Music History 2 Podcast #2

Podcast #2 Mark "Flood" Ellis

Peer Comment

Steve Mckinnon,


Great job on your entry! I feel as though Dr. Dre was a common topic this week. I agree with you on lines such as "Dr. Dre has had a major impact on popular music and all of his listeners" and "His influence is also undeniable in terms of music videos". You can tell that most of the rappers and DJs out there have relied on Dr. Dre for not only musical inspiration, but also for his headphones that he just came out with. He definitely did have a major impact on music videos too because of his flashy cars, girls and parties, which most artists still try and repeat to this day.


I have always been a big fan of Dr. Dre ever since I was young. His records such as "The Chronic" and "2001" have left an everlasting effect on my life and I will always remember the good times I had listening to those albums. 


Overall, this is a very informative entry.


-Phil Jahnke

References

Ankeny, Jason. (n.d.). Artist Direct: Flood. Retrieved from http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/flood/431181

 Flood (producer). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_(producer)

Guitar center interview: Billy Corgan. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gc.guitarcenter.com/interview/billycorgan/

Mark "Flood" Ellis. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://home.pages.at/blackcel/People/flood.htm

PLASTIQUEGAL. (2008, January 8). Shades of an Audio Dream "Flood". Retrieved from http://audiodaydream.blogspot.com/2008/01/oh- crossovers-continue-as-mark-ellis.html

Mark "Flood" Ellis

Mark "Flood" Ellis is an innovative music producer who gives bands a signature sound with his creative techniques. It's because of his creativity that has gotten him to produce and engineer some of the more popular bands of the 80's, such as U2 and Depeche Mode. The meaning behind the pseudonym FLOOD. Two different stories with the same general concept. Flood would keep himself and everyone in the studio awake with his daily brewing of tea. Future Music Magazine '94 acclaimed that Flood was constantly spilling tea in the studio. What Flood was known for was his creative and innovative recording techniques. He perfected the ability to blend synthetic and organic elements. Depeche Mode's song "Personal Jesus" of their hit album "Violator" is a great example of Flood's use of blending organic elements. The song lacks resonance due to such great clarity, giving it that hard-edge sound. The album itself has a cold, almost impersonal feel to it. Flood recorded a few albums for U2 during the 80s even into the late 90s. The song "Still haven't found what I'm looking for" was a huge smash hit from the band, and Flood was fortunate enough to work with Brian Eno (who he was very inspired by) on engineering the album "The Joshua Tree". They wanted a "very open, ambient (sound) with a real sense of space of the environment that you are in". This was a weird request at the time of the recording.Flood had an almost flawless technique of recording. His albums would come out perfect and pristine. The sounds he created were mysterious yet it seemed to be everywhere at the same time. Flood was able to take what he did and the 80s and early 90s and transfer it over into the present age. One of his more recent successes was the album "This is War" by 30 Seconds To Mars. This album mimicked the sounds of previous bands he worked with, but with chants.

“Flood’s incredible. Flood is a tremendous producer. Flood is very masterful with the sonics, but where he really shines is he’s a great idea person. And I don’t mean like he tells you, “Oh, put this chorus here.” It’s more like he can see an ambiance of the song that you don’t necessarily see and he would really fight with us – not negative a fight, just he would really kind of push us to say there’s another vibe here that you can get to. And I think you can see that when he’s worked with U2 as well. He kind of pushed them to get to a little bit of a tougher vibe” - Billy Corgan

Great producers, such as Mark Ellis only come around once every so often. Since I personally never grew up listening to those post punk bands of the late 80s, I still have an appreciation for this type of music, and what goes into making a great record, such as The Joshua Tree. In the long run, I feel as though he has left an everlasting impression on me as an inspiring recording engineer. 

References

Ankeny, Jason. (2005). Kraftwerk biography. Retrieved from http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Kraftwerk/Biography/


Howard, D. (2004). Sonic Alchemy. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation


Kellman, Andy. (n.d.). Konrad plank. Retrieved from http://www.allmusic.com/artist/konrad-plank-p114812/biography

Peer Comment

Carla Gonzalez,

Great job discussing Kraftwerk. I feel like we both have the same opinion on this band. Without the pioneering of Kraftwerk and other artists of this genre we would not have those dance or pop songs that we all grew up to love. We can definitely learn a lot about the music industry and new ways of recording music just by listening to this. 

One thing I do feel like you should have touched on a little more was the actual recording process with producers like Konrad "Conny" Plank. You and I both know that a band's recording is only as good as their producer/engineer. Without his influence and person intake on Kraftwerk's first four albums, they would have been stuck in the college crowds instead of being a world renown name. 

Best of luck on the rest of your assignments for this last week!

-Phil Jahnke

Konrad "Conny" Plank

During a time period of industrial exploration in music, electronics proved to take the part of traditional instrumentation. One of the most well known innovators of this genre of progressive, avant-garde electronic music was Konrad "Conny" Plank. He is best known for his creative sound engineering and producing for such bands/artists as Kraftwerk and David Bowie. During the 1970s Plank had produced and engineered for many of the German experimental bands (known as "Krautrock"). His most noticeable work during this time was the first four Kraftwerk albums entitled Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk 2, Ralf and Florian and Autobahn. Plank was the engineer/producer to anyone who was using a synthesizer in the Cologne-Dusseldorf region. It was his creative thinking that helped Plank create his vision and unique style which he considered to be the "theatre of the mind". His experimentation was fueled by growing up in the psychedelic 60s. Working as an engineer at the West German Radio in Cologne, Plank would work with modern day music of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel, and then by night spend hours experimenting with classical musicians. This is where he learned his free-form of composition, utilizing echoes and filter changes throughout his recording. Plank worked on improvisation in the recording studio. 

Working more in the studios gives you a real appreciation for people like Conny Plank. Without his revolutionary style of recordings and helping out Kraftwerk gain their signature sound, music would be much more different. I have always under estimated the older recording of electronic music, seeing as though most of the music sound like a theremin mixed with radio frequency, until I began to gain knowledge on these pioneers of the 1960-1970s. Conny Plank used the skills he picked up from recording classical musicians and the use of new technology to create a ever lasting sound.