Week 4: Abbey Road Studios

Formerly known as EMI studios, Abbey Road studios is located in Westminister, London, England. Although the studio was established in November of 1931 by the Gramophone Company, Abbey Road Studios has been popularized by The Beatles. The studio is so often associated with the fab four given that they recorded almost their entire catalog at the studio between their kick off in 1962 up until 1970 when they disbanded. The facilities are seen as being the “it” place for musical recording in the 1960’s when artists such as the aforementioned Beatles, Pink Floyd and The Hollies all recorded there and used innovative production techniques.

Significant producers and sound engineers who have worked at the Abbey Road Studio include Sir George Martin (The Beatles), Geoff Emerick, Norman Smith, Ken Scott, Mike Stone, Alan Parsons, Peter Vince, Malcolm Addey, Peter Brown, Richard Langham, Phil McDonald, John Kurlander, Richard Lush and Ken Townsend who actually invented the groundbreaking studio effect of automatic double tracking (ADT) which heavily enhanced the sound of voices and instruments when recorded.

According to the studio’s official website, the chief mastering engineer was Chris Blair, who began his audio career as a tape deck operator – a job people often forget existed!

The equipment used in the studios:

• Studio One: 72 Fader AMS Neve 88RS
• Studio Two: 60 Fader AMS Neve 88RS
• Studio Three: 96 Fader Solid State Logic 9000 J
• Penthouse: 48 Fader AMS Neve DFC Gemini

Maybe one day I will be able to travel to London and visit the studio and see where some of my favourite music of all time was created and brought to life by my favourite sound engineers. Sigh.

Week 3: The Vinyl Revival

I, for one, am a massive supporter of the vinyl revival and I have been for as long as I can remember. When my parents hooked me up with their old turntables, I felt electric. I can still recall the magical experience of hearing “Because” off of the second side of Abbey Road. It was magical beyond comprehension. Call me old-fashioned or pretentious, but I find there to be something captivating about listening to an entire record through a quality sound system from front to back.

Am I thankful for technological advancements? Yes. Yes I am.

But do I support an industry of streaming, torrenting and digital downloading? No. No I don’t.

The fridge in my apartment broke the other weekend and we had to get a handy man to come in and fix the problem. When he knocked, I was home alone so I had my sound system blasting in my room. I had on side 1 of “Take it From the Man”, the second blues-rock record by “The Brian Jonestown Massacre”. It was almost as if the handy-man waited no time in asking me why the heck I was listening to music in the same primitive way that he did growing up. I had to awkwardly ramble off my prepared ode to analog while he sat there with widening eyes and burrowing eyebrows. To sum it up, it’s analog. It’s natural. I like listening to music in it’s original context, the way it was meant to be listened to.

Despite my love of analog, we DO live in a digital age. Although our minds are often preoccupied with cell phones, laptops, i-Pods and other technological devices, it is apparent that the “Vinyl Revival” is a thing. And 2014 has been a surprisingly great year for record sales.

As an RTA student, all things in relation to math/numbers/graphs gross me out and/or scare me. But these are some statistics that I think are relevant and they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

VINYL. SALES. HAVE. SKYROCKETED. Isn’t that exciting? If you’re not excited, you’re probably quite boring and not my type of person. Do you even have a heart?

Ultimately, I think ignoring analog and succumbing to the hype of digital downloading/streaming is valuing the conveience over quality, which is lame on all sorts of levels. Listening to vinyl in a quality sound environment is an experience. When you have crappy quality Apple ear-buds in and you’re listening to music off of your phone, the music is an additive factor to your experience; however, when you physically PUT a record on, the music becomes your experience. It has your undivided attention and even demands so by providing the hassle of switching from Side A to Side B. But it’s a struggle worth enduring.

So toss your phone in the other room, shut that laptop and drop that needle.

WEEK 2: The Making of a Sonic Masterpiece: Pet Sounds

Oh, Pet Sounds, how I love you so.

Often noted as the first ever “concept album” of the 1960’s, my copy of this psychedelic art rock record is one of my most prized possessions. I remember when my parents were giving me their old record collections and my dad looked me dead in the eye and said, “this one. This one is special. You don’t lose, break or damage this one or you will be in for it”. I remember looking at the album and wondering why my father possessed such an affinity for it. But now, I couldn’t blame him.

One day, when I hopefully get to pass on this original record to my kid, I will totally threaten to kick their ass if they break it too. 

Released in May of 1966, “Pet Sounds” is the 11th studio album by the American rock/pop band, The Beach Boys. In the early 1960’s, the group epitomized the All-American California surfer car-loving lifestyle. Essentially, they made surfer hits for white kids and stayed within their artistic comfort zones. This is by no means dissing or undermining early Beach Boys material for the record (ha!). The texture and harmonies on tracks such as “California Girls”, “I Get Around”, “In My Room”, “Barbara Ann” and “Help Me Rhonda!” are iconic pop staples. But when “Pet Sounds” came out, it blew everyone away.

This album has been the subject of critical acclaim by critics, musicians and audiophiles alike and it is noted as one of the most influential and greatest records of all time.

TID BIT OF TRIVIA: 

Brian Wilson was inspired by The Beatles’ 1965 “Rubber Soul” record. Brian was then inspired to create Pet Sounds. The Beatles then heard Pet Sounds and were inspired to create the iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonley Hearts Club Band in 1967. Some of the greatest artists of all time all thriving off of each other for inspiration!

