THE MUSIC PRODUCER AS CREATIVE AGENT Studio Production, Technology and Cultural Space in the Work of Three Finnish Producers
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THE MUSIC PRODUCER AS CREATIVE AGENT Studio Production, Technology and Cultural Space in the Work of Three Finnish Producers Tuomas Auvinen TURUN YLIOPISTON JULKAISUJA – ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS SARJA - SER. B OSA - TOM. 467 | HUMANIORA | TURKU 2018 THE MUSIC PRODUCER AS CREATIVE AGENT Studio Production, Technology and Cultural Space in the Work of Three Finnish Producers Tuomas Auvinen TURUN YLIOPISTON JULKAISUJA – ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS SARJA - SER. B OSA - TOM. 467 | HUMANIORA | TURKU 2018 University of Turku Faculty of Humanities School of History, Culture and Arts Studies Juno doctoral programme Supervised by Professor John Richardson, Professor Johannes Brusila, PhD, University of Turku PhD, Åbo Academy University Senior Lecturer, Susanna Välimäki, PhD, University of Turku Reviewed by Professor Mark Katz, PhD, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Professor Simon Zagorski-Thomas, PhD, London College of Music, University of West London Opponent Professor Mark Katz, PhD, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The originality of this thesis has been checked in accordance with the University of Turku quality assurance system using the Turnitin OriginalityCheck service. ISBN 978-951-29-7518-1 (PRINT) ISBN 978-951-29-7519-8 (PDF) ISSN 0082-6987 (Print) ISSN 2343-3191 (Online) Painotalo Painola, Piispanristi 2018 Abstract UNIVERSITY OF TURKU Faculty of Humanities School of History, Culture and Arts Studies Musicology TUOMAS AUVINEN: The Music Producer as Creative Agent: Studio Production, Technology and Cultural Space in the Work of Three Finnish Producers Doctoral dissertation, 211 p, 4 pages of attachments Juno doctoral programme December 2018 In this dissertation, I have studied the creative agency of the record/music producer. The aim of the dissertation is to study what kinds of creative and social agents record producers are. Agency here means an individual or collective capacity to move within structures. Therefore, I approach my main question through examining how the creative agency of the producer is formed with respect to structures specific to record production; music technologies, studio spaces and sociocultural structures like the music industry and genre-related values. To achieve this, I have conducted ethnographically oriented multi-method case studies on three music production projects. I have mainly relied on field obervations, interviews and the music my participants produced. The novelty here lies in the fact that this study combines ethnographic case studies of pop, rock and classical in the same study. My main finding is that the music producer’s agency in the studio production process is constructed through an interplay between technological practices, social settings and studio spaces. Technological practices and studios influence the social aspects, the creative core, of music production. Furthermore, technologies together with genre expectations influence the producer’s role differently in different production settings. This is best visible in the idea of the pop producer as ‘tracker’, another novelty finding. I hope to have provided perspectives on how agenies can be formed at the grass roots level also outside the realm of music production. Furthermore, I have provided a model into studuying agencies in all kinds of technologically induced cultural processes. Keywords: music production, record production, music producer, record producer, agency, music technology, recording studio 3 Tiivistelmä TURUN YLIOPISTO Humanistinen tiedekunta Historian, kulttuurin ja taiteiden tutkimuksen laitos Musiikkitiede TUOMAS AUVINEN: The Music Producer as Creative Agent: Studio Production, Technology and Cultural Space in the Work of Three Finnish Producers Väitöskirja, 211 s, 4 liitesivua Juno tohtoriohjelma Joulukuu 2018 Tässä väitöstutkimuksessa olen tutkinut musiikkituottajan luovaa tekijyyttä. Tutkimuksen päätavoitteena on selvittää millaisia luovia ja sosiaalisia tekijöitä musiikkituottajat ovat. Tekijyys tässä tutkimuksessa tarkoittaa rakenteiden sisällä olevia toimintamahdollisuuksia. Tästä johtuen lähestyn tutkimuskysymystäni tarkastelemalla sitä, miten tuottajan luova tekijyys muodostuu suhteessa musiikin tuotantoprosessin rakenteisiin; musiikkiteknologiaan, studiotilaan sekä sosiokulttuurisiin rakenteisiin, kuten musiikkiteollisuuteen ja genresidonaisiin arvoihin. Tutkimuksessani olen tehnyt kolme musiikin tuotantoprojekteihin kohdistuvaa etnografisesti suunnattua monimenetelmäistä tapaustutkimusta. Aineistoni koostuu pääosin kenttähavainnoista, haastatteluista sekä tutkimuksiin osallistuneiden tekijöiden tuottamasta musiikista. Uutta tässä tutkimuksessa on