Digital Revolution Part II (1990-1999) PDF

The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) Overview Transition to digital dominance The era of the CD One-hit wonders and albums with only one good song Urban music rules the charts:...

The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) Overview Transition to digital dominance The era of the CD One-hit wonders and albums with only one good song Urban music rules the charts: Hip-hop R&B Pop New Jack Swing Sound Tools to Pro Tools Steinberg and Cubase The Rise and Fall of ADAT Napster and the MP3 Heavy Metal to Grunge to Pop Punk Rave culture and Dance music Boy bands and Max Martin Pro Tools in the 90’s TECHNOLOGY The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 1  1991 - Sound Tools changes to Pro Tools Usage in studios increases steadily over the 90’s 1995 - Digidesign and Avid merge 1997 - Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ la Vida Loca” is the first #1 record made in Pro Tools https://open.spotify.com/track/0Ph6L4l8dYUuXFmb71Ajnd?si=89cf582 050ab4d44 1999 - Pro Tools 5.0 Metallica ARTIST Formed in Los Angeles, 1981 Lars Ulrich (drums) James Hetfield (vocals and rhythm guitar) Dave Mustain (Megadeth, former member) Dave replaced by Kirk Hammet (lead guitar) “Ride The Lightning” 1984 https://open.spotify.com/album/1nTvIQEXvygqSIqc2vuwAz?si=kA8ykX MKS3K74_TYXrAdeg “Metallica (The Black Album)” 1991 The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 2  https://open.spotify.com/album/55fq75UfkYbGMq4CncCtOH?si=ZDTab MvdROKXIOeHfxXxkQ Produced by Bob Rock Featuring their biggest hit “Enter Sandman” https://open.spotify.com/track/3VqHuw0wFlIHcIPWkhIbdQ?si=c05e ba46bdfd486f Bob Rock PRODUCER Canadian producer and engineer Known for his work with hard rock bands in the 80’s and 90’s Motley Crue Aerosmith Metallica Bon Jovi The Tragically Hip Bryan Adams Produced biggest hits for Bon Jovi and Metallica New Jack Swing STYLE Sampler/drum machine based R&B Starts in the mid-80’s The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 3  Commercial peak in the early 90’s Iconic drum sounds and drum swing Most notable producers of the era: Teddy Riley Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Janet Jackson “Control” (1986) https://open.spotify.com/track/5vywtoD7fO1CP0B2wtm6I6?si=d4cbe1a d966c4650 Bobby Brown “My Prerogative” (1988) https://open.spotify.com/track/0v9kGNjkKdQUdDoBIuiph4?si=db7bb3b 4968c414e Michael Jackson “Dangerous” (1990) https://open.spotify.com/track/3u4RKvwDT3CKeYbjxqXEye?si=49d3f17 a31684708 Tony! Toni! Tone! “If I Had No Loot” (1993) https://open.spotify.com/track/61sHUw9dDUt4wPLHvMF8ci?si=7b2206 55692545e2 Bruno Mars “Finesse” (2016) The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 4  https://open.spotify.com/track/5XMkENs3GfeRza8MfVAhjK?si=007756 da73bf400f Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis PRODUCER From Minneapolis Played in The Time (Morris Day and Prince) Jimmy Jam, keyboards Terry Lewis, bass and lyrics Leave The Time and go solo in 1983 Produced: Janet Jackson “Control” (1986) https://open.spotify.com/track/5vywtoD7fO1CP0B2wtm6I6?si=d4cb e1ad966c4650 Boyz II Men “On Bended Knee” (1994) https://open.spotify.com/track/7MYmo0JJJDmu4MZTSAF9y3?si=d c653291bdf74de2 Usher “U Remind Me” (2001) https://open.spotify.com/track/2QsZVnbWVSjKMXK6K3uRBL?si=35 552c58d40f4613 The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 5  CD’s Dominate MOMENT LP’s largely stop being manufactured CD’s are marked as a new era of “perfect sound” (80’s) The cost of CD players falls Consumers re-buy their old music collections on CD CD’s have benefits Longer than LP Louder than LP More portable than an LP 44.1kHz/16 bit becomes the standard for digital audio Babyface and LA Reid PRODUCER Babyface aka Kenny Edmonds (songwriter, guitarist, artist) LA Reid aka Antonio Reid (drummer, producer, business guy) Songwriting and production duo Responsible for many of the biggest pop and R&B hits of the late 80’s and 90’s Co-founded LaFace Records in 2008 Sign OutKast and Goodie Mob Worked with: Boyz II Men Mariah Carey Toni Braxton Bobby Brown Whitney Houston The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 6  TLC Paula Abdul Usher Sony C-800 TECHNOLOGY Released 1992 Top of the line LDC Tube mic Incredibly detailed high end Heat sink on the back Primarily used for vocals: Hip-hop Rap R&B Grunge STYLE Began in the late 80’s Commercial breakthrough in early 90’s Centered around Seattle Sub Pop label Nirvana Pearl Jam Soundgarden Stone Temple Pilots The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 7  Synthesis of various rock styles: Punk Metal Hard Rock Angsty, rebellious, alienated Loud → soft → loud formula Nirvana - “Nevermind” RELEASE https://open.spotify.com/album/2guirTSEqLizK7j9i1MTTZ?si=lUiyuCIzTmSJ 7Rkv892KtQ Band formed