Editing Multitrack recording (section)

==Flexibility==
During multitracking, multiple musical instruments (and vocals) can be recorded, either one at a time or simultaneously, onto individual tracks, so that the sounds thus recorded can be accessed, processed and manipulated individually to produce the desired results. In the 2010s, many rock and pop bands record each part of the song one after the other. First, the bass and drums are often recorded, followed by the chordal rhythm section instruments. Then the [[lead vocals]] and [[guitar solo]]s are added. As a last step, the [[harmony vocals]] are added. On the other hand, [[orchestra]]s are always recorded with all 70 to 100 instrumentalists playing their parts simultaneously. If each group of instrument has its own microphone, and each instrument with a solo melody has its own microphone, the different microphones can record on multiple tracks simultaneously. After recording the orchestra, the record producer and conductor can adjust the balance and tone of the different instrument sections and solo instruments, because each section and solo instrument was recorded to its own track.

With the rock or pop band example, after recording some parts of a song, an artist might listen to ''only'' the guitar part, by ''muting'' all the tracks except the one on which the guitar was recorded. If one then wanted to listen to the [[lead vocals]] in isolation, one would do so by muting all the tracks apart from the lead vocals track. If one wanted to listen to the entire song, one could do so by un-muting all the tracks. If one did not like the guitar part, or found a mistake in it, and wanted to replace it, one could do so by re-recording ''only'' the guitar part (i.e., re-recording only the track on which the guitar was recorded), rather than re-recording the entire song.

If all the voices and instruments in a recording are individually recorded on distinct tracks, then the artist is able to retain complete control over the final sculpting of the song, during the mix-down (re-recording to two stereo tracks for mass distribution) phase. For example, if an artist wanted to apply one [[effects unit]] to a synthesizer part, a different effect to a guitar part, a ''chorused reverb'' effect to the lead vocals, and different effects to all the drums and percussion instruments, they could not do so if they had all been originally recorded together onto the same track. However, if they had been recorded onto separate tracks, then the artist could blend and alter all of the instrument and vocal sounds with complete freedom.

Multitracking a song also leaves open the possibilities of [[remix]]es by the same or future artists, such as [[DJ]]s. If the song was not available in a multitrack format recording, the job of the remixing artist was very difficult, or impossible, because, once the tracks had been re-recorded together onto a single track ('mixed down'), they were previously considered inseparable. More recent software allows sound source separation, whereby individual instruments, voices and effects can be ''upmixed'' — isolated from a single-track source — in high quality. This has permitted the production of stereophonic or surround sound mixes of recordings that were originally mastered and released in mono.