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[ARSCLIST] Call for papers
The Art of Record Production Conference
London
17th & 18th September 2005
Call for Papers
You are cordially invited to submit proposals for paper, poster or
round table presentations at the 2005 conference on The Art of Record
Production. The event will be co-hosted by Music Tank, CHARM (the AHRB
Research Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music), and
the London College of Music & Media, Thames Valley University. The
conference seeks to explore the interface between the recording
industry and musicology. It aims to facilitate the transfer of
knowledge between academics and professionals and to study the theory
and practice of record production with reference to the technical and
business interests of the industry.
Conference Themes
Towards a musicology of production
As musicology becomes increasingly oriented to music as a performing
art, so recordings are increasingly understood as vital historical
documents. But they are not the snapshots of historical performance as
which they are often treated. With the development of tape,
multitracking, and hard disc recording, the role of the producer became
increasingly more important in determining the nature of the final
product, seen less as the reproduction of a real performance than as
the construction of a virtual one: recording has became an art form
increasingly distinct from live performance. To date, however,
musicology has not given serious attention to this development. The aim
of this conference strand, promoted by CHARM, is to focus on the
producer as a key creative figure in musical culture, classical as well
as pop, and to consider the analytical, critical, and historical
dimensions of a musicology of production.
Transparency and Distortion
What do the terms transparency and distortion really mean when applied
to recording? What are the aims of recording techniques? How close can
we get to an accurate reproduction of a musical event? Is clarity more
important than realism (e.g. multiple close microphone placements,
track laying and editing)? Why do we like some forms of distortion? How
have commercial pressures affected the technical processes of
recording, mixing and mastering? This session invites papers from a
variety of disciplines investigating any of the above questions or
those that are closely related. Amongst others papers may address
issues of aesthetics, psychoacoustics and the use of technology,
historical and cultural studies and socio-economics.
Recording and Authenticity
What are the perceived types of authenticity in recording practice? How
do the aesthetics of mixing relate to commercial pressures and the
perception of authenticity? Do musicians, technicians and audiences
have different ideas about authenticity in differing musical cultures?
How important is the concept of 'a performance' in authenticity? Why do
the goal posts seem to be continually moving in the argument about what
constitutes intrusive record production? Do issues of authenticity
cloud the judgement of the sonic qualities of vintage recording
equipment? This session invites papers from a variety of disciplines
investigating any of the above questions or those that are closely
related. Amongst others papers may address issues of sociology and
social psychology, ethnomusicology and performance based musicology,
aesthetics, production as performance and psychoacoustics.
Production Techniques and Technology
What have been the milestone changes in production techniques and
technology? How much have recording technology and professional
practice determined the sound of particular genres or geographical
music cultures? How do creative and financial interests interact in the
stimulation of product development? How have particular technological
innovations had an identifiable effect on the development of recorded
sound? What are the dynamics between the availability of cheap new
technology and independent production trends and what are the
implications for the future of production practice (home studios vs.
professional facilities)? What's the relationship between formal
training and the creative use of technology? How much are the
'innovation giants' of record production merely the first person to use
a particular technique on a record that became famous? This session
invites papers from a variety of disciplines investigating any of the
above questions or those that are closely related. Amongst others
papers may address issues of historical and cultural analysis,
socio-economics and the sociology of research culture, applied
technology and musicology.
Recording Practice
Why are the norms of recording practice in various musical sectors so
different? What goes on inside studios on a day to day level and how do
the minutiae affect the final outcome? How do the social dynamics
between musicians, sound engineers, producers and record company
executives affect the recording process? How has scarcity of equipment
been implemental in the development of particular generic 'sounds'?
(e.g. Jamaican reggae, South African kwaito, garage rock etc). How have
different modes of technical training in different musical cultures had
an impact on the recorded output? How is the fact that different
musical styles and cultures vary different textual parameters (e.g.
melody and harmony in classical piano music, additive rhythmic patterns
in west African Yoruba percussion music, vocal timbre in the Blues)
significant in the different ways that recording practice has
developed? This session invites papers from a variety of disciplines
investigating any of the above questions or those that are closely
related. Amongst others papers may address issues of historical and
cultural analysis, ethnomusicology and performance based musicology,
social psychology and education / training theory.
What is the product? What is the art object?
Is the analysis of recordings a worthwhile approach in the study of
performance? What are the differences in the ways we analyse recordings
and scores? How has the question of the intellectual ownership of music
been undermined by the changing role of the record producer? How
important have the commercial media of distribution and reproduction
been in the shaping of musical form? How has remix culture affected the
concept of a recording being the definitive artefact in Popular Music?
What differences might the internet download system of music
distribution be making to recording practice? How have the existence of
multiple 'definitive' versions in western classical music recording
affected the idea of the score as the art object? How has the recording
industry affected musical cultures that are based on improvisation and
variation? This session invites papers from a variety of disciplines
investigating any of the above questions or those that are closely
related. Amongst others papers may address issues of philosophy,
aesthetics, performance based musicology, copyright law, cultural and
media studies, ethnomusicology, jazz and popular music studies.
Production And Perception
In which ways can the perception of meaning in a sound be altered by
technology? If musicologists are to analyse the contribution of both
performers and producers to the creation of a recording, what tools are
available to them and how can a common descriptive language be
developed? In which ways do the creative uses of technology impact on
our perception of a performance? How do gestalt grouping theories of
music perception relate to audio processing techniques that alter the
perceived clarity of a recording? How might theories of music as a
metaphor for the embodied expression of emotions be borne out by the
way certain audio treatments can emphasise or even alter the emotional
content of a performance? This session invites papers from a variety of
disciplines investigating any of the above questions or those that are
closely related. Amongst others papers may address issues of music
perception, psychoacoustics, audio product design, musicology.
Proposals for individual papers and poster presentations should not
exceed 300 words.
Proposals for panels should include the names of all panel members and
their individual contributions and should not exceed 1000 words.
The deadline for proposals is: 2nd May 2005
Proposals should be sent to: ArtOfRecordProduction@xxxxxxxxx
Or by post to: Simon Zagorski-Thomas
London College of Music & Media
Thames Valley University
St. Mary's Road
London W5 5RF
U.K.