Different Recording Media

Recording studios use a variety of recording media, depending on the exact task they have to do. The sections below detail the main kinds.

Cassette Tape

Cassette tape is a low quality recording medium. The main problem is one of "tape hiss", i.e. the noise of the tape itself. This can be partly overcome by using a hiss reduction system such as Dolby. This kind of noise reduction works by partly removing the frequencies of the tape hiss sound. The problem with this is that in removing the unwanted sound, i.e. the tape hiss, other sounds with the same frequencies are also partly removed. This often affects higher frequencies that are particularly important in classical music such as the harmonics of violins.

However, cassette tape is still used in professional studios, usually for making quick copies of performances that people can take away for monitoring purposes. For example, it may be impossible or undesirable to allow the master recording to be removed from the studio, but a musician can take away a cassette tape, listen to it at any time, and come back with ideas for how the performance could be improved.

Studios often use very high quality cassette recorders, costing in the region of £500 or more. These recorders are robust enough for industrial use as well as having many features not found on domestic equipment.

The Tascam 302 Professional Cassette Recorder

Reel-to-Reel Two Track Tape Recorders

Reel-to-reel two track tape recorders are little more than a higher quality version of cassette tape. The two tracks are used, as on a cassette, to record the left and right stereo signals, i.e. they are not multitrack devices. They have two main uses:

• Recording a performance directly onto tape, either directly from microphones connected to the tape recorder or via a mixing desk.
• As a mastering device, that is, recording many tracks from other devices down onto a stereo tape. The stereo tape is then sent to the pressing plant and is used as the master that the CDs are made from.

It is now rare to see reel-to-reel tape recorders in studios and they have been largely replaced by more modern digital equivalents.

The Tascam BR20 - A Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorder

DAT - Digital Audio Tape

DAT, or Digital Audio Tape, is a two track (i.e. stereo) system that works by converting sound into digital data and storing it on a tape. On playback, the digital data on the tape is converted back into sound.

The tapes are about half the size of a cassette tape, and DAT units are (usually) about the size of a standard video cassette recorder, but in 19-inch rack format.

The recording quality of a DAT is at least the same as found on an audio CD and sometimes higher. There is virtually no audible hiss whatsoever and there is no need for hiss noise reduction systems.

DATs have almost completely taken over from reel-to-reel two track tape systems and do the same jobs, i.e.:

• Recording a performance directly onto DAT, either directly from microphones connected to the DAT recorder or via a mixing desk.
• As a mastering device, that is, recording many tracks from other devices down onto a stereo DAT. The DAT is then sent to the pressing plant and is used as the master that the CDs are made from.

The Tascam DA-40 DAT Recorder

Analogue (i.e. non-digital) multitrack tape recorders can store many tracks of sound on a single tape. The number of tracks range from 4 to 24. The types of tape range from ordinary cassette for amateur work to one- or two-inch tape for 24 track professional work.

Taking a 24 track tape as an example, we could record:

• Guitar on track 1

• Bass on track 2

• A keyboard with stereo output on tracks 3 and 4

• Drums on tracks 5 to 10

• Lead vocals on track 11

• Backing vocals on tracks 12 and 13

These tracks could all be recorded at the same time, one at a time or a mixture of the two methods.

Professional multitrack tape recorders look very similar to two-track reel-to-reel tape recorders, but will often have LEDs for each track. This type of tape recorder is rapidly being replaced by digital equivalents. 

Professional multitrack tape systems, like their cassette counterparts, suffer from tape hiss and often come equipped with some form of noise reduction system such as Dolby or dbx.

At the lower end of the scale are cassette based multitrack recorders. Standard cassette tapes are in fact 4-track tapes. Each side of a cassette tape has two tracks - one each for the left and right elements of the stereo sound on that side:

Cassette multitrack recorders use all four tracks playing in one direction at the same time and it is possible to record onto any single track:

Although not used in professional work, multitrack cassette recorders are cheap enough to allow anyone to make quick and simple recordings for demonstration purposes etc.

The Fostex X-12 - A Simple Analogue Multitrack Tape Recorder

Digital multitrack tape does the same job as analogue multitrack tape, but with the same quality as DAT. The most common form of digital multitrack system is the ADAT system.

ADAT units use tapes similar to video cassette recorder tapes. Each unit usually has 8 tracks, but any number of units can be joined and synchronised together for as many tracks as are needed. 

The Alesis LX20 ADAT Recorder

Hard disk multitrack recorders are the most modern of digital recorders. They do the same job as digital multitrack tape systems, but also allow tracks to be:

• Found quickly

• Easily edited

• Easily copied

• Repeated, or even small sections to be repeated

Allied to a suitable computer or digital mixing desk this sort of recording system is very powerful.

The actual disks of such recorder are often replaceable, allowing the same flexibility of tape recorders.

Most modern studios are equipping themselves with this sort of technology.

The Tascam MX2424 Hard Disk Recorder

A computer can act as both a stereo digital recorder or, with appropriate hardware, a multitrack recorder. Virtually any modern desktop computer can be used in this way providing is has suitable software.

The hard disk of the computer carries out the same functions as a hard disk recorder, while the software allows an on-screen representation of what is recorded.

A Computer Multitrack System in Action