A Tutorial of Melodyne's new DNA Direct Note Access feature
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The New Age Of Audio Editing
ProTools
The software advancements made since digital audio took over is amazing. The industry has gone from recording to thin, in-editable vinyl disks and wax cylinders to thousands of songs and records being able to be stored in a single computer and every property of each song now being editable. The new industry standard for music recording is now a program called ProTools. ProTools first came around in 1991, around twenty years ago. It started off as a program that only allowed four tracks of audio and cost roughly six thousand dollars to start with. Over the past twenty years, ProTools has evolved from its beginning stages to a much more user friendly format, now being able to run on consumer PCs, and now gives the user hundreds of tracks to use in just a single session. The new software also allows the user to seamlessly cut and move audio without any lost data and patch them back together as if the track had been recorded that way. Users can change the beat of the music making it faster or slower and modify pretty much any property of the audio.
Plug-Ins and Other Specialty Software
AudioSuite plug-in are produced by hundreds of different companies that work along side ProTools that allow even more editing of the software. Users can use plug-ins made by companies such as Izotope, Brainworx, Sonnox, Nomad Factory and so many more to do everything from change the pitch of a track to use as basic equalizers and reverb units and even to remove the hum, clicking, and buzz created by the outboard gear. Other full fledged programs such as Antares Auto-Tune and Melodyne to shift the pitch of entire songs to fit exactly to a scale or individually shift the key of certain parts of a song. Melodyne has just released new software called DNA Direct Note Access that now allows the user to not only be able to shift the pitch of an entire wave, but now also break that wave down into its individual notes. You can now go as far as being able to move a single note in a single chord in a song if it is just barely off. The advancements in digital audio over the past decade even are completely amazing compared to the recording methods and edit methods of the old days.
The software advancements made since digital audio took over is amazing. The industry has gone from recording to thin, in-editable vinyl disks and wax cylinders to thousands of songs and records being able to be stored in a single computer and every property of each song now being editable. The new industry standard for music recording is now a program called ProTools. ProTools first came around in 1991, around twenty years ago. It started off as a program that only allowed four tracks of audio and cost roughly six thousand dollars to start with. Over the past twenty years, ProTools has evolved from its beginning stages to a much more user friendly format, now being able to run on consumer PCs, and now gives the user hundreds of tracks to use in just a single session. The new software also allows the user to seamlessly cut and move audio without any lost data and patch them back together as if the track had been recorded that way. Users can change the beat of the music making it faster or slower and modify pretty much any property of the audio.
Plug-Ins and Other Specialty Software
AudioSuite plug-in are produced by hundreds of different companies that work along side ProTools that allow even more editing of the software. Users can use plug-ins made by companies such as Izotope, Brainworx, Sonnox, Nomad Factory and so many more to do everything from change the pitch of a track to use as basic equalizers and reverb units and even to remove the hum, clicking, and buzz created by the outboard gear. Other full fledged programs such as Antares Auto-Tune and Melodyne to shift the pitch of entire songs to fit exactly to a scale or individually shift the key of certain parts of a song. Melodyne has just released new software called DNA Direct Note Access that now allows the user to not only be able to shift the pitch of an entire wave, but now also break that wave down into its individual notes. You can now go as far as being able to move a single note in a single chord in a song if it is just barely off. The advancements in digital audio over the past decade even are completely amazing compared to the recording methods and edit methods of the old days.
Finally Moving On
Transition from Vinyl to 8-track Tape
The main recording technique during the early 50‘s and a little later on is still vinyl recordings and engineers in America continued to develop this technique even though it was not an editable medium. The Hot stylus technique was developed in 1951 for disk recording to ease the strain on the cutter and give a smoother groove for the needle to later read. But eventually, people started to see the multiple benefits of tape recording. This now made audio smaller and easier to transport as well as lasting longer, holding more information in a much smaller volume and the obvious benefit of being able to edit the recording. A company named Ampex led the way in the mainstream development of the tape recorder announcing its Model 300 professional studio recorder in the later part of 1949. From there they then developed a 4-track, 35mm magnetic film system and in 1954 released its Model 600 portable tape recorder. The first commercial 2-track tapes are not even released until the end of 1954 when tape first begins to be widely used.
From this point on magnetic tape recording explodes and within two years, Les Paul creates the first 8-track recording method. 3M continues to improve their magnetic tape system. Noise reduction continues to improve and eventually, in 1963 compact cassettes are released by Phillips. Digital tape recording finally takes over studio recordings in 1975. From this point on the digital world of audio exploded. In the same year the first digital reverb unit was released by a company known as EMT.
