0:00:02 > 0:00:04MUSIC: Autobahn by Kraftwerk
0:00:04 > 0:00:07That lilting melody first drifted into my consciousness
0:00:07 > 0:00:09about 40 years ago.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17It's pretty minimalist songwriting,
0:00:17 > 0:00:19yet combined with cutting edge technology,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22the effect was shockingly new.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25You might remember it better like this.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28MUSIC: Autobahn by Kraftwerk
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Autobahn by Kraftwerk showed that the song no longer required
0:00:36 > 0:00:39the sweat and toil of real musicians -
0:00:39 > 0:00:42machines could do the hard work for us.
0:00:42 > 0:00:43The robots had arrived.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50From now on, songs would be made in a completely new way.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53In this episode, I'll show how technology
0:00:53 > 0:00:57met with playful creativity to carve out new sounds.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03The very machines that were once used to play songs
0:01:03 > 0:01:07were now creating extraordinary new music - from old records.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09In the hip-hop world,
0:01:09 > 0:01:13we wanted to have our own sonic signature.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16MUSIC: Love Train by The O'Jays
0:01:17 > 0:01:19The dance floor beats of disco
0:01:19 > 0:01:23were also reshaped by the amazing alchemy of the remix.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30MUSIC: Believe by Cher
0:01:30 > 0:01:34And I'll explore how a smash hit like Believe, by Cher,
0:01:34 > 0:01:36was created with the help of software
0:01:36 > 0:01:40that could completely transform the sound of a singer's voice.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43# No matter how hard I try...
0:01:43 > 0:01:49# You keep pushing me aside and I can't break through
0:01:49 > 0:01:50# There's no talking to you... #
0:01:52 > 0:01:55But there was a reaction to all this sonic trickery.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59I'll find out how Nirvana craved a more authentic feel to their songs
0:01:59 > 0:02:01with a stripped-down sound.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04MUSIC: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
0:02:06 > 0:02:09This desire for more earthy-sounding recordings
0:02:09 > 0:02:10can even be heard in stadium rock.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14I'll reveal the surprisingly lo-fi
0:02:14 > 0:02:18beginnings of Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22MUSIC: Born In The USA by Bruce Springsteen
0:02:30 > 0:02:34And I'll experience how the way we've listened to songs
0:02:34 > 0:02:36has been through just as radical a change -
0:02:36 > 0:02:38arriving at an online world,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41where the entire history of the recorded song
0:02:41 > 0:02:43is available to us at the touch of a button.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45MUSIC: Good Times by Chic
0:02:45 > 0:02:48If you make easier for people to get a hold of music and listen to music,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52more people will listen to music and you have a greater likelihood
0:02:52 > 0:02:54that if you're making music, you have a greater likelihood
0:02:54 > 0:02:57that somebody who likes it will find it.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08Let me take you back to a time when you didn't just listen to music,
0:03:08 > 0:03:09you communed with it.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11And there was an entire ritual
0:03:11 > 0:03:14to how you experienced your favourite songs -
0:03:14 > 0:03:15and it had to be done right.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Carefully remove the disc from the sleeve.
0:03:22 > 0:03:23Place it on the turntable
0:03:23 > 0:03:27and remove any dirt or dust with your special brush.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Adjust the volume and settings on your expensive amplifier.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Carefully lower the stylus into place,
0:03:36 > 0:03:41sit back and luxuriate in the big hi-fi sound.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45MUSIC: Breathe by Pink Floyd
0:03:54 > 0:03:58In the 1970s, I started listening - really listening - to music.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01When you popped a pair of these on
0:04:01 > 0:04:03and sealed yourself off from the world,
0:04:03 > 0:04:05the vocals were so warm,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07the production values so high
0:04:07 > 0:04:10you could hear every single little moment.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13It was very hard to believe you could actually get any closer
0:04:13 > 0:04:15to the real sound of song.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24It was just a few years since The Beatles and The Beach Boys
0:04:24 > 0:04:27had begun their adventures in multi-track recording.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31Bands like Pink Floyd and Yes had picked up the baton,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34creating records where musical virtuosity
0:04:34 > 0:04:36was just as important as the songwriting.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41This is the era of the concept album -
0:04:41 > 0:04:44intricately plotted and produced works
0:04:44 > 0:04:47that sounded a little bit like sung film soundtracks.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49I grew up with these.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53And it has to be said, they were the children of the technology.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57There was no way that a band could embark on anything as big as this,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59even two or three years previously.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02MUSIC: Yours Is No Disgrace by Yes
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Songs like Yours Is No Disgrace by Yes
0:05:05 > 0:05:08broke free of the shackles of the three minute pop song.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11They jettisoned the "verse, chorus verse" structure
0:05:11 > 0:05:14and moved into a territory previously inhabited
0:05:14 > 0:05:15by jazz or classical music.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22These rock symphonies were musically dense,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24lyrically unfathomable
0:05:24 > 0:05:25and often very long.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Cards on the table -
0:05:29 > 0:05:31I wasn't a fan of Yes,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34but I was a huge fan of the man who brought us keyboard players
0:05:34 > 0:05:36out to the front of the band -
0:05:36 > 0:05:37Rick Wakeman.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39And the machine that allowed him to do that
0:05:39 > 0:05:41was the legendary Minimoog,
0:05:41 > 0:05:43brainchild of one Robert Moog.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Up until the Moog, what used to happen was,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01if you were in a band, you had a Hammond organ or a piano,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03an electric piano, or whatever you did...
0:06:03 > 0:06:05And it came to your solo.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08The rest of the band would all have to go on the floor -
0:06:08 > 0:06:11they'd all sort of come down to tippy-tappy-tippy-tappy,
0:06:11 > 0:06:13while you did your best to go...
0:06:13 > 0:06:16And they'd all be looking at him going, "Oh, isn't it sad?" HE LAUGHS
0:06:16 > 0:06:19And even the audience would go, "Oh, it's the organ solo."
0:06:19 > 0:06:21And then... "Finished, have you?
0:06:21 > 0:06:24"All right, great." Crank up the guitar and away you go.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28This came along and I remember at the first...
0:06:28 > 0:06:30I remember at one of the first rehearsals we did,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32where I brought it along
0:06:32 > 0:06:35and I thought Steve Howe was going to die, bless him.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Steve's one of my great friends and he went...
0:06:38 > 0:06:39"What...?"
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Because of the nature of how it's made up, with the waveforms,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45it's thicker than any guitar can ever be.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47It'll cut through concrete, that thing.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51It's the... It's the keyboard equivalent to a tambourine.
0:06:51 > 0:06:52Yeah, yeah.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55It will... For whatever reason, it will cut through anything.
0:06:55 > 0:07:01Suddenly, Bob Moog had given keyboard players a solo instrument
0:07:01 > 0:07:04that we could turn round to the guitarist and smile and go,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06"Up yours, sunshine."
0:07:16 > 0:07:19The little Minimoog for me is the cleverest,
0:07:19 > 0:07:24finest and most important electronic keyboard instrument ever made.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26It's basically...
0:07:26 > 0:07:30To put it into layman's terms, it consists of three oscillators...
0:07:30 > 0:07:32So they're creating each sound? That's three sounds...
0:07:32 > 0:07:35..so, for example, this is just one oscillator on its own.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37HE PLAYS A NOTE
0:07:37 > 0:07:40You add another one, which is a bit like playing the same note twice,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43except that you can have the ability to tune it...
