Originally Posted by
soulster
Daddyacy,
All the parts are recorded on one reel of tape, as Ralph says. This isn't necessarily how all recordings are done, of course, but to give you a basic idea [[and this goes for digital tracking too, except with a hard drive). For example, you have a virgin 2-inch tape. The first studio records basic tracks on it. Say, the bass is on the first track, and the drums are on tracks two and three, or more. You may want to record them in stereo, so you might use more. You put the other various instruments on other tracks. They might all be recorded as the band plays as an ensemble, or the various instruments/vocals may be recorded separately in a technique called overdubbing.
Everything is logged. The engineer knows what is on each track, and places a long strand of tape under the faders and labels each one.
A few days later, the vocals and backgrounds are recorded at another studio on that same tape on their machine and console on yet more tracks.
A few weeks later, the tape may be sent to another studio for "sweetening", which usually means adding strings or other instruments. Of course, all of this recording can be done at the same studio, too.
At any point, someone can get the tape, thread it up at another studio, and either add something, or redo something, sometimes by a process known as "punching in". Say, you sing the line "I don't know how many stars there are.". You, or the producer, don't like the way the line, or one word sounds. Well, what you can do is go back in a studio. The engineer sets up the same tape with the same mic and EQ, and whatever other original settings. He or she cues up the tape to just before that line, and you re-sing that part. That engineer then records your new line on either another available track, or erases the old one during that point as your new line is sung. These days, depending on the nature of the problem, it could be fixed with a bit of digital trickery. But, i'm getting too far away from a basic explanation here. Sorry.
When it is all recorded, the engineer edits and mixes everything, or another engineer who has a special talent for mixing, mixes the song into stereo on yet another tape. In this case, the tape is usually a quarter-inch tape running at either 30 i.p.s. or 15 i.p.s., depending what the producer wants. Some mix engineers work alone, some with the producer, and sometimes, the artist is present. But, having the artist there is often ill-advised. Everyone wants their part louder, or has different ideas, and it can result in anarchy! Mixing is critical, where every detail is important. In the days before digital automation, before, say, 1978, sometimes you could have two or more people sweating bricks over the console making various fader moves during mixdown, depending on if the mix was really complicated. The tape was run and the moves were practiced. After everyone got their parts down, they would run the tape again and do an actual mix. Today, with automation, the mixer can program all the moves first, then just play the multitrack as the console literally moves the faders as programmed. This is how it's done in a computer, too, usually with Pro-Tools. If you have the right software, you can do the same thing at home.
The tracks are edited and assembled [[if on an album), and notes are made about what needs to be done in mastering.
The master stereo 1/4" [[in some rare cases, a 1/2" or 1" tape is used) tape is sent to a specialized studio where they have special, dedicated speakers, room, and gear. The mastering engineers are like dogs. They hear everything in a mix, every intricate detail. They weren't born with bat ears, they taught themselves how to listen.
In the old days, all the mastering engineer had to do was adjust a couple of things like EQ or volume, and cut the lacquer. Today, the mastering engineer is asked to do that, plus fades, intricate level tweaking, all those things written down on the tape box by the mix engineer, and all sorts of other things, including mixing with stems, and has to deal with a lot of various formats from tape to digital files on hard drives and DVD-R. They have to prepare the master for CD, vinyl, iTunes, and hi-rez formats like SACD or HD Tracks, as a process called authoring, and ship the results to the replication plant after final approval. The reason I mentioned mastering is because it is what they do that determines what you, the end-listener, hears. That final mix can sound many ways, depending on what is done at mastering. This is why i've said in the past that it isn't all about the performance.
There are many things that are done to prepare the machines before the session like degaussing, cleaning, head azimuth, mic placement, cabling, bias and EQ adjustments by tones on the tape or by ear, or both, and even winding the tape so that it gets wound and stored tails out.
Again, today, most everything is recorded digitally. Engineers who have the capability, can sent two feeds of a final mix to a digital recorder and an analog recorder to see which will sound better. A mastering engineer could run a digital mix through a tape emulator or on an actual tape, then loop it back to get that analog sound with the gentle tape saturation. Instead of tape, the hard drive gets sent around, or the tracks are sent by FTP. Whatever works.
Today, many albums are recorded at a home studio where the artist can take all the time they want. Live at home with the wife and kids, play with the dog, take naps, and never have to worry about the clock. Many artists learn how to do all the engineering themselves, even if they do bring in an experienced engineer. Hell, many records are made on a laptops in a hotel room. That's how Will-i-am did the last Black Eyed Peas album. But, the mastering is still done at a mastering suite.
My apologies to Russ. I get carried away with this stuff.
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