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Classical Music Production 3

  Tobias

This piecemeal mode of construction is often claimed to be less tiring for musicians. Although short takes might require less physical stamina I suspect that it often turns out to be mentally much more demanding and certainly less rewarding. Moreover, the work generally takes longer to complete and the result often sounds bland, characterless and contrived. Conversely and somewhat paradoxically, the end result is not always lacklustre. By working in short sections without a clear overview of the music it is possible to forge an excessively ardent performance, constantly at the peak of intensity, which of course undermines the natural ebb and flow of music leading eventually to a similarly bland result – albeit a nerve-shattering one. Besides, this whole approach is predicated on the faulty assumption that a recording must be flawlessly immaculate.

The major record companies now employ what can at best, only be called a skeleton in-house production staff. The modern producer is an independent freelancer answerable only to his personal accountant. In the glory days of recording it was not unheard of for producers to send musicians away mid session if he considered that they were not up to the task. This is unthinkable today. The producer’s allegiance lies with the record company only in so far as he relies on it to engage him for future projects, but as musicians instigate more and more recording projects independently, the producer becomes increasingly beholden to them.

More worrying still - the disbandment of the in-house production team was accompanied by the dispersal of its wealth of combined experience. Experience is so dilute in many of today’s producers that it barely constitutes a trace element. I wouldn’t want to give the impression that my criticisms apply across the board. There are still fine producers available for work – sometimes even engaged in work, but changes within the recording industry mean that few are now able to earn a living wage by practicing their craft and fewer still have the resources to employ assistants to whom they can pass on their expertise. I realise too that experience is not highly prized in our go-getting society but by refuting its value we condemn ourselves to perpetual floundering. Durability is the mark of tradition, not stolid intransigence as is sometimes supposed, and in the modern world durability depends increasingly on an ability to adapt and evolve.

It’s unfortunate that while engineers get to work alongside a variety of different producers, the producer himself is consigned to a solitary professional existence. I was once fortunate to work alongside Phil Ramone on a classical crossover album. It was an education. A fly-on-the-wall camera could have recorded an invaluable management education video. He didn’t DO anything as such. He was there to manage the sessions and that’s exactly what he did. His presence was sufficient to ensure the proceedings unrolled with spectacular fluidity. I don’t think he intervened or interrupted the musicians even once. He used the talkback with great reluctance. He simply presided! Doubtless, his years of experience make him a past master - he understands very well the awe in which he is held, but his calm demeanour and self-effacing confidence were truly breathtaking.

Ramone, and others like him are famed for their pioneering spirit as much as for their production abilities. Classical music recording has not seen a truly innovative producer since the likes of John Culshaw and David Munroe in the heady days of early stereo. Classical producers have long since ceased to be innovative, preferring instead to toe-the-line and avoid making waves. Consequently, I have a feeling that they already have all the recognition they are likely to get: not only have they failed to innovate, but they’re also failing to perpetuate the skills and heritage of the craft with which they were entrusted.

(end of series)

By Guthry Trojan

Only shortly after writing this series of articles, Guthry informed us about the following:
One of my conclusions was that classical music producers have ceased to be innovative; an idea confirmed by David Patmore of the University of Sheffield in a sympoisum for the Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music (CHARM) last September.
Happily, the objective of CHARM’s academic team is to “promote the study of music as performance through a specific focus on recordings”. But unusually for such an academic body, its remit is not limited to historical research: a forthcoming symposium in June will investigate why there “has been no concerted attempt to transform the classical audio recording into a creative commodity”, and why “the interventionist production techniques commonplace in recordings of popular music have had little if any impact on classical audio recordings”.

I look forward to this CHARM offensive with interest and enthusiasm.

Guthry Trojan is is a freelance classical and jazz recording engineer based in Paris, who has his own blog at http://guthrytrojan.blogspot.com/