Time Manipulation

With the advancement of technology, producers are able to edit and modify live performances in the studio using software such as Beat Detective and Elastic Audio. By doing so, artists are able to use real instruments and attain machine perfection in their recordings.

When researching the effects of time manipulation on the authenticity of a track, the question that arose was to what extent are these new sophisticated software developments open to the same criticism that it compromises the emotionality and expression in a song?

To test the theory that these developments in technology have established a ‘perfect’ balance in studio recordings and that man and machine can work in harmony, I experimented with Beat Detective and manipulated every track to its' full extent.

As the drummer, manipulating my own tracks felt quite deceitful in a way. I expected it to make the drums sounds robotic and expressionless, but because everything was recorded to a click track and remained in time throughout, I did not notice a major change.

This comes back to the point raised in my research that the manipulation process should only be used when necessary or to get a desired effect and not solely out of habit.

I am employing the manipulation process to all of the tracks as a creative process. I want to experiment with production techniques and to see at what stage the track would be considered 'over-produced'.

Now, onto vocal multi-tracking!