Mr. Furious Records

Mastering is tricky business; there are so many options, and such fine balances to weigh, that it’s never a straightforward proposition.  That being so, the final dynamics of the music I work with is always my top concern.  If the final master is too crushed, loud, and flat, or (on the other side of the spectrum) perceived as too soft relative to other music that listeners are likely to hear, nothing else I do is going to make up for it; it won’t be an enjoyable listen.

Toward that end, from the Production Advice blog:

Dynamic Range Day is March 20th, 2010

Join us in a day of protest against the CD “Loudness Wars” – more info below

• Show your support – check out the Facebook Event and RSVP to say you’ll “attend”
• It’s easy to take part – just SHOUT (type in all caps) ALL DAY, EVERYWHERE !
• And when people ask, tell them why you’re shouting
• Add a Dynamic Range Day Banner to your website or blog
• Use the Twitter hashtag #DYNAMICRANGEDAY

Read the full story here: Dynamic Range Day – The Idea

Latest News

• 05/03/10 Over 1200 guests confirmed to the Facebook already – and climbing
• 25/02/10 Dynamic Range Day Banners available for download
• 25/02/10 TurnMeUp.org adds a Dynamic Range Day banner to their front page…

What are the “Loudness Wars” ?

Music is getting louder, and sounding worse.

Engineers and artists are using modern technology to push the average level of recorded music up and up and up against the “brick wall” maximum level of the CD format.

This results in distortion, lack of punch and a flat, two-dimensional, lifeless sound …

This Wednesday, March 3, Mr. Furious Records and Brandon McKenzie will release Panda Face’s self-titled record.

Some of you know Brandon from Lincoln, NE indie band Strawberry Burns and his solo work as BLANE.  To my ears, if you dig BLANE (or MFR’s own Bike) you’ll enjoy Panda Face.

If you don’t know, give it a shot on Wednesday! -h

My ’80s-ish pop band, Five Star Crush, will perform in Kansas City at the Riot Room (formerly the Hurricane) in Westport on Monday night, March 8.  Hope to see you there! -h

As I finally got to answering the week’s email, I wrote the below to my friend J. who asked me what I thought of The Who at the Super Bowl last weekend.  I know it’s kind of late in interwebs time to weigh in, but I think I captured my sentiments pretty clearly. -h

The Who - meh… #1) I love The Who and Pete Townshend, especially. #2) Likewise with grunge, it bums me out that my generation and younger know them through the credits to the NCIS franchise. #3) I know these guys have bills, but I have to say the Super Bowl performance eroded their legacy. They looked very human; those old records have become something more. #4) That said, I enjoyed the halftime show. #5) The NFL has *got* to loosen up its post-Janet’s-boob prudishness, and find an act under 40 with some fresh material to play the halftime. You know what I’d love to see? Marching bands! Have a nationwide marching band contest for high school bands, have them submit videos or whatever, send scouts out to see the top 20 and pick one, and give them an all-expenses paid trip to the Super Bowl. Great PR, exciting, safe, cheap halftime show… seems like a win all around.

Dear Friends + Family: the Sleepover record is finally finished (the title is yet to be determined), and we’re in the process of figuring out what will be done with the record. In the meantime, I would like to share with you four songs from the record, available for stream:

http://www.reverbnation.com/thesleepover

or

http://www.myspace.com/thesleepoverlincoln (scroll to the “Bio” section for the reverbnation widget. Myspace sucks and would NOT let me upload).

These songs were recorded/edited by Chris Steffen at Steffonic Recording, mixed/edited by Eric Medley at Medley Productions, and mastered by C. Howie Howard at Mr. Furious Records. We started recording in August, and have slowly been trying to make the best record that we could make. It is an understatement to say that this record was a team effort including the band + Eric, Chris and Howie.

If nothing else, please give these songs a shot. In my opinion, they sound great, and I happen to like the songs a lot, too, although I am biased, lulz. If you hate them, you’ll have only sacrificed 20 minutes, and now you’ll have something new to dislike, which can be fun.

If you like/love them, I strongly encourage you to pass them along to others who might be interested in hearing them. Post them to your blog/Facebook/myspace/website/whatever else. Send them to friends and family. Grab the music-player widget from either site and spread it around like a nasty rash.

As I said, we hope to release the record in the next few months, and it all hangs on if anyone is interested or if it’s self-released. Hopefully we’re able to find a small label who is interested in helping us with the pressing costs, but if not, we’re dedicated to making sure it comes out in a timely manner. Either way, it’ll be out soon. And then it will be full-quality .wav files instead of the 6 megabyte mp3s that these sites require, so that Eric/Chris/Howie’s expertise can fully shine.

Thanks in advance for listening! We’re really proud of this record, and we think we (everyone who was a part of this record) made something really special.

Love, Cory + The Sleepover.