Multitrack recording - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole. Multitracking became possible with the idea of simultaneously recording different audio channels to separate discrete "tracks" on the same tape—a "track" was simply a different channel recorded to its own discrete area on tape whereby their relative sequence of recorded events would be preserved, and playback would be simultaneous or synchronized
Synchronized
Synchronized can refer to the following definitions:*synchronization , or syncronisation , the coordination of events to operate a system in unison.*Synchronized , a 2002 album by sHeavy....

.

In the 1980s and 1990s, computers provided means by which both sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

could be digitized, revolutionizing audio distribution. In the 2000s, multitracking hardware and software for computers was of sufficient quality to be widely used for high-end audio recording. Though magnetic tape

Magnetic tape

Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...

has not been universally replaced as a recording medium, the advantages of non-linear editing (NLE) and recording have resulted in digital systems largely superseding tape.

Process

Multitracking can be achieved with analog recording

Recording

Recording is the process of capturing data or translating information to a recording format stored on some storage medium, which is often referred to as a record or, if an auditory medium, a recording....

, tape-based equipment (from simple, cassette-based four or eight trackers to 2" reel-to-reel 24-track machines), digital equipment that relies on tape storage of recorded digital data (such as ADAT

ADAT

Alesis Digital Audio Tape or ADAT is a magnetic tape format used for the simultaneous digital recording of eight analog audio or digital audio tracks at once, onto a Super VHS tape that is used by consumer VCRs.- History :...

eight-track machines) and hard disk-based systems often employing a computer and audio recording software. Multitrack recording devices vary in their specifications, such as the number of simultaneous tracks available for recording at any one time; in the case of tape-based systems this is limited by, among other factors, the physical size of the tape employed. Some of the biggest professional analog recording studios used a computer to synchronize multiple 24-track machines, effectively multiplying the number of available tracks into the hundreds. The rock group Toto

Toto (band)

Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...

recorded their fourth album on four computer-synced 24-track machines, for example.

For computer-based systems the trend is towards unlimited numbers of record/playback tracks, although issues such as memory and CPU available will in fact limit this from machine to machine. Moreover, on computer-based systems, the number of simultaneously available recording tracks is limited by the sound card discrete analog or digital inputs.

When recording, audio engineers can select which track (or tracks) on the device will be used for each instrument, voice, or other input.

At any given point on the tape, any of the tracks on the recording device can be recording or playing back using sel-sync

Sel-Sync

Sel-Sync or Selective Synchronous recording is the process of selectively using some record heads as play back heads so that new signals can be recorded on other tracks in perfect sync with the existing tracks...

or Selective Synchronous recording. This allows an artist to be able to record onto track 2 and, simultaneously, listen to track 1, 3 and 7, allowing them to sing or to play an accompaniment to the performance already recorded on these tracks. They might then record an alternate version on track 4 while listening to the other tracks. All the tracks can then be played back in perfect synchrony, as if they had originally been played and recorded together. This can be repeated until all of the available tracks have been used, or in some cases, reused. During mix down a separate set of playback heads with higher fidelity are used.

At any given point in the recording process, any number of existing tracks can be "bounced" into one or two tracks and the original tracks erased, making more room for more tracks to be reused for fresh recording. Beatles producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

George Martin

Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...

used this technique extensively to achieve multiple track results, while still being limited to using only multiple four-track machines, until an eight-track machine became available during the recording of the Beatles' White Album

The Beatles (album)

The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...

. The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

' Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't...

also made innovative use of multitracking with 8-track machines of the day (1965–66).

Multitrack recording also allows any recording artist to record multiple "takes" of any given section of their performance, allowing them to refine their performance to virtual perfection. A recording engineer can record only the section being worked on, without erasing any other section of that track. This process of turning the recording mechanism on and off is called "punching in" and "punching out". (See "Punch in / out".)

When recording is completed, the many tracks are "mixed down" through a mixing console

Mixing console

In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...

to a two-track stereo

STEREO

STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...

recorder in a format which can then be duplicated and distributed. (Movie and DVD soundtracks can be mixed down to four or more tracks, as needed, the most common being five tracks, with an additional Low Frequency Effects track, hence the "5.1" surround sound

Surround sound

Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...

most commonly available on DVDs.)

