How Music Dies (or Lives): Field Recording and the Battle for Democracy in the Arts

432 Pages·2016·16.547 MB·English

by  Ian Brennan

8 ees

RE peas Sne
E ee

HOW MUSIC DIES
(OR LIVES)
FIELD RECORDING AND THE
BATTLE FoR DEMOCRACY IN THE ARTS
/AN BRENNAN
PHOTOS BY MARILENA DELLI
FOREWORD BY CORINT UCKER
a
ALLWORTH PRESS
NEW YORK
Copyright © 2016 by Ian Brennan
All rights reserved. Copyright under Berne Copyright Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, and Pan
American Copyright Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express
written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should
be addressed to Allworth Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.
Allworth Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising,
or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales
Department, Allworth Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or [email protected].
1918171615 54321
Published by Aliworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.
Allworth Press® is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.
www.allworth.com
Cover design by Mary Belibasakis
Cover photo credit Marilena Delli
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
Print ISBN: 978-1-62153-487-7
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-62153-497-6
Printed in the United States of America.
Other Books by Ian Brennan
Fiction
Sister Maple Syrup Eyes
Nonfiction
Anger Antidotes: How Not to Lose Your S#&!
Hate-Less: Violence Prevention & How to Make Friends with a F&#!ed Up
World
This book is not meant for academics.
Any words about music should at least
try to sing.
Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi
Foreword xiii
Preface: Proximity Bias and the Irrationality of Fear xv
Introduction: Learning Through Failure |
SECTION I:
The Value of Democratizing Voices 5
1. We Arent the World: All Music Is “Local Music” 7
. The Fixation to Fixate 9
3. | Message Monopolization Il]
Field Recording Chronicle: Malawi 17
4. The Real King(s) of Rock ‘n’Roll 21
Field Recording Chronicle: Malawi 25
5. Unlabelling Labels 29
Field Recording Chronicle: Rwanda 33
6. Regressive Superlatives: The “G”-Word and Other Demons 37
Field Recording Chronicle: Zomba Prison 41
7. Winning Hearts, Not Breaking Backs: All We Are Saying Is Give
Arta Chance 47
SECTION II:
A Call for a Return to Naturalism: The Need for Randomness 49
8. Building anArc 51
9 Everything, Including the Kitchen Sink 53
10. The Primordial “Social Work”: Why Music Heals 55
Field Recording Chronicle: Vietnam 59
11. | Consumerism Masquerading as Creativity 65
Field Recording Chronicle: Palestine 67
12. Parallel Rituals: The Insularity of Technological “Advances” 71
13. Sound Before Volume 75
Field Recording Chronicle: South Sudan 79
14. Recording as a Leap of Faith 81
SECTION ITI:
How To Get “There”: Some Possible Roads Home 83
15. Surrendering to Sound 8)
16. Voices Within the Voice 89
HOW MUSIC DIES
17. | Using the Microphone as a Telescope 93
Field Recording Chronicle: Juba Orphanage 97
18. Acoustic Illumination 101
19. What’ “Left”? 103
20. Element(s) of Surprise 105
Field Recording Chronicle: Taranta 107
21. Cooked by Culture: Ever Beware the *‘Experts” 109
22. What Cant Be Owned? 113
SECTION IV:
Products of Our Environment 115
23. | Making Sense of the First Sense 117
24. S§-urr-ounded: The Inescapable Symphonies of Our Everyday Life 121
Field Recording Chronicle: Cambodia 125
25. Disposable Music 129
26. Inter-Specific Artistry: “I Am Not an Animal!” 133
27. Aural Culture: Music Not As Math, but Individuation 135
28. Moving Targets: There Is No “There” There 139
29. Do You Hear WhatI Hear? 14]
30. Playing for Keeps: There Is No Rehearsal 143
Field Recording Chronicle: Acholi Machon 147
31. The Ricochet of Influence 15]
SECTION V:
Backin’ Up for Some Backstory 155
32. | Transparency: Letting Your Real “Roots” Show 157
33. | Drawing Random Inspiration from the Inspired: Liberating Influence
from the Ghetto of Sanctioned Outlets 161
34. Who’ the Boss? 165
35. | The Road from No-Name-Ville 167
36. Premature and Promiscuous Championing 173
37. Pain Dues, Dude 175
38. Amateur Hour: “Real Musicians Have Day Jobs’ 179
39. Bittersweet Dreams 183
SECTION VI:
Beware the Traps 187
40. Living in the Moment, But Keeping an Eye on the Horizon 189
41. Sonic Prisons: Getting Off the Grid 191
Table of Contents
42. Personalities Displacing Spirituality 195
Field Recording Chronicle: Transylvania 201
43. Self-Sabotage and the Unconscious: Subjectivity’s Quicksand 205
44. The School of Soft Knocks 209
45. Hearing Lost 211
46. “Free” Samples? 213
SECTION VII:
Welcoming Magic: Heeding Wanderlust’s Call 219
47. Following Existing Currents 221
48. Put Up, Dont Shut Up 225
49. Beneath the Words 229
50. Breaking Patterns: Creating Creativity 233
51. Its Allin the Details 237
52. Connectivity Through Sonics 239
53. SayIt Loud, Say It Proud 241
54. Castaway 243
55. If You’re Not Having Fun, You're Not Fooling Anyone 245
56. Home Base 247
SECTION VIII:
How Not to Memorialize Music 249
57. AFew “Dont” Champions from My Past 251
58. Some Notes From the “Do” Files 257
SECTION IX:
Enlisting Limitations as Expressive Partners 261
59. Trained by Fire, On the Chopping Block 263
60. What Do You Know? 267
61. Imperfect Pitch: There Are No Mistakes 269
62. Gauging the Atmosphere 271
SECTION X:
Racing Racism 273
63. Free for All? 275
64. Same Old, Same Old: Colonialism’ Leftovers 277
65. You Call That Equality? Distracted by the Decoys 281
66. Stangered: Disproportionate Estimations (On the Outside,
Looking Out) 283
HOW MUSIC DIES
67. Single Origin Fairy Tales 287
68. Disgraceful by Association 291
69. Outlaw Camouflage: Slumming in the “Underground” 295
70. Are You Seriously “Serious”!? 301
71. | Music Cannot Be Possessed, But It Can Possess 305
72. False Friends: Raw Does Not Always Equal Real 307
73. Thinly Veiled Bigotry (The Patrimony Dies Hard) 317
SECTION XI:
The Battle for Democracy inthe Arts 323
74. How Music Dies 325
75. Cheapshot 327
76. A World of “Superstars, Minus an Audience 329
77. The Myth of Purity 331
78. In Their Owned Words 333
79. Wire-Monkey Music 335
80. | Organically Grown: Truth in Advertising 337
81. Every Man for Himself? 339
82. Too Much “Like,” Not Enough Love 341
83. The Talking Dead: Rest in Pieces 343
84. Oversharing 345
SECTION XII:
How Music Dies: $$ and Its Wake 347
8). If You Cant Beat ‘em, Get Them to Join You 349
86. Now You Dont See It (and Now You Still Dont) 351
87. Image Cannibalism: The Media as a Gigantic Mirror of Infatuation 353
88. Manufactured Competition: Dont Believe the Hype 355
89. Sin-ergy 359
90. Dont Believe Half of What You See 361
9]. Fabricated Identity: Bands as Brands 363
92. Sub-merged Substitutions 365
93. The Superscar System 367
94. Standardized Forms, Fear of the Random: Living in Boxes,
atop Grids 369