A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic system designed solely or primarily for recording, editing and playing back

digital audio. DAWs were originally tape-less, microprocessor-based systems such as the Synclavier. Modern DAWs are software running on computers with audio interface [1] hardware.
Contents
[hide]

1 Integrated DAW 2 Software DAW 3 Common functionality 4 History 5 Free and open source software 6 Commercial systems 7 Free and open source systems 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit]Integrated

DAW

See also: Hard disk recorder An integrated DAW consists of a mixing console, control surface, audio converter, and data storage in one device. Integrated DAWs were more popular before personal computers became powerful enough to run DAW software. As computer power increased and price decreased, the popularity of the costly integrated systems with console automation dropped. Systems such as the Orban Audicy once flourished at radio stations and television stations. Today, some systems still offer computer-less arranging and recording features with a full graphical user interface (GUI). [edit]Software

DAW

See also: Music sequencer A computer-based DAW has four basic components: a computer, a sound card (also called a sound converter or audio interface), a digital audio editor software, and at least one input device for adding or modifying musical note data. This could be as simple as a mouse, and as sophisticated as a MIDI controller keyboard, or an automated fader board for mixing track volumes. The computer acts as a host for the sound card and software and provides processing power for audio editing. The sound card (if used) or external audio interface typically converts analog audio signals into digital form, and for playback converting digital to analog audio; it may also assist in further processing the audio. The software controls all related hardware components and provides a user interface to allow for recording, editing, and

playback. Most computer-based DAWs have extensive MIDI recording, editing, and playback capabilities, and some even have minor video-related features. Simple smartphone-based DAWs, called Mobile Audio Workstation (MAWs), are also available, used for example by journalists for recording and editing on location. [edit]Common

functionality

As software systems, DAWs could be designed with any user interface, but generally they are based on a multitrack tape recorder metaphor, making it easier for recording engineers andmusicians already familiar with using tape recorders to become familiar with the new systems. Therefore, computer-based DAWs tend to have a standard layout which includes transport controls (play, rewind, record, etc.), track controls and/or a mixer, and a waveform display. In single-track DAWs, only one (mono or stereo form) sound is displayed at a time. Multitrack DAWs support operations on multiple tracks at once. Like a mixing console, each track typically has controls that allow the user to adjust the overall volume and stereo balance (pan) of the sound on each track. In a traditional recording studio additional processing is physically plugged in to the audio signal path. However, a DAW can also route in software or use softwareplugins to process the sound on a track. DAWs are capable of many of the same functions as a traditional tape-based studio setup, and in recent years have almost completely replaced them. Modern advanced recording studios may have multiple types of DAWs in them and it is not uncommon for a sound engineer and/or musician to travel with a portable laptop-based DAW, although interoperability between different DAWs is poor. Perhaps the most significant feature available from a DAW that is not available in analogue recording is the ability to 'undo' a previous action. Undo makes it much easier to avoid accidentally permanently erasing or recording over a previous recording. If a mistake is made, the undo command is used to conveniently revert the changed data to a previous state. Cut, Copy, Paste, and Undo are familiar and common computer commands and usually available in DAWs in some form. Commonly DAWs feature some form of automation, often performed through "envelopes". Envelopes are procedural line segment-based or curve-based interactive graphs. The lines and curves of the automation graph are joined by or comprise adjustable points. By creating and adjusting multiple points along a waveform or control events, the user can specify parameters of the output over time (e.g., volume or pan). Automation data may also be directly derived from human gestures recorded by a control surface or controller. MIDI is a common data protocol used for transferring such gestures to the DAW. MIDI recording, editing, and playback is increasingly incorporated into modern DAWs of all types, as is synchronization with other audio and/or video tools. [edit]History The earliest attempts at creating digital audio workstations in the 1970s and 80s were limited by factors such as the high price of storage, and the vastly slower processing and disk speeds of the time. But in the face of this, the company Soundstream (who previously came to prominence in the early days of digital audio by releasing one of the first commercially available digital audio tape recorders in 1977), built what could be considered the first digital audio workstation in 1978, using some of the most current computer

