Public awareness of the so-called ‘loudness war’ has been increasing of late, thanks to exposure in non-specialist publications (The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal have both featured articles about it), and also because of initiatives like Dynamic Range Day.
Described as a “day of online activity to make people more aware of the loudness war”, Dynamic Range Day makes use of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to try to educate both music-industry professionals and the record-buying public about the deleterious effects of excessive dynamic-range reduction (which is not an easy thing to do, as any studio geek who’s tried to explain compression to a less technically-inclined friend will know!).
To this end, the organisers of Dynamic Range Day 2011 have organised a competition, wherein entrants have to listen to three different masters of the same mix, and identify the version that has the greatest dynamic range. There are eight prizes to be won, including an SSL X-Desk, a pair of B&W CM1 loudspeakers, and a Shure mobile recording kit, including PG42 and PG27 mics.
There will also be an award for the best-sounding dynamic mix of 2010-11. The winner will be chosen by a panel of industry experts, and you can nominate a mix you think worthy of the award via the Dynamic Range Day web site.
This year, Dynamic Range Day will be held on March 25th. For more information, check out the web site, below.
