Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T07:20:39.215Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A field guide to equalisation and dynamics processing on rock and electronica records

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2010

Jay Hodgson
Jay Hodgson
Affiliation:
Jay Hodgson, Popular Music & Culture, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper examines two of the most common signal processing techniques, namely, equalisation and dynamics processing. As with all signal processing techniques, equalisation and dynamics processing modify audio signals in particular ways to suit the evolving requirements of a mix. Rock and electronica records currently feature the most extroverted uses for these techniques and, thus, the clearest examples for a field guide like this. It is for this reason, and this reason alone, that I focus on records from these two genres. I begin this field guide by suggesting a definition for ‘signal processing’ which is sufficiently broad to account for every technique that recordists currently use. I then relate that definition to the concept of ‘frequency response’. In my opinion, this concept is crucial to any understanding of signal processing – a core component of the knowledge base for audio engineering, which is the discipline under which signal processing is typically subsumed; the concept of ‘frequency response’ guides many of the decisions about signal processing that recordists make, especially those concerning equalisation. Finally, I explain how equalisation and dynamics processing work, and I offer a field guide to their most common applications on hit rock and electronica records today.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , May 2010 , pp. 283 - 297
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Brackett, D. 1995. Interpreting Popular Music (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press)Google Scholar
Case, A. 2007. Sound FX: Unlocking the Creative Potential of Recording Studio Effects (Boston, Focal Press)Google Scholar
Chanan, M. 1995. Repeated Takes: A Short History of Recording and Its Effects on Music (New York, Verso)Google Scholar
Coleman, M. 2003. Playback: From the Victrola to the MP3, 100 Years of Music, Machines, and Money (New York, Da Capo)Google Scholar
Doyle, P. 2005. Echo & Reverb: Fabricating Space in Popular Music Recording, 1900–1960 (Middletown, Wesleyan University Press)Google Scholar
Eisenberg, E. 1987. The Recording Angel: Music, Records and Culture from Aristotle to Zappa (New Haven, Yale University Press)Google Scholar
Fisher, J.A. 1998. ‘Rock and recording: the ontological complexity of rock music’, In Musical Worlds: New Directions in the Philosophy of Music, ed. Alperson, P. (Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Press)Google Scholar
Gracyk, T. 1996. Rhythm and Noise: an Aesthetics of Rock (Durham, Duke University Press)Google Scholar
Gibson, B. 2005. Compressors, Limiters, Expanders and Gates (Michigan, ProAudio)Google Scholar
Greene, P. and Porcello, T. (eds) 2005. Wired for Sound: Engineering and Technologies in Sonic Cultures (Middletown, Wesleyan University Press)Google Scholar
Izhaki, R. 2008. Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices and Tools (Boston, Focal Press)Google Scholar
Jones, S. 1992. Rock Formation: Music, Technology and Mass Communication (London, Sage)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, B. 2007. Mastering Audio: the Art and the Science (Boston, Focal Press)Google Scholar
Lacasse, S. 2007. ‘Intertextuality and hypertextuality in recorded popular music’, In Critical Essays in Popular Musicology (pp. 147–70), ed. Moore, A. (Aldershot, Ashgate)Google Scholar
Millard, A. 2005. America on Record: A History of Recorded Sound (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milner, G. 2009. Perfecting Sound Forever: an Aural History of Recorded Music (New York, Faber & Faber)Google Scholar
Moore, A. 1993. Rock: The Primary Text (Philadelphia, Open University Press)Google Scholar
Moorefield, V. 2005. The Producer as Composer: Shaping the Sounds of Popular Music (Cambridge, MIT University Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, K., and Kehew, B. 2006. Recording the Beatles: the Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create their Classic Albums (Houston, Curvebender)Google Scholar
Schmidt-Horning, S. 2004. ‘Engineering the performance’, Social Studies of Science, 34/5, pp. 703–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sterne, J. 2003. The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction (Durham, Duke University Press)Google Scholar
Taylor, T. 2001. Strange Sounds: Music, Technology, and Culture (Berkeley, University of California Press)Google Scholar
Théberge, P. 1995. ‘What's that sound? Listening to popular music, revisited’, In Popular Music: Style and Identity (pp. 275–84), eds. Straw, W., Johnson, S., Sullivan, R. and Friedlander, P. (Montreal, Centre for Research on Canadian Cultural Industries and Institutions)Google Scholar
Théberge, P. 1997. Any Sound You Can Imagine: Making Music/Consuming Technology (Middletown, Wesleyan University Press)Google Scholar
Thompson, D. 2005. Understanding Audio: Getting the Most Out of Your Project or Professional Recording Studio (Boston, Berklee Press)Google Scholar
Toulson, R., and Ruskin, A. 2008. ‘Can we fix it? – the consequences of “fixing it in the mix” with common equalization techniques scientifically evaluated’, Journal of the Art of Record Production, 3/3. http://www.artofrecordproduction.comGoogle Scholar
Toynbee, J. 2000. Making Popular Music: Musicians, Creativity and Institutions (London, Arnold)Google Scholar
Warner, T. 2003. Pop Music Technology and Creativity: Trevor Horn and the Digital Revolution (Aldershot, Ashgate)Google Scholar
Williams, A. 2007. ‘Divide and conquer: power, role formation and conflict in recording studio architecture’, Journal of the Art of Record Production, 1/1. http://www.artofrecordproduction.comGoogle Scholar
Zak, A. 2001. The Poetics of Rock: Cutting Tracks, Making Music (Berkeley, University of California Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zak, A. 2007. ‘Editorial’, Journal of the Art of Record Production, 2/2. http://www.artofrecordproduction.comGoogle Scholar

Discography

All tracks cited in this field guide were downloaded from iTunes. As is customary with an online release, only the record label, and release date, appear in the accompanying documentation.

Benny Benassi, ‘My Body (featuring Mia J.)’, Rock ‘n’ Rave. SPG Music. 2008Google Scholar
David Bowie, ‘Heroes’, Heroes. EMI Records. 1977Google Scholar
Phil Collins, ‘In The Air Tonight’, Face Value. Atlantic Recording Corporation. 1981Google Scholar
Daft Punk, ‘One More Time’, Discovery. Virgin Records Ltd. 2001Google Scholar
Flying Lotus, 1983. Plug Research. 2006Google Scholar
Flying Lotus, Los Angeles. Warp Records. 2008Google Scholar
Peter Gabriel, ‘Intruder’, Peter Gabriel. Charisma Records Ltd. 1980Google Scholar
Imogen Heap, ‘Hide And Seek’, Speak For Yourself. Megaphonic Records Ltd. 2005Google Scholar
Madonna, ‘Get Together’, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Warner Bros Records Inc. 2005Google Scholar
Portishead, ‘Pedestal’, Dummy. Go! Discs Ltd. 1994Google Scholar
Portishead, ‘Biscuit’, Dummy. Go! Discs Ltd. 1994Google Scholar
Eric Prydze, ‘Call On Me’, Call On Me EP. Ultra Records. 2004Google Scholar
Radiohead, ‘Exit Music (For A Film)’, OK Computer. EMI Records. 1996Google Scholar
Radiohead, ‘Idiotheque’, Kid A. EMI Records. 2000Google Scholar
The Strokes, Is This It? BMG. 2000Google Scholar
Steve Winwood, ‘Valerie’, Talking Back To The Night. Island Records Ltd. 1982Google Scholar