Recording the Story: Exploring the Relationship Between Music Production and Narrative Jack Williams BCTech, BMusTech (Hons) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Creative Practice Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice Queensland University of Technology 2021 Keywords Music narrative; music production; musicology; narrative; narratology; personic environment; phonomusicology; popular music; production techniques; proxemic zones; recorded popular music; spatialisation; story; track. Recording the Story: Exploring the Relationship Between Music Production and Narrative i Abstract This research explores the role of music production techniques in the communication of narrative in recorded popular music through an artistic research approach. Although there have been recent contributions to the field of narratology with respect to traditional musicology, the importance of production techniques has been largely overlooked. The aim of this research project is to identify the relationships that exist between the technical aspects of a recording and the story that is being conveyed by the lyrics and music. Elements from both narratology and phonomusicology are combined to generate a single, cohesive analytical framework through which five cases are examined. These findings then inform the production of a number of creative works that aim to illustrate how the communication of narrative in popular music can be supported or enhanced through the use of music production techniques. To demonstrate the influence of production techniques on the communication of narrative within recorded popular music, I select three songs and produce two contrasting versions of each song. These six tracks then form the basis of a survey to determine how listeners perceive various narrative aspects within the tracks. The findings of the artistic research and survey indicate that there exists a strong relationship between the creative production decisions made in the creation of a track and the listener’s experience of the story being told. ii Recording the Story: Exploring the Relationship Between Music Production and Narrative Table of Contents Keywords ..................................................................................................................................... i Abstract........................................................................................................................................ ii List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. x Statement of Originality ....................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... xii Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One – Literature Review.............................................................................. 7 Research Questions ................................................................................................................. 7 Popular Music ............................................................................................................................ 7 Production ................................................................................................................................10 Phonomusicology ...................................................................................................................12 Proxemic Zones and Personic Environment ........................................................................ 21 Narratology ..............................................................................................................................24 Music and Narrative ..............................................................................................................28 Exemplars .................................................................................................................................37 Chapter Two – Methodology ..................................................................................... 42 Methodological Framework ...............................................................................................42 Methods .....................................................................................................................................43 Case Studies ........................................................................................................................................ 43 Case Selection .................................................................................................................................... 47 Creative Practice Component ..................................................................................................... 52 Triangulation ...........................................................................................................................55 Survey ................................................................................................................................................... 56 Recording the Story: Exploring the Relationship Between Music Production and Narrative iii Chapter Three – Case Study Analyses.................................................................... 63 ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’ – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds feat. Kylie Minogue .................................................................................................................................................................. 64 ‘Space Oddity’ – David Bowie...................................................................................................... 68 ‘Sarah’ – Kate Miller-Heidke ........................................................................................................ 72 ‘Stan’ – Eminem................................................................................................................................. 77 ‘Save the Life of My Child’ – Simon & Garfunkel ................................................................. 82 Summary ...................................................................................................................................86 Proxemic Zones and Personic Environment ........................................................................ 86 Spatialisation ..................................................................................................................................... 88 Sound Effects...................................................................................................................................... 89 Production Techniques ................................................................................................................. 89 Chapter Four – Creative Practice Project Design .............................................. 93 Conception ................................................................................................................................93 Project Aims ....................................................................................................................................... 95 Song Selection..........................................................................................................................96 Chapter Five – Creative Works and Analysis ................................................... 103 Links to Creative Works ................................................................................................... 105 Tracking.................................................................................................................................. 106 Mixing ...................................................................................................................................... 108 Narrative Concepts and Production Approach ........................................................ 111 ‘I Heard Love Is Blind’ – Amy Winehouse ........................................................................... 111 ‘Casimir Pulaski Day’ – Sufjan Stevens ................................................................................. 127 ‘Love Vigilantes’ – New Order .................................................................................................. 150 Sound Field Visualisation Links..................................................................................... 171 Project Summary ................................................................................................................. 172 iv Recording the Story: Exploring the Relationship Between Music Production and Narrative Chapter Six – Survey Results ................................................................................. 175 Perceived Emotions Present in Each Track .............................................................. 176 ‘I Heard Love Is Blind’ .................................................................................................................. 176 ‘Casimir Pulaski Day’ .................................................................................................................... 180 ‘Love Vigilantes’ .............................................................................................................................