The Record Producer in Maltese Music: a Critical Reflection Rene' Mamo
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THE RECORD PRODUCER IN MALTESE MUSIC: A CRITICAL REFLECTION RENE’ MAMO Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of South Wales/ Prifysgol De Cymru for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY March 2017 Abstract The following thesis presents the author’s reflective process on his role as a record producer in Maltese music. This work is the outcome of his twenty-two year career in sound engineering and record production, where he focuses on his self-produced albums and projects in the classical genre, in addition to his latest contribution to the music scene in Malta. Influenced by writers and producers such as Zak (2001), Gracyk (1996) and Howlett (2009), the study takes an auto-ethnographic approach through which, the author provides a portfolio of three albums, produced with different Maltese bel canto artists and classical musicians, and reflects on the experiences and challenges during the making of these records. This research examines the cultural constraints and phenomena that are experienced during the making of classical music in Malta. It also explores how technology effects the Maltese musician’s perception of a recording session. Finally, the study analyses whether the practices reported in the case studies conform to the author’s characterization of the classical record producer as a Surrogate Orchestra Conductor. These evaluations, together with other empirical inquiries aim to present the reader with a unique investigation area in Maltese music from a production perspective. ii DEDICATION To my beloved parents Saviour and Connie. iii Acknowledgments I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors Professor Paul Carr and Dr Robert Smith for their professional advice, encouragement and support. My appreciation goes to Mr Lloyd George who was the first person to inspire me to follow this doctorate path in music production. I would like to thank Dr Philip Ciantar, Ms Mary Ann Cauchi and Ms Moira Azzopardi Barbieri for their valued time in proofreading. Thanks also go to Ms Maria Gauci for her constant moral support during the writing of this thesis. Special thanks also go to those who accepted to take part as interviewees in this research. I would also like to thank all Maltese musicians and artists who I have worked with throughout my music career who directly and indirectly contributed to this work. Most importantly I would like to thank my parents for their endless support in my lifetime music journey. iv Table of Contents ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ................................................................................................. vii INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 0.1 Aims and Objectives .................................................................................................... 1 0.2 Portfolio of Work ........................................................................................................ 2 0.3 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 5 0.4 Maltese Culture and Society ....................................................................................... 8 0.5 Art Musical Culture in Malta ................................................................................... 10 0.6 The Machine Operator…or Not? ............................................................................... 11 0.7 “Leave-it-to-the-Engineer” Syndrome ..................................................................... 13 0.8 Structure ................................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 1 ............................................................................................................................ 16 Thoughts on the Past ............................................................................................................ 16 1.1 I want to be…a Sound Engineer! ............................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................ 26 Literature Review ................................................................................................................. 26 2.1 The Record Producer ................................................................................................. 26 2.2 The Classical Record Producer ................................................................................. 29 2.3 The Surrogate Orchestra Conductor ......................................................................... 33 2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 35 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................ 36 Riflessi – Miriam Cauchi ..................................................................................................... 36 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 36 3.2 The Recording ............................................................................................................ 37 3.3 The Editing and Mixing Sessions ............................................................................... 42 3.4 Reflections .................................................................................................................. 44 CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................................ 47 In Bach’s Footsteps – Joanne Camilleri ............................................................................... 47 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 47 4.2 The Recording ............................................................................................................ 48 4.3 The Editing Sessions .................................................................................................. 50 4.4 Reflections .................................................................................................................. 52 v CHAPTER 5 ............................................................................................................................ 55 Aprile – Malta Philharmonic Orchestra ............................................................................... 55 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 55 5.2 The Recording ............................................................................................................ 57 5.3 The Editing and Mixing Sessions ............................................................................... 62 5.4 Reflections .................................................................................................................. 63 CHAPTER 6 ............................................................................................................................ 66 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 66 6.1 Painting with Sound ................................................................................................... 66 6.2 Piano Pastels ............................................................................................................. 69 6.3 Cultural Constraints .................................................................................................. 71 6.4 The Baton or the Razor? ............................................................................................ 74 6.5 Final Thoughts ........................................................................................................... 76 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................... 78 APPENDIX 1 Interviews ............................................................................................................................. 84 APPENDIX 2 Glossary ................................................................................................................................ 99 APPENDIX 3 Partial Discography by Rene’ Mamo ................................................................................. 101 vi List of Illustrations Plate 1 Caption of the Maltese newspaper It-Torca illustrating record sales .......................... 5 Plate 2 The control room setup during 1998 till 2000 ............................................................ 19 Plate 3 Malta Song and International Maltese Song CD cover artworks .............................. 21 Plate 4 Biography article from the Maltese newspaper The Sunday Times .......................... 23 Plate 5 The six front cover classical albums .......................................................................... 24 Plate 6 Setup for Riflessi recordings