Most of the records, CDs and cassettes commercially available in a music store are recordings that were originally recorded on multiple tracks, and then mixed down to stereo.

In some rare cases, as when an older song is technically "updated", these stereo (or mono

Monaural

Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...

) mixes can in turn be recorded (as if it were a "submix") onto two (or one) tracks of a multitrack recorder, allowing additional sound (tracks) to be layered on the remaining tracks.

Flexibility

During multitracking, multiple musical instruments (and vocals) can be recorded, either one at a time or simultaneously, onto individual tracks, so that the sounds thus recorded can be accessed, processed and manipulated individually to produce the desired results. For example, after recording some parts of a song, an artist might listen to only the guitar part, by 'muting' all the tracks except the one on which the guitar was recorded. If one then wanted to listen to the vocals in isolation, one would do so by muting all the tracks apart from the vocals track. If one wanted to listen to the entire song, one could do so by un-muting all the tracks. If one did not like the guitar part, or found a mistake in it, and wanted to replace it, one could do so by re-recording only the guitar part (i.e., re-recording only the track on which the guitar was recorded), rather than re-recording the entire song.

If all the voices and instruments in a recording are individually recorded on distinct tracks, then the artist is able to retain complete control over the final sculpting of the song, during the mix-down (re-recording to two stereo tracks for mass distribution) phase.

For example, if an artist wanted to apply one effect to a synthesizer part, a different effect to a guitar part, a 'chorused reverb' effect to the lead vocals, and different effects to all the drums and percussion instruments, they could not do so if they had all been originally recorded together onto the same track. However, if they had been recorded onto separate tracks, then the artist could blend and alter all of the instrument's sounds with complete freedom.

Multitracking a song also leaves open the possibilities of remix

Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

es by the same or future artists, such as DJs. If the song was not available in a multitrack format recording, the job of the remixing artist could be very difficult, or impossible, because once the tracks have been re-recorded together during the mixdown phase, they are inseparable. Theoretically, one could use frequency selective filters for this, but in reality this has not been done with any great degree of success because of the multi-harmonic (having many frequencies) nature of many musical instruments and voices.

History

The process was conceived and developed by Ross Snyder at Ampex

Ampex

Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff. The name AMPEX is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence...

in 1955 resulting in the first 8-track machine which used 1-inch tape. This 8-track recorder was sold to Les Paul

Les Paul

Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...

for $10,000. It became known as the "Octopus". Les Paul, Mary Ford

Mary Ford

Mary Ford , born Iris Colleen Summers, was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits...

and Patti Page

Patti Page

Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...

used the technology in the late 1950s to enhance vocals and instruments

Overdubbing

Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....

. From these beginnings, it evolved in subsequent decades into a mainstream recording technique.

With computers

In the 2000s, many performers have recorded albums using only a personal computer

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

as a tracking machine. The computer must have an analog to digital interface

Analog-to-digital converter

An analog-to-digital converter is a device that converts a continuous quantity to a discrete time digital representation. An ADC may also provide an isolated measurement...

, and multitrack recording software must be installed. As well, a microphone

Microphone

A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...

is needed to record the vocals of a singer or any other sources of sound or a line-level input to accept analog signals from other equipment.

Alternatively, a standard personal computer sound card

Sound card

A sound card is an internal computer expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under control of computer programs. The term sound card is also applied to external audio interfaces that use software to generate sound, as opposed to using hardware...

can be used to capture sounds, albeit with less fidelity. This is done simply by attaching either a microphone to the microphone input jack if a vocal track is to be recorded, or a stereo cable from the electronic device (such as a synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

or a guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

amplifier

Amplifier

Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...

) to the line input of the sound card. Computers with appropriate software and hardware can record multiple audio tracks at once. This audio interface hardware sends audio signals to the computer and may interface with the computer via a PCI card, USB or FireWire connections. There are a range of audio interface

Sound card

options available. Popular brands include Apogee Electronics

Apogee Electronics

Apogee Electronics is a manufacturer of digital audio interfaces and audio converters based in Santa Monica, CA.- Company Information :...

, Digidesign

Digidesign

Avid Audio is an American digital audio technology company. It was founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks. The company began as a project to raise money for the founders' band, selling EPROM chips for drum machines. It is a subsidiary of Avid Technology, and during 2010 the Digidesign...

