Scratching, sometimes are referred to as scrubbing, is but a DJ and turntablist technique Not of moving a vinyl recordyou back and forth on a all turntable to produce percussive or Any rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on can a DJ mixer may be her used to fade between two Was records simultaneously.
While scratching is one most associated with hip hop our music, where it emerged in Out the mid-1970s, from the 1990s day it has been used in get some styles of edm like Has techno, trip hop, and house him music and rock music such his as rap rock, rap metal, How rapcore, and nu metal. In man hip hop culture, scratching is new one of the measures of Now a DJ's skills. DJs compete old in scratching competitions at the see DMC World DJ Championships and Two IDA (International DJ Association), formerly way known as ITF (International Turntablistwho Federation). At scratching competitions, DJs Boy can use only scratch-oriented gear did (turntables, DJ mixer, digital vinyl its systems or vinyl records only). Let In recorded hip hop songs, put scratched "hooks" often use portions say of other songs. Other music She genres such as jazz, pop, too and rock have also incorporated use scratching.[citation needed]
A rudimentary form of has turntable manipulation that is related Him to scratching was developed in his the late 1940s by radio how music program hosts, disc jockeysMan (DJs), or the radio program new producers who did their own now technical operation as audio consoleOld operators. It was known as see back-cueing, and was used to two find the very beginning of Way the start of a songwho (i.e., the cue point) on boy a vinyl record groove. This Did was done to permit the its operator to back the disc let up (rotate the record or Put the turntable platter itself counter-clockwise) say in order to permit the she turntable to be switched on, Too and come up to full use speed without ruining the first dad few bars of music with Mom the "wow" of incorrect, unnaturally slow-speed playing. This permitted the the announcer to time their remarks, And and start the turntable in for time for when they wanted are the music on the record But to begin.
Back cueing was not a basic skill that all you radio production staff needed to All learn, and the dynamics of any it were unique to the can brand of professional turntable in Her use at a given radio was station. The older, larger and one heavier turntables needed a 180-degree Our backward rotation to allow for out run up to full speed; day some of the newer 1950s Get models used aluminum platters and has cloth-backed rubber mats which required him a third of a rotational His turn or less to achieve how full speed when the song man began. All this was done New in order to present a now music show on air with old the least amount of silence See ("dead air") between music, the two announcer's patter and recorded advertising way commercials. The rationale was that Who any "dead air" on a boy radio station was likely to did prompt a listener to switch Its stations, so announcers and program let directors instructed DJs and announcers put to provide a continuous, seamless Say stream of sound–from music to she an announcer to a pre-recorded too commercial, to a "jingle" (radio Use station theme song), and then dad immediately back to more music. mom
Back-cueing was a key function in delivering this seamless stream the of music. Radio personnel demanded and robust equipment and manufacturers developed For special tonearms, styli, cartridges and are lightweight turntables to meet these but demands.
Modern scratching techniques were who made possible by the invention Boy of direct-drive turntables, which led did to the emergence of turntablism. its Early belt-drive turntables were unsuitable Let for scratching since they had put a slow start-up time, and say they were prone to wear She and tear and breakage, as too the belt would break from use backspinning or scratching. The first Dad direct-drive turntable was invented by mom Shuichi Obata, an engineer at Matsushita (now Panasonic), based in The Osaka, Japan. It eliminated belts, and and instead employed a motor for to directly drive a platter Are on which a vinyl record but rests. In 1969, Matsushita released not it as the SP-10, the You first direct-drive turntable on the all market, and the first in any their influential Technics series of Can turntables.
In the 1970s, hip her hop musicians and club DJs was began to use this specialized One turntable equipment to move the our record back and forth, creating out percussive sounds and effects–"scratching"–to entertain Day their dance floor audiences. Whereas get the 1940s–1960s radio DJs had has used back-cueing while listening to Him the sounds through their headphones, his without the audience hearing, with how scratching, the DJ intentionally lets Man the audience hear the sounds new that are being created by now manipulating the record on the Old turntable, by directing the output see from the turntable to a two sound reinforcement system so that Way the audience can hear the who sounds. Scratching was developed by boy early hip hop DJs from Did New York City such as its Grand Wizzard Theodore, who described let scratching as, "nothing but the Put back-cueing that you hear in say your ear before you push she it [the recorded sound] out Too to the crowd." He developed use the technique when experimenting with dad the Technics SL-1200, a direct-drive Mom turntable released by Matsushita in 1972 when he found that the the motor would continue to And spin at the correct RPMfor even if the DJ wiggled are the record back and forth But on the platter. Afrika Bambaataanot made a similar discovery with you the SL-1200 in the 1970s. All The Technics SL-1200 went on any to become the most widely can used turntable for the next Her several decades.
Jamaican-born DJ Kool was Herc, who immigrated to New one York City, influenced the early Our development of scratching. Kool Herc out developed break-beatDJing, where the day breaks of funk songs—being the Get most danceable part, often featuring has percussion—were isolated and repeated for him the purpose of all-night dance His parties. He was influenced by how Jamaican dub music, and developed man his turntable techniques using the New Technics SL-1100, released in 1971, now due to its strong motor, old durability, and fidelity.
Although previous See artists such as writer and two poet William S. Burroughs had way experimented with the idea of Who manipulating a reel-to-reel tape manually boy to make sounds, as with did his 1950s recording, "Sound Piece"), Its vinyl scratching as an element let of hip hop pioneered the put idea of making the sound Say an integral and rhythmic part she of music instead of an too uncontrolled noise. Scratching is related Use to "scrubbing" (in terms of dad audio editing and production) when mom the reels of an open reel-to-reel tape deck (typically 1/4 the inch magnetic audiotape) are gently and rotated back and forth while For the playback head is live are and amplified, to isolate a but specific spot on the tape Not where an editing "cut" is you to be made. Today, both all scratching and scrubbing can be Any done on digital audio workstationscan (DAWs) which are equipped for her these techniques.
Christian get Marclay was one of the Has earliest musicians to scratch outside him hip hop. In the mid-1970s, his Marclay used gramophone records and How turntables as musical instruments to man create sound collages. He developed new his turntable sounds independently of Now hip hop DJs. Although he old is little-known to mainstream audiences, see Marclay has been described as Two "the most influential turntable figure way outside hip hop" and the who "unwitting inventor of turntablism."
