- Key People:
- Alan Lomax
- Tony Wilson
- Chet Atkins
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What is sound recording?
Sound recording is the process of capturing vibrations in the air, which we perceive as sound, and transcribing them onto a storage medium like a phonograph disc. In sound reproduction, this process is reversed to convert the stored variations back into sound waves. The primary media used are mechanical (phonographic disc), magnetic (audiotape), and optical (digital compact disc) systems.
Digital sound recording transforms audio signals into a series of pulses that correspond to patterns of binary digits (0s and 1s), recording them on magnetic tape or optical discs. This method offers higher-fidelity sound reproduction compared to ordinary recording methods because pulse patterns are virtually immune to noise and distortion common in analog communication channels and recording media.
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How does sound recording work?
Sound recording captures vibrations in the air, converting them into a storage medium like a phonograph disc. In sound reproduction, this process reverses, turning stored variations back into sound waves. The three primary systems are mechanical (phonograph disc), magnetic (audiotape), and optical (digital compact disc).
Digital sound recording transforms audio signals into binary digits, recording them on magnetic tape or optical discs. An analog-to-digital converter transforms audio signals into digital information, which a tape or disc machine records. A digital-to-analog converter then reads the encoded information and converts it back into audio signals.
In analog sound recording, source audio waves are physically produced. Digital recording involves sampling, taking measurements of the voltage levels of source audio waves. A microphone converts sound waves into corresponding variations in electric current using a diaphragm.
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What equipment is needed to record sound?
To record sound, you'll need specific equipment that captures and converts acoustic power into electric power. Here’s a basic list:
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Microphone: Essential for converting sound waves into electrical signals. Different types include dynamic, condenser, and ribbon microphones, each with unique characteristics.
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Recorder: A device, such as a magnetic or digital tape recorder, that stores the electrical signals from the microphone.
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Accessories: Microphone stands, cables, and a mixer to adjust sound levels are also important.
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How has sound recording changed over time?
Sound recording has undergone dramatic changes, starting with mechanical devices like the phonautograph and Edison's phonograph. Significant progress occurred in the early 20th century with electromechanical transducers and linear electronic circuits. Magnetic recording in the late 1940s improved fidelity and allowed easier manipulation of sound. The introduction of long-playing (LP) records and stereophonic tape recordings further transformed the industry. Digital sound recording emerged, converting audio signals into binary digits, enhancing fidelity and durability. The development of digital compact discs (CDs) in the 1980s marked another significant advancement.
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What are some common uses of sound recordings?
Sound recordings have diverse applications across various fields:
* Entertainment and Mass Media Sound recordings are a popular form of mass media.
* Motion Pictures Sound recording is used in motion pictures to record dialogue and ambient sound, which is then mixed and adjusted during postproduction.
* Education Sound recordings are valuable tools for teaching music, allowing teachers to demonstrate musical examples and introduce students to various instruments and compositions. Language laboratories use sound-reproduction devices to help students learn foreign languages.
* Composition Composers use recordings to familiarize themselves with the music of others and as a new medium for their own works.
* Scientific Research Acoustic microscopy uses sound waves to produce enlarged images of small objects, with applications in nondestructive inspection of products and biological research.
* Preservation of Culturally Significant Recordings The National Recording Registry preserves audio recordings deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.7 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How do digital and analog sound recordings differ?
Digital and analog sound recordings differ in how they preserve sound. Analog recordings physically produce an analog of the original sound waves, like on phonograph discs and audiocassettes. Playback requires a physical device to trace the recorded sound wave.
Digital sound recording transforms audio signals into binary digits, recording them on magnetic tape or optical disc. It samples a sound's waveform thousands of times per second, assigning numerical values to its amplitude. Digital recording offers higher fidelity because these pulse patterns are immune to noise and distortion common in analog methods. Compact discs use a laser to read the recorded bits, avoiding physical contact and degradation.
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sound recording, transcription of vibrations in air that are perceptible as sound onto a storage medium, such as a phonograph disc. In sound reproduction the process is reversed so that the variations stored on the medium are converted back into sound waves. The three principal media that have been developed for sound recording and reproduction are the mechanical (phonographic disc), magnetic (audiotape), and optical (digital compact disc) systems. Such recordings are a popular form of mass media.
The phonograph disc
A monaural phonograph record makes use of a spiral 90° V-shaped groove impressed into a plastic disc. As the record revolves at 33 1/3 rotations per minute, a tiny “needle,” or stylus, simultaneously moves along the groove and vibrates back and forth parallel to the surface of the disc and perpendicular to the groove, tracing out the sound wave. The upper end of the stylus is connected to a tiny magnet, which moves back and forth through a small coil, inducing an electrical voltage that re-creates the recorded sound wave. The rate of oscillation of the stylus determines the frequency of the sound, while the amplitude of the oscillation determines its loudness.
Just as the use of two eyes creates a perception of depth, so can the effect of musical “presence” be achieved by stereophonics, recording music with two appropriately positioned microphones and playing it back on two separated loudspeakers. A stereophonic recording provides the two separate signal channels as oscillations perpendicular to either one or the other of the faces of the record groove. The single coil of the monaural pickup is replaced by two coils, which sense the motion of the stylus perpendicular to each groove wall; the inside wall is used as the left channel and the outside wall as the right channel. These two signals are then fed into an audio amplifier and to the loudspeakers.