The main recording technique during the early 50‘s and a little later on is still vinyl recordings and engineers in America continued to develop this technique even though it was not an editable medium. The Hot stylus technique was developed in 1951 for disk recording to ease the strain on the cutter and give a smoother groove for the needle to later read. But eventually, people started to see the multiple benefits of tape recording. This now made audio smaller and easier to transport as well as lasting longer, holding more information in a much smaller volume and the obvious benefit of being able to edit the recording. A company named Ampex led the way in the mainstream development of the tape recorder announcing its Model 300 professional studio recorder in the later part of 1949. From there they then developed a 4-track, 35mm magnetic film system and in 1954 released its Model 600 portable tape recorder. The first commercial 2-track tapes are not even released until the end of 1954 when tape first begins to be widely used.
From this point on magnetic tape recording explodes and within two years, Les Paul creates the first 8-track recording method. 3M continues to improve their magnetic tape system. Noise reduction continues to improve and eventually, in 1963 compact cassettes are released by Phillips. Digital tape recording finally takes over studio recordings in 1975. From this point on the digital world of audio exploded. In the same year the first digital reverb unit was released by a company known as EMT.
Magnetic Tape
World War II
The next step up from wire recordings was paper tape recording. Paper tape with magnetic oxide adhered to it was invented in 1928 by Fritz Pfleumer. It also used the idea of storing information through the use of altering metal magnetically. This creation was modified by a company known as AEG for the purpose of recording music. AEG developed the first practical tape recorder called the K1 which was demonstrated first in 1935. During the same year, a company known as BASF manufactured a plastic based tape to enhance the durability of the tapes. It was mainly used by the Germans during the times of World War II but eventually made its way to the United States in the late 1940’s and into the early years of the 1950’s.
During this time period, The United States was using what most people believe to be the first recording process, cutting grooves into circular discs of plastic most commonly known today as vinyl records. This meant that in the United States at this time, editing audio tracks was not possible due to the fact that a vinyl record could not be clipped out and pieced back together and no audio could be erased. A vinyl record was literally cut directly into the disk that was going to become the master and then dupicicate disks were created from molds of the original. If something was messed up or incorrect on the master record, that record had to be completely discarded and the entire track or even a couple of tracks had to be redone from the beginning.
In the United States, vinyl records were still being used during World War II while some of the rest of the world, mainly Germany, was advancing their audio technology through the use of paper tape machines. American audio engineers such as John T. Mullin helped develop this new form of music for the States during his time in the U.S Army Signal Corps. He discovered and sent two Magnetophon tape decks back to the States in a series of of mailbags. A company known as 3M developed a black paper oxide tape and introduced it as a product called Scotch No. 100.
America Advances
The major change that was finally made in America in 1948 was changing the medium that the tape was made out of. During World War II, Germany was using paper tape to transmit audio signal that sounded just like a real voice and was indistinguishable from actual voices over radio transmissions. When it was discovered and brought back to the United States, engineers changed the medium of the tape from paper to thin plastic strips, just as the Germans had done almost ten years earlier, to help make the tapes more durable although they kept the same magnetically alterable oxide on the tape to store the information. This newly found technology now allowed for the first decent versions of audio editing to begin (although the technology was not immediately picked up by engineers to actually be used in the industry). Tape recordings were now the highest form of editing available even though it did not become the main style of audio recording until the mid to late 50’s. Magnetic tape now allowed engineers to physically cut out pieces of the tape and replace them with new sections but gluing or taping them back into the reel. Engineers would later begin to take multiple takes of the same audio and cut the pieces out of the reel, then listen back to them and decide which sounded the best before completing a song.
The next step up from wire recordings was paper tape recording. Paper tape with magnetic oxide adhered to it was invented in 1928 by Fritz Pfleumer. It also used the idea of storing information through the use of altering metal magnetically. This creation was modified by a company known as AEG for the purpose of recording music. AEG developed the first practical tape recorder called the K1 which was demonstrated first in 1935. During the same year, a company known as BASF manufactured a plastic based tape to enhance the durability of the tapes. It was mainly used by the Germans during the times of World War II but eventually made its way to the United States in the late 1940’s and into the early years of the 1950’s.
During this time period, The United States was using what most people believe to be the first recording process, cutting grooves into circular discs of plastic most commonly known today as vinyl records. This meant that in the United States at this time, editing audio tracks was not possible due to the fact that a vinyl record could not be clipped out and pieced back together and no audio could be erased. A vinyl record was literally cut directly into the disk that was going to become the master and then dupicicate disks were created from molds of the original. If something was messed up or incorrect on the master record, that record had to be completely discarded and the entire track or even a couple of tracks had to be redone from the beginning.
