Uploaded July 2019 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
Pumped Up Kicks: Scaling modes of listening to evaluate record production.
Kirk McNally (University of Victoria, Canada) Brecht De Man (Queen Mary University of London, UK)
Email: kmcnally@uvic.ca / b.deman@qmul.ac.uk
/// ABSTRACT
This paper explores using Michel Chion’s scheme for modes of listening in relation to the work of recording engineers and producers in the studio. Using Chion’s concepts of semantic and reduced listening (Chion 1994) as a starting point, we critically evaluate the way in which recording engineers and music producers interact with two specific musical elements in the studio: kick and snare drum sounds. A previous study has shown a correlation between the subjective evaluation of reverb usage in music mixing and measured objective parameters (De Man, McNally and Reiss 2017). This supports the idea that engineers and music producers rely upon a set of socio-cultural and learned parameters when making aesthetic decisions about the recording and mixing of music. Turning to the literature, we see evidence of this concept in the writing of Mike Howlett, who identifies a music producer as, “an individual with the confidence to say, ‘I like this one’”’ (Howlett 2009). Using a collection of multitrack audio files, and mixes made from these recordings (De Man 2017), we systematically evaluate the variation of technical changes made to kick and snare drum sounds by recording engineers. The use of a recent recording session by McNally provides the opportunity to scale Chion’s modes of listening within a specific case, observe technical changes over the course of the recording, and compare this to the larger collection in order to gain insight into the parameters used by recording engineers and producers working in the recording studio.
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
Pumped Up Kicks: Scaling modes of listening to evaluate record production.
Kirk McNally (University of Victoria, Canada) Brecht De Man (Queen Mary University of London, UK)
Email: kmcnally@uvic.ca / b.deman@qmul.ac.uk
/// ABSTRACT
This paper explores using Michel Chion’s scheme for modes of listening in relation to the work of recording engineers and producers in the studio. Using Chion’s concepts of semantic and reduced listening (Chion 1994) as a starting point, we critically evaluate the way in which recording engineers and music producers interact with two specific musical elements in the studio: kick and snare drum sounds. A previous study has shown a correlation between the subjective evaluation of reverb usage in music mixing and measured objective parameters (De Man, McNally and Reiss 2017). This supports the idea that engineers and music producers rely upon a set of socio-cultural and learned parameters when making aesthetic decisions about the recording and mixing of music. Turning to the literature, we see evidence of this concept in the writing of Mike Howlett, who identifies a music producer as, “an individual with the confidence to say, ‘I like this one’”’ (Howlett 2009). Using a collection of multitrack audio files, and mixes made from these recordings (De Man 2017), we systematically evaluate the variation of technical changes made to kick and snare drum sounds by recording engineers. The use of a recent recording session by McNally provides the opportunity to scale Chion’s modes of listening within a specific case, observe technical changes over the course of the recording, and compare this to the larger collection in order to gain insight into the parameters used by recording engineers and producers working in the recording studio.