0:07:43 > 0:07:45NOTES OSCILLATE
0:07:45 > 0:07:47And then you have the third one...
0:07:47 > 0:07:50THREE NOTES INTERWEAVE
0:07:51 > 0:07:54You can also cheat somewhat, a little bit - you can actually
0:07:54 > 0:07:56tune one of the oscillators, if you want, up a third.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01HE IMPROVISES
0:08:02 > 0:08:06So you can give the impression of playing more notes than you are.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18The Minimoog could generate sounds to fill arenas with music
0:08:18 > 0:08:22that fitted the epic tales that Wakeman's band wanted to tell.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25It could just as easily be very silly.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27You can do the Clangers.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30SQUEAKS, WHISTLES
0:08:30 > 0:08:32..which used to drive the guys at Yes nuts.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35John would be trying to talk out the front and I'd be going...
0:08:35 > 0:08:37SQUEAKY NOTES
0:08:37 > 0:08:39..and John would be going, "We're now going to play..."
0:08:39 > 0:08:42And I'd go... SQUEAKS AND WHISTLES
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Prog rock, really, was breaking the rules.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Yeah, we made mistakes - it's not like everything we did
0:08:56 > 0:08:59was perfect or right, but we believed it was at the time.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01And if you're pioneering on something,
0:09:01 > 0:09:04you're never going to get it right, because you can't go back and go,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06"Well, actually, how did they do it, or they do it?"
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Because there wasn't any "they" behind us to do it.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13And when I look back, I can look at some music and I go,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Do you know what? I'd be proud to do that today.
0:09:16 > 0:09:17And you look at others and go,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20yeah, went slightly... slightly wrong there.
0:09:24 > 0:09:2840 years ago, it wasn't just keyboard wizards like Rick Wakeman
0:09:28 > 0:09:31who were changing the sound of song with the synth.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34In Germany, a group dressed like stockbrokers
0:09:34 > 0:09:37was using the instrument in a much more minimal way.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41MUSIC: Autobahn by Kraftwerk
0:09:53 > 0:09:57In 1974, Kraftwerk put out a piece of conceptual music
0:09:57 > 0:10:00to rival anything by Yes.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Running the whole 22 and a half minutes of one side of an LP,
0:10:03 > 0:10:07Autobahn was music for driving down the motorway to.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12Kraftwerk co-founder Ralf Hutter hoped it would help us discover
0:10:12 > 0:10:14our car was a musical instrument.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Kraftwerk were enthusiastic drivers
0:10:23 > 0:10:25and the inspiration for Autobahn
0:10:25 > 0:10:29came from a real life journey they took in their VW Beetle.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32The band's Florian Schneider said,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35"We came off the Autobahn after a long ride
0:10:35 > 0:10:39"and when we came in to play, we had this speed in our music."
0:10:39 > 0:10:42The sound of the Moog mimicked the feel of a road trip -
0:10:42 > 0:10:46the shimmering, gliding notes mirroring the car
0:10:46 > 0:10:48as it drives through the city streets,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52anticipation mounting as it moves towards its destination -
0:10:52 > 0:10:53the Autobahn.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Kraftwerk loved their Beetles
0:11:07 > 0:11:09and they had this real thing about
0:11:09 > 0:11:15the car and man being in a kind of mechanical harmony with each other.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17And I have to say, driving a Beetle,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19you really do feel like you're part of the mechanics.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21It's quite hard work,
0:11:21 > 0:11:24both turning and moving the gears.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27But it feels like the real thing.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Kraftwerk on the radio,
0:11:29 > 0:11:31this sensation of driving a Beetle
0:11:31 > 0:11:34- it's pure 1974.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35They caught it in that music.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Then, at around the three-minute mark,
0:11:48 > 0:11:52as most traditional songs would be winding down through the gears,
0:11:52 > 0:11:53we hit the motorway -
0:11:53 > 0:11:56and a new melody, packed full of hope, takes over.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00A rare non-electronic instrument makes an appearance,
0:12:00 > 0:12:04reflecting the lush countryside, passing by in a blur.
0:12:12 > 0:12:161974, of course, new music technology was pretty pricey.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18I think it's brilliant that Kraftwerk paid about
0:12:18 > 0:12:21the same amount of money for their first Beetle
0:12:21 > 0:12:23as they paid for their first synthesiser.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Kraftwerk were interested in creating something completely new -
0:12:29 > 0:12:32something specifically German.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Although they can't help cheekily referencing
0:12:34 > 0:12:37the ultimate American pop group - The Beach Boys.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39The song's lyrics conjure up
0:12:39 > 0:12:42a sunny Californian world of "fun, fun, fun"
0:12:42 > 0:12:45and the chorus echoes their hit, Barbara Ann.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48# Bar-bar-bar Bar-Barbara Ann... #
0:12:48 > 0:12:51# Fun fun fun auf der Autobahn
0:12:51 > 0:12:53# Fun fun fun auf der Autobahn. #
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Of course, no motorway driving is all "fun, fun, fun"
0:13:09 > 0:13:13and the synth sound takes on a much darker, more chaotic feel to it,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17as the road fills up with big trucks and cars,
0:13:17 > 0:13:19whooshing past,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22beeping their horns at the slow-moving Beetle.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24It's a scenario anybody would recognise
0:13:24 > 0:13:26who'd ever driven on the M25.
0:13:31 > 0:13:32Night falls,
0:13:32 > 0:13:34and in the final section of the song,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37a drum machine, playing a 4/4 rhythm, kicks in.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42This beat, that the band dubbed "Motorik",
0:13:42 > 0:13:45would become the engine of much of their subsequent music.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Autobahn struck a chord far beyond the busy arteries of Dusseldorf -
0:13:51 > 0:13:54it became a worldwide hit, even finding a following
0:13:54 > 0:13:56on the dance floors of Manhattan.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03The glamour of disco and the Teutonic aloofness of Kraftwerk
0:14:03 > 0:14:05appear to be worlds apart...
0:14:07 > 0:14:11..but they shared a devotion to the never ending 4/4 beat.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Dancers just couldn't get enough.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23However, there was a problem.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25In the early days of disco,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28DJs were bound by the limitations of the 45 single.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31It may have been the perfect format for the three-minute pop song,
0:14:31 > 0:14:33but you got through an awful lot of them
0:14:33 > 0:14:35to keep people dancing into the small hours.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40The old sound of song was simply too short.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44MUSIC: Back Stabbers by The O'Jays
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Disco was about to instigate a radical shift
0:14:51 > 0:14:53in how the song was created.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57You know, two and a half minutes would go by and all of a sudden,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01you would hear this other song come in and...
0:15:01 > 0:15:04if it didn't work exactly right,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07then most people would get off the floor.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11And me - I was already up and I'm saying,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14"Why can't we, like, go higher?"
0:15:14 > 0:15:17Because you could tell people were liking it.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Tom Moulton was a New York model turned producer.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24His experiences in the discos of the early 1970s
0:15:24 > 0:15:26led him to think up a radical solution
0:15:26 > 0:15:29to give people more time to dance.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33That's when I got the idea to...
