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Home , Analog recording, Reverb effect, Tape loop, Tape recorder

Common Tape Manipulation Techniques and How They Relate to Modern Electronic

Matthew A. Bardin & Digital Media Center for Computation & Technology Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 [email protected]

ABSTRACT the ’play head’ was utilized to reverse the process and gen- The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical context erate the output’s audio [8]. Looking at figure 1, from to some of the common schools of thought in regards to museumofmagneticsoundrecording.org (Accessed: 03/20/2020), tape composition present in the later half of the 20th cen- the locations of the heads can be noticed beneath the rect- tury. Following this, the author then discusses a variety of angular protective cover showing the machine’s model in the more common techniques utilized to create these and the middle of the hardware. Previous to the development other styles of music in detail as well as provides examples of the reel-to-reel machine, was only achiev- of various tracks in order to show each technique in process. able through live performances on instruments such as the In the following sections, the author then discusses some of and other early predecessors to the modern syn- the limitations of tape composition technologies and prac- thesizer. [11, p. 173] tices. Finally, the author puts the concepts discussed into a modern historical context by comparing the aspects of tape composition of the 20th century discussed previous to the composition done in recording and manipu- lation practices of the 21st century.

Author Keywords tape, manipulation, history, hardware, software, music, ex- amples, analog, digital

1. INTRODUCTION The phrase ‘tape recording’ has become deeply entrenched in modern society, but as we continue to move further away from the physical recording technologies common in the 20th century to an increasingly digital and online means of audio production then the basis for the processes utilized in modern music production run the risk of being abstracted and potentially forgotten by the modern composer. The item that made many of the developments in elec- tronic music in the 20th century possible is : A thin plastic strip coated with magnetic particles on one side. This tape was developed in the 1930s in Germany. Figure 1: A 1969 Astrocom Marlux Tape Machine. [3] In order to record onto this tape, the electrical sig- nal from the picking up whatever was being It was because these audio recordings could be stored on recorded would be sent to an . The changes tape, artists could record and alter them in various in electrical current would cause fluctuations in the mag- ways. This simple fact is what caused many early electronic netic field produced in the ’record head’: a physical piece music composers, several of whom are mentioned in this of hard ware that was positioned around the tape as it was paper, to feel that this new process was liberating from fed through. By running the tape through this field at a the previous tradition of composition. [11, p. 173] This fixed speed, the fluctuation would manipulate the magnetic technology directly influenced the development of modern particles on the tape. These fluctuations would then be Electronic Music, and the recording of music in general to stored on the tape. A separate piece of hardware, called what it is today. 2. A BRIEF HISTORY OF TAPE COMPO- SITION Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Following the development of magnetic tape in the 1930’s its 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Copyright popularity soon skyrocketed as an effective way to store and remains with the author(s). playback various data. Many audio recordings and eventu- The History of , Spring 2020, Louisiana State Uni- ally films were stored on variations of the original tape be- versity cause it allowed for a relatively large amount of in a relatively small and inexpensive format. Many early pieces of tape music were developed at var- In a different vein, we can see Elektronische Musik develop ious national stations because these places had the out of Germany at around the same time period as Musique materials, equipment, funding, and means of distribution Concr`ete. Compared to the French, the German develop- for the relatively new art form. Pierre Schaeffer and Karl- ment of electronic music was more gradual, which helped heinz Stockhausen, both mentioned in the following section, it develop its own, unique aesthetic. [11, p. 62] Two main did a large portion of their work in Radiodiffusion Fran¸caise parts of this aesthetic include the use of 12-tone serialism, (RDF) and the West German Station (WDR) and the use of recorded material that came from electroni- respectively. [11] cally produced means. As technology began to develop, and Europe began to Contrasting the objets sonores utilized by Musique Con- recover from the effects of World War II, Tape composi- cr`ete, German tape composers would often record tones gen- tion began to develop into a new art form in the mid-late erated via electronic means such as electronic tone gener- 1940’s. Understanding some of the key distinctions between ators and predecessors to modern . This would previous acoustic and tape compositions are fundamental result in material with a definite pitch (to contrast the real- to understanding exactly what tape composition is and the world sounds utilized in Etudes´ de bruits) The Germans processes utilized in the writing of these pieces. One large would then utilize the 12-tone system as a common way to difference is that acoustic music is traditionally written as organize these sounds. These elements gave Elektronische a series of instructions to be given to a performer, whereas Musik its own that was noticeably distinguishable