Digital was THE game changer. We didn’t know it when it started but my goodness how life has changed. That 40 pound TEAC Reel To Reel has become Pro-Tools and Q-Base, software that allows a musician to record studio quality sound from his/her bedroom. Unlimited tracks and unlimited mixing and effects followed quickly.
I went through many stages of digital over the years. But first there was just the music. Listening and performing has changed dramatically but it was always about the music. I remember the joy of sitting in my basement, with my huge headphones on, and marveling at the way Pink Floyd’s “One of These Days” raced back and forth from headphone to headphone, ear to ear, seeming to travel right through my head. I would listen to it over and over. I remember trying to get my mom to listen to the Saxophone solo in “Us and Them” she just brushed it off as Drug music. Elvis Presley it was not.
Multi-track stereo Long Play (LP) records were a thing of beauty. Much better than the 45’s we started with there were 10 – 13 songs on these records. We actually went to the record store to purchase the records. The best record store was the locally owned store with the guy who knew every record and artist in the store. You could sit for hours and talk to this guy about music. Who had the better guitar solo in Hotel California? Which was a better concept album Tommy or Quadrofenia? Who was the better guitar player Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck? Who had the first guitar distortion on a record? Did Rock & Roll spring from the Blues or was it a melting pot of Blues, Country, Jazz and Blue Grass? What guitar did Jimmy Page play on Stairway to Heaven? This guy had all the answers or opinions. The local music store, sadly, has gone the way of the Betamax.
Great memories but back to digital. From analog we moved from digital recording onto tape to digital recording onto your hard drive. This seemed to happen very slowly, like a glacier. Then all of a sudden digital exploded. Enter the development of the MP3 file format. The sharing of files across the internet had been possible prior to this, but files were generally either too large to be realistically exchanged or of too low a quality to serve any real purpose. With this pioneering digital format, however, the wall holding back true online musical collaboration came down, and this field took of with alarming speed. Then Napster happened and everything changed again. The music industry shut down Napster but many look-alikes followed. Digital was truly on its way. Next Portable Digital. Since Napster and then ITunes, Streaming has taken over. Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and many others. Just by saying Alexa Play some Chicago Blues I can listen to the Best Blues Music ever created. Many are cutting the Chord over the last 10 years. Sling, Tivo, Roku, YouTubeTV have allowed people to cut the cable & TV Satellite chord. Sirius & XM Radio have allowed people to listen to whatever music they want in their car or on their tablet.
Ric Cushenan, MBA, is CEO of Cush Media. Ric has over 25 years of Marketing music performance and sales experience with Newspapers, Targeted Publications and Search Engine Marketing.
Cush Media, www.cushmediaonline.com is a full service on-line marketing company. We specialize in web site development, SEO, SEM, Social Media, Behavioral Targeting, Tracking through on-line analytics and Jingles.
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Digital Recording
When I first started recording my music I had a Reel to Reel, Teac 4 track, with Simul Sync. This 40 pound piece of equipment allowed me to have 4 tracks on a single piece of tape. I could lay down; guitar, lead vocal, harmony vocal and lead guitar or bass. It was the latest technology. Simul Sync allowed the tracks to sync up which was a problem because the recording heads were in slightly different locations.
The next step in technology was the 4 track cassette tape recorder. Instead of either lugging the Teac around or having everyone come to my house, we were able to bring the 5 pound cassett recorder wherever we went. This upgrade from the reel to reel took about 10 years to hit the market place. There was very little ability to modify the recorded sound and it was still only 4 tracks. More channels and tracks came out relatively quickly.
As with many other media Digital changed the game. According to Wikipedia the history of digital recording looks like this:
• In 1937, British scientist Alec Reeves files the first patent describing Pulse-code modulation[1].
• In 1943, Bell Telephone Laboratories develops the first digital scrambled speech transmission system, SIGSALY[2].
• In 1957, Max Mathews of Bell develops the process to digitally record sound via computer.
