Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music

This 8 part music documentary was just put up on HULU and I thought I would mention it because things tend to disappear from HULU quickly. I have only watched a small part of the first episode and I can already tell it is must see viewing for anyone interested in music. He is a quick review I found online:

"It's like a mashed-up history of modern music production. Each episode Is loosely based around the impact of various technology (microphone, 4-track, electric guitar, sampling) and includes an array of musicians and producers talking, plus heaps of music clips. It's not genre-based so I imagine it would appeal to most music lovers. It's definitely given me an appreciation for the amazing work of producers. Rick Rubin stands out. One ep covered the path from gospel-soul-funk-disco-edm, tonight was about the birth of rap. Another ep highlighted the album rivalry of beach boys vs Beatles. Always fascinating."

From what I have seen it looks like the documentary of the year for us music lovers. The documentary parts are in mono and the music is in surround when it works. In other words mono recordings are mono but multitrack recordings are mixed to surround. Beautiful sounding and great quality.

I just received the Blu-Ray set as a Christmas gift, which is great as I was only able to watch a few episodes on TV when they were originally broadcast.
(PS The Blu-Ray set is only $32 right now on amazon, a great deal for 8 episodes totaling over 400 mins!)

I am blown away by episode two. Giles Martin spends the first twenty minutes dissecting Tomorrow Never Knows. This series is phenomenal.

rtbluray said:

I just received the Blu-Ray set as a Christmas gift, which is great as I was only able to watch a few episodes on TV when they were originally broadcast.
(PS The Blu-Ray set is only $32 right now on amazon, a great deal for 8 episodes totaling over 400 mins!)

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up! Purchase made!

We TiVo'd them from PBS, and it's the first behind-the-scenes doc I've been able to enjoy with my wife without her checking Facebook, wandering out to make tea, or whining, "Is there a new 'Modern Family' on here yet?" For a pro whose worked several radio formats over the years, it's frustrating knowing she can't tell her Wrecking Crew from her Funk Brothers. Finally here's a series we can geek-out with at the same speed.

I watched the first 6 but missed the last 2. Thought it was a great documentary. Still waiting for them to repeat the last 2.

For the layman, I guess it does an O.K. job. As an audio engineer myself, though, I found it wanting, and the occasional misinformation—I'm looking at you, Ben Harper—was disappointing, to say the least.