noise with unusual dynamic range

[THE RITA HN]

RICHARD RAMIREZ - Medusa

[l.b.]

lots of HIMUKALT work like this, absolutely spastic arrangements, the lp on malignant and "sex worker" cs in particular.

[NO PART OF IT]

I was thinking about Iron Fist of the Sun but that's maybe more because of the way he uses a lot of room (silence) in his tracks and everything being well produced.

In general this is a great artist for production: not too polished, but a full range, although not necessarily much harsh noise as Mikko brought up for the topic. 

I'll have to echo what Zeno Marx said, that "dynamic range" is not something I'd term for sounds that are going from quiet to loud, etc.   I'd say dynamic range is just full optimization of sound capabilities.  For instance, some people use compression to make their work louder, but that compromises the dynamic range in most cases. 

I personally use a lot of layers, I'm not a minimalist at all, but some artists, The Rita being an obvious example, can make one signal very dense no matter the format. 

I have some releases that I regret putting on cassette because it cut out the high end too much, and anything I enjoyed about the track was lost that way. 

I'd say that the recent tape by Knurl on Absurd Exposition capitalizes on a full dynamic range.  It also has the hills and valleys of intensity to keep a person interested on more than just a wall.   

NECKHOLD is a favorite, their tape on WCN is a perfect example of full optimization of harsh noise on cassette format. 

As for CDs:

Blue Sabbath Black Cheer / Pig Heart Transplant CD on Phage capitalizes on full bass range exceptionally. 

The equalization and crescendos on Fatale's first CDR are exceptional.

Skin Graft is always great at this, no matter what format.    He is also exceptional at mastering in general.  And with CDs/CDRs I always put emphasis on not being too polished, but having a full sound that is still nasty. 

POPE JOANNA was exceptional at this as well, and while she did do a great split on cassette once, her CDRs are stellar.  My favorite harsh noise / PE artist, sadly drifted off into obscurity.   

I'm not sure how obvious it is, or if it works for HN purists, but Controlled Bleeding's "Shanked and Slithering" CD is excellent for distorted sheet metal abuse, and perfect use of high end frequencies. 

[collapsedhole]

the term "unusual dynamic range" made me instantly think of Pentti Dassum - specifically the SM/DP - fault tolerant system CD, but i think a lot of his work would qualify.

[WCN]

I think the term "unusual" can be addressed from 2 different perspectives. There are those who use a wide dynamic range intentionally and with skill for "dramatic" intent, and there are those who end up with a wide dynamic range due to to lack of knowledge on how to mix/master properly, or accepting flukes / mistakes in volume spikes or dropouts. Mania certainly falls into the former category. I'd say many fall into the latter category, which still often has a charming, and in some cases, powerful effect.

That said, I think we're conditioned through how pop/rock music is mastered and consumed (boombox, in car, headphones, cellphone speakers, etc.) to expect to hear everything at about the same volume all the time, so I love it when noise artists take advantage of the richness of potential of volume variance, which is totally limited in most other music. There is no reason not to have quiet parts be actually quieter and loud parts be actually louder on a recording designed to be listen to on a decent soundsystem in a room, where the sound of the tires on the road aren't going to drown out what is going on down below, for example.

This issue of range also applies to the range of dynamics within a small fraction of a second of audio, and not just between "parts" or passages ca. 1 second or more long. On a lot of GREAT and the loudest sounding recordings, the waveform it totally brickwalled so you basically just have one volume all the time, and the noise just sound loud as fuck. Cool when done right. Still, I appreciate those that take it back a little bit and allow the jags, peaks and valleys to really differentiate from each other and the noise to really RIP. Might require turning the overall volume up a bit. Again I think Mania falls into this category, though I've never looked at the waveforms of one of his recordings.

The tape format works wonders for many artists whose recordings are unmastered - take a digital recording with some awkward volume variances and dub it to tape a little bit in the red, and the dynamic range is tightened up nicely. This can of course be undesirable for certain recordings where a wide dynamic range has been intentionally achieved. This is where I think CDs are great, but I really only want to hear CDs from artists who know how to mix / master their music tastefully and somewhat precisely

Some recordings off the top of my head that make use of a wide dynamic range:
KIRAN ARORA - Formication - a new masterpiece - roaring jags of noise with pressure and intensity, bug-like clicks cutting through the mix perfectly, passages that volume, parts that blast even louder than you were expecting.
TAINT - Sex Sick - insane disturbing jumps in volume between all of the disgusting samples and the piercing sadistic feedback that blasts in over and over again.
SEWER ELECTION - Sex/Death - the beginnings of "Sex" has such a dramatic jump in volume in the fist few seconds, that almost feels off, but that is what makes it so great. Yes, this is NOISE music, why shouldn't it rip your head off?
THE RITA - The Voyage Of The Decima Mas - Example of a brickwalled waveform (from my memory when I looked at it one time) that's basically always either one volume or silent, but gives an incredible audio illusion of wide dynamic range with all the airy/watery parts.

[NO PART OF IT]

I guess I was mistaken in using the term "dynamic range" as a way to define noise that utilizes the full spectrum of possibility, in terms of highs and lows, and fullness of sound.  I'd agree with WCN otherwise. 

[Vitrufen]

Since the first time I heard Grunt's "Dog In The Leash Pt. 1" I've always loved the swirling and rough textures over that softer drone in the background, how they build up until it turns into some junk-metal fucking tornado. This track is still pretty spacious at times, and I occasionally prefer that over non-stop abrasive noise. The whole first CD of Seer of Decay is a good example of this.

[Bloated Slutbag]

Off the top of my head; MONDE BRUITS - Purgatory. It's been a while since I lst played the tape, but I always think of it as a very wild ride, both in terms of 360 degree stereo mixing, almost surround sound experience, and also for it's dynamic sound levels. It's a real rollercoaster with volume shifting from quiet to loud and back again, swirling around everywhere. Especially in headphones. And though being an overall loud ass tape, it feels like theres plenty of space for the sound to move around, not packed to the very max.

I was fairly recently going through all the Monde Bruits I had on hand and thinking exactly that ^. About Purgatory in the specific. Among the possible culprits I would include some of WCN's observations and the dictates of GROSS chromium format. Along these lines I might sneak in the Thirdorgan half of the United Syndicate split with Crack Fierce. And the Thirdorgan GROSS tape. Hyware was mentioned, and I'd back that up with, again, acknowledgements to GROSS.

[Moran]

Worth's Sacred Violence Noise has abrupt changes from very quiet to very loud sounds frequently, which makes it a little painful to listen to if you raise the volume enough to hear the quiet parts and keep it the same throughout the tracks. When I was listening to the tape this afternoon, the quiet parts with stuttering bells combined with the drone of cicadas outside into moments of live noise between bouts of loud distortion.