Emily Dissertation
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‘AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE REPRESENTATION AND SCARCITY OF WOMEN IN THE MALE-CENTRIC WORLD OF MUSIC PRODUCTION AND ENGINEERING’ 1 Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. ResearCH StruCture 3 i. Detailed desCription of researCH struCture 3. A brief History of sound reCording 4 i. A brief history of women in sound reCording. 4. BiologiCal aspeCts 5 i. Cognition ii. Hormones 6 iii. The brain and beHavioural differenCes iv. Disadvantages to biologiCal studies 7 5. SoCiologiCal and psyCHologiCal aspeCts 8 i. MotHerHood ii. SoCial attitudes to family roles 9 iii. Upbringing and soCialisation 6. Formal eduCation 10 i. Learning styles Case study 1: Victoria Armstrong ii. LaCk of ConfidenCe 11 iii. SoCial influenCe in young people 12 7. Theories on tHe subConsCious and tHe proteCtion of teCHnology 12 8. Current treatment of women in produCtion and engineering 13 i. Sexism and stereotypes Case study 2: Nina Smith 14 ii. Male preferenCe iii. Visual identity 15 9. The male perspeCtive 16 i. Male studio professionals Case study 3: Yoad Nevo 17 10.Solutions 18 i. Role models Role models in education 2 ii. Women empowering women 19 iii. Organisations 20 International organisations Organisations within the UK 21 iv. AcCessibility 22 11.ConClusion 22 12.BibliograpHy 24 13.AppendiCes 34 3 1. IntroduCtion “Honestly, I think that some women get a little too caught up in the fact that there aren’t many women in the industry.” (Ann Mincieli cited in Massey, 2009, p. 308). The average Brit listens to music for more than a tenth of the time they are awake, fitting in 3500 songs each year (Express, 2017). It is surprising to think that ‘Less than 5% of the people in charge of creating the sounds, music and media in the daily soundtrack of our lives are women’ (Women’s Audio Mission, 2016). Articles by relevant sources, like NME’S (2012) ‘50 Of The Greatest Producers Ever’ and Billboard’s (2013) ‘The Top 10 Producers in Music’ further reveal this lack of representation, with no women featured on either list. Statistics published by a multitude of organisations also confirm this discrepancy, with The Music Producers Guild estimating women make up only 5% of its members (Larsson, 2017), and community association, SoundGirls (2019), stating that a mere ‘6’ of UK sound engineers are female. The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative (Smith et al, 2018, p.20) conducted a study on producers in the top 100 songs of 2014, 2015 and 2017 and found a gender ratio of 49.1 males to 1 female, proving that the lack of representation is not simply media bias. This inequality extends to other creative and non-creative industries, with only 4.1% of directors in the top 800 films of 2007-2015 being female (TED, 2017). This research aims to discover all the reasons for this disparity, and propose potential solutions to tackle this issue. 1. ResearCH StruCture This paper will focus on two main aspects concerning females in the industry, namely, the treatment of women in the male dominated roles of music technology, and why there are so few of them. The paper will then explore solutions to the lack of females and ways in which advocators are attempting to encourage women to engage with music technology. 2i. Detailed desCription of researCH struCture Firstly, the paper will detail a brief history of sound recording and music production. The paper will then research pioneering women in these industries, detailing the contributions made to their respective fields and their treatment within the music industry. After this, the biological factors that may affect the representation and scarcity of women in the studio will be discussed, including differences in cognition, hormones and brain chemistry which influence behaviours. The disadvantages of biological studies will also be reviewed, in order to fairly draw conclusions relating to biological characteristics. Social and psychological aspects will then be considered, examining whether motherhood, social attitudes to family roles and upbringing are factors which result in the observed representation of women. The next chapter on formal education will contain qualitative evidence, including a case study of Victoria Armstrong’s observations, concerning the treatment and experiences of female music technology students in formal education, and subsequently, how a lack of confidence and social influence in young people may affect the likelihood of them pursuing a career in technological fields. While factual observations are important, the paper will also discuss theories on the subconscious and how these may relate to discourse between teachers and music technology students. The factors which effect the treatment of professional 4 technicians will then be recorded on the basis that sexism, male preference and visual identity are hypothesized to play a fundamental role in how women are viewed. The next chapter will focus on the male perspective, as it is important to record the views of both sexes in order to gather a well-rounded understanding of why the lack of women in the studio exists. Throughout the chapters concerning the treatment of women and the male perspective, this paper will conduct case studies on industry professionals in different fields and record personal accounts from numerous technicians. In the final research chapter, solutions contributing to more sex-balanced industries will be discussed, including whether there has been an observed difference in both the numbers of women and the representation of women in technological fields. 