0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06Put your hands together and make some noise
0:00:06 > 0:00:07for Nile Rogers and CHIIIIC!
0:00:07 > 0:00:08CROWD ROARS
0:00:08 > 0:00:10- Hup, two, ahhh... - # Freak out!
0:00:11 > 0:00:13# Le freak, c'est chic
0:00:13 > 0:00:15# Freak out... #
0:00:15 > 0:00:19HE CONTINUES RIFF ON GUITAR
0:00:19 > 0:00:23I've been producing music for almost 40 years.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Music means everything to me.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30HE CONTINUES RIFF FROM "Le Freak"
0:00:30 > 0:00:31# Freak out!
0:00:33 > 0:00:35# Ah, freak out... #
0:00:35 > 0:00:39My partner Bernard Edwards and I started the group Chic in 1976
0:00:39 > 0:00:41and we went on to become the producers, too.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45Let me tell you something. I really loved it.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Since then, I've produced some amazing artists
0:00:47 > 0:00:50from Diana Ross to Sister Sledge,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53from Madonna to Disclosure, from Daft Punk to David Bowie.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56It's a journey that continues to inspire me.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59INTRO TO DAVID BOWIE'S "LET'S DANCE"
0:01:02 > 0:01:05But what does a producer actually do?
0:01:05 > 0:01:08You might think we just twiddle knobs and push buttons
0:01:08 > 0:01:10but it's so much more than that.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15A record producer is responsible for the creative outcome of a record.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19We're really film directors, but for music.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23The record producer's job is to think about the big picture,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27whilst the artist's job is to think about the small, local details.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32You have to find the right song, with the right lyrics.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36The role of a producer, really, is just to take the song at hand
0:01:36 > 0:01:40or the album, and make it as great as it can be for that artist.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45The greatest thing about being a producer is
0:01:45 > 0:01:47the art of collaboration and negotiation.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54My job is part creator, part psychologist.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57I'm like your biggest, biggest, biggest fan.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00I'm like, "Come on, you can do it!"
0:02:00 > 0:02:02This is the story
0:02:02 > 0:02:04of some of the most influential producers in pop -
0:02:04 > 0:02:06the music moguls and melody makers
0:02:06 > 0:02:11who have shaped and defined the history of modern music.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13MUSIC: Good Times by Chic
0:02:18 > 0:02:20# Good times
0:02:20 > 0:02:24# These are the good times. #
0:02:24 > 0:02:29MUSIC: Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars
0:02:33 > 0:02:36One of my favourite producers working today is Mark Ronson.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41He started out as a DJ in New York
0:02:41 > 0:02:43and has gone on to produce a diverse range of artists
0:02:43 > 0:02:48including Paul McCartney, Christina Aguilera and Robbie Williams.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51I've known Mark Ronson since he was five, six years old.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56I remember when he was a child, I gave him a Sony Walkman.
0:02:56 > 0:02:57And I think he got a second one.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00He started bouncing songs back and forth.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03So he started to become a producer, like, almost right away.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05So proud of Mark. And he knows.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07Every time I see him I'm just, like,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11I can't believe you turned out THAT cool.
0:03:11 > 0:03:12You're like, insanely cool.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20Mark has got a great knowledge about certain styles of music
0:03:20 > 0:03:22and that's often a really important part
0:03:22 > 0:03:24because an artist will very often say,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27"You know that record, blah-de-blah-de-blah?
0:03:27 > 0:03:30"I love that drum sound," or "I love that rhythm on that record,"
0:03:30 > 0:03:33or "I love that bass part," or "What was that synth they used?"
0:03:33 > 0:03:36They don't say, "It's 120 bpm and I want it in C
0:03:36 > 0:03:38"and I want the bassline to be a Minimoog."
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Mark's knowledge of records, because he's a DJ, is...deep.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44And often, he can pull that out the drawer
0:03:44 > 0:03:49and go, "Well, it's this record or it could this or it could be that."
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Mark's knowledge and love of '60s pop, in particular,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56is evident in his 2007 album Version, which features
0:03:56 > 0:04:00retro covers of classic songs with artists such as Daniel Merryweather
0:04:00 > 0:04:02and Lily Allen.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05# Drifting apart like a plate tectonic
0:04:05 > 0:04:08# It don't matter to me
0:04:08 > 0:04:11# Cos all I wanted to be... #
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Singing is such a personal and emotive thing.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17I get really nervous and embarrassed in the studio,
0:04:17 > 0:04:18especially with new people.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23And I managed to do it with Mark in a way that I still felt comfortable.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28# Oh, my God, I can't believe it
0:04:28 > 0:04:29# I've never been this far away from home... #
0:04:29 > 0:04:32I guess it's just his mannerism, you know,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34and his personality, you know, puts you at ease.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36There are some people that I've worked with
0:04:36 > 0:04:38that are completely the opposite.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Some people are really confident, really aggressive,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44or can kind of draw stuff out of you in another way.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Everyone has a different approach, and, you know, Mark's is being nice.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50MUSIC: Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
0:04:52 > 0:04:54Mark found his perfect match in singer Amy Winehouse.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Together they brought traditional recording techniques
0:04:57 > 0:05:00back into fashion and a great Motown vibe
0:05:00 > 0:05:04to her critically acclaimed album, Back to Black.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08# He left no time to regret... #
0:05:09 > 0:05:13First artist that I really clicked with was probably Amy
0:05:13 > 0:05:15when we were working on Back to Black.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17# ..same old safe bet... #
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Amy had played me this stuff by the Shangri-Las
0:05:21 > 0:05:28and we both obviously loved Motown and '60s and early '70s soul music.
0:05:28 > 0:05:34# Get on without my guy
0:05:34 > 0:05:37# You went back... #
0:05:37 > 0:05:40That was it. She just sort of had that idea and I was, like,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42and it was a great idea, and it was something that really
0:05:42 > 0:05:46appealed to me musically and I liked the idea of, like,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49the little science part of my mind
0:05:49 > 0:05:52which is probably 20% of my producer brain, likes the idea of, like,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56being given a task, like "make it sound like this."
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Mark likes songwriters who write a song
0:05:58 > 0:06:01and then come to him with a finished song.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04And I like producers who, I take them a whole song
0:06:04 > 0:06:06and then they do what they want around it after.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10# We only said goodbye with words
0:06:10 > 0:06:13# I died a hundred times... #
0:06:13 > 0:06:15She would just leave me, like, for a night
0:06:15 > 0:06:17and I would drum up an arrangement.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20She would come in the next day, I'd play it for her and, like,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23"D'you like it?" and she's, like, "Yeah," and then she'd just go sing.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25MUSIC: You Know I'm No Good by Amy Winehouse
0:06:25 > 0:06:29# Meet you downstairs in the bar and hurt... #
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Sometimes with singers, basically, you might get someone to come in,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37even a great singer, and do, like, ten, 15 takes of singing
0:06:37 > 0:06:38the whole song down ten times
0:06:38 > 0:06:40and you go through and pick your favourite bit.
0:06:40 > 0:06:41But Amy was just...
0:06:43 > 0:06:47..she was so good that basically you'd get her to sing, maybe twice,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50both takes would be perfect, and then if you got any more than that
0:06:50 > 0:06:53then you were just creating a bit of a headache for yourself
0:06:53 > 0:06:56because then you start to go, like, "Oh, fuck, but that one's so good,
0:06:56 > 0:06:58"too, but what if I take that?" And then...
0:06:58 > 0:07:01But, like, if I only use the verse on this one
0:07:01 > 0:07:04then I'm sort of like, I'm robbing the world of, like,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06hearing this other performance and this thing that she did
0:07:06 > 0:07:10because, you know, like all jazz musicians and singers,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12she never did it the same way twice.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16# Upstairs in bed with my ex-boy... #
0:07:16 > 0:07:20It's funny because I became so spoiled about this, like,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24being about how well we got on musically, that, like, occasionally
0:07:24 > 0:07:26when I would do something that she didn't like,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29it would be quite jarring because I'd just be, like,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32"D'you like that?" And she'd be like,
0:07:32 > 0:07:33"Um... No."
