Mix December 2008 - The Limits of Compression

BY GAVIN LURSSEN
I recently traveled to San Francisco to attend
the AES Convention and
A
MASTERING
ENG~ N EER'S
TAKE ON MAKING
THE MOST OF
DYNAMIC RANGE
2008
on Bob Lu
at AES. I n
you were tJlere. you know that T Bone Burnett
is why we find ourselves again and again talk·
delivered an inspired speech aGG€pting his
ing about compression and the "loud" CD.
people-all
Hall of Fame award. Among other things. he
download or MP3-the pushing of limits that
trends in m
challenged all of us in this industry to produce
seems to define production and consumption
to make SUI
albums that re-think the ways we use the
of music in the Digital Age.
is "not the'
But I think an important lesson lies in my
brother's approach as a parent. As he steers
the oppositt
sumers who. over recent years. have become
his daughter through her world, he sets limits
to over·mok
used to a vast array of options when it comes to
because he knows he mLlSt. But what he really
ing is that t
experiencing audio at home and on the move.
does is this: He responds to the entire range of
that theywa
While in the Bay Area I also ducked out for
her experience. He focuses on his daughter as
laughed; no
a few hours to see my brother and his young
a whole person. And in this way. he brings out
family. Witnessing his two small children
it breathe al
obvious occurred to me. I realized that. from
with dynamic range. TIle limits are meaning·
by previous
the earliest stages of life. we are taught limits
less by themselves. What matters is the range
ago and eal
by our parents-also by relatives, teachers,
and depth between the limits. True of parent­
meaning far
friends. Over a lifetime, the lessons of our lim­
ing, true of mastering music, true of most
the recordin
its (and how to push them) are always with us.
things, probably. If)'ou're with me, this is how
audiooutof
This is not especially profound, just some­
I think we should approach mastering for
in taday's WI
these new times.
an explanati,
Mastering is not just about pushing the
ers and artis
limits. although that is what it has become.
rather the d
The funny thing about limits: We also
Even at its most conservative. mastering today
lished artist
spend a lot of time testing them. Whenever
requires a certain amount of pushing the limits
take this risl
my brother tells his 5-year-old daughter not to
to provide sound that fits the mainstream, vis­
fan base, bu
do something. she immediately does it. She
ceral expectations of most average consumers
sound.
pushes to see if it really is the edge-and what
of music. The "whole" of the sound requires
To barre
a push to complete the picture-and, frankly,
ogy, I think
happens whell she crosses it.
But here's the interesting thing. I asked my
all too often this means the loss of any real dy·
trendisakil
brother how he deals with this. He said that he
namic range. In 111Y mastering projects, I find
sugar. Migh
doesn't sweat the small stuff and. at times that
myself using more equipment in my chain
ally what Y01
really matter, he holds the limit. He sees his
and just applying a little of each, working very
If my br
job as providing IUs daughter what she needs
hard to sound like I was never there. The more
of cereal wi
to sllcceed. and that includes setting limits.
I push a device, the more it presents a veil be­
would eath,
tween the fan and the artist on a recording.
would also,
What in the world does this have to do with
WWW.MIXONLINE.COM
the best ill her.
Whatth
audio fit int'
Call it the parenting equivalent of working
make their way through the world. something
in our work-was on my mind.
I
on to say th
tools available to us. And he challenged us to
embrace new ways of presenting music to con­
portant to all of us--compression and its place
MIX DECEMBER 2008
Last yea
Recorded music has boundaries, too. This
thing that occurred to me when a subject im­
40
compression? A lot, I think.
TEC Awards. If
Last year, I had the honor of being included
pense of so many other flavors (to say nothing
music and reduce the peak volume while avoid­
too. This
on Bob Ludwig's Platinum Mastering panel
of her nutrition). That would be her baseline,
ing sample overs.
5ain talk­
at AES. I mentioned in front of hundreds of
the norm. All other tastes would have to be as
'ud" CD,
people-all there to learn about the current
"loud" as sugar just to compete.
