28 March 2021

SOUNDTRACK LOUD

A common "feature" of movies is the soundtrack is cranked to 11 and the voices of the actors is down about 2.

What this means is if you set the speakers so you can hear the actors, when the soundtrack kicks in you're treating the neighbors to your movie too.

How fucking hard is it to set everything at the same volume?

I already know this one, it's simple.

The soundtrack being too loud is deliberate.

What I've never gotten a good answer is WHY it's deliberate.

5 comments:

  1. I would think they would set the sound track lower in volume than the dialog but sometimes it is just the opposite.
    I was watching a show were the background music was so loud I couldn't here what the host was saying.

    Gerry

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've noticed this myself after buying a soundbar for the TV. I think two things are involved. The first is to heighten the effects of surround sound since theater size speakers can be literally earth shaking. The second issue is the "loudness war" which leads to over compression of audio. There's a Wikipedia article on loudness war (wasn't sure if links in comments are OK)
    I also think the streaming services are getting worse since the driver for buying my soundbar was Britbox shows making the TV speakers distort.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Theory #1: Young people today have destroyed their hearing already and it's the only way for them to hear the soundtrack. Yes, it's a self-defeating prophecy.

    Theory #2: Hollywood is composed of a large bag of male-reproductive organs who are just French-word-for-shower bags.

    Theory #3: Dunno, can't hear over the sound of the sound track.

    It's why I like watching movies at home. Turn down the Bass and turn up the Treble and, et woila, you can almost hear what they are saying, so time to turn on the 'CC' feature.

    It is also a thing on tv shows. Music swells right before a commercial break, overriding what the dialog is. Which most shows handle by giving you a 'coming up' segment before the commercial and/or returning 2 minutes into the past so you can actually hear what was said.

    Or, well, just a bag of dicks and douche-bags.

    ReplyDelete
  4. She: You need a hearing-aid, Papaw--you're DEAF!!
    Me: You need speech therapy, little smart-ass. Quit mumbling...

    ReplyDelete
  5. If you are running your sound thru an amp or AV receiver there is usually a setting called "night mode" or something similar. It will level out the loud sounds bringing them down to the level of the others.

    your TV or cable box or whatever might have a similar setting in the audio portion of the menu.

    n

    ReplyDelete

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