tape music is “concr`ete”. [7] Tape composers create a phys- from Musique Concr`ete. It allowed Elektronische Musik ical collection of sounds that is exactly the same every time composers to be able to control the elements of their music it is reproduced, and rather than focusing on time passing with extreme precision, especially in the case of Karlheinz as a series of musical measures, are building their materials Stockhausen, whose total serialization allowed him to seri- out of mathematical relations based on lengths of tape. [7] alize all of the major aspects of his music. This is because tape music composers were working with In a specific work of Elektronische Musik, Karlheinz Stock- pre-recorded material; whether they or some other person hausen’s Elektronische Studie II (1954), a listener can hear created the sounds that were originally recorded. Tape com- how it is entirely composed of electronically synthesized posers could define the characteristics of their music to ex- sounds, created through Sine Tone generators. Looking at tremely specific degrees in order to create a product that the score, of which Elektronische Studie II was the first would identical every time it was performed, regard- piece of electronic music to have a complete score, it can be less of the time or venue. They could duplicate, edit, and seen that Stockhausen was arranging his material in terms re-record any sounds that had been previously recorded onto of frequency, timbre, and duration. By combining, splic- the tape they had; something that had previously been im- ing, re-recording, and adding other processes to his sam- possible. Because of a wide variety of new possibilities, com- ples, Stockhausen was able to create the heard in posers tended to group into different schools of thought in the piece. relation to how to go approach tape composition. Of which, the most prevalent in Europe being Musique concr`ete and Elektronische Musik. 2.1 Musique Concrète Musique concr`ete developed in France in the years following World War II. Pioneered by Pierre Schaeffer at RDF, the composer defined Musique concr`ete as “music made from recorded natural and man-made sounds” [15, p. 6]. A slightly more in-depth definition by Andre Hodier defines Musique Concr`etein the following way:

Composers of Musique Concr`ete begin by record- ing various sounds (either musical sounds or noises of indeterminate pitch) and then, by speeding Figure 2: a rendering of the score of Elektronische them up, slowing them down, filtering or in- Studie II, which is available as an example in the verting them, metamorphose these sounds into Max software “sound objects” (objets sonores) whose origin it is not always possible to distinguish. [10, p. 140] Although the both utilized the manipulation of tape record- ings, the two schools did not agree on the sounds and pro- The key aspect of Musique Concr`ete that defines it as cesses used by each other, and were vehemently opposed something separate from Elektronische Musik is that the throughout the 20th century. This opposition was due in material utilized by these composers naturally occurring no small part due to social and political tensions between sounds, not tones generated through electronic means. For France and Germany following World War II. Example, looking at Pierre Schaeffer’s Cinq Etudes´ de bruits (1948), credited as the first piece of Musique concr`ete, [11, 52] one can that each etude is comprised of a collection of 3. TAPE MUSIC TECHNIQUES sounds from various real work sources such as trains, per- While Elektronische Musik and Musique Concr`ete had a dis- secution instruments, piano, and household objects. This tinct style from each other, both utilized similar methods of aesthetic of taking recordings of items found in various ev- manipulating tape recordings. In the following section, The ery day settings and manipulating so that they take on a author will present a series of some of the more common new, unique, and at times unidentifiable characteristic is the tape manipulation techniques that allowed for electronic core element of Musique Concr`ete and its objets sonores. music composers to build a metaphorical toolkit that they could when altering their material. The author will outline 2.2 Elektronische Musik the basic details, processes, and hardware that might be necessary to achieve a specific effect, as well as discuss how the playback is complete (see figure 1). However, composers a specific work utilizes this effect. For each piece discussed, were able to create indefinitely long repeated patterns by the author will also provide a URL where a recording of taking a length of tape, and splicing the ending edge to that specific work can be found1 should any readers wish to the beginning edge to form a physical circle or loop. This explore the effect further. technique, called looping, would cause the same sound to be repeated for as long as the composer needed, without 3.1 Splicing decreasing the volume over each repetition, and the size of Because the tape was thin, often just a few millimeters [16], the loop would be determined by the desired duration of the composers could cut the long strip into smaller sections sample, and the speed at which the tape machine operated. when they were working. The composers could then re- [11, p. 180] In the figure below, we can a simple order these smaller sections however they pleased, and then created out of an audio cassette.4 tape them together with a splicing block in order to create a new series of sounds as shown in figure 3. 2 This technique, called splicing, could be applied in various time scales such as re-sequencing recordings, changing the envelope of a sin- gle sound, or combining several small elements from various sources into a new composite sound. [11, p. 174]

Figure 4: A tape loop created by New York based author, Randy Sarafan.