0:07:33 > 0:07:36And I'd be like, "Well, what if I change this?"
0:07:36 > 0:07:38Cos that happens a lot in studio, it's kind of your ego.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41So I'd be like what if I, like, take the shaker out
0:07:41 > 0:07:42or just add a tambourine here
0:07:42 > 0:07:44and she was like, "No, it's still shit."
0:07:44 > 0:07:47And I'd be like, "What if I do this?" And she's, like,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50"Why are you trying to fix something that's shit anyway?"
0:07:50 > 0:07:53And that was, like, a really amazing lesson that
0:07:53 > 0:07:57I kind of learned from her in the studio, like, early on.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Like, if something's, like, if something's not happening,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03like, why waste time?
0:08:03 > 0:08:09# They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, "No, no, no." #
0:08:09 > 0:08:12# Yes, I've been black but when I come back
0:08:12 > 0:08:14# You'll know, know, know... #
0:08:16 > 0:08:19I still do all of my recording analogue.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21Like, something I learned when I was working on Back to Black
0:08:21 > 0:08:24and I just realised this is how all my favourite records are made,
0:08:24 > 0:08:26this is why the records I love sound like this,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28I'm going to make records like this.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33# They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, "No, no, no."
0:08:33 > 0:08:38Mark's skill lies in making a vintage sound relevant to a new age.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Those classic production values bring a warmth and fullness
0:08:41 > 0:08:44to his records in this very digital world.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46To understand what Mark was feeding from,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49let's go back to the beginning. Back to Motown.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53# But I won't go, go, go. #
0:08:53 > 0:08:57MUSIC: You've Really Got A Hold On Me by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
0:09:01 > 0:09:05The Motown sound, it's basically feeling.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07We had a saying back then, you gotta get 'em
0:09:07 > 0:09:11in the first eight bars or you've lost it.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17It's probably one of the most important,
0:09:17 > 0:09:22if not THE single most important musical institution in America.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Founded in Detroit in 1959 by Berry Gordy, Motown was
0:09:28 > 0:09:30one of the first independent record labels to create
0:09:30 > 0:09:34a distinctive sound, fusing soul, pop and gospel.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39Listen - you can instantly recognise a Motown song.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Great melodies, pumping bass-lines,
0:09:41 > 0:09:45tambourines and hand claps emphasising the rhythms.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47# Come on, girl... #
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Just check out the percussion here on
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Reach Out I'll be There by The Four Tops.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Now that's classic Motown production!
0:09:54 > 0:09:58# Ha! I'll be there
0:09:58 > 0:10:00# To love and comfort you, girl... #
0:10:00 > 0:10:03The creation of this sound was due in no small part
0:10:03 > 0:10:06to the skill of songwriting and producing partnership
0:10:06 > 0:10:10Brian and Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14We wanted to make experiences in music.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17And that's what Motown was. An experience in music.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20That idea of song craft and musicianship
0:10:20 > 0:10:23and the performances and the way it was recorded,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Motown was the best that ever did that.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31# Nowhere to run to, baby,
0:10:31 > 0:10:33# Nowhere to hide... #
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Motown had a huge impact.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38It was a black-owned business whose massive crossover success
0:10:38 > 0:10:42gave white America a new perspective on black culture.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46But Motown didn't just push the envelope socially,
0:10:46 > 0:10:48they did it sonically as well.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53Long before the digital technology we have today, Motown enabled
0:10:53 > 0:10:56producers to experiment with ways of manipulating sound.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00The Motown record makers were innovating.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05They would use the materials that were on hand to make the records
0:11:05 > 0:11:07that they wanted to make.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Anything that made sound was a viable candidate
0:11:11 > 0:11:14to be used as a musical instrument.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18For example, the use of tyre chains on the song, Nowhere to Run.
0:11:18 > 0:11:19RHYTHMIC CLINKING
0:11:19 > 0:11:21# Nowhere to run to, baby
0:11:21 > 0:11:24# Nowhere to hide... #
0:11:24 > 0:11:28I'd take advantage of all the sounds in the world,
0:11:28 > 0:11:30see if I can make it into something.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34Music is all around us all the time. Y'know?
0:11:35 > 0:11:38That drill that we hear there, you could take that little bit
0:11:38 > 0:11:41and put it into a song and what have you got? You've got a dance song.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44MUSIC: White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Back in the late '60s, when those people would come and experiment
0:11:48 > 0:11:52with psychedelic sounds and things, we throwed our hat in the ring.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56I came in the studio and Michael, the engineer,
0:11:56 > 0:11:58he was tuning the room.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00And he was using this oscillator.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03HE MIMICS SOUND
0:12:03 > 0:12:06And I said, "Hey, Brian, take a listen to this!"
0:12:06 > 0:12:09"What can we do with that? That sounds like something.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12"Why don't we stick that on that Reflections thing?"
0:12:12 > 0:12:14BLEEPING
0:12:14 > 0:12:16I mean, they made sounds like synthesisers
0:12:16 > 0:12:18before synthesisers existed.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28The reason it's so amazing, too, is cos it's pretty psychedelic
0:12:28 > 0:12:31and unusual for the time.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35# Through the mirror of my mind, time after time... #
0:12:35 > 0:12:37That was pretty wild for a Motown record
0:12:37 > 0:12:39and what they'd had the hits with, up until then.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43# Reflections of the way life used to be... #
0:12:43 > 0:12:48It becomes so much the sound of, like, pop culture that we forget
0:12:48 > 0:12:51that when they came out, that was really subversive.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55# No love to shield me, trapped in a world... #
0:12:55 > 0:12:59It's like Diana Ross', like, her singing, it's her diction,
0:12:59 > 0:13:01it's just a perfect record.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04# Reflections of the way life used to be... #
0:13:04 > 0:13:09Motown is written into the DNA of modern pop music.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13It's hard to overestimate its influence, as its drumbeats,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17string sections and horn parts are reinterpreted by modern producers
0:13:17 > 0:13:21like Mark Ronson, Jamie xx and Kanye West again and again.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29But while the Motown guys were beginning to experiment with sound,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33back in the UK, one man was pushing sonic boundaries even further
0:13:33 > 0:13:36from his custom-built studio above a handbag shop
0:13:36 > 0:13:38on London's Holloway Road -
0:13:40 > 0:13:43visionary producer Joe Meek.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45His studio basically was his bathroom in his house.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49That's how he used to get the echo and everything in his house.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52We used to do all the guitars and drums and everything -
0:13:52 > 0:13:54all used to be on the landing.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Oh, he used to record anything that was going, Joe.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02I remember going into the toilet and dropping marbles in the toilet
0:14:02 > 0:14:07so he could record, as it's going "plop" into the pan.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10The reason Joe Meek's recordings are so special is,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12apart from the fact that it's the first time some of this
0:14:12 > 0:14:16had ever been done, he took overdubbing to another level.
0:14:16 > 0:14:22Overdubbing is a major innovation. It's the process of multi-tracking -
0:14:22 > 0:14:26recording one track over another onto the same piece of tape
0:14:26 > 0:14:30without erasing the original, stacking sounds to give the sense
0:14:30 > 0:14:33that there are lots of instruments playing at the same time.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35It's worth remembering that he didn't have
0:14:35 > 0:14:38multitrack facilities like we do today.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42If he recorded the band and wanted to add just one more thing,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44he'd have to play back that tape,
0:14:44 > 0:14:45transfer it to a new tape machine
0:14:45 > 0:14:49and add whatever else he wanted to add.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51- Sorry, is that going to rerun again? - Yes.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Yeah, fair enough, it went a bit weird, that time.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57So each time he added a new thing, the quality went down and down,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01which meant the early recordings started to sound really muffled,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04so he would then add more equalisation,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07or add extra tambourines or handclaps,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09something else to bring back the missing rhythm
0:15:09 > 0:15:13because the rhythm would be three or four generations away.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15But that "mush" created
0:15:15 > 0:15:19what really became an iconic rock and roll sound.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24The "mush" factor helped make Telstar by the Tornados
0:15:24 > 0:15:27the first song by a British instrumental group
0:15:27 > 0:15:31to reach number one on the American Billboard charts.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36We were given the demo, obviously, and then Joe said, "It's Telstar,
0:15:36 > 0:15:40"it's this rocket that's gone up and whatever", and so we then...
