SOUND ON SOUND
A new generation of vocal processors, and a new generation of engineers, confront the possibilities and ethics of digital vocal manipulation.
Norbert Putnam was part of the original Muscle Shoals rhythm section, and as a million-selling producer, helped to bring pop music to the country capital of the world.
A gaggle of famous MCs, a star of the extreme sports world, and a laptop recording setup in a hotel bedroom: could the MuskaBeatz project show the way ahead for rap music?
Nashville is still a place of legend when it comes to music. Although overall sales of the city's flagship genre, country music, have dipped somewhat from their mid-'90s peak, Nashville still has a recording legacy matched by few cities in the world.
It was once taken for granted that freelance engineers would use the standard outboard provided by the studio they were working in. But the explosion in the amount of gear available means that now they often have to assemble personal rack to be sure of getting access to their tools of choice. Dan Daley explores the phenomenon...
The proliferation of independent record labels in the USA has increased the demand for low-budget records, and sparked the home music studio market, moving it from spare bedroom demo mill to centre stage. Our man in America, Dan Daley, reports.