AUDIO PRODUCTION TOOLS

SOUND RECORDERS

Most Sound Recorders include the following options:

Individual tracks that can record or playback ONE specific sound.

Individual record on/off controls for each track.

Transport Controls for PLAY, STOP, REWIND, FAST FORWARD, and RECORD.

Time Counter Display that shows current song position.

Sound Recorders can display current time as MINUTES : SECONDS (actual time) or in BARS : BEATS.   Bars and Beats are musical measurements of time.

A BEAT is a single musical pulse.  A BAR (or MEASURE) is a collection of beats.  Most popular music is made in 4/4 time, which means that a BAR is comprised of FOUR notes that are each a QUARTER NOTE in length.  5/4 time consists of BARS made from FIVE notes that are each a QUARTER NOTE in length.

The DOWNBEAT (first note) of any BAR will feel heavier than the other beats.  Some popular music is constructed in groups of 8 BARS (for example, the song Introduction may be 8 bars long, followed by an 8 bar verse, then an 8 bar chorus, etc).

Sound Recorders were originally mechanical (needle carving a scratch), then Analog (recording magnetic signals onto first steel wire then magnetic tape) and are now Digital.  Certain features of steel wire and magnetic tape recorders such as a SUPPLY REEL, TAKE-UP REEL, and the TAPE PATH were part of original Digital recorders, but these days people simply record to hard drives.

Digital Recorders at first used standard Analog tape systems, but recorded Digital information rather than sound.  Eventually the recorders were replaced with Computers.  Digital Recorder software often emulates Analog equipment in look and performance, but differ in that they have Timelines where you can place sound clips and Non-Destructive Editing that leaves original files intake.  This, along with the “undo” function, was a big difference from Destructive Editing in the Analog world, where you literally used razor blades and scotch tape.

Digital Recorder software often has built in Mixing Boards, Sound Editors, and even Musical Instruments.