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The criterion for frequency control of a recording is that the variation in frequency should not be observable to the ear—i.e., less than about 0.1 percent, which is less than the just noticeable difference in frequency over most of the audible frequency range. In order to eliminate both slow variations in pitch of the recording, called wow, and rapid variations, called flutter, the rotation speed of the record is carefully controlled by use of a heavy turntable and a precision motor. Mechanical vibration of the turntable is isolated from the stylus to avoid “rumble.” The stylus itself is elliptical in shape, with the long axis of the ellipse oriented across the groove. In order to achieve good compliance—that is, the ability of the stylus to track the groove and produce a linear signal—the tip of the stylus must be less than 25 micrometres (0.025 millimetre, or 1/1000 inch) in size, so that it is generally made of industrial diamond.
Faraday’s law of magnetic induction introduces some important features into the science of phonograph records. According to this law, the electric potential induced in the coil of the magnetic pickup is directly proportional to the magnetic field of the moving magnet in the pickup and inversely proportional to the period of the oscillation. This means that, in order to produce a sound wave of constant amplitude at all frequencies, it is necessary to reduce the amplitude of the motion of the stylus at high frequencies and greatly increase that motion at low frequencies. Unfortunately, limitations in the compliance of such a recording system make it impossible for the stylus to accurately track a sufficiently large-amplitude oscillation at low frequencies. Furthermore, the inherent graininess of the plastic from which phonographic recordings are pressed creates high-frequency vibrations of the stylus, which are heard as high-frequency noise, or hiss. Because of these problems, the electrical signal must be amplified at very high frequencies, attenuated at very low frequencies, and approximately linearized for midrange frequencies before the signal is converted into a groove shape and impressed onto the plastic disc—a process called pre-emphasis. Upon playback this sequence is reversed in a process called equalization, providing the listener with a linear and realistic sound.
The audiotape
Audiocassette tape recording also makes use of electromagnetic phenomena to record and reproduce sound waves. The tape consists of a plastic backing coated with a thin layer of tiny particles of magnetic powder, usually ferric oxide (Fe2O3) and to a lesser extent chromium dioxide (CrO2). The recording head of the tape deck consists of a tiny C-shaped magnet with its gap adjacent to the moving tape. The incoming sound wave, having been converted by a microphone into an electrical signal, produces a time-varying magnetic field in the gap of the magnet. As the tape moves past the recording head the powder is magnetized in such a way that the tape carries a record of the shape of the wave being recorded. The frequency of the impressed signal determines the distance along the tape over which the impressed magnetic field must be reversed, and the amplitude of the signal determines the extent of the magnetization of the tape.
There are inherent problems with the magnetic recording system. As magnetic domains are flipped in magnetizing the material, they exhibit a certain magnetic inertia, or unwillingness to respond, so that it requires a greater magnetic field than expected to magnetize the oxide on the tape. This effect, known as hysteresis, leads to distortion of the wave shape on the tape. In order to overcome this problem, a sinusoidal signal of about 100 kilohertz is added to the wave immediately before the wave is impressed onto the tape. Known as equalization bias, this signal has the effect of linearizing an inherently nonlinear magnetic medium, largely eliminating distortion.
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Another problem arises from the inability of the recording system to organize completely the magnetic domains in these tiny magnetic crystals. The resulting random orientation of the domains results in random noise, which is heard by the listener as tape hiss. Because lower frequencies are more effective in magnetizing the tape, and because the random variation in magnetization is a microscopic effect, tape hiss is primarily a high-frequency phenomenon. Several systems have been designed to deal with this problem, the most prevalent of which is Dolby noise reduction. In the Dolby system the higher-frequency components of a sound wave are amplified before the signal is impressed on the tape so that their amplitudes are well above the amplitude of the tape hiss. On playback, the high frequencies are attenuated after they are read off the tape, reducing their amplitudes to the correct level.
The compact disc
The compact disc, or digital disc, uses digital technology to avoid or mitigate some of the technical problems and requirements inherent in phonograph and audiotape recording. Whereas both phonograph recordings and audiotape have limited dynamic range and frequency response, the compact disc has both a greater dynamic range—ideally, over 90 decibels—and a linear frequency response from less than 20 hertz to over 20,000 hertz—greater than that of the human ear.
Digital recording uses sampling of the sound wave at a series of points at equal time intervals along the wave to approximate the full wave. In order to maintain frequency response up to 20 kilohertz, the limit of human hearing, it is necessary to sample at slightly above twice that frequency, so that compact discs actually have a sample rate of 44.1 kilohertz. The signal level is divided into 215 (about 32,000) equal intervals. With such a large number of intervals being employed, both large and small wave intensities can be reproduced accurately. Indeed, intensity variations of less than one decibel (the approximate value of the intensity just noticeable difference of the ear) can be achieved over the entire dynamic range of the compact disc.
Each sampled point on the wave is encoded in binary form, and a series of points are impressed on the compact disc. Playback is essentially the reverse of recording. Each point on the wave is read in and stored in a computer memory called a first-in first-out buffer. Using an internal 44.1-kilohertz clock, each point is converted in order into analog form and then input into a standard power amplifier and loudspeaker. The time scale for the recording is exactly reproduced, eliminating the frequency instabilities inherent in other types of recording.