Digital Music Production and Authenticity - Essay Example

Digital Music Production and Authenti Number Department Essay Plan The following is an essay thatbriefly discusses how digital music production practices (like sampling) have affected notions of musical ‘authenticity’. This is done more especially while looking at the arguments presented by such key figures as Goodwin, Schumacher, Rietveld and Katz in relation to specific production practice(s) and/or technology. The first page comprises the cover page whereas the last page, as is customary, is the reference page with a list of all the sources used in the course of this detailed study. In between the cover page and the reference page is the content of the essay that discusses the topic given. The content itself is further divided into two main parts. The first part of the content which comprises approximately 160 words is the introduction while the second part is the main discussion and the summary of the key text provided. The second part basically forms the junk of the essay comprising up to 1,880 words. The introduction highlights the topic of controversy surrounding digital music production and briefly states how digital music production has grown over the ages and become a common phenomenon with the advent of technology. The part also partly highlights the merits and the demerits of the advent and embrace of digital music production in the music scene and the larger society. The introduction is then followed by the main text which presents various arguments by various peoples concerning the topic of discussion. Sampling as a music production technique is defined and discussed in this section. The advent of sampling is briefly mentioned and how the method slowly became accepted into the music scene also talked about. The portion cites arguments as to how sampling later became a legal issue over time and why involved artistes had to acquire permission from original artistes to sample their music. The section also goes on and discusses the instances that did not warrant one to obtain permission for sampling an original piece. Arguments in support of sampling in any form of art, be it music or any other sorts, such as those of Jean Luc Godard, are numerous in the section. The argument of Jean Luc Godard is particularly connected to the new idea of poetic sampling in the consequent paragraphs. In addition, there are several examples cited in the essay where sampling occurred and more importantly, the earliest/ pioneering instances. This is followed by a keen look into the implications of digital music production such as sampling on the music industry, artists and audiences. The essay is important in a plethora of ways. For one, it is a rich source of information (educative) especially to those who are keen on the history of music and entertainment. Also, the essay is important especially for aspiring artists, producers and even lawyers on acquiring knowledge on legal matters surrounding music. One can easily evade court dramas for infringement of copyright laws by simply going through the piece. And for those who are fans of music sampling (producers) and the general society, the benefits and limitations of the development of digital music production techniques are importantly highlighted. Introduction With the power of technology being made manifest throughout the globe, it is obvious that one of the most affected industries is music. Music technology has been graced with computers, computer software and effect units which musicians have used to make, record, store, sample, compose, mix, edit, analyse and perform music. The need for the use of digital technology in music production is in turn informed by the need for technological and artistic creativity which compel music to devise newer forms of musical expression (Wilsmore, 2010). As digital technology has expanded its capacity and use the world over, merits and demerits have been felt. While the merits have always been realised in the form of enhanced aesthetic feel to music and creativity, the demerits of digital technology in music have almost always bordered along legal and ethical issues such as the infringement of copyright laws and the yardstick to be used in the determination of such infringements. Key text summary How digital music production practices (like sampling) affected notions of musical ‘authenticity’ One of the most popular digital techniques that are used in music is sampling. Sampling refers to the taking of a sample or a portion of a sound recording to reuse it as a sound recording and an instrument in a different piece or song (Chang, 2009). Although sampling was originally introduced into the entertainment scene in the 1960s, yet it was extensively popularised by the hip hop genre which made its advent in the 1970s. The reason behind the strong concomitance between hip hop music and sampling is the fact that the former is also accompanied with disc-jockeying. Disc-jockeying experiments with and manipulates vinyl on turntables and audio mixers (Introna, 2011). Maxwell (1991) argues that before the advent of rap and the hip hop culture, artistes were allowed to sample portions or short parts of other artiste’s recordings without necessarily obtaining permission. However, as hip hop and other music genres continued to rake in a significant amount of money, sampling, original artistes began to seek legal redress, citing the infringement of copyright laws. Some sampling artistes defended themselves on the