Should recordings that have been "digitally enhanced" carry a label saying so

[behindthenotes]

Hi All

We have posted this as our discussion this week but would like to hear what your thoughts on this are as it seems to be a divided camp on this one.

Should albums that have been "Digitally Enhanced" (eg: auto-tune etc) have a warning label telling us that they have been ?

Is using tools such as auto-tune and digital editing just utilising technology that is available in this day and age or is it deliberate deceipt that the consumer should be made aware of by way of a warning label on the front of the album ?

[Codger]

I agree with the point but what defines "digital enhancement"? Pretty much everything is done with signal processing these days.

Assuming that definition could be made, there would be a lot fewer labels to print up if a recording were to carry a label announcing that it was not digitally enhanced.

[namraj]

thats ridiculous, no album released by a big label in the last 10 years isn't digitally enhanced in some way. Why do you care if it is if you can't hear it? Technology today allows producers to do alot more on music and I don't think that this should be discouraged!

[superbassman2000]

I am going to have to agree with everyone so far--just about every song has been digitally enhanced in the last ten years--you'd need a warning for every cd.

also, I wonder why everyone looks down on digital enhancement? So what. If you consider a musician an artist, then when they write a song, you could say that they envisioned the song to sound a certain way--shouldn't they have the freedom to use tools available to make their vision a reality?

[afinalfantasy]

I'd say it's not needed. Some stuff you can tell has been enhanced (bubblegum pop) and some stuff hasn't (some of the indie stuff I listen to is SO not in auto-tone)

[Pacman]

Every major release in at least the last 7-10 years has been auto tuned. It's just part of the process now.

[alapantera]

Should digital photography, or visual art also carry warning labels? We live in a world where digital technology is working its way into the artistic mediums, I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.

Now, do we really need those warning labels on cups of coffee that say they're hot?

[Bob the bassist]

I just spent 14 hours yesterday assembling a 13 minute soundscape to link a couple of tunes on our upcoming album. Did it all digitally- analog would've taken days. Should I put a big red sticker on the album warning people that I used digital? Perhaps detail the exact steps I took to generate rumbling machinery noises by flanging, distorting and filtering brown noise?

Nope.

Especially since the entire album is being done digitally. It's just the tools of the time- I don't expect a carpenter to warn me that he's got a nail gun instead of a hammer.

[namraj]

Originally Posted by Bob the bassist

brown noise?

3Hz? i think you mean white noise, as brown noise is a really low frequency that vibrates the colon causing an imidiate urge to use the toilet

[Bob the bassist]

Originally Posted by namraj

3Hz? i think you mean white noise, as brown noise is a really low frequency that vibrates the colon causing an imidiate urge to use the toilet

I think I mean brown noise. The brown NOTE is an urban legend. Brown noise is noise richer in low frequencies than pink or white noise. Elementary acoustics.

Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colors_of_noise