pop-tuotannon, klassisen musiikin tuotannon ja rocktuotannon etnografinen tutkimus samassa työssä. Tärkein uusi tutkimustulos on havainto siitä, että tuottajan tekijyys studiotuotannossa rakentuu teknologisten käytäntöjen, sosiaalisten asetelmien ja studiotilojen välisen vuorovaikutuksen kautta. Teknologiset käytännöt ja studiotilat vaikuttavat sosiaalisiin näkökulmiin, jotka on luovan toiminnan ytimessä. Lisäksi havaitsin, että teknologiset käytännöt yhdistettynä genreihin liittyviin oletuksiin vaikuttavat tuottajan rooliin eri tavoilla erilaisissa tuotantoasetelmissa. Tämä näkyy parhaiten träkker-tuottajan ideassa, joka on toinen tässä tutkimuksessa tekemäni uusi löytö. Toivon, että tämä tutkimus tarjoaa laajempia näkökulmia siihen, miten ruohonjuuritason tekijyys voi muodostua myös musiikkituotannon ulkopuolella. Lisäksi tutkimukseni tarjoaa mallin, jonka avulla tekijyyttä voi tutkia kaikissa sellaisissa kulttuurisissa prosesseissa, joissa teknologia ja teknologiset käytännöt ovat olennaisia. Avainsanat: musiikin tuotanto, äänitetuotanto, musiikin tuottaja, äänitetuottaja, äänitysstudio 4 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Tiivistelmä 4 Table of Contents 5 Acknowledgements 11 Foreword 13 1 Introduction and Object of Study 14 1.1 Research Questions and Aims 15 1.2 Key Concepts 18 1.2.1 Creative Agency 19 1.2.2 Music Technology 25 1.2.3 Cultural Space 28 1.3 Methods and Materials 30 1.3.1 Choice of Research Subjects 32 1.3.2 The Ethnography of the Studio: Field, Observations, Notes, Field Diary, Field Recordings, Photos and Videos 34 1.3.3 Interviews 37 1.3.4 Musical Material 38 1.3.5 Analysis of Research Materials 38 1.3.6 Position of the Researcher 40 1.3.7 Ethical Considerations 41 1.4 Outline of Study 42 2 Earlier Research on the Producer’s Agency 43 2.1 General Perspectives on the Producer’s Agency 45 2.1.1 The Producer’s Tasks in Record Production 46 2.1.2 The Producer as Artist 46 2.1.3 Types of Producers 47 2.1.4 The Producer as the Leader of the Creative Collective 49 2.1.5 The Producer as Mediator 50 5 2.2 Sociocultural Aspects of the Producer’s Agency 51 2.2.1 The Producer and the Music Industry 51 2.2.2 The Producer and Genre 52 2.2.3 The Producer in Classical Music 54 2.3 The Producer’s Agency and Technology 58 2.3.1 Technological Change and the Producer’s Agency 58 2.3.2 The Producer and the Digital Revolution 60 2.4 The Producer’s Agency and the Studio 61 2.4.1 Historical Narrative 61 2.4.2 The Independent Studio 62 2.4.3 The Home Studio 63 2.4.4 The Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) 64 2.4.5 The Studio as an Instrument 65 2.4.6 Studio Culture and the Producer 65 2.5 The Producer in the Finnish Context 66 2.5.1 General Study on the Finnish Music Industry 66 2.5.2 The Producer in the Finnish Context 67 2.6 In Conclusion: Why does this Study Matter? 69 3 Case 1 - The Production of Contemporary Pop in the Home Studio: Producer Mikke Vepsäläinen and singer Ida Paul 72 3.1 Producer Mikke Vepsäläinen’s work with Singer Ida Paul on the song 'Kunhan muut ei tiedä' (Eng. ‘As Long as Others Don’t Know’) 73 3.1.1 Background on Vepsäläinen and Paul 73 3.1.2 The Song ‘Kunhan muut ei tiedä’ (Eng. As Long as Others Don’t Know’) and its Development 74 3.2 Working in the Home Studio 78 3.2.1 7th Floor Studio and its Amenities 78 3.2.2 Pre-production Coffee and Conversations 78 3.2.3 Collaboration in the Home Studio 79 3.2.4 Shortcomings of the Home Studio 81 3.3 Technology and Creativity in the Home Studio 83 6 3.3.1 The Necessary Equipment and Technological Disinterest 83 3.3.2 Reference Material and New Technologies 84 3.3.3 Collaboration with A&R 85 3.4 The Producer as 'Tracker' 85 3.4.1 The Tasks of a ‘Tracker’ 86 3.4.2 Tracker and “Full Producer” 87 3.4.3 The ‘Tracker’ and Technological Agency 89 3.4.4 The Limits of the ‘Tracker’s’ Agency 90 3.5 Conclusion: Trackerism and the New Default of the Pop Producer’s Agency 91 4 Case 2 - The Production of Classical Music: Seppo Siirala and the Production of Erkki-Sven Tüür's Symphony No. 8 94 4.1 Introduction: the Producer Seppo Siirala and Other Agents 94 4.1.1 The Producer Seppo Siirala 95 4.1.2 Other Agents and the Work 97 4.2 The Producer and the Preparatory Process 98 4.2.1 The Importance of Preparation 99 4.2.2 Knowing the Work 100 4.2.3 Getting to Know Other Agents 102 4.2.4 Practical and Social Structures Limiting the Producer’s Agency 108 4.2.5 The Producer and Knowing as Much as Possible 109 4.3 Recording Sessions: Power and Technology in the Studio 111 4.3.1. Choice of Recording Space and its Ramifications 111 4.3.2 The Constructed Technological Environments 113 4.3.3 Recording Takes and Giving Feedback 116 4.3.4 Controlling Communication during a Recording Session: Power and the Red Button 119 4.3.5 Communication and Time Management during the Recording Sessions 120 4.4 Post-production: The Art of Editing 122 4.4.1 Edit Room 123 7 4.4.2 Distribution of Editing