How music dies (or lives): field recording and the battle for democracy in the arts

Description

All recordings document life, arising from a specific time and place, and if that place is artificial, the results will be as well. Culled from a lifetime of learning through failure and designed to provoke thought and inspiration for artists in every medium, How Music Dies (or Lives) is a virtual how-to manual for those on a quest for authenticity in an age of airbrushed and Auto-Tuned so-called #x93;artists." Author and Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan chronicles his own journeys to find new and ancient sounds, textured voices, and nonmalleable songs, and he presents readers with an intricate.;Title Page; Copyright; Table of Contents; Acknowledgments; Foreword; Preface: Proximity Bias and the Irrationality of Fear; Introduction: Learning Through Failure; Section I: The Value of Democratizing Voices; 1. We Aren't the World: All Music Is "Local Music"; 2. The Fixation to Fixate; 3. Message Monopolization; Field Recording Chronicle: Malawi; 4. The Real King(s) of Rock 'n' Roll; Field Recording Chronicle: Malawi; 5. Unlabelling Labels; Field Recording Chronicle: Rwanda; 6. Regressive Superlatives: The "G"-Word ... and Other Demons; Field Recording Chronicle: Zomba Prison. Title Page Copyright Table of Contents Acknowledgments Foreword Preface: Proximity Bias and the Irrationality of Fear Introduction: Learning Through Failure Section I: The Value of Democratizing Voices 1. We Aren't the World: All Music Is "Local Music" 2. The Fixation to Fixate 3. Message Monopolization Field Recording Chronicle: Malawi 4. The Real King(s) of Rock 'n' Roll Field Recording Chronicle: Malawi 5. Unlabelling Labels Field Recording Chronicle: Rwanda 6. Regressive Superlatives: The "G"-Word ... and Other Demons Field Recording Chronicle: Zomba Prison. 7. Winning Hearts, Not Breaking Backs: All We Are Saying Is Give Art a ChanceSection II: A Call for a Return to Naturalism: The Need for Randomness 8. Building an Arc 9. Everything, Including the Kitchen Sink 10. The Primordial "Social Work": Why Music Heals Field Recording Chronicle: Vietnam 11. Consumerism Masquerading as Creativity Field Recording Chronicle: Palestine 12. Parallel Rituals: The Insularity of Technological "Advances" 13. Sound Before Volume Field Recording Chronicle: South Sudan 14. Recording as a Leap of Faith. Section III: How To Get "There": Some Possible Roads Home15. Surrendering to Sound 16. Voices Within the Voice 17. Using the Microphone as a Telescope Field Recording Chronicle: Juba Orphanage 18. Acoustic Illumination 19. What's "Left"? 20. Element(s) of Surprise Field Recording Chronicle: Taranta 21. Cooked by Culture: Ever Beware the "Experts" 22. What Can't Be Owned? Section IV: Products of Our Environment 23. Making Sense of the First Sense 24. S-urr-ounded: The Inescapable Symphonies of Our Everyday Life Field Recording Chronicle: Cambodia 25. Disposable Music. 26. Inter-Specific Artistry: "I Am Not an Animal!"27. Aural Culture: Music Not As Math, but Individuation 28. Moving Targets: There Is No "There" There 29. Do You Hear What I Hear? 30. Playing for Keeps: There Is No Rehearsal Field Recording Chronicle: Acholi Machon 31. The Ricochet of Influence Section V: Backin' Up for Some Backstory 32. Transparency: Letting Your Real "Roots" Show 33. Drawing Random Inspiration from the Inspired: Liberating Influence from the Ghetto of Sanctioned Outlets 34. Who's the Boss? 35. The Road from No-Name-Ville. 36. Premature and Promiscuous Championing37. Pain Dues, Dude 38. Amateur Hour: "Real Musicians Have Day Jobs" 39. Bittersweet Dreams Section VI: Beware the Traps 40. Living in the Moment, But Keeping an Eye on the Horizon 41. Sonic Prisons: Getting Off the Grid 42. Personalities Displacing Spirituality Field Recording Chronicle: Transylvania 43. Self-Sabotage and the Unconscious: Subjectivity's Quicksand 44. The School of Soft Knocks 45. Hearing Lost 211 46. "Free" Samples? Section VII: Welcoming Magic: Heeding Wanderlust's Call 47. Following Existing Currents.