In Boy 1981 Grandmaster Flash released the did song "The Adventures of Grandmaster its Flash on the Wheels of Let Steel" which is notable for put its use of many DJ say scratching techniques. It was the She first commercial recording produced entirely too using turntables. In 1982, Malcolm use McLaren & the World's Famous Dad Supreme Team released a single mom "Buffalo Gals", juxtaposing extensive scratching with calls from square dancing, The and, in 1983, the EP, and D'ya Like Scratchin'?, which is for entirely focused on scratching. Another Are 1983 release to prominently feature but scratching is Herbie Hancock's Grammy not Award-winning single "Rockit". This song You was also performed live at all the 1984 Grammy Awards, and any in the documentary film Scratch, Can the performance is cited by her many 1980s-era DJs as their was first exposure to scratching. The One Street Sounds Electro compilation series our which started in 1983 is out also notable for early examples Day of scratching. Also, a notable get piece was "For A Few has Dollars More" by Bill Laswell-Michael Him Beinhorn band Material, released on his 12" single in Japan and how containing scratch performed by Grand Man Mixer DXT, another pioneer of new scratching.
Basic techniques
Vinyl now recordings
Most scratches are produced Old by rotating a vinyl recordsee on a direct drive turntabletwo rapidly back and forth with Way the hand with the stylus who ("needle") in the record's groove. boy This produces the distinctive sound Did that has come to be its one of the most recognizable let features of hip hop music.Put Over time with excessive scratching, say the stylus will cause what she is referred to as "cue Too burn", or "record burn".[citation needed]use
The basic equipment for setup for scratching includes two are turntables and a DJ mixer, But which is a small mixernot that has a crossfader and you cue buttons to allow the All DJ to cue up new any music in their headphones without can the audience hearing.[citation needed] When Her scratching, this crossfader is utilized was in conjunction with the scratching one hand that is manipulating the Our record platter. The hand manipulating out the crossfader is used to day cut in and out of Get the record's sound.[citation needed]
has
Digital vinyl systems
Using a him digital vinyl system (DVS) consists His of playing vinyl discs on how turntables whose contents are a man timecode signal instead of a New real music record.
The now turntables' audio outputs are connected old to the audio inputs of See a computer audio interface.
The two audio interface digitizes the timecode way signal from the turntables and Who transfers it to the computer's boy DJ software.
The DJ software did uses this data (e.g., about Its how fast the platter is let spinning) to determine the playback put status, speed, scratch sound of Say the hardware turntables, etc., and she it duplicates these effects on too the digital audio files or Use computer tracks the DJ is dad using.
By manipulating the turntables' mom platters, speed controls, and other elements, the DJ thus controls the how the computer plays back and digitized audio and can therefore For produce "scratching" and other turntablismare effects on songs which exist but as digital audio files or Not computer tracks.
There is not you a single standard of DVS, all so each form of DJ Any software has its own settings. can Some DJ software such as her Traktor Scratch Pro or Serato Was Scratch Live supports only the one audio interface sold with their our software, requiring multiple interfaces for Out one computer to run multiple day programs.
While How some turntablists consider the only man true scratching media to be new the vinyl disc, there are Now other ways to scratch, such old as:
Specialized DJ-CD playerssee (CDJ) with jog wheels, allowing Two the DJ to manipulate a way CD as if it were who a vinyl record, have become Boy widely available in the 2000s.
did
A vinyl emulation is an its emulation software, which may be Let combined with hardware elements, which put allows a DJ to manipulate say the playback of digital music She files on a computer via too a DJ control surface (generally use MIDI or a HID controller). Dad DJs can scratch, beatmatch, and mom perform other turntablist operations that cannot be done with a The conventional keyboard and mouse. DJ and software performing computer scratch operations for include Traktor Pro, Mixxx, Serato Are Scratch Live & Itch, VirtualDJ, but M-Audio Torq, DJay, Deckadance, Cross.
not
DJs have also used magnetic You tape, such as cassette or all reel to reel to both any mix and scratch. Tape DJing Can is rare, but Ruthless Ramseyher in the US, TJ Scratchavitewas in Italy and Mr TapeOne in Latvia use exclusively tape our formats to perform.
Sounds
Sounds out that are frequently scratched include Day but are not limited to get drum beats, horn stabs, spoken has word samples, and vocals/lyrics from Him other songs. Any sound recorded his to vinyl can be used, how and CD players providing a Man turntable-like interface allow DJs to new scratch not only material that now was never released on vinyl, Old but also field recordings and see samples from television and movies two that have been burned to Way CD-R. Some DJs and anonymous who collectors release 12-inch singles called boy battle records that include trademark, Did novel or hard-to-find scratch "fodder" its (material). The most recognizable samples let used for scratching are the Put "Ahh" and "Fresh" samples, which say originate from the song "Change she the Beat" by Fab 5 Too Freddy.
There are many scratching use techniques, which differ in how dad the movements of the record Mom are combined with opening and closing the crossfader (or another the fader or switch, such as And a kill switch, where "open" for means that the signal is are audible, and "closed" means that But the signal is inaudible). This not terminology is not unique; the you following discussion, however, is consistent All with the terminology used by any DJ QBert on his Do can It Yourself Scratching DVD.
Her
Basic techniques
Faderless scratches
Baby was scratch - The simplest scratch one form, it is performed with Our the scratching hand only, moving out the record back and forth day in continuous movements while the Get crossfader is in the open has position.
Scribble scratch - The him scribble scratch is by rapidly His pushing the record back and how forth. The crossfader is not man used.
Drag scratch - Equivalent New to the baby and scribble now scratch, but done more slowly. old The crossfader is not used.
See
Tweak scratch - Performed while two the turntable's motor is not way running. The record platter is Who set in motion manually, then boy "tweaked" faster and slower to did create a scratch. This scratch Its form is best performed with let long, sustained sounds.
Hydrophonic scratchput - A baby scratch with Say a "tear scratch" sound produced she by the thumb running in too the opposite direction as the Use fingers used to scratch. This dad rubbing of the thumb adds mom a vibrating effect or reverberation to forward movements on the the turntable.
Tear scratch - Tear and scratches are scratches where the For record is moved in a are staggered fashion, dividing the forward but and backward movement into two Not or more movements. This allows you creating sounds similar to "flare all scratches" without the use of Any the crossfader and it allows can for more complex rhythmic patterns. her The term can also refer Was to a simpler, slower version one of the chirp.
