Kevin Hall:

Analog Vs Digital for Recording Music

The research I have done addresses the recording industry's use of analog vs digital hardware to create music. My research has shown that the preferred method depends on many factors, personal & social to create the visions that they hear in their heads.

Introduction
What are the benefits of digital versus analog in the music recording industry that might be a very touchy question to some, as analog does have a very strong following. However over the past couple of years digital music recording has come into the foreground. In this research some of the questions regarding two different recording techniques will be answered.

Literature Review
After doing a bit of research, there seems to be very strong arguments for both sides. Some people feel the warmth and tone you get out of analog will never be duplicated. However, some of the newer school musicians feel that with modern technology that same warmth and tone can be achieved through digital means. Either way the music industry as a whole has benefited from both. According to Chiang (2013) “There is no doubt about it, recording to tape adds a certain characteristic to the sound.” And “it’s one of the great attributes of recording to tape. It adds certain fatness to the tracks, makes them feel alive.” However, on the other hand you have younger musicians usually going the route of digital. Like Dotree (2009) says” The untrained ear may not notice the difference between analog and digital sound recordings, but audiophiles certainly notice the difference, and the science is on their side. With that being said, many famous recordings have been made on digital systems.”

Research Methods

The participants in this study varied in age and economic status. Both males and both have been recording music using various means for 20+ years. They both have music’s published by major distributors.

Research Instrument(s)

In the telephone and personal interviews the following questions were asked;
#1
When recording music what is your preferred method? #2
Do you feel that you have been more influenced to one vs the other via demographic background?
#3
How does your social circle influence the way your record?
#4
Would you consider using other technics to record and if so what?
#5
How much does money impact the way you record?
And follow-ups were asked as necessary.

Limitations
There was a very small sample size and some limited time to conduct a large survey. However the data that was collected accounts for both sides of the spectrum allowing for a complete picture of the topic.

My research has brought forth the following. Although the music industry as a whole has relied on analog for the majority of its recording history, but with the advent of newer technologies, faster computing power, higher bit rates there has been a significant upswing in digital recordings.

Results
From participant one primarily of the digital realm started his music career at a very young age, where he was introduced to recording through school and back then analog was all that he had to work with. He found it very hard sometimes to try and work some of the machinery seeing whereas he was blind knobs, buttons and manuals were almost of no use because nothing was labeled in a medium that he could read so a lot of his recording sessions were from trial and error or having to hire someone else to run the machines, that is until the advent of digital recording. He does state "although I love the warmth of analog sound and the saturation of pure tape, software has come a long way to where I can make the sounds I want with the warmth I need out of a digital processor." So as a whole digital recording for this gentleman has helped and a very large way so that he may express his creativity without having to rely on someone else.
From participant two, who is squarely fixed on using analog technology to produce his music's. Stating that "without the feel of the tape or the background saturation allows for the subtle nuances to come through in the music, it kind of gives it a different feel than digital." As with participant one he started at a very young age in the music industry and again being from that era where digital was not available at the time. He feels that it is more subtle to be working with the analog buttons, knobs and reel to reel tapes.

When asked whether monies impact the way you record and it was a resounding yes from both from the analog side some of the equipment’s that are used to produce the music can be quite expensive reel to reel tapes and recorders, mixing boards, monitoring equipment cost a great deal of money. Most people don't have access to the amount of capital needed to produce their own music as studio time alone can run into the thousands of dollars.
On the digital side of things it gets expensive to buy all the software that is needed. Also, the digital to analog converters can run into the thousands range also; you need a computer to run the whole thing. Participant ones states "thank God I'm sponsored by Roland or else I wouldn't be able to afford to get half of the toys I have. They have been a real blessing to me and in turn I can make the best possible music that I know how to."

When asked whether their social circle play a role in their choices of recording music on that I got mixed results. A lot of participant ones social circle relies heavily on digital media to record being able to transfer songs and collaborate over great distances by pushing a button, versus having to fly a reel to reel out hope they have the same machine to run that real wait for them to add their portion of the song and then send the reel back can take weeks or months whereas " with digital, I can send the file. Early in the morning and have that same file back with all added instruments by early evening and continue with production from there." So with the digital realm. It does appear to be a little easier to collaborate.
On the analog side of things it can be a little tricky. "Let's say I'm trying to get a song down on my 16 track analog reel to reel my guitar players out in California. I have to send him that 16 track real. Pray that it doesn't get erased on the way out there and then wait for that reel to get back with any additions that were made. It just takes too much time. So that's really not an option for me."

When asked whether their social demographic had anything to do with their preferred recording techniques. Participant two stated, "Growing up I really didn't have that much of a choice, as analog was the only way to record music. I've just gotten used to it, if it isn't broke, don't fix it." Whereas participant one feels the exact opposite. He welcomes all the new software's, sound modules, patches that are coming out with on a day-to-day basis. "I am almost like a kid in a crayon store and they keep coming up with new colors for me to experiment with." Some pros and cons of each are.

Digital:
+Easier to design
+Low cost
+Infinite replication (in software)
+Total recall
+Undo
+Often easier and faster to use
+More bandwidth/channels in a smaller form factor
+Better S/N performance in hardware
+Does stuff that cannot be (at least reasonably or cheaply, or at all) done with analog electronics
+Usually implements visual feedback of the processes. GUIs are customizable
+Usually works/sounds always the same (random variation in sound has to be implemented separately)
+Distortion mostly sounds harsh, but it has its uses
+Opinion: Quality doesn't necessarily correlate with price

Analog:
+Can sound better in particular cases
+A physical knob/fader/other for almost anything
+Can have poor S/N performance and can sound "lo-fi"
+No memory, no recalling of parameters, has to be done by hand, no undo
+Often cumbersome to use, especially when it comes to routing/patching, moving the gear around and recording
+Takes up a lot of space
+ Tape can wear out
+Can show changes in sound because of worn out components, room humidity etc.
+Harder to design, some stuff impossible to design, more expensive to manufacture
+Large price range, quality usually correlates with price
.

Conclusion

With the sum of all my data. I have come to the conclusion that both analog and digital have their place in the music industry. Sometimes in tandem. Other times, standing on their own grounds it allows for the artist to be as creative as necessary to produce what they are feeling and no one way or the other is wrong. Maybe for further research you could use a larger sample size to get a better picture of what it is the producers and board jockeys are looking to accomplish. Although I am a musician myself, I have learned a lot from these participants and has enabled me to look at both mediums as an outlet source for my creativity.
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References
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Digital vs. analog audio: Which sounds better?. (n.d.). CNET. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.cnet.com/news/digital-vs-analog-audio-which-sounds-better/word...
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Digital vs. analog audio: Which sounds better? - CNET. (n.d.). CNET. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.cnet.com/news/digital-vs-analog-audio-which-sounds-better/
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How to Choose Between Analog and Digital Audio Recording. (n.d.). Yahoo Contributor Network. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://voices.yahoo.com/how-choose-between-analog-digital-audio-recording-4647473.html
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