ok
@Fade I got your question answered and it is in the interview about half way.
https://www.bleedingpeanutbutter.com/interviews/mastering-engineer-chris-frasco-interview
What he basically said is
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I'd like to think that mastering overall is getting less loud, and allowing the music to breathe... but that's only true about 50% of the time. The other 50% of clients absolutely do want their tracks as loud as possible. This is sometimes genre related. I have done terrible things in the name of hip-hop, loudness that I'd flat out refuse to create in any other style of music.
As annoying as worrying about it is, I agree with YouTube and Spotify stepping in and imposing attenuation. Something has to calm the loud. It's not musical, it doesn't sound good, and it makes the listener's ears fatigue.
I know that Ryan Adams has become something of a controversial figure, so I apologize for using him as an example, but he's the first guy that comes to mind who gets it. I think Heartbreaker, Love Is Hell, and Ashes and Fire are great examples of responsible loudness. Musical loudness. A joy to listen to loudness.
I think mix engineers have gotten the picture too. When I listen to new mixes for the first time, my first point of reference is the input meter on my API 2500. That sucker should be bouncing around freely, not pinned to the right. And more and more, I see mix engineers using less compression overall. Even better, I think it's finally become an agreed upon rule that there should be no limiting on the mixbuss.
As a mastering engineer, the most annoying and difficult task is trying to breathe dynamics back into a mix that has been peak limited into oblivion.
My only comment about the loudness wars is that we need to evolve beyond these Neanderthal ways of determining what's "good." Louder is NOT better, maniacally bright and/or boomy is NOT better. Vivid, spacious, emanating music is not only more enjoyable, it's much more realistic. And I can't stress this enough, a great piece of music will always shine through. A crappy recording of a great song is better than a hyper-produced poorly written song. Some of my all-time favorite recordings are just my friend Liam (who I mentioned earlier,) demoing songs via a built-in laptop mic. Recorded music is more than just a commodity that we buy and sell, it's a performance and a moment in time captured forever. In my book, sincerity will always be king.
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Hope that answers your question.
www.bleedingpeanutbutter.com