0:15:33 > 0:15:35make things longer.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38MUSIC: Never Can Say Goodbye by Gloria Gaynor
0:15:38 > 0:15:42Tom's idea was to remix the songs he was hearing,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45extending elements like the instrumental bridge,
0:15:45 > 0:15:47to suit the needs of the dancers.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52One of the first artists to receive a "Tom Moulton Mix"
0:15:52 > 0:15:55was an emerging singer called Gloria Gaynor.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57He extended and mixed together three songs
0:15:57 > 0:16:00across one side of her 1975 album,
0:16:00 > 0:16:02Never Can Say Goodbye.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09A remix is taking the multi-track,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12which you have a bass on one track,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14a kick on another - meaning a bass drum -
0:16:14 > 0:16:17and then have a guitar track then you have the strings,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20you have the background vocals and you have the lead singer.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23So, by taking that combination,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27you're putting it together the way you feel.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31If it makes me move emotionally,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34then I'm on the right path.
0:16:34 > 0:16:35That's a remix.
0:16:36 > 0:16:37The song was no longer
0:16:37 > 0:16:40the product of a group of musicians and a producer.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44In some cases, the recording was just the beginning of the story.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47The real magic happened after the band had left the building.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53And it wasn't just the dancers who benefitted from Tom's remixes.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56People were always complaining to DJs, like...
0:16:57 > 0:17:00You know, I just wish something I could put on
0:17:00 > 0:17:02where I could go to the bathroom,
0:17:02 > 0:17:04or take a lunch break and I went... Oh, OK.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06I'll just...you know?
0:17:06 > 0:17:10I'm working on Gloria Gaynor now, just put the three songs together
0:17:10 > 0:17:13and put a lot of instrumentation and make it a whole thing.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15And everybody thought that was so brilliant and I said,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18"Yeah, but I did it for the DJs, so they could go to the bathroom
0:17:18 > 0:17:20"or have a smoke break or something.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22"Oh, is that it?" And I go, "Yeah, why?"
0:17:28 > 0:17:30But there was a potential issue here.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33With the increase in instrumentation in these songs,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35what happened to the singer - the star?
0:17:37 > 0:17:39What was Gloria's reaction?
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Oh, God. I remember that like it was yesterday.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46I went over to Jay's - J Ellis, he was her manager -
0:17:46 > 0:17:50and he said, OK, you've finished it in the studio, let me hear it.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54I said, "OK". So he put it on, he goes, "Gloria, come on in here."
0:17:54 > 0:17:59OK, so she's standing there and we listen to the whole thing.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03And so Jay goes, "Gloria, what do you think?"
0:18:04 > 0:18:05"I don't sing much."
0:18:06 > 0:18:08I almost died!
0:18:08 > 0:18:11I almost died.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13I didn't know... I said,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16"Well, Gloria, the reason I did it that way..."
0:18:16 > 0:18:18And I thought, I can't tell her...
0:18:18 > 0:18:21I can't tell her I made your record sound like that
0:18:21 > 0:18:24where you don't sing much so the DJ could go to the bathroom.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Well, that's not saying much for her and...
0:18:27 > 0:18:29I said...
0:18:29 > 0:18:33"Gloria, all you've got to do is brush up on your dance steps(!)"
0:18:33 > 0:18:34I didn't know what to say!
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Despite her reservations,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Tom Moulton's remixes for Never Can Say Goodbye
0:18:41 > 0:18:44provided Gloria Gaynor with her breakthrough album.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46She went on to become the Queen of Disco
0:18:46 > 0:18:49and quickly learned how to dance.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Once a style icon,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Tom Moulton was now setting musical trends.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56He invented the 12 inch single,
0:18:56 > 0:19:00the remix, and pioneered the art of the continuous mix.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03He helped shape much of the dance music that was to come.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Disco itself wouldn't outlive the decade,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10but its influence was to continue into a new era.
0:19:10 > 0:19:15And one song in particular, from 1979, illustrates this -
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Chic's Good Times.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20MUSIC: Good Times by Chic
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Good Times perfected the disco formula.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Nile Rodgers' insistent guitar
0:19:32 > 0:19:34and Bernard Edwards' addictive bass line
0:19:34 > 0:19:36got so far under the skin
0:19:36 > 0:19:38that musicians just couldn't keep their hands off them.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Queen's bass player John Deacon
0:19:45 > 0:19:47borrowed the bass line for their number one hit,
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Another One Bites The Dust.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52MUSIC: Another One Bites The Dust by Queen
0:20:00 > 0:20:04So now, you could break a song down to its constituent elements
0:20:04 > 0:20:07and use those elements to create something new.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Good Times was also the basis for the very first record
0:20:14 > 0:20:16to come out of a new music scene
0:20:16 > 0:20:20that had been emerging in some of the poorest boroughs of New York.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23MUSIC: Rapper's Delight by The Sugar Hill Gang
0:20:23 > 0:20:27The Sugar Hill Gang's 1979 hit, Rapper's Delight
0:20:27 > 0:20:30added another startling element to the mix -
0:20:30 > 0:20:32spoken or chanted rhymes,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35that became known as rap.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37# I said a hip hop Hippie to the hippie
0:20:37 > 0:20:39# The hip, hip a hop and you don't stop, a rock it out
0:20:39 > 0:20:43# To the boogie bang bang The boogie to the boogie, the beat
0:20:43 > 0:20:45# Now, what you hear is not a test
0:20:45 > 0:20:47# I'm rappin' to the beat
0:20:47 > 0:20:51# And me, the groove, and my friends Are gonna try to move your feet
0:20:51 > 0:20:55# You see, I am Wonder Mike And I'd like to say hello
0:20:55 > 0:20:56# To the black... #
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Recorded in a single 15 minute take, this,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03like many early rap songs, was partly improvised.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05It reminds me of another African-American innovation -
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Louis Armstrong's scat singing.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11LOUIS ARMSTRONG SCATS
0:21:14 > 0:21:19SUGAR HILL GANG SCATS
0:21:19 > 0:21:21The rapper wasn't the only star
0:21:21 > 0:21:24in this world that became known as hip-hop.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26This was a form of music
0:21:26 > 0:21:29built around the dazzling skills of the DJ.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34In the late '70s and early '80s,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36in places like New York's East River Park,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39something revolutionary was happening.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42People who had little access to traditional musical instruments
0:21:42 > 0:21:44were creating something remarkable,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46using just two turn tables
0:21:46 > 0:21:48and their record collections.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52This early scene was captured in the film, Wild Style.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04DJs like Grandmaster Flash used small snatches of their records,
0:22:04 > 0:22:08looping and scratching them to suit the needs of the dancers.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Hank Shocklee, a young DJ from Long Island, New York,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17was one of the pioneers of this new form.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19In the hip-hop world,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22we wanted to have our own sonic signature
0:22:22 > 0:22:27that was different from the DJs that were playing records...
