I watch DW with my headphones for some time now. I don't think it's MG's fault as some suggested, though. It's how you mix the audio track, how much prominence you give to each track.
Turn The Music Down!
2 of 3
Originally Posted by Ricky D Gervais:
“Fix your sound settings (or get a better system); problem solved. And people who think this is down to Murray Gold personally are absolute idiots.”
“Fix your sound settings (or get a better system); problem solved. And people who think this is down to Murray Gold personally are absolute idiots.”
Murray Gold composes the music and he is resposnible for making it so obtrusive and jarring.
That it is set so loud is a separate issue, however proper indidental music which complements the dialogue would not be so problematic as his jarring themes.
Originally Posted by Alrightmate:
“Don't you think that if people are finding the problem when watching Doctor Who but not for general TV viewing that the problem is not at their end but at the other?”
“Don't you think that if people are finding the problem when watching Doctor Who but not for general TV viewing that the problem is not at their end but at the other?”
That is exactly what the problem is. It's not people finding something to moan about, or having their tvs set incorrectly, and I don't care what the job title is of the person responsible. The fact is for every single program I watch on any channel and for that matter any dvd, video, pre-recorded or otherwise... everything, every flaming thing that ever appears on my tv screen at any time I can always hear perfectly what everyone is saying, and then on comes Who and I miss nearly everything. I can only assume it's deliberate to appeal to the kiddies or make it a big event musical or something.
I've played around with the settings during transmission and people are right that the setting for me that removes all surround sound makes the dialogue slightly better, but not much and I have to then change the setting back to enjoy watching everything else that appears on my tv.
Ok, some people have different tvs and some people are blessed with 20/20 hearing and can pick up the dialogue better, but please, people, don't dismiss the problem and say it doesn't exist. It might not exist for you, but it does for others and it's on the edge now of making me stop watching. Last night's episode was the worst for me not having a clue what anyone was saying, but on the other hand the visuals looked pretty rubbish so perhaps that was a good thing.
Quote:
“Ok, some people have different tvs and some people are blessed with 20/20 hearing and can pick up the dialogue better, but please, people, don't dismiss the problem and say it doesn't exist. It might not exist for you, but it does for others”
“Ok, some people have different tvs and some people are blessed with 20/20 hearing and can pick up the dialogue better, but please, people, don't dismiss the problem and say it doesn't exist. It might not exist for you, but it does for others”
I agree, and this has been brought up by several people recently. I have an old chunky telly with no fancy sound system. I love the music but I do find it a problem over dialogue and it's not new to this series. It's not just music either, some of the background noise/sound effects are just a touch too loud.
Im usually fine with it and am the last to complain but last night was something else, my mum even said to me the music is too loud this episode.
And its nothing to do with the TV, its fine.
And its nothing to do with the TV, its fine.
As I have said in the numerous music threads that keep appearing, I have watched Doctor Who on many different Tv's, Iplayer and on DVD, never had a problem with the mix yet. I don't really understand how people can blame the show when only some people are experiencing it, do they have a different mix in a certain regions or something?
Hmm. Watched it again this morning, and again I can't say the music volume was something that I particularly noticed. Neither the missus or the young 'un commented either. 
Other than people's complaints here I'm still very much loving Murray Gold's contribution to Doctor Who.
Other than people's complaints here I'm still very much loving Murray Gold's contribution to Doctor Who.
Originally Posted by poppycod:
“Murray Gold composes the music and he is resposnible for making it so obtrusive and jarring.
That it is set so loud is a separate issue, however proper indidental music which complements the dialogue would not be so problematic as his jarring themes.”
“Murray Gold composes the music and he is resposnible for making it so obtrusive and jarring.
That it is set so loud is a separate issue, however proper indidental music which complements the dialogue would not be so problematic as his jarring themes.”
I don't remember anyone asking for your opinion on his music?
but thanks anyway.As for the sound thing (again); yes, people, most other shows on TV don't require you to fiddle with your settings to get optimal sound levels, but in the end it's a problem you can fix in the time it takes you to come on here and moan about it. So why not just do it?
Oh I love MG's score, and it's used well during dramatic and emotional moments. 
I just find it too loud over dialogue. Fiddling with settings on my old chunky TV has no effect and I don't know if it's even possible on iPlayer.
I just find it too loud over dialogue. Fiddling with settings on my old chunky TV has no effect and I don't know if it's even possible on iPlayer.
Originally Posted by brownca:
“OK so I don't know if this has been brought up on the forum before, or if it's just me, but I thought the background music on tonight's episode was really loud. Like, I was struggling to hear the dialogue over it. Which kind of ruined the episode for me a bit. Anyone else notice this?”
“OK so I don't know if this has been brought up on the forum before, or if it's just me, but I thought the background music on tonight's episode was really loud. Like, I was struggling to hear the dialogue over it. Which kind of ruined the episode for me a bit. Anyone else notice this?”
No problem watching/listening to the show here!
