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WRITING AND EDITING
Why editing is like producing records
Three types of record producers and how this relates to writing and editing
My favourite podcast at the moment is ‘Gear Club’ by Stuart Lerman and John Agnello, two veterans of the New York City recording scene.
I love listening to them talk to their guests about the art of making records.
In fact, the title of the podcast is a complete misnomer, because they spend very little time on the technical aspects of recording, and much more on the human dimensions of the process of turning performance into recorded music.
The role of producer is one that’s always fascinated me.
The Steve Albini approach
On one end of the spectrum, there’s the Steve Albini philosophy, which is that the producer’s role is primarily that of a technician.
The job is to set up the acoustic environment and the microphones and route the signal to the tape machine in a way that most faithfully captures what the artist is attempting.
There’s a good argument for this approach, and I totally buy it — Albini’s line is that it’s not up to him to impose an aesthetic on the band he’s recording, and further, his…
