To what extent is the approach to composition and recording determined by the medium of performance and context? Approaches to modern hip hop music and its production. Molly Moran Upper Sixth
The ways in which the modern consumer listens to music are changing more rapidly than ever before. Constant technological advances mean that the musicians and producers of today have to pay increased attention to the development of musical ideas, the amplification or recording of any live instruments, and the mixing of a track. They are also compelled to consider the context of their music and ensure that the integrity of a genre or style is kept. These considerations are magnified in a genre such as hip hop, in which musicians often write to convey personal issues or give opinion on current sociopolitical controversies. The flexibility that this offers has allowed the genre to be introduced to a wider demographic and reach new media. Therefore, the increasing ambitions of artists and the new media that they are taking their music to have led to the development of new approaches to composition and recording. It is the decision of a musician/group and their production team as to when the medium of performance and context of the music are the conclusive factors in the creative process. In 2015, composer Lin-Manuel Miranda was met with undivided acclaim when he brought ‘Hamilton: An American Musical’ (depicting the life of the American Founding Father) to the Broadway stage. It has been deemed a cultural phenomenon for its “sublime conjunction of radioready hip hop (as well as R&B, Brit pop and traditional showstoppers)”. Historian Ron Chernow, author of ‘Alexander Hamilton’ (the biography on which Miranda based the musical), was surprised to find the first 40 pages of his book condensed into a 4 minute song. This show has been the first look into rap and hip hop for many of its audience members and this has spread further with the release of the original Broadway cast album and the ‘Hamilton Mixtape’, in which established artists
including John Legend and Wiz Khalifa have remixed or covered some of the musical’s best-loved numbers. The creative team behind ‘Hamilton’ realised that the approach to the recording of this cast album would have to differ to the recording of other musicals’ albums, let alone a ‘traditional’ hip hop album. Questlove from the Roots
A cast album recording is usually a quick process, with all the vocals and accompanying instruments being recorded within a few days. Very little is done to edit the recordings, as the unpolished sound is the perfect souvenir for an audience member to take away. However, Miranda added extra edits to the recording so that all of the emotions could be conveyed realistically and each character’s personality traits be reflected in the recording of the score. In doing this, the album maintains the conditions of a musical theatre album, whilst also obtaining the distinctiveness of the hip hop genre. Derik Lee, an engineer on the cast album, said: “I really could flex my muscles here in approaching this as a hip-hop or pop album.” An example of the differences between the recording of ‘Hamilton’ in contrast to its contemporary musicals is the setup of musical theatre singers compared
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to that of hip hop and rap artists. Musical theatre singers usually require sight lines to the other performers that their character is interacting with, as they would on a stage. This means that the area in which they record has to be larger, in order to accommodate for the unique angles at which the singers require the vocals booths to be. This cast album was recorded in two Avatar studios in New York. To rent both of these spaces for the 46 days of recording and editing time cost the team a small fortune, but it was a price that they were willing to pay to allow the actors to give the best possible performance. Additionally, the musical used a lot of fresh talent making their Broadway debut, meaning that they did not have experience recording and ‘were not sure what to listen to or how to approach the microphone’. Time had to be spent teaching these performers how they can help create the best possible recording. The vocals were not the only instruments affected by the different approach to recording; the percussion was also adapted to demonstrate new characteristics. For example, Questlove (drummer and joint frontman of a band called The Roots) overdubbed a percussion part in which he hit a table to create a drum sound, recorded with a Neumann U67 microphone. The sound produced created a new, interesting timbre which further embellished the original percussion part. Lin Manuel-Miranda’s musical numbers are littered with references to the hip hop style and some of its own founding fathers. Going no further than the first song, there are nods to the likes of Snoop Dogg and Drake with the repetition of “What’s Your Name?” directed towards the protagonist, as well as the rising harmonies as the ensemble sings “New York” quoting the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys song ‘Empire State of Mind’. These are joined by a reference in the song ‘Yorktown’ and the call “we
