Olivier Julien

The diverting of musical technology by rock musicians: the example of double-tracking

In Rock Formation , Steve Jones notes that ‘popular music is, at every critical juncture of its history, determined by the technology musicians use to realize their ideas’ (Jones 1992, p. 1). As far as sound treatment is concerned, the importance of that technology (or more precisely, the importance of the possibilities it offers at a certain time) is rather obvious – had he not possessed reel-to-reel tape recorders, Sam Phillips would have never been able to achieve the slap echo which was so characteristic of his productions in the 1950s.

Introducing students to musical technology: the case for reel-to-reel analog tape machines

Since their beginnings, popular music studies have relied primarily on disciplines such as sociology, anthropology and semiotics. However, the nineties saw the emergence of a generation of scholars whose knowledge of the recording studio led them to show a common interest in technological parameters, and to develop new tools for musicological analysis. This article describes the perspectives that their work offers within the realm of education.