Music recording technology has come a long way from the earliest days of the mechanical phonograph cylinder and gramophone disk to magnetic tapes and digital recording. Recording engineering has now gained the status as the separate branch of science dealing with sound recording and reproduction.
Recent developments in music recording technology and editing have revolutionized the record, movie and television industries. Whether it is live musical performance, radio and television broadcasting, filmmaking, and recording music for selling (for example, CDs), all have to depend on sound recording and reproduction technology. To all major movie production houses, radio and TV stations, and musical groups have their in-house recording studio. The subject matter of recording music and reproducing it thorough diverse media is concerned with electrically or mechanically inscribing sound waves produced by spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or various sound effects.
The two main divisions of music recording technology are analog recording and digital recording. Analog recording is achieved by means of diaphragm of a microphone that detects changes in atmospheric pressure created by audio sound waves, and records them graphically as sound waves on media such as a phonograph, a magnetic tape or a CD. The same process is inverted in reproducing or transmitting the music, when the diaphragm of a bigger loudspeaker modifies atmospheric pressure to form acoustic sound waves. Digital recording and reproduction uses the similar technology employed in analog process, the difference being the added digitization of the sound data and signals, allowing it to be stored and transmitted on a wider variety of media.
A Los Angeles Recording School, Musicians Institute has been established with the intention of imparting education in the area of recording arts. This recording college has developed a comprehensive recording program covering the entire gamut of learning the essentials of audio recording and reproduction. Individuals can learn audio recording at this institute and after passing out can find a career as an audio engineer or sound engineer. Audio engineers in general deal with the design, installation, and/or operation of sound recording, sound reinforcement, or sound broadcasting equipment, including large and small format consoles. In a recording studio setting, the audio engineer deals with recording, editing, manipulating, mixing, and/or mastering sound by technical means in order to realize an artist’s or record producer’s creative vision. While generally associated with music production, an audio engineer deals with sound for a wide range of applications, including post-production for video and film, live sound reinforcement, advertising, multimedia, and broadcasting. When referring to video games, an audio engineer may also be known as a computer programmer.
