynamics. I can listen to the song at top volume without my teeth aching. The various elements of the song are mixed at higher and lower levels, between around 80dB and 100 dB. The keyboards are at a certain level, as are the guitar leads, the vocals, drums, bass, all the instruments and extra touches are placed in their own areas for maximum effect and an overall pleasurable listening experience. 

Here is the title song from the new Swervedriver EP The World’s Fair. Listen here: youtube.com/watch?v=2R4tH_hvIQg

The vast majority of the song elements are within 6dB of each other, meaning that the entirety of the song is played at around 94dB for lower mixed parts to 100dB for the peaks. That’s all very loud. While the songs themselves are of a more midtempo Rock sound and the arrangements are quite good, the overall mix makes me turn the volume down and wish for some dynamics and space in the mix. The song is supposed to be swirling and psychedelic but the end result is a sludgy mess of overtones and overly loud elements. My ears hurt one minute into hearing this song from my favorite existing band.

Go listen to Steely Dan for an idea of what I expect in a mix. Listen here: youtube.com/watch?v=6O4cvfaAsUM

Dynamics and space are always evident. On Deacon Blues off Aja from 1977, at least on the files I have, the highest peaks, meaning the parts with the highest volume in the mix, are no higher than 97dB. The vocals are prominent in the mix with keyboards coming in higher, then receding, lead guitar lines appearing in the left channel only. The drums, bass and rhythm guitar levels are steady until rising at the end with louder horns spread out from left to right with the ending horn lead louder and in the middle. The busiest area of the mix is somewhere between -16 and -12dB or 84dB to 88dB. That is the sweet spot. I’m certain the vinyl mix is even lower overall.

When you hear a song where the majority of elements are crushed together within a tight space of only a few decibels, when you chop off the peaks in favor of a flattened mix where everything is close, you get mush. You create fatigue. A speaker sends air vibrations out into the air. Your ears take in the air vibrations then translates them into electrical signals which is then interpreted into sound. Wouldn’t you want a listening experience that didn’t bash your ears in with too much lower end presence, or that weird effect you get when standing too close to the speakers at a live concert where all you hear is the wuhwuhwuhwa of an overworked speaker system or any of a number of possibly unintended overtones and just chaotic nonsense?

So maybe my 56 year old ears with their constant ringing need to hear things in a different way than they did when I was 20. Or maybe it’s just that I remember when mixers, producers and musicians cared enough about the end effect to make sure their songs were well-crafted, each instrument had it’s own space, things were placed on one side or the other of the mix or fit right there in the center, parts were place higher or lower in the mix or even moved up and down depending on the feel of the song, when it all meant something more than how some technician thinks the music they’re working on will sound on some tiny earbuds attached by Bluetooth to a smartphone coming from some music service that doesn’t pay musicians to play their music. Let’s get back to making music for music fans and making sure the end result is something we want to go back to again and again. Without hurting our ears. listening to Eardrum Buzz Radio and please keep supporting independent musicians!

Written by Bret Miller 

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Send submissions to: bret@eardrumbuzz.net with "Submission" and your band name in the subject. Include your band name, song titles, album title, track numbers and artwork in your metadata. Please no Country, Modern Pop, Blues, Rap or Americana. Please make the song/album link easy to find in the email. Please only MP3 files, no WAV files, no Spotify links, just your awesome music!