Hi!

How do you guys like the production of Ki? We all know Devin's production job is invariably top-notch, but I'd still like to hear some thoughts.

I, for one, am very pleased with the great, spacey mix and the awesome dynamic range, unlike 98% of the material that gets released these days. I've compared its "loudness" with plenty of other 2009 releases and Ki is superior to most, if not all, of them. There's plenty of breathing room in the mix, with varying degrees of punch.

Here's the dynamic range for "Terminal" that I tested on Audacity:



Looks pretty good, don't you think?

On a side note, when all "big" bands are joining the "loudness war," I am happy to see the new Dream Theater album is also pretty neatly mixed and mastered. No clipping whatsoever.

Any thoughts?

Cheers!

I'm not massively knowledgeable with regards to production, but personally I really like it. It really lends itself well to the album's relaxed feel in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong, I like the super-compressed wall of sound on other albums too, but I think the dynamics on this album really suit it well.

The day Devin submits to the pressure of bricking his albums out to race in the Loudness War is the day I'll hang a sign on my ears marked "Vacant: No Longer Occupied". It has been troubling how many truly talented musicians have let their work get trashed like that recently but, and I so hope I'm right on this, I don't see Devin as going for perceived volume over actual quality of sound.

I've never understood the whole loudness mastering battle personally - all my audio kit is of a more modern type with it's own volume controls on and I can turn things up and down as I need to. That feature is a wonderful invention but obviously not known to many current studio setups. Well, either that or they assume people are too stupid to actually decide how loud they want to hear something overall.

"Ki" is spot on - it rages where it needs to, and is subtle where it has to be, but never compromises one or the other in the process. "breathing room" is a good term, batmura.

I don't know shit about all that studio thingy and all those curves really. But I think Devin made the right choice in making Ki sound spacey and... Naked. There are no wall of sounds that permanently hit you in the face, it's only Guitars,Keys,Bass,Drums,Vocals and a few spacey sounds. I really dig it especially for since Ki sounds so ''intimate'' to me. Don't get me wrong, I really love the WOS prod but Devin really made a good decision about the prod on Ki. Anybody knows how many Guitar tracks he recorded ?

The day Devin submits to the pressure of bricking his albums out to race in the Loudness War is the day I'll hang a sign on my ears marked "Vacant: No Longer Occupied". It has been troubling how many truly talented musicians have let their work get trashed like that recently but, and I so hope I'm right on this, I don't see Devin as going for perceived volume over actual quality of sound.

Eh, Synchestra and (especially) Ziltoid were pretty much bricked. I think Ki's the first one where he made an effort not to.

The day Devin submits to the pressure of bricking his albums out to race in the Loudness War is the day I'll hang a sign on my ears marked "Vacant: No Longer Occupied". It has been troubling how many truly talented musicians have let their work get trashed like that recently but, and I so hope I'm right on this, I don't see Devin as going for perceived volume over actual quality of sound.

Eh, Synchestra and (especially) Ziltoid were pretty much bricked. I think Ki's the first one where he made an effort not to.

Yeah, many of his albums have been mastered quite loudly. Lots of square waveforms, zoomed out. Still not as bad as many today, but I certainly wouldn't say Devin's work has been mastered with very much dynamic range most of the time (quiet moments like most of Ki and the latter half of Terria, etc exempt). Not to say his albums have had terrible mastering, but the dynamic range hasn't been notably present until Ki, in my ears.

Personally I absolutely love the sound of Ki (except some of the louder parts but I've already mentioned my opinion on the heavy tracks, no need to visit that again), the drums in particular have such an amazing subtlety and texture. I sincerely hope the triggered sound is dropped in favor of a more natural tone more often in the future.

~Josiah

His past albums are very loud compared to other albums I have but it has never been a problem. Never any clipping problem on any stereo system, MP3 player or PC I have tried them on.

Ki has great production. It has a quietness to it between even each note that I suddenly feel. Even the heavy parts seem, to me, to have a real calmness to them. The only problem I have is the verses of Trainfire are very quiet and only for that song do I have to turn the volume up while in my car. Then after the track is over back down the the same level I was listening to before the song.

The day Devin submits to the pressure of bricking his albums out to race in the Loudness War is the day I'll hang a sign on my ears marked "Vacant: No Longer Occupied". It has been troubling how many truly talented musicians have let their work get trashed like that recently but, and I so hope I'm right on this, I don't see Devin as going for perceived volume over actual quality of sound.

Eh, Synchestra and (especially) Ziltoid were pretty much bricked. I think Ki's the first one where he made an effort not to.

true that, they aint no Death Magnetic though.

The day Devin submits to the pressure of bricking his albums out to race in the Loudness War is the day I'll hang a sign on my ears marked "Vacant: No Longer Occupied". It has been troubling how many truly talented musicians have let their work get trashed like that recently but, and I so hope I'm right on this, I don't see Devin as going for perceived volume over actual quality of sound.

Eh, Synchestra and (especially) Ziltoid were pretty much bricked. I think Ki's the first one where he made an effort not to.

true that, they aint no Death Magnetic though.

Is that album (Death Magnetic) pretty bad volume wise? I still haven't heard it. I just can't get past those ridiculous vocals, and attempts to be "heavy" and "thrashy" again....yuck.

Yeah, Synchestra was pretty harsh in spots. I know he always does his best though, and I accept it all.

Is that album (Death Magnetic) pretty bad volume wise?

Worst of all, actually. The guitars become some kind of muddy noise at times.

I hope Devin keeps some of the production style of Ki on the next albums because heavy songs need dynamics, too!

I hope Devin keeps some of the production style of Ki on the next albums because heavy songs need dynamics, too!

I cannot stress this enough...this would make me a very happy guy.

Heavy dynamic songs are the best thing.

How do you do a screen capture like this?

How do you do a screen capture like this?

Print Screen > open Paint > ctrl + v > save as etc

Unless you're on a Mac. Then I give up.

How do you do a screen capture like this?

Print Screen > open Paint > ctrl + v > save as etc

Unless you're on a Mac. Then I give up.

And if you use alt + Print Screen it captures only the open window and hides your pr0n from the ruthless eyes of the HDR forum members.