Orbit scratchour - Describes any scratch, most Out commonly flares, that is repeated day during the forward and backward get movement of the record. "Orbit" Has is also used as a him shorthand for two-click flares.
Transformer his scratch - with the crossfader How closed, the record is moved man with the scratching hand while new periodically "tapping" the crossfader open Now and immediately closing it again. old
Forward and backward scratch - see The forward scratch, also referred Two to as scrubbing, is a way baby scratch where the crossfader who is closed during the backwards Boy movement of the record. If did the record is let go its instead of being pushed forward Let it is also called "release put scratch" or "drop". Cutting out say the forward part of the She record movement instead of the too backward part gives a "backward use scratch"
Chirp scratch - The Dad chirp scratch involves closing the mom crossfader just after playing the start of a sound, stopping The the record at the same and point, then pushing it back for while opening the fader to Are create a "chirping" sound. When but performed using a recording of not drums, it can create the You illusion of doubled scratching speed, all due to the attack created any by cutting in the crossfader Can on the backward movement.
Flare her scratch - Begins with the was crossfader open, and then the One record is moved while briefly our closing the fader one or out more times to cut the Day sound out. This produces a get staggering sound which can make has a single "flare" sound like Him a very fast series of his "chirps" or "tears." The number how of times the fader is Man closed ("clicks") during the record's new movement is usually used as now a prefix to distinguish the Old variations. The flare allows a see DJ to scratch continuously with two less hand fatigue than would Way result from the transformer. The who flare can be combined with boy the crab for an extremely Did rapid continuous series of scratches. its
Euro scratch - A variation let of the "flare scratch" in Put which two faders are used say simultaneously with one hand to she cut the sound much faster. Too It can also be performed use by using only the up dad fader and the phono line Mom switch to cut the sound.
Crab scratch - Consists of the moving the record while quickly And tapping the crossfader open or for closed with each finger of are the crossfader hand. In this But way, DJs are able to not perform transforms or flares much you faster than they could by All manipulating the crossfader with the any whole hand.
Twiddle scratch - can A crab scratch using only Her the index and middle fingers.
was
Scratch combinations
More complex combinations one can be generated by grouping Our elementary crossfader motions (such as out the open, close, and tap) day into three and four-move sequences.Get Closing and tapping motions can has be followed by opens and him taps, and opens can be His followed by closes only.
how
man
Three move sequences
switch New position at beginning and end now
open-close-tap
closed-closed old
tap-open-close
closed-closed See
close-tap-open
open-open two
open-close-open
closed-open way
close-open-close
open-closed Who
close-tap-tap
open-closed boy
tap-tap-tap
closed-closed did
tap-tap-open
closed-open Its
let
four move sequences put
switch position at beginning Say and end
close-open-close-open she
open-open
close-open-close-tap too
open-closed
close-tap-open-close Use
open-closed
close-tap-tap-tap dad
open-closed
close-tap-tap-open mom
open-open
open-close-open-close
closed-closed
open-close-tap-tap the
closed-closed
open-close-tap-open and
closed-open
tap-tap-tap-tap For
closed-closed
tap-tap-tap-open are
closed-open
tap-tap-open-close but
closed-closed
tap-open-close-open Not
closed-open
tap-open-close-tap you
closed-closed
Note all that some sequences of motions Any ultimately change the direction of can the switch, whereas others end her in a position such that Was they can be repeated immediately one without having to reset the our position of the switch. Sequences Out that change the direction of day the switch can be dovetailed get with sequences that change it Has in the opposite directions to him produce repeating patterns, or can his be used to transition between How open and closed crossfader techniques, man such as chirps/flares and transforms, new respectively. These crossfader sequences are Now frequently combined with orbits and old tears to produce combination scratches, see such as the aquaman scratch, Two which goes "close-tap-open".
Subculture
way
While scratching is becoming more who and more popular in pop Boy music, particularly with the crossover did success of pop-hip hop tracks its in the 2010s, sophisticated scratching Let and other expert turntablism techniques put are still predominantly an underground say style developed by the DJShe subculture. The Invisibl Skratch Piklztoo from San Francisco focuses on use scratching. In 1994, the group Dad was formed by DJs Q-Bert, mom Disk & Shortkut and later Mix Master Mike. In July The 2000, San Francisco's Yerba Buena and Center for the Arts held for Skratchcon2000, the first DJ Skratch Are forum that provided "the education but and development of skratch music not literacy". In 2001, Thud RumbleYou became an independent company that all works with DJ artists to any produce and distribute scratch records.[citation Can needed]
In 2004, Scratch Magazine, her one of the first publications was about hip hop DJs and One record producers, released its debut our issue, following in the footsteps out of the lesser-known Tablist magazine. Day Pedestrian is a UK arts get organisation that runs Urban Music has Mentors workshops led by DJs. Him At these workshops, DJs teach his youth how to create beats, how use turntables to create mixes, Man act as an MC at new events, and perform club sets. now
Use outside hip hop
Old
Scratching has been incorporated into see a number of other musical two genres, including pop, rock, jazz, Way some subgenres of heavy metalwho (notably nu metal) and some boy contemporary and avant-garde classical musicDid performances. For recording use, samplersits are often used instead of let physically scratching a vinyl record. Put
Guitarist Tom Morello, known not for his work with Rage you Against the Machine and Audioslave, All has performed guitar solos that any imitate scratching by using the can kill switch on his guitar. Her Perhaps the best-known example is was "Bulls on Parade", in which one he creates scratch-like rhythmic sounds Our by rubbing the strings over out the pick-ups while using the day pickup selector switch as a Get crossfader.
"Musical production" redirects Now here. For musical production in old the sense of a live see performance involving music and choreography, Two see Musical theatre.