0:15:40 > 0:15:44we sat then and it took us about two days to record it.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48And when we recorded it in the studio I thought,
0:15:48 > 0:15:50"Phew, yeah, great, big deal!"
0:15:50 > 0:15:53But when Joe sent me the actual finished article,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55I couldn't believe it.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58I never for one minute ever thought it would get to number one.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Sound-wise he was a genius, there was no two ways about it.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07Musically, he was a moron, to be honest with you!
0:16:09 > 0:16:11I mean, he didn't know the difference between a crotchet
0:16:11 > 0:16:13and a hatchet, to be honest with you.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15But sound-wise, you can't fault him.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20He was rushing around all the time, tweaking knobs, bleep, bleep,
0:16:20 > 0:16:22cutting up tapes and everything
0:16:22 > 0:16:25and he had all these weird sounds going for him.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27So he was a technical genius.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Joe Meek didn't really have any musical knowledge.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33But that's where this whole role of what a record producer is
0:16:33 > 0:16:36is so unique, because it's fair to say
0:16:36 > 0:16:39that all those great musicians that Joe Meek had in the room,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43if he wasn't in the room, that wouldn't have happened.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47And as great as those players were, you needed a catalyst.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49So Joe Meek, like many producers since,
0:16:49 > 0:16:53having a producer who's a catalyst can stimulate ideas.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56And that is, in my view, as valid as a producer
0:16:56 > 0:16:59who writes all the notes out and says "just play this".
0:17:03 > 0:17:07I have recorded it, actually, several times since,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11on all the modern equipment and you can't get near the sound Joe got.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16You listen to him now and the things he was doing,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19there's this culture at the moment of pitch-shifting vocals up and down.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22Again, something that makes a record sound modern,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25and you go back and listen to these Joe Meek records from, like,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28from the '60s, and he's recorded his vocal at half speed
0:17:28 > 0:17:31and sped the tape up and printed it to another tape then back again,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34and, you know, guitars pitched up and down
0:17:34 > 0:17:37and these kind of like crazy delays.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40You know, he was 60 years ahead of the curve!
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Joe was a troubled soul who committed suicide
0:17:43 > 0:17:47after shooting his landlady in 1967.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50But his paranoia had set in long before this,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53convinced that other producers were stealing his ideas.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55The phone rang and Joe said to me,
0:17:55 > 0:17:57"Go downstairs and answer the phone." I said, "OK."
0:17:57 > 0:18:00"Yes, hello?" "Oh, is Mr Meek there?"
0:18:00 > 0:18:02I said, "Yes, could I ask who's calling, please?"
0:18:02 > 0:18:05He says, 'Oh, it's Phil Spector." I went "Oh, Christ!" You know?
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Went up and said, "Joe, Phil Spector's on the phone."
0:18:08 > 0:18:11He went, "Oh, is he?!" Next thing, he ran down the stairs,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14ranting and raving, telling me he was a this and that,
0:18:14 > 0:18:15he was a thief and all of that
0:18:15 > 0:18:17and all of a sudden he went BANG!
0:18:17 > 0:18:20And he's actually smashed the phone putting it down, you know?
0:18:20 > 0:18:22"You stole all my ideas!"
0:18:22 > 0:18:25But, you know, that was Joe.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28MUSIC: Be My Baby by The Ronettes
0:18:32 > 0:18:39# The night we met I knew I needed you so... #
0:18:39 > 0:18:43Convicted of murder in 2009, the stories of Phil Spector's
0:18:43 > 0:18:46eccentric and often dangerous behaviours are legendary.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52It's a sad fall from grace from his glory days as a producer
0:18:52 > 0:18:55in the '60s when he created the famous Wall of Sound,
0:18:55 > 0:18:59another milestone in pop record production.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02# ..every place we go, so won't you please
0:19:02 > 0:19:06- # Be my, be my baby - # Be my little baby... #
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Hi technique involved multiple layers of overdubbing,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12sometimes doubling or tripling the same part
0:19:12 > 0:19:14to create a massive sense of scale
0:19:14 > 0:19:19which he called his Wagnerian approach to rock and roll.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24# I'll make you happy, baby, just wait and see
0:19:24 > 0:19:28# For every kiss you give me... #
0:19:28 > 0:19:32There's also something about that Wall of Sound.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36The instrumentation became this big, blurred mush
0:19:36 > 0:19:39and the vocals sat on top of it.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43# When I was a little girl...
0:19:43 > 0:19:45It sounded so different to everything else
0:19:45 > 0:19:47and therefore it stood out.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49The one thing you have to remember, I think, as a producer
0:19:49 > 0:19:52is that most people, they hear a piece of music,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54they're hearing a song, or they're hearing a feeling.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56A lot of people hear a piece of music
0:19:56 > 0:19:58and they're only hearing the lyrics.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00They couldn't tell you what's going on underneath,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02they can only tell you how it makes them feel.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06# Met him on a Monday and my heart stood still
0:20:06 > 0:20:08# Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron... #
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Between 1960 and 1966,
0:20:10 > 0:20:15he masterminded a raft of top 40 singles, discovering and producing
0:20:15 > 0:20:20girl groups like The Blossoms, The Ronettes and The Crystals.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25One of the other roles of a record producer is to find talent.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28And Phil Spector - honestly - to have discovered
0:20:28 > 0:20:33the number of artists that he discovered, that's quite a skill.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35He didn't do it once, he did it several times.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37One, two, three...
0:20:37 > 0:20:41# Every evening when the sun goes down
0:20:41 > 0:20:42# Whoo-whoo... #
0:20:42 > 0:20:44That is the role of a record producer.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47Not just making records. Very often, it is very frustrating.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50You spend hours and hours in the studio, but it's putting
0:20:50 > 0:20:55together the artists, the musicians, to get that thing that really works.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57And certainly he was able to find a song,
0:20:57 > 0:20:59and this is something people forget.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03That Wall of Sound is fabulous, but they're great, great songs
0:21:03 > 0:21:08and he had the understanding and the knowledge of what was a great song.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10# It was 20 years ago today
0:21:10 > 0:21:13# Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play... #
0:21:13 > 0:21:16For me, the producer who took the art of production
0:21:16 > 0:21:18to a whole new level was the man
0:21:18 > 0:21:21known as the fifth Beatle - George Martin.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25He had the orchestrating skills of Spector, the technical
0:21:25 > 0:21:29prowess of Joe Meek, and the biggest band in the world to do it with.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32He basically changed how all of us record
0:21:32 > 0:21:35from, say, the mid-'60s onwards till now.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40Martin, who began his career working for the BBC's classical music
0:21:40 > 0:21:43department, is the quintessential modern producer -
0:21:43 > 0:21:48an arranger, a musician, writer, collaborator and technical wizard
0:21:48 > 0:21:51who had his own musical toy shop in Abbey Road Studios.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53Run back the tape, please, would you?
0:21:53 > 0:21:55MUSIC SPOOLS BACK
0:21:55 > 0:21:59You can cut, you can edit, obviously, you can slow down
0:21:59 > 0:22:02or speed up the tape, you can put in backwards stuff,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05you can put in electronic sounds which you couldn't possibly reproduce live.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10George Martin, because of all of his expertise with radio shows,
0:22:10 > 0:22:15was ready-made for when The Beatles wanted to do something
0:22:15 > 0:22:19a little outside the realms of straight recording.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21It's more fun in the record if there's a few sounds
0:22:21 > 0:22:23that you don't really know what they are.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Really, they're just instruments and something happens on here.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29I couldn't tell you what because we have a special man who sits here
0:22:29 > 0:22:30and goes like this.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Their "special man" elevated pop music to an even greater level with
0:22:34 > 0:22:37the album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40Early Beatles sessions were basically live recordings with
0:22:40 > 0:22:45a couple of overdubs, but when the band decided to stop playing live,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Martin was free to experiment fully with what was possible in the studio,
0:22:49 > 0:22:53bending sounds, bouncing tracks and even adding a 40-piece orchestra.
