More than microphoning
capturing the role of the recording engineer from the 1980s to the 1990s
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v8i1.46Keywords:
creativity, microphoning, recording engineer, studioAbstract
A review of literature in the field of record production shows the recording engineer as being under represented and possibly, due to the enigmatic nature of the role, misunderstood. This paper examines the engineer’s role and influence in the creation of recordings from the 1980s to the 1990s through the autoethnographic approach undertaken by Steven Parker who worked as an engineer during this time. Parker’s narrative allows us to reflect not only on the roles of the engineer during a period of technological change, but the way that the engineer contributed to the creative process and in particular to what we term the sonic signature of a recording. Our suggestion is that the role of the engineer should be understood as more than microphoning (the art of capturing sound) and re-evaluated as an integral component of the creative process.
References
Addey, M. 2008. ‘An Aural History by Malcolm Addey’. In Oral Studio History. http://www.oralstudiohistory.com/2008/11/oral-history-by-malcolm-addey.html (accessed 14 December 2011).
Bochner, A., and C. Ellis. 2002. Ethnographically Speaking: Autoethonography, Literature and Aesthetics. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.
Chanan, M. 1995. Repeated Takes: A Short History of Recording and its Effects on Music. London: Verso.
Day, T. 2002. A Century of Recorded Music. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Delamont, S. 2007. ‘Arguments against Auto-Ethnography’. Paper delivered at European Sociological Association conference, ‘Advances in Qualitative Research Practice’. September 2006. http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/socsi/qualiti/QualitativeResearcher/QR_Issue4_Feb07.pdf.
Denzin, N., and Y. Lincoln, eds. 2000. The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Dockwray, R., and A. F. Moore. 2010. ‘Configuring the Sound Box’. Popular Music 29/2: 181–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261143010000024
Emerick, G. 2006. Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles. New York: Gotham.
Eno, B. 1999. 'The Revenge of the Intuitive: Turn Off the Options and Turn Up the Intimacy’. Wired. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.01/eno_pr.html (accessed 18 December 2013).
Frith, S. 1996. Performing Rites: Evaluating Popular Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Geertz, C. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York: Basic.
Greene, P., and T. Porcello, eds. 2005. Wired for Sound. Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press.
Katz, B. n.d. ‘An Integrated Approach to Metering, Monitoring and Leveling Practices’. www.digido.com/level-practices-part-2-includes-the-k-system.html (accessed 14 November 2010).
Kealy, Edward R. 1990 [1979]. ‘From Craft to Art: The Case of Sound Mixers and Popular Music’. In On Record: Rock, Pop, and the Written Word, ed. Simon Frith and Andrew Goodwin, 207–220. London: Routledge.
Lacasse, S. 2000. ‘“Listen to My Voice”: The Evocative Power of Vocal Staging in Recorded Rock Music and Other Forms of Vocal Expression’. Unpublished PhD thesis Institute of Popular Music, University of Liverpool.
Massey, H. 2000. Behind the Glass: Top Record Producers Tell How They Craft the Hits. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books.
Massey, H. 2009. Behind the Glass: Top Record Producers Tell How They Craft the Hits Volume 2. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books.
McIntyre, P. 2009. ‘Songwriting and Studio Practice: The Systems Model of Creativity Applied to “Writing Records”’. Paper presented at the 5th Art of Record Production Conference, University of Glamorgan, Cardiff, S. Wales.
Meintjes, L. 2003. Sound of Africa! Making Music Zulu in a South African Studio. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/9780822384632
Moorefield, V. 2005. The Producer as Composer: Shaping the Sounds of Popular Music. Boston: MIT Press.
Muncey, T. 2010. Creating Autoethnographies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Parker, S. 2011. ‘Creativity and Participation: Using a Systems Model to Understand the Role of the Recording Engineer in Previously Published Recorded Works from 1980–1992’. Unpublished PhD, Leeds Metropolitan University.