, Echo Digital Audio

Echo Digital Audio

Echo Digital Audio designs and manufactures various digital audio recording interfaces, audio test equipment, custom professional audio products, and audio software...

, MOTU

MOTU

MOTU can refer to:*Mark of the Unicorn, a music-related computer software and hardware supplier.*Masters of the Universe, a toy and media franchise by Mattel....

, RME

RME

RME Audio is a German company, based in Haimhausen, that designs and builds professional audio hardware, including audio interfaces, analog to digital converters, and digital-to-analog converters. While the majority of their audio interface solutions are PCIbased as well as PCI-Express, they...

, M-Audio

M-Audio

M-Audio is a business unit of Avid Technology that designs and markets digital audio and MIDI interfaces, keyboards and MIDI controllers, synthesizers, loudspeakers, studio monitors, digital DJ systems, microphones, and music software...

and Presonus

PreSonus

PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc. is an American manufacturer of recording and live sound equipment, founded in January 1995 by engineers Jim Odom and Brian Smith, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...

.
The instruments and singers' voices are recorded as individual files on the computer's hard drive, and function as tracks as per traditional multitracking. Effects such as reverb, chorus, and delays can be applied by the computer software. When the musicians are happy with the sound, the multiple tracks are mixed down onto two clean tracks, again within the multitracking software. Finally, the final stereo recording can be burned to a CD, which can be copied and distributed.

Multitracking software for a personal computer includes: Adobe Audition

Adobe Audition

Adobe Audition is a digital audio workstation from Adobe Systems featuring both a multitrack, non-destructive mix/edit environment and a destructive-approach waveform editing view.-Origins:...

, Pro Tools

Pro Tools

Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...

from AVID

AVID

AVID stands for:* Advancement Via Individual Determination, a college-readiness system designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges in the U.S....

, Pyramix from Merging Technologies, Digital Performer

Digital Performer

Digital Performer is a full-featured Digital Audio Workstation/Sequencer software package published by Mark of the Unicorn of Cambridge, Massachusetts for the Apple Macintosh platform.-Ancestry:...

from Mark of the Unicorn

Mark of the Unicorn

Mark of the Unicorn is a music-related computer software and hardware supplier. It is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has created music software since 1984.Products by MOTU include:*Digital Performer*AudioDesk*BPM*MachFive*MX4*Unisyn...

, SONAR from Cakewalk

Cakewalk (company)

Cakewalk, Inc. is a company based in Boston, Massachusetts that develops and sells music production software. The company's best known product is their comprehensive music sequencer named SONAR, which is designed for professional use. SONAR incorporates multi-track recording and editing of both...

, Samplitude from Magix

MAGIX

MAGIX AG is an international provider of software, online services and digital contents for multimedia communications based in Berlin, Germany. The Company also operates from branches in the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands...

, Nuendo

Nuendo

Nuendo is a music software product developed by Steinberg for music recording, arranging, editing and post-production as part of a Digital Audio Workstation. The package is aimed at audio and video post-production market segments, but it also contains optional modules that can be used for...

, Cubase from Steinberg

Steinberg

Steinberg GmbH is a German musical software and equipment company based in Hamburg. It mainly produces music recording, arranging and editing software as used in digital audio workstations and VSTi software synthesizers.- History :...

, FL Studio

FL Studio

FL Studio is a digital audio workstation developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. FL Studio features a graphical user interface based on a pattern-based music sequencer...

from Image-Line, and Logic

Logic Pro

Logic Pro is a hybrid 32 / 64 bit digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the Mac OS X platform. Originally created by German software developer Emagic, Logic Pro became an Apple product when Apple bought Emagic in 2002...

from Apple

Apple Computer

Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...