hardware of the time. The Digital Editing System, as Soundstream called it, consisted of a DEC PDP11/60 minicomputer running a custom software package called DAP (Digital Audio Processor), a Braegen 14"-platter hard disk drive, a storage oscilloscope to display audio waveforms to be edited, a video display terminal for controlling the system, and interface cards that plugged into the PDP11's Unibus slots (the Digital Audio Interface, or DAI) that provided analog and digital audio input and output for interfacing to both Soundstream's digital recorders and conventional analog tape recorders as well. The DAP software could perform edits to the audio recorded on the system's hard disks, as well as provide effects such as crossfades. By the late 1980s, a number of consumer level computers such as the Apple Macintosh, Atari ST and the Commodore Amiga began to have enough power to handle the task of digital audio editing. Macromedia's Soundedit, with Microdeal's Replay Professional and Digidesign's "Sound Tools" and "Sound Designer" were used to edit audio samples for sampling keyboards like the E-mu Emulator II and the Akai S900, and soon went on to be used for simple two track audio editing and CD mastering purposes. In 1994, a company in California called OSC produced a 4 track editingrecorder application called DECK that ran on Digidesign's hardware system, and which was employed in the production of The Residents' "Freakshow" LP; this combination of audio software and hardware was one of the earliest examples of what we today would call a DAW. Many major recording studios finally "went digital" after Digidesign introduced its Pro Tools software, modelled after the traditional method and signal flow present in almost all analog recording devices. At this time, most of the DAWs were Apple Mac based (e.g. Pro Tools, Studer Dyaxis, Sonic Solutions). Around 1992, the first Windows based DAWs started to emerge from companies such as Soundscape Digital Technology (which was later acquired by Mackie then by SSL), SADiE, Echo Digital Audio and Spectral Synthesis. All the systems at this point used dedicated hardware for their audio processing. In 1993, German company Steinberg released Cubase Audio on Atari Falcon 030. This version brings DSP built-in effects with 8-tracks audio recording & playback using only native hardware. It was an incredible solution for the price at that time. The first Windows based software-only product, introduced in 1993, was Samplitude Studio (which already existed in 1992 as an audio editor for the Commodore Amiga). In 1996, Steinberg introduced Cubase VST, which could record and play back up to 32 tracks of digital audio on an Apple Macintosh without need of any external DSP hardware. Cubase not only modelled a tape-like interface for recording and editing, but also modelled the entire mixing desk and effects rack common in analog studios. This revolutionised the DAW world, both in features and price tag, and was quickly imitated by most other contemporary DAW systems. [edit]Free

and open source software

Qtractor screenshot

There are many free and open-source software programs that can facilitate a DAW. These are often designed to run on a variety of operating systemsand are usually developed non-commercially. The development of digital audio for Linux and BSD fostered technologies such as ALSA, which drives audio hardware, and JACK. JACK allows any JACK-aware audio software to connect to any other audio software running on the system, such as connecting an ALSA- or OSS-driven soundcard to a mixing and editing front-end, like Ardour or Rosegarden. In this way, JACK acts as a virtual audio patch bay, and it can be configured to use a computer's resources in real time, with dedicated memory, and with various options that minimize the DAW's latency. This kind of abstraction and configuration allows DJs to use multiple programs for editing and synthesizing audio streams, or multitasking and duplexing, without the need for analogue conversion, or asynchronous saving and reloading files, and ensures a high level of audio fidelity. Audacity is a free and open-source digital audio editor that can run on Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux; it is particularly popular in thepodcast community, and also has a large following among the visually impaired due to its keyboard interface. Rosegarden is a multi-featured audio application that includes audio mixing plugins, a notation editor, and MIDI matrix editor. The MusE Sequencer is a similarly featured audio application that includes an audio mixer and a MIDI sequencer.

Other open-source programs include virtual synthesizers and MIDI controllers, such as those provided by FluidSynth and TiMidity. Both can load SoundFonts to expand the voices and instruments available for synthesis and expand the ports and channels available to synthesizers. Such virtualization allows users to expand the traditional limitations of ADC-DAC hardware. The Linux Audio Development (LAD) mailing list is a major driving force in developing standards, such as the LADSPA, DSSI and LV2 plugin architectures. The Virtual Studio Technology (VST) plugin standard is supported as an option by some such programs but is generally implemented as a separate plugin, not a built-in option, due to Steinberg's licensing scheme. Among others, the creators of Audacity provide an optional, somewhat minimalist, VST-to-LADSPA bridge plugin for their software, but it is a separate download. [edit]Commercial

systems

Ableton Live ACID Pro Adobe Audition Cakewalk SONAR Digital Performer energyXT FL Studio Fairlight products GarageBand Kristal Logic Pro MAGIX Samplitude MAGIX Sequoia Merging Technologies Pyramix Mixcraft MU.LAB MultitrackStudio n-Track Studio Ohm Studio Orion Platinum PreSonus Studio One Pro Tools REAPER Renoise Reason SADiE Sagan Metro SAWStudio Soundtrack Pro SSL Soundscape Editor Steinberg Cubase Steinberg Nuendo Tracktion

Usine Zynewave Podium Z-Maestro V-Producer

[edit]Free Ardour

and open source systems

Audacity DarkWave Studio Frinika LMMS MusE Musagi Psycle PyDAW Qtractor Rosegarden Traverso DAW

[edit]See

also

Computer Science portal

Audio restoration Broadcast automation Comparison of digital audio editors Console automation Multitrack recording Multitrack recording software Music Workstation Radio software

[edit]References
[better source needed]

1.

^ Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) Software Sam Ash Resource Center

[edit]External

links

Introduction to DAW A list of software DAWs, Sequencers, Hosts, etc. A basic explanation of a DAW system.

Magnetic tape
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2011)

7-inch reel of -inch-wide audio recording tape, typical of consumer use in the 1950s70s

Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed inGermany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders. A device that stores computer data on magnetic tape is a tape drive (tape unit, streamer). Magnetic tape revolutionized broadcast and recording. When all radio was live, it allowed programming to be prerecorded. At a time when gramophone records were recorded in one take, it allowed recordings to be made in multiple parts, which were then mixed and edited with tolerable loss in quality. It is a key technology in early computer development, allowing unparalleled amounts of data to be mechanically created, stored for long periods, and to be rapidly accessed. Nowadays other technologies can perform the functions of magnetic tape. In many cases these technologies are replacing tape. Despite this, innovation in the technology continues and tape is still used.[when?] Over years, magnetic tape can suffer from deterioration called sticky-shed syndrome. Caused by absorption of moisture into the binder of the tape, it can render the tape unusable.

Contents
[hide]

1 Audio recording 2 Video recording 3 Data storage 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit]Audio

recording

Compact Cassette

Main article: Magnetic tape sound recording Magnetic tape was invented for recording sound by Fritz Pfleumer in 1928 in Germany, based on the invention of magnetic wire recording by Valdemar Poulsen in 1898. Pfleumer's invention used a ferric oxide (Fe2O3) powder coating on a long strip of paper. This invention was further developed by the German electronics company AEG, which manufactured the recording machines and BASF, which manufactured the tape. In 1933, working for AEG,Eduard Schuller developed the ring-shaped tape head. Previous head designs were needle-shaped and tended to shred the tape. An important discovery made in this period was the technique of AC biasing which improved the fidelity of the recorded audio signal by increasing the effective linearity of the recording medium. Due to the escalating political tensions, and the outbreak of World War II, these developments were largely kept secret. Although the Allies knew from their monitoring of Nazi radio broadcasts that the Germans had some new form of recording technology, the nature was not discovered until the Allies acquired captured German recording equipment as they invaded Europe in the closing of the war. It was only after the war that Americans, particularlyJack Mullin, John

Herbert Orr, and Richard H. Ranger, were able to bring this technology out of Germany and develop it into commercially viable formats. A wide variety of recorders and formats have developed since, most significantly reel-to-reel and Compact Cassette.

[edit]Video

recording

Main article: Videotape The practice of recording and editing audio using magnetic tape rapidly established itself as an obvious improvement over previous methods. Many saw the potential of making the same improvements in recording television. Television ("video") signals are similar to audio signals. A major difference is that video signals use more bandwidth than audio signals. Existing audio tape recorders could not practically capture a video signal. Many set to work on resolving this problem. Jack Mullin (working for Bing Crosby) and the BBC both created crude working systems that involved moving the tape across a fixed tape head at very fast speeds. Neither system saw much use. It was the team at Ampex, led by Charles Ginsburg, that made the breakthrough of using a spinning recording head and normal tape speeds to achieve a very high head-to-tape speed that could record and reproduce the high bandwidth signals of video. The Ampex system was calledQuadruplex and used 2-inch-wide (51 mm) tape, mounted on reels like audio tape, which wrote the signal in what is now called transverse scan. Later improvements by other companies, particularly Sony, lead to the development of helical scan and the enclosure of the tape reels in an easy-to-handle videocassette cartridge. Nearly all modern videotape systems use helical scan and cartridges. Videocassette recorders used to be common in homes and television production facilities, but many functions of the VCR are being replaced. Since the advent of digital video and computerized video processing, optical disc media and digital video recorders can now perform the same role as videotape. These devices also offer improvements like random access to any scene in the recording and "live" time shifting and have replaced videotape in many situations.

[edit]Data

storage

Main article: Magnetic tape data storage In all tape formats, a tape drive (or "transport" or "deck") uses motors to wind the tape from one reel to another, passing tape heads to read, write or erase as it moves. Magnetic tape was first used to record computer data in 1951 on the Eckert-Mauchly UNIVAC I. The recording medium was a thin strip of one half inch (12.65 mm) wide metal, consisting of nickel-plated bronze (called Vicalloy). Recording density was 128 characters per inch (198 micrometre/character) on eight tracks.

Small open reel of 9 track tape

Early IBM tape drives were floor-standing drives that used vacuum columns to physically buffer long U-shaped loops of tape. The two tape reels visibly fed tape through the columns, intermittently spinning the reels in rapid, unsynchronized bursts, resulting in visually striking action. Stock shots of such vacuum-column tape drives in motion were widely used to represent "the computer" in movies and television.

Quarter inch cartridges, a data format commonly used in the 1980s and 1990s.

Most modern magnetic tape systems use reels that are much smaller than the 10.5 inch open reels and are fixed inside a cartridge to protect the tape and facilitate handling. Many late 1970s and early 1980s home computers used Compact Cassettes, encoded with the Kansas City standard, or several other "standards" such as the Tarbell Cassette Interface. Modern cartridge formats include LTO, DLT, and DAT/DDC. Tape remains a viable alternative to disk in some situations due to its lower cost per bit. This is a large advantage when dealing with large amounts of data. Though the areal density of tape is lower than for disk drives, the available surface area on a tape is far greater. The highest capacity tape media are generally on the same order as the largest available disk drives (about 5 TB in 2011). Tape has historically offered enough advantage in cost over disk storage to make it a viable product, particularly for backup, where media removability is necessary. Tape has the benefit of a comparatively long duration during which the media can be guaranteed to retain the data stored on the media. Fifteen (15) to thirty (30) years of archival data storage is cited by manufacturers of modern data tape such as Linear Tape-Open media.

In 2002, Imation received a US$11.9 million grant from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology for research into increasing the data capacity of magnetic tape.[1]

[edit]See

also

Magnetic tape sound recording Magnetic storage Digital Data Storage (DDS) Digital Audio Tape (DAT)

[edit]References

1. ^ "The Future of Tape: Containing the Information Explosion". Retrieved 16 October 2010.

This article is based on material taken from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing prior to 1 November 2008 and incorporated under the "relicensing" terms of the GFDL, version 1.3 or later.

[edit]

Synclavier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (January 2013)

Synclavier I (1977), with HOP box

The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont, USA. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of Professor Jon Appleton, Professor of Digital Electronics, Sydney A. Alonso, and Cameron Jones, a software programmer and student at Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering.
Contents
[hide]

1 History

o o o o o o o

1.1 Synclavier I 1.2 Synclavier II 1.3 Keyboard controller 1.4 Digital sampling 1.5 Tapeless studio concept 1.6 Technological achievements 1.7 End of manufacture

2 Models and options

o o o o

2.1 Prototype 2.2 Processor 2.3 Black panel models 2.4 Ivory panel models

3 Notable users 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit]History

Synclavier II & floppy disc drive

[edit]Synclavier

First released in 1977-78[1][2][3] it proved to be highly influential among both electronic music composers and music producers, including Mike Thorne, an early adopter from the commercial world, due to its versatility, its cutting-edge technology, and distinctive sounds. Frank Zappa also made extensive use of the Synclavier. The early Synclavier Digital Synthesizer used FM synthesis, and was sold mostly to universities. Some such systems had only a computer and synthesis modules, no keyboard.

[edit]Synclavier

II

The system evolved in its next generation of product, the Synclavier II, which was released in early 1980 with the strong influence of master synthesist and music producer Denny Jaeger of Oakland, California. It was originally Jaeger's suggestion that the FM synthesis concept be extended to allow four simultaneous channels or voices of synthesis to be triggered with one key depression to allow the final synthesized sound to have much more harmonic series activity. This change greatly improved the overall sound design of the system and was very noticeable.

[edit]Keyboard

controller

Display & control wheel on VPK (1984)

Synclavier II models used an on-off type keyboard (called the "ORK") while later models, labeled simply "Synclavier", used a weighted velocity-and-pressure-sensitive keyboard (called the "VPK") that was licensed from Sequential Circuits and used in their Prophet-T8 synthesizer.

[edit]Digital

sampling

STD: Sample-To-Disk interface (c.1982)

See also: Sampler (musical instrument) The company evolved the system continuously through the early 1980s to integrate the first 16-bit digital sampling system to magnetic disk, and eventually a 16-bit polyphonic sampling system to memory, as well. The company's product was the only digital sampling system that allowed sample rates to go as high as 100 kHz for full digital sound quality.

[edit]Tapeless

studio concept

See also: Digital audio workstation and Hard disk recording

Ultimately, the system was referred to as the Synclavier Digital Recording "Tapeless Studio" system among many professionals. There is absolutely no doubt that the Synclavier System was "the" pioneer system in revolutionizing the movie and television sound effects and Foley effects methods of design and production starting at Glen Glenn Sound.[peacock term] Although pricing made it inaccessible for most musicians, it found widespread use among producers and professional recording studios, competing at times in this market with such high-end production systems as the Fairlight CMI.

[edit]Technological

achievements

See also: Real-time computing, Campus network, and Telehealth When the company launched and evolved its technology, there were no off-the-shelf computing systems and integrated software and sound cards. Consequently, all of the hardware from the company's main real-time CPU, all input and output cards, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog cards and all of its memory cards, and more, were all developed internally, as well as all of the software. This was certainly a monumental task at best in those times. In fact, the hardware and software of the company's real-time capability was used in other fields completely remote to music, such as the mainDartmouth College campus computing node computers for one of the USA's first campus-wide computing networks, and in medical data acquisitionresearch projects.

[edit]End

of manufacture

New England Digital ceased operations in 1993, the bulk of the assets purchased by Fostex of Japan. Though the Synclavier is no longer manufactured, around fifty systems are still in use today.[citation needed]

[edit]Models

and options
This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, ifappropriate. Editing help is available. (February 2013)

[edit]Prototype
Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer (1973)[1]

[edit]Processor
ABLE computer (1975): a first product of New England Digital, based on Data General Eclipse processor. Later, Synclavier was developed based on it.[4]

[edit]Black

panel models

Synclavier I

On 1970slate 1980s:

Synclavier I (1977)[2]

Hand Operated Processor (HOP box): a troubleshooting tool for Synclavier system, connected to ABLE computer via "D01 Front Panel Interface Card".

HOP box & D01 card (for interface)

Terminal: ADM-3A (1975)

Synclavier II

Synclavier II (1979): 8bit FM/Additive synthesis, 32Track Memory Recorder, and ORK keyboard. Earlier models were entirely controlled via ORK keyboard with its buttons & wheel, then VT100 terminal was introduced to editing performances. Later models has VT640 graphic terminal for graphical audio analysis (described below).[4]

Original Keyboard (ORK, c.1979): original musical keyboard controller in a wooden chassis, with buttons and silver control wheel on the panel.[4]

Sample-to-Disk (STD, c.1982): a first commercial hard disk streaming sampler, 16bit sampling at up to 50 kHz.[4]

Sample-to-Memory (STM): later option to sample sounds and edit them in computer memory.[5] Direct-to-Disk (DTD, c.1984): a first commercial hard disk recording system. Signal File Manager: a software program operated via VT640 graphic terminal, enabling 'Additive Resynthesis' and complex audio analysis.[4]

Digital Guitar Interface[6][7] SMPTE timecode tracking[4] MIDI interface[4]

Rear panel of Synclavia II

ORK: Original Keyboard (c.1979)

Terminal: DEC VT100(1978) / VT640

Synclavier PSMT rack (1984)

Synclavier PSMT (1984): a faster ABLE Model C processor based system, with a new 'Multi-ChanelDistribution' real-time digital controlled analog signal routing technology, and 16bit RAM based stereo sampling subsystem. Also monaural FM voice card was doubled up and enabling software panning for stereo output.[4]

Velocity/Pressure Keyboard (VPK, c.1984): a weighted velocity/after-pressure sensitive musical keyboard controller, in a black piano lacquer finished chassis, with a larger display, extra buttons and silver control wheel on the panel.[4]

Synclavier PSMT rack

VPK panel (2 of 6)

VPK: Velocity Pressure Keyboard (1984)

[edit]Ivory

panel models

Terminal: Apple Macintosh II (1987)

On late 1980s1993; operated via Macintosh II as terminal.

Synclavier 3200[5]

Synclavier 6400[5] Synclavier 9600[5] Synclavier TS (Tapeless Studio): consists of "Synclavier" and "Direct-to-Disk"[5] Synclavier Post Pro: consists of "Direct-to-Disk"[5] Synclavier Post Pro SD (Sound Design): consists of small "Synclavier" and "Direct-to-Disk"[5]

[edit]Notable

users
This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (January 2013)

Pat Metheny playing guitar synthesizer; in the 1980s, he played Synclavier with this guitar controller (Roland G-303), in addition to an early Synclavier guitar controller.[6][7]

Tony Banks of Genesis used a Synclavier II (ORK version) on the albums, Genesis and Invisible Touch and their respective tours, along with solo albums and soundtracks of that period, Notably on Mama (Genesis song), Home by the Sea and It's Gonna Get Better.[8]

Christopher Boyes: Supervising sound editor/sound designer for the film Avatar, used the Synclavier for blending or layering different sound effects and matching pitches.[9]

Joel Chadabe: composer/founder of Electronic Music Foundation; In September 1977, he bought the first Synclavier without musical keyboard (ORK), and wrote custom software to control Synclavier via various devices.[2]

Chick Corea used the Synclavier on various Elektric Band albums from 19861991 as well as various Elektric Band tours.[10]

Paul Davis: singer/songwriter,[11] producer at Monarch Sound in Atlanta.[12] Vince DiCola: It was used extensively in studio, also on Soundtracks Rocky IV & Transformers (1985)[13]

Patrick Gleeson: film score composer, used the Synclavier to score Apocalypse Now.[14] Paul Hardcastle: composer and musician.[15] Michael Hoenig: film scoring work on the Synclavier, including The Wraith.[16] Trevor Horn: used the Synclavier to produce records by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Yes, and Grace Jones (Slave to the Rhythm), among others.[17]

