Horrific audio background crap now the norm

[chrish]

It seems that audio producers on more and more TV programs think they are mixing for moronic action movies, I find that while the content and video portions
of shows are great the special effects audio has become unbearable. I am talking about shows on History International, Nat Geo and Discovery etc.
Discovery has been running a new series on the past years tornado activity having special effects so annoying I just shut it off. (though I am a weather freak)
Nat Geo has also started down this direction What may give these idiots orgasms while mixing in the production studio does not necessarily make for
good home listening. I do not need to hear continuous sound effects to keep me watching.

 

[kenglish]

I know people who won't listen to CD's because there is a second of silence between the tracks : .
I'm not kidding!

 

[LKellerIII]

I know people who won't listen to CD's because there is a second of silence between the tracks : .
I'm not kidding!

??? There's a second or two of silence between cuts on your MP3 player, too. People don't listen to CDs much anymore because they generally aren't interested in 12 songs from the same artist. They want the 1 to 3 songs from the album that they really like, and they can download those for $1.29 or 99 cents each. Owning the music you want has never been cheaper. When I was a kid in the 60s, 45 rpm singles (2 songs - but you generally didn't want the "B" side) were 99 cents - that's the equivalent to $6.50 in 2011 dollars.

And if listeners want the entire album, they can download that, too.

Regarding the topic - I'm sure it has something to do with the two most recent adult generations being raised with MTV and video-games. We've all gotten used to constant sound. It's the same visually in films in TV shows - the camera is constantly in motion, and editing film and video is all about fast cuts.

Miami Vice sometimes gets credit for starting this trend - at least visually. I recall that the show took some getting used to - at first - at least for me. I found all the constant motion and fast-cut editing rather distracting and disturbing.

 

[landtuna]

When I was a kid in the 60s, 45 rpm singles (2 songs - but you generally didn't want the "B" side) were 99 cents - that's the equivalent to $6.50 in 2011 dollars.

There must not have been a lot of inflation between 1955 and 1965. The few records I bought in the 50's were also .99.

I found all the constant motion and fast-cut editing rather distracting and disturbing.

Might be a generational thing. I won't watch something that flings the camera all over the place either.

 

[formeraa]

I agree. Perhaps I'm getting old, but I also remember the 45's for 99 cents. More importantly, the background audio is getting extremely distracting on shows of all kinds. Even the cop shows are using it and sometimes it is nearly impossible to hear what the characters are saying! Then, there are the CBS sequence of black-and-white images right before and right after a commercial break that are totally useless.

 

[Darth_vader]

It's not a generational thing. Content aside, I find many of the shows that "my generation" is supposed to be "into" are practically unwatchable because of all the unnecessary (read: completely avoidable) camera motion. Yes, we all know Hollyweed is built on a major fault line, but is it really necessary to remind us every evening at prime time?

I mean, have they forgotten what a "tripod" is? Or do they just not cover that in "Television 101" these days?

(Agreed on the annoying/distracting sound effects, too. Especially when applied to the local "news" broadcasts, like KGW and KPTV do. I never did understand what the practical purpose of doing that was/is.)

 

[LKellerIII]

I agree. Perhaps I'm getting old, but I also remember the 45's for 99 cents. More importantly, the background audio is getting extremely distracting on shows of all kinds. Even the cop shows are using it and sometimes it is nearly impossible to hear what the characters are saying!

I agree that it's sometimes hard to hear what the characters are saying. I think that's partially because modern TV and films are trying to sound more realistic - the actors don't 'emote' as much as before, they just say their dialogue like most people would in real life, including slurring of words, mumbling, and talking too fast.

I like Sons of Anarchy, but the dialogue between characters is full of slang and fast slurred speech. It's often the characters' dialogue that clarifies the more confusing plot-points. Thanks to the remote control, I can listen to it as many times as I need to understand, but it gets frustrating.

 

[ajc_trw]

When I was a kid in the 60s, 45 rpm singles (2 songs - but you generally didn't want the "B" side) were 99 cents - that's the equivalent to $6.50 in 2011 dollars.

There must not have been a lot of inflation between 1955 and 1965. The few records I bought in the 50's were also .99.

I used to buy 45s in the late 70s for that same 99¢.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

It's the same visually in films in TV shows - the camera is constantly in motion, and editing film and video is all about fast cuts.

Miami Vice sometimes gets credit for starting this trend - at least visually. I recall that the show took some getting used to - at first - at least for me. I found all the constant motion and fast-cut editing rather distracting and disturbing.

Denver's Channel 2 News does this same annoying video technique on it's lighter features. I come away feeling I just failed a flight simulation exam. Wonder if this could cause seizures. Guess you've noticed, Law and Order does this too.

 

[CrankyYankee]

Maybe I was just lucky...I got new 45's at a local music shop in Massachusetts for 79 cents(plus tax).
Sometimes I'd see them for 69 cents at a supermarket that had what ever the top 20 was at the moment. (Sidebar: My nearby A&P sold LPs for a while. One day I noticed they were gone. I asked the manager what happened. He said people were shoplifting them by sliding them inside frozen pizza boxes.)

 

[chrish]

Thank God Law and Order one of the last intelligent and a favorite show here does not corrupt the audio with needless background
clutter....at least not yet.

 

[turkeydance]

if it's too loud, you're too old.
applies to jumping video as well.

 

[flytrap]

Producers also "sweeten the mix" on talent shows and concerts by dubbing in applause in the background. American Idol and X-factor is notorious for doing this. You will hear wild applause and screams from the audience, but if you watch closely the audience is not nearly as enthusiastic as they appear. Its also done on sports as well. A couple of years ago, the applause track got stuck during a football game, which was very obvious. One of the most annoying thing they do is the way morning radio has gotten noisy, with canned music or even worse drum machine tracks playing in the background whenever someone is talking, or doing the traffic or weather.

 

[chrish]

Turkeydance seems to be saying younger = less intelligence and he is probably be correct even if he didn't mean it that way....so drugged up with Ritalin and
other drugs explains why they need constant visual and aural stimulation

 

[visaman]

It's not a generational thing. Content aside, I find many of the shows that "my generation" is supposed to be "into" are practically unwatchable because of all the unnecessary (read: completely avoidable) camera motion. Yes, we all know Hollyweed is built on a major fault line, but is it really necessary to remind us every evening at prime time?

I mean, have they forgotten what a "tripod" is? Or do they just not cover that in "Television 101" these days?

Sorry for hijacking the original post, but can you give me an example of a TV show that uses that camera technique? The only dramas I watch are the Good Wife, and Pan Am. I used to watch Las Vegas, that was a fast paced show. OTOH, I am trying to watch Father Knows Best on KTLA at 4 in the morning, and boy, is that show slow and dragging!

 

[Markxxx]

Bad seems to be the new norm. Americans seem to prefer quantity over quality.

You mp3s over CDs, you have bars, hotels with stretched out TVs no one bothers or cares to fix, cell phones over landlines, and the list goes on and on.

Americans like the convenience of a lot and the ease of access. You get used to things.

One thing that bugs most people on these TV boards, is the use of logos in the corners by TV stations. See, I don't even notice them at all. So I guess it's really what you get used to

 

[flytrap]

If you listen to much of todays pop music, the silent or soft passages in the songs sometimes have ambient noise and various echo effects added. For example the song "My Immortal" by Evanescene has some weird beeping noises dubbed into the background especially when the song fades out at the end. The excessive compression that radio stations use amplify this noise at the end. It is totally unecessary to be on the record. The screen clutter on television is a pet peeve of mine and the stretch-o-vision or "crop-o-vision" that cable viewers are watching is another pet peeve of mine. They don't seem to notice that they are actually paying to watch distorted standard def, when they could get pure HDTV with the proper aspect ratio for free over the air.

 

[vchimpanzee]

The screen clutter on television is a pet peeve of mine and the stretch-o-vision or "crop-o-vision" that cable viewers are watching is another pet peeve of mine. They don't seem to notice that they are actually paying to watch distorted standard def, when they could get pure HDTV with the proper aspect ratio for free over the air.

I started a thread on this but didn't get replies.

It's annoying if the cable station sends you a picture with the right and left cut off if part of the credits are in the part that got cut off.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Maybe I was just lucky...I got new 45's at a local music shop in Massachusetts for 79 cents(plus tax).
Sometimes I'd see them for 69 cents at a supermarket that had what ever the top 20 was at the moment. (Sidebar: My nearby A&P sold LPs for a while. One day I noticed they were gone. I asked the manager what happened. He said people were shoplifting them by sliding them inside frozen pizza boxes.)

Not lucky, just older (chuckle!)... Only kidding. If anything, I'm probably older than you-- I remember 45-RPMs at Kresge's for 59-cents.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Thank God Law and Order one of the last intelligent and a favorite show here does not corrupt the audio with needless background
clutter....at least not yet.

Save of course for that exclusive "Bong-Bong" logo...