In the United States, vinyl records were still being used during World War II while some of the rest of the world, mainly Germany, was advancing their audio technology through the use of paper tape machines. American audio engineers such as John T. Mullin helped develop this new form of music for the States during his time in the U.S Army Signal Corps. He discovered and sent two Magnetophon tape decks back to the States in a series of of mailbags. A company known as 3M developed a black paper oxide tape and introduced it as a product called Scotch No. 100.
America Advances
The major change that was finally made in America in 1948 was changing the medium that the tape was made out of. During World War II, Germany was using paper tape to transmit audio signal that sounded just like a real voice and was indistinguishable from actual voices over radio transmissions. When it was discovered and brought back to the United States, engineers changed the medium of the tape from paper to thin plastic strips, just as the Germans had done almost ten years earlier, to help make the tapes more durable although they kept the same magnetically alterable oxide on the tape to store the information. This newly found technology now allowed for the first decent versions of audio editing to begin (although the technology was not immediately picked up by engineers to actually be used in the industry). Tape recordings were now the highest form of editing available even though it did not become the main style of audio recording until the mid to late 50’s. Magnetic tape now allowed engineers to physically cut out pieces of the tape and replace them with new sections but gluing or taping them back into the reel. Engineers would later begin to take multiple takes of the same audio and cut the pieces out of the reel, then listen back to them and decide which sounded the best before completing a song.
The Next Step
The First Editable Audio
Following the tin foil recording was the first recording style that allowed the engineers to edit the audio, steel wire recording. The Telegraphone was a system created by a Danish engineer named Valdemar Poulsen. The system looked much like the inside of an electric generator, but instead of using the magnetic energy created to develop electricity, the charge was stored in the wire in different amounts and increments to store information. This information could be played back as sound, just like a cassette tape, by starting at the beginning of the wire and playing it down the entire spool. The fact that the audio information was now being stored on something that could be physically moved meant that engineers could now also edit out the pieces they did not like and replace them with new pieces of wire. The problem with this recording style is that the wire was not a very reliable and the data would frequently get erase. On top of all of that the editing style was very rough and tended to modify the audio that was already recorded.
Following the tin foil recording was the first recording style that allowed the engineers to edit the audio, steel wire recording. The Telegraphone was a system created by a Danish engineer named Valdemar Poulsen. The system looked much like the inside of an electric generator, but instead of using the magnetic energy created to develop electricity, the charge was stored in the wire in different amounts and increments to store information. This information could be played back as sound, just like a cassette tape, by starting at the beginning of the wire and playing it down the entire spool. The fact that the audio information was now being stored on something that could be physically moved meant that engineers could now also edit out the pieces they did not like and replace them with new pieces of wire. The problem with this recording style is that the wire was not a very reliable and the data would frequently get erase. On top of all of that the editing style was very rough and tended to modify the audio that was already recorded.
More information on wire recoding and its process can be found at
More of The First Recorded Music
The Real First Musical Recording
This video is a demonstration of a reconstructed phonograph that will allow you to hear what the first recordings sounded like.
The Beginning of Audio Recording and Editing
How Did Music Recording Start and How His It Evolved?
Recorded music and audio has been around for over 130 years since Thomas Edison first invented the Phonograph in 1877. Over the last century it has evolved from rough copies of music off of tinfoil to being able to listen to hundreds of thousands of sounds at the click of a mouse in crystal clear perfection. Concerts are a daily event and music is something that is in every household and teenagers pocket. But imagine how music sounded back in the early 1900’s. Back when musicians were recorded as a group and wax cylinders or vinyl records were the only way to listen to it. How does it compare to today’s music and how has it evolved so much. Well the basic answer is the evolution of how music is captured and more so how it is edited.
(phonograph made by Thomas Edison in the late 1870's)
Recorded music and audio has been around for over 130 years since Thomas Edison first invented the Phonograph in 1877. Over the last century it has evolved from rough copies of music off of tinfoil to being able to listen to hundreds of thousands of sounds at the click of a mouse in crystal clear perfection. Concerts are a daily event and music is something that is in every household and teenagers pocket. But imagine how music sounded back in the early 1900’s. Back when musicians were recorded as a group and wax cylinders or vinyl records were the only way to listen to it. How does it compare to today’s music and how has it evolved so much. Well the basic answer is the evolution of how music is captured and more so how it is edited.
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