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Albin J. Zak III, The Poetics of Rock: Cutting Tracks, Making Records (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001), 274 pp., $48.00 (cloth), $18.95 (paper). Reviewed by Randolph J. Davis, George Washington University.
Albin J. Zak explores recorded sounds from the perspective of those who make records. His project is to dissect the creation, documentation and arrangement of sound by exploring fundamental elements of the recording process and offering an account of issues faced by artists in the recording studio. A recordist himself, Zak examines the role of recording technologies in the construction of rock music. he demonstrates that the final product results from the collective, creative efforts of songwriters, musicians, engineers, and producers.
The word "poetics," according to Zak, illustrates "compositional principles and aesthetic beliefs" (xv). While for the past 100 years records have been the foundation of how rock recording artists are remembered historically, Zak maintains that what they represent is far from obvious. he argues that...