0:22:27 > 0:22:30That was playing like, the whole record, all the way through.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35# The Grand...Master...Flash! #
0:22:35 > 0:22:37Grandmaster Flash and all these guys,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41they were just playing these little parts of the record.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44And the little breaks of the record,
0:22:44 > 0:22:46they would just play for a long period of time.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53In the early '80s, Shocklee formed a partnership with rapper Chuck D,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56becoming a producer of Public Enemy.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01MUSIC: Don't Believe The Hype by Public Enemy
0:23:02 > 0:23:05# Back Caught you lookin' for the same thing
0:23:05 > 0:23:07# It's a new thing Check out this I bring
0:23:07 > 0:23:09# Uh-oh, the roll below the level
0:23:09 > 0:23:11# Because I'm livin' low Next to the bass, come on... #
0:23:11 > 0:23:12From the beginning,
0:23:12 > 0:23:16they took advantage of a new piece of technology - the sampler -
0:23:16 > 0:23:19that allowed them to use other people's music in their recordings.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Using this kit, Hank created a rebellious new sound -
0:23:24 > 0:23:27and there wasn't a more anti-authority expression
0:23:27 > 0:23:29than sampling.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32If Public Enemy wanted a sound, they just took it.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35MUSIC: Funky Drummer by James Brown
0:23:36 > 0:23:39Sampling allowed Public Enemy to use old records
0:23:39 > 0:23:41in a much more sophisticated way,
0:23:41 > 0:23:45creating songs that were like audio collages.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48The artist who made it onto Public Enemy's sampler most often
0:23:48 > 0:23:50was James Brown.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57The song Funky Drummer was named by Brown,
0:23:57 > 0:24:02after the inspired work of his drummer, Clyde Stubblefield.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Hidden amid Brown's grunts and groans
0:24:04 > 0:24:07was a two and a half second fragment of clean drums.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12But that was quite enough for Hank Shocklee.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14I call Funky Drummer "milk".
0:24:14 > 0:24:16THEY LAUGH
0:24:16 > 0:24:18You put milk in everything!
0:24:18 > 0:24:20THEY LAUGH
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Clyde Stubblefield hit on what I consider to be the perfect beat.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28And the thing that's so incredible about that beat
0:24:28 > 0:24:30is its ghost snares.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33What do you call "ghost snares"?
0:24:33 > 0:24:37You have the... On the one, two, you have like the...
0:24:37 > 0:24:38The thing on the back beat.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40And everybody just has that one back beat.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45But because he would have the back beat and he would have a lazy...
0:24:45 > 0:24:48bringing it off the snare, it would be very lazy,
0:24:48 > 0:24:50you get this like, "bumbrrrajaba"!
0:24:54 > 0:24:55That right there and...
0:24:55 > 0:24:58He keeps going and he keeps doing it,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01you get this percussive thing that's happening,
0:25:01 > 0:25:04but it's not percussion, it's snare.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09And it gives... Everything that we put that in, it gave it a lift.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12That extra little ccrrrttit-tit-ta!
0:25:12 > 0:25:15Gave it that extra... That little extra...
0:25:15 > 0:25:18That extra push that it needed...
0:25:18 > 0:25:22to make the record have that...drive.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25MUSIC: Rebel Without A Pause by Public Enemy
0:25:25 > 0:25:27# Yes - the rhythm, the rebel
0:25:27 > 0:25:30# Without a pause, I'm lowering my level... #
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Funky Drummer can be heard on the Public Enemy track,
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Rebel Without A Pause.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37It illustrates brilliantly their approach to building songs,
0:25:37 > 0:25:41piling on different sounds and textures.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44# Bum rush the sound I made a year ago... #
0:25:44 > 0:25:45With Funky Drummer as the bedrock,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Shocklee adds a high-pitched wail -
0:25:48 > 0:25:49a trumpet glissando sampled
0:25:49 > 0:25:52from another James Brown production, The Grunt.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57MUSIC: The Grunt by The JBs
0:26:00 > 0:26:03As Funky Drummer briefly drops out,
0:26:03 > 0:26:07MOR soft rockers Jefferson Starship step into the breach.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11MUSIC: Rock Music by Jefferson Starship
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Wedded to Chuck D's powerful rapping,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25it was a visceral, physical experience.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29PE was not about order.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31It was about disorder
0:26:31 > 0:26:35and it was about the chaos that's happening all around us,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37all the time.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39So, with that point particularly,
0:26:39 > 0:26:40tell me about Fight The Power.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44Fight The Power was an attempt at being...
0:26:46 > 0:26:49..very positive - more solution-oriented.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54MUSIC: Fight The Power by Public Enemy
0:26:54 > 0:26:56# Our freedom of speech is freedom or death
0:26:56 > 0:26:58# We got to fight the powers that be
0:26:58 > 0:27:00# Fight the power
0:27:01 > 0:27:03# Fight the power
0:27:03 > 0:27:04# Fight the power... #
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Great songs, to me...
0:27:07 > 0:27:09If you listen to a lot of bands,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12they all build around the singer.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20CENSORED LYRICS CONTINUE
0:27:24 > 0:27:27# Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamp... #
0:27:28 > 0:27:29I give Chuck just the...
0:27:29 > 0:27:32I call it the meat, which is just the...
0:27:32 > 0:27:36It's our loop of the track, that's over and over.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40Nothing spectacular, nothing's done on it.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Just so he can use that as a canvas,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45so that he can paint what he sees.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51And then, we will organise that in the form of...a song.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58Fight The Power was written for the Spike Lee film, Do The Right Thing -
0:27:58 > 0:28:00in which it plays a central role.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07That film and that track came to symbolise that time.
0:28:07 > 0:28:08There is...
0:28:08 > 0:28:10There is something extraordinary about it.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13At the time, there was a lot of racial tension
0:28:13 > 0:28:16that was happening in...
0:28:16 > 0:28:17all the inner cities.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27PE was the spark that brought back civil rights
0:28:27 > 0:28:29in a totally different fashion,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32because now, the civil rights wasn't about
0:28:32 > 0:28:36whether or not we could sit in the front of the bus
0:28:36 > 0:28:38or drink from a water fountain or not.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42Now, it was our fight for freedom of expression.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45That was the fight of the police violence
0:28:45 > 0:28:49that was running supreme in the black communities.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52So now...
0:28:52 > 0:28:55It offered people that spark of like,
0:28:55 > 0:28:57"Yeah, we can do this!"
0:28:59 > 0:29:01The boombox that took music
0:29:01 > 0:29:03onto the streets of Brooklyn in Do The Right Thing
0:29:03 > 0:29:06was a classic piece of lo-fi technology.
0:29:14 > 0:29:16Its sound quality wasn't perfect,
0:29:16 > 0:29:20but it gave users the freedom to listen to and spread their music
0:29:20 > 0:29:21wherever they went.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24It would also play a key role
0:29:24 > 0:29:29in the creation of one of the most iconic rock songs of the 1980s.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32MUSIC: Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen
0:29:37 > 0:29:40In 1981, Bruce Springsteen was canoeing up a river
0:29:40 > 0:29:43near his home in New Jersey.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45Like his contemporaries on the streets of New York,
0:29:45 > 0:29:47he liked to take his music with him everywhere
0:29:47 > 0:29:50and so, he had his trusty boombox -
0:29:50 > 0:29:51even on the water.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54On this particular occasion,
0:29:54 > 0:29:58somehow, the tape player ended up at the bottom of the muddy river.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15Springsteen hauled it out, dried it off and hoped for the best.
0:30:24 > 0:30:25The following year,
0:30:25 > 0:30:27Springsteen unpacked a brand-new piece of machinery -
0:30:27 > 0:30:30an early four-track home recording system,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33which frankly, neither he or his roadie really knew how to use.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35However, they persevered
0:30:35 > 0:30:40and eventually managed to record a whole set of new demos on it.