When discussing loops, one could look to the phasing pieces of . While not all of them are written for tape, ones such as It’s Gonna Rain, are composed of a Figure 3: Two pieces of tape being spliced together. repeated loop of a short recorded sample. Reich adjusts the playback speed of the loop as well as applies other effects Composers would try to achieve a variety of different over the course of his composition in order to create the sounds through splicing. By altering the angle at which the variety of sounds heard. tape is cut, how long the tape is cut for, or mixing in seg- ments of non-magnetic tape allowed for a variety of effects 3.3 Delays and Echoes such as cross-fades, occasional pops, or hard cuts between In order to create delays in recorded material, composers audio samples, which could be used however the composer could send sound material to a different to might want.[11, p. 175] then play it back at a later time. This would cause one Looking at Stockhausen’s Gesang der Junglinge (1955) ¨ sound to be heard And on the recording two or more times one can see a prime example of the splicing technique. Over in quick succession. Often, Delays are interchangeable with the course of this work, Stockhausen took prerecorded ma- in conversation. In essence, all echos are delays that terial from both a single live vocalist as well as electron- occur over a longer duration than effects like reverberation, ically generated sound, and spliced them together into a and tend to repeat themselves multiple times while decreas- collection of composite tracks. One place this is clear is in ing in volume [20]. The image below illustrates a short the opening when multiple recordings of the single vocalist of a sound source.5 Notice how each delay in the has are combined together (in combination with multi tracking, its own discrete beginning that does not overlap with the discussed later) in order to sound like a group of singers beginning of the previous sound. performing with the electronic sine tones.3 Perhaps one of the most socially iconic examples of a 3.2 Loops tape delay effect is the ‘Slapback’ sound implemented in the recordings of Elvis Presley. To achieve this sound, the In order to be played back, tape must be run over a mag- audio would be recorded to 2 different . One netic play head at a specific rate. Traditionally this happens would record directly to the main tape, and the second linearly, with the tape starting on one wheel, and moving would record to a separate track, and then output the sound continually through the play-head to the second wheel until into the main tape. The time it would take the secondary 1all recordings were available online at the time of writing tape machine to record, move the tape, and play it back this paper. (04/2020) into the main track would result in the audio delay. The 2image originally from tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t= 8 Accessed: 03/20/2020 4image originally found at instructables.com/id/ 3At the time of writing, a recording for Gesang Audio-Cassette-Loop/ Accessed: 03/25/2020 der Junglinge¨ could be found at youtube.com/watch?v= 5Image Credit John Gibson at cecm.indiana.edu/361/ WTtzAmZFtds rsn-delay.html Accessed: 03/19/2020 Figure 5: a short, repeating delay of an initial sound source. amount of time that the delay occurs over could be altered by changing the speed of the secondary tape machine.6 [14] Figure 7: Sound waves reverberating off of various A specific example of a piece with tape delay is I of IV sources before reaching the listeners’ ears. (1966) by , who utilized a similar method as Sun Studios to achieve a delay of approximately eight seconds7. [11, p. 182] and then play back that audio into a space. By recording the An echo effect could be achieved by a similar manner, audio playback onto a new tape, the new recording would a single machine’s play-head output could be routed back possess the reverb of the secondary room [5]. Eventually, into its record head, resulting in the repeated sound that hardware was developed that allowed for different spaces to would grow weaker as new sounds were also introduced into be emulated in a by playing the sound into the system. See the figure below for a n example of this a large metal plate with a pickup on one end. The resultant process[11, p. 178-179] outcome was then re-recorded. [22] This process allowed for artists to replicate reverberations by adjusting the ten- sions on the springs[11, p. 180] and eliminated the need to travel to a specific site or create drastic alterations to a space to create the sound the wanted. Later this process was modeled in extreme detail through the use of DAWs and software reverb.