account that their samples were merely fair use, as is recognised in the United States. It is against the backdrop of the development above that several measures were made to ensure that copyright laws were strong and elaborate enough to protect originality and authenticity. It became clear that every recording artiste who wished to sample a song had to seek sample clearance (Makelberge, 2012). Sample clearance refers to the permission that is granted from/or by the owner of the sampled material. Copyright laws divulged further on the failure to access sample clearance as having consequences such as lawsuits and being barred from distributing music to the public. The only exceptions to Copyright law are when: the music is being sampled at home; the sample is being sampled in live shows; and when the use of the sample conforms to the dictates and provisions of the fair use doctrine. Nevertheless, Copyright laws also accord the artiste the privilege to use sampling as long as the average listener is unable to notice the similarities between the sample and the end product. It is because of this provision that poetic sampling has become increasingly popular in the music industry (as is explained here-below). One of the realities that must be appreciated when it comes to sampling is that sampling has complicated the use of authenticity. This is because there are arguments that sampling may not be wrong at all. The rationale behind this standpoint is that nothing in the world is original since originality is merely a mirage: every feeling has been perceived, every story told and every concept discussed, conceived and put down in a song, movie or written literature. In respect to this rationale, it is argued that the fact that emotions, feelings and ideas have been captured or conceived before does not necessarily mean that they should not be used and shared. This school of thought, led by Jean Luc Godard and his protégés such as Nick Blackburn argues that the role of the music artiste is to keep these emotions, feelings and ideas alive by giving sound and voice to joy, sorrow, love, pain and sympathy so as to make life more colorful and worth living. Particularly, Godard argues that what matters must in the composition and production of music is not where ideas or concepts are taken from, but where the concepts are taken to. In regard to the above, the school of thought belonging to Jean Luc Godard and his protégés would advance the argument that since no idea has never been discussed or realised, what matters most is the factoring of the fact that individual perspective is what is paramount. This involves the consideration of emotions and ideas however similar or identical touch people in unique ways. In this light, it is possible and in order to create a unique way of stealing. It is this unique and clever way of stealing that Nick Blackburn refers to as poetic sampling. This poetic sampling draws bit and pieces of songs before arranging them into freer forms of art. This idea of authentic larceny has its origins in Jim Jarmusch’s theory of authenticity and originality. The import of the foregoing is that poetic sampling has blurred the line between originality and borrowing. This is the case since, unlike traditional form of sampling which obtained legal permission from the original creator, composer or owner of a song, poetic sampling does draw tiny bits and pieces of songs so that it is impossible for the owner of the original song to lodge legal claims on grounds of copyrights infringement. An example of poetic sampling may be the use of the phrase thuggish ruggish as was first introduced by the rap group Bone Thugs N Harmony especially in their 1994 hit single Thuggish Ruggish Bone. However, afterwards, several popular artistes such as Erick Onassis (known by the stage name, Erick Sermon) used the same phrase without necessarily obtaining permission from the rap group Bone Thugs N Harmony. Because of the advent of poetic sampling, it has become readily palpable that artistes rarely consider authenticity and creativity as constraining value points. Instead, authenticity and originality have come to be viewed as barriers that can be sidestepped through subtlety (Loza, 2001). This is a development that is radically shifting away from previous traditions wherein permission had to be granted if a portion of a song had to be used. Goodwin (1988) contends that the advent and increased use of digital sampling has tremendously revolutionised the age of production, so that presently, it is important or more accurate to speak of the age of electronic production. Because of this, pastiche, reproduction and quotation have become more constitutive ways of textuality, as opposed to other forms of textual parasitism. This state of affair has dampened the need to consider aspects of originality. An example to this state of affairs is the introduction and success of the hit single, Pump Up the Volume by the UK pop act, M/A/R/R/S. The crux behind this matter is that the record by M/A/R/R/S and thirty other songs therein had used digital reproduction (OHiggins & Bonner, 2010). This is especially the case since developments in the IT sector or industry have introduced newer processes and software of music production such as the Digital Video Disc [DVD], Compact Disc [CD] and the Digital Audio Tape [DAT]. These software devices easily allow and facilitate sampling of music and borrowing of ideas and concepts from the same. According to Goodwin (1990), the