what is the future of recording?

[wowandflutter]

ok everybody has heard of neve and how classic his old junk sounds. everybody is after warmth and whatever other majical stuff that will make there space age digital recording gear sound alive. when it comes down to it we are not getting anything out of these speakers (technically speaking) different since the early days of recording., of course it would be natural for anybody to want to use the equipment that recorded those nostalgic bands that had all the good ideas. but how long can that old preamp technoligy hold out? i mean yeah it has that classic beatlesque sound but what about the year 2069? the year when people finally demand feelings out of there hi fi's.
what technologies are coming up? or what do some of you predict. why do we tell ourselves that all this crappy 2-demensional electronic equipment sounds good? it always sounds like a stereo right?

[eflatminor]

The future of recording, I sincerely hope, will embrace the idea that recording music should involve capturing the aural interaction between human beings and their instruments and that interaction can not be artistically duplicated by computers, midi, or any technology for that matter no matter how advanced the software nor how 'realistic' the samples. Sequenced beats, droning endlessly, unchanging and heartless, will hopefully become an oddity that is not taken seriously in future recordings. Extreme editing, not in the experimental and creative sense, but in the vein of fixing what the musicians, due to lack of talent, practice or patience, are incapable of performing must also be shunned in the future. Exactly how many generations of sequenced sounds and Pro Tools "fixing" will it take before nobody knows how to play an actual instrument anymore? Currently, I see much of the recording world as contributing to the devolution of the musical art form, not to mention enabling a preponderance of crap music better suited to commercials than an album for the ages. A return to musicianship and a passion for music as art must become basic requirements in future recordings if music is to survive. When you have real musicians willing to work, sweat and suffer for their art, great things can be recorded whether you have a Neve or a Mackie.

[CDB Studios]

We are the future of recording, as lame as that sometimes sounds, it's true. We are the ones out there puting down archives for future generations to listen to. What we do will be looked, or in this case listened, upon to push the next group of recording engineers to the next level.

Did past recording engineers think about what they were doing would be looked upon by their future generations (us) and 2nd guess themselves? Hell no, and we shouldn't either.

All I'm saying is we are the present and part of the future and we are making our own paths in recording and well as walking down some paths made before us.

-Zach

[@?,*???&?]

As for digital, the big pursuit was getting into the higher sample rates. Mix Magazine put together a special year end edition a few years back. In it there was a study about what the human ear is capable of hearing. Two things were significant in that article-

1) the human brain shows significant activity when receiving frequency information via the ear in the 50Khz range.

2) the ear as a mechanical apparatus is incapable of discerning a sample rate greater than 192Khz.

These two things should leave us with the confidence that hi-res digital recording will accurately produce and reproduce 'real' sound.

Ask yourself how important surround sound is to you. Conceiving a record in 5.1 could very become a prevalent new standard. There's been an argument raging for years about what the DVD should do. As a mix engineer, do you want a stereo 32-bit, 192khz mix? or would you want a 20-bit, 44.1Khz 5.1 mix? Wouldn't one ideally want a 32-bit, 192Khz surround mix? Limitations of the storage medium present these questions. What are the future storage media? Hard drives or chips most likely

With the melding of the internet into our lives, and the advent of interactive discs, I believe this puts tremendous capabilities into the hands of someone who deems themselves an artist. In making records, we all praise the inherently lazy musician! Lol. But at this time, they really need to step up and become the multi-media monsters they can be. Avenues open up for management in many areas of an artists career now. A record company will be able to maintain a competitive edge if they delve into these domains as well and nurture the artist in that way. Right now, they only seem concerned with research and most of that comes from their radio brethren. We all know you simply can't research or quantify creativity.

[ottokbre]

talent! the wave of the future!

[Kevin Kitchel]

Apparently, satan is the future of recording, because this is thread number 666.

[bert]

With the melding of the internet into our lives, and the advent of interactive discs, I believe this puts tremendous capabilities into the hands of someone who deems themselves an artist.

-ABSOLUTELY. I hope that in the future ,consumers or fans will be able to have a more direct, interactive relationship with the artist through the internet. Where the music, the art, the concepts and ideas can be available easily through purchased downloads or whatever.

In making records, we all praise the inherently lazy musician! Lol. But at this time, they really need to step up and become the multi-media monsters they can be. Avenues open up for management in many areas of an artists career now.

i believe in this wholeheartedly. With the advent of things like Itunes4 and other comperable services, hopefully the quality of the content(the art,music) can be more heavily scrutinized. I disagree with all those people hung up on the artifact, and screaming bloody murder at the idea of cd's, tapes and vynil going the way of the dinosaur. When phonographs (recorded media) first came out only the rich could buy them, and the first discs were opera and classical recordings. there was no thought to the accompanying artwork or packaging. We as consumers have become so used to how the industry has been feeding it to us instead of how we WANT IT. Then everybody bitches about record companies and the shitty climate of popular music today yet we still save our money and go out to the mall and buy their products, after we've given a little bit of our money away for the trash they serve at taco bell or whatever.

A record company will be able to maintain a competitive edge if they delve into these domains as well and nurture the artist in that way.

the artist was shafted from the beginning of the music industry when written music was stolen from them for pennies on the dollar and exploited by greedy publishers who sold them on the idea of fame and glory. It's time the artist take back the credit and control for the culture THEY'VE built.

I believe we as recording engineers can help them do that, and that we should try.
let's record a revolution.

*sorry about the preaching*

[spesimen]

interaction can not be artistically duplicated by computers, midi, or any technology for that matter no matter how advanced the software nor how 'realistic' the samples. Sequenced beats, droning endlessly, unchanging and heartless, will hopefully become an oddity that is not taken seriously in future recordings. .

except of course for the entire genres of music that wouldn't exist without these things. your own personal taste notwithstanding, i don't think these particular compositional elements are any more or less evil than say, the newfangled 'electric' guitar that pissed a bunch of people off in the 30's. it's all about how you use it - something you're implying already, since an 'unchanging and heartless' sequenced beat is qualitatively different than a 'changing and emotional' sequenced beat...

besides, no human will ever be able to play a lot of the music that was created in the last 20 years by hand, just like a sculptor is never going to be able to create a giant skyscraper without a little assistance from technology. i happen to think really fast 64th and 128th note rolls sound cool when used properly, but i don't immediately dismiss all 'live' drummers who can't physically recreate those sounds as irrelevant, so why should we dismiss people who do use technology to create those sounds which would have no other way of existing?

[Rick Hunter]

Yeah I really dig my midi and my DAW and even my digital editing. I think that with these tools in the right hands alot of good can be made. Lets not forget , we have come along way in the last five or ten years. The things that the average person can do in their own home is amazing. Can you imagine if we didnt have any computers to use with recording. No one would have CD's that they could make, anything over four tracks would cost a fortune...I am very glad that I have the opertunity to do what I do. I think its scary because its new and the record companies are using to pedal shit. Its going to be the kid recording on his dads computer, using a demo version of cool edit that will be the future of recording. Its a pretty damn exciting world.

jstn

[psychicoctopus]

The future of recording? in 100 years?

You'll be able to go to the doctor and get some XLR I/O jacks installed on your head. You want 6 channels out? Sheesh... if you think you can handle it...

That would remove the technical barriers to recorded compositions. Isn't that partly why we use computers, synths, and samplers? The result would just be an extension of what's already happening - with technology it's steadily becoming easier to create recordings. Consequently the flood of material gets wider and deeper.

... and more time consuming to sift through! I think that after you sift through the crap, the best recordings are the ones that explore the limits of the medium AND give a genuine emotional impact. But who can agree on that...

So if we could get XLR jacks on our heads, the really brilliant artists would stand out immediately. While the lesser would still be relying on Antares plug-ins...

[brakeshop]

The future of music is hyper reality like in video games. 3D sound and stuff like that. Wasn't there a thread on here not that long ago about new speakers that can localize the sound to specific areas that sound like the music is being played INSIDE your head.

[kristopher612]

the future of music is either:
1) real musicians making quality music again. remember everything before 1995 that was mainstream had REAL musicians playing REAL instruments. that seems a rarity now. except for most of the people here. i mean you've got some mainstream artists who play instruments or have a real band backing up their weak vocals/lyrics(pink, britney spears, etc.), but for the most part real music is all underground, but it's coming up for some good clean air. in my opinion we will be a driving force in music.
or...
2) we will all be out of jobs as muscians and engineers. yes, MIDI and editing on a DAW in good hands can be good, but anyone can access those things with the internet. which will definitely be a dominate media form in the very near future for people who don't like to have CDs with just a couple good songs buying them for .99 a pop.
or...
music will die out a whole, excpet for in advertising. people will throw aaway their guitars, and kids who play in the nuclear waste dump in 1000 years will see them and say...what the hell is this?

but like i said, i think we'll be a driving force in music, and that with people making good music, the kids who like music are looking for something besides a fake set of boobs to listen to for a real musical experience. let's just do the best we can at this, and watch what will actually happen.

[wowandflutter]

i guess this thread has two aspects the future of music production and the future of the technology that backs it up. i think there is plenty of good records being made currently. it is hards to find interesting ones for me because there is too many records being made. lot of it is mediocre too, whether its off of an indie or major label(i never find anything on major labels). why is it that greatness is supressed in favor of impotent lifeless products? i think the corporations and consumers create an endless cycle of buying and selling that underminds or completely blocks reality, life and the experience of. alot of the current problems of this world(music or otherwise) boil down to one thing and that is fear.

alot of todays equipment sounds good as long as you are carefull of what you use( digital or analog). i just cant help to wonder if we just dont know any better. for the most part every high end preamp is based on some classic design. same thing with mics(in fact the more vintage the more it cost) there really hasnt been an evolutionary leep in technology with the exception of digital and that really hasnt lended anything sonically other than making reality sounding worse or at best just more convenient to work with. when is someone going to invent a new transducer? or more far fetched being the possibility of audio stages that do not use electricity at all!

[dwelle]

sheesh!

the more things change, the more they stay the same.

we'll be having this same conversation in 40 years, only the variables will be different....

[industrystandard]

Apparently, satan is the future of recording, because this is thread number 666.

Dun dun dun!!

Quadraphonic or 5.1 or greater, whatever. Maybe speakers that completely line the room like trim, for 360 degress of sound.
Spherical zero gravity padded listening rooms. Artificial ears that "hear" below 20 and above 20k.

And hot, hot cyborg girls. Yes.