0:22:54 > 0:23:00He is both a technician and knows when to do strange things
0:23:00 > 0:23:03like lower the tempo of Strawberry Fields Forever.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Only George Martin could have pulled that off.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Strawberry Fields was the first song recorded for the album
0:23:10 > 0:23:12but was ultimately released as a single instead
0:23:12 > 0:23:16and its production was far from straightforward.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19# ..take you down, cos I'm going to
0:23:20 > 0:23:23# Strawberry Fields... #
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Strawberry Fields Forever is a classic example
0:23:26 > 0:23:28of the producer fixing the problem.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31It was recorded once, and finished.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33And they were unhappy with it.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36They then recorded it again - new tempo, new key.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40John Lennon said to Sir George Martin,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44"I like that bit of that one and that bit of the other one",
0:23:44 > 0:23:46and George said, "But they're in different keys
0:23:46 > 0:23:48"and different tempos".
0:23:48 > 0:23:51And I know this because George told me personally,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54John said to him, "Well, you can fix it - you're the producer!"
0:23:54 > 0:23:59# Misunderstanding all you see... #
0:23:59 > 0:24:02George fixed it by slowing down the first take to match
0:24:02 > 0:24:05the second in tempo and key.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Which is why, at the beginning, John's voice is,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10# "Let me take you down"
0:24:10 > 0:24:14because it's lower in pitch than his natural voice.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18But of course, it created this amazing sound
0:24:18 > 0:24:21because he hadn't sung like that before.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23That's the role of a record producer.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28# Let me take you down, cos I'm going to
0:24:28 > 0:24:31# Strawberry Fields... #
0:24:31 > 0:24:34There are no rules. You can do what the hell you want.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37And that's what George Martin taught me.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40MUSIC: Children of the Revolution by T-Rex
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Tony Visconti is arguably one of the greatest producers of the 1970s.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52He's worked with some of the biggest acts in the history of pop,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56such as T-Rex, Thin Lizzy, Iggy Pop and U2.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59And our paths have crossed as we've both produced
0:24:59 > 0:25:02the singular talent that is David Bowie.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05I don't think he gets the credit he's really due as a producer
0:25:05 > 0:25:08but he's made just some amazing, amazing, records, you know,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11to the point where you find yourself doing something in the studio
0:25:11 > 0:25:14and you think, "I know this sound from somewhere"
0:25:14 > 0:25:15and it's like - "Visconti did it!"
0:25:17 > 0:25:21You know, the Bowie, Eno, Visconti dynamic has been one of the most
0:25:21 > 0:25:24creatively successful relationships, I think, in the business.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28In Berlin in 1977, Visconti and Bowie teamed up
0:25:28 > 0:25:30with synth legend Brian Eno
0:25:30 > 0:25:34and the avant-garde King Crimson guitarist, Robert Fripp.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38They worked together to produce Bowie's seminal album, Heroes.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43MUSIC: Heroes by David Bowie
0:25:43 > 0:25:47I love Tony. Heroes is a particularly great song.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Bowie has had amazing tracks, and amazing ears
0:25:51 > 0:25:54and amazing production ever since the beginning,
0:25:54 > 0:25:59because he's in the room with people that are on a high level
0:25:59 > 0:26:05when it comes to their musicality and it just makes...an interesting mix.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09David Bowie was on top of his game when Heroes came out.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13And the producer's obligation is thus to make a record that
0:26:13 > 0:26:16continues this artist's tradition
0:26:16 > 0:26:19and doesn't take too sharp of a left or right turn.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21It was a brilliant work of art.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25Heroes is a good example of a producer using the mixing console
0:26:25 > 0:26:29as an instrument and tool, because all those levels have to be set,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32but how you set them does have quite an impact
0:26:32 > 0:26:34on the way that you hear the song.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37In a TV exclusive, Tony is going to give us
0:26:37 > 0:26:38a masterclass in production.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41By returning to the original stems of the title track
0:26:41 > 0:26:44he is going to show us how he layered and produced
0:26:44 > 0:26:46the song that would become a Bowie classic.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50This is what I'm going to play you, the basic track,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53when we had Dennis Davis sitting on drums,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Carlos is in the room with his guitar
0:26:55 > 0:26:58and the piano player is David Bowie.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Here's the drums.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Then we have George Murray on bass.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11That's it, we're going to build up Heroes on top of this.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15BASS AND DRUMS TRACKS PLAY
0:27:17 > 0:27:21The first cool sound I guess would be, Brian Eno said,
0:27:21 > 0:27:22"OK, let me have a few passes"
0:27:22 > 0:27:26with this little synthesiser he carried around in a briefcase.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29So here we have mixed synths.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31BASS AND DRUMS TRACK
0:27:31 > 0:27:34LINGERING SYNTH CHORD
0:27:43 > 0:27:44CHORD SWELLS AND COMPLEXIFIES
0:27:44 > 0:27:45Beautiful!
0:27:45 > 0:27:49It's in the mix but you've never heard it this clear.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52TRACKS INTERMINGLE
0:28:03 > 0:28:07So another thing David added to this, there was, in those days
0:28:07 > 0:28:10there were some primitive string synthesisers,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13it's called a Selina string synthesiser, so this is,
0:28:13 > 0:28:14David played this part.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20DELICATE, REEDY SYNTH CHORDS
0:28:20 > 0:28:22We thought this was the bee's knees back in the day
0:28:22 > 0:28:25but it's really cheesy, a very cheesy sound!
0:28:25 > 0:28:27REEDY CHORDS CONTINUE
0:28:31 > 0:28:33OK, so I'll put that into the mix.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37OVERLAID TRACKS PLAY
0:28:45 > 0:28:47OK, starting to sound like Heroes even more.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51We invited Robert Fripp to come to the studio.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54And he comes and lays down three tracks.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57- HIGH-PITCHED NOTE - So we have this...
0:28:57 > 0:28:58We have this...
0:28:58 > 0:29:01NOTE BENDS AND WAVERS
0:29:04 > 0:29:07He came in later there.
0:29:07 > 0:29:12Different sound, then we have this track. Three tracks.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14TONES FADE IN AND OUT
0:29:14 > 0:29:16Now they're all very pretty but they're meaningless
0:29:16 > 0:29:20until I threw them up like this - the three together.
0:29:22 > 0:29:28I had to do some judicial mix balancing in the mix, you know,
0:29:28 > 0:29:32but we always had this constant Fripp...thing
0:29:32 > 0:29:36going all over the place, like this celestial Fripp sound.
0:29:36 > 0:29:37OK.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41Now, let's see. There was one other thing
0:29:41 > 0:29:45that David played. He had this instrument called the Chamberlain
0:29:45 > 0:29:47which was a more advanced Mellotron.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50The Chamberlain and the Mellotron were early samplers.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54These really were real musicians, but the sound quality wasn't great.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57So if you can go up to the part where the brass comes in, Erin?
0:29:59 > 0:30:02This is David. This is a brass track.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05STACCATO SYNTH RIFF
0:30:06 > 0:30:11The riff is definitely Stax Records from Alabama, you know, but...
