AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Digital Tech Spawned Loudness War
- The shift to digital technology allowed making songs much louder but at the cost of dynamic range and sound quality.
- The Loudness War began as artists and engineers increasingly compressed music, losing depth and impact.
Clipping Degrades Sound Quality
- Pushing songs to maximum loudness causes clipping, a form of distortion where waveforms are cut off.
- Clipping injects noise and causes listener fatigue by bombarding ears with compressed sound waves.
Californication's Brick Wall Effect
- The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication album is notorious for over-compression, causing an ear-assaulting "brick wall" effect.
- This effect flattens dynamics so every instrument sounds the same volume, diminishing musical impact.