FROM TAPE TO
TAPELESS WORKFLOW.
Let me give you some of the old school recording methods for
recording your music or band etc., The TAPE was the key
storage medium in those analogue days. Lots of analogue
gears would be seen in big studios which are very expensive
and a massive investment. Well, analogue has got it’s own
charm and beauty. Of course today we have fully moved to
the Digital domain and things have gone far beyond than
what we think. Let me explain the analogue workflow in a
typical professional recording studio.
Usually the studio is well equipped with a large format
analogue console like the SSL 4000G /E series or the 9000
series or the vintage NEVE 8068 or a 8078 etc. This is
connected to the Multi-track Studer 24 Track or Studer
16-track or even a 2-track tape machines. Even Tascam
was very popular during that time and few other brands.
Tape machines were the final recording machines to record
an album or a song etc. Generally the band arrive at the
studio and all the microphones are setup according to their
need and lots of time is spent in tracking session until the
engineer finds all the sweet tone of each instruments captured
live. Then the dry tracks are recorded using the Direct out
Connections on the consoles straight into the Tape Multi-
track machines input after which all the songs are recorded
and the band leaves the studio.
Next day, the engineer loads the Multi-track tape and
then plays the tape. From the machine the outputs are
fed directly into the console line-in, So now he can do the
real Balance or so called the Mixing process for that song.
Usually the EQ, Dynamics and Effects sends and returns are
all managed within the Console itself. As they have in-built
EQ and Dynamics section. But the Effects like REVERB and
DELAY and MODULATION are processed using the External
Hardware boxes and are connected to the console and if they
want to use apply the effects they use the Patch bay to use
the desired channel for processing. Then the Final 2-track
STEREO is sent back to the 23rd and 24th Track of the same
tape as Final MIX input to the Tape or they have a separate
2-track Tape machine to do the Mastering .
In today’s modern digital technology, our Hard disk is the Key
storage device for recording our song. Since we all work in
the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), technology has become
a great advantage for us to speed up our workflow. But those
days, the maintenance was very expensive and also the
numbers of Cables used were plenty as you needed physical
cables to patch each and equipment! But now all you can do
with a click of a mouse button!
So the current workflow in Digital Domain has become from
RECORDING ->MIXING -> MASTERING or RECORING ->
MIXING -> EDITING -> MASTERING
Or RECORDING -> MIXING -> EDITING -> RECORDING ->
MIXING ->MASTERING etc.
So the workflow has completely changed depending upon the
music producers need, and is done very quickly because of
multiple file format and files exchange between the DAW.
Now our DAW supports huge amount of track counts and its
like having a big recording console and a multi-track tape
machine in our LAPTOP! I don’t want to argue about whether
Analogue is Best or Digital is. Finally its the Music which
speaks at the end of the day. I suggest many to watch analogue
recording videos on YouTube etc so that this generation
will appreciate the art of Microphone techniques and the art
of mixing on the Analogue console. Today there are lots of
Videos to watch and hope this article helped in understanding
the old vintage school method or recording arts. Happy
Recording & Mixing!
Author: Baba.L.Prasad. He is the owner and chief Sound/Mix and Mastering Engineer at Digi Sound Studio. He also teaches Sound
Engineering and Music Production courses. For more details, visit www.digisoundacademy.com
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Score Magazine
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