PUNEET SAMTANI
IN THIS DIGITAL ERA WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE ANALOG WORLD ?
The sole purpose of any recording or playback medium should be representing and conveying the audio data in its truest form without any manipulation . It has been a never ending quest for all inventors pioneers and manufacturers to achieve this .
Analog Technology
The Analog technology in terms of audio and music is more than a century old .
The first sound reproduction device was the PHONOGRAPH invented by THOMAS EDISON in the year 1877 .
This made way for an audio device most commonly used even today called the TELEPHONE invented by GRAHAM BELL in 1880 .
Post these major inventions , the art of capturing , storing and playback of sound never looked back and this technology just went from strength to strength in making way for the digital technology today .
Some notable and successful inventions in the analog world in terms of music would broadly be the gramophone , phonograph , vinyl , magnetic tapes , the compact cassette tapes , tape recorders , microphones , headphones , mixing consoles , the LP , transistor radios , the vocoder , amplifiers , the LP , 8 track tapes . Brings back fond memories ? These along with few others have left a roadmap for the technology to progress . While nostalgia creates fondness , technology moves ahead at the speed of lightening .
Digital Technology
The Digital Revolution , which marked the beginning of the information age began somewhere in the late 1950 ’ s . The use of the computer slowly replacing all the electronic and mechanical devices not just in the field of audio but in all fields begun .
We are familiar with the various digital recorders , players , digital audio workstations and formats which exist today . They are constantly evolving and are just getting better by the day ( vastly )
The digital technology came into existence with its own set of advantages .
Digital audio doesn ’ t degrade in quality every time one hit ’ s playback . This would normally happen with cassettes causing them to wear off . On the other hand , It has given us the option to purchase or record audio in differing levels of file size and quality .
Having said all this , it does come with its set of limitations which it will overcome in the times to come .
The main limitations are the fact that it is still playing catch up with the analog domain in many ways . It is constantly trying to emulate what has already been done and achieved before .
It changes too rapidly for the users and faces a never ending compatibility issues between software and hardware . Thus leaving us little choice but to keep upgrading .
Need to understand the past .
For all of us who are working professionals or users in the field of digital audio , we can ’ t help but ignore that most leading manufacturing companies are making plugins and software ’ s which are emulations of successful analog gear . Be it tape machine , console , speaker , vinyl , microphone , compressor or any other emulations .
Why so ?
The thing with the digital format is the fact that it is transparent and really does not have a personality trait of its own . Such emulations help it give some sonic texture and make it pleasing to the ears , specially when it comes to music .
Don ’ t have access to analog gear ?
You don ’ t really need to buy analog gear to know what it is all about . You could simply listen to some great recordings in a good sounding room , maybe book a professional studio for a couple of hours to listen to music with friends .
Find old gramophone players or attend vinyl workshops which happen in some metro cities . Finding a cassette player and some cassettes wont be that difficult either .
Simply know the difference so you know what you are chasing while working on your music .
Digital recordings can be carried , moved around and can be accessed from anywhere and out on a variety of devices . It does not occupy physical space . It is also comparatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain digital equipment .
The Score Magazine
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