Guitar profiling technology in metal music production Public reception, capability, consequences and perspectives (original) (raw)
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Metal Music Studies, 2019
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The Development of Technology and its Influence on Recorded Heavy Metal Music 1969-2015
The development of technology and the resulting influence on a specific genre of recorded music provide the central motivation for this thesis. Record production has become an increasingly important part of contemporary musicology, with the recorded artefact being so easily accessible via digital archives. Seminal texts such as: The Art of Music Production (Burgess, 2013); The Cambridge Companion to Recorded Music (Cook, Clarke, Leech-Wilkinson and Rink, 2009); and, The Art of Record Production (Frith and Zagorski-Thomas, 2012), have contributed to the growing research surrounding the Art of record production, complimenting the publications that document the practise and technicalities of record production (Hosken, 2011; Katz, 2007; and Rumsey and McCormick, 2006, for example). This study focuses on the relationship between technology and recorded Heavy Metal (HM) music between 1969 and 2015. Using a semi-structured interview technique, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis has been used to develop an acute and informed understanding of how recording technology developments have influenced HM music production, through a series of interviews with renowned record producers. These experts were chosen because of their position held within the HM community and the key albums they have produced. Overall, their careers can be delineated between 1969 and 2015 to provide a view of, what could be considered, both a revolutionary and transitory stage for HM music. The anticipated and potential uses of technology were identified as super-ordinate themes through an analysis of the interview data. These larger themes can be sub-divided into subordinate themes, which are (respectively): the impact of expectations, industry and external influences; and the presence of technological dichotomies, affordances and aspirations. The tensions caused by these themes highlighted issues of fragmentation within HM record production. The development of technology has changed the ways in which record producers experience record production, as technological affordances and commercial influences change the recording process. This fragmentation led to the discovery of a possible conceptual shift within record production: performance events are perhaps submissive to performance enhancement. This research provides an understanding of how technology has influenced recorded HM music. This insight is drawn from the experience of those directly involved in its creation. A method for approaching the place of technology in music production is set-out and this could be utilised, or adapted, for further research within music production; it could also be applied more generally to explore technologically influenced creative production in the arts. For example, the use of digital processes in photography has had a similar impact on both the retail and creative industries in the sector; a similar pattern can be seen in the music industry due to relatively inexpensive editing methods compared to earlier analogue procedures. Therefore, a similar study could investigate the working practices of photographers, both within the capture and editing of photographic work. In addition to the transfer or application of this method, a data set has been created that captures the experience of HM music production from a phenomenological perspective, highlighting wider implications for recorded music production more generally.
2013
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Metal Music Studies, 2017
The sound of the distorted electric guitar is particularly important for many metal music genres. It contributes to the music’s perception of heaviness, serves as a distinguishing marker, and is crucial for the power of productions. This article aims at extending the research on the distorted metal guitar and on metal music production by combining both fields of interest. By the means of isolated guitar tracks of original metal recordings, ten tracks in each of the last five decades served as sample for a historical analysis of metal guitar aesthetics including the aspects tuning, loudness, layering and spectral composition. Building upon this insight, an experimental analysis of 287 guitar recordings explored the effectiveness and effect of metal guitar production techniques. The article attempts to provide an empirical ground of the acoustics of metal guitar production in order to extend the still rare practice-based research and metal-oriented production manuals.
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