Dr. Susan Rogers: Working with Prince, Hyper-Creatives, and the Listener Profile - Progressions: Success in the Music Industry

Episode 58

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Published on:

19th Jan 2022

Dr. Susan Rogers: Working with Prince, Hyper-Creatives, and the Listener Profile

This week's guest is engineer, mixer, producer, and professor Dr. Susan Rogers. Susan is a professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston where she is also the acting Director of the Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory. Prior to her academic career she worked for 22 years as an in demand engineer and producer with artists such as David Byrne, Barenaked Ladies, Rusted Root, Toad the Wet Sprocket, and also spent four years as Prince's personal staff engineer. We have a great conversation about how the brain reacts to music, analog vs digital, and why success should be defined by what you believe could be possible, not by what is obvious.

In this episode, we'll dig in on...

  • Working with Prince
  • Listening and how music triggers the brain
  • Modern uses for analog tape
  • The art and craft of mixing
  • US Army electronics manuals
  • Music Cognition and Psychoacoustics
  • Leaving the music industry to work in science
  • Teaching at Berklee College of Music
  • Taking your toys apart
  • Writing a book
  • How to find an audience

Check out Susan's book! "This is What it Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You"

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Credits:

Guest: Dr. Susan Rogers

Host: Travis Ference

Editor: Stephen Boyd

Theme Music: inter.ference

Show artwork for Progressions: Success in the Music Industry

About the Podcast

Progressions: Success in the Music Industry
Host Travis Ference chats with music producers, engineers, mixers, artists, musicians, and songwriters about the tips, tricks, mindsets, and ideas that helped them define their careers.
Conversations exploring creativity, productivity, and career growth in the music industry. Join in each week as Travis sits down with some of the industry’s best and brightest to discuss the mindsets and strategies that they use in their careers every day.
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About your host

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Travis Ference

Travis Ference is a Grammy nominated mixer, producer, and recording engineer based out of Los Angeles, CA. With over a decade of experience in the music business he has worked on multiple #1 albums, several top 10's, numerous RIAA platinum and gold certified records, as well as hit TV shows and blockbuster films. His work can be heard on more than 15 million albums sold and billions streams worldwide.

The inspiration for his podcast came from his journey over the last 5 years to redefine what success is for him, to take control of his time, and to ultimately live the life he wants while making the records he loves.