There is a great new FREE tool available from a German website: Pleasurize Music Foundation. It is a Dynamic Range measurement tool, which works regardless of the volume of the music.
As many of you may know, there has been a "Loudness War" going on in the music industry this last decade-and-a-half...resulting in many, many albums that have been "maximized" (compressed and limited) to the point where they have almost no dynamic range (and are ugly and fatiguing to listen to).
There is a "live" version available as a plugin, designed to be used while mixing and mastering in your own software, and an "offline" standalone version for measuring tracks after mixing and mastering.
This freebie is brand spanking new, and I haven't yet used it to it's fullest extent, but it is an EXCITING tool! Since the recording industry gave us the cd format with its' wonderful huge dynamic range, then the same industry gives us music with less and less range in it...what are we to do? WE TAKE OUR MUSIC BACK, that's what! We produce music that is once again musical, pleasant to hear, using accessible technology to improve the audio to what it CAN BE...
Go to the site. Check out their info. Sign up if you agree with their goals. Download the Dynamic Range meter HERE.
Good stuff.
