My Digital Evolution

I started out as a recording engineer in 1990 on the 2-in. analog tape side of things. Digital recording meant a tape-based multitrack reel-to-reel (about $200 grand), maybe a Fairlight or a sampler, but ADATs had not yet begun to impact the recording industry. I could have bought a 486, but opted for a 386 for about $1,000 to run MIDI. Hard disk recording -- what's that?

Analog ruled. Maybe it still does in terms of sound quality. It's a dynamic system, and while there's even tape saturation modeling in the digital world, nothing sounds like a signal hitting tape. Okay, I'm done waxing sentimental.

I left engineering because I no longer wanted to work on other people's music, and I had recorded some great music. It was a privilege and a life experience to work with the artists I recorded, and I learned how to make records from a maestro.

Introducing JD Mars
You may have noticed a new byline on the site recently -- JD Mars. JD is taking over as the producer of this site, and he will take it to a new level. In coming months, look for more reviews, features, tutorials and war stories on JD's watch.

He certainly has a good perspective on The Biz, having served as an audio engineer in top recording facilities, as well as working in technical support on the manufacturer side. Of course, he's also a musician -- but then, aren't we all?

So. it's with great pleasure that I welcome JD to DigitalProSound.com, and in my new position as VP Editorial here at Digital Media Net, I'll look forward to reading JD's stuff!

Best,
Frank Moldstad

Hard disk recording and less expensive digital multitracks like ADATs and DA88s have revolutionized the recording business, not just in the reduction of recording budgets (a cynical jab), but in solidifying the bridge between pre-production and production studios-namely, the project studio.

I can do a record now in my apartment. The result? Lots of new music. I can't record a full band, but I can emerge from a dark corner with finished product. Releasable product. Dare I say, mastered product.

ADAT was the beginning of the revolution; I have to hand it to them. I knew I would never buy one, because when it came to going digital, the editing power of the computer-based system always seemed a more attractive way to go. That's me, and I'd be reluctant to strongly advise anyone to go my way. Although what's happening in the computer/software industry is very exciting indeed, it still is in some ways in its baby stages. Only once in my analog engineering career did I have to turn to a client and say, "my machine broke" (and Roberta Flack took it quite well, really), but at least no work was lost. I NEVER want to have to turn to a client and say, "uh, sorry, I just crashed and we lost the last three takes. Forgive me, for I must reboot."

I'm used to automating a mix, either on a DiskMix based console or on Ultimation. A mix doesn't HAVE to be automated, but when it comes to pro work, you're competing with some very slick stuff. So where is the industry going in this regard? This is an important issue for me, and I hope I'm not alone.

It's possible, of course, to record on ADATs and bring your tapes into a real studio and mix, and you could do that with a hard disk recorder also. But for mixing in the project studio, your options for affordable automated mixing desks are limited, and even the space to put them in may also be limited. Automating computer software is another issue altogether. I haven't tried all of the control surfaces out there for this purpose, but not all of the software is even enabled for automation.

Where the under $10,000 digital consoles and the software-based, MIDI-driven automation seems to fall short is the ability to fine tune automation moves. It's not enough to offer a write-mode only, and especially when information is only written when a fader or other controller is moved. That leaves an awful lot of blank spaces where no automation information exists. Moving faders, though considered very high end, were initially a solution to the sonic problem of a voltage being sent to the fader to control the level, not an automation problem (audio still had to pass through the fader). In a digital console or MIDI driven control surface, it's a non-solution to an automation problem.

Since my own preferences point me in the computer-based hard disk recording direction where project studios are concerned, this is my quest, to follow the software automation star. I'll be pursuing these issues in other articles, but in the meantime, please feel free to discuss this on the WWUG discussion group by clicking on User Forum | View Posts | Add New Posts.