Compression and limiting became popular
ways to push the limits-no longer simply
mits that
trends in mastering-that I often get a request
Sugar has its place the same way pushing
part of a set of tools to be used to enhance the
umption
to make sure that the album I am working on
the limits on sound has its important place, but
musical vision of an artist, producer or mixer.
is "not the loudest thing in the world." I went
I think we are at a time when we fear that if we
The trend gained popularity as more and more
fs
in my
on to say that I always interpret that request as
remove the sugar, no one will eat the cereal.
le
steers
the opposite of what it seems: By asking me not
noise infiltrated our lives and our listening
I am not a gear head. I've always focused
envirohments. When the Digital Age went por­
!1s limits
to over-cook the andio, what they are really say­
on "vibe" rather than the purely technical side
table, to compete with ambient noise meant to
he really
ing is that they do want me to over-cook it, but
of things; the music, the sound, is the primary
push and push the limits ofoUl recordings.
r3ngeof
that they want it to also sound good. Eyerybody
focus. I only use whatever tools are necessary
19hter as
laughed; nobody questioned the remark.
to get the job done, and that changes with each
rings out
What the clients are asking for is to have the
audio fit into today's standards but to also have
assignment. Less is more. Less electronics, less
processing, less push on what is in the chain.
In other words, we sugarcoated everything
to make sure it still got eaten.
"Compression" is an often misunderstood
and misused term. It is nothing more than
worlcing
it breathe and feel good. This was easier to do
But I do have strong feelings about tools
dynamic range control. It does not reduce
tleaning­
by previous standards: Records from 10 years
like compression-especially from a concep­
highs or add lows, as some people think. (I am
be range
ago and earlier have far lower average levels,
tual point of view. I like to think of myself as
referring to compression of the stereo master.
parent­
meaning far more dynamic range and room for
growing with the new school and participating
Compression of individual tracks within a re­
of most
the recording to breathe. However, if you print
in it on every level. Any experience I share, or
cording before it is mixed would be the subject
isis how
audio out of the realm of the visceral expectation
mentoring, is offered in the service of creating
of a different article.)
in today's world, it often has to come along ,vith
an environment of responsible audio transfers,
The responsibility of all engineering is to
an explanation. Sometimes I work with produc­
no matter what mediulll. My close work with T
learn from and maintain standards set by the
. ing for
the
ers and artists who don't buy into the levels but
Bone Burnett and his CODE sound quality--<:on­
greats, to embrace and enhance them. It is
become.
rather the depth of field of a recording. Estab­
trol initiative is an additional testament to this.
about working with the whole of a sound, oper­
ng today
lished artists and producers find it easier to
This idea of humans always pushing
be limits
take this risk because they have an established
against limits brings to mind the early history
When we limit the range of audio, we are in
vis­
fan base, but I get others who want to copy the
of CDs, starting back in the 1980s when digital
fact simply limiting ourselves. We are limiting
~ing
~m,
18umers
requires
storage arrived for consumers. CD manufactur­
the size of the canvas upon which we are asked
from the parenting anal­
ers would not accept any masters with samples
to work, and we are, in the end, limiting what
sound.
To borrow
~lgain
ating within the entire dynamic range.
ogy, I think at its worst the current loudness
over digital zero. The engineer would have to
we can contribute to the prodl.lction of music in
dy­
trend is akin to infusing a diet with too much
record or capture the music way below the
this Digital Age. III
Is, I find
sugar. Might taste good up front, but is thane­
threshold to maintain a legal master.
fl' chain
ally what you have in mind? Is that best?
frankly,
r real
In the late '80S and early '90S, equipment
Mastering engineer Gavin LUrssen is a two-time
ing very
If my brother fed his daughter a steady diet
manufacturers started building tools to clip
Gramm}' winner for the 0 Brother, Where Art
l1emore
of cereal with copious amOunts of sugar, she
audio right before the digital zero point. That,
Thou? soundtrack and PBS' Martin Scorsese
I veil
would eat her breakfast. Job well done. But she
in turn, allowed the use of compression to
Presents the Blues. He won two 2008 TEe awards
would also develop a taste for sugar at the ex­
essentially tl.lrn up the average volume of the
for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' Raising Sand.
jingo
be­
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