Multitrack recording

Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the recording of multiple sound sources, whether simultaneously or at different times. This is the most common method of recording popular music. Musicians or singers can be recorded separately, then these performances can be edited together to create a cohesive result. It is also called 'multitracking' or just 'tracking' for short.

History

The first musician to use multitrack technology was guitarist Les Paul. Ampex, an American audio company, released commercial multi-track recorders in 1955, naming the process "Sel-Sync" (Selective Synchronous Recording). The earliest multitrack recorders were analog magnetic tape recorders with 2 or 3 tracks.

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The artistic potential of the multitrack recorder came to the attention of the public in the 1960's, when artists such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys began to use multitrack recording extensively, and from then on virtually all popular music was recorded in this manner. The technology developed very rapidly during this time -- at the start of their career in 1963, The Beatles recorded in mono on 2-track machines; by 1965 they were using 4-track to create pop music of unprecendented complexity. Their final studio album, Abbey Road, was recorded on 8 tracks with many bounces (copying two or more tracks to one in order to re-use them). Frank Zappa's Hot Rats was among the first 16-track recordings to be released.

Related Topics:
The Beatles - The Beach Boys - Abbey Road - Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

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The advent of the compact audio cassette in 1963 eventually led to affordable, portable 4-track machines (such as the Portastudio) becoming available to hobbyists and semi-professional musicians, during the 1980s. Such machines also serve as a useful tool for professional musicians in planning studio recordings - Bruce Springsteen's 1982 album Nebraska was reportedly recorded on such a machine, Springsteen apparently preferring the demos to the studio recordings.

Related Topics:
Compact audio cassette - Portastudio - Bruce Springsteen's - 1982 - Nebraska

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The cassette was always designed to accommodate four tracks of audio, but whereas these would normally constitute the stereo channels (each consisting of two tracks) for both sides of the cassette, in a four-track cassette recorder all four tracks are utilized together, often with the tape running at twice the normal speed for increased fidelity. A separate signal can be recorded on to each of four tracks. Some machines include a facility to bounce two or more tracks down to one. As with professional machines, the volume level of each track can then be optimized, effects added where desired, each track separately 'panned' to the desired point in the stereo field and the resulting stereo signal mixed down to a separate stereo machine (such as a conventional cassette recorder).

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Today multitracks can be analog or digital, and are available with many more tracks. Analog multitracks can have up to 24 tracks on a tape two inches wide, or 32 tracks on a three-inch tape. Digital multitracks can have an almost unlimited number of simultaneous tracks and can record to and play back from a number of media and formats including digital tape, hard disk, and optical disk.

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Starting around 1995, another revolution in multitracking began, with the arrival of cheap digital multitrack recorders, which were either based on recording sounds on a computer hard drive, a digital tape format, or in some case mini-discs. As time went on, their prices kept steadily dropping further. At the same time, with the power of the personal computer increasing, multitracking software was written for it, so that today, an average home computer is sufficiently powerful to act as a complete multitrack recorder, using cheaply available hardware and software (under US $1000.00). This is a far cry from the days when multitrack recorders used to cost thousands of dollars and few people could afford them.

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Some of the leading providers of multitrackers are Tascam (hard drive or cassette based), Alesis (ADAT digital tape based), Roland (hard drive based), Fostex (hard drive based) and Yamaha (hard drive based).

Related Topics:
Tascam - Alesis - Roland - Fostex - Yamaha

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