0:30:40 > 0:30:41After the sessions,
0:30:41 > 0:30:44Bruce realised he'd got nothing to play those songs out onto,
0:30:44 > 0:30:46until he remembered the boombox.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49Yes, that boombox.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52He switched it on and it magically sprang back to life again.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58He then made a master recording of the demos on the tape player.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01MUSIC: Reason To Believe by Bruce Springsteen
0:31:03 > 0:31:07Springsteen put the resulting cassette in his jeans jacket pocket
0:31:07 > 0:31:08and forgot about it.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11And there it rattled around for a couple of months,
0:31:11 > 0:31:13without even a case to protect it,
0:31:13 > 0:31:16eventually making its way to the studio in New York.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19In 1982, Springsteen was already well known
0:31:19 > 0:31:23for rousing small town anthems like Born To Run,
0:31:23 > 0:31:25backed by an enormous wall of sound.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30But here, he'd created something new -
0:31:30 > 0:31:33rural noir, a raw, unadorned style
0:31:33 > 0:31:35that reflected the misfortunes of
0:31:35 > 0:31:38his cast of down-on-their-luck characters.
0:31:38 > 0:31:45# Now the jury brought in a guilty verdict
0:31:45 > 0:31:51# The judge he sentenced me to death... #
0:31:53 > 0:31:57One of the first people to hear the wonky-sounding cassette
0:31:57 > 0:32:00was his band-mate and producer, Steve Van Zandt.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05I said to him, "I have to tell you something.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09"This is...
0:32:09 > 0:32:12"extraordinary. This is not...
0:32:12 > 0:32:15"This is not hitting me as a demo."
0:32:15 > 0:32:18You know? He said, "What do you mean?"
0:32:18 > 0:32:21I said, "This sounds like a record."
0:32:24 > 0:32:30He said, "Nah, I just did it on a cassette with my roadie, here."
0:32:30 > 0:32:32I said, "I don't care how you did this."
0:32:33 > 0:32:37Maybe because he never intended for it to be released,
0:32:37 > 0:32:41it's the most intimate record I've ever heard by anybody.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46Springsteen and his band attempted to re-record the demos,
0:32:46 > 0:32:50but the recreations, in one of the world's most expensive studios,
0:32:50 > 0:32:55somehow failed to capture the rough-hewn magic of the originals.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59Instead, Springsteen decided to release the cassette just as it was,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02on an LP called Nebraska.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09It became obvious at some point that there was something
0:33:09 > 0:33:13extraordinary going on with what became Nebraska.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16I just felt it was an amazing piece of work,
0:33:16 > 0:33:19that I was so glad actually got released.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24There was one song from the folky Nebraska sessions
0:33:24 > 0:33:25that didn't make it onto the album.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28MUSIC: Born In The USA (Acoustic) by Bruce Springsteen
0:33:28 > 0:33:29Another bleak story,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32this time about the fortunes of a Vietnam veteran.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42But Bruce heard the potential
0:33:42 > 0:33:45to make it a much bigger-sounding record.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48Born in the USA came out a couple of years later,
0:33:48 > 0:33:49in a rather different form.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52Out went that mournful lo-fi recording,
0:33:52 > 0:33:54in came a rather minimal chord structure
0:33:54 > 0:33:59and one of the most memorable synth lines in all of pop history.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02MUSIC: Born In The USA
0:34:07 > 0:34:09MUSIC: Born In The USA by Bruce Springsteen
0:34:10 > 0:34:13Keyboard player Roy Bittan was playing one of these -
0:34:13 > 0:34:17it's a Yamaha CS-80, big old beast, weighs a tonne,
0:34:17 > 0:34:21cost about eight grand to buy back in the day, as I remember -
0:34:21 > 0:34:23but has a vast amount of controllability.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27I mean, look this section along here.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29The sound they got on it was part sort of Oriental,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31part military trumpet,
0:34:31 > 0:34:33all '80s.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36Add to that a devastating snare drum sound
0:34:36 > 0:34:37with so much reverb on it,
0:34:37 > 0:34:39it sounded like bombs dropping and you basically have
0:34:39 > 0:34:43a recording that pummels the listener into submission.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46# Born in the USA
0:34:46 > 0:34:50# I was born in the USA
0:34:50 > 0:34:55# I was born in the USA
0:34:55 > 0:34:58# Born in the USA... #
0:34:59 > 0:35:02With the chorus hitting so hard,
0:35:02 > 0:35:06the song's powerful message was hidden in the verses.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09That tale of a man hitting rock bottom
0:35:09 > 0:35:11after returning from the Vietnam war,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14which had been so affecting in the original demo...
0:35:14 > 0:35:15It was still there,
0:35:15 > 0:35:19only it had been completely overwhelmed by the production.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23# Come back home to the refinery
0:35:23 > 0:35:28# Hiring man said "Son, if it was up to me"
0:35:28 > 0:35:31# Went down to see my VA man
0:35:31 > 0:35:36# He said "Son, don't you understand?" #
0:35:36 > 0:35:40The pumped up sound and the pumped up appearance of Springsteen
0:35:40 > 0:35:42gave many people the impression
0:35:42 > 0:35:46that what they were hearing was a pro-USA anthem.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50President Reagan even adopted the song - without permission -
0:35:50 > 0:35:52for his 1984 re-election campaign.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Then, in late 1984, the hit album was chosen
0:35:58 > 0:36:03as the first CD to be manufactured in the USA.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05The patriotic symbolism of the title song
0:36:05 > 0:36:08and the huge '80s production sound
0:36:08 > 0:36:11made it the perfect candidate to launch this new format in America.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19The compact disc was the biggest sonic revolution
0:36:19 > 0:36:21since magnetic tape.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26It introduced the public to the idea of digital music for the first time.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28CDs were presented as delivering
0:36:28 > 0:36:30"perfect sound forever"
0:36:30 > 0:36:32and the allure of crackly old vinyl
0:36:32 > 0:36:35was quickly tarnished by this buff new format.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39What was your feeling about hearing it on CD, as against on vinyl?
0:36:39 > 0:36:42It was shit, like all CDs.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47Brittle and thin and...horrible.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50MUSIC: Brick Is Red by Pixies
0:36:50 > 0:36:55The actual reason that CDs were favoured over vinyl
0:36:55 > 0:36:59never had to do with sound quality.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06The principal advantage to compact discs
0:37:06 > 0:37:09was that they were more convenient than LPs.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11Like, you could put more music on them,
0:37:11 > 0:37:14you could carry them around easier, you could play them in a car.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19The manufacturing costs, in bulk, were dramatically lower than LPs,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23yet you could sell them for more, at a higher retail price,
0:37:23 > 0:37:26so the profit margin on them for the record labels was astronomical.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29Record labels made an absolute killing during the CD era.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32MUSIC: November Rain by Guns N' Roses
0:37:32 > 0:37:35What the CD did offer was clean, noiseless sound.
0:37:35 > 0:37:36This was reflected in the huge,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39slickly produced rock songs of the day.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41Everything got bigger -
0:37:41 > 0:37:44the sound, the profits, even the hair.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47MUSIC: Here I Go Again by Whitesnake
0:37:49 > 0:37:52# Goin' down the only road I've ever known.. #
0:37:55 > 0:37:57In the history of recorded song,
0:37:57 > 0:38:01each new sonic revolution has been seen as a progression.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04But, for the first time, some were beginning to question this.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07MUSIC: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
0:38:07 > 0:38:10Musicians were asking whether the embrace of all new technology
0:38:10 > 0:38:12was necessarily a good thing for their song-writing...
0:38:15 > 0:38:18..including the biggest rock band of the day.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24Nirvana were unhappy with the way their record label
0:38:24 > 0:38:28had remixed their 1991 album, Nevermind,
0:38:28 > 0:38:30to make it more commercial-sounding.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33MUSIC: Come As You Are by Nirvana
0:38:34 > 0:38:36# Soaked in bleach As I want you to be... #
0:38:36 > 0:38:40For the follow up, In Utero, they were determined to produce a record
0:38:40 > 0:38:43that stayed true to their raw punk sound.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46And they knew exactly who to turn to -
0:38:46 > 0:38:48producer Steve Albini.
0:38:49 > 0:38:54The band were fans of some of the records that I'd recorded.
0:38:54 > 0:38:55So when they contacted me...
0:38:55 > 0:38:59The first thing that Kurt said was that he liked the Pixies album
0:38:59 > 0:39:03and wanted to make a record with a similar sound quality.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06Most of my effort is expended in
0:39:06 > 0:39:09trying to make an accurate recording,
0:39:09 > 0:39:12rather than trying to manipulate the sound
0:39:12 > 0:39:14that comes into the studio with the band.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17MUSIC: All Apologies (Demo) by Nirvana
0:39:19 > 0:39:24Albini's approach was to let the band control the creative decisions,
0:39:24 > 0:39:26allowing songs to develop organically
0:39:26 > 0:39:28during the recording sessions.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32I think principal recording was done in six or seven days.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36Over the course of an evening, basically,
0:39:36 > 0:39:38Kurt sang the whole album.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40For a lot of the vocal recording,
0:39:40 > 0:39:42he would have a somewhat broken acoustic guitar
0:39:42 > 0:39:44that he would just strum along with.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48And for example, the acoustic guitar that you hear on the record...
0:39:50 > 0:39:52..that was just the guitar that was sitting on his lap,
0:39:52 > 0:39:55that he was sort of strumming along while he was singing.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57It wasn't a separate recording...
0:39:57 > 0:39:59I don't know that the band intended to have
0:39:59 > 0:40:01an acoustic guitar on the record,
0:40:01 > 0:40:04but he was more comfortable singing while he was strumming a guitar
0:40:04 > 0:40:07and so, that made its way onto the record.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09The guitar at the beginning of the song Rape Me
0:40:09 > 0:40:12directly references Nirvana's biggest hit -
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Smells Like Teen Spirit.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18MUSIC: Rape Me by Nirvana
0:40:19 > 0:40:22# Rape me
0:40:23 > 0:40:26# Rape me, my friend... #
0:40:26 > 0:40:30It's an ironic musical nod to the song that had made the band -
0:40:30 > 0:40:32a song that had brought enormous success,
0:40:32 > 0:40:36but which Cobain was now reacting against with their new compositions.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38MUSIC: Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana
0:40:38 > 0:40:42# Hey, wait, I got a new complaint
0:40:42 > 0:40:46# Forever in debt to your priceless advice
0:40:46 > 0:40:49# Hey, wait... #
0:40:49 > 0:40:5312 days, done and dusted, everybody left happy.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56I didn't do anything special or magic on that session.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59All the special magic walked in with the band.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02Nirvana returned to Seattle,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04having recorded their album the way they wanted,
0:41:04 > 0:41:06capturing the essence of their sound
0:41:06 > 0:41:09without the glossy finish of Nevermind.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12But not everybody was happy with the results.
0:41:12 > 0:41:13Kurt called me and told me that
0:41:13 > 0:41:16everyone he played the record to hated it.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18There were millions of dollars riding on it.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21There were countless people whose livelihoods were depending
0:41:21 > 0:41:23on Nirvana's next record
0:41:23 > 0:41:26and all of those people were telling them they were making a mistake.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29People in the administrative side of that record label
0:41:29 > 0:41:31and in their management company
0:41:31 > 0:41:33were talking to the press
0:41:33 > 0:41:35and bad rapping me,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38saying that this record is terrible, it's all Albini's fault,
0:41:38 > 0:41:40they need to do it all again but they're being stubborn -
0:41:40 > 0:41:42that sort of thing.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46They were trying to generate a kind of public pressure on Nirvana,
0:41:46 > 0:41:51to get them to play along with their plan -
0:41:51 > 0:41:54the plan of redoing the record in a more conventional way.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58And, you know, I think it's remarkable that the band -
0:41:58 > 0:41:59in the position that they were in
0:41:59 > 0:42:02under the pressure that they were under -
0:42:02 > 0:42:04that they chose to put the record out the way they wanted to.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09Nirvana were ultimately vindicated.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13In Utero went on to sell 15 million copies.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Not bad for an old-fashioned recording.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22Yet all Steve Albini and Nirvana's efforts
0:42:22 > 0:42:24meant nothing in the pop world.
0:42:24 > 0:42:25Throughout the 1990s,
0:42:25 > 0:42:29studios eagerly embraced digital recording techniques,
0:42:29 > 0:42:32giving even more power to the producers.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40# No matter how hard I try
0:42:41 > 0:42:46# You keep pushing me aside and I can't break through
0:42:46 > 0:42:50# There's no talking to you.
0:42:50 > 0:42:51# It's so sad... #
0:42:51 > 0:42:54This classic pop song sounds like it could have been written
0:42:54 > 0:42:57at any time since the days of Tin Pan Alley.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02But when Cher recorded Believe in 1998,
0:43:02 > 0:43:05classic pop writing met with a new piece of technology
0:43:05 > 0:43:08that had a startling effect on the sound of song
0:43:08 > 0:43:12and created one of the biggest hits of the decade.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16MUSIC: Believe by Cher
0:43:16 > 0:43:20# I really don't think you're strong enough, no.. #
0:43:21 > 0:43:25Producer Bruno Ellingham has recreated Cher's track for us
0:43:25 > 0:43:31with singer Patricia Hammond, using some magical digital tools.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34# I really don't think you're strong enough, no. #
0:43:37 > 0:43:40- Great stuff, thank you very much. - That was great.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43So what we're trying to do is to find out what happened
0:43:43 > 0:43:45when Believe was created -
0:43:45 > 0:43:47and to do that, we've started off...
0:43:47 > 0:43:50You've recorded me and Patricia, our singer, yes?
0:43:50 > 0:43:53- Yes, shall I play that for you? - Yes, please.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55PLAYBACK
0:43:55 > 0:43:57# No matter how hard I try... #
0:43:58 > 0:44:02Our contributions to the song are now digital files,
0:44:02 > 0:44:05recorded and played back through the software.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08Digital recording has been around since the 1980s,
0:44:08 > 0:44:12but by 1998, the software had become much more sophisticated.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16It works very well as a traditional...
0:44:16 > 0:44:18Surprisingly well, isn't it?
0:44:20 > 0:44:24# You're gonna be the lonely one, oh
0:44:24 > 0:44:27# Do you believe in life after love? #
0:44:29 > 0:44:32So, what have you added that's from the Cher version?
0:44:32 > 0:44:35If I just play that same section again,
0:44:35 > 0:44:37I'll just slowly bring some elements in.