0:30:11 > 0:30:13STACCATO SYNTH RIFF REPEATS
0:30:13 > 0:30:16But it's not a very good brass sound. But it's in the mix.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18MIX INCLUDING RIFF
0:30:26 > 0:30:29OK, we only had one track left for the vocal,
0:30:29 > 0:30:34so I set up a mic in the middle of the room to capture how the sound
0:30:34 > 0:30:38travels that far, maybe 15, 20 feet,
0:30:38 > 0:30:41and then I set up a third mic in the rear of the room
0:30:41 > 0:30:45where it travels the whole length, probably 50 feet.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49And David was on this end of the room
0:30:49 > 0:30:51with a close mic in front of him.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55We had this ability in those days to put an electronic gate
0:30:55 > 0:30:58on a audio signal, so I put an electronic gate
0:30:58 > 0:31:03on the middle microphone and the distant microphone
0:31:03 > 0:31:05and set them to specific threshold where,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08if David sings loud enough, he'll open the microphone.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11If he sings quiet, the microphone won't open
0:31:11 > 0:31:13and you'll just hear this sound in front of him.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16So at the beginning of the song you'll only hear one track,
0:31:16 > 0:31:20and if you'll solo that track at verse one, please?
0:31:20 > 0:31:22# I...
0:31:24 > 0:31:26# I will be king
0:31:26 > 0:31:28See, there's no reverb on that.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30# And you
0:31:32 > 0:31:34# You will be queen... #
0:31:34 > 0:31:36Stop. So verse four,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39if you go to verse four, now he's working the middle mic
0:31:39 > 0:31:41and the end mic.
0:31:41 > 0:31:42ECHOING: # I!
0:31:44 > 0:31:46# I will be king!
0:31:49 > 0:31:50# And you!
0:31:52 > 0:31:55# You will be queen... #
0:31:55 > 0:31:56OK, take the solo off.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00# Though nothing
0:32:01 > 0:32:05# Will drive them away... #
0:32:05 > 0:32:08We knew at that point that we had a great song.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11In a minute, I think David says, "That'll do."
0:32:11 > 0:32:12It's...
0:32:12 > 0:32:13- BOWIE:- Out by then.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16"Out by then", he says.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18Want to do it one more time?
0:32:18 > 0:32:19Out by then.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22TONY LAUGHS
0:32:22 > 0:32:23That sums it up!
0:32:23 > 0:32:27# And we could be heroes
0:32:27 > 0:32:31# Just for one day... #
0:32:31 > 0:32:34Legend has it that during these Berlin sessions, Brian Eno
0:32:34 > 0:32:38heard a song that he proclaimed was "the sound of the future".
0:32:39 > 0:32:44Produced by the legendary Giorgio Moroder, I Feel Love by Donna Summer
0:32:44 > 0:32:49was indeed the song which ushered in a new electronic age for pop music.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53I was hoping that people would think this is a song of the future.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55It was totally different.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59It was all electronic, every instrument is played
0:32:59 > 0:33:03by the synthesiser, there is no human input
0:33:03 > 0:33:04except Donna Summer's vocal.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08Giorgio Moroder is a very interesting producer
0:33:08 > 0:33:14because he helped develop almost another sonic sound.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17That is the sound of the synthesiser having soul.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20He was the first guy to really make pop records with synths.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23He made the first sort of mechanical record that I heard
0:33:23 > 0:33:25that I actually liked.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28That contrast, it's like the beauty and the beast.
0:33:28 > 0:33:34On one hand you have that absolutely electronic, mechanical track,
0:33:34 > 0:33:40where everything is absolutely precise and absolutely perfect.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44On the other hand there is this very human voice with Donna Summer.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47# I feel love... #
0:33:47 > 0:33:53That kind of romantic sound against that electronic, hard,
0:33:53 > 0:33:57that gave that aura of having something new.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03What I did is, for the bass, that was simple.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06I just asked my engineer, "Give me a bass sound".
0:34:06 > 0:34:07TWO BASS NOTES
0:34:07 > 0:34:10And then I say, "OK, I need two more notes."
0:34:10 > 0:34:12HE PLAYS "I FEEL LOVE" BASS RIFF
0:34:12 > 0:34:16So I put a click down on the machine, on the 24-track
0:34:16 > 0:34:17and then he played...
0:34:17 > 0:34:19RIFF REPEATS
0:34:19 > 0:34:22It was very easy. I would just play...
0:34:22 > 0:34:24HE HUMS REPEATING BASS RIFF
0:34:24 > 0:34:27SONG TAKES UP RIFF
0:34:27 > 0:34:29He is absolutely a pioneer.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33You cannot listen to I Feel Love and not be moved by it.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35But it's machines making that music.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37That's what's so clever.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40And that record stands up to this day as a benchmark.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43And bearing in mind, he didn't have the technology we have today.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45Those were analogue synths - which we all love -
0:34:45 > 0:34:50but synchronising those to a tape machine was quite complicated.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53So that was brilliant, and his legacy has lasted.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57At 75, Giorgio is still in demand as a producer.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00His latest album, released in 2015, includes collaborations with
0:35:00 > 0:35:05Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears and rising star Foxes.
0:35:05 > 0:35:06MUSIC: I Feel Love
0:35:06 > 0:35:11He was wondering if I had any tracks I wasn't using that he could use.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17It was just a random track I'd written called Wildstar.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21It was originally more just kind of like a ballad.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23It was written on piano.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29# I keep dancing in my dreams
0:35:29 > 0:35:32# Here away into your arms... #
0:35:32 > 0:35:36I have the advantage of being a producer and a composer
0:35:36 > 0:35:41so when I go in the studio, I know the song in and out.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45I have a very good concept of how the singer should do it.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48# Glitter falls into the light
0:35:48 > 0:35:50# And I'll be dancing like a wildstar... #
0:35:50 > 0:35:53I mean, I didn't know what I was going to get back,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56but when I got it back it was like, he's really, really,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59it was like he'd just made it...come alive.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01# Oh, oh, oh...
0:36:01 > 0:36:06And really he made it into, like, this disco banger, which I just,
0:36:06 > 0:36:10it wasn't written like that at all. It was quite an emotional song,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13So it was wonderful that he could produce it and make it his own.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16# Wildstar... #
0:36:16 > 0:36:19Ha-ha! Thank you, Giorgio!
0:36:19 > 0:36:21He still has that stamp,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23like, that Giorgio Moroder stamp that you know is him.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28# I love to love you, baby
0:36:28 > 0:36:29# I... #
0:36:29 > 0:36:33The Giorgio Moroder record that changed my life was
0:36:33 > 0:36:34I Love to Love You Baby.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37# I love to love you, baby...
0:36:37 > 0:36:39We were still an R'n'B band.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43We didn't know about sequencers and things like that.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46I wanted to be a part of that world.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50I wanted to try and figure out, "How can I do what they do?"
0:36:50 > 0:36:54I dreamt a song called I Want Your Love
0:36:54 > 0:36:57and I dreamt this song note for note, it's the only composition in
0:36:57 > 0:37:01my whole life that what you hear on the record is exactly what I dreamt.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04# I want your love
0:37:04 > 0:37:06# I want your love... #
0:37:09 > 0:37:11I was totally head-over-heels enthralled with
0:37:11 > 0:37:13Giorgio Moroder's staccato synth.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15I didn't know how you did that,
0:37:15 > 0:37:18I didn't know that you could play a keyboard that tight.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20So if you listen to my guitar part on I Want Your Love,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24it's just going, "T-t-t-t-teh-teh".
0:37:24 > 0:37:26# I'll be a peg
0:37:26 > 0:37:28# I want your loving
0:37:28 > 0:37:30# Please don't make me beg... #
0:37:30 > 0:37:32I tried to imitate Giorgio Moroder
0:37:32 > 0:37:37and it was that way in the dream, when there's...like a telegraph.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39HE HUMS STACCATO RHYTHM
0:37:39 > 0:37:41MUSIC: Good Times by Chic
0:37:44 > 0:37:47This was all happening in the late '70s, when disco was king.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50Our song, Good Times, had been a huge hit,
0:37:50 > 0:37:54filling dancefloors across the globe, but back then we had no idea
0:37:54 > 0:37:58it was being used in the streets to create a new musical genre.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00You weren't worth your weight in salt
0:38:00 > 0:38:02if you couldn't rap off of Good Times.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06I mean, you could do a party in New York and throw Good Times on,
0:38:06 > 0:38:08and anybody that could rap would get on the mic.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13# Now what you hear is not a test, I'm rappin' to the beat
0:38:13 > 0:38:17# And me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet
0:38:17 > 0:38:21# You see I am Wonder Mike and I'd like to say hello...
