Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Writing About Gender In Recording

I have just spent two hours working on an academic article about gender in recording studios. As usual, I've gone over the beginning time and time again, but now have to move on from that into the middle part and most importantly, the end. Deadline, this weekend!
It is so very difficult to try to maintain any sort of objectivity when you're writing something like this. It needs to be readable by everyone, and I'm only human. As I write, angry steam comes out of my ears (luckily, not any other orifice) and neutral words must flow onto the page. It's important that a person who has been inside the music industry writes an article like this, but it's difficult to be scientific when all sorts of what-ifs, and memories of being frustrated by the lack of say in what I've recorded, come knocking at the door.
Despite the obvious empowerment of artists like Grimes, there's still a trail of people (actually, both male and female) who walk into a studio with their own vision and walk out having been buried under someone else's. That's the story of so many musicians' lives.
Two hours is a long time to be staring at a computer. I need to stop and have some headspace; I'll start again early tomorrow morning.
All that being said, I'm looking forward to going into the studio this afternoon to re-record some vocals and a guitar part that could be better. I feel so comfortable in recording studios: there is a feeling of continuity in there. Life has been fractured so many times, but somehow writing songs and recording them has provided a reassuring thread that seems to make sense of it all. 
See you later, crocodiles.

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