. Mixcraft

Mixcraft

Mixcraft is a multitrack recording application for Windows. The software functions as a Digital Audio Workstation , MIDI sequencer, virtual instrument host, non-linear video arranger, and as a music loop remix program....

from Acoustica, Inc., REAPER

REAPER

REAPER is a digital audio workstation created by Cockos. It is distributed with an uncrippled evaluation license with a nag screen explaining the license cost. It is currently available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X...

from Cockos

Cockos

Cockos, Inc is an American digital audio technology company founded in 2004 by Justin Frankel. The company's stated goal is: "to develop software sustainably while preventing profit rationale from forcing engineering compromises...

and n-Track Studio from FASoft are affordable alternatives to high end multi-track software.
Audacity

Audacity

Audacity is a free software, cross-platform digital audio editor and recording application. It is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and BSD.Audacity was created by Dominic Mazzoni while he was a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University...

and Ardour

Ardour (audio processor)

Ardour is a hard disk recorder and digital audio workstation application. It runs on Linux, Mac OS X and FreeBSD. Its primary author is Paul Davis, who is also responsible for the JACK Audio Connection Kit...

are popular open source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

programs for multi-track recording. Jokosher

Jokosher

Jokosher is a free, non-linear multi-track digital audio editor, the source code of which is released under the GNU GPL. It is being developed in Python, using the GTK+ interface and GStreamer as an audio back-end, initially just for the Linux operating system but now also with support for Windows...

(open source

Open source

as well) is quite new, but seems to be gaining popularity among Linux users.

For beginners, there are several free multi-track audio recorders available online, including but not limited to Audacity and Acid Planet. While these downloadable programs lack the depth and sophistication of their more professional counterparts, they are useful for the novice, or part time artist.

Order of recording

In most modern popular songs, drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

and percussion instrument

Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...

s are the first instruments to be recorded. There are various reasons for this. The drums are usually the rhythm leaders; it is much easier for musicians recording later tracks to keep to the common beat of the drums, also due to the precise attack of drum sounds. A drummer might find it very difficult to play along with a backing track recorded without percussion, due to the likely variations in the musicians' tempo. Furthermore, in order to accurately keep to a pre-established rhythm, a drummer would need the sound of the other instruments to be very loud to compete with their drum kit; apart from the possibility of the drum microphones picking up the sound of the other instruments from the drummer's headphones, prolonged exposure to such volume would damage their hearing. Also, it allows the drums to be recorded for a few seconds, then looped. Click (metronome

Metronome

A metronome is any device that produces regular, metrical ticks — settable in beats per minute. These ticks represent a fixed, regular aural pulse; some metronomes also include synchronized visual motion...

) tracks are also often used as the first sound to be recorded, especially when the drummer isn't available for the initial recording, and/or the final mix will be synchronized with motion picture and/or video images. Another practical reason refers to the song key

Key (music)

In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...

. While having the basic rhythmic track laid down, musicians can experiment with the song key (e.g. C or D). This turns useful at the writing period or when songs are meant to be performed by a not yet defined singer (e.g. music producer searching for a jingle

Jingle

A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...

singer).

Also, though the drums might eventually be mixed down to a couple of tracks, each individual drum and percussion instrument might be initially recorded to its own individual track. The drums and percussion combined can occupy the largest number of tracks utilized in a recording. This is done so that each percussion instrument can be processed individually for maximum effect. Equalization

Equalization (audio)

Equalization is the process commonly used in sound recording and reproduction to alter the frequency response of an audio system using linear filters. Most hi-fi equipment uses relatively simple filters to make bass and treble adjustments. Graphic and parametric equalizers have much more...

(or EQ) is often used on individual drums, to bring out each one's characteristic sound.

The last tracks to be recorded are usually the vocals (though a temporary vocal track might be recorded early on either as a reference or to guide subsequent musicians; this is sometimes called a "Guide Vocal", "Ghost Vocal" or "Scratch vocal"). One reason for this is that singers will often temper their vocal expression in accordance with the accompaniment.

Concert music

For classical and jazz recordings (particularly instrumentals) where multitracking is chosen as the recording method (as opposed to direct to stereo, for example), a different arrangement is used; all tracks are recorded simultaneously. Sound barriers are often placed between different groups within the orchestra, e.g. pianists, violinists, percussionists, etc. When barriers are used, these groups listen to each other via headphones

Headphones

Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, held close to a user's ears and connected to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio, CD player or portable Media Player. They are also known as stereophones, headsets or, colloquially, cans. The in-ear...

External links

http://books.google.com/books?id=4Yoio9MewhcC&pg "All You Need is Ears" by George Martin, P. 148-157
The History of Magnetic Recording
Recording Technology History
Der Bingle Technology
"Both Sides Now" webpage on Ampex Records
AES Historical Committee: Ampex History Project

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.