Eric Clarke is Heather Professor of Music at the University of Oxford. Nicholas Cook is Professor of Music at Cambridge University. Daniel Leech-Wilkinson is Professor of Music at King's College London. John Rink is Professor of Music at Royal Holloway, University of London.

'… the contributors (some 35 of them, counting the editors) form a lively company of writers and have the agreeable art of expressing opinions without seeming opinionated.' Gramophone

• Introduction Eric Clarke, Nicholas Cook, Daniel Leech-Wilkinson and John Rink; Personal takes: learning to live with recording Susan Tomes; A short take in praise of long takes Peter Hill; 1. Performing for (and against) the microphone Donald Greig; Personal takes: producing a credible voice Mike Howlett; 'It could have happened': the evolution of music construction Steve Savage; 2. Recording practices and the role of the producer Andrew Blake; Personal takes: still small voices Jonathan Freeman-Attwood; Broadening horizons: 'performance' in the studio Michael Haas; 3. Getting sounds: the art of sound engineering Albin Zak; Personal takes: limitations and creativity in recording and performance Martyn Ware; Records and recordings in post-punk England, 1978–80 Richard Witts; 4. The politics of the recording studio Louise Meintjes; Personal take: from Lanza to Lassus Tully Potter; 5. From wind-up to iPod: techno-cultures of listening Arild Bergh and Tia DeNora; Personal take: a matter of circumstance: on experiencing recordings Martin Elste; 6. Selling sounds: recordings and the music business David Patmore; Personal take: revisiting concert life in mid-century: the survival of acetate discs Lewis Foreman; 7. The development of recording technologies George Brock-Nannestad; Personal takes: raiders of the lost archive Roger Beardsley; The original cast recording of West Side Story Nigel Simeone; 8. The recorded document: interpretation and discography Simon Trezise; Personal takes: one man's approach to remastering Ted Kendall; Technology, the studio, music Nick Mason; Reminder: a recording is not a performance Roger Heaton; 9. Methods for analysing recordings Nicholas Cook; 10. Recordings and histories of performance style Daniel Leech-Wilkinson; Personal take: recreating history: a clarinettist's perspective Colin Lawson; 11. Going critical. Writing about recordings Simon Frith; Personal take: something in the air Chris Watson; 12. Afterword: from reproduction to representation to remediation Georgina Born; Global bibliography; Global discography.

Eric Clarke is Heather Professor of Music at the University of Oxford. Nicholas Cook is Professor of Music at Cambridge University. Daniel Leech-Wilkinson is Professor of Music at King's College London. John Rink is Professor of Music at Royal Holloway, University of London.

'… the contributors (some 35 of them, counting the editors) form a lively company of writers and have the agreeable art of expressing opinions without seeming opinionated.' Gramophone

• Introduction Eric Clarke, Nicholas Cook, Daniel Leech-Wilkinson and John Rink; Personal takes: learning to live with recording Susan Tomes; A short take in praise of long takes Peter Hill; 1. Performing for (and against) the microphone Donald Greig; Personal takes: producing a credible voice Mike Howlett; 'It could have happened': the evolution of music construction Steve Savage; 2. Recording practices and the role of the producer Andrew Blake; Personal takes: still small voices Jonathan Freeman-Attwood; Broadening horizons: 'performance' in the studio Michael Haas; 3. Getting sounds: the art of sound engineering Albin Zak; Personal takes: limitations and creativity in recording and performance Martyn Ware; Records and recordings in post-punk England, 1978–80 Richard Witts; 4. The politics of the recording studio Louise Meintjes; Personal take: from Lanza to Lassus Tully Potter; 5. From wind-up to iPod: techno-cultures of listening Arild Bergh and Tia DeNora; Personal take: a matter of circumstance: on experiencing recordings Martin Elste; 6. Selling sounds: recordings and the music business David Patmore; Personal take: revisiting concert life in mid-century: the survival of acetate discs Lewis Foreman; 7. The development of recording technologies George Brock-Nannestad; Personal takes: raiders of the lost archive Roger Beardsley; The original cast recording of West Side Story Nigel Simeone; 8. The recorded document: interpretation and discography Simon Trezise; Personal takes: one man's approach to remastering Ted Kendall; Technology, the studio, music Nick Mason; Reminder: a recording is not a performance Roger Heaton; 9. Methods for analysing recordings Nicholas Cook; 10. Recordings and histories of performance style Daniel Leech-Wilkinson; Personal take: recreating history: a clarinettist's perspective Colin Lawson; 11. Going critical. Writing about recordings Simon Frith; Personal take: something in the air Chris Watson; 12. Afterword: from reproduction to representation to remediation Georgina Born; Global bibliography; Global discography.