The document discusses the history of sound recording and playback technology from the late 19th century to modern times. It focuses on how technology evolved in the 1990s, enabling home recording. This posed challenges and opportunities for audio engineers to adapt to new software and non-traditional recording environments. The role of an audio engineer is outlined, requiring skills like operating equipment, achieving balance, and strong communication to record artists effectively.

1. CMNS2130 Sound Production
Answer
Assessment 2: Recording Case Study
1. The 1990s And Music
The 1990s were an era that was musically rich, and saw the rise of popular music. The
trends that had started in the 1970s and 80s continued; and numerous new genres also
came up. Pop music was accompanied by hip-hop, which reached a highly successful stage
during these years, and was therefore termed as this genre’s golden age. Contemporary
rhythm and blues, rap and reggae gained popularity; in general, urban music was
tremendously popular during these years (Van der Hoeven, 2014). This often gave rise to
several fusion genres, where urban music was blended with the contemporary styles of soul
and jazz.
The growth of computers and technology brought about a decrease in the cost of music
production as well as the required equipment, and this led to the rapid growth in the field of
electronic music (Emmerson, 2013). The genres that sprang up were techno, progressive
and vocal house, and trance.
Rock music gained an altogether different level of popularity, and with the emergence of
bands like Nirvana and Radiohead, alternative rock found a way into mainstream music
(Strong & Rogers, 2016). It became the most commercially successful genre of music, and
many bands that had previously not experimented with it came forward and adopted it. The
major bands that were actively engaged in the production of alternative rock music were
Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Radiohead, Alice in Chains and Jane’s Addiction. The Red Hot Chili
Peppers was also an important band that helped in the popularity of alternative rock, with
their unique blend of funk rock along with the conventional rock form (Mark Yarm, 2017).
Their 1999 album, Californication, was the climax of their success. The 90s also witnessed
the success of glam metal bands such as Firehouse and Skid Row, but their popularity
reached a standstill after 1992-93. The bands that remained consistently popular were
Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, and of course, Bon Jovi.
Pablo Honey was the debut studio album from the house of English rock band Radiohead
that was released in the year 1993 by Parlophone Records in the United Kingdom and by

2. Capital Records in the USA. The band started out with demo recording in 1990 before
signing a deal with EMI and modifying their name to Radiohead. This paper would take into
account the role of the audio engineers in making such recordings and playbacks a major
success and the skill sets required by the audio engineers in doing of the same.
A History Of Sound Capture And Playback Technology
Long before sound was first exposed, music was proofed- first taken in as the music
notation in written structure, then by the mechanical confirmation like the wind-up music
boxes where there is existence of a mechanism that turns a spindle resolving the metal tines
and manufacturing a melody (Srinivasamurthy et al., 2016). Recording of sound has been
stated as an old dream of man. Scientists began declaring the physical fundamentals of the
sound in the early middle ages. A Roman philosopher by the name of Bonetus stated the
existing relation between the strongholds of vibration and the sound pitch by the end of the
5th century. During the middle ages, several researchers have tried recording sounds
though not with much success, due to their inadequate knowledge.
It was, Jean Duhamel, a French physician and a mathematician who projected a better plan
of a player machine along with a sound recorder. He thought to capture the air vibrations
through the help of an elastic membrane associated with a needle that scrapes a soft
material (Osborn, 2016). In the year 1877, a machine was manufactured by Thomas Alva
Edison that worked properly and as suggested by Duhamel, Edison documented the sound
to a tinfoil-covered tube through the help of a needle along with a membrane and a sound-
collector conduit. In the year 1887, Emil Berliner got patent to a fresh device of sound
recorder, named gramophone. The gramophone device accounts the sound within the disc
and not within a cylinder. Gramophone became very popular for the fact that it was easier
copying and it was able to squeeze out phonograph out of the market, which was invented
in the year 1877 for the purpose of mechanical recording and sound reproduction. Since the
year 1940, gramophone transformed into a record player and in recent times into a
turntable. The vibrations of the sound waveforms are verified as equivalent physical
divergence of a spiral furrow impressed or incised into the exterior of a revolving disc,
known as the ‘record’ (Van der Hoeven, 2014).
CD’s were introduced in 1982 that worked like the old vinyl that has the capability in
recording spirals on the disc. Digital audio tape (DAT) came in 1987 that was developed by
a company by the name of Sony. DAT is stated to be very similar to the compact cassettes
that makes use of a magnetic tape and is confined with a plastic cover. The purpose of such
a device has been to record the digital indication rather than the analogue. DAT has the
ability in storing more music along with the efficiency being more precise.
2. Impact Of Playback Technology On Audio Engineer
The first decade of the 21st century witnessed an explosion of technology that rocked the

