Mark Thorley’s research while affiliated with Coventry University and other places

Collaboration has always been at the heart of music production. The location and manner in which collaboration takes place is subject to continual change however, as new technology and practices are adopted. Continuing this trend, faster networks and emerging technologies now allow collaboration to take place virtually rather than in a physical space. Music production expertise is developed in the professional environment using this approach, and though this can and should be reflected in higher education, it rarely is. This paper outlines a number of projects which harnessed the principles of virtual music collaboration as part of learning music production. After examining the theoretical background, opportunities and challenges, three case studies are outlined. The approach and outcomes are explained and conclusions reached on how virtual collaboration can facilitate music production expertise in a higher education environment.KeywordsMusic productionVirtual collaborationPeer productionCollaborative international online learningNetwork learningCollaborative learning

Universities are facing challenges not seen before. Academic development is expected to address many of these challenges, creating conditions supportive of teaching and learning. However, increasing managerialism, measurement, and risk-aversion make this difficult as the emphasis shifts from supporting individuals towards delivering institutional strategy. This can lead to a lack of creativity, a stifling of innovation, and a fear of failure. This paper uses the creative industries as a ‘parallel’ sector of practice. It outlines the challenges, similarities, and differences between the sectors, before explaining what lessons higher education can learn from the creative industries.

Emerging technology is facilitating collaboration and peer-production across a wide variety of industries. In the music industry, one example of this is in the use of a remote mix engineer – contracted to work on a recording made by another engineer in a different location and time domain because of the value in their specialised expertise. This article examines the rise of the remote mix engineer in the contemporary music industry. It does this by examining the technology, methods of working, expertise and the concept of stardom using two contrasting examples – one a world-renowned mix engineer with several decades of experience and a high profile client list, the other being a younger and less experienced mix engineer with a different range of clients.

This study details the approach and results of a project which sought to apply the concept of “productive failure” in the learning of professional music recording and production. The approach was taken in response to the fact that although there is significant evidence that failure should be utilised in developing expertise for the music production and wider creative industries, factors often discourage this from taking place. Eleven Music Technology students were involved in a music production task where they took existing multitrack session recordings and produced a final master recording using whatever approach they thought appropriate. The results were then assessed for their success or failure by an industry professional. The manner in which creativity and thinking skills relevant to the practice of music production were developed were examined through the use of in-depth interviews (with the students and the industry professional). Results showed that the industry professional assessed the work as successful or failing in elements which came under the broad themes of technical approach and creativity. The student participants developed creativity and thinking skills under the themes of working with material from others, using influences or reference points, developing a personal vision, technical process, thought process and self-evaluation. In conclusion, the study shows that the inclusion of failure is beneficial to the learning of music recording and production, particularly through the development of critical listening and thinking skills, the focus on a personal creative vision, the necessity for technical skills to be developed to realise the most creative results, and the manner in which self-reflection serves to foster future development.

The practice of music production is by nature, collaborative (Negus 1992, Kealey 1979). Furthermore, the connection which emerging technology now facilitates means that increasing numbers of practitioners collaborate with others around the world (Watson 2014). The way in which they do this is in keeping with Tapscott and Williams’ (2006) concept of peer-production. The collaborative and technological skills to do this are now needed to work in Popular Music production. Furthermore, learning through collaboration with others is an established and effective concept (Bruffree 1999, Gaunt et al. 2013). However, it is rarely practiced in Universities due to a variety of organisational and cultural barriers. This paper shares the practice of Global Patchbay, an initiative aimed to bring together Universities and practitioners around the world and to exploit the potential of collaborative learning in music. The project initially involved partners in the UK and the US, and continues with others from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Learners have collaborated on recording projects, mixing projects, acoustic design projects and sound design projects using cutting edge participatory technologies as well as common audio production technologies.

The benefit of higher education institutions working with industry professionals has received significant attention in literature and policy. Despite this, the challenges in institutions themselves, and the nature of the music industry makes this concept challenging to manage. In response to this, a project was funded by the Higher Education Academy for Coventry University to examine a model for embedding the involvement of industry professionals in the development and assessment of Music Technology student portfolios. This article explains the background, the rationale, realization and outcomes of the project. First, it outlines the issues of employability within music and creative industries courses as reflected in the literature. It then examines the contextual challenges of the music industry and higher education. It continues by describing how the project embedded industry professionals in student portfolio development and assessment. Finally, it outlines the outcomes of the project, its implications and the key risk factors to its implementation in other disciplines and institutions.