There's this amazing thing.. and it's called SUBTITLES! :O switch them on and then you're good to go 
I believe that the sound mixer on the official website mentions that his first mix of the opening from Eleventh Hour was more SFX bias than music. The producers then overrode his decision and brought the music more to the fore and the rest further "back" into the mix.
While I find Murray Gold's music to be less than average, surely it isn't his fault that the score is so prominent. Rather the sound mixer, or his/her superior's?
Russell
While I find Murray Gold's music to be less than average, surely it isn't his fault that the score is so prominent. Rather the sound mixer, or his/her superior's?
Russell
Originally Posted by poppycod:
“Murray Gold composes the music and he is resposnible for making it so obtrusive and jarring.
That it is set so loud is a separate issue, however proper indidental music which complements the dialogue would not be so problematic as his jarring themes.”
“Murray Gold composes the music and he is resposnible for making it so obtrusive and jarring.
That it is set so loud is a separate issue, however proper indidental music which complements the dialogue would not be so problematic as his jarring themes.”
Completely incorrect there, the so called "Music issue" isn't the problem of Murray Gold. However it's the all down to the editorial process. Basically if you want to blame anyone blame the audio editor.
Also I haven't encounter any problems with the sound in last night's episode. I felt it was a good score.
Usually I enjoy Murray Gold's music; some of his series 4 stuff was superb (ood song, Donna's theme when she goes in the circle of mirrors) and I like Amy's theme as well. But yeah... way too much music last night; couldn't hear people too well. Its like I turned up the TV to hear the voices and then suddenly a full orchestra was playing live in my living room.
Originally Posted by Big Steve:
“Completely incorrect there, the so called "Music issue" isn't the problem of Murray Gold. However it's the all down to the editorial process. Basically if you want to blame anyone blame the audio editor.
Also I haven't encounter any problems with the sound in last night's episode. I felt it was a good score.”
“Completely incorrect there, the so called "Music issue" isn't the problem of Murray Gold. However it's the all down to the editorial process. Basically if you want to blame anyone blame the audio editor.
Also I haven't encounter any problems with the sound in last night's episode. I felt it was a good score.”
I stuaunchly disagree.
If the music actually complemented what was happening on screen then the volume wouldnt matter so much - but it is so jarring and OTT.
If you want to use a symphony orchestra to a full impact and you have people trying to talk over it, the people are going to lose. You need to make the music more quiet and only use a loud music to parts without dialogues or when only a few words are shouted over it. I am not a native English speaker so I thought it was OK when I did not get the dialogues with a noisy background without headphones, but if native speakers complain then it's not OK.
Originally Posted by IvanIV:
“If you want to use a symphony orchestra to a full impact and you have people trying to talk over it, the people are going to lose. You need to make the music more quiet and only use a loud music to parts without dialogues or when only a few words are shouted over it. .”
“If you want to use a symphony orchestra to a full impact and you have people trying to talk over it, the people are going to lose. You need to make the music more quiet and only use a loud music to parts without dialogues or when only a few words are shouted over it. .”
Quite right.
when will Gold learn this?
I really don't care whose fault it is, I cannot hear the dialogue over the music. Last night was especially bad, we had to turn up the volume loud and even then could not understand all that was spoken. Like others have said, we do not have this problem with any other program. Why should we have to adjust our TVs just because whoever is in charge of mixing would seem to not give a .... about the viewers hearing anything but the music. We have an up to date TV but choose not to have 5.1 sound system because of the size of the room. I have sent an email to BBC regarding this problem, and I hope everyone else who is complaining has done the same.
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/con...9065001&db=all
Can I ask how old the people struggling to hear the dialogue are? It may be due to the problems highlighted in this journal article. I have no problem with the sound mix in Doctor Who.
Can I ask how old the people struggling to hear the dialogue are? It may be due to the problems highlighted in this journal article. I have no problem with the sound mix in Doctor Who.
It's got to depend on what TV model you have etc. When I watch it at my mums on her TV, I find it very hard to hear the dialogue, but when I watch it on my own TV, everything is clear.
It's not MG's fault for goodness sake.
It's not MG's fault for goodness sake.
I'm fairly sure MG has little control over the final mix. I expect he does his thing then hands it over.
Ah, that must be it then.
I'm 37.
Quote:
“Can I ask how old the people struggling to hear the dialogue are?”
“Can I ask how old the people struggling to hear the dialogue are?”
Quote:
“It is known that older people have disproportionately greater difficulties perceiving speech embedded in noise or otherwise degraded than do younger people.”
“It is known that older people have disproportionately greater difficulties perceiving speech embedded in noise or otherwise degraded than do younger people.”
Ah, that must be it then.
I'm 37.
Originally Posted by wildbill_hicock:
“http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/con...9065001&db=all
Can I ask how old the people struggling to hear the dialogue are? It may be due to the problems highlighted in this journal article. I have no problem with the sound mix in Doctor Who.”
“http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/con...9065001&db=all
Can I ask how old the people struggling to hear the dialogue are? It may be due to the problems highlighted in this journal article. I have no problem with the sound mix in Doctor Who.”
I'm 18 although I do have a problem with my ears haha!
2 of 3