• In 1967, the first digital tape recorder is invented. A 12-bit 30 kHz stereo device using a compander (similar to DBX Noise Reduction) to extend the dynamic range.
• In the 1970s, Thomas Stockham makes the first digital audio recordings using standard computer equipment and develops a digital audio recorder of his own design, the first of its kind to be offered commercially (through Stockham's Soundstream company).
• In 1970, James Russell patents the first digital-to-optical recording and playback system, which would later lead to the Compact Disc[3].
• In 1972, Denon invents the first 8-track reel to reel digital recorder.
• In 1979, the first digital Compact Disc prototype was created as a compromise between sound quality and size of the medium.
• In 1979, the first digitally recorded album of popular music Bop 'Til You Drop by guitarist Ry Cooder is released by Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles on a 32-track digital machine built by the 3M corporation.
• In 1982, the first digital compact discs are marketed[4], and New England Digital offers the Sample-to-Disk option on the Synclavier, the first commercial hard disk recording system[5].
• In 1990, digital radio begins in Canada, using the L-Band[6].
• DVD players begin selling in Japan in 1996.
What I know is that I first came into contact with Digital in the late 80’s and early 90’s. We who grew up with the reel to reel, scoffed at the new technology. We turned our nose up at the sound quality. We refused to move on. We learned quickly.
The first digital recordings were still recorded on tape. Next post we will talk about the next generation.
Ric Cushenan is President/CEO of Cush Media. Cush Media is a full Service online marketing company with Search Engine Marketing, Jingles, Behavioral Targeting and tracking of results. Go to www.cushmediaonline.com for more information
The next step in technology was the 4 track cassette tape recorder. Instead of either lugging the Teac around or having everyone come to my house, we were able to bring the 5 pound cassett recorder wherever we went. This upgrade from the reel to reel took about 10 years to hit the market place. There was very little ability to modify the recorded sound and it was still only 4 tracks. More channels and tracks came out relatively quickly.
As with many other media Digital changed the game. According to Wikipedia the history of digital recording looks like this:
• In 1937, British scientist Alec Reeves files the first patent describing Pulse-code modulation[1].
• In 1943, Bell Telephone Laboratories develops the first digital scrambled speech transmission system, SIGSALY[2].
• In 1957, Max Mathews of Bell develops the process to digitally record sound via computer.
• In 1967, the first digital tape recorder is invented. A 12-bit 30 kHz stereo device using a compander (similar to DBX Noise Reduction) to extend the dynamic range.
• In the 1970s, Thomas Stockham makes the first digital audio recordings using standard computer equipment and develops a digital audio recorder of his own design, the first of its kind to be offered commercially (through Stockham's Soundstream company).
• In 1970, James Russell patents the first digital-to-optical recording and playback system, which would later lead to the Compact Disc[3].
• In 1972, Denon invents the first 8-track reel to reel digital recorder.
• In 1979, the first digital Compact Disc prototype was created as a compromise between sound quality and size of the medium.
• In 1979, the first digitally recorded album of popular music Bop 'Til You Drop by guitarist Ry Cooder is released by Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles on a 32-track digital machine built by the 3M corporation.
• In 1982, the first digital compact discs are marketed[4], and New England Digital offers the Sample-to-Disk option on the Synclavier, the first commercial hard disk recording system[5].
• In 1990, digital radio begins in Canada, using the L-Band[6].
• DVD players begin selling in Japan in 1996.
What I know is that I first came into contact with Digital in the late 80’s and early 90’s. We who grew up with the reel to reel, scoffed at the new technology. We turned our nose up at the sound quality. We refused to move on. We learned quickly.
The first digital recordings were still recorded on tape. Next post we will talk about the next generation.
Ric Cushenan is President/CEO of Cush Media. Cush Media is a full Service online marketing company with Search Engine Marketing, Jingles, Behavioral Targeting and tracking of results. Go to www.cushmediaonline.com for more information
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