Figure 6: basic diagram of an echo effect utilizing one machine. [11, p. 178-179]

3.4 Reverberation In order to replicate the natural reverberation of sound bouncing off of various surfaces, tape composers are able to chain together multiple delays in quick succession. This causes the original sound to be perceived as if it was in a space much larger than it was originally created in, such as a performance hall or a church. These delays generally happen extremely quickly; usually too fast to hear multiple attacks on a single sound. In the figure 6, we can see a visu- alization of how sound is produced from a source, and then bounces off of local materials before reaching the listener’s ears, as shown in figure 7.8 These reverberations occur in every physical space, but are more noticeable in the kinds of spaces previously mentioned. [11, p. 180] Figure 8: An EMT-140 Plate Reverberation Unit. To create these sound qualities using analog methods, [22] recording artists would first record audio in a studio setting, 6At the time of writing, a video from Sun Studio discussing Reverb has become a staple effect that is utilized in a the effect and a few tracks utilizing it could be found at large portion of audio recordings, and can be heard in many youtube.com/watch?v=FuStmPbG528 pieces. [11, p. 180] The one that takes the idea of analog 7a recording of I of IV could be found at youtube.com/ reverb to the furthest extreme is possibly Alvin Lucier’s I watch?v=2kJD0dbE9Ow at the time this paper was written am Sitting in a Room (1969).9This work plays back a simple 8Image originally from flypaper.soundfly.com/produce/ artificial-space-place-reverb-tech-primer/ 9At the time of writing this paper, a recording of I am vocal recording in a room, and rerecords the audio with the each with their own effects applied independently of the natural reverb of the space. This process happens on repeat, other channels, all occurring at the same time, and can be continually mixing the new recording into the previous one, combined at different sound levels by mixing them together. and showing the listener a large variety of reverb sounds. [11, p. 184] Usually, each of these channels would have their own output as well, which further differentiated the tape 3.5 Reversal of Audio tracks from each other. The reversal of audio is an effect that is simple to achieve, Looking at Gesang der Junglinge¨ (1955) again, we can see yet provides a potentially surprising variety of sounds. Look- a piece that was originally performed on multiple channels. ing at the tame machine in figure 1, it can been seen that While most modern versions of this piece have been mixed the tape starts on one reel, is fed through the record-head, to a stereo version, the premiere was done over 5 indepen- and is collected on the second wheel in a linear fashion. By dent channels being played on speakers spaced throughout simply reversing the direction of the tape and running it the hall, which in the 1950’s had never been done through the play-head backwards, all of the audio, and any before. [19] The figure below shows an image taken at the effects already applied to that tape will be reproduced in premiere of Gesang der Junglinge¨ with one of the speakers reverse. [11, p. 184] for an independent channel on the stage. [19] Listening to Pierre Schaeffer’s Cinq Etudes´ de bruit(1948), the reversal of piano notes can be heard throughout the third etude.10 [11, p. 184] 3.6 Changes in Playback Speed/- ing One powerful tool that tape composers utilized was adjust- ing the playback speed of the tape with their sampled ma- terial on it. Traditionally tape machines operated at a rate of 7.5, 15, or 30 inches per second, but higher speeds could be used in the recording process to create quality recordings [11, p. 186] Because tape needs to move over the playback head at a constant rate in order to produce an accurate rep- resentation of what was recorded, this technique alters the sound drastically. By speeding up the playback rate from the standard rate, two main effects can be heard. The first is that the recorded material will not take as long to play, and the second is that the frequencies being output by the tape will increase. By doubling the playback speed, a com- Figure 9: In multi-channel works, each channel poser can double the frequencies of the output, raising the has its own unique sound that was output from a pitch one octave. The inverse of this is also true: by halving speaker dedicated to that channel. the playback speed, the recording will take longer to play, and have its pitch dropped by one octave. [11, p. 187] While this example is not a traditional piece of music on its own, looking at a scene from Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: 4. DRAWBACKS TO TAPE COMPOSITION A Space Odyssey (1968), a clear example of this technique Throughout the course of human invention any process, can be heard. In the scene where David Bowman must de- method, technology, etc is not free from errors or problems activate the malfunctioning supercomputer, HAL (the su- in its use; Tape Manipulation is no exception. Particularly