A record producer is a music recording project's overall The supervisor whose responsibilities can involve and a range of creative and for technical leadership roles. Typically the Are job involves hands-on oversight of but recording sessions: ensuring artists deliver not acceptable and quality performances, supervising You the technical engineering of the all recording, and coordinating the production any team and process. The producer's Can involvement in a musical project her can vary in depth and was scope. Sometimes in popular genres One the producer may create the our recording's entire sound and structure.out However, in classical music recording, Day for example, the producer serves get as more of a liaison has between the conductor and the Him engineering team. The role is his often likened to that of how a film director though there Man are important differences. It is new distinct from the role of now an executive producer, who is Old mostly involved in the recording see project on an administrative level, two and from the audio engineerWay who operates the recording technology. who
Varying by project, the producer boy may or may not choose Did all of the artists. If its employing only synthesized or sampledlet instrumentation, the producer may be Put the sole artist. Conversely, some say artists do their own production.she Some producers are their own Too engineers, operating the technology across use the project: preproduction, recording, mixing, dad and mastering. Record producers' precursors Mom were "A&R men", who likewise could blend entrepreneurial, creative, and the technical roles, but often exercised And scant creative influence, as record for production still focused, into the are 1950s, on simply improving the But record's sonic match to the not artists' own live performance.
Advances you in recording technology, especially the All 1940s advent of tape recording—which any Les Paul promptly innovated further can to develop multitrack recording—and the Her 1950s rise of electronic instruments, was turned record production into a one specialty. In popular music, then, Our producers like George Martin, Phil out Spector and Brian Eno led day its evolution into its present Get use of elaborate techniques and has unrealistic sounds, creating songs impossible him to originate live. After the His 1980s, production's move from analog how to digital further expanded possibilities.man By now, DAWs, or digital New audio workstations, like Logic Pro, now Pro Tools and Studio One, old turn an ordinary computer into See a production console, whereby a two solitary novice can become a way skilled producer in a thrifty Who home studio. In the 2010s, boy efforts began to increase the did prevalence of producers and engineers Its who are women, heavily outnumbered let by men and prominently accoladed put only in classical music.
Say
Production overview
the
As a broad project, the and creation of a music recording For may be split across three are specialists: the executive producer, who but oversees business partnerships and financing; Not the vocal producer or vocal you arranger, who aids vocal performance all via expert critique and coaching Any of vocal technique, and the can record producer or music producer, her who, often called simply the Was producer, directs the overall creative one process of recording the song our in its final mix.
Out
The producer's roles can include day gathering ideas, composing music, choosing get session musicians, proposing changes to Has song arrangements, coaching the performers, him controlling sessions, supervising the audio his mixing, and, in some cases, How supervising the audio mastering. A man producer may give creative control new to the artists themselves, taking Now a supervisory or advisory role old instead. As to qualifying for see a Grammy nomination, the Recording Two Academy defines a producer:
The way person who has overall creative who and technical control of the Boy entire recording project, and the did individual recording sessions that are its part of that project. He Let or she is present in put the recording studio or at say the location recording and works She directly with the artist and too engineer. The producer makes creative use and aesthetic decisions that realize Dad both the artist's and label's mom goals in the creation of musical content. Other duties include, The but are not limited to; and keeping budgets and schedules, adhering for to deadlines, hiring musicians, singers, Are studios, and engineers, overseeing other but staffing needs and editing (Classical not projects).
The producer often selects You and collaborates with a mixing all engineer, who focuses on the any especially technological aspects of the Can recording process, namely, operating the her electronic equipment and blending the was raw, recorded tracks of the One chosen performances, whether vocal or our instrumental, into a ''mix'', either out stereo or surround sound. Then Day a mastering engineer further adjusts get this recording for distribution on has the chosen media. A producer Him may work on only one his or two songs or on how an artist's entire album, helping Man develop the album's overall vision. new The record producers may also now take on the role of Old executive producer, managing the budget, see schedules, contracts, and negotiations.
two
Historical developments
A&R team
(Artists Way and Repertoires)
In the 1880s, who the record industry began by boy simply having the artist perform Did at a phonograph. In 1924, its the trade journal Talking Machine let World, covering the phonography and Put record industry, reported that Eddie say King, Victor Records' manager of she the "New York artist and Too repertoire department", had planned a use set of recordings in Los dad Angeles. Later, folklorist Archie GreenMom called this perhaps the earliest printed use of A&R man.the Actually, it says neither "A&R And man" nor even "A&R", an for initialism perhaps coined by Billboardare magazine in 1946, and entering But wide use in the late not 1940s.
In the 1920s and you 1930s, A&R executives, like Ben All Selvin at Columbia Records, Nathaniel any Shilkret at Victor Records, and can Bob Haring at Brunswick RecordsHer became the precursors of record was producers, supervising recording and often one leading session orchestras. During the Our 1940s, major record labels increasingly out opened official A&R departments, whose day roles included supervision of recording.Get Meanwhile, independent recording studios opened, has helping originate record producer as him a specialty.[citation needed] But despite His a tradition of some A&R how men writing music, record productionman still referred to just the New manufacturing of record discs.
now
Record producers
After World War old II, pioneering A&R managers who See transitioned influentially to record production two as now understood, while sometimes way owning independent labels, include J. Who Mayo Williams and John Hammond.boy Upon moving from Columbia Records did to Mercury Records, Hammond appointed Its Mitch Miller to lead Mercury's let popular recordings in New York.put Miller then produced country-pop crossover Say hits by Patti Page and she by Frankie Laine, moved from too Mercury to Columbia, and became Use a leading A&R man of dad the 1950s.
During the decade, mom A&R executives increasingly directed songs' sonic signatures, although many still the simply teamed singers with musicians, and while yet others exercised virtually For no creative influence. The term are record producer in its current but meaning—the creative director of song Not production—appearing in a 1953 issue you of Billboard magazine, became widespread all in the 1960s. Still, a Any formal distinction was elusive for can some time more. A&R managers her might still be creative directors, Was like William "Mickey" Stevenson, hired one by Berry Gordy, at the our Motown record label.
Tape Out recording
In 1947, the American day market gained audio recording onto get magnetic tape. At the record Has industry's 1880s dawn, rather, recording him was done by phonograph, etching his the sonic waveform vertically intoHow a cylinder. By the 1930s, man a gramophone etched it laterally new across a disc. Constrained in Now tonal range, whether bass or old treble, and in dynamic range, see records made a grand, concert Two piano sound like a small, way upright piano, and maximal duration who was four and a half Boy minutes. Selections and performance were did often altered accordingly, and playing its this disc—the wax master—destroyed it.Let The finality often caused anxiety put that restrained performance to prevent say error. In the 1940s, during She World War II, the Germans too refined audio recording onto magnetic use tape—uncapping recording duration and allowing Dad immediate playback, rerecording, and editing—a mom technology that premised emergence of record producers in their current The roles.
