CONCEPTUAL JUSTIFICATION OF A CRITICAL APPROACH TO THE MODERN DEFINITION OF THE ROLE OF THE SOUND ENGINEER IN THE ART OF MUSIC

Abstract

Modern trends in the evolution of musical art cause a review of the place and role of all creative specialists in it, in particular, sound engineers. Accordingly, the conceptual substantiation of the critical approach to defining the role and functions of the sound engineer and the factors of reviewing the content of the sound engineer’s activities in modern conditions require a thorough analysis. To specify the place and role of the modern sound engineer, the state of the music industry at the beginning of the 21st century is characterized in terms of the curtailment of the creative component and the increase in the pattern of creative projects implemented by sound engineers, as well as the determined factors that caused the specified trends. The article substantiates the contribution to the modern definition of the role and functions of the sound engineer of the American composer and musicologist John Cage, the Canadian composer, writer and environmentalist Raymond Murray Schafer, and the American ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. The concept of «uncertainty» and «randomness» of J. Cage; concept of soundscape and background and foreground of listening R. Murray Schafer; the role of music in culture and fixation of culture in recordings by A. Lomax in the context of modern sound engineering where analyzed. It is concluded that a modern sound engineer should comprehensively understand the purpose and tasks of sound engineering and sound recording; appreciate technology and determine its role in sound engineering; to look for new creative solutions, and also should not reject the sound environment. It is emphasized that the application of the outlined approach will allow to create more aesthetically and culturally meaningful projects that actualize sound engineering as a type of creative activity in the field of musical art. It should also be noted that the proposed critical approach should not be considered as a universal standard that can be applied to all projects in the modern music industry.