in 1987 Centre of Seattle’s 90’s grunge music Power trio Kurt Cobain, guitar and vocals Dave Grohl, drums Krist Novoselic, bass “Nevermind” (1991) recorded at Sound City Studios Produced by Butch Vig Mixed by Andy Wallace Has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide Band ends in 1994 when Kurt commits suicide :( Steve Albini PRODUCER The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 8  Owner of Electrical Audio in Chicago Engineer/producer Produced Nirvana’s “In Utero” https://open.spotify.com/album/7wOOA7l306K8HfBKfPoafr?si=J28_614 hTBKA2T6QLfaLFQ Raw live-off-the-floor album post-Nevermind Analog recording master that specializes in capturing “what’s happening in the room” in very high quality Champion of the anti-corporate, indie rock, DIY scene 90’s Hip-Hop STYLE Hip-hop becomes one of the biggest genres of the decade The golden age of hip-hop mid-80’s to mid-90’s Many sub-genres emerge in the 90’s: G-Funk (Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Too Short) Jazz rap (A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Gang Starr) Boom bap/hardcore East Coast (Nas, Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang) Gangster rap (Ice-T, NWA, 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G.) Pop rap (Puff Daddy (ew), MC Hammer, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys) AKAI MPC Series TECHNOLOGY Created by Roger Linn MPC60 The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 9  The original 12 bit, 40kHz sampling 13 seconds of sample memory Changed the sound of hip-hop Followed by many other iterations: MPC3000 MPC2000 MPC500 16 velocity sensitive pads MIDI & SMPTE Dr. Dre PRODUCER Arguably the most important hip-hop producer of the 90’s Defined west-coast rap in the 90’s Rose to fame as producer for N.W.A Has taken credit for many other producers’ work Released “The Chronic” in 1992 https://open.spotify.com/album/2V5rhszUpCudPcb01zevOt?si=U8U3_Y SPTMynxjNt2mAEmg Formed Death Row Records with Suge Knight Helped launch the careers of: 2Pac Snoop Dogg The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 10  Eminem 50 Cent Home Recording in the 90’s MOMENT Hard disk recorders Cassette 4-tracks Reel to Reel Early DAW’s ADAT Prosumer gear Garage studios ADAT TECHNOLOGY Alesis Digital Audio Tape Encoded digital info onto tape VHS sized tape Announced NAMM 1991 Released 1992 8-track units Machines could be linked (up to 16 for 128 tracks) CD quality Lived an entire life in less than 10 years Obsolete by the early 2000’s The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 11  The Loudness War MOMENT Has always been happening to some extent Bob Ludwig’s cut of Led Zeppelin II is coveted Starts in radio: Stations use limiters to get the loudest broadcast possible Competition between stations grows The loudness wars reaches new levels in the 90’s CD’s allow for more loudness than any previous format Mastering engineers start to master louder and louder to compete with one another as well as what they hear on the radio Waves L1 Ultramaximizer TECHNOLOGY Released in 1994 Widely used digital brickwall limiter Contributed to the loudness wars Helps establish Waves as a premier plugin manufacturer Dominated the early 2000’s L2 is released as hardware and later as software Rave Culture MOMENT Rave scene emerges out of UK in the late 80’s Popular around the western world by the end of the 90’s Rave culture spawns many genres of dance music: The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 12  House Techno Trance Drum & Bass Artists to know: Stardust, Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method Daft Punk - “Homework” RELEASE https://open.spotify.com/album/5uRdvUR7xCnHmUW8n64n9y?si=Y-Mbyq myScqc9Wt-LiCE1g Released 1997 Debut release French electronic music duo consisting of: Thomas Bangalter Guy-Manuel de Homen-Christo Many of the songs had been released as singles prior to the album Music videos help propel group to mainstream audiences Roland TR-909 TECHNOLOGY Followed closely on the heels of the TR-808 Launched 1983 Similar to 808 in many ways Programming and layout Synthetic sounds The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 13  Different from 808 Used samples for cymbals Punchier kick sound Very popular in dance music community! Boy Bands STYLE Not a new phenomenon (The Monkees, Jackson 5, The Osmonds) There is usually some old dude(s) behind the scenes: New Kids on the Block (Maurice Starr, 80’s → 90’s) The Backstreet Boys (Lou Pearlman, Max Martin, 90’s → 2000’s) *NSYNC (Lou Pearlman, Max Martin, 90’s → 2000’s) Boyz II Men (self-formed, Babyface) Max Martin PRODUCER Born in Sweden Mentored by Swedish producer Denniz Pop Produced Ace of Base Starts writing hits in the late 90’s Britney Spears - “…Baby One More Time” https://open.spotify.com/track/3MjUtNVVq3C8Fn0MP3zhXa?si=e0d