Sound Engineering, Production and Gender Ventriloquism in the 21st Century

A socio-historical examination of the roles of women studio professionals in the UK music industry. At the heart of the book are interviews conducted over six years with 30 female studio practitioners at different stages of their careers and working in different genres of popular music including reggae, hip hop and pop. The edited interviews are followed by an in-depth exploration of the often unseen and unacknowledged gender rules of music industry practice (both personal and technical) that underpin popular music etiquette. A range of supporting material from academic works to technical publications and popular music journalism is used to expand and critique the discourse.

Gender ventriloquism, here, is a term Reddington introduces in her book; it means the situation where productions presented as the work of a female artist, are actually controlled by a male producer or songwriter which means, somehow, a male mediation.

About the Author

Helen Reddington played bass in punk bands in Brighton in the 1970s, before forming the bands The Chefs and later, Helen and the Horns, both of whom recorded a number of sessions for Radio 1’s John Peel. After seven years touring and recording in the independent sector and a deal with RCA, she left the pop music industry and completed a PhD which became the book “The Lost Women of Rock Music: Female Musicians of the Punk Era.”

In 2016 this became the film documentary Stories from the She-Punks: Music With a Different Agenda, produced and directed with Gina Birch. She continues to collaborate on musical projects as a songwriter with other contemporary artists, and works on these projects alongside her academic career.

Paperback, published in 2021, 226 pages.

Table of Contents

Preliminaries
Acknowledgements [+] ix

Introduction
Introduction: “Why are there so few women producers?” [+] 1-18

Chapter 1
Starting Out: Early Engagements with Sound, Music and Technology [+] 19-38

Chapter 2
Becoming Professional: Entering the Music Industry [+] 39-55

Chapter 3
Specialization and Entrepreneurship [+] 56-73

Chapter 4
The Workplace Experience and Relationships with Clients and Colleagues [+] 74-94

Chapter 5
Male Culture and Studio Territory [+] 95-118

Chapter 6
Gender Ventriloquism: Songwriting, Production and the Mediation of Women’s Voices [+] 119-139

Chapter 7
Fighting Back Against Stereotyping: The Case of EDM [+] 140-161

Chapter 8
Education, Inspiration and Potential for Change [+] 162-179

Chapter 9
Conclusion [+] 180-193

End Matter
Bibliography [+] 194-206
Producer Biographies 207-212
Index [+] 213-215

Interview with author, PMBIP (April 27, 2021)