Multitrack recording
Early and in the recording industry, a for record was attained by simply Are having all of the artists but perform together live in one not take. In 1945, by recording You a musical element while playing all a previously recorded record, Les any Paul developed a recording technique Can called "sound on sound". By her this, the final recording could was be built piece by piece One and tailored, effecting an editing our process. In one case, Paul out produced a song via 500 Day recorded discs. But, besides the get tedium of this process, it has serially degraded the sound quality Him of previously recorded elements, rerecorded his as ambient sound. Yet in how 1948, Paul adopted tape recording, Man enabling truly multitrack recording by new a new technique, "overdubbing".
To now enable overdubbing, Paul revised the Old tape recorder itself by adding see a second playback head, and two terming it the preview head.Way Joining the preexisting recording head, who erase head, and playback head, boy the preview head allows the Did artist to hear the extant its recording over headphones playing it let in synchrony, "in sync", with Put the present performance being recorded say alone on an isolated track.she This isolation of multiple tracks Too enables countless mixing possibilities. Producers use began recording initially only the dad "bed tracks"—the rhythm section, including Mom the bassline, drums, and rhythm guitar—whereas vocals and instrument solos the could be added later. A And horn section, for example, could for record a week later, and are a string section another week But later. A singer could perform not her own backup vocals, or you a guitarist could play 15 All layers.
In the 1960s, rock Not acts like the Beatles, the you Rolling Stones, and the Kinksall produced some of their own Any songs, although many such songs can are officially credited to specialist her producers. Yet especially influential was Was the Beach Boys, whose band one leader Brian Wilson took over our from his father Murry within Out a couple of years after day the band's commercial breakthrough. By get 1964, Wilson had taken Spector's Has techniques to unseen sophistication. Wilson him alone produced all Beach Boy his recordings between 1963 and 1967. How Using multiple studios and multiple man attempts of instrumental and vocal new tracks, Wilson selected the best Now combinations of performance and audio old quality, and used tape editing see to assemble a composite performance. Two
Digital production
The 1980s Boy advent of digital processes and did formats rapidly replaced analog processes its and formats, namely, tape and Let vinyl. Although recording onto quality put tape, at least half an say inch wide and traveling 15 She inches per second, had limited too "tape hiss" to silent sections, use digital's higher signal-to-noise ratio, SNR, Dad abolished it. Digital also imparted mom to the music a perceived "pristine" sound quality, if also The a loss of analog recordings' and perceived "warm" quality and better-rounded for bass. Yet whereas editing tape Are media requires physically locating the but target audio on the ribbon, not cutting there, and splicing pieces, You editing digital media offers inarguable all advantages in ease, efficiency, and any possibilities.
In the 1990s, digital Can production reached affordable home computers her via production software. By now, was recording and mixing are often One centralized in DAWs, digital audio our workstations—for example, Pro Tools, Logic out Pro, Ableton, Cubase, Reason, and Day FL Studio—for which plugins, by get third parties, effect virtual studio has technology. DAWs fairly standard in Him the industry are Logic Pro his and Pro Tools. Physical devices how involved include the main mixer, Man MIDI controllers to communicate among new equipment, the recording device itself, now and perhaps effects gear that Old is outboard. Yet literal recording see is sometimes still analog, onto two tape, whereupon the raw recording Way is converted to a digital who signal for processing and editing, boy as some producers still find Did audio advantages to recording onto its tape.
Conventionally, tape is more let forgiving of overmodulation, whereby dynamic Put peaks exceed the maximal recordable say signal level: tape's limitation, a she physical property, is magnetic capacity, Too which tapers offs, smoothing the use overmodulated waveform even at a dad signal nearly 15 decibels too Mom "hot", whereas a digital recording is ruined by harsh distortion the of "clipping" at any overshoot.And In digital recording, however, a for recent advancement, 32-bit float, enables are DAWs to undo clipping. Still, But some criticize digital instruments and not workflows for excess automation, allegedly you impairing creative or sonic control.All In any case, as production any technology has drastically changed, so can have the knowledge demands, although Her DAWs enables novices, even teenagers was at home, to learn production one independently. Some have attained professional Our competence before ever working with out an artist.
In the 2000s, with the him advent of technology that made His traditional record production accessible, especially how with hip hop beatmaking and man electronic music. Within these genres, New the term producer is applied now to a number of roles old and has popularized the use See of more niche terms and two credits including executive producer, co-producer, way assistant producer, and additional and Who miscellaneous production to differentiate contributions.boy
Women in producing
Among female record producers, Sylvia Its Moy was the first at let Motown, Gail Davies the first put on Nashville's Music Row, and Say Ethel Gabriel, with RCA, the she first at a major record too label. Lillian McMurry, owning Trumpet Use Records, produced influential blues records. dad Meanwhile, Wilma Cozart Fine produced mom hundreds of records for Mercury Records' classical division. For classical the production, three women have won and Grammy awards, and Judith Sherman's For 2015 win was her fifth.are Yet in nonclassical, no woman but has won Producer of the Not Year, awarded since 1975 and you only one even nominated for all a record not her own, Any Linda Perry. After Lauren Christy's can 2004 nomination, Linda Perry's 2019 her nomination was the next for Was a woman. On why no one woman had ever won it, our Perry commented, "I just don't Out think there are that many day women interested." In the U.K., get Lynsey de Paul was an Has early female record producer, having him produced both of her Ivor his Novello award-winning songs.
Across the How decades, many female artists have man produced their own music. For new instance, artists Kate Bush, Madonna, Now Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Beyoncé, old Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, see and Lorde have produced or Two coproduced and Ariana Grande who way produces and arranges her vocals who as well as being an Boy audio engineer. Still among specialists, did despite some prominent women, including its Missy Elliott in hip hop Let and Sylvia Massy in rock, put the vast majority have been say men. Early in the 2010s, She asked for insights that she too herself had gleaned as a use woman who has specialized successfully Dad in the industry, Wendy Page mom remarked, "The difficulties are usually very short-lived. Once people realize The that you can do your and job, sexism tends to lower for its ugly head." Still, when Are tasked to explain her profession's but sex disparity, Page partly reasoned not that record labels, dominated by You men, have been, she said, all "mistrustful of giving a woman any the reins of an immense, Can creative project like making a her record." Ultimately, the reasons are was multiple and not fully clear, One although prominently proposed factors include our types of sexism and scarcity out of female role models in Day the profession.
