Multitrack recording ('multitracking' or just 'tracking' for short) is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole. This is the most common method of recording popular music. This article deals mainly with analog tape recorders for audio applications information on digital recording, recording of video signals, and Popular music is Music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more In the 2000s, multitracking software for computers such as Pro Tools became widely used. Pro Tools is a Digital Audio Workstation platform for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows operating systems developed and manufactured by Digidesign
Contents |
Process
Multitracking can be achieved with analogue, 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 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 recorded their fourth album on four computer-synced 24-track machines, for example. Toto was a Grammy Award winning American rock band founded in 1977 by some of the most popular and experienced Session musicians of
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 analogue 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. Audio engineering is a part of audio science dealing with the recording and reproduction of Sound through mechanical and electronic means
At any given point on the tape, any of the tracks on the recording device can be recording or playing back, so that an artist is able to record, for instance, onto track 2 and, simultaneously, listen to track 1, allowing them to sing or to play an accompaniment to the performance already recorded on track 1. They might then record on track 3 while listening to track 2. All three performances 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 fact, reused.
At any given point in the recording process, any number of existing tracks can be "sub-mixed" into one or two tracks and the original tracks erased, making more room for more tracks to be reused for fresh recording. Beatles producer George Martin 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 were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing Sir George Henry Martin CBE (3 January 1926 is a British record producer arranger and Composer. The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds also made innovative use of multitracking with 8-track machines of the day (1965-66). The Beach Boys is an American rock band Formed in 1961 the group gained popularity for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a California Youth culture Pet Sounds is a 1966 album recorded by American pop group The Beach Boys. [1]
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 "Punching in". Punching in refers to a recording technique used on early Multitrack recordings whereby a portion of the performance was Overdubbed onto a previously recorded tape )
When recording is completed, the many tracks are "mixed down" through a mixing console to a two-track stereo recorder in a format which can then be duplicated and distributed. In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board or soundboard, is an electronic device for combining Stereophonic sound, commonly called stereo, is the reproduction of Sound, using two or more independent audio channels through a Symmetrical (Movie and DVD soundtracks can be mixed down to four or more tracks, as needed, the most common being five tracks, with an additional subwoofer track, hence the "5. A subwoofer is a Woofer, or a complete Loudspeaker dedicated to the reproduction of bass audio frequencies, from perhaps 150 Hz down 1" surround sound most commonly available on DVDs. 51, Multichannel audio, Multichannel music Surround 3D Surround 5 )
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) 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. Monaural (often shortened to mono) sound reproduction is single-channel
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 they then wanted to listen to the vocals in isolation, they would do so by muting all the tracks apart from the vocals track. If they wanted to listen to the entire song, they could do so by un-muting all the tracks. If they did not like the guitar part, or found a mistake in it, and wanted to replace it, they 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. This kind of editing freedom is one of the biggest benefits of multitracking.
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 consumption) 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.
Multitrack recording allows a single musician to record multiple parts, allowing duos (such as Ween and Tenacious D) and trios (such as Cream and Nirvana) to produce a larger sound, larger groups to double parts or add different instruments, and also a solo performer to create an ensemble sound, playing different parts. Ween is an Alternative rock group formed in 1984 in New Hope Pennsylvania when Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class Tenacious D is a Satirical Rock band formed in Los Angeles California. Cream were a 1960s British rock band Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen Washington. Mike Oldfield, Stevie Wonder, Emitt Rhodes, Skip Spence, Paul McCartney, Todd Rundgren, Trent Reznor, Lenny Kravitz, Elliott Smith, R. Stevie Moore, Enya, Dave Grohl, Delbert McClinton, Michael Sembello, Ben Folds, Kurt Ralske, and Prince are among the performers to produce albums in this way, as their own "band". Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953 in Reading, Berkshire) is an English Multi-instrumentalist Musician Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13 1950 name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris) is an Emitt Lynn Rhodes, an American Singer/songwriter, Multi-instrumentalist and Recording engineer born February 25, 1950 in Alexander Lee "Skip" Spence ( April 18, 1946 – April 16, 1999) was a Musician and Singer-songwriter best known Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942 is an English rock Singer, Bass guitarist songwriter Composer, Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948 in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American Musician Trent Reznor (born Michael Trent Reznor on May 17 1965 is an American Musician, singer producer, and Multi-instrumentalist. Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American Singer-songwriter, Multi-instrumentalist, Record Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith (August 6 1969 – October 21 2003 was an American Singer-songwriter and Musician. Robert Steven Moore (born January 18 1952) is an American singer songwriter and Musician. Enya (born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin on May 17 1961, Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, Ireland, sometimes presented in David Eric Grohl (born January 14 1969 is an American rock musician Singer and Songwriter. Delbert McClinton (born 4 November 1940, in Lubbock, Texas) is a Grammy Award -winning Singer-songwriter and Musician Michael Sembello (born 17 April 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an Oscar nominated American Musician. Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American Singer-songwriter and the former frontman of the Band Ben Folds Five Kurt Ralske is an artist and composer During the mid-eighties he was a guitarist in the bands Nothing But Happiness and Crash. Prince Rogers Nelson (born June 7 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American musician Even a musician who plays no instruments can create a marketable record, as with a cappella artist Bobby McFerrin, who performed all of the parts in many of his recordings (from 1980 to 2000) vocally. A cappella (Italian or Latin "From the chapel/choir" Music is Vocal music or Singing without instrumental Accompaniment Robert "Bobby" McFerrin Jr (born in Manhattan, New York, on March 11, 1950) is a ten-time Grammy Award -winning Jazz Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.
