How Should We Study Record Production?
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Section Headings:
1. Methodology
2. The Musical Meaning
3. The Process
4. The Participants
5. The History and Geography
6. The Ideological Content
7. The Technology
8. The Economics
9. The Psychology / Neuroscience
10. An Ecological Approach
Methodology
If the question of ‘why’ to study something reveals the ideology – the beliefs and values – then this also points us in the direction of what we want to know and thus how we might approach the problem. The ideology will imply one or more methodologies as being potentially more effective than others.
If we want to learn how to ‘do’ production we would be better off analyzing music from the generative side than the listening side.
Types of methodology:
| Looking at: | Methodology |
| The Musical Text | structural analysis or hermeneutic approach? |
| The social process of production | case studies / interviews followed by systems analysis and/or communications analysis |
| The technical process of production | technical data gathering / measurement, the experimental method to test theorie |
Forms of information gathering:
• Listening to musical examples (qualitative or quantitative)
• Observing a representation of a musical example showing certain parameters mapped over time e.g. pitch or amplitude (qualitative or quantitative)
• Case study – ethnographic / anthropological observation (qualitative or quantitative)
• Case study – interview (qualitative or quantitative)
• Case study – participative experience (qualitative or quantitative)
• Historical documents (qualitative or quantitative)
• Observe or use technology (qualitative or quantitative)
• Experiments designed to test a theory through measurement (quantitative)
• Information and / or interpretations previously published by others (qualitative or quantitative)
Forms of information processing:
• Chronological ordering of events
• Spatial description of objects and events
• Interpretation and representation of the structure of an object or event
• Interpretation and representation of the structure of a process
• Interpretation and representation of the semiotic meaning of an object or event
• Interpretation and representation of a social process or structure
• Interpretation and representation of a mental process or representation by another or other individual(s)
• Statistical analysis of quantitative data
• Hermeneutic – interpretation of a text by interpreting and representing the inner life of a participant in its creation
• Creation of a theory for testing / evaluation
These various methodological approaches combine in different forms within different disciplines which have been applied to the study of recorded music, the processes by which it is produced and the way it fits into human society:
• Music Theory
• Ethnomusicology / Anthropology
• Sociology
• Psychology
• Physiology / Neuroscience
• Media Studies
• Cultural and Critical Theory
• Gender Studies
• History
• Philosophy and Aesthetics
• Semiotics
• Communication Studies
We’re going to look at how these disciplines and methodologies have been applied to various aspects of recorded music and record production:
• The Musical Meaning
• The Process
• The Participants
• The History and Geography
• The Ideological Content
• The Technology
• The Economics
• The Psychology / Neuroscience
• An Ecological Approach
The Musical Meaning
Allan Moore, Serge Lacasse, William Moylan
Analysis of the sound and the way that produces meaning.
The Process
Phil McIntyre, Albin Zak, Tom Porcello (sociology / anthropology)
The ways in which production is ‘done’. Creative practice, working methods, power structures, relationships between participants and social structures and forms of communication
The Participants
Tim Warner on Trevor Horne, Mike Alleyne on Nile Rodgers, Virgil Moorefield on several producers etc
Also interviews and biographies.
The History And Geography
George Brock-Nannestad, Paul Theberge
The chronology and geography of social structures, ideas, methods and technology.
The Ideological Content
New Musicology / critical musicology. Politics and identity in the use and meaning that technological mediation introduces. Georgina Born and the ideology of performance practice versus recording practice. Gender and production. Race and production. Modernity, authenticity, authority etc.
The Technology
Justin Paterson, Rob Toulson
How does the technology affect the sound? Control mechanisms and ergonomics as well as physics, acoustics and engineering.
The Economics
Richard Burgess, Christopher May, Paul Theberge?
Profitability and the resources available – budgets and studio time / toys.
Cost of access and the availability of tools, space and technology
The perceived value of recorded music and the economics of distribution.
Creativity and remuneration.
The Psychology / Neuroscience
perception and cognition / affect (audience and creators?)
Psychoacoustics
Music perception and applying theories developed to understand performance and ‘traditional’ features of music to record production.
Ecological Approach
How can these various approaches be integrated and how can the study of record production be integrated into the study of music?
