Strike the Band: Pop Music Without Musicians
Tony Scherman, The New York Times, 10 February 2001
IN THE 1950s and '60s, the recording studio became an instrument. From its humble origins documenting live performances, the studio turned into a music-maker itself, retooling raw material — the work of musicians — into a finished product. Once mere "records" of musical events, recordings were now something much more exotic and autonomous, painstakingly layered confections. But even after multitrack recording had severed music making from real time, somebody still had to play that guitar.
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