Analogue recording is a method in which the original, continuous wave is kept in its entirety.

Digital recordings are made by transforming an audio input into an electrical signal, and then into electrical pulses (on or off) ending up as 1s and 0s (binary); the wave shape is not kept exactly. Analogue was recorded first onto rotating wax cylinders, and later onto shellac and finally vinyl. Changes in air pressure cause a diaphragm to vibrate. The diaphragm is attached to a sharp stylus which creates a groove in the wax that is in the same shape as the original wave. Playback is obtained via the reverse of this. The magnetic tape recorder (~1936) takes an electrical signal and transforms it directly into corresponding magnetic energy which is stored on a reel of tape via write heads. The electrical signal is generated with use of an electromagnetic field created by a magnet and a coiled wire. Wax/shellac/vinyl recordings could not be edited; they remained in the state in which they were recorded. The magnetic energy on tapes could only be changed in that it could be erased by changing the stored energy, the sound could not be edited. However, tape could be edited by being spliced. This is where the tape is cut in a certain place, and a new recorded section was stuck in, replacing any errors. Les Paul invented the first multitrack by layering recordings onto one reel of tape. On a 4 track recorder, different audio was recorded onto tracks 1, 2 and 3, and then they were all recorded together onto track 4. Tracks 1 and 2 were then erased and recorded onto with different audio. Tracks 4, 1 and 2 were recorded onto the erased track 3, and so on. This was called bouncing. With every bounce, a generation of quality was lost due to adding more mechanical + electrical noise to each recording. This was the main problem with tape the noise was unavoidable as the motors obviously had to be on. Another problem was that the tape itself was quite fragile, and could tear if mistreated. If a tape had too many track on it, it could distort due to overload however this was good distortion and the added frequencies were harmonics of the original sound. Problems with vinyl/shellac are that it is also fragile (particularly shellac), and the stylus could scratch through grooves if the record was played too many times, resulting in the loss of higher frequencies, creating a loop or skipping parts of the audio. With records, you can also get wow and flutter; changes in motor speed affect revolution speed, giving the effect of a change in pitch of the audio. Another problem was dust collecting in the grooves, creating pop sounds as the stylus moved over them. Good things about analogue are that is follows the original sound exactly as a continuous wave, people liked the warm (good distortion), raw sound it gave, and its behaviour in overload. When recording in digital, this warmth is often lost as the wave created does not exactly follow the original sound a new wave is formed depending on the sample rate. Also, if recorded too loud, digital recordings can experience clipping, where the peak of the wave is cut off as the amplifier cannot handle the input power. The audio can experience unwanted compression, and can have added harmonics at higher frequencies than the original sound, thus changing the output sound. Benefits of digital recording are that it is easier to manipulate audio once captured (in software program EQs, effects, cutting etc.), it is of a better quality (little/no noise with a better frequency response), it is more affordable and portable as it can be stored on a hard drive, and it is a lot less prone to deterioration less when multitracking, and none at all from continuous playback.