percomputer) begins to sing the 1892 song Daisy Bell. As in its early years, composers and performers would have the story protagonist, Dr. Bowman gradually shuts down to deal with the limitations brought on by their choice of HAL, the processing speed of the computer gradually de- medium. Some of the more common are outlined below.12 creases. This is represented by HAL’s speech audio being Before discussing the various recording errors that could oc- gradually slowed down. This causes the song’s pitch to de- cur however, it should be mentioned that the following are crease and speed to increase until it eventually comes to a only errors under a certain set of conditions: The phenom- 11 complete stop. ena that occurred was unintentional at the time of recording the tape, and was detrimental to the desired final product’s 3.7 Multiple Channels sound. Many artists would intentionally utilize these phe- Composers could utilize some, or all of these techniques, as nomena to create a specific quality to their recording, or well as others not mentioned, such as adjusting playback would utilize a slightly distorted tape. volume, in a single work in order to create complex tape compositions that would be impossible to be performed in 4.1 Pitch/Frequency & Speed another medium. The complexity of these works has the One potential error that was common, but not 100% prob- possibility of exponentially increasing as technology allowed lematic was that of pitch . Commonly caused for multiple tapes to be played at the same time. Composers by the tape speed being altered during the recording pro- could write for multiple (usually 2, 4, or 8) channels of tape, cess, this change would result in parts or all of a recorded could being pitch shifted up or down; the specific amount Sitting in a Room could be found at youtube.com/watch? would depend on how much the tape speed fluctuated dur- v=GSyNMguGAHs ing recording(See the following section ”Flutter” for more 10at the time of writing this paper, a recording of Cinq Etudes´ de bruit could be found at youtube.com/watch?v= 12While the author is categorizing the errors discussed into CTf0yE15zzI three distinct categories, it should be noted that these are all 11at the time of writing this paper, a recording of this scene conceptually related and often errors from multiple sections can be found at youtube.com/watch?v=c8N72t7aScY could occur at the same time, or lead from one to another. details about short fluctuation pitch errors.) This effect can result in unintended pitch distortion of the recording. would become a problem for an artist when it occurred at A few of these such as wow and gradual pitch shifting are random, unintentional times in the recording process due the results of a time-based malfunction, and have already to a variety of reasons: a gear catching, tension on the tape been previously discussed. as it moves through the record head, temperature, an in- Timing issues could have multiple causes: Performer er- correct setting, etc. [16, p. 5] An instance of unintentional ror, improper tape speed on the recording machine, im- pitch shifting due to the gradual change of the recorder’s proper settings on effects (The process of tape delays come tape speed. This would result in varying sections of the to mind as a prime example), incorrect splicing technique, tape having differing amounts of distortion and could not etc. The most straight-forward, and sometimes only (but be easily remedied. [18] rarely the most cost-effective)of fixing timing issues would As mentioned previously, many composers and recording be to re-record and affected areas or processes. [18] artists would intentionally recreate this in controlled meth- Another potential issue arises when discussing the time ods in order to create specific manipulations of recorded frame in which the above processes took to achieve. When sounds. However should this happen when not desired, it compared to modern methods, the amount of time it took would pose a large problem as the artists would have to to set up all of the tape machines, record the takes, change re-record the material that was distorted, and depending out tape reels, apply the effects, mix everything, test out on the severity of the distortion, could result in everything the current version, go back to make edits, etc. was as- stored on the tape having to be re-recorded. [18] tronomically higher than it would take to create the same music with today’s materials. For example, if a composer 4.2 Flutter wanted to apply reverb to a 10 minute recording, they would Flutter is a specific type of pitch distortion caused by irreg- first have to record the initial audio, and likely make a copy ularities in a recording machine’s tape speed. This could be to serve as an emergency backup, then re-record the audio causes by uneven tension between the reels, causing the un- through the reverberation unit, and listen to the new result even travel speed of the tape. [4] These speed fluctuations to make sure it was recorded as originally desired. This pro- would occur in a periodic manner as the tape wheels con- cess would take 