Call for contributions via text or video blogs
Online Conference on Performance in the Studio
29 April-5 May 2013
Convened by the (UK) AHRC-funded Research Network on Performance in the Studio (PitS)
The PitS Network was set up to study musical performance in the recording studio from as wide a range of perspectives as possible. The main focus has been a filmed recording session that took place in the studios of the London College of Music, UWL involving Jo Beth Young, a singer / songwriter and Grammy-winning producer Mike Howlett. Along with drummer Chris Taylor, double bass player Jonny Bridgwood and the Bergersen String Quartet arranged by Oscar nominated arranger/composer John Cameron, Jo Beth Young and Mike Howlett were filmed in rehearsal and throughout the session and in a series of interviews. This unprecedented resource will be available to view on the Art of Record Production (ARP) website at the beginning of April 2013. As a further output of the research network we are convening an online conference which will also remain as a legacy resource on the ARP website.
The conference aims to discuss:
- How performance in the studio is different to the concert hall
- How different approaches to recording (whether through historical, generic, technical, musical, cultural or economic differences) impact upon musical creativity in the studio
- How the social process of production works e.g. verbal and non-verbal communication, decision making, communal creativity, authority, ownership, roles, issues of gender, sexuality and race
- How the technology and environment of the studio affect performance
- Musicians’ perspectives on the process of recording and the nature of recorded music in general
- Producers’ and engineers’ perspectives on musicians and their approaches to recording
Researchers and practitioners are invited to contribute in a variety of ways. There are two main streams to the conference:
- Presentations based on an analysis and/or commentary on the video footage of the PitS recording session. This session will include presentations by the network members.
- Presentations on the topic of Performance in the Studio in general. These may focus on any aspect of the subject and can range from the very broad to the very specific.
Questions and comments can be contributed in a blog format on the website and presenters will be asked to respond to any that pertain to their contribution.
Within these themes we are looking for contributions in either written (with or without JPeG or PNG images) or video (e.g. Quicktime Movie or MP4) formats in either of two forms:
- Short presentations of around 1000 words or five minutes of video
- Longer presentations of 3000 – 6000 words or fifteen to thirty minutes of video
Please send short proposals (50 – 100 words) with a brief biography to Simon Zagorski-Thomas (simon.zagorski-thomas@uwl.ac.uk) for consideration by the convening committee of the research network:
Dr. Eliot Bates (Birmingham University)
Dr. Amy Blier-Carruthers (Royal College of Music)
Prof. Amanda Bayley (Bath Spa University)
Prof. Anne Danielsen (Oslo University)
Prof. Mine Dogantan-Dack (Middlesex University)
Dr. Mirjam James (Cambridge University)
Prof. Morten Michelsen (Copenhagen University)
Prof. Thomas Porcello (Vassar College)
Dr. Alan Williams (University of Massachusetts Lowell)
Dr. Simon Zagorski-Thomas (London College of Music, UWL)