The Producer as Composer: Shaping the Sounds of Popular Music

By Virgil Moorefield

Book Overview

The evolution of the record producer from organizer to auteur, from Phil Spector and George Martin to the rise of hip-hop and remixing.

In the 1960s, rock and pop music recording questioned the convention that recordings should recreate the illusion of a concert hall setting. The Wall of Sound that Phil Spector built behind various artists and the intricate eclecticism of George Martin's recordings of the Beatles did not resemble live performances--in the Albert Hall or elsewhere--but instead created a new sonic world. The role of the record producer, writes Virgil Moorefield in The Producer as Composer, was evolving from that of organizer to auteur; band members became actors in what Frank Zappa called a "movie for your ears." In rock and pop, in the absence of a notated score, the recorded version of a song--created by the producer in collaboration with the musicians--became the definitive version. Moorefield, a musician and producer himself, traces this evolution with detailed discussions of works by producers and producer-musicians including Spector and Martin, Brian Eno, Bill Laswell, Trent Reznor, Quincy Jones, and the Chemical Brothers. Underlying the transformation, Moorefield writes, is technological development: new techniques--tape editing, overdubbing, compression--and, in the last ten years, inexpensive digital recording equipment that allows artists to become their own producers. What began when rock and pop producers reinvented themselves in the 1960s has continued; Moorefield describes the importance of disco, hip-hop, remixing, and other forms of electronic music production in shaping the sound of contemporary pop. He discusses the making of Pet Sounds and the production of tracks by Public Enemy with equal discernment, drawing on his own years of studio experience. Much has been written about rock and pop in the last 35 years, but hardly any of it deals with what is actually heard in a given pop song. The Producer as Composer tries to unravel the mystery of good pop: why does it sound the way it does?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262514052
• ISBN13: 9780262514057
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 8.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Good Insights!

Mr, (Dr.??) Moorefield has collected a lot of research and experience into the process of production. Aside from some editorial errors, it's a good, quick read that warrants re-reading.

Using this for my class

This book is a nice study on production. I especially appreciate the classic tracks-style breakdowns of historic song productions. I will look into using it for one of my future production classes.

excellent

I've been trying to find a book like this for quite a while. It's an excellent academic, yet accessible, study of modern producers - their techniques, technology, and personalities. I only wish it covered more people. ...though the producers that were chosen were excellent choices.

A Unique View of an Essential Creator in the world of Popular Music

I love this book! It finally brings to light for the average popular music consumer as well as the scholarly directed the vital function that has made the producer the king of the studio. We members of the business side of popular music have recognized the financial rewards that come to producers from the likes of Phil Spector and Leiber and Stoler on to the producers of more current rap, hip hop and other genres including disco. But this book finally brings a search light of musicology to show the skills that warrant the status of producers as a vital contributor to the music scene. It is a worthy tribute to each of the many producers whose contributions are analyzed with skill by an author who combines his role as professor and working musician. Bill Krasilovsky ( co author of This Business of Music)