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Daniel Pratt Thesis SENSEMAKING IN THE RECORDING ENVIRONMENT: UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF THE RECORD PRODUCER Daniel James Pratt BMus, MFA Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Creative Practice Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology 2020 Keywords Sensemaking, negotiation, collaboration, organisational communication, record producer, recording studio, creativity, flow, group flow, pragmatism, social, social construction, recording environment ii Abstract In this thesis, I develop a new understanding of the record producer as a facilitative sensemaker. To better understand the producer’s role as a central actor in a musical group, I frame record-making as a form of social sensemaking. To position the producer within creative decision-making group, I echo Howlett’s position that the producer is a nexus operating within a complex system of creativity. To further interrogate this concept, I develop several sensemaking models based on Weick's seven sensemaking properties and Rutledge's four active stages of sensemaking. I use these models to examine how organisational concepts play out in thematically connected studies of record production. The connected studies are presented in the form of five papers that examine both pragmatic and sensemaking aspects of record production. In these articles, I present exemplars of producers working in multiple settings that range from traditional production practice through to complex, transnational collaborative networks. Each of these five papers investigate different phenomenological aspects of record production and communication, using a combination of interviews with producers and artists, participant observational data and focus group transcripts from international recording projects. My analysis of these data illustrates how producers operate as active organisational catalysts and technical facilitators, highlighting the roles that communication and facilitation play in traditional contexts of record production, through to future-driven record-making paradigms. Table of Contents Keywords ........................................................................................................................ ii Abstract ......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... iv List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ............................................................................................................... ix List of Publications ........................................................................................................ xi List of Conference Papers ............................................................................................ xii Statement of Original Authorship ............................................................................... xiii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................. 15 1.1 Significance of the Research .............................................................................. 16 1.2 Research Context ............................................................................................... 17 1.3 Producer and Educator ....................................................................................... 22 1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................ 25 1.5 Overview of Papers ............................................................................................ 27 1.6 Sequencing ......................................................................................................... 31 1.7 Chapter Summary .............................................................................................. 33 Chapter 2: Sensemaking ............................................................................. 34 2.1 Sensemaking in Organisational Communication ............................................... 34 2.2 The Seven Properties of Sensemaking ............................................................... 43 2.3 The Process-Based Four Stages of Sensemaking .............................................. 50 2.4 Three Case Studies from the Literature ............................................................. 54 2.5 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 63 2.6 Chapter Summary .............................................................................................. 65 Chapter 3: Defining the Record Producer ................................................ 67 iv 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 67 3.2 Defining the Producer ......................................................................................... 68 3.3 Artists and Producers as a Collaborative Group ................................................. 71 3.4 Identity in a Changing Landscape ...................................................................... 75 3.5 Narrowing the Definition .................................................................................... 76 3.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 77 Chapter 4: Methodology ............................................................................. 78 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 78 4.2 A Qualitative Approach to Recording ................................................................ 78 4.3 Research Design ................................................................................................. 84 4.4 Overview of Research Methods ......................................................................... 87 4.5 Ethical considerations ......................................................................................... 93 4.6 Phases of research ............................................................................................... 97 4.7 Organisation of papers ........................................................................................ 99 4.8 Ensuring Rigour ................................................................................................ 102 4.9 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................. 104 Chapter 5: Foreward to the Articles ........................................................ 105 5.1 A Broader View of the Articles ........................................................................ 105 Chapter 6: Life In Between Phase ............................................................ 108 6.1 Forward: Investigations in Technical Sensemaking ......................................... 108 6.2 Abstract ............................................................................................................. 110 6.3 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 111 6.4 Simplifying Phase Interaction .......................................................................... 112 6.5 The Problem with a Binary Understanding of Phase ....................................... 113 6.6 Three Arguments for Pedagogical Approaches ................................................ 114 6.7 Live Sound Design Approaches to Phase ......................................................... 116 6.8 Understanding Auto-Align ............................................................................... 119 6.9 Methodology ..................................................................................................... 122 6.10 Drum Recording ............................................................................................ 123 6.11 Big Band Mixing ........................................................................................... 126 6.12 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 130 6.13 Further Study ................................................................................................. 131 Chapter 7: The Record Producer as a Sensemaking Facilitator ........... 133 7.1 Abstract ............................................................................................................ 133 7.2 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 134 7.3 Literature Review ............................................................................................. 135 7.4 Methodology .................................................................................................... 144 7.5 Data Analysis ................................................................................................... 147 7.6 Examples and Discussion ................................................................................. 148 7.7 Conclusion ......................................................................................................
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