The Art of Record Production: An Introductory Reader for a New Academic Field (Ashgate Popular and Folk Music)

The playback of recordings is the primary means of experiencing music in contemporary society, and in recent years 'classical' musicologists and popular music theorists have begun to examine the ways in which the production of recordings affects not just the sound of the final product but also musical aesthetics more generally. Record production can, indeed, be treated as part of the creative process of composition. At the same time, training in the use of these forms of technology has moved from an apprentice-based system into university education. Musical education and music research are thus intersecting to produce a new academic field: the history and analysis of the production of recorded music. This book is designed as a general introductory reader, a text book for undergraduate degree courses studying the creative processes involved in the production of recorded music. The aim is to introduce students to the variety of approaches and methodologies that are currently being employed by scholars in this field. The book is divided into three sections covering historical approaches, theoretical approaches and case studies and practice. There are also three interludes of commentary on the academic contributions from leading record producers and other industry professionals. This collection gives students and scholars a broad overview of the way in which academics from the analytical and practice-based areas of the university system can be brought together with industry professionals to explore the ways in which this new academic field should progress. Cover 1 Contents 6 General Editor’s Preface 8 List of Figures and Music Examples 10 List of Tables 12 List of Contributors 14 Acknowledgements 22 1 Introduction 24 PART I Historical Approaches 34 2 The Lacquer Disc for Immediate Playback: Professional Recording and Home Recording from the 1920s to the 1950s 36 3 The Sounds of Space: Studio as Instrument in the Era of High Fidelity 52 4 No-Fi: Crafting a Language of Recorded Music in 1950s Pop 66 5 The US vs the UK Sound: Meaning in Music Production in the 1970s 80 6 The End of the World as We Know It: The Changing Role of the Studio in the Age of the Internet 100 Interlude 1 Comments and Commentaries by Industry Professionals and Producers 114 PART II Theoretical Approaches 120 7 Beyond a Musicology of Production 122 8 ‘I’m Not Hearing What You’re Hearing’: The Conflict and Connection of Headphone Mixes and Multiple Audioscapes 136 9 The Self-Effacing Producer: Absence Summons Presence 152 10 Rethinking Creativity: Record Production and the Systems Model 172 11 Considering Space in Recorded Music 186 Interlude 2 Comments and Commentaries by Industry Professionals and Producers 212 PART III Case Studies 216 12 Simulating the Ideal Performance: Suvi Raj Grubb and Classical Music Production 218 13 The Place of the Producer in the Discourse of Rock 230 14 The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and the Musicology of Record Production 246 15 Tubby’s Dub Style: The Live Art of Record Production 258 16 Recording the Revolution: 50 Years of Music Studios in Revolutionary Cuba 270 Interlude 3 Comments and Commentaries by Industry Professionals and Producers 292 Afterword 300 Bibliography 302 Index 318 Musical education and music research are intersecting to produce a fresh academic field: the history and analysis of the production of recorded music. This book introduces students to the variety of approaches and methodologies that are being employed by scholars in this field.