JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - Orange Juice Jones (Dynamic Edit)

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This is what I like to call a ‘dynamic edit’ of “Orange Juice Jones” by JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown! Whether intended or otherwise, _Scaring the Hoes_ faces a VERY heavy amount of dynamic range compression (not to be confused with data compression, which concerns MP3s and such) in its final release, resulting in a heavy amount of distortion of… well, basically the whole project. In this, I attempt to undo that mastering compression and resulting distortion, making the music more dynamic and perhaps, easier to listen to!

For those not in the know, the Loudness War is a phenomenon beginning in the mid-90s onward, in which music was mastered louder and louder, with the underlying reasoning being that louder music sounds better, and thus, should sell better. As with any medium, however, there is a peak loudness a signal can reach, so dynamic range compression (which makes the louder parts of the signal quieter while keeping the quiet parts the same loudness) and sometimes even clipping (attempting to make a signal louder than maximum loudness) were used to make music as loud as possible.

The issue with this is that overuse of dynamic range compression and clipping can make music fatiguing to listen to, and sometimes even audibly distorted. Additionally, clipping, poor compressors, or overuse of compressors can result in artifacts such as hiss or crackle being audible atop the signal. Both are present all over _Scaring the Hoes._

While most loud masterings of albums I find are detrimental to the album’s final sound, such as the heavy clipping on Jay-Z’s _The Black Album,_ the final master of _Scaring the Hoes_ gives me pause. The album as a whole, regardless of its heavy compression, leans moreso towards scrappiness than opulence, so what’s wrong with a clipped sound to it all? “Steppa Pig” hits you with an almost psychedelic punch with its distorted beats, and “SCARING THE HOES” creates an eerie atmosphere from its monstrous, compressed bass tone. On the other hand, I feel that the second half of “Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up / Muddy Waters” loses much of its swing from its beat not being able to cut though well, and “God Loves You” is mastered so loudly that it sounds stilted, with its beat sounding like it suddenly auto-ducks the rest of the instrumental.

With how clipped the final release is, I can’t see this album being so loud as distorted as anything but an intentional choice by JPEGMAFIA and/or Danny Brown. Even mastering engineers infamously known for creating loud and distorted masters, such as Howie Weinberg and Vlado Meller, don’t master albums this loudly, so I imagine the mastering engineer of _Scaring the Hoes_ (Dale Becker) was either given a highly clipped and distorted release to begin with, or was instructed to _make_ it that clipped and distorted.

I attempted to undo the heavy dynamic range compression on this album with a program called “Perfect Declipper”, which can not only affect clipping, but other types of compression found in mastering as well! It can also undo much of the distortion from that compression, as you can probably hear when you listen! Though these edits, I was able to bring the dynamic range of the album from 2 to 12, which hopefully makes it easier to listen to.

It’s important to note that the dynamics are not being restored with the “Perfect Declipper” program that I use, but rather, they are being approximated. While one may not be able to “declip” an album as one would be unable to “unbake a cake”, I find the results here to be a convincible attempt at doing so. Only in the most extreme examples have I heard the program produce odd artifacts that would appear unintended in the album’s mix.

I also want to make clear that dynamic range compression is not an inherently bad thing. It can tighten up performances, add grit, and help remove dynamic outliers that would take you out of the mix. Additionally, mastering engineers are often underneath the implicit and explicit pressures of artists and record labels to master albums loudly, so the results of mastering may not necessarily reflect a mastering engineer’s intentions for how they wanted an album to sound. Also, whether my edits sound better than the original release is up to what the listener thinks!

I produce many more dynamic edits on this channel as well as further descriptions in posts over on Reddit! You can look at this for a full list of the albums I’ve done: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1975IIQohEqbV-iZOSCWD0Cupbk0kGn3l5MgzB_ZCwQ8

If you like my work, consider donating to me on Ko-fi! I prioritize suggestions for $15, but any amount donated is appreciated! https://ko-fi.com/dynamiceditor