Reflections on a Practice Research-based Investigation into Mid-Twentieth-Century Recording Techniques and Aesthetics in Latin Music Performance and Production

This chapter evaluates a practice-research project undertaken between 2018 – 2020 which researched the recording process of vernacular Latin dance music in the mid-twentieth century. This project was undertaken to supplement Improvising Sabor – Cuban Dance Music in New York (Miller, 2021) and Cuban Flute Style – Interpretation and Improvisation (Miller, 2014), adding production history to the various narratives on Latin music history. Using a combination of ethnomusicological fieldwork, recording experiments and music analysis, insights were gained into how we define performance aesthetics in relation to live and recorded performance, and into how we explain the ways in which performance practice is affected by technological constraints and innovations. The value of practical engagement (in this case a re-staging of mid-twentieth century live take recording conditions) does not reside simply in the ability to replicate the sound and style of an era, but rather to shed light on particular aspects of the recorded performance process at different historical points in time, demonstrating how musical traditions are affected by both live performance practices and by technological aspects (alongside wider social and cultural issues). The recorded past can also reveal aspects of contemporary music practice and musicianship which differ from those of the past, prompting re-evaluations of current practice. While this was a specific research project there are many ways an approach such as this one could be widened in scope to inform university level music curricula. I argue that both experimentation at the service of research questions, and as stand alone creative artistic practice can also form part of a more integrated interdisciplinary music study programme.

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