Multitracking a song also leaves open the possibilities of remixes by the same or future artists, such as DJs. A remix is an alternative version of a song different from the original version A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience 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 guitarist Les Paul in the 1940s with the financial and inspirational assistance of Bing Crosby and the Ampex Corporation, resulting in the first 8-track machine which used 1-inch tape. The history of multitrack recording begins with Bing Crosby 's gift of a commercially-produced Reel-to-reel tape recorder to an inventive guitarist named Les Paul (born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9 1915) is an American Jazz guitarist and Inventor. Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby ( May 3, 1903 &ndash October 14, 1977) was an Academy Award winning American Popular Ampex ( is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M Through the 1950s, many popular recordings, notably those of Les Paul and Mary Ford and Patti Page used the technology to enhance vocals and instrumentals. The duo Les Paul and Mary Ford comprises Les Paul and Mary Ford. Clara Ann Fowler (born November 8, 1927) known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer one of the best-known female artists From these pioneering beginnings, it evolved in subsequent decades into a mainstream recording technique.
With computer
In the 2000s, many performers have recorded albums using only a personal computer as a tracking machine. To use a personal computer as a multitracking device, the computer must have an analog to digital interface, and multitrack recording software must be installed (software is available at all price ranges or even free, in the case of free software / open source). A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated An analog-to-digital converter (abbreviated ADC, A/D or A to D) is an electronic integrated circuit which converts continuous signals to Free software or software libre is Software that can be used studied and modified without restriction and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified Open source software (OSS began as a marketing campaign for Free software. As well, a good-quality microphone is needed to record the vocals of a singer and/or any other sources of sound.
This is all that is needed to set up a multitracking studio at home capable of producing high quality recordings. The standard analog to digital interface in a personal computer can be used to capture sounds. A sound card (also known as an audio card is a Computer Expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to/from a computer under 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 or a guitar amplifier) to the line input of the sound card. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Generally an amplifier or simply amp, is any device that changes usually increases the amplitude of a signal. 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 analog to digital interface options available. A sound card (also known as an audio card is a Computer Expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to/from a computer under Popular brands include, Apogee, Digidesign, MOTU, Lynx and Prism.
The instruments and singers' voices are recorded onto individual files on the computer's hard drive, which function as tracks as per traditional multitracking. Effects such as reverb, chorus, delays can be applied by the computer software. Reverberation is the persistence of Sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed For the album by The Jam see Sound Affects. Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced Sounds For the album by The Jam see Sound Affects. Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced Sounds 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 then be copied and distributed.
Multitracking software for a personal computer includes: Adobe Audition, Pro Tools from Digidesign, SONAR from Cakewalk, Samplitude from Magix, Cubase from Steinberg, and Logic Pro from Apple. Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit Pro) is a Digital audio editor Computer program from Adobe Systems featuring both a multitrack Pro Tools is a Digital Audio Workstation platform for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows operating systems developed and manufactured by Digidesign Digidesign is an American Digital audio technology company It was founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks Cakewalk is a company based in Boston Massachusetts that develops music production Software. Cubase is a computer program for music production/recording The program offers recording producing and mixing of sounds in order to make music production for distribution on CDs or the Steinberg is a German Musical equipment and Software company It mainly produces MIDI Music sequencer software Logic Pro is a Digital Audio Workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the Mac OS X platform Apple Inc, ( formerly Apple Computer Inc, is an American Multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing Consumer electronics Mixcraft from Acoustica, Inc. Mixcraft is a Multitrack recording application for Windows. The software functions as a Digital Audio Workstation ( DAW) MIDI sequencer, and N-track from FASoft are affordable alternatives to high end multi-track software. See " NTrak " for the " N gauge " Model railroading module standard Audacity and Ardour are popular open source programs for multi-track recording. Audacity is a Digital audio editor application Audacity is Cross-platform, using the WxWidgets software library to provide a similar Graphical Ardour is a Hard disk recorder and Digital audio workstation application Open source is a development methodology which offers practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge Jokosher (open source as well) is quite new, but seems to be gaining popularity among Linux users. Jokosher is a free, non-linear multi-track audio editor, the Source code of which is released under the GNU GPL. Open source is a development methodology which offers practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge
Order of recording
In most modern popular songs, drums and percussion instruments are the first instruments to be recorded. A drum kit (also drum set or trap set) is a collection of Drums Cymbals and sometimes other Percussion instruments such as cowbells 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 would 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 might very well damage their hearing. Also, it allows the drums to be recorded for a few seconds, then looped. Click 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 synced with motion picture and/or video images.
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. A common percussion effect is the slow back and forth panning of a percussive instrument's sound in the stereo field from the left to the right channel in a song. Equalization (or EQ) is often used on individual drums, to bring out each one's characteristic sound. Equalization (or equalisation, EQ) is the process of changing the frequency envelope of a sound in Audio processing.
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 "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 (also known as earphones, earbuds, stereophones, headsets) are a pair of small Loudspeakers or less commonly a single
References
- ^ "All You Need is Ears" by George Martin from Google Books. Accessed March 1, 2008
External links
- [1] "All You Need is Ears" by George Martin, P. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common 148-157
See also
- Click track
- Digital audio workstation
- Comparison of multitrack recording software
- Fostex
- Module file
- Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)
- MIDI mockup
- Portastudio
- Boss Micro BR
- Surround sound
- Quadraphonic
- Remix
- Reverb
- Various sound effects including chorus, compression, delays, flanger, phaser etc.
- TASCAM
- Tracker
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic