104323 - MUSICAL PRODUCTION

Subject type: Mandatory

Coordinator: Jorge Oter Gonzalez

Trimester: Second term

Credits: 4

• Catalan

The course is taught in Catalan but various supporting materials (documentaries and articles) will be used in English.

The subject collects the theoretical and practical skills seen in Audio and Sound, Music Creation and Sound Production to consolidate them in the field of music production. Work is done both in the field of analysis and praxis in the recording studio, combining theory and practice in both large group sessions and sessions in the recording studio and laboratory . However, the work methodology is divided into two distinct parts:

- Large group sessions (2 hours per week) where theoretical knowledge is imparted and practical exercises are proposed to be solved in the classroom.

- Sessions in small groups in the recording studio and in the laboratory (2 hours per week), in which theoretical-practical activities focus on recording, editing and mixing music.

Attendance at practices is mandatory.

THEORY

BLOCK 1 - History of music production: genres, styles and schools of production

1. The notions of 'musical production' and the various concepts associated with the term 'producer'.

2. Brief history of music production. Production styles and schools.

3. The conflict of labels, genres and musical styles.

4. Relationships between technical procedure and sound aesthetics.

BLOCK 2 - Creative tools and resources. Production analysis.

1. Audio production tools. Corrective vs. creative skills.

2. Auditory recognition of the effects and creative processes studied.

3. The musicological perspective of music production.

4. Analysis of productions in the field of recording, film and advertising.

WORK EXPERIENCE

PRACTICE 1 – STUDY REMINDER (2 teaching hours. Non-evaluable individual practice).

PRACTICE 2 – DAW CONSOLIDATION (2 teaching hours. Non-evaluable individual practice).

PRACTICE 3 – EXERCISE ON THE STUDY MODULES (2 class hours + 4 hours of independent work. Evaluable practice).

PRACTICE 4 – GUIDE TRACK RECORDING (2 class hours. Non-evaluable individual practice).

PRACTICE 5  – COMPOSITE BASS PERFORMANCE (2 class hours + 4 hours of independent work. Individual practice can be assessed).

PRACTICE 6  – RECORDING PERCUSSION and/or DRUMS (2 class hours. Non-evaluable practice).

PRACTICE 7 – PERCUSSION EDITION (2 teaching hours. Non-evaluable practice).

PRACTICE 8 – SOLO REGISTRATION (2 teaching hours. Non-evaluable practice).

PRACTICE 9 – MIX (2 teaching hours. Non-evaluable practice).

PRACTICE 10 – INDEPENDENT WORK FINAL PROJECT (2 class hours. Non-evaluable practice).

Practices 3 and 5 may be required to weigh the final grade of the subject.

The subject proposes the evaluation in four blocks: 

Follow-up tests (20%).

Music production project (15%).

Written project report (15%).

Final test (50%).

To make an average you will need to have passed the final test with a minimum of 5 out of 10. Those students who obtain a grade lower than 5 in the global test will have to take a make-up test. The recovery test is passed with a 5. The rest of the grades of the partial tests will be kept. Under no circumstances can you opt for recovery to raise your grade. The partial tests and the work do not have recovery.

Grades may be reviewed at a date and place posted by the teacher through the eCampus.

Identification of plagiarism is considered a serious circumstance that may lead to a failing grade in the subject. In case of detection of plagiarism, the coordination of the degree will be informed so that the corresponding disciplinary measures can be taken.

Levitin, DJ 2008. How recordings are made (I) in Audio anecdotes III: Tools, tips and techniques for digital audio (pp. 3-14). Natick: AK Peters 

Gibson, David. 1997. Styles of mix; Visual Representations. Inside The Art of Mixing. A Visual Guide to Recording. Michigan: MixBooks.

Zagorski-Thomas, Simon. 2014. The Musicology of Record Production. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Equality Unit. (2018). Guide to non-sexist use of language. Technocampus

Daley, Dan. 2004. “The Engineers Who Changed Recording.” Sound on Sound Magazine, October. http://www.soundonsound.com/people/engineers-who-changed-recording

Doyle, Peter. 2005. Echo and Reverb: Fabricating Space in Popular Music Recording, 1900-1960. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.

Katz, Mark. 2010. Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Théberge, Paul 1997. The Sound of Music. Inside Any Sound You Can Imagine: Making Music/Consuming Technology. New England: Wesleyan.

Simons, David; 2004. The Atlantic Story / From Funk to Punk. Inside Studio Stories. London: Backbeat Books

Cascone, Kim. The Aesthetics of Failure: "Post-Digital" Tendencies in Contemporary Computer Music. Computer Music Journal, Vol. 24, no. 4 (Winter, 2000), pp. 12-18

Cunningham, Mark. 1996. Good Vibrations. A history of record production. London: Sanctuary Productions.

Frith, Simon and Zagorski-Thomas, Simon, editors. 2012. The Art of Recording Production: An Introductory Reader for a New Academic Field. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing.

Moylan, William. 2002. The Art Of Recording: Understanding and Crafting the Mix. Burlington, Massachusetts: Focal Press.

Chanan, Michael. 1995. Repeated Takes: A Short History of Recording and Its Effects on Music. London: Verse.

Roquer, Jordi. 2018. Sound hyperreality in popular music: On the influence of audio production in our sound expectations. Cambridge Scholar Publishing.