Acoustic electronica - engineering and producing a new jazz aesthetic
- Submitting institution
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University of Salford, The
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 50975
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
-
-
- Location
- -
- Brief description of type
- Recorded artefacts, commercial recording releases, documentation of process, conference presentations
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month
- March
- Year
- 2014
- URL
-
https://salford.figshare.com/collections/Acoustic_Electronica_Engineering_and_Producing_a_New_Jazz_Aesthetic/4461446/4
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
0
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- Yes
- Double-weighted statement
- The outputs contained in the ‘Acoustic Electronica: Engineering and producing a new jazz aesthetic’ collection span a six-year research period and were preceded by activity from 2008. The artistic unit in question has remained consistent through this period, allowing us to iteratively refine our creative methodologies and providing unique opportunities for practice-based research. The Research Timeline illustrates many periods of extended intense activity which have produced over four hours of music, across five releases, and long form conference presentations. The multi-phased work has required detailed planning and liaison with record labels and management.
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This practice-based research submission encapsulates both my recorded outputs with the ensemble GoGo Penguin and writings exemplifying the creative and technical processes employed in their production. I have co-produced and engineered four full length album releases and an E.P which have received worldwide releases through Gondwana Records and Blue Note Records. The project was led by the central research questions:
•How could the adaptation of practice more commonly associated with electro-acoustic composition and popular music production be exploited in order to enable innovation in the aesthetic language of recorded acoustic Jazz?
•Could the adoption of these techniques broaden the reach of the records beyond established jazz audiences?
The sonic aesthetic of recorded acoustic jazz most commonly presents an ensemble in a naturally reverberant acoustic environment, supporting the notion of part-improvised, authentic ‘as-live’ performance. Re-iterative practice explored within contrasting musical genres informed my recording methodology; I identified studio environments which retained the ability for clear visual communication and improvisational performance but enabled acoustically isolated, malleable initial capture. This enabled the exploration of innovative signal processing and spatialisation techniques which sonically reference a broad range of influences outside the sphere of jazz. I have explored these techniques through a series of conference presentations: Art of Record Production 2016 (Aalborg) / Continental Drift: (Edinburgh 2017) Crosstown Traffic ARP/IASPM (Huddersfield 2018) and MuPACT (2020), the contents of which are presented in my Figshare collection. The records have been well received globally, receiving recognized award nominations (Mercury Music Prize 2014) and high chart positions (A Humdrum Star peaking at no five in the US jazz albums chart). The term ‘acoustic electronica’ was coined by a Greek journalist and has subsequently become synonymous with the band and the wider genre which they have spearheaded.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -