Creativity in the Recording Studio: Alternative Takes

290 Pages·2019·4.19 MB·English

by  Paul Thompson

LEISURE
STUDIES
IN A
GLOBAL
Creativity in
ERA
the Recording
Studio
Alternative Takes
PAUL THOMPSON
Leisure Studies in a Global Era
Series Editors
Karl Spracklen
Leeds Beckett University
Leeds, UK
Karen Fox
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB, Canada
In this book series, we defend leisure as a meaningful, theoretical, fram-
ing concept; and critical studies of leisure as a worthwhile intellectual and
pedagogical activity. This is what makes this book series distinctive: we
want to enhance the discipline of leisure studies and open it up to a richer
range of ideas; and, conversely, we want sociology, cultural geographies
and other social sciences and humanities to open up to engaging with
critical and rigorous arguments from leisure studies. Getting beyond con-
cerns about the grand project of leisure, we will use the series to demon-
strate that leisure theory is central to understanding wider debates about
identity, postmodernity and globalisation in contemporary societies
across the world. The series combines the search for local, qualitatively
rich accounts of everyday leisure with the international reach of debates
in politics, leisure and social and cultural theory. In doing this, we will
show that critical studies of leisure can and should continue to play a cen-
tral role in understanding society. The scope will be global, striving to be
truly international and truly diverse in the range of authors and topics.
Editorial Board: John Connell, Professor of Geography, University of
Sydney, USA; Yoshitaka Mori, Associate Professor, Tokyo University of
the Arts, Japan; Smitha Radhakrishnan, Assistant Professor, Wellesley
College, USA; Diane M. Samdahl, Professor of Recreation and Leisure
Studies, University of Georgia, USA; Chiung-Tzu Lucetta Tsai, Associate
Professor, National Taipei University, Taiwan; Walter van Beek, Professor
of Anthropology and Religion, Tilburg University, The Netherlands;
Sharon D. Welch, Professor of Religion and Society, Meadville
Theological School, Chicago, USA; Leslie Witz, Professor of History,
University of the Western Cape, South Africa.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14823
Paul Thompson
Creativity in the
Recording Studio
Alternative Takes
Paul Thompson
Leeds Beckett University
Leeds, UK
Leisure Studies in a Global Era
ISBN 978-3-030-01649-4 ISBN 978-3-030-01650-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01650-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018959245
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG, part of Springer Nature 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
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This book is dedicated to the eternal memory of:
Patrick “Uncle Pat” Brennan, Marion Dineen, Kevin Dinan, Mary Dinan,
John Thompson and Mary Valentine Thompson.
Acknowledgements
The central premise of this book is that individuals (like me) are only
one part of a creative system in action and there have been so many
people who’ve helped me complete this book. Firstly, I’d like to thank
everyone at Palgrave Macmillan who contributed their help and guid-
ance: in particular Sharla and Poppy. Secondly, this book would have
been inconceivable without the support and guidance of Professor
Phillip McIntyre. I was lucky enough to share an office with Phillip
whilst he was writing his book Creativity and Cultural Production: Issues
for Media Practice (2012) and his stewardship, encouragement, exper-
tise, advice and generosity over the years has not only contributed to
this book, but shaped so many of my academic endeavors—I owe a
debt of gratitude that I’ll be unable to repay so I simply say, ‘Phillip,
Thank You!’
I’d like to thank Leeds Beckett University and all my colleagues
(past and present) in the School of Film, Music and Performing Arts.
I’d particularly like to thank Kingsley Ash, Bob Davis, Steve Kilpatrick,
Brett Lashua, Sam Nicholls, Ben Mosley, Steve Parker, Ken Scott, Rob
Shail, Karl Spracklen, Nikos Stavropoulos, Alex Stevenson and Michael
Ward for their encouragement, support and collaboration. A special
vii
viii Acknowledgements
thank you must go to Iani Canalis for making the diagrams and figures
in this book look so good. I’d also like to thank all my Undergraduate
and Postgraduate students over the years who have contributed so much
through their passionate engagement and debate. Thanks must also
go to Professor Sara Cohen and all those from the Institute of Popular
Music at the University of Liverpool (Anahid, Marian, Rob, Haekyung,
Freya and Mike) who have made an indelible contribution to my devel-
opment as a popular music scholar.
As a member of the Association for the Art of Record Production and
the Audio Engineering Society, I’ve made some great friends; some of
whom I’ve had the pleasure to collaborate with and share ideas. I would
like to thank all members, past and present, for their lively debate dur-
ing conferences, their camaraderie and friendship but I’d particularly
like to thank Brendan Anthony, Sam Bennett, Amy Blier-Carruthers,
Richard Burgess, Brecht De Man, Mike Exarchos, Phil Harding, Katia
Isakoff, Nyssim Lefford, Kirk McNally, Ryan Schwabe, Toby Seay, Paul
Théberge, Simon Zagorski-Thomas, Shara Rambarran, Rob Toulson,
Alan Wiliams, Steve Ward, Paula Wolfe and Albin Zak. A big thank you
must also go to all of the musicians I have worked with over the years
who have helped me to celebrate the joy of making music and making
records—in particular Tom Houghton, Marc Joy, Tony Kiley and Ian
Prowse.
Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my fam-
ily who have nurtured and supported my interest in music my entire
life and who continue to inspire and encourage me. One of my earli-
est memories is listening to Elvis Presley’s ‘Hound Dog’ (1956) on my
Grandad’s record player and it is here that my fascination for records
began. Without you all, and your encouragement, none of this would
have been possible so Mum, Dad, Claire, Martin, Paul, Hannah, John,
Gemma and little Jake this book is for you.
Merseyside, England Paul Thompson
November 2018 Ellesmere Port
Praise for Creativity in the Recording
Studio
“Paul Thompson both eloquently challenges Romanticism’s grip on our
understanding of creativity and provides valuable insights into the col-
laborative process of commercial record production.”
—Dr. Paula Wolfe is an artist-producer, scholar and author
of Women in The Studio: Creativity, Control and Gender
in Popular Music Production, www.paulawolfe.co.uk
“Creativity in the Recording Studio: Alternative Takes beautifully and
methodically demonstrates the complex process of making records. Paul
Thompson guides the reader away from Romantic notions of creativity
toward a research based, empirically tested and rationally argued, sense
of studio creation that takes place within a highly scalable creative sys-
tem. Thompson’s book is a must have if you are a music fan, a scholar
of popular music or someone who is desperate to create in the recording
studio - and who wouldn’t be after reading this book?”
—Philip McIntyre is the author of Creativity and Cultural
Production, The Creative System in Action and Educating
for Creativity in Higher Education
ix
Contents
1 Introduction 1
SIDE A—Creativity as a System
2 Creativity 15
3 The Creative System of Commercial Record Production 45
4 The Domain of Commercial Record Production 69
5 The Field of Commercial Record Production 91
SIDE B—Creative Systems in Action
6 The Creative System of Songwriting 117
7 The Creative System of Studio Performance 149
xi