0:38:21 > 0:38:24# ..to the black, to the white, the red and the brown,
0:38:24 > 0:38:26- # the purple and... - HE MUMBLES
0:38:26 > 0:38:28- It had to begin.- Ha-ha! Whoo!
0:38:28 > 0:38:30It's always good that he goes first!
0:38:30 > 0:38:32- Ladies, ladies... - We don't want that one, do we?
0:38:32 > 0:38:34- ..keep your clothes on! - People don't want me to go.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36They never say, "Gee, give us...!"
0:38:36 > 0:38:38No, my part don't come till the end!
0:38:38 > 0:38:42# I said a M-A-S, a TER, a G with a double E
0:38:42 > 0:38:44# I said I go by the unforgettable name of the man
0:38:44 > 0:38:46# They call the Master Gee... #
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Rapper's Delight was the brainchild of Sylvia Robinson.
0:38:49 > 0:38:54She was the producer and co-founder of Sugarhill Records back in 1979.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59I was at a disco, in New York, and I saw these guys
0:38:59 > 0:39:02just talking on the microphones and music
0:39:02 > 0:39:05and everybody was just going into a frenzy.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07And I said to myself,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10"If I put a concept like that on record,
0:39:12 > 0:39:14"it'll be a smash."
0:39:14 > 0:39:18Sylvia Robinson is unparalleled.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20She was a female record producer
0:39:20 > 0:39:22at a time when there were very few
0:39:22 > 0:39:27and it would come as no surprise to many that there are very few today.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29You can name them on one hand.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33Sylvia Robinson is really important as being a female record producer
0:39:33 > 0:39:36but also a visionary, having that vision.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40So she singlehandedly, I would argue, with Sugarhill,
0:39:40 > 0:39:41created a whole new genre.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46She should have the title of The Mother of Hip-hop,
0:39:46 > 0:39:48there's no question about that.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52It was her conception, it was her vision, you know, she saw it.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57I found one fella working in the pizza parlour
0:39:57 > 0:40:00on Palisades Avenue here in Englewood, New Jersey.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02Well, that fella in the pizza parlour, his name was,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05that was Big Bank Hank.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07OK, another fella was walking by with his friend,
0:40:07 > 0:40:08and I didn't even know him.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11He jumped in the car and his friend said,
0:40:11 > 0:40:14"Ah, Hank is all right, but my man's vicious!"
0:40:14 > 0:40:17That happened to be Master Gee.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21And then I met "Wonder Mike".
0:40:21 > 0:40:24# I said a hip hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip hip a hop,
0:40:24 > 0:40:25# And you don't stop the rock it... #
0:40:25 > 0:40:27She said, "You know what?
0:40:27 > 0:40:30"I'm not to going to choose between the three of you.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32"The record's supposed to be for one person.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34"I'll tell you what I'll do."
0:40:34 > 0:40:37And she did like this - "I'll marry the three of you together
0:40:37 > 0:40:40"and we'll make a record and you'll be a trio."
0:40:40 > 0:40:42And that was a Friday night,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45we went down there Monday night and cut the record.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47The record's 15 minutes long.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50- We did the, we did the vocals in 17 minutes.- Yeah.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52# You gotta try to move your feet... #
0:40:52 > 0:40:57To hear someone reciting poetry, rhythmically,
0:40:57 > 0:41:02over R'n'B tracks was like, it took the world by storm.
0:41:02 > 0:41:03# Bang bang, the boogie to the boogie
0:41:03 > 0:41:06# Say up jump the boogie to the bang bang boogie
0:41:06 > 0:41:07# Let's rock, you don't stop
0:41:07 > 0:41:10# Rock the rhythm that'll make your body rock
0:41:10 > 0:41:12# Well, so far you've heard my voice
0:41:12 > 0:41:14# But I brought two friends along
0:41:14 > 0:41:16# And next on the mic is my man Hank
0:41:16 > 0:41:18# C'mon, Hank, sing that song!
0:41:18 > 0:41:19# Check it out... #
0:41:19 > 0:41:23Before they recorded Rapper's Delight, there were no
0:41:23 > 0:41:27visibly known rap songs on the market.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30A month later, 30 rap records is on the market!
0:41:30 > 0:41:33# You see, I got more clothes than Muhammad Ali
0:41:33 > 0:41:34# And I dress so viciously... #
0:41:34 > 0:41:39Sylvia was important because she came to the table with
0:41:39 > 0:41:42a producer's mentality that was old-school.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44Sylvia was basically about the music.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46You had to play it, you had to play the music.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48To me this was important because
0:41:48 > 0:41:52someone actually played these riffs and the music sound full.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57She was a genius. She could play the piano, she could write,
0:41:57 > 0:42:00she had a great singing voice, she was an awesome producer.
0:42:00 > 0:42:05I'm telling ya, all that - Apache, 8th Wonder, The Message,
0:42:05 > 0:42:08all that stuff man, she was right there.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10# It's like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
0:42:10 > 0:42:12# How I keep from going under
0:42:12 > 0:42:15# It's like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
0:42:15 > 0:42:17# How I keep from going under... #
0:42:17 > 0:42:19That's record's important because,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22sonically, it sounded like nothing else.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25There was no other record at the time that sounded like that.
0:42:28 > 0:42:33The Message, to this day, is still one of those pioneering,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36absolutely iconic songs, and you CAN use the word "iconic" on that.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39That is a really, really important record.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41# Junkies in the alley with the baseball bat...
0:42:41 > 0:42:43Rapper's Delight was perfect rap-pop
0:42:43 > 0:42:46but when Sylvia asked Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
0:42:46 > 0:42:50to record The Message, she created another landmark moment
0:42:50 > 0:42:56in the evolution of rap - bringing social commentary to nascent hip-hop.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00I think that The Message was important for music in general,
0:43:00 > 0:43:02but we'll just talk about hip-hop for now.
0:43:04 > 0:43:09I think that it gave rap a certain amount of legitimacy.
0:43:11 > 0:43:18We gave hip-hop a avenue where it didn't necessarily have to be
0:43:18 > 0:43:21about partying and having a good time.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24You can rap about the human condition.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28And that gave it a sea change.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32Now, all of a sudden, you don't necessarily have to be frivolous.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36You can make a statement and you can still sell records.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39# Ha-ha-ha-ha, it's like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
0:43:39 > 0:43:40# How I keep from going under... #
0:43:40 > 0:43:42I'd argue she created hip-hop
0:43:42 > 0:43:46because she facilitated - another role of the record producer -
0:43:46 > 0:43:49allowing artists the facility. She facilitated that.
0:43:51 > 0:43:56It was simplistic and nobody else came up with it until she did.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58And she was the one who had the vision to say,
0:43:58 > 0:44:00"Hey, yo, you know something? This could be big."
0:44:00 > 0:44:01And it was.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07Rapper's Delight was the first rap single to reach the top 40,
0:44:07 > 0:44:10ands it was also a first in the story of sampling,
0:44:10 > 0:44:13one of the modern producer's greatest tools.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16But the song it sampled was pretty familiar to me.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19The first time I heard Rapper's Delight, I was in a club
0:44:19 > 0:44:21in New York City Called Leviticus.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23Almost as soon as I heard the bassline playing
0:44:23 > 0:44:26I looked to my right and I could see the DJ.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30I'm like, "Dude, what are you doing? Who's playing the records?
0:44:30 > 0:44:32"Who's doing the rap?' And he said,
0:44:32 > 0:44:36"Oh, Nile. I just picked this up today in Harlem, up on 125th Street.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38"This is the hottest record in town!"
0:44:38 > 0:44:41Then all of a sudden I heard my strings fall off.
0:44:41 > 0:44:42I heard the "berng!"
0:44:42 > 0:44:45And I went "Wait a minute! Those are my strings! That's..."