b7a8884b74e9b Backstreet Boys - “I Want It That Way” The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 14  https://open.spotify.com/track/47BBI51FKFwOMlIiX6m8ya?si=51d3f acc8cd943a2 *NSYNC - “It’s Gonna Be Me” https://open.spotify.com/track/2AW37v0bDyuOzGP3XnmFuA?si=17 9a03b959f3480f Most successful songwriter of all-time behind Lennon & McCartney Most successful producer of all time behind George Martin Uses an informal compositional technique he calls “melodic math” Pure Pop of the 90’s STYLE Synth pop of the 80’s gives way to “pure pop” of the mid to late 90’s Ace of Base Spice Girls Britney Spears Backstreet Boys & *NSYNC Ricky Martin Will Smith? Cher Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor TECHNOLOGY Released 1995 Invented by Dave Derr The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 15  One of the most popular modern hardware compressors Digitally controlled (accurate) Extremely versatile Saturation options (Dist 2 and Dist 3 buttons) 1176 and LA-2A emulation modes Wide range of attack and release options Stereo linking HPF/mid bump One of the last big innovations in analog hardware Green Day - “Dookie” RELEASE https://open.spotify.com/album/4uG8q3GPuWHQlRbswMIRS6?si=bHI7MaG vRZq0tOT6_n19hg Released in 1995 3rd album from California-based band Power Trio: Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals and guitar) Mike Dirnt (bass) Tre Cool (drums) Biggest album of Green Day’s career One of the biggest albums of the 1990’s Wins Grammy for Alt Recording of the Year in 1995 Defines the pop-punk sound of the 90’s and 2000’s The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 16  Produced by Rob Cavallo Rob Cavallo PRODUCER Started career assisting George Massenburg Producer of Dookie Worked on many of the biggest rock albums of the 90’s and 2000’s Linkin Park My Chemical Romance Goo Goo Dolls Dave Matthews Band Kid Rock Alanis Morrisette Green Day Engineer → Producer → Record Executive Radiohead - “OK Computer” RELEASE https://open.spotify.com/album/6dVIqQ8qmQ5GBnJ9shOYGE?si=13MEgxO ESQOM8kxLIkt-WQ Formed in 1985, United Kingdom 3rd album “OK Computer” released in 1997 Complex sonics, complex lyrical themes: alienation, anti-capitalism, consumerism, modern life in a tech dominated world The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 17  One of the most critically acclaimed bands of all-time with 5 albums in Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums list Have worked exclusively with engineer/producer Nigel Godrich The MP3 MOMENT MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) Previously established format specifications MPEG-1 established in 1993 MP3’s used MPEG 1 technology MPEG Audio Layer III - MP3 Karlheinz Brandenberg Engineers the MP3 Uses solo cello recording as test material MP3 compression format revolutionizes file sharing by reducing size of audio files so they can be easily transferred 128kbps is MP3 standard in late 90’s Napster TECHNOLOGY Invented by Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning First mainstream peer-to-peer file trading network (P2P) Launched in 1999 Napster and similar services eviscerate the sales of recorded music in the late 90’s to early 2000’s Sued for copyright infringement (Metallica) Many copycat services arise: Kazaa, LimeWire , etc. The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 18  First step toward the streaming era Internet Killed the MTV Star MOMENT 1977 - The Modem - birth of computer connectivity 1988 - IRC - first IM service 1989 - AOL launches 1991 - First www website 1996 - First webmail (Hotmail) 1998 - Google launches 1999 - Napster Steinberg & Cubase TECHNOLOGY Founded in 1984 by Karl Steinberg 1989 - Cubase released as a MIDI sequencer (Mac, PC, Atari) 1992 - Cubase Audio released 1996 - VST protocol released 1999 - Cubase with VST host capability released VSTi protocol MIDI enabled Other Important Engineers of the 90’s PRODUCERS Jack Joseph Puig Andy Wallace Butch Vig The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 19  Tony Maserati Jimmy Douglas Bob Power CLA/TLA Nigel Godrich Other Important Artists of the 90’s ARTISTS Beck Cher Red Hot Chili Peppers Beastie Boys Weezer The Spice Girls Celine Dion Guns n’ Roses Hootie and The Blowfish Nine Inch Nails Blur REM Smashing Pumpkins Rage Against the Machine Soundgarden Mariah Carey Whitney Houston Hole The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 20  The Fugees Portishead Korn The 2000’s and Beyond MOMENT Y2K 9/11 MTV → YouTube The era of viral videos Billboard → iTunes → Streaming DAW options Logic, Cubase, Pro Tools, Cakewalk Sonar systems Death rattle of the hard disk recorder M Box 1 First widely used portable I/O (interface) Previous The Digital Revolution: Part I (1980-1989) The Digital Revolution: Part II (1990-1999) 21