This paper illustrates a range of contemporary contexts where technological precursors are regularly applied in recording sessions by renowned practitioners and/ or studios. Such applications are commonly attributed to nostalgia, fashion or ‘retro’ aesthetics; these issues are critically deconstructed. Implementing a largely critical ethnographic methodology to incorporate interview material with UK practitioners in 3 case study examples, the main investigative foci concern issues of source, practicality, iconicity, context, sonic quality and authenticity.
studio
The Discourse of Home Recording: Authority of “Pros” and the Sovereignty of the Big Studios
This article proposes a critical analysis of the discourse of home recording. Driven by enunciations regarding home recording’s accessibility and democratization, it examines the power/knowledge relations that have been produced and legitimized within the discourse. This work shows that the government in home recording seems to be exerted by recording professionals and home recording “pros”. It suggests that the enunciation of democratization legitimizes the discourse’s elitist and excluding aspects. This notion functions as a tool for the exercise of power within the discourse of home recording, one that is intrinsically connected to the norms of the professional studio.