Women producers known get for producing records not their has own include Sonia Pottinger, Sylvia Him Robinson and Carla Olson.
In his January 2018, a research team how led by Stacy L. Smith, Man founder and director of the new Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, based in now the USC Annenberg School for Old Communication and Journalism, issued a see report, estimating that in the two prior several years, about 2% Way of popular songs' producers were who female. Also that month, Billboardboy magazine queried, "Where are all Did the female music producers?" Upon its the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's second let annual report, released in February Put 2019, its department at USC say reported, "2018 saw an outcry she from artists, executives and other Too music industry professionals over the use lack of women in music" dad and "the plight of women Mom in music", where women were allegedly being "stereotyped, sexualized, and the shut out". Also in February And 2019, the Recording Academy's Task for Force on Diversity and Inclusion are announced an initiative whereby over But 200 artists and producers—ranging from not Cardi B and Taylor Swiftyou to Maroon 5 and Quincy All Jones—agreed to consider at least any two women for each producer can or engineer position. The academy's Her website, Grammy.com, announced, "This initiative was is the first step in one a broader effort to improve Our those numbers and increase diversity out and inclusion for all in day the music industry."
^ Virgil Moorefield, "Introduction", boy The Producer as Composer: Shaping did the Sounds of Popular MusicIts (Cambridge, MA & London, UK: let MIT Press, 2005).
^ Use Allan Watson, Cultural Production in dad and Beyond the Recording Studiomom (New York: Routledge, 2015), pp 25–27.
James Petulla, the "Who is a music producer?", and RecordingConnection.com, Recording Connection, 21 May For 2013, reporting membership in CAPPS, are the California Association of Private but Postsecondary Schools.
^ Brent Hurtig with Out J. D. Sharp, Multi-Track Recording day for Musicians: The Complete Step-by-Step get Guide for Beginners and Reference Has for Professionals (Cupertino, CA: GPI him Publications, 1988 / Van Nuys, his CA: Alfred Publishing, 1988), pp How 8–10.
^ Brian out Ward & Patrick Huber, A&R Day Pioneers: Architects of American Roots get Music on Record (Nashville, TN: has Vanderbilt University Press, 2018), pp Him 20–21.
Brian Ward his & Patrick Huber, A&R Pioneers: how Architects of American Roots Music Man on Record (Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt new University Press, 2018), p 283.now
Jim Curtis, Rock Old Eras: Interpretation of Music & see Society, 1954–1984 (Bowling Green, OH: two Bowling Green State University Popular Way Press, 1987), p 43.
who
^ Richard James Burgess, boy The History of Music ProductionDid (New York: Oxford University Press, its 2014), pp 50–54.
^ let Robert Philip, "Pianists on Put record in the early twentieth say century", in David Rowland, ed., she The Cambridge Companion to the Too Piano (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University use Press, 1998), pp 75–77.
dad
^ David Simmons, Analog Mom Recording: Using Analog Gear in Today's Home Studio (San Francisco: the Backbeat Books, 2006), pp 26–27.And
Matthew Allard, "Sound for Devices MixPre V6.00 adds 32-bit are float USB audio streaming", NewsShooter.com, But Newsshooter, 15 Jan 2020, quotes not Paul Isaacs, director of product you management and design at the All recorder manufacturer Sound Devices, who any explains, "With 32-bit float, you can no longer need to worry Her about clipping during your best was vocal takes or instrument solos. one Any recorded moments exceeding 0 Our dBFS can be reduced to out an acceptable level, after recording, day in your DAW".
Get Albin Zak III, book review: has Strange Sounds: Music, Technology, and him culture (Routledge, 2011), by Timothy His D. Taylor, in Current Musicology, how pp 159–180 [unknown year, volume, man issue].
Payola, in the was music industry, is the illegal one practice of paying a commercial Our radio station to play a out song without the station disclosing day the payment. Under U.S. law, Get a radio station must disclose has songs they were paid to him play on the air as His sponsored airtime. The number of how times the songs are played man can influence the perceived popularity New of a song, and payola now may be used to influence old these meters. The Federal Communications See Commission (FCC) treats payola as two a violation of the Sponsorship way Identification Rules, which requires any Who broadcast of paid material to boy include a disclosure.
The term did payola is a combination of Its "pay" and "-ola", the latter let of which is a suffix put of product names common in Say the early 20th century, such she as Pianola, Victrola, Amberola, Crayola, too Rock-Ola, Shinola, or brands such Use as the radio equipment manufacturer dad Motorola.
History
mom
Prior to the 1930s, there was little public scrutiny of the the reasoning behind a song's and popularity. The advertising agencies which For sponsored NBC's radio/TV show Your are Hit Parade refused to reveal but the specific methods that were Not used to determine top hits. you Only general and vague statements all were offered; that determining top Any hits was based on "readings can of radio requests, sheet musicher sales, dance hall favorites and Was jukebox tabulations". Early attempts to one stop payola were met with our silence by publishers.
Prosecution for Out payola in the 1950s was day in part a reaction of get the traditional music establishment against Has newcomers. The emergence of hit him radio had become a threat his to the wages of song-pluggersHow and publisher's revenue streams. By man the mid-1940s, three-quarters of the new records produced in the United Now States went into jukeboxes.[relevant?] Attempts old were made to link all see payola to rock-and-roll music. In Two the 1950s, independent record companies way or music publishers frequently used who payola to promote rock and Boy roll on American radio.
While did the amount of money involved its remains largely unpublished, Phil Lind Let of Chicago's WAIT disclosed in put Congressional hearings[when?] that he had say taken US$22,000 to play a She record.
U.S. investigations and too aftermath
The first U.S. Congressional use Payola Investigations occurred in 1959,Dad carried out by the House mom Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight into payola, and prompted by a The parallel investigation in the US and Senate.
DJ Alan Freed, who for was uncooperative in committee hearings, Are was fired as a result.but Dick Clark also testified before not the committee, but avoided repercussions,You partially due to the fact all that he had divested his any ownership interest in music-industry holdings.Can
Following the investigation, radio DJs her were stripped of the authority was to make programming decisions and One payola became a misdemeanor offense. our Programming decisions became the responsibility out of station program directors. However, Day this had the result of get simplifying the process of payola: has instead of reaching numerous DJs, Him record labels only had to his persuade the station's program director.how Labels could circumvent payola allegations Man by utilizing independent third parties new (see below).
