The magic of sound in media…
It’s all about accessing your “George Martin Gene”……George, of course, is best known as the Beatles producer, but what inspired me most about his work was that he seemed to have a cliché-proof work ethic. While his background was in classical music, he was able to help The Beatles re-invent the “sound” of pop music with such incredible taste, vision, and quality. Whether it’s backward tapes, mellotrons, or whatever, there was a revolutionary new sound in every groove. His production saved us in 1964 from a life of Bobby Vinton production (I like Bobby Vinton, but the production was more slick and pretty than earth-changing)…then again in 1967 from a life of Tommy James production. (Again, nothing against Tommy, but it wasn’t really too challenging)
But just listen again to the timeless strings on Eleanor Rigby…. backward lines on Rain…the sound paintings on I Am the Walrus…the end of Day in The Life…the trippy Blue Jay Way…etc…..George with some help from a few other creative guys CHANGED SOUND. Helped take already brilliant pieces of music and propel them to yet a higher level. No barriers, no clichés, always fresh…used the whole universe of sound not just drums, guitar bass, and keys…
Those songs that the Beatles wrote kinda helped, but HOW those songs were delivered to the speakers, through inventive production and THINKING is what changed sound.
Man–If only media production was attacked with that same vision! Most production is done by the book. Can you imagine if the Beatles produced music by the book? The piano at the end of a Day in the Life would have been cut because some bozo at the record company felt it wouldn’t get Top 40 Airplay–too weird.
Just like a modern-day PD might reject an inventive piece because it clouds the “imaging statement” or something short-sighted like that.
AND—it’s important to note that this isn’t some old guy reminiscing about the good old days. This is timeless stuff. Ask any gifted artist in 2020 what they think of George Martin/Beatles intellect and inventiveness and you will find complete reverence. It’s about the approach one takes to sound…and that is evergreen.
So–I believe engaging the “George Martin gene” that’s somewhere in every producers makeup is what we MUST DO TO FULFILL THE SONIC POTENTIAL. Media production sound CAN be genius, clear, fresh, new, never-before-heard. I can’t bloody stress this enough. We gotta open our minds in order to open the ears of America. We gotta release ourselves from everything you’ve ever heard on radio or TV. I am totally not kidding. I am totally trying to impress the importance of this. We will blow it if we fail to make the sonic magic our minds are capable of. When we DO make this magic, look out. Making it consistently is the trick.
The magic to making truly revolutionary is SONICS!: Sonics, production, imaging whatever you call it, it is the magic between the shows and songs, it can create excitement or enhance a mood.
It is what can give ANYONE a radically new sound that like a George Martin production, LIFTS everything to a higher level..
The trick? RE-INVENTION (AFDI!)
We don’t want to evolve the production sound, we want to COMPLETELY RE-INVENT IT.
Production must be a trademark —a sound you can hear a mile away and know who it is. Sound that transports the listeners, whether it’s to Main Street or Alpha Centauri. This ain’t going to happen unless we RE-INVENT media sound. We can’t underestimate the critical importance of this.
Production is “Theater”……
The Tools include:
Accents!!!! Magic. Pure magic. British, Asian, Russian Jamaican. African….exotic accents! Real ones. USE THEM. Chicken shits stick with traditional “been there–heard them” radio voices but we should not be Chicken Shits.
The Walrus Factor. Go ahead and listen to “I am the Walrus” with headphones. It’s worth the exercise.
Sampled Instruments. Bagpipes…Harps…YES! Even on Rock stations. Exotic sound works.
Modified. Backwards, Sped Up, etc….
Song Bits (Out of Format especially).
Orchestral, New Age and Electronic Recordings. A gold mine of sound!
Scanners, Short Wave Radio.
Radio Drama! Westerns, Detective, Sci-Fi. Loaded with camp and brilliant SFX.
Nature. The power and sweeping vista of a Thunderstorm recording is magic. On Rock, Country…anywhere
Endings. Day in the Life was cool….you’re next
Morse Code. Why not?
…most importantly, activate your George Martin gene.
DO NOT GET LOCKED INTO WHAT YOU THINK YOUR SOUND PARAMETERS ARE!!! Open up…use the World of sound.
Yes, you need to have a sonic point of view for your station or format, but there is NO reason in radio , Cartoon soundtracks can’t be used on Smooth Jazz (well, it’s a reach..but you never know)….or Harps on Metal formats. Go tell Metallica or the Led Zeppelin you cant use strings (they used ’em)….. The point is–No barriers. Re-write the playbook. Think in stereo.
Film and Commercials do a better job than Radio or tv in the Sound creativity.
Radio and TV has de-evolved to being:
Dumbed Down
Cliché
Infected by cheezy Production “libraries”
Dated
Sheep-like inventiveness
It is our responsibility to BRING SONIC BRILLIANCE BACK TO MEDIA…
It starts with thinking BEYOND . DO NOT USE CURRENT RADIO OR TV PRODUCTION AS A MODEL. Forget it totally. Lose it. Blow it up. WE MUST START FROM SCRATCH.
The goal is to COMPLETELY CHANGE THE SOUND….Not simply evolve or update.
The point: We can’t evolve these stations…we must forget they exist. Forget radio or TV exists…and start creating sound from scratch.
Pretend it’s 1921 and radio/TV production has NEVER been done before. OK? Great. Now…GO!
Ambient, Big, Quirky, Funny, Campy, Intense, Sick, Dreamy…
You are a media artist…not a radio producer.
Set your sound creative meter in the George Martin, Eno or a sound driven film maker mode.
Think like a music producer, not an MEDIA producer
VOICES:
Again…accents. reality. the age of “the big voice” is dead.
Female
Hick
Whispers
Aged (like John Lee Hooker RIP)
Real (street people)
Stars
ANYTHING BUT “radio/tv” -meaning the same old…
You don’t have Prod Rooms…We have Sound Labs.
The more background a format or station is, the more you must rely on a heavily repeated audio signature.
Sound Occurs everywhere SONIC DENSITY!
YOUR AUDIO SIGNATURE IS YOUR ….SIGNATURE
The important thing is GO THERE. Where is there? Hell if I know, it’s up to people to re-invent “there”…. Thats how revolutionary media is made
ad astra per aspera
