Music Technology Forum – Week 8: Oral Presentations

This week in Music Technology Forum, five members of the class did their oral presentations on their chosen producer. Each oral went for 10 minutes, with 5 of those 10 minutes being used on audio.

Jake was the first member of the class to do his talk. His oral consisted of a colourful and informative powerpoint presentation on Kevin “the Caveman” Shirley. Kevin was born on the 29th of June in Johannesburg, South Africa. He came into the field of producing in the early 60’s. A distinctive technique he uses is panning the High Tom panned right, and the Low Tom panned left on a drum kit.

Stuart’s presentation was on Dave Fridmann. Dave did his first recording as a sound engineer in 1989. He hanged out with rockstars to gain knowledge and understanding of recording. Dave has his own studio in Cassadonia, located 10 minutes from his house. He has a technique of using many different intro’s to songs with effects on many different instruments, mainly guitar. He has a tendency to use a big ambience sound in a number of his songs.

Rowan talked about the life of Ross Robinson. Ross familiarised himself with audio equipment while picking up knowledge from recording with his band. His first job was an assistant engineer and from there he has made himself a name in the field of music production. His very unique style of producing is using a large number of tribal sounds, using tribal drums and even an intro of tribal singing.

Scott’s talk was on the producer Jason Suecof. Jason started playing guitar at the age of 8, and started producing at the age of 17. His Dad was the biggest influence in his life, along with Frank Zepper and Jimi Hendrix. His studio is based in Stamford, Florida where he produces a number of Rock acts. Two of his production styles are: He uses a click sound in the bass drum and has a very ‘picky’ sound to the guitar strings.

Ben was the last to do his oral presentation. His talk was on Eddy Kramer. He was born in Capetown, South Africa in 1941. He began playing classical piano, and drifted into 50’s music, changing his genre from classical to jazz. He set up his own studio for local jazz bands. In 1965, he made his way into the KPS studio, where he gained an excellent reputation. From there, he has produced huge name acts such as the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. His famous style is panning guitar solo’s left to right.

References:
1. Steve Fieldhouse (2007) - University of Adelaide.
2. Jake Taylor (2007) - University of Adelaide.
3. Stuart Johnston (2007) - University of Adelaide.
4. Rowan Bunning (2007) - University of Adelaide.
5. Scott Herriman (2007) - University of Adelaide.
5. Benjamin Hawkins (2007) - University of Adelaide.