The Producer as Composer: Shaping the Sounds of Popular Music

by Virgil Moorefield

Book Overview

The evolution of the record producer from organizer to auteur, from Phil Spector and George Martin to the rise of hip-hop and remixing.

In the 1960s, rock and pop music recording questioned the convention that recordings should recreate the illusion of a concert hall setting. The Wall of Sound that Phil Spector built behind various artists and the intricate eclecticism of George Martin's recordings of the Beatles did not resemble live performances--in...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262514052
• ISBN13: 9780262514057
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 8.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Good Insights!

Mr, (Dr.??) Moorefield has collected a lot of research and experience into the process of production. Aside from some editorial errors, it's a good, quick read that warrants re-reading.

Using this for my class

This book is a nice study on production. I especially appreciate the classic tracks-style breakdowns of historic song productions. I will look into using it for one of my future production classes.

excellent

I've been trying to find a book like this for quite a while. It's an excellent academic, yet accessible, study of modern producers - their techniques, technology, and personalities. I only wish it covered more people. ...though the producers that were chosen were excellent choices.

A Unique View of an Essential Creator in the world of Popular Music

I love this book! It finally brings to light for the average popular music consumer as well as the scholarly directed the vital function that has made the producer the king of the studio. We members of the business side of popular music have recognized the financial rewards that come to producers from the likes of Phil Spector and Leiber and Stoler on to the producers of more current rap, hip hop and other genres including disco. But this book finally brings a search light of musicology to show the skills that warrant the status of producers as a vital contributor to the music scene. It is a worthy tribute to each of the many producers whose contributions are analyzed with skill by an author who combines his role as professor and working musician. Bill Krasilovsky ( co author of This Business of Music)