Editing Recording studio (section)

== History ==
{{See also|History of sound recording}}

=== 1890s to 1930s <span class="anchor" id="Acoustical recording"></span>===
In the era of acoustical recordings (prior to the introduction of microphones, electrical recording and amplification), the earliest recording studios were very basic facilities, being essentially soundproof rooms that isolated the performers from outside noise. During this era it was not uncommon for recordings to be made in any available location, such as a local ballroom, using portable acoustic recording equipment. In this period, master recordings were made by cutting a rotating cylinder (later disc) made from wax. Performers were typically grouped around a large acoustic horn (an enlarged version of the familiar [[gramophone]] horn). The acoustic energy from the voices or instruments was channeled through the horn to a diaphragm to a mechanical [[Disc cutting lathe|cutting lathe]], which inscribed the signal as a modulated groove directly onto the surface of the master.

===1930s to 1970s===
[[File:DM Recording Studio.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Siemens]] Studio for Electronic Music {{Circa|1956}}.]]

Electrical recording was common by the early 1930s, and [[mastering lathe]]s were electrically powered, but master recordings still had to be cut into a disc, by now a lacquer, also known as an [[Acetate disc]]. In line with the prevailing musical trends, studios in this period were primarily designed for the live recording of symphony orchestras and other large instrumental ensembles. Engineers soon found that large, reverberant spaces like concert halls created a vibrant acoustic signature as the natural reverb enhanced the sound of the recording. In this period large, acoustically ''live'' halls were favored, rather than the acoustically ''dead'' booths and studio rooms that became common after the 1960s. Because of the limits of the recording technology, which did not allow for [[multitrack recording]] techniques, studios of the mid-20th century were designed around the concept of grouping musicians (e.g., the [[rhythm section]] or a [[horn section]]) and singers (e.g., a group of [[backup singer]]s), rather than separating them, and placing the performers and the microphones strategically to capture the complex acoustic and harmonic interplay that emerged during the performance. In the 2000s, modern [[sound stage]]s still sometimes use this approach for large [[film scoring]] projects that use large orchestras.

====Halls and churches====
Because of their superb acoustics, many of the larger studios were converted churches. Examples include [[George Martin]]'s [[AIR Studios]] in London, [[CBS 30th Street Studio|Columbia Records 30th Street Studio]] in New York City,<ref name="SIMONS">{{cite book|last=Simons|first=David|title=Studio Stories – How the Great New York Records Were Made | location = San Francisco | publisher = Backbeat Books | year = 2004 |isbn=9781617745164| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uEmmAK1qjbYC}}</ref> and [[Pythian Temple (New York City)|Pythian Temple]] studio in New York.

Facilities like the Columbia Records 30th Street Studio in New York and [[Abbey Road Studios]] in London were renowned for their identifiable sound—which was (and still is) easily identifiable by audio professionals—and for the skill of their staff engineers. As the need to transfer audio material between different studios grew, there was an increasing demand for [[standardization]] in studio design across the recording industry, and [[Westlake Recording Studios]] in West Hollywood was highly influential in the 1970s in the development of standardized acoustic design.<ref>{{cite book | last = Newell | first = Philip | title = Recording Studio Design | publisher = Focal Press | year = 2003 | isbn = 0-240-51917-5 | pages = 315–316|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKVQ7Ywz3DYC&pg=PA315|access-date=14 January 2017}}</ref>

In New York City, [[Columbia Records]] had some of the most highly respected sound recording studios, including the 30th Street Studio at 207 East 30th Street, the [[CBS Studio Building]] at 49 East 52nd Street, [[Liederkranz Hall]] at 111 East 58th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues (a building built by and formerly belonging to a German cultural and musical society, The Liederkranz Club and Society),<ref>[http://www.liederkranznycity.org/history.asp "History of The Liederkranz of the City of New York"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727031333/http://www.liederkranznycity.org/history.asp|date=27 July 2011}} – The Liederkranz of the City of New York website. The Liederkranz Club put up a building in 1881 at 111–119 East 58th Street, east of Park Avenue.</ref><ref name="KAHN2001">[[Ashley Kahn|Kahn, Ashley]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=6QArFwi9buUC ''Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece''], Da Capo Press, 2001. Cf. [https://books.google.com/books?id=6QArFwi9buUC&q=liederkranz+hall&pg=PA75 p.75]</ref> and one of their earliest recording studios, Studio A at 799 Seventh Avenue.<ref name="SIMONS"/>

====Technologies and techniques====
[[File:Donna Summer 1977.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Donna Summer]] wearing headphones during a recording session in 1977]]
[[File:Danny Knicely Records With Furnace Mountain Band - Feb 25, 2012.jpg|alt=Danny Knicely records with Furnace Mountain Band|thumb|[[Danny Knicely]] records with Furnace Mountain Band in Virginia (2012)]]

Electric recording studios in the mid-20th century often lacked isolation booths, [[sound baffle]]s, and sometimes even speakers. A major reason that isolation was not used was that recordings in this period were typically made as live ensemble ''takes'' and all the performers needed to be able to see each other and the ensemble leader while playing. The recording engineers who trained in this period learned to take advantage of the complex acoustic effects that could be created through ''leakage'' between different microphones and groups of instruments, and these technicians became extremely skilled at capturing the unique acoustic properties of their studios and the musicians in performance. It was not until the 1960s, with the introduction of the high-fidelity [[headphones]] that it became common practice for performers to use these to monitor their performance during recording and listen to playbacks.

