Someone mentioned something earlier about TBWTAS taking a bit longer to put together because of something to do with compression. It was all quite vague, but maybe I can offer some explanation. A compressor squashes the dynamics of the signal you pass through it. Sometimes that can be very desirable. For example, to get a longer sustain on a bass guitar, or to even-out inconsistent playing. However, compression inevitably deadens the signal a little. One of the cues that tells your brain a sound is real is the dynamic range, especially the loud peaks. The downside is even CD is only marginally capable of capturing the quietest and the loudest moments of say a symphony orchestra. Ever notice sometimes when you are making a mixtape or something, that on some songs the meters just about sit at 0dB? That's a heavily compressed mix. Ever notice how then you put on another track, and the peaks go higher and yet it doesn't seem as loud as the other song? That mix isn't compressed (or rather, not as much). It is one of the ironies of digital music reproduction that compression and limiting are used as much as, and perhaps more than ever. Give the engineers 96dB of dynamic range (versus mabye 70-some dB on vinyl), and what happens? They just squash the signal with greater precision. If by some chance I were called upon to record the band, I'd want to do one of two things: 1) set them up in that church(?) with just a stereo mic and maybe a couple other, mono mics for reinforcement; or 2) compress the drums and bass guitar, mainly on the louder songs (to give the rhythm section a nice, solid sound that an ordinary stereo can reproduce) but leave most everything else as-is going to tape...possibly some soft limiting on the vocals so the quiet parts don't get lost and the loud parts don't stand out too much. --Mark "a little compression goes a long way" Kolmar __ <http://www.xnet.com/~mkolmar/BurningRome> <MPEG 3 & RealAudio tracks> October 19th: SENSELESS CD on Mindfield Records MindCD03 Cathartium 14 +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+