tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6367766147273566931.post7535329303622010330..comments2011-02-02T19:40:57.870-08:00Comments on Marie Fairman My Blog: Insomnia? May I recommend NovaAPOVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13147534279870367374noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6367766147273566931.post-48350247592085336002010-04-20T09:38:41.466-07:002010-04-20T09:38:41.466-07:00Somehow I don't think PBS wants to know about ...Somehow I don't think PBS wants to know about this. But I know what you mean about George Page's smooth voice and it's somnific effect.<br /><br />Interestingly, if you were to look at the audio from your TV or radio on an audio level meter you would find that the commercials are no louder than the loudest moments in the program. What makes the commercials so much more in-your-face is that they have had their dynamic range so dramatically compressed that they start out with the meter needle "pinned" in the red and it just stays there - the natural loud and soft of human speech has been distorted by compression ratios as high as 10:1 so that there is only loud and nothing else. In comparison, the compression used when mixing a radio or TV show or movie is more like 2:1, which actually sounds fairly natural while keeping the softest parts of speech above the background noise level in a living room or movie theater (2:1 means the quieter material is amplified twice as much as the loudest - purely natural amplification would be 1:1; your stereo system amplifies at 1:1).Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07315807070729291073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6367766147273566931.post-34299891366840508372010-04-19T15:57:56.683-07:002010-04-19T15:57:56.683-07:00Not sure how the PBS brass would feel about your p...Not sure how the PBS brass would feel about your promotion of some of their flagship shows for producing somnolency :-) I acknowledge that the George Page-style of narration delivery can be a great sleep-inducer when one is already tired...zzzzzz...<br /><br />Interestingly, while commercials in virtually all media come across as louder than the programs, it might surprise everyone to learn that on an audio level meter they aren't louder at all. The difference is an APPARENT loudness increase caused by the audio of commercials being much more "compressed" when mixed. A super-loud commercial has probably been mixed with an 8:1 or more compression ratio, meaning that the softest material is amplified 8 times as much as the material that's already loud. Basically the meter is pinned in the red the whole of the commercial. Most pop music is mixed this way as well.<br /><br />A TV show is usually mixed with dialogue compression at about a 3 or 4:1 ratio at most (to get the dialogue over the background noise in a house), and a feature film is often 2:1 or less. It's the huge difference in mixing approaches that make commercials so IN YOUR FACE.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07315807070729291073noreply@blogger.com