Paulus, P., and B. Nijstad. 2003. Group Creativity: Innovation through Collaboration. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195147308.001.0001
Schmidt Horning, S. 2004. ‘Engineering the Performance: Recording Engineers, Tacit Knowledge and the Art of Controlling Sound’. Social Studies of Science 34/5 (October): 703–731. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306312704047536
Swedien, B. 2003. Make Mine Music. Norway: MIA Musikk.
Zak, A. J. 2001. The Poetics of Rock: Cutting Tracks, Making Records. Berkeley: University of California Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520218093.001.0001
Bochner, A., and C. Ellis. 2002. Ethnographically Speaking: Autoethonography, Literature and Aesthetics. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.
Chanan, M. 1995. Repeated Takes: A Short History of Recording and its Effects on Music. London: Verso.
Day, T. 2002. A Century of Recorded Music. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Delamont, S. 2007. ‘Arguments against Auto-Ethnography’. Paper delivered at European Sociological Association conference, ‘Advances in Qualitative Research Practice’. September 2006. http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/socsi/qualiti/QualitativeResearcher/QR_Issue4_Feb07.pdf.
Denzin, N., and Y. Lincoln, eds. 2000. The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Dockwray, R., and A. F. Moore. 2010. ‘Configuring the Sound Box’. Popular Music 29/2: 181–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261143010000024
Emerick, G. 2006. Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles. New York: Gotham.
Eno, B. 1999. 'The Revenge of the Intuitive: Turn Off the Options and Turn Up the Intimacy’. Wired. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.01/eno_pr.html (accessed 18 December 2013).
Frith, S. 1996. Performing Rites: Evaluating Popular Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Geertz, C. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York: Basic.
Greene, P., and T. Porcello, eds. 2005. Wired for Sound. Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press.
Katz, B. n.d. ‘An Integrated Approach to Metering, Monitoring and Leveling Practices’. www.digido.com/level-practices-part-2-includes-the-k-system.html (accessed 14 November 2010).
Kealy, Edward R. 1990 [1979]. ‘From Craft to Art: The Case of Sound Mixers and Popular Music’. In On Record: Rock, Pop, and the Written Word, ed. Simon Frith and Andrew Goodwin, 207–220. London: Routledge.
Lacasse, S. 2000. ‘“Listen to My Voice”: The Evocative Power of Vocal Staging in Recorded Rock Music and Other Forms of Vocal Expression’. Unpublished PhD thesis Institute of Popular Music, University of Liverpool.
Massey, H. 2000. Behind the Glass: Top Record Producers Tell How They Craft the Hits. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books.
Massey, H. 2009. Behind the Glass: Top Record Producers Tell How They Craft the Hits Volume 2. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books.
McIntyre, P. 2009. ‘Songwriting and Studio Practice: The Systems Model of Creativity Applied to “Writing Records”’. Paper presented at the 5th Art of Record Production Conference, University of Glamorgan, Cardiff, S. Wales.
Meintjes, L. 2003. Sound of Africa! Making Music Zulu in a South African Studio. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/9780822384632
Moorefield, V. 2005. The Producer as Composer: Shaping the Sounds of Popular Music. Boston: MIT Press.
Muncey, T. 2010. Creating Autoethnographies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Parker, S. 2011. ‘Creativity and Participation: Using a Systems Model to Understand the Role of the Recording Engineer in Previously Published Recorded Works from 1980–1992’. Unpublished PhD, Leeds Metropolitan University.
Paulus, P., and B. Nijstad. 2003. Group Creativity: Innovation through Collaboration. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195147308.001.0001
Schmidt Horning, S. 2004. ‘Engineering the Performance: Recording Engineers, Tacit Knowledge and the Art of Controlling Sound’. Social Studies of Science 34/5 (October): 703–731. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306312704047536
Swedien, B. 2003. Make Mine Music. Norway: MIA Musikk.
Zak, A. J. 2001. The Poetics of Rock: Cutting Tracks, Making Records. Berkeley: University of California Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520218093.001.0001
Published
2014-02-07
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Davis, R., & Parker, S. (2014). More than microphoning: capturing the role of the recording engineer from the 1980s to the 1990s. Popular Music History, 8(1), 46-67. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v8i1.46