Mannheim Steamroller: used on most their albums to present[18] Michael Jackson: particularly on his 1982 album Thriller, programming by Steve Porcaro, Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli. The gong sound at the beginning of "Beat It" comes courtesy of the Synclavier.[19]

Mark Knopfler: On The Princess Bride soundtrack (1987), with the exception of the guitar sounds, every sound is generated by the Synclavier, including hand claps and so on. On Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), all sounds except guitar and horns produced by the Synclavier. Tracking for On Every Street was completed on a Synclavier.[20]

John McLaughlin used it on the albums Adventures in Radioland and Mahavishnu.[21] Pat Metheny: American jazz guitarist.[16] Mr. Mister: Used on albums I Wear the Face, Welcome to the Real World, and Go On....[22] Danny Quatrochi used Synclavier on Sting's album The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985).[23] Howard Shore, film score composer: pictured with a Synclavier on the cover of Berklee Today, Fall 1997.[24]

Alan Silvestri: in producing the scores for the 1980s films The Clan of the Cave Bear and Flight of the Navigator.[25]

Paul Simon: on Simon's 1983 album Hearts and Bones, Tom Coppola is credited for Synclavier for "When Numbers Get Serious", "Think Too Much (b)", "Song About the Moon" and "Think Too Much (a)", and Wells Christie is credited with Synclavier on "Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War".[26] On his 1986 album Graceland, Simon is credited under "Synclavier" for "I Know What I Know" and "Gumboots".[citation needed]

Mark Snow: film and television score composer; Synclavier used on The X-Files.[14] James Stroud: Producer who used a Synclavier II on many hit albums he produced for[27] Mike Thorne: producer, one of first musicians to buy a Synclavier, used it on records by Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soft Cell ("Tainted Love"), Marc Almond, and Bronski Beat, among others.[28]

Pete Townshend: Started Using The Synclavier Since The Recording of All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes and all albums after.[29]

Triumph : Rik Emmett used a synclavier 9600 around the period of "thunder seven" to "Survellence" .[30] Whodini: Synclavier II was used on albums Escape and Back In Black.[31]

Frank Zappa: in 1982 one of the first Synclavier owners; 1984's Thing-Fish (underscoring), Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger (underscoring) and Francesco Zappa (solely Synclavier); 1985's Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention (sampled sounds); 1986's Grammy-winning album Jazz from Hell ("St. Etienne" excepted, solely Synclavier); 1994'sCivilization Phaze III completed in 1993 shortly before his death, released posthumously, musical portions composed and recorded exclusively using the Synclavier. He also used it on his 2011 release Feeding the Monkies At Ma Maison[32]

[edit]See

also

Fostex Foundation 2000

[edit]References
a b

1.

"History of Masters Program in Digital Musics". Dartmouth College. Archived from the original on 2009-

10-12. 2. ^
a b c

Joel Chadabe (May 1, 2001). "The Electronic Century Part IV: The Seeds of the Future". Electronic

Musician. "In September 1977, I bought the first Synclavier, although mine came without the special keyboard and control panel ..." 3. 4. 5. ^ "1978 New England Digital Synclavier". Mix (Penton Media). September 1, 2006. ^ ^
a b c d e f g h i a b c d e f g

"Synclavier Early History". Synclavier European Services.

Synclavier Manual III Reference Guide. III. Synclavier Digital. February 2007. Archived from the

original on 2011-07-18. 6. ^
a b

Nicholas Webb, "Interview with Roland GR User Pat Metheny", Roland GR-300 Modification and

More (Wayne Scott Joness (Composer)) 7. ^

a b

"Roland G-303 Guitar Synthesizer Controller", Roland GR-300 Modification and More (Wayne Scott

Joness (Composer)) 8. 9. ^ "Keyboard". Tony Banks unofficial website. lakeofsilence.de. ^ Blair Jackson (Jan 1, 2010). "Avator Jame Cameron and Audio Team Create a New World of Futuristic Sounds". Mix (Penton Media). 10. ^ Darter, Tom; Doerschuk, Bob (2008). "The state of the artist". In Ernie Rideout. Keyboard Presents the Best of the '80s: The Artists, Instruments, and Techniques of an Era . Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 15 19. ISBN 0-87930-930-X. 11. ^ yahoo groups interview with Paul Davis. 2007. 12. ^ Droney, Maureen (September 1, 2001). "Dave Hard Drive Pensado". Mix (Los Angeles: Penton Media). Retrieved September 8, 2010. 13. ^ Keyboard Magazine, May 1985, p. 40

14. ^

a b

Trynka, Paul (1996). Rock Hardware. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 1983. ISBN 978-0-87930-428-

7.