3. total media industries including the industry of recording. Increased speeds of the
processor along with the capacities of hard drive have made home recording a feasible
alternative for everyone. The result of such swift changes in the technology of computer is
evident in the assortment of the new applications of software. The design of recording
softwares was targeting certain specific markets like the DJs and the beat writers.
Therefore, filling a void missing by the programs chiefly intended for the engineers and
musicians. In keeping up with the express growth has been a complex task for the audio
engineer. Hardware technology that is being designed would never alter its signal-flow
unless being customized by the chief technical engineer of the studio. However, in case of
software it is a different proposition. The software merits updated in fixing the flaws within
the design, making it difficult for the new users in learning of the same.
Moving forward, the rapid improvement of the recording of the software has challenged the
conventional way of creating records. The capability of generating music inexpensively
altered the means through which the audio engineers go about their daily work. Today’s
audio engineers would be finding themselves in most of the non-conventional recording
positions. For this, the audio engineers have been enforced in being more creative in their
advancement for maintaining a professional eminence recording.
Recording in such non conventional situations necessitates many professional recording the
studio experience. Home recordings have been very few as unless one has the experience of
working in certain professional situations and has the knowledge of technical abilities of
handling equipments for playback, one would be having no clue of the things required
generating sound (Nathan & Dion, 2017). An experienced engineer would be able to
produce better product in his home with the available playback technology at his helm
rather than an inexperienced engineer working in a pro studio.
A. Audio Recording And Engineering
An audio engineer is stated to be a trained professional working with the mechanics of
mixing, recording and generating sound. Audio engineers should not be mixed with sound
producers or the performers as they are the people who deal with the technical side and the
mechanical facet of sound and music. It entails an exclusive set of skills for being successful
for a recording engineer. One needs to have a trained ear for the refinements of sound along
with the mastery of the tons of compound analog and digital equipments. He should also
possess the ability of using the technology in attaining specific imaginative results.
It is no surprise that most of the recording engineers are musicians themselves with many
being aspiring musicians at certain point of time. Their love for music, working behind the
scenes tirelessly and assisting other artists for making the most of their recordings is what
an audio engineer does. The most preferred skill for a recording engineer should be his
sense of balance. Everything that he does should be towards attainment of the balance. The
drums cannot be much louder, the vocals cannot be much softer. A recording engineer

4. needs a good ear, but only is that individual knows the ways of using the tools for achieving
it. A recording engineer who is experienced generally has the feeling of him being the
extension of the control board. Recording engineers who have been legendary has the
ability of grabbing ten faders from ten various tracks and pushing the same into balance in
simultaneous manner.
A recording engineer needs to be confidentially familiar with all the equipments in the
studio and the ways each piece of equipment influences the sound of the audio that is being
recorded. He needs to be an expert on various kinds of microphones along with every sort
of electric guitar and amplifier. A recording engineer requires a stronger work ethic and an
implausible attention in many details. Moreover, recording engineers should not be
uncommon to marathon recordings that can last several nights, so for that they need to
have patience (Janky & Schulhof, 2013). Learning to work fast is another aspect of the
recording engineers and they should never be an impediment to the creative procedure. At
certain times if the artist is getting new ideas for vocals and the engineer is not ready to
record the same, then people would feel much frustrated. An engineers’ work can be utterly
frustrating and complex- juggling various critical tasks within a single time frame.
Communication can be stated as the most essential skill of the audio engineer or the
recording engineer. Their job is most difficult as they have to work with recording artists
having their own style of communication (Emmerson, 2013). The recording engineer needs
to learn the exact time when to speak up and when to keep numb. He needs to gauge the
personality and the artist’s mood to understand the exact time of making suggestions. A
good audio engineer would always establish himself as the helpful partner within the
procedure, and not act like a referee pointing out to the mistakes.
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