ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the manipulation of voice through recording techniques can contribute to the mediation of such expressive moments. The artistic application of such techniques, which might include dynamics control, overdubbing or sound spatialization, helps make the voice sound 'larger than life'; it gives the voice some additional expressive power. The chapter illustrates the expressive power of phonographic staging effects when applied to the voice. It demonstrates that phonographic staging contributes as much as other musical parameters to the aesthetic and symbolic aspects of recorded popular music. Phonographic staging could be briefly defined as the way in which a recorded sound source presents itself to listeners, either following some electronic sound processing, or simply as the result of a given recording technique. Peter Gabriel is renowned for his creative use of technology. Most important among the parameters is the contrast between Peter Gabriel's performance intensity and the voice's dynamic level.