0:44:37 > 0:44:38Fantastic.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41PLAYBACK
0:44:41 > 0:44:45- Now, there's our pad...- ..which instantly puts it in that space.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48SYNTHS LAYER ONTO PLAYBACK
0:44:50 > 0:44:53The drums and the bass there...
0:44:53 > 0:44:55Fade your piano out...
0:44:59 > 0:45:02The major impact on how music is now created
0:45:02 > 0:45:07is the ease with which this way of working allows a producer like Bruno
0:45:07 > 0:45:10to alter fundamental elements of the song.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13In the digital world, everything can be manipulated.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19- So very rapidly... - We're getting there.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23- ..we've turned from the simple piano...- Absolutely.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26And the voice is sounding different because of what's there,
0:45:26 > 0:45:28but actually, there's something still missing, isn't there?
0:45:28 > 0:45:31- There is.- There's something in there that is with Cher's voice
0:45:31 > 0:45:34- that we haven't got with Patricia, our singer.- Yes.- What might that be?
0:45:34 > 0:45:38- Well, this is our fantastic autotune here.- Oh.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41In effect, it's a vocal tuning plug-in,
0:45:41 > 0:45:44which has different levels of pitch correction,
0:45:44 > 0:45:48so that you can actually try and correct the vocal
0:45:48 > 0:45:51in as natural as possible way.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53So it doesn't make any difference to the sound of the voice,
0:45:53 > 0:45:54it just moves the pitch?
0:45:54 > 0:45:57It just move the pitch around and nowadays,
0:45:57 > 0:45:59you can also move the time, as well.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02So you can move vocals around,
0:46:02 > 0:46:05stretch words out and...
0:46:05 > 0:46:08So there is absolutely nothing you can't edit now,
0:46:08 > 0:46:11including the sound... The physical sound of the human voice?
0:46:11 > 0:46:13Pretty much, yeah. Pretty much. I mean...
0:46:13 > 0:46:15HE LAUGHS
0:46:15 > 0:46:17If I just show you roughly how that works...
0:46:17 > 0:46:21- You can choose the key you're in... - F sharp.- ..so Believe is in F sharp.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23And here, we just hit "set major",
0:46:23 > 0:46:28so that will then default to the notes within the major scale.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31What it does is to actually remove any notes
0:46:31 > 0:46:34- that aren't within the scale. - Right, OK.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37The effect with this is just to put the retuned speed up very fast.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42- AUTOTUNED:- # No matter how hard I try... #- Oh, yeah.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47# You keep pushing me aside and I can't break through... #
0:46:47 > 0:46:49- And a lot of what you're hearing... - Wow.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52..is it jumping between the notes in the scale
0:46:52 > 0:46:54and missing out the notes in between,
0:46:54 > 0:46:57- which normally, a singer would glide through.- That's amazing.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59I could set it to the minor scale and...
0:46:59 > 0:47:03- AUTOTUNED:- # No matter how hard I try... #
0:47:03 > 0:47:05You sort of get a different thing.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08- So let's hear our singer. - In context...
0:47:08 > 0:47:10MUSIC: Believe
0:47:12 > 0:47:14# No matter how hard I try
0:47:15 > 0:47:20# You keep pushing me aside and I can't break through
0:47:21 > 0:47:25# There's no talking to you
0:47:25 > 0:47:26# It's so sad... #
0:47:26 > 0:47:30Bands like Kraftwerk, U2 and Daft Punk
0:47:30 > 0:47:32had long been manipulating the human voice,
0:47:32 > 0:47:35but autotune took this one stage further.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38Producers could now do anything with the voice
0:47:38 > 0:47:41and take the song in any direction.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44# Do you believe in life after love? #
0:47:45 > 0:47:48That's brilliant.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52Obviously, we all remember Believe as being "the autotune song",
0:47:52 > 0:47:55but actually, when you listen back to it,
0:47:55 > 0:47:56they were really rather tasteful with it.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59It was only used on lines within the bridge.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01So it's sort of used as an arrangement effect...
0:48:01 > 0:48:04- That's brilliant. - ..which is actually very clever.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06So I guess the accusation that could be levelled
0:48:06 > 0:48:09is that with this amount of editing available,
0:48:09 > 0:48:11you don't have to be any good as a musician
0:48:11 > 0:48:13to make it in the pop world.
0:48:13 > 0:48:14Would you buy that?
0:48:14 > 0:48:16Not really, no.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19I mean, I think in terms of songwriting,
0:48:19 > 0:48:21you still have to have a good chord structure,
0:48:21 > 0:48:23you still have to have a good arrangement.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26There is... The one thing that has done and...
0:48:26 > 0:48:30just digital recording in general has done,
0:48:30 > 0:48:33- is to open up recording to the masses.- Yeah.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36Anyone can make a very professional-sounding record
0:48:36 > 0:48:38with very little equipment.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41IMPROVISED ELECTRONICA
0:48:48 > 0:48:49In the last decade,
0:48:49 > 0:48:53recording technology has evolved at a dizzying pace.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56Musicians have been able to create songs at home for some time.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58Today, the explosion in mobile apps
0:48:58 > 0:49:02means it's possible to craft a song without even getting out of bed.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11MUSIC: Get Lucky by Daft Punk
0:49:11 > 0:49:12For consumers too,
0:49:12 > 0:49:16music delivery has reached new levels of convenience.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19The invention of the ultra-portable MP3 player
0:49:19 > 0:49:22has effectively made the physical format redundant.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25Just as people ditched their vinyl in the '80s,
0:49:25 > 0:49:29now CDs have landed in the technology graveyard.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33But does this convenience come at a cost?
0:49:35 > 0:49:38An MP3 is a piece of digitised music, from which
0:49:38 > 0:49:42all but the bare minimum of the original information is discarded.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46You might be able to carry your music collection around with you,
0:49:46 > 0:49:47but it's been estimated
0:49:47 > 0:49:51that you're losing up to 90% of the recorded sound.
0:49:53 > 0:49:58It will surprise no-one to hear that Steve Albini doesn't own an iPod.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00So we asked him to listen to a track
0:50:00 > 0:50:03from the new album by his band Shellac as an MP3.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06MUSIC: Dude Incredible by Shellac
0:50:08 > 0:50:10Yeah, uh...
0:50:10 > 0:50:11That wasn't enjoyable.
0:50:13 > 0:50:18Essentially no bass information makes it through the ear buds,
0:50:18 > 0:50:21There's a lot of low-frequency information on this record -
0:50:21 > 0:50:23I would imagine on other records, but...
0:50:25 > 0:50:26I mean, it's a record...
0:50:26 > 0:50:30It's our record, so I'm quite familiar with it -
0:50:30 > 0:50:33and it sounds odd and alien,
0:50:33 > 0:50:35coming through ear buds like that.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37MUSIC: Fight The Power (Part 1) by The Isley Brothers
0:50:37 > 0:50:42For Albini, the only way to listen to music is still on vinyl.