40 minutes, plus the amount of time to set tinued spinning. When these happen at a lower up equipment, run the tape, adjust the effect parameters, frequency (one distortion per rotation of the wheel), they etc. as well as additional time for each copy or adjustment are referred to as ”wow”, based off of the sound of the distor- for each effect that was made. tion. Once the repetitive nature of the distortions happens more quickly, it is referred to as ”flutter”. Flutter tends to 4.5 Drift create a wavering and roughness to the recorded sound that Audio Drift can occur in tape recording when utilizing mul- would be undesirable to someone trying to record a specific tiple tracks. The effect occurs when one or more of the tape timbre in a voice or instrument.13 [4] tracks gradually over the course of playback or recording due to a difference in machine speed. [17] Some potential 4.3 Rumble causes for these differences are mentioned in the previous section ”Timing”. Aurally, this effect can sound similar to Small amounts of noise are an inherent characteristic of tape Steve Reich’s (1967) where the two or more recording to a degree, but there are times when it can be- tracks begin together and gradually move out of sync.14 come increased to a distorting degree due to mechanical This could be problematic because it could occur any time problems, or low-quality parts in the tape machines. When multiple machines were involved such as recording, editing, a tape machine’s internal gears and motors create vibra- mixing, or playback. In many instances drifting would re- tions that are large enough, it can be picked up on the tape sult in large amounts of time and money lost in recording during recording, resulting in additional, unintended sounds or editing time in order to correct. [17] being present in the recording. These vibrations could be amplified through various external forces acting on the ma- chine at the tome of recording, such as vibrations from a 5. DIGITAL AUDIO & ELECTRONIC MU- moving vehicle. [4] This sound tends to be comprised of SIC CREATION quiet, low frequencies which can mask parts of a recording or distract a listener. Modern Electronic Music has been heavily influenced by the work and technology that came previously. With the 4.4 Timing context provided in sections 2 and 3, as well as the draw- backs shown in section 4, several similarities can be drawn Another common issue with recording on tape is when spe- between the physical processes of the 20th century and the cific sound events are not timed properly and sound incor- digital processes that have become prominent in the 21st. rect in the playback. [16, p. 6] The reason that this is The softwares Logic and Max will be refrenced throughout problematic is that once recorded, the audio could not be this section in occasional examples and figures.15 Meth- subtly shifted to adjust timing discrepancies because the ods of recreating effects discussed in section 3, as well as sound was recorded into the tape. Adjusting the playback solutions to drawbacks mentioned in section 4 will also be speed of the original tape and re-recording the playback discussed. onto a new tape would not solve a timing issue because As previously mentioned, all of the techniques/effects pre- then the pitch of the recorded material would be incorrect. viously illustrated in section 3 were achieved through analog Timing issues could become more problematic if multiple and physical means: physical changes were applied to the people were recording onto a single tape; which was a com- audio tape to create continual, real time alterations. With mon practice due to multi-track hardware limitations. [16, p. 6] This was because there was no way to isolate a specific 14At the time of writing this paper, a recording of Pi- performer out of the mix of the tape. Many timing issues ano Phase could be found at youtube.com/watch?v=7P_ 9hDzG1i0 13At the time of writing this paper, a demonstration of a 15For more information on these softwares, visit their devel- wow and flutter effect was available at youtube.com/watch? opers’ websites at apple.com/logic-pro and cycling74. v=kCwRdrFtJuE com respectively. the development of the microprocessor, dating back to 1970, sired in specific scenarios. However both of these increase [12] and in increase in computational power since that time, the file size of any recordings dramatically. these processes began to move into a more digital process. These processes were organized through a series of 1s and 0s in binary computer code, and used to process recorded au- dio in an increasingly quick fashion. With the development of digital audio recording composers could store audio as a string of binary code, rather than as magnetized particles embedded in tape. This allowed for direct manipulation of the digital audio through the use of a computer interface. Over time, these interfaces became more complex, devel- oping graphic interfaces as well as increasing in processing power.16) Figure 11: By zooming into a recording in the pro- gram Audacity, the individual sample values and the connections between them ca be seen.