2. A brief History of sound reCording Sound recording can be traced back as far as the late 1800s to early 1900s, with the invention of condenser microphones in 1916 by Edward Christopher Wente (Stokowski.org, no date). These became a standard feature in major US studios by 1925 due to the creation of Western Electric’s integrated system comprising of ‘electrical microphones, electronic signal amplifiers and electromechanical recorders’ (‘History of sound recording’, 2019). While sound engineers were an integral component in recording studios in the 1940s during the invention of magnetic tape (Gerstein, no date), the role of ‘producer’ became classed as a separate occupation to the engineer in the 1950s, and using multitrack machinery as a means of composition rather than simply recording performances developed producers into artists by the 1960s (Negus, 1993, p. 87). The ‘Digital Era’ commenced around 1975, with previous hardware surpassed by digital encoding, played back through digital-to-analog converters. Compact disks, or CD’s, along with the invention of portable media, such as IPod’s and streaming services, allowed for high-fidelity playback and widespread distribution of sound recordings (‘History of sound recording’, 2019). Sound recording may have developed most rapidly since 1975 (‘History of sound recording’, 2019), however experimentation with electronic sounds which formed the basis of both industries can be traced back as far as the 1930s (Araujo, 2018). 3i. A brief history of women in sound reCording. The first music producers to receive acclaim and recognition for their work were men, including Phil Spector’ for his ‘Wall of Sound’ technique in the early 1960s, George Martin’s surreal inspired production for The Beatles and Beach Boys producer Brian Wilson credited for their album, ‘Pet Sounds’ (Gerstein, no date). However, many of the pioneers of electronic music were women, who dealt with sexism and subverted perceptions of the stereotypical woman’s role. One of the first recorded pioneers of electronic music was Daphne Oram, who was, for much of her life, ‘bypassed by the music establishment’ (Worby, 2008) and went ‘almost un- noticed by the wider world’ (Wilson, 2003). Oram studied music and electronics, which was perceived as ‘a man’s world’ (Worby, 2008) at the time, and co-founded the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop in 1958, which produced experimental sound works (Worby, 2008). During a conflict of aspirations with the BBC, Oram left the studio to live in isolation, 5 creating innovative machinery which led to the progression of experimental music, including the ‘Oramics’ machine, which converted drawings into sound (Worby, 2008). Born in 1937, composer Delia Derbyshire was described as a ‘seamstress of sound’ (Glover, 2013) and responsible for creating the original opening music for Doctor Who (BBC One, 2012). Derbyshire experienced prejudice, being told that women were simply not employed by a recording studio she approached in 1959 (Delia Derbyshire, no date), and that, in fact, "the recording studio is no place for a woman" (Glover, 2013). In the 21st century, Derbyshire is being recognised for her contributions to electronic music, with ‘Delia Derbyshire Day’ occurring each year from 2013 (Glover, 2013), which may suggest that the growth of social media is giving exposure to the technicians who would otherwise go un- noticed. Other women who were significant exponents within the development of electronic sounds include Wendy Carlos, an early user of the synthesizer, who can be credited for multiple film scores, including ‘The Shining’ and ‘A Clockwork Orange’, Sylvia Moy, characterised as the first female producer for Motown (‘Sylvia Moy’, 2019), and Gail Davies, the first female Country Music producer (‘Gail Davies’, 2019). Gail faced discrimination at the start of her career, as country music in Nashville in 1977 was unfriendly to females. Back to back female records on the radio was frowned upon, and female performers often had male producers and band leaders that “did all the talking” (Davies cited in Woolston, 1996). 3. BiologiCal AspeCts This chapter will focus on the biological factors that cause the sex differences in men and women which may contribute towards the treatment and lack of females in music production and engineering. 4i. Cognition The first biological element this paper will explore will be cognitive function. Cognitive aptitude is beneficial as it allows more efficient processing of information, fast learning, and problem solving through the application of new knowledge (Nicol, 2017).