0:44:45 > 0:44:48I knew that the other part wasn't me playing
0:44:48 > 0:44:50but I could hear that those were my strings playing,
0:44:50 > 0:44:52that they actually came from my record.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55Now, there was no proper sampling device in those days,
0:44:55 > 0:44:59so basically what they did was they had a DJ come into the studio
0:44:59 > 0:45:03and scratch until they got it in sync with the track.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05You know, so...
0:45:05 > 0:45:06Doo-doo-doo-ew!
0:45:06 > 0:45:08# Ya start doin' the freak,
0:45:08 > 0:45:09# I said Damn!
0:45:09 > 0:45:10# Right outta your seat... #
0:45:10 > 0:45:12And I was like, "Wait a minute, now,
0:45:12 > 0:45:15"that's serious copyright infringement.
0:45:15 > 0:45:16"Let me look at that label."
0:45:16 > 0:45:19And, of course, my name and Bernard Edwards' name was nowhere to be found
0:45:19 > 0:45:21on that label.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29Everybody knew that we had initiated a lawsuit and, erm...
0:45:29 > 0:45:32So, four guys came to the studio, and they told us that they
0:45:32 > 0:45:37were our friends and they were coming to help us out,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41because we shouldn't go ahead with this lawsuit,
0:45:41 > 0:45:45because, even if we win, this is a quote, even if we win, we'll lose.
0:45:50 > 0:45:51We can't just let it go.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54It's impossible, because why would a person stop
0:45:54 > 0:46:00if they could just take our stuff without any kind of penalty.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02We settled out of court.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05And I think that, probably, was a situation where cooler heads
0:46:05 > 0:46:09prevailed because sampling was a new thing,
0:46:09 > 0:46:11but copyright infringement was not.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16I guess we helped set the precedent for sampling to be recognised
0:46:16 > 0:46:17and credited.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21This was just as well, as in the next decade, technology would
0:46:21 > 0:46:25enable sampling to play a major role in the new pop music landscape.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34The most important thing that happened in the '80s was sampling.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36You know, the idea of using samples
0:46:36 > 0:46:40and using previously made recordings of things and manipulating them.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44Producer Trevor Horn is credited with creating
0:46:44 > 0:46:46the sound of the '80s, working with artists
0:46:46 > 0:46:50like The Pet Shop Boys, Grace Jones and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53# Money's all that you can score... #
0:46:53 > 0:46:56# I heard you on the wireless back in '52... #
0:46:56 > 0:47:00But it all began with his group, The Buggles.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03# If I was young it didn't stop you coming through... #
0:47:03 > 0:47:07Making that record was really the thing that got me started.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10I don't think you can really be a producer
0:47:10 > 0:47:13unless you had a hit record that you wrote, yourself.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16I think that should be your, sort of, diploma,
0:47:16 > 0:47:18like a dentist has a diploma.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20# Video killed the radio star... #
0:47:20 > 0:47:22With a number one hit in the bag, Trevor got on with
0:47:22 > 0:47:26the job of producing and was really the first to take full advantage
0:47:26 > 0:47:28of what you could do with sampling.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30We can do anything with sound.
0:47:30 > 0:47:31We can do anything...
0:47:31 > 0:47:35- SLOWED DOWN- ..with sound, with sound, with sound.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38I suppose an early example of what you could do with samples
0:47:38 > 0:47:41would be a song like Give Me Back My Heart by Dollar.
0:47:43 > 0:47:48Instead of Theresa singing her vocals in the normal way,
0:47:48 > 0:47:50we sampled her.
0:47:50 > 0:47:51# La-la-la-la... #
0:47:51 > 0:47:54All played from a keyboard. This amazing sound.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56It was definitely a moment.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59# La-la-la... #
0:47:59 > 0:48:02You knew you were hearing something for the first time
0:48:02 > 0:48:05that was going to become part of the sound of everything.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09# So give me back my heart
0:48:09 > 0:48:12# That's all I have to live for... #
0:48:12 > 0:48:15The cliche of the '80s, it's that it's all about money
0:48:15 > 0:48:20and shoulder pads and the '80s is a very, very experimental time,
0:48:20 > 0:48:23as you can see in Trevor Horn's records, that are massive hits.
0:48:28 > 0:48:33He did just crazy, bananas things that were just impossible.
0:48:33 > 0:48:38You listen to stuff that he'd made and it was like taking drugs.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41You know, I felt like I could see stuff when I, when I,
0:48:41 > 0:48:42listened to stuff that he'd done.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44I found it very inspiring.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47The picture that I had in my head
0:48:47 > 0:48:49for what a pop record should sound like,
0:48:49 > 0:48:52and I know that this might sound it odd,
0:48:52 > 0:48:54but my blueprint was the idea of Kraftwerk...
0:48:54 > 0:48:56# Charging our battery... #
0:48:56 > 0:48:58..meets Vince Hill.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02# Edelweiss... #
0:49:02 > 0:49:05- Kraftwerk... - # Now we're full of energy... #
0:49:05 > 0:49:07..meets Vince Hill.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10# Edelweiss... #
0:49:10 > 0:49:12..but with machines.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Grace Jones.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19Slave To The Rhythm.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21That was what really interested me.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24To try and make a new kind of record,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27that people would accept as a pop record, but was completely
0:49:27 > 0:49:32different to what had passed as a mainstream pop record before.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37Trevor had made our favourite record
0:49:37 > 0:49:40which was Slave To The Rhythm by Grace Jones.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47The Pet Shop Boys wanted a bit of that Trevor Horn sound,
0:49:47 > 0:49:52and so he brought his pop orchestration to their next single.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54Yeah, it was funny, that song, Left To My Own Devices,
0:49:54 > 0:49:59because it was, sort of, two-thirds formed when we first got it.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01Trevor took our demo.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06He just makes it more dramatic, bigger and better.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12I get out of bed at half past ten,
0:50:12 > 0:50:16phone up a friend who's a party animal.
0:50:16 > 0:50:21The idea was that it was an incredibly mundane explanation
0:50:21 > 0:50:24of a day in someone's life.
0:50:27 > 0:50:33The music reveals the emotion behind the apparently mundane life,
0:50:33 > 0:50:36which isn't really mundane, at all.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40And so Trevor said, "We've got to have an orchestra on this."
0:50:42 > 0:50:44It was the first time the Pet Shop Boys
0:50:44 > 0:50:46had ever used an orchestra.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49It was a 50-piece orchestra in Abbey Road.
0:50:49 > 0:50:50Worked out really well.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54The orchestral arrangement is so you feel the drama
0:50:54 > 0:50:58and the emotion behind the apparently mundane.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00# Left to my own devices... #
0:51:00 > 0:51:04Since that album, most of our albums had an orchestra on them.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07You've got a Trevor Horn moment. You've got your money's worth!
0:51:07 > 0:51:10That's what you paid him for.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13We would never in a million years have thought of that.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22Trevor Horn brought pop into the computer age, but, for me,
0:51:22 > 0:51:26the '80s wasn't just about sequencing and sampling.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29I mixed my tried and tested technique of using live bands
0:51:29 > 0:51:31in the recording studio as well!
0:51:31 > 0:51:34This is an approach I used to bring a different vibe
0:51:34 > 0:51:36to Madonna's album, Like A Virgin.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40# I made it through the wilderness
0:51:40 > 0:51:43# Somehow I made it through
0:51:44 > 0:51:47# Didn't know how lost I was... #
0:51:47 > 0:51:51I said to her, "If we sequence it, anybody can copy your record,
0:51:51 > 0:51:53"anybody can sound like that.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56"But if we play it, only we can sound like that."
0:51:56 > 0:51:58# Like a virgin
0:51:58 > 0:52:03# When your heart beats next to mine... #
0:52:03 > 0:52:05And it works.
0:52:05 > 0:52:09It's a question of wanting it to feel more soulful.