The album was produced by Beach Boy, Brian Wilson, who wrote and composed all of the tracks as well. Wilson’s arrangements wove together an assortment of unprecedented studio equipment such as bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, an Electro-Theremin, dog whistles, train noises, Hawaiian-esque strings, Coca-Cola bottles to serve as percussion, barking dogs, and avant-garde sounding guitars and keyboards. Wilson was nothing short of a perfectionist when it came to crafting this record and reportedly irritated other members of the band (such as Mike Love) for making the most miniscule adjustments to sounds during the recording sessions. I feel as if Rolling Stone Magazine did an excellent job of discussing the emotional and sonic progression of the record when they wrote:

“The love songs of Pet Sounds begin with the gorgeous theme of frustrated mid-Sixties blueballed adolescence, “wouldn’t it be nice to stay together, hold each other close the whole night through?…” That question lays the entire premise of the album immediately in front of us. “You Still Believe In Me,” with Brian’s lovely harpsichord playing, carries the affair a little farther, through and past indescretion into the reconciliation of “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder),” sung in Brians’ wrenching, melting butter falsetto with the gentle lyrics of Tony Asher, Brian’s major collaborator in this period, at the top of their form. There are also the perceptive songs of anxiety, malaise and self-doubt — “That’s Not Me,” “I’m Waiting For the Day,” a tribute to the larger-than-life echo chambers of Phil Spector, the striking choral ensemble of “God Only Knows” and the angst-laden “I Know There’s An Answer.” Each of these tunes has its own singular flavor, one little brilliant touch — the slur of a baritone saxophone or the luxuriant tintinnabulation of Brian’s omnipresent chimes — that puts it apart from the body of the whole record. ”  – Rolling Stone Magazine, 1972. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/pet-sounds-19720622#ixzz3KirvWAWk

I, along with many others, could write about this cult album forever. I genuinely believe that this album, along with many from that time period, will stand the test of time and be around when I am all old and wrinkly. It was a pioneer by being the first concept album, it followed a lyrical pattern and emotional story format and ultimately, the detail oriented production is evident when you listen to it front to back.

Week 1: Dark Side of the Rainbow, Jaws and Sound Design.

Well.

First year audio was super fun, to say the least. Coming into first year, I thought I was coming here to focus on TV Studio. I always had a passion for music and sound, but I naturally assumed that I would lean more towards television. After experiencing both Audio Production and Multi-camera Production in first year, I knew for a concrete fact I couldn’t handle lighting and green screens anymore. Audio is where I wanted to be. And I am so incredibly content with my choice.

Audio is so incredibly cool, to say the least. Sound is an experience like no other. When I was a child I loved watching horror films, despite the fact that they completely terrified me. Whenever I was horrified of a film (ie. The Ring or The Grudge because everybody KNOWS that those are the WORST, MOST TERRIFYING THINGS A PERSON CAN EXPERIENCE, OKAY?) I would always try watching it with the volume muted afterwards. Nearly every time I did this, the fear went away. I realized that the sound was the vessel for the fear that I was experiencing. Highly crafted sound effects and something even as simple as ambient room tone can completely shape a body of work and give it that certain something, which in this case was fear. Audio is the mood, it’s the driving force of the piece. I am sure you are widely familiar with the Wizard of Oz trick where you sync up Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” with it? If you haven’t, get on that. 10/10 would recommend. Making this switch for the 1939 classic film is like delving into a new realm of psychedelia and it is all because of the audio experience.

In a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, “Dark Side of the Moon” sound engineer, Alan Parsons, said:

“It was an American radio guy who pointed it out to me. It’s such a non-starter, a complete load of eyewash. I tried it for the first time about two years ago. One of my fiancee’s kids had a copy of the video, and I thought I had see what it was all about. I was very disappointed. The only thing I noticed was that the line “balanced on the biggest wave” came up when Dorothy was kind of tightrope walking along a fence. One of the things any audio professional will tell you is that the scope for the drift between the video and the record is enormous; it could be anything up to twenty seconds by the time the record’s finished. And anyway, if you play any record with the sound turned down on the TV, you will find things that work.“

Okay, so even though Parsons is not really all that fond of the audio sync effect, he still mentions a very valuable point that is the last sentence: “if you play any record with the sound turned down on the TV, you will find things that work. This shows that your viewing experience is dependent on audio. What you see is reliant on what you hear.

Another film with probably the most famous and recognizable audio staple is the notorious “Jaws” song. Everybody knows it, and I hear it ringing in my mind every time I enter a stupid pool. Because a pool is about as close as I am ever getting to a damn ocean after that film. I have been a selachophobic for my entire life. I will save you the Google search, but it means I am absolutely horrified of sharks. The sound effects and score of the film Jaws haven’t really helped with this fear. This film changed the way people lived their lives when it came out in 1975 and I stand by the fact that it is the audio that instilled such terror in people. You barely see the shark the entire film. In this case, what you hear is scarier than what you see. Sound implies the horror for your brain, and THAT is pretty darn interesting.

And no, I will not be attaching a photo of a shark. Not even a cartoon one.

Until next week,

Bianca Tomori.