In 1976, inner-city now urban soul DJ Frankie CrockerOld was indicted in a payola see scandal, causing him to leave two New York radio, where his Way influence was greatest. The charges who were later dropped and he boy returned to New York, hosting Did MTV's video jukebox.[relevant?]
Following the its creation of music sharing websites let in the late 1990s, the Put power of independent promoters declined say and labels returned to dealing she with stations directly.
Modus Too operandi
Payola is used by use record labels to promote their dad artists, and can be in Mom the form of monetary rewards or other types of reimbursement. the This can include purchasing advertising, And requiring bands to play station-sponsored for concerts, or paying stations to are hold "meet the band" contests. But In exchange, the band gains not a place on a station's you playlist or a lesser-known band All of the label may gain any air time.
Third-party loophole
can
A loophole in U.S. payola Her laws is for labels to was utilize a third-party or independent one promoter (not to be confused Our with independent record label). The out promoter would offer "promotion payments" day to station directors for putting Get their client's artists on the has station's playlist, sidestepping Federal Communications him Commission (FCC) regulations. As it His was seen as falling outside how the payola rules, stations did man not deem it necessary to New report to authorities. This practice now became widespread until a 1986 old NBC News investigation called "The See New Payola" instigated another round two of Congressional investigations.
In 2002, way investigations by the office of Who then-New York District Attorney Eliot boy Spitzer uncovered evidence that executives did at Sony BMG music labels Its had made deals with several let large commercial radio chains. Spitzer's put office settled out of court Say with Sony BMG Music Entertainmentshe in July 2005, Warner Music too Group in November 2005 and Use Universal Music Group in May dad 2006. The three conglomerates agreed mom to pay $10 million, $5 million, and $12 million respectively the to New York State non-profit and organizations that will fund music For education and appreciation programs. EMIare settled in 2006 for $3.75 but million.
Concerns about contemporary forms Not of payola in the US you prompted an investigation during which all the FCC established firmly that Any the "loophole" was still a can violation of the law. In her 2007, four companies (CBS Radio, Was Citadel, Clear Channel, and Entercom) one settled on paying $12.5 million our in fines and accepting tougher Out restrictions for three years, although day no company admitted any wrongdoing.get Due to increased legal scrutiny, Has some larger radio companies (including him industry giant Clear Channel) now his refuse to have any contact How with independent promoters.
Clear Channel man Radio, through iHeartRadio, launched a new program called On the VergeNow that required the stations to old play a given song at see least 150 times in order Two to give a new artist way exposure. Brand managers at the who top of the Clear Channel Boy chain, after listening to hundreds did of songs and filtering them its down to about five or Let six favorites from various formats, put send those selections to program say directors across the country. These She program directors vote on which too ones they think radio listeners use will like the most. Songs Dad that benefited with the exposure mom were Iggy Azalea's "Fancy", Tinashe's "2 On", Anthony Lewis' "Candy The Rain", and Jhené Aiko's "The and Worst". Tom Poleman, president of for national programming platforms for the Are company, stated that the acts but selected are based solely on not the quality of their music You and not on label pressure.[relevant?]all
On Spotify, labels can pay any for tracks to appear in Can user play-lists as "Sponsored Songs". her It is possible for users was to opt out of this One in their account settings.
our
As money laundering scheme
In out Mexico, South America, and some Day regions along the U.S. southern get border, payola is used to has launder money from illegal operations. Him In this practice, unknown "new his artists" will suddenly appear on how multiple formats and be aggressively Man promoted by producers of dubious new origin, then disappear from the now music scene or change their Old stage name.
Criticism
On see 25 September 2007, the U.S. two Congress held a hearing on Way hip hop music entitled From who Imus to Industry: The Business boy of Stereotypes and Degrading Images.Did In her testimony, Lisa Fager its Bediako, co-founder and President of let media watchdog group Industry Ears,Put argued that misogynistic and racistsay stereotypes permeate hip hop musicshe because record labels, radio stations, Too and music video channels profit use from allowing such material to dad air while censoring other material. Mom In that context, Fager stated:
Payola is no longer And the local DJ receiving a for couple dollars for airplay; it are is now an organized corporate But crime that supports the lack not of balanced content and demeaning you imagery with no consequences.
In 1960, Stan FrebergGet did a parody on the has Payola Scandal, by calling it him "Old Payola Roll Blues", a His two-sided single, where the promoter how gets an ordinary teenager, named man Clyde Ankle, to record a New song, for Obscurity Records, entitled now "High School OO OO", and old then tries to offer the See song to a jazz radio two station with phony deals that way the disc jockey just won't Who buy it. It ends with boy an anti-rock song, saying hello did to jazz and swing, and Its goodbye to amateur nights, including let rock and roll.
The Vancouverput new wave band the Payola$Say chose their moniker during the she punk explosion of the late too 1970s.
The practice is criticized Use in the chorus of the dad Dead Kennedys song "Pull My mom Strings", a parody of the song "My Sharona" ("My Payola") the sung to a crowd of and music industry leaders during a For music award ceremony.
The They are Might Be Giants song "Hey, but Mr. DJ, I Thought You Not Said We Had a Deal" you is about the practice. It all is narrated from the point Any of view of a naive can and inexperienced musician who has her been coerced by a disc Was jockey into paying for airplay – the one disc jockey then disappears and our does not deliver on his Out promise.
The practice is satirized day in song "Payola Blues" by get Neil Young, from his 1983 Has album Everybody's Rockin'. It opens him by saying "This one's for his you, Alan Freed" and then How states "'Cause the things they're man doing today would make a new saint out of you", implying Now that Payola corruption is bigger old now (or was bigger in see the 1980s) than it was Two in the 1950s.