advent and use of sampling and the rest of digital technology has seen the end of the progressive rock and other genres of musical art. In this light, musical art and creativity has ceased from progressing. It is for this reason that Goodwin observes that it is hard to hear people questioning about what is to come after a certain genre. For instance, it is nearly impossible to hear people questioning the genre that should come after punk, since digital sampling and music attenuate the threshold for creativity. In the same light, Goodwin (1988) contends that the use of sampling and other digital sound and music technologies has seriously blurred cultural and historical boundaries. It is for this reason that it is presently very difficult to identify traditional Hispanic music [such as Ruben Blades and Los Lobos] from the Celtic [the Pogues] or African [such as Peter Gabriel, Graceland and Hugh Masekela] music and vice versa (Jeremy, 2006). The same is also true that some form of music that were “underground” began finding their way into the US and global cultural mainstream. The immediately aforementioned types of music underscore this standpoint, for they became more acceptable after they had become increasingly and repeatedly assembled. It is against this backdrop that hip-hop has grown and spread to take on countless shades, internal dissenters, colours and splinter wings, even though it is still being spoken of as an undifferentiated mass (Introna, 2011). This is the same reason as to why even though hip-hop has been taken effectively as the centre of pop music, it was initially considered an outsider phenomenon, prior to the advent of sampling and other forms of digital production. It is because of sampling that hip-hop has managed to move away from the fringes of the US culture in ways and manner that are not expected. The use of music samples and other forms of digital music technologies has greatly redrawn and redefined marketing and economic or financial undertakings and related facets such as advertising, the provision of soundtracks for advertisements, shillings brands and new slang for teenagers (Wakefield, 2006). This has led to the rise of phenomena such as Baauer’s Harlem Shake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ Thrift Shop. That these marketing pieces and soundtracks are popular is underscored by the fact that there was a time Thrift Shop was the number one song in Billboard Hot top 100 since the commencement of the February Harlem Shake. The crux of the matter herein is that the first thirty seconds of Harlem Shake takes the form of a soundtrack for the most recent viral dance film. Both songs Harlem Shake and Thrift Shop topped the chart, specifically the iTunes sales chart (Gauch, 2010). There are nevertheless, people who see sampling as one of the drivers that may lead to the departure of different music genres, specifically, hip-hop and rap. Girard (2011) contends that because of sampling, hip-hop may begin to lose meaning. This is because, with the heavy use of sampling, there is bound to be a centreless future whereupon the elements and references of hip-hop are widely availed for grabs or the use of anyone. This is bound to weaken the centre and thereby undoing hip-hop altogether (Guillaume & Guastavino, 2010). The foregoing also emphasises the fact that because of sampling, the Thrift Shop has captured instances where non-hip-hop artistes are able to participate in rap and hip-hop without being artistes in these genres (Jeremy, 2005). For instance, Wanz, a singer was able to participate in Thrift Shop though initially, his music production had nothing at all to do with hip-hop as a living genre. This is because it is possible for people to sample catchy hip-hop beats and instrumentals and help even non-rappers to appear to rap. That Wanz at times nimbles and mimes is a matter that does not keep him from sounding as a serious or legitimate hip-hop artiste (Williams, 2006). In a different vein, there are those who contend that sampling has greatly helped generate a large size of audience for genres that could have otherwise remained restricted to smaller enclaves. This is because, with sampling and other uses of digital music production, there comes an enhancement of the appeal in the music being produced. Wakefield (2006) contends that apart from the widening of the market, there has been a shift from sticking to the traditional definition and acceptance of a particular music genre. For instance, despite the fact that the artiste behind Thrift Shop not being a traditional rapper, yet Thrift Shop earned airplay on hip-hop radio stations and was able to remain in the top three position in the Billboard Hot 100. References Chang, V., 2009. Records that play: the present past in sampling practice. Popular Music, 28, 2, 143 - 159 Gauch, S., 2010. Sampling Globalization in Calixthe Beyalas Le petit prince de Belleville. Research in African Literatures, 41, 2, 203 - 221 Girard, S., 2011. (Un)originality, hypertextuality and identity in Tigas ‘Sunglasses at Night’. Popular Music, 30, 1, 105 - 125 Goodwin, A., 1990. Sample and Hold: Pop Music in the Digital Age of Reproduction. In S. Frith, On record: rock, pop, and the written world. New York: Routledge. Goodwin, A.,1988. Sample and Hold: Pop Music in the Digital Age of Reproduction. Critical Quarterly, 30, 3, 34-49. Guillaume, B. and Guastavino, C., 2010. Archiving electroacoustic and mixed music. 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