samedi 16 février 2013

How Recording Studios Have Advanced With The Advent Of Digital Audio Technology

By John Phenom


There are many ways to consider how recording studios have changed with the advent of digital audio workstations. From convenience to the basic methodology of the work, the DAW systems in place today have streamlined a process that used to be much more time consuming. At the same time, the DAW systems also create their own level of complexity where analog used to be pretty basic for engineers to master.

Analog formats were the standard for decades for artists in the 20th century. The work was captured on magnetic tape that was spliced and edited. In DAW formats such as Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic Pro and Maschine, you can go back in virtual time to erase, overlap, perform multi-tracking or create loops.

The DAW process is much more forgiving and versatile than tape when it comes to audio editing. When capturing sound on tape, typically tracks were put down, which then could be bounced onto subsequent tracks. This process compressed the sound onto one track. Unfortunately, the engineer then no longer had control of the separate track elements.

In each separate track in a DAW system, you can patch and manipulate different parts using a click of a mouse in a simple maneuver that usually does not take much time. You can manipulate time signatures and go for precise matching to tracks. Analog capabilities were limited at best, often calling for entire re-recording of sections if a track had mistakes.

DAW's can save an artist or producer a lot of money when it comes to booking time in a studio. The speed and ease of use of these newer systems can make the process go much faster than what you might experience working in an analog system. The result is a shorter and more cost-effective period spent in the studio working alongside an engineer.

DAW recorded formats can theoretically survive forever, unless the source file becomes corrupted or erased. To counter this, the files can be copied for backup in safeguarding the material. Physical tape, made up of materials and chemicals on the tape surface, risk degradation over time from exposure to the elements. Air, water damage and heat also can threaten physical tape and its survival over time. Improper storage can render tape formats useless in playback. Using digital technology to record an album makes editing the source material extremely easy compared to the way analog tape was edited. Engineers who edited tape had to actually use razor blades to cut and splice pieces of tape together when mistakes were made in the recording. This process is extremely difficult and time consuming. Using modern technology, editing multiple tracks at once is done with a few mouse clicks.

When you review how recording studios have changed with the advent of digital audio workstations, you can see the leaps and bounds by which technology has developed for artists. Taking the world of sound and using it either in a studio or at home means more options are available for many music producers. Sonic quality continues to develop to reach new heights.




About the Author:



Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire