Dynamic range in prog (and rock) music

The quiet part at the beginning of Schizoid has broken any bond to dynamics!

One of the things that got me into progressive music in the early years, was the great amount of dynamics in the composition of the music. I agree that a lot of the modern/metal influence prog lacks a lot in this department, but certainly symphonic prog has a lot of dynamic range all over the place.

Opeth's newest album, Heritage is full of dynamic range.

It is a tribute to the 60's and 70's prog rock and with nothing of the black metal from the later albums.

Even though I like Opeth in both styles.

cheers

I'd argue the best mixed Dream Theater album is either Images and Words or Falling into Infinity. In fact, FII is probably the absolute best a Dream Theater album could sound, though the songwriting overall is more impressive on Images and Words. I think it's interesting that new albums by bands are not necessarily improvements on previous albums, especially with mixing and mastering. In my opinion, The newest DT album sounds like absolute sh*t compared to basically anything since Train of Thought. You think they'd find a snare sound they liked back in 92 or something and just kept with it but no. New instruments, effect, studios, mixers, producers...all lead to different sounds.

Rock and pop were both not completely devoid of dynamics to begin and have got less and less dynamic.  As the author points out, people want a punchier sound and that means sacrificing a bit of dynamics.  But it is not true that all modern rock, let alone modern prog, is un-dynamic.  I don't think Grace from Drowning really lacks dynamics, at least so much that it would actually make people feel like they were listening to a constant wall of sound.  Dave Matthews Band's Groo Grux album is dynamic too, though not as much as Before These Crowded Streets.  I haven't got my hands on Idler Wheel but the single Every Single Night sounds great to me (production wise, that is, apart from that I like the song).   It would appear that the closer it gets to either heavy distortion or to a very electronic, processed sound, the more likely it is to sound un-dynamic.  But this is just a general observation and there would well be exceptions.

Edited by rogerthat - June 18 2012 at 06:53

The article is very weak at best, its full of generalizations about music. I consider myself an audiophile and I have ZERO desire for compressed music as the writer stated.Its why I mainly listen to vinyl, new and old. Yes the digital medium of 0-1-0-1 has brought the quality of music and how you actually "hear" it down several levels. I believe it still exists, good new music, in jazz and classical, as those genres go for quality rather than quantity.

I also feel it has a lot to do with what you are using to listen to music.....The laptop and earbuds have ruined most peoples ears, especially the young. We are creatures of habit when it comes to music, we "like" how we are listening to music right now. My car system, my laptop nor my Zune get me excited about music nor give me the quality and all the sounds that my home system reproduces with the speakers I have. I don't understand how people think a small 4-6mm speaker can sound as full and lively and reproduce sounds in the same manner that a quality, high end 2 way monitor can?

Originally posted by The T Reading this article got me thinking into most of the prog I enjoy and how flat it is in terms of dynamic range. All Dream Theater pretty much sounds at the same level of intensity. So does The Flower Kings. In most rock music I immediately can think of, the quieter moments are so because of lack of distortion, not because of a real drop in intensity. The nuances of dynamics typical of classical music, where music goes from pianissimo to fortissimo and where this essential to the spirit of the work, seem to be lost in prog, or at least in modern rock. Opinions? Have dynamics ever had a real role in rock music? (pop is out of the question, everything is written and recorded to sound at the exact same level, for many of the reasons mentioned in the article).

Edited by zumacraig - June 18 2012 at 19:29

Originally posted by Catcher10 The article is very weak at best, its full of generalizations about music. I consider myself an audiophile and I have ZERO desire for compressed music as the writer stated.Its why I mainly listen to vinyl, new and old. Yes the digital medium of 0-1-0-1 has brought the quality of music and how you actually "hear" it down several levels. I believe it still exists, good new music, in jazz and classical, as those genres go for quality rather than quantity. I also feel it has a lot to do with what you are using to listen to music.....The laptop and earbuds have ruined most peoples ears, especially the young. We are creatures of habit when it comes to music, we "like" how we are listening to music right now. My car system, my laptop nor my Zune get me excited about music nor give me the quality and all the sounds that my home system reproduces with the speakers I have. I don't understand how people think a small 4-6mm speaker can sound as full and lively and reproduce sounds in the same manner that a quality, high end 2 way monitor can? There are many CDs I have that people rant and complain about the sound, and many of those do not sound that way to me....In my car yes, on my Zune yes, my laptop, all sound like A$$!....but not on my home system. Look, I am not advocating people go out and spend $5K on a high end system, cool if you can, but I am in a place where I want to experience music in a better atmosphere. I have heard both sides of the "new" generation of music and how they listen......Do yourself a favor and go to a high end audio store with your "worst" CD and have them play it on a really nice CDP.....You will be shocked at the difference, this is only for reference. BTW the new Rush CD sounds brilliant on my system......I have zero complaints.   The bands I feel do some of the best jobs at trying to create that smooth, warm, natural sound where the sound is full across the spectrum and not just a flat sound....so more of an analog sound   Porcupine Tree Marillion SW Solo Blackfield Riverside Kaipa   And some of the vinyl versions I have of these artists are excellent, much better at reproducing the music than their CD counterparts. Some of the recent remasters of Pink Floyd and Genesis are brilliant! A well setup vinyl system will give you some wonderful musical experiences. Artists like Yes, Genesis, PF, Rush, Miles Davis, Coltrane, JTull.....I generally only listen to on vinyl......It just sounbs better.....and isn't that what we are all striving for anyway?

Edited by zumacraig - June 18 2012 at 22:09

I've thought about this myself. It's one of the reasons I love The Mars Volta. Listen to Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus, about 45 seconds in.

And I would be surprised if rock listeners can actually do absolutely without compression.  I can understand listeners of classical or jazz saying that, but if you like rock, you already like a certain amount of throb, and loudness.