The standard sampling rate for recordings in a Digital audio workstation is 44,100 Hz.19 Computers process this audio in small packets of samples in order to avoid disrup- tions in the audio output. The computer is then able to synchronize the occurrence of these packets as needed, al- lowing the computers to correct any drifting or timing errors that might occur. To put this into context, if a computer processed packets of 512 at a time, at 44,100 Hz, each packet would last approximately 0.0117 seconds, much too fast for humans to aurally detect. A drifting error could still hap- pen between multiple recordings, but this would not be due to hardware as had previously occurred. [6] 5.1 Audio Effects in DAWs Figure 10: The basic Logic work-space. One way to visualize change from to digital Because these files were not physical, they could be saved audio is through an object-orientated style of audio editor, in the computer’s memory, which allowed mistakes made in such as the Max software. Figures 12 and 13 both show a the recording and editing process to be edited and undone reverberation effect placed onto a sound source in both Max rather than have to be recorded. [11] When compared to and Logic respectively. analog methods, similar, sometimes identical results could be achieved, eventually in real time17, by adjusting algo- rithmic parameters in computer code rather than manually cutting, splicing, looping, and re-recording with magnetic tape. But how does Digital Audio recording work? On a ba- sic level, the Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) receives the voltage from the microphone and takes snapshots of the current voltage level. That snapshot is then saved as a number value in the computer’s memory and stored in sequence. These values are then what is edited by the com- puter algorithms before being converted back into a voltage by the Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) and sent to an amplifier or speaker. This brings up the idea of the sam- pling rate and bit depth in digital audio. Compared to the analog means described at the beginning of this paper, dig- ital audio recording systems record the samples and fill in the space between each sample. The audio sampling rate is how quickly the computer records the samples, and the bit depth is the degree of specificity to which the incom- ing voltage can be measured. Because, as shown below18, the computer fills in the signal gaps when re-producing the Figure 12: An example of a built-in software reverb audio, having a larger sampling rate and bit depth results effect being applied to live audio in Max. in more accurate, higher quality recordings they can be de- 16all images of the DAWs were created by the author for the In both of the previous examples, reverb effects are ap- purposes of this paper. plied to an with preset values. In previous ex- 17Early computers were much slower than their modern amples, reverb could be applied to a sound by re-recording counterparts. Originally the audio would have to be pro- the audio in a different space, or running the signal through grammed, rendered/recorded, and played back before the a physical reverberation unit. To create specific software composer would know if they achieved the effect they were reverb, the various delays needed to create the effect were looking for. A process that could take hours to complete. 18Image originally from the Audacity manual at ttmanual. 19This sampling rate is the standard for CD quality audio audacityteam.org/man/Audacity_Waveform production. With recorders no longer requiring mechanisms to rotate reels of tape, the recording process became much quieter. Because the mechanical noise had been reduced to spinning hard drives (Something that would eventually be eliminated with the onset of solid state, or flash, recording devices), rumble noise from the physical process of recording was greatly reduced. Electrical could still pick up noise over longer lengths of wire, but overall the change resulted in less noisy, cleaner recordings. [13] Because of the nature of digital audio files, which has been discussed, computers are able to replicate the recorded sound they are given. While the quality of the audio play- back can vary based on the values such as the sampling speed and bit depth of the recording an playback units, the consistency of sound that a computer will play back Figure 13: An example of multiple tracks and a audio will almost always remain constant. This will mean software reverb effect in Logic. that a computer with specific settings will play back an audio recording identically each time the computer is told to. As computer processing power and the quality of parts measured