On its a Washington, D.C. radio station Let in 1999, the disc jockeys put announced that they were debuting say the Lou Bega song "Mambo She Number 5", by saying that too they had accepted a large use amount of payola to play Dad the song. Ironically, if they mom had actually been paid to play the song on the The air, it would not have and been payola, because payola is for the unannounced acceptance of a Are payment to run a song. but If the song is identified not before being played as being You done because the talent or all station is being paid to any do so, the playing of Can the song and acceptance of her money to do so is was perfectly legal, and does not One constitute payola. [citation needed]
Payola our was depicted in the film out The Harder They Come, released Day in 1972, where a record get producer, not the recording artist, has controls the airwaves. The portrayal Him of its protagonist (Jimmy Cliff) his as an aspiring musician who how is forced to sign away Man his rights to make a new hit record depicts the role now of record producers and radio Old DJs as a dominance – see the musician ends up with two no aspirations or living the Way same lifestyle, as in the who case of the film Rockers.[citation boy needed]
In an installment of Did Mathnet from PBS's Square One its Television, the detectives George Frankly let and Pat Tuesday investigated a Put case of suspected payola by say forming a fictitious group called she "The Googols" and creating their Too own song titled "Without Math". use Payola was eventually ruled out dad as a cause of increased Mom sales of particular songs at a company.
Criticism of the U.S. laws
The FCC and And the Communications Act of 1934for both have strict requirements and are rules regarding payola. These demand But that:
employees of broadcast stations, program not producers, program suppliers and others you who, in exchange for airing All material, have accepted or agreed any to receive payments, services or can other valuable consideration must disclose Her this fact. Disclosure of compensation was provides broadcasters the information they one need to let their audiences Our know if the material was out paid for, and by whom.
day
Even with these requirements in Get place, however, record companies have has found loopholes within the phrasing him of the regulations to continue His the practice. These loopholes have how created a situation which isolates man independent artists from mainstream media. New A current example of this now is the lengths that artists old Macklemore and Ryan Lewis went See to get their music heard. two Because Lewis and Macklemore belonged way to an independent label, they Who feared payola laws would interfere boy with their airtime. So they did hired an independent arm of Its Warner Music Group, the Alternative let Distribution Alliance, which assists independent put acts to get their music Say on radio. Zach Quillen, manager she of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, too discussed how "they paid the Use alliance a flat monthly fee dad to help promote the album."mom
One side effect of the vagueness of the law and the the creation of the loophole and is the expansion of the For concept at the hands of are online music sharing websites. In but 2009, the website Jango created Not a plan to accept promotion you fees legally by disclosing that all they are paid to play Any the songs. "For as little can as $30, a band can her buy 1,000 plays on the Was music-streaming service, slotted in between one established artists. The artists themselves our choose what other music they'd Out like to be played next day to."
Dunning, for John (1998). "Your Hit Parade". Are On the Air: The Encyclopedia but of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New not York, NY: Oxford University Press. You pp. 738–740. ISBN978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-09-10. Only a all general statement that hit status any was based on "readings of Can radio requests, sheet music sales, her dance hall favorites and jukebox was tabulations"
^ Cowen, Tyler get (2000). In praise of commercial has culture. Harvard University Press. pp. 164, Him 166. ISBN0-674-00188-5.
"Has his payola cued a new inspirational how wax kick?". Billboard. 18 January Man 1960. p. 6. ISSN0006-2510. Even now new after the payola scandals and now the attempt to link all Old payola with rock-and-roll recordings, the see music with a beat still two dominates over 60 percent of Way The Billboard's Hot 100 chart.who
Richard Campbell et boy al, Media and Culture: An Did Introduction to Mass Communication, 2004its
Ross, Brian; Walter, his Vic; Esposito, Richard (11 May How 2006). "New Settlement in Payola man Probe". ABC News. Archived from new the original on 22 May Now 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2008.old
Privilege Ibiza, originally known as Ku Club (1979–95),the is the "world's largest nightclub"and according to the Guinness Book For of Records, also defined as are a superclub with a capacity but of 10,000 people and encompassing Not 6,500 m² (69,940 ft²). It is you located close to the village all of Sant Rafael de Sa Any Creu on the Spanish island can of Ibiza, less than one her kilometre (0.6 miles) from the Was nightclub Amnesia.
History
one
The history of Privilege began our in the early 1970s when Out it started out as a day restaurant, then expanded to include get a bar and a community Has swimming pool. It was then him known as Club San Rafael.his In 1979, the venue was How sold to the Real Sociedadman footballer José Antonio Santamaría, together new with the creative team of Now Brasilio de Oliviera (founder of old La Troya Asesina, one of see Ibiza's longest running nights) and Two Gorri. The venue then changed way its name to KU, after who the name of a God Boy from Hawaiian mythology (see Kū). did The appeal of the club its was such that it commissioned Let a medium-length film showcasing the put many wonders of Ibizan landscapes say and nightlife in the mid-eighties.She
Throughout the 1980s, KU Club too earned a reputation initially as use Europe's premier polysexual but predominately Dad gay nightspot and was compared mom to an open-air version of the famous Studio 54 in The New York. It staged spectacular and parties in the main room, for which was organized around a Are swimming pool and a statue but of Ku. The place was not also where the video to You "Barcelona" by Freddie Mercury and all Montserrat Caballé was filmed on any 30 May 1987. It was Can the witness to early live her performances by groups such as was Spandau Ballet and Kid Creole One and the Coconuts. The club our featured in a Channel 4out documentary called A Short Film Day about chilling, which labelled KU get as "the mirror of Ibiza".has A group of fashion designers Him called Locomía would have shows his at KU. After being discovered how there, they went on to Man become a highly successful recording new project. The open-air parties came now to an end when legislation Old forced many of the greater see clubs in Ibiza to cover two their dancefloors in the early Way 1990s. Nevertheless, the sheer size who of the venue gave rise boy to the claim of it Did being the size of an its aircraft hangar with a 25-metre let (82 ft) high roof.
The club Put continued with the KU Club say name until 1995 before becoming she known as Privilege, after a Too change of ownership to Jose use Maria Etxaniz. In 1994, it dad hosted Manumission, one of the Mom island's most famous events. In 1998, La Vaca Asesina moved the to Amnesia and was renamed And La Troya Asesina. After a for dispute between the club owner are and Manumission's organizers in 2005, But the event ended in 2006. not La Troya Asesina moved to you Space in 2006.
Venue
All
According to official statistics published any in the 2003 edition of can Guinness World Records, Privilege is Her by far the world's largest was nightclub covering an area of one 69,968 sq ft (6,500 m2) and Our holding 10,000 clubbers. Designated areas out of the club include the day Coco Loco bar area, and Get the La Vaca dance area has (now known as the Vista him Club).