[verification needed]

15. ^ list of synclavier users. 2012. 16. ^

a b

Amato, Mia (July 12, 1986). "NED Synclavier Seminar Offers Sound Solutions". Billboard (Nielsen

Business Media, Inc.) 98 (28): 40. ISSN 0006-2510. 17. ^ Warner, Timothy (2003). Pop music: technology and creativity : Trevor Horn and the digital revolution. Ashgate popular and folk music. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. pp. 130131. ISBN 0-7546-3132-X. 18. ^ Keyboard Magazine, Sept 1995, p. 32 19. ^ Milner, Greg (2009). Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music . Macmillan. p. 323. ISBN 0-571-21165-8. 20. ^ Musician (Amordian Press) (153158): 34. 1991.
[verification needed]

21. ^ Stump, Paul (2000). Go ahead John: the music of John McLaughlin. SAF Publishing Ltd. pp. 173 174. ISBN 0-946719-24-1. 22. ^ Keyboard Magazine, Dec 1987, p. 31 23. ^ "Review: The Dream of the Blue Turtles". Stereo Review(CBS Magazines) 50 (1): 154. 1985. 24. ^ "(cover page)". Berklee Today (Berklee college of music) 9 (Fall 1997, No.2). 25. ^ Hagen, Earle (1990). Advanced techniques for film scoring: a complete text. Alfred Music Publishing. p. 61.ISBN 0-88284-447-4. 26. ^ "Wells Christie's biography". WellsChristie.com. 27. ^ Keyboard Magazine, Aug 1983, p. 32 28. ^ Milner 2009, p. 345. 29. ^ Keyboard Magazine, Aug 1981, p. 28 30. ^ Keyboard Magazine, July 1986, p.42 31. ^ Keyboard Magazine, Nov 1986, p. 42 32. ^ Lowe, Kelly Fisher (2007). The Words and Music of Frank Zappa. Bison Books, University of Nebraska Press. pp. 195197. ISBN 0-8032-6005-9.

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Digital mixing console

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

In professional audio, a Digital Mixing Console (DMC), is an electronic device for combining, routing, and changing the dynamics of digital audio samples. The digital audio samples are summedto produce a combined output. A professional digital mixing console is a dedicated desk or control surface produced exclusively for the task. Computers with specialized outboard gear may serve the function, with less control capabilityfewer independent fader moves can be initiated at the same time.

Yamaha M7CL in place for a live production

Contents
[hide]

1 Uses

o o

1.1 Solutions to common sound system problems 1.2 Using dual DMCs to improve live recording

2 Advantages and disadvantages

o o

2.1 Advantages 2.2 Disadvantages

3 Popular product examples 4 See also

[edit]Uses
Digital mixing consoles are typically used in recording studios, public address systems, sound reinforcement systems,broadcasting, television, and film post-production.

[edit]Solutions to common sound system problems

Assuming that an institution has an adequate sound system, a common problem is often the skill level of the person operating the system. An institution can spend thousands on a state-of-the-art sound system but it is only as good as the person operating it. If the institution is fortunate enough to have a professional operator, he or she cannot always be there for every event. A second major problem is the improper location of the equipment. The sound operator is often secluded in an enclosed room, behind glass, etc. No sound operator can properly adjust a live sound system unless he or she can hear exactly what the majority of the audience hears. Part of the solution to offset operator problems is to automate whenever possible. The advent of modern digital computer technology has now made it possible to install sound system components that will almost operate themselves. As one upgrades or installs a completely new sound system, they should try to obtain items that require as little hands-on, human operation, as possible. Some digital mixers have analog style control features. Those older style manual slider and knob controls make the mixer more user friendly. Those controls however, are commanding a totally digital platform, much like desktop icons or shortcut icons control programs on a personal computer. A digital mixer can offset the lack of sound operator expertise because it remembers what a person that knew what they were doing, told it to do. For example: A knowledgeable person can adjust all of the microphone settings, monitors, etc., for a given event. After everything is properly adjusted, that setup is assigned a name and stored in the memory. Afterward, a less knowledgeable operator can simply look on the computer screen or touch screen to recall that setting. Then, like some invisible man was operating the system, all of the controls move to their proper positions. Likewise, setups for any other events can be stored and instantly recalled.

One can easily program many different pre-set configurations or "snapshots," into the mixing console. Once a stored setting is recalled, the operator can still make manual volume adjustments, etc., without affecting the stored program. In other words, they can change a lot of stuff and all one has to do is hit the recall and the mixer automatically returns to all of the correct startup settings.

Digidesign's Venue Profile mixer on location at a corporate event. This mixer allows plugins from third-party vendors. ASmaart software screen is partially shown on the rightSmaart allows plugins, too.