and used to develop an algorithm. This algorithm increased, a large amount of the unintentional pitch and can then be applied to the digital file of any recording and timing related distortions that were previously mentioned, alter the binary code so that it sounds as if it had a physi- such as flutter, drift, subtle inaccuracies in pitch or timing, cal reverb applied to the original recording once re-recorded. and were effectively reduced or eliminated. By changing the values through the Graphic User Interface Because the computer is recreating the sound from data of Logic, or the number Object on Max, the algorithm will stored in the device’s memory, should the original file be alter the recorded sound in different ways, allowing for sim- altered or corrupted in any way, it may result in a dis- ple customization of this effect. On a basic level, this is how torted audio playback. There are two other potential ways some physical effects not mentioned in this paper, such as to unintentionally distort audio that was recorded on a dig- flanging for example, became possible digitally. [21] ital recorder that are worth mentioning: One is acciden- To create delays of larger duration than those found in tally having a device utilizing a different sampling rate or a reverb effect, a computer could take audio signal being bit depth than the audio was originally recorded at. This fed into the effect, and store a copy of it inside of a buffer; cold potentially change how the DAC the audio from the a small data storage location in the computer’s memory. sound data, resulting in distortions. The other is a fluctua- Then, after a specified amount of time, play back the saved tion of electrical power through the recording of the system. audio sample. This would replicate the time it would take changes in electrical current could potentially cause the mi- for tape to physically move between machines as previously crophones to stop recording as effectively [9], or overload a discussed. [14] circuit to cause distortion. [1] Modern DAWs allow for the possibility of multitracking in a similar, yet easier to manage fashion when compared 6. CONCLUSIONS to traditional tape techniques. Notice how in figure 13, Throughout this paper, we have been presented with a brief there are two independent audio tracks (colored blue). Each history of practices that utilized tape recording and manip- of these is analogous to a physical reel of tape and can ulation, as well as an introduction to the physical actions have its own set of effects and parameters applied to it. involved in those practices. Because many modern com- The computer can then playback multiple tracks at once, posers and recording artists’ first exposure to these pro- allowing for for large multitracking possibilities that weren’t cesses are through digital means, they might not know of limited to the amount of hardware present in the studio. the history and relationship that led to the practices that Early computers had severe limitations on the number of they are using. By expanding on the techniques mentioned, tracks available for their audio, but modern DAW’s such briefly mentioning some of the schools of thought when uti- as Avid’s offer up to 256 separate tracks in each lizing these tools, providing examples of specific works that audio project file in their highest tier product20. [2] utilize these techniques, and relating some of the to their Playing digital audio in reverse was a process that was modern equivalents, it has been the author’s goal to build almost identical to the physical process of running the tape the reader’s knowledge of the effects they use, and why they backwards through the machine. The computer would take might be utilized in a specific way. However, while the ma- the desired audio, reverse the code used to generate the jority of this paper has been to explore some of the possibil- audio, and then play back the newly reversed signal. ities of composing with tape, it was not a process that was 5.2 Fixing Certain Previous Drawbacks with free from complications. By bringing in a discussion of these Modern DAWs potential drawbacks, and showing how modern techniques have helped to solve several of them, the author hopes to Before going into detail for this section, it should be noted help the reader appreciate how far the modern techniques that modern techniques are without their have come from their origins. flaws, however to discuss them in detail is outside the scope of this paper and will be left for future research. A few drawbacks will be mentioned when necessary, but not de- 7. REFERENCES scribed in greater detail. [1] P. Audio. 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