The multiple tracks are then sent off to the mixing stage, where they might need a sample rate and quantisation conversion for compatibility. So in the typical digital album creation, one would start with a bunch of A/D conversions from the analog microphone signals and related processors used during tracking into the digital audio workstation, then apply a variety of digital signal processing techniques. But, it certainly does not hold true when performing signal processing operations, digital mixdown, format conversions and A/D or D/A conversions. This only holds true when producing identical copies of an audio file onto different storage mediums, which means identical copies of the same audio file onto different hard drives, USB sticks, or CD-Rs. There are several myths regarding what exactly happens in the digital domain with several people claiming the ability to produce infinite copies without losses. Each generation (copy of one tape onto another tape or disk) introduces losses in the form of an increase of the noise floor, greater distortion, high frequency loss, less definition and an extreme decrease in the the dynamic range of the recorded material. If you do the math, you will find that vinyl records are actually a fourth generation copy at best, while cassette tapes are a fifth generation copy. Alternatively, the master tape could be copied onto a 1/2'' or 1'' tape loop, which would be copied onto 1/8'' tape, that would later be loaded into cassette shells. In the analog domain, one would typically have a 2'' multi-track tape mixed down to 1/4'' or 1/2'' tape, mastered onto 1/4'' or 1/2'' tape and then transferred onto a lacquer disk for vinyl records, which would later be plated with a thin metal film to create the stampers, which would be used to press the vinyl records.
Eventually, the pre-master goes to the final mastering stage where the mastering/transfer engineer processes it even more to successfully transfer it to the medium, that it is going to be commercially released in (vinyl record, cassette tape, CD, etc.).Īside from numerous processing units being used in all these stages, the recording actually has to be bounced to several different mediums to be taken from one stage to the next. This mix goes to the pre-mastering stage where the pre-mastering engineer processes it yet some more to optimise it for its final destination medium. Then, these separate tracks go to the mixing stage where they are processed and edited even further and then mixed together into a coherent musical piece. Typically, it starts with the recording or tracking session, where all the instruments are recorded, usually separately using multiple microphones and each microphone recorded onto a separate track which can be edited and processed individually. The recording process has been broken up into several stages, performed by different people in different environments. This ability, however, comes at a certain cost.
This technological progress has made it possible for far less competent musicians to make a more or less competent sounding album and for washed out rock stars who, if all put in the same room at the same time, would probably murder each other, to make an album together. The advent of digital audio workstations also means that apart from much greater multitracking capabilities of hundreds of tracks of separate recordings being layered over each other, these tracks can now also be edited note by note to compile a solid performance that can be altered or ``improved'' at will. This evolution has enabled us to do things that would be unthinkable in those early days, such as multitrack recording, which allows different instruments to be recorded at different times, and mixed later to create what sounds like a performance by many instruments at the same time. Sound recording technology has greatly evolved since the 1940's, when Direct-To-Master recording was not actually something special, but more like one of the few options for recording music. The evolution of sound recording technology The result is an intense and realistic sonic image of the performance with an outstanding dynamic range. This is usually done entirely in the analog domain using either magnetic tape or a phonograph disk as the recording medium. Magnetic Recording is a method of recording sound, where the music is performed entirely live and captured directly onto the master medium.
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