Why are many of the AJ songs so loud?

Many of the songs on AJ are extremely loud, compared to what most popular songs sound these days. I mean the compression is pushed so much, that the wave looks like a rectangle. What is the reason for this? Does it sound better with a lot of compression? I noticed that in some music genres (eg trance music) a lot of compression actually sounds good, but does it really apply for all genres?

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Iā€™ve noticed that too. :frowning:

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Some people aim to be as loud as possible, and this loudness war is just killing dynamics. I donā€™t worry about being too loud, as long as my music is clear and balanced.

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@JackWinn: LOOL

@MattyFrench : Yeah I noticed. It might sound good in some situations, but itā€™s kind of weird most of the times I guess.

certain genres such as drum & bass, breaks, edm, most dance music infact needs to be tastefully pushed hard while retaining dynamics or it will just sound weak compared to any pro tracks - canā€™t see the point in pop/corporate etc tracks being compressed to the max though

Iā€™m not going to get into the loudness war conversation, but personally, I think theyā€™re too heavily compressed. Some have actually felt painful to listen to. I agree with @MattyFrench in that I prefer clear and well mixed over loud and harsh, regardless of style or genre.

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Oddly enough many live concerts are breaking the law by increasing the volume past ā€˜Workplace, health and safetyā€™ levels. This flows on the recording of songs where the Authors ā€˜thinkā€™ everyone wants loud music. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

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Because I can.

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Hello fiddy / @fifty_tons, now thereā€™s a name from the past I remember, hope all is well! :slight_smile:

Here are some great articles on the ā€œloudness warā€ that may help youā€¦

##Loudness War Analyzed:

##Visual History of Loudness:
(Open up the PDF and zoom in to readā€¦)

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Also see NPRs original article - The Loudness Wars - Why Music Sounds Worse

##Loudness explanation (video) in less than 2 minutes:

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That just made my day. :joy:

Well played, sir!

Canā€™t do mix good? Do it loud!
(sorry for my english)

Hey Scott, long time no see :slight_smile:
Yeah I know about the loudness war, but thanks for the links, I read some stuff I havenā€™t read before. So where the hell is this going to? :)) Iā€™m just curious. As long as the technology remains the same and the threshold wonā€™t change, how far will this be taken?

Because people become more deaf. Sadly. Because of noise pollusion, a related part of overall perceptionā€™s impurity following the overload of information. To catch attention becomes less about beauty and uniqueness but more and more about shock.

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Because all the ā€œmasteringā€ authors argue about really just means ā€œmasteringā€ against the common denominator, and the common denominator is LOUD. Of course in my limited experience if you try to submit something thatā€™s not compressed or loud enough to AudioJungle, depending on the reviewer, they will send it back and tell you to make it louderā€¦

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I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that people usually know how to mix but many donā€™t know how to master.

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itā€™s a trend in the whole music industry, not just here on AJā€¦ my theory is that most of the people listen to music on cheap and low quality speakers and earphones so the loud music compensates for thatā€¦

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on audiojungle, as well as elsewhere in the world, began the race volume, itā€™s completely understandable thing. The fact is that when you are listening to several similar tracks in a row, then it is likely you like one louder. It is understood more in the 90s, since every producer tries to make as loud a track. There is an interesting example, a producer of Metallica wanted to make an album Dead Magnetic the loudest in the world:) the Result was kinked square album, Metallica are unhappy :slight_smile:

unfortunately after EDM music appeared everything had to be louder ! and of course you can have perfect dynamics with digital production ! Music is evolving but for the worst ! :confused:

because producers are deafā€¦ :wink:

Yeah EDM is way louder than any other type of music. But for EDM that works good imo