The use of different kinds of microphones and their placement around the studio is a crucial part of the recording process, and particular brands of microphones are used by engineers for their specific audio characteristics. The smooth-toned ribbon microphones developed by the [[RCA]] company in the 1930s were crucial to the ''crooning'' style perfected by [[Bing Crosby]], and the famous [[Neumann U 47]] [[condenser microphone]] was one of the most widely used from the 1950s. This model is still widely regarded by audio professionals as one of the best microphones of its type ever made. Learning the correct placement of microphones is a major part of the training of young engineers, and many became extremely skilled in this craft. Well into the 1960s, in the classical field it was not uncommon for engineers to make high-quality orchestral recordings using only one or two microphones suspended above the orchestra. In the 1960s, engineers began experimenting with placing microphones much closer to instruments than had previously been the norm. The distinctive rasping tone of the horn sections on the [[Beatles]] recordings "[[Good Morning Good Morning]]" and "[[Lady Madonna]]" were achieved by having the saxophone players position their instruments so that microphones were virtually inside the mouth of the horn.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

The unique sonic characteristics of the major studios imparted a special character to many of the most famous popular recordings of the 1950s and 1960s, and the recording companies jealously guarded these facilities. According to sound historian David Simons, after Columbia took over the 30th Street Studios in the late 1940s and [[A&R]] manager [[Mitch Miller]] had tweaked it to perfection, Miller issued a standing order that the drapes and other fittings were not to be touched, and the cleaners had specific orders never to mop the bare wooden floor for fear it might alter the acoustic properties of the hall. There were several other features of studios in this period that contributed to their unique sonic signatures.

As well as the inherent sound of the large recording rooms, many of the best studios incorporated specially-designed [[echo chamber]]s, purpose-built rooms which were often built beneath the main studio. These were typically long, low rectangular spaces constructed from hard, sound-reflective materials like concrete, fitted with a loudspeaker at one end and one or more microphones at the other. During a recording session, a signal from one or more of the microphones in the studio could be routed to the loudspeaker in the echo chamber; the sound from the speaker reverberated through the chamber and the enhanced signal was picked up by the microphone at the other end. This echo-enhanced signal, which was often used to ''sweeten'' the sound of vocals, could then be blended in with the primary signal from the microphone in the studio and mixed into the track as the master recording was being made.

Special equipment was another notable feature of the ''classic'' recording studio. The biggest studios were owned and operated by large media companies like RCA, Columbia and EMI, who typically had their own electronics research and development divisions that designed and built custom-made recording equipment and mixing consoles for their studios. Likewise, the smaller independent studios were often owned by skilled electronics engineers who designed and built their own desks and other equipment. A good example of this is [[Gold Star Studios]] in Los Angeles, the site of many famous American pop recordings of the 1960s. Co-owner David S. Gold built the studio's main mixing desk and many additional pieces of equipment and he also designed the studio's unique trapezoidal echo chambers.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the sound of pop recordings was further defined by the introduction of proprietary sound processing devices such as equalizers and compressors, which were manufactured by specialist electronics companies. One of the best known of these was the [[Pultec]] equalizer which was used by almost all the major commercial studios of the time.

====Multi-track recording====
With the introduction of [[multi-track recording]], it became possible to record instruments and singers separately and at different times on different tracks on tape. In the mid-20th century, recordings were [[Analog recording|analog]], made on {{frac|1|4}}-inch or {{frac|1|2}}-inch [[magnetic tape]], or, more rarely, on 35&nbsp;mm [[film stock|magnetic film]], with [[History of multitrack recording|multitrack recording]] reaching 8 tracks in the 1950s, 16 in 1968, and 32 in the 1970s. The commonest such tape is the 2-inch analog, capable of containing up to 24 individual tracks. Throughout the 1960s many pop classics were still recorded live in a single take. In the 1970s the large recording companies began to adopt multi-track recording and the emphasis shifted to isolation and sound-proofing, with treatments like echo and reverberation added separately during the mixing process, rather than being blended in during the recording. Generally, after an audio mix is set up on a 24-track tape machine, the tracks are played back together, mixed and sent to a different machine, which records the combined signals (called ''printing'') to a {{frac|1|2}}-inch two-track stereo tape, called a ''master''.

Before digital recording, the total number of available tracks onto which one could record was measured in multiples of 24, based on the number of 24-track tape machines being used. Most recording studios now use digital recording equipment, which limits the number of available tracks only on the basis of the [[mixing console]]'s or computer hardware interface's capacity and the ability of the hardware to cope with processing demands. Analog tape machines are still used in some cases for their unique sonic characteristics.