0:50:42 > 0:50:46And he's not alone - vinyl has seen a huge resurgence in recent years.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48It's once again becoming
0:50:48 > 0:50:50a significant part of the music business -
0:50:50 > 0:50:53worth £20 million in 2014.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03People who are... who listen to music seriously,
0:51:03 > 0:51:05people who want to have collections of music
0:51:05 > 0:51:07typically buy vinyl records,
0:51:07 > 0:51:13because it's the same format stretching back 50, 70 years,
0:51:13 > 0:51:16So you can have music covering a very long time period
0:51:16 > 0:51:17in that same format.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21So you can listen to a Nat King Cole record
0:51:21 > 0:51:23or an Ella Fitzgerald record or a Buddy Holly record,
0:51:23 > 0:51:27or a Beatles record, or a Sex Pistols record, or...
0:51:29 > 0:51:30..name someone from this week.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34For me, the sheer physicality of vinyl
0:51:34 > 0:51:37and the warmth of the sound is hard to beat.
0:51:37 > 0:51:38But equally, the idea that
0:51:38 > 0:51:41I can carry my entire collection of songs with me in my pocket
0:51:41 > 0:51:44still boggles the mind.
0:51:44 > 0:51:45For song writers too,
0:51:45 > 0:51:48the instant access to the history of the recorded song
0:51:48 > 0:51:49has been a creative boon.
0:51:49 > 0:51:51MUSIC: Pale Green Ghosts by John Grant
0:51:51 > 0:51:56Singer-songwriter John Grant draws on a century of influences.
0:51:56 > 0:51:58His song, Pale Green Ghosts,
0:51:58 > 0:52:02melds traditional songwriting techniques and new technology
0:52:02 > 0:52:05in his modern take on the classic pop song.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08# Pale green ghosts at the end of May
0:52:08 > 0:52:11# Soldiers of this black highway
0:52:11 > 0:52:14# Helping me to know my place... #
0:52:15 > 0:52:16I come at it
0:52:16 > 0:52:18from all sorts of different angles.
0:52:18 > 0:52:22I come at it from where I sit down at the piano sometimes...
0:52:22 > 0:52:25and just think about words
0:52:25 > 0:52:27and write the song.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30And then I also love to start with the computer
0:52:30 > 0:52:33and come up with bass lines, synth bass lines
0:52:33 > 0:52:36and just beautiful progressions and beautiful loops.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48The idea behind that track,
0:52:48 > 0:52:51or what I heard first when I did that track
0:52:51 > 0:52:55was just some of these old, beautiful synth bass lines
0:52:55 > 0:52:57from Cabaret Voltaire -
0:52:57 > 0:53:00and that was the backbone of that track.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15There was also the idea from the outset to have orchestra,
0:53:15 > 0:53:18strings, James Bond-esque... You know, the John Barry...
0:53:18 > 0:53:22- I had little bit of that feeling. - But I love the brass.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25# Pale green ghosts must take great care
0:53:25 > 0:53:28# Release themselves into the air
0:53:28 > 0:53:38# Reminding me that I must be aware. #
0:53:38 > 0:53:42Pale Green Ghosts has the second movement of the, you know...
0:53:42 > 0:53:45Prelude in C sharp minor from Rachmaninoff
0:53:45 > 0:53:48superimposed over the top of that last section.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52And so, it's just begging for an orchestra to come in there.
0:54:05 > 0:54:09In John Grant's world, the gravitas of Rachmaninoff
0:54:09 > 0:54:13sits comfortably alongside the frippery of novelty pop.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16- Do you remember the song Popcorn? - Oh, yeah.
0:54:16 > 0:54:17Pop-pop-pop-pop.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21- That was something that I know has influenced me.- Yeah.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23That keeps popping up.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27- I think the band was Hot Butter. - Hot Butter, that's right!
0:54:27 > 0:54:30Yeah, I remember it was in Tennessee, I believe,
0:54:30 > 0:54:34when I heard that for the first time and we had a 45 of it.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38And it was my cousin Tammy and my sister Susan and me,
0:54:38 > 0:54:42and we played it over and over and over and over,
0:54:42 > 0:54:45which is probably why my mother had a Valium problem.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49THEY LAUGH
0:54:49 > 0:54:50Can you imagine?
0:54:50 > 0:54:52"They're playing it again!"
0:54:58 > 0:55:02# You could probably say I'm difficult
0:55:02 > 0:55:06# I probably talk too much. #
0:55:10 > 0:55:14John Grant is clearly a product of the contemporary musical landscape,
0:55:14 > 0:55:17but I can hear a line that runs right back to Irving Berlin -
0:55:17 > 0:55:21songwriting craft combined with emotional depth.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26Your songs are A, very melodic,
0:55:26 > 0:55:28B, quite confessional as well.
0:55:28 > 0:55:29That's not a new thing.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31I mean, they were doing that all the time back then
0:55:31 > 0:55:34and I suppose that's what makes sense to me.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36It's like, why wouldn't you talk about...
0:55:36 > 0:55:39As an artist, why wouldn't you talk about your particular experience,
0:55:39 > 0:55:41because what else do you know about,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44except for your particular experience?
0:55:44 > 0:55:48Because that is the one thing about you that nobody can duplicate.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53# I am not who you think I am
0:55:53 > 0:56:02# I am quite angry, which I barely can conceal... #
0:56:03 > 0:56:06Why not have an electro dance hit
0:56:06 > 0:56:09and why not have a torch song and why not mix it up?
0:56:09 > 0:56:12Because that is who you are as a person, so that makes sense.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16So in the context of who you are as an artist,
0:56:16 > 0:56:18this makes sense, so just do it.
0:56:19 > 0:56:25# From the top of my head, down to the tips of the toes on my feet
0:56:25 > 0:56:31# So go ahead and love me while it's still a crime
0:56:31 > 0:56:34# And don't forget you could be laughing
0:56:34 > 0:56:37# 65 percent more of the time... #
0:56:37 > 0:56:41I've travelled through 40 years of innovation in song
0:56:41 > 0:56:44for this programme, a journey that began in the '70s,
0:56:44 > 0:56:46with me listening to music through headphones.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50And here I am again today, with a pair of headphones -
0:56:50 > 0:56:52but this time, I'm not alone.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56MUSIC: Do It Again by Royksopp and Robyn
0:57:02 > 0:57:05This is a silent disco -
0:57:05 > 0:57:07a peculiar 21st century phenomenon,
0:57:07 > 0:57:11in which people gather together to listen and dance to music.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15Built into their headphones is the option to choose
0:57:15 > 0:57:16what they want to dance to.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18MUSIC: Shake It Off by Taylor Swift
0:57:18 > 0:57:21While you're listening to Taylor Swift...
0:57:22 > 0:57:25..the people behind you might be moshing to Nirvana...
0:57:25 > 0:57:27MUSIC: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
0:57:27 > 0:57:30..the person next to you dancing to Gloria Gaynor.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33MUSIC: I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
0:57:35 > 0:57:37Well, this is wacky!
0:57:37 > 0:57:39I can see why it works though -
0:57:39 > 0:57:42it's the perfect experience for the YouTube generation.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46Any music you want or no music at all - you choose.
0:57:53 > 0:57:55So who knows how we're going to be making
0:57:55 > 0:57:57and listening to music in the future?
0:57:57 > 0:58:00What is certain is that the popular song has proved itself
0:58:00 > 0:58:03a remarkably versatile artform,
0:58:03 > 0:58:06one that will easily survive whatever fascinating developments
0:58:06 > 0:58:08technology has in store.
0:58:08 > 0:58:12And I, for one, can't wait to see where it goes next.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20MUSIC: Fembot by Robyn