Another advantage of this digital or computer type of mixing console is the abundance of control features that it provides for each microphone channel. It would take racks full of expensive gates, compressor limiters, equalizers, feedback controllers and other signal processing gear, to do what a modern digital mixer does internally. The elimination of all these outboard rack pieces, with all of their switches, knobs and connections, will make a system even less vulnerable to failure and outside interference. Third-party plugins can add functionality in a digital mixer. Plugins allow for further expansion of the mixer's onboard equalization, compression and reverberation effects. When mixing for recording purposes one can rely on headphones alone. The opposite is the case for live sound mixing. No sound operator can properly adjust a live sound system unless he can hear exactly what the majority of the audience hears. For issues related to space, appearance and security, one cannot always locate their sound control equipment, out in the middle of their auditorium. This is even more of a problem if the auditorium is a multi-use building that is often converted for other events. A digital mixer can also solve this problem. A sound operator can operate the whole sound system from a laptop or desktop computer. With the proper setup, it can even be done by a wireless laptop configuration for increased mobility. In fact, many of the digital mixer's functions are easier to operate from the computer screen than the actual mixing console.

[edit]Using dual DMCs to improve live recording

In truly professional broadcast and recording applications, one does not use what is referred to as the house mix for high quality audio recordings. There is a simple reason for this. When one is engineering live sound for any auditorium, one must deal with the acoustic parameters of that particular auditorium. This requires various adjustments of equalization,

bass, treble, volume, etc. While those adjustments may enhance the sound quality in the auditorium, they are not necessarily needed for the recording. In fact, those house mix adjustments often diminish the quality of the recorded sound. Once the bass, treble, volume and other effects of the house mix are added to the recording mix, it is most difficult to correct. In the reverse, adjustments and signal processing effects that are often used to enhance a recording mix are not always needed in the house mix. In order to facilitate this the signals must be split and provided to OB, recording crew or film crews. This split can be analogue or increasing digital, an analogue split will normally be a feed of all stage signals split either passively or through an isolated transformer split. Transformers are preferred as they provide isolation and prevent microphone preamps on different systems interacting, for example a recording preamp causing level change at FOH or Monitors. A digital split can come in many forms, Often AES/EBU, MADI, Firewire direct to DAW, or increasingly network aware digital snake formats, such as AVB, Dante, Ethersound or Rocknet, many other proprietary formats also exist.

[edit]Advantages

and disadvantages
This article contains a pro and con list. Please help improve it by integrating both sides into a more neutral presentation. (November 2012)

[edit]Advantages
There is no added noise, (unintentional) distortion, or other signal degradation while the signal is in the digital domain, between the output of the analog to digital converter (ADC) and the input to the digital to analog converter (DAC).

Aux sends can be mixed on the main faders rather than on a row of potentiometers. Signal routing is often much more flexible than with an analog-based console. The setup of the console can be saved and loaded at will. This is particularly useful in live events where a setup for each band can be largely prepared in advance, saved, and then loaded as needed.

There are typically many on-board effects and virtual signal processors available, eliminating the need for additional hardware modules, and the associated cost, size, weight, cabling, signal quality issues, etc.

[edit]Disadvantages
There is an analog to digital conversion, then processing of the signal, then again digital to analog conversion, which degrades the sound quality. This is subject to debate, since the quality degradation is not always noticeable.

The number of faders is often less than the number of input channels. The extra input channels are not accessible until a bank of faders is switched to control them.

Digital conversion and processing adds latency, or delay, into the signal.

The act of making adjustments is often slower for compact digital mixers which require the user to page through one or more layers of commands before reaching the desired control.

[edit]Popular

product examples

Klotz Digital's Vadis DC II mixer in use at aVirgin Radio outside broadcast

- Allen & Heath GLD and iLive - Behringer X32 - Cadac Electronics S-Digital - DiGiCo D1 Live, D5 Live, D5T, SD7, SD8, SD8-24, SD9 - Avid D-Show Venue, D-Show Profile, and SC 48 - Innovason SY48 and SY80 - Klotz Digital's AEON and D.C.II, in the radio broadcast segment - Lawo mc56, mc66, mc90 - Mackie TT24 - Midas XL8, PRO9, PRO6, PRO3, PRO2/PRO2C, and PRO1 digital consoles, and the VeniceF and VeniceU analog/digital hybrid consoles

- PreSonus StudioLive 16.0.2, 16.4.2 and 24.4.2 - RML Labs Software Audio Console (SAC) - Roland M-300, M-380, M-400, M-480, Edirol M-16DX - Soundcraft Si Compact 16, Si Compact 24, Si Compact 32, Si1+, Si2+, Si3+, Vi1, Vi2, Vi4 and Vi6 - Studer Vista 8 - Tascam DM3200 and DM4800

- Yamaha 01V, LS9, M7CL, DM1000, DM2000, PM5D, PM1D & CL [edit]