0:52:09 > 0:52:15In other words, to sound like a band played her record,
0:52:15 > 0:52:19not like a producer just produced her record.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22# Let's dance
0:52:22 > 0:52:26# Put on your red shoes and dance the blues... #
0:52:26 > 0:52:28It was a really busy time for me.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32I produced Let's Dance with David Bowie, Original Sin with INXS
0:52:32 > 0:52:36and began a long term relationship with Duran Duran, producing
0:52:36 > 0:52:38a remix of their song, The Reflex.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40- # And watching over lucky clover...- #
0:52:40 > 0:52:43The Reflex, which was a song we'd written on the third album,
0:52:43 > 0:52:49which we all felt was... We all felt it was a commercial-sounding song,
0:52:49 > 0:52:52but we just didn't have it quite right.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55There was a feeling that we could adjust it a little and get it right
0:52:55 > 0:52:59and that's when we thought Nile might be the man to do it.
0:52:59 > 0:53:00# The reflex is an only child... #
0:53:00 > 0:53:02They called me up and they said,
0:53:02 > 0:53:05"Hey Nile, could you remix this for us?"
0:53:05 > 0:53:08So I said, "OK, you can call it a remix if you like,
0:53:08 > 0:53:10"but I'm going to re-produce this.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13"I'm going to do what I would've done, had I been with you guys
0:53:13 > 0:53:17"when you first wrote this. I'm going to make it sound like, you know..."
0:53:17 > 0:53:19# The reflex la-la-la-la
0:53:19 > 0:53:22# The reflex fle-fle-fle-fle-flex
0:53:22 > 0:53:25# You've gone too far this time
0:53:25 > 0:53:27# But I'm dancing on the... #
0:53:27 > 0:53:29That's how I hear it. What do you guys think?
0:53:29 > 0:53:32You know, and they went "Wow! This is amazing!"
0:53:32 > 0:53:33# Somebody's fooling around
0:53:33 > 0:53:37# With my chances on the danger line... #
0:53:37 > 0:53:42My relationship with Duran Duran is probably one of the most
0:53:42 > 0:53:47emotional and powerful in the music business, for me.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51They feel like...the same way I feel about your family.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56You know, it's like I have my band and my little brother has a band,
0:53:56 > 0:53:58and this is my little brother's band
0:53:58 > 0:54:01and every now and then my little brother lets me play in his band
0:54:01 > 0:54:03and I love it too.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05I feel like I'm a member of Duran Duran.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07They just don't give me any credit.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13The Duran Duran family recently extended to include Mark Ronson,
0:54:13 > 0:54:17who co-produced their latest album Paper Gods with me in 2015.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20Mark is typical of the new breed of producers who are now
0:54:20 > 0:54:23becoming stars in their own right.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26MUSIC: Uptown Funk By Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars
0:54:29 > 0:54:35Uptown Funk is the number one single by Mark Ronson FEATURING Bruno Mars.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37Note whose name comes first!
0:54:40 > 0:54:43No longer are producers confined to the studio,
0:54:43 > 0:54:45they're now centre stage.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48It's nice and it's gratifying to see your name on the front of the thing
0:54:48 > 0:54:51in the charts, but I never started making music
0:54:51 > 0:54:53because I wanted to be in the limelight.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56I never said, like, "Oh, this is why I want to do this,
0:54:56 > 0:54:58"because I want to be on stage playing guitar, like."
0:54:58 > 0:55:02I'm terrified standing on stage playing guitar, or DJing.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06My happy place is being in the studio, making music,
0:55:06 > 0:55:09recording musicians, recording singers, writing songs.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12But somewhere along the line, my life took, kind of,
0:55:12 > 0:55:14a bit of a weird turn.
0:55:14 > 0:55:18You know, it also puts a little more pressure on you because that record
0:55:18 > 0:55:22comes out and that's your name on front, so if it stiffs, it's you.
0:55:22 > 0:55:23# Uptown Funk you up
0:55:23 > 0:55:25# Uptown Funk you up... #
0:55:26 > 0:55:29I think that as pop music really went through
0:55:29 > 0:55:35the '90s and early 2000s, especially with the emergence of
0:55:35 > 0:55:39hip-hop and R'n'B and, like, these producers
0:55:39 > 0:55:42like Pharrell and Timbaland and people you could really, like,...
0:55:42 > 0:55:44You just knew if they did something,
0:55:44 > 0:55:46it was going to be of a certain quality.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49# Get your freak on
0:55:49 > 0:55:50# Get your freak on... #
0:55:50 > 0:55:54As a fan of music, my quality control is, like...
0:55:54 > 0:55:57"Ah, Pharrell did that, I'm going to pick that up and check it out."
0:55:57 > 0:56:00So, of course, if Pharrell goes on to make an album, I'm going to check
0:56:00 > 0:56:04that out too, N.E.R.D, the Neptunes, whoever it was.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07Check it out
0:56:07 > 0:56:08Check it out, girl.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11And then, obviously, you had, obviously,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14the emergence of superstar DJ culture and especially
0:56:14 > 0:56:17when it hit the mainstream in the last six or seven years,
0:56:17 > 0:56:19so most of the producers that we talk about now
0:56:19 > 0:56:21are really DJ producers.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24There are very few producers out there, kind of,
0:56:24 > 0:56:28producer-driven records that are not fronted by people that are also DJs
0:56:28 > 0:56:32and that's because these people already have a massive audience.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35# I like the dirty rhythm you play... #
0:56:35 > 0:56:38I don't know that it's any more important that the DJ's name
0:56:38 > 0:56:40is on the front of the song.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42That it says Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna, or it's just
0:56:42 > 0:56:45a Rihanna song or it says David Guetta, featuring Nicki Minaj,
0:56:45 > 0:56:47or it's just a Nicki Minaj song.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49# I want to hear you calling my name... #
0:56:49 > 0:56:53Or it's me featuring Bruno Mars, or it's just a Bruno Mars song.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56So, today, the producer has become the star,
0:56:56 > 0:57:01but cheap and easy access to technology has also democratised music.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03When I started out, you needed a studio to record.
0:57:03 > 0:57:05And that was expensive!
0:57:05 > 0:57:08Now, you can download software to your laptop
0:57:08 > 0:57:10and be making music in minutes.
0:57:10 > 0:57:11Anyone can do it!
0:57:11 > 0:57:13If you have the right ideas.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15I guess one of the things as a producer,
0:57:15 > 0:57:20you're always afraid of being left behind by these new kids who
0:57:20 > 0:57:26have infinite amounts of free time and new ideas.
0:57:26 > 0:57:31And I've got some guys who work with me from time to time, who are those
0:57:31 > 0:57:35laptop kids who show up and you give them something and they come back
0:57:35 > 0:57:40with a finished track 20 minutes later and you're like...
0:57:40 > 0:57:44It's almost a dream for musicians, because,
0:57:44 > 0:57:48with very little money, you have a little studio at home.
0:57:48 > 0:57:52You can have the millions of sounds, they are all great,
0:57:52 > 0:57:57you just need a microphone, a keyboard and a laptop, actually.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03In that sense, it's a great time for music.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07British brothers Disclosure are a great example of this new wave.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16They started out producing their own records at home
0:58:16 > 0:58:18and now headline festivals.
0:58:18 > 0:58:20I've worked with them recently
0:58:20 > 0:58:22and they are truly at the cutting edge,
0:58:22 > 0:58:24bringing house music back into the mainstream.
0:58:27 > 0:58:32Music is constantly evolving and musicians and producers will continue
0:58:32 > 0:58:38to push sonic boundaries in the constant search for new sounds.
0:58:38 > 0:58:43The mystery of turning an idea into an actual real composition,
0:58:43 > 0:58:47into a real performance, and getting those special moments
0:58:47 > 0:58:50out of each person who's involved in the production,
0:58:50 > 0:58:56is the most thrilling adventure I could ever imagine.
0:58:57 > 0:59:01Producers have changed music in beautiful, unexpected
0:59:01 > 0:59:06and fundamental ways and in doing so have created whole new pop genres.
0:59:06 > 0:59:09So to all the new young producers out there, freak out,
0:59:09 > 0:59:12and always remember, press the record button!