Performance in the Recording Studio

This is a proposal to establish an AHRC funded research network to develop a new methodology for studying Musical Performance in the Recording Studio but which would also be applicable to a variety of other forms of creative practice in the digital age. The network would extend over a period of nine months from the start of Oct. 2012 to the end of June 2013. This project will contribute towards the AHRC Digital Transformation theme in two quite distinct ways. Firstly it will investigate the way in which the digital revolution in recording and music production technology has affected musical performance in the studio. Techniques such as cut and paste editing, digital effects and signal processing, auto-tune and audio time correction have prompted and challenged performers to adapt their creative practice and work with record producers in the same way that actors have adapted to working in the cinema: working non-linearly and for an hypothetical audience.
In the second instance the entire methodology for the project has developed out of these digital transformations and the potential of the 'infinite archive'. The basic premise is to use a variety of digital media to capture multiple facets of a staged example of recording and performance practice in the studio. This will take the form of a recording session involving a record producer, sound engineer and a jazz quartet. Alongside several cameras filming the process from a variety of angles (and in the different rooms), there will also be a screen capture from the recording and editing software, equipment lists of the hardware effects, processors, microphones and mixing console, archive back ups of the session at various points and archived files of all the recorded takes as well as the ones used in the final mix. This will be accompanied by interviews with the participants, analyses by various network members, responses to the analyses by the participants and discussions between the academics and the practitioners. This, along with the analyses, discussions and comments from two other network events are then made available online and this material becomes the basis for another recursion of interpretation, analysis and discussion. This unique archive of both the raw data from the study and analyses and discussion from a wide range of perspectives and approaches will be maintained online by the Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production and further contributions, beyond the life of the network, will be invited and moderated.
The network will start in Oct. 2012 in time for the first event in Nov. 2012 which will be a weekend of presentations and discussions about theoretical approaches, methodological implications and planning for the staged recording. The recording itself will take place in Dec. 2012. In Feb. 2013 there will be a weekend symposium of analyses and discussion stemming from the recording and the interviews with the participants. In Mar. 2013 the material will be put online and contributions invited. This will build towards an online conference in Apr. 2013 that will open up the material to the wider academic and professional community for further scrutiny, analysis and discussion. This will be followed by the final weekend event in May 2013 which will discuss the merits and problems of the methodology and its potential for future applications.
The network membership will include:
8 core members covering recording, production, performance, psychology and anthropology
2 early career researchers / PhD students working in related fields
Guest members whose specialism relates to facets of each specific event
Limited access (around 15 people) for academics and practitioners interested in attending.
The aim is for this to be part of a larger, more extended project that stages several recording sessions involving different styles of music and different approaches to recording practice.

1. Target 'Audience'
2. The Practice of Musicians and Recordists
3. The Design & Development of Recording Technology

1. Target 'Audience'
Figures from the organisations that represent the record production industry have already expressed interest in research that investigates the way that musical creativity works in the studio. Maureen Droney, the senior executive director of the Producers & Engineers Wing of NARAS (The Grammies), has attended two ARP conferences and has expressed an interest in participating in joint activities to discuss and disseminate research on musical creativity in the recording studio. Tony Platt and Phil Harding of the UK Music Producers Guild executive committee have already participated in events at the London College of Music and the 130th Audio Engineering Society Convention in London that also discussed performance and recording. The members of organisations such as these along with the Musicians' Union (MU), the Association for Independent Music (AIM) and others would be encouraged to participate in the online discussion. Magazines such as the MU's Musician, Sound On Sound, Future Music, Tape Op, Classical Music, Music Teacher, Muso and others will also be invited to discuss and comment upon the research material. As well as the performers and recordists who may benefit from this research there are the designers and manufacturers of recording technology.
The benefits that are expected to accrue from these research outputs fall into two areas. The first relates to the development of strategies and techniques that allow musicians and recordists to work more creatively with recording technology. The second relates to developing new techniques and interfaces for the hardware and software of recording technology that reflect the ways that the creative participants conceptualise and engage with musical production in the studio.
2. The Practice of Musicians and Recordists
It is hoped that a greater awareness of how performance in the studio differs from the concert hall will help all of the participants develop strategies that reflect the non-linear nature of the process more effectively and encourage them to engage with the creative possibilities of the selective editorial aspects of recording. It may also dispel some of the myths about authenticity and skilled performance practice that have travelled from the concert hall to the recording studio and that suggest that achieving a single 'perfect' take is the ideal approach to recording. On a deeper level, it will allow musicians and recordists to make much more informed decisions about how to negotiate the balance between factors that prioritise the comfort of and communication between performers and those that prioritise the clarity and fidelity of the recording. These decisions are often made more on the basis of the strength of character of the various participants rather than on how the musical output would best be served. By bringing the nature of the process into focus and encouraging these participants to think about it in a more nuanced and sophisticated manner, research such as this can help to improve the quality of recordings from all angles.
3. The Design & Development of Recording Technology
The network would also aim to encourage product design that reflects the full breadth of different approaches to performing in the studio rather than relying on traditional mindsets, stereotypes and the most commercially prominent forms of music. The majority of recent developments in recording software design have focussed on the post hoc manipulation of recorded material such as auto-tune and audio timing correction. These forms of mediation tend to prioritise the creative practice of recordists over performers and it is to be hoped that a more clearly articulated and incisive understanding of performance practice might encourage the development of interfaces and processing techniques that even out this imbalance of priorities