Audio preservation is a topic that keeps rearing its ugly head, and will not easily go away. The human species seems concerned about its past, but would rather wait 1000 years and try to reconstruct what might have happened instead of dutifully preserving the information for future generations that will remove any doubt. It is more fun to argue about the multiple possible origins based on incomplete data.
It seems like we want our recordings to slowly fade into oblivion. The record companies still have the attitude that they will not spend money to preserve what they have, but will spend tons of money later to recover something that is gone when they need it for a release. Record companies will not pay for extra archival copies on alternate formats during mastering sessions. Record companies and production companies will not pay for the additional time necessary to correctly document and consolidate DAW sessions so that they can be recalled years later for additional releases in new formats. "We will not pay for the additional time or media. We just want the CD master now for release, and send the multitracks to our office." There are exceptions, but they are few and far between.
I, personally, have made a copy of every project I have ever worked on. I decided to do this in 1970 after seeing the storage facility at ABC Dunhill Records in Hollywood. Tapes were damaged or missing after being stored for only a few months. In 1981 all of the Steely Dan two-track tapes were transferred to digital. The record company could not find the 'B' side of the Aja album. We had to use the copy I made during the original mixing. We did not make digital copies of the multitracks, and since then the record company has lost the 24-track tapes of that album.
I don't really care whether someone likes analogue or digital, but you must accommodate the medium to which you are recording. Some digital formats are more robust than others, so why not print your mix to more than one? You want to print your mixes to analogue tape? OK, it has worked for all the years prior to digital, but analogue tape does not reproduce exactly what you put on it.
When an ad agency is producing a magazine ad, they look at the final proof after it has been printed, and then go back and change colour balance and lighting until the results are what they want. I have almost never seen anyone do that when recording or mixing to analogue tape. The engineer spends three days making a perfect mix, then prints it to the 30ips quarter-inch tape and hangs out in the lounge while the assistant plays the tape back to make sure it was actually recorded. I have only once seen an engineer rewind the two-track and play it back in sync with the actual mix to A/B what the tape did to the sound, and then make small corrections to the mix to somewhat compensate for those differences.
Once the analogue tape has been recorded, there is never any mention of the sound change that occurs over time from the minute the recorder was stopped. The message on the analogue tape starts deteriorating as fast as skywriting messages over Brands Hatch on race day.
All formats have their flaws. The trick is to admit what they are, correct them in future formats, and figure out how to correct for them when migrating the data to the new ones. You don't complain about CD rot until your music disappears: you are supposed to clone the music to a new format while the error correction can still correct.
Baking tapes in special ovens can temporarily make 'sticky' tapes playable for transfer to another format, but baked tapes are not usable in the long term.
|
When the only format for mixing to was analogue tape, I did not mix to a piece of tape then copy it. I had a second tape machine recording in parallel to avoid the generation loss. Now the backup was equal to the original. After the advent of digital, I printed the mix to two different formats in case one did not last as advertised. When DAT tape life was in doubt, I transferred to CD-R as audio files and to Exabyte tapes as DDP files while the DAT tapes would still play back. Now whatever I record is also stored on CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or Blu-Ray as AIFF or BWAV files. Data files have more error correction than audio CDs, allowing for a better chance for recovery.
Ten years ago I submitted to the US Library of Congress a method for recovering audio from cylinders and records photographically. I am glad to see that they have finally funded Berkley National Laboratory to investigate that process. But it took 10 years.
As everyone knows by now, analogue tape suffers from 'sticky shed syndrome'. The tape companies suggested baking the tapes to enable playback temporarily. In 1992 I started using a vacuum process to recover these tapes; I enlisted one of the original scientists who developed Mylar and the oxide binders for DuPont to help develop it. It works perfectly and turns out to be permanent. Tapes processed in 1992 still play back perfectly today, without the increase in distortion as a result of baking.
Everyone also knows that wow and flutter are natural occurrences when recording analogue. You can measure it, but you couldn't do anything about it. Until three years ago. Jamie Howarth developed a system that removes the wow and flutter from analogue tapes. Analogue tape machines use a high-frequency bias signal of around 100kHz during the recording process. This bias frequency actually gets recorded on the tape, and if you manually move the tape by the head at a very slow speed you can hear it as a whistle. Since this frequency is constant, the pitch of it on the playback tape is modulated by the wow and flutter. If you detect the bias and correct the pitch of the program material, you have removed the wow and flutter. Brilliant.
I have heard the process, and it sounds amazing. The difference between the before and after quality is about the same as the difference between 16-bit and 24-bit audio. It is not subtle, it is amazing. The film industry has jumped on it, and has been transferring the audio tracks from old movies that are being re-purposed for DVD. Jamie's company, Plangent Processes (www.plangentprocesses.com) has partnered with Chace Productions in Burbank, California to recover the audio from the six-track mag-tracks.
The record industry is, however, slow to get on board. The comment I have heard most is "Why would you want to change what I have recorded?" The answer is that the process does not change what you have done: it removes an artifact that was introduced by the medium. In the digital world everyone was quick to minimise the jitter caused by inferior clocking, so why do they fight the removal of the analogue jitter recorded by every analogue machine ever used? Maybe a shovel upside the head would help. It works for my mule.
So what to do if your master recording has decayed and needs work? Forensic audio was a big topic at the Paris AES show this year. Police departments around the world are buying CEDAR systems to clean up bad audio. At the other end of the spectrum there are very inexpensive and even free software programs to clean up your old record collection so you can make your own CDs or MP3s for your iPod. These are great products, but they are only as good as the person using them. As with any new software process, two things happen. The user gets better at using the program as he gains experience, and the software is improved over time. The clicks and pops you could not remove now will be much easier to remove in the future.
To save extra work in the future, make the best flat transfers you can, and save them. Do the processing to the flat transfers instead of processing during the transfer. When the processing improves in the future you can then use the flat transfer and re-process it instead of having to go back and re-transfer the audio. In 1997 we tried to transfer the old Steely Dan two-track masters again with newer technology. Because of the additional 15 years of deterioration, the digital transfers done in 1981 sounded much better than anything we could do in 1997. So, the sooner you make the transfers, the better your results will be.
If you are transferring records, make sure you clean the records first. Learn how to do it properly. There are plenty of companies with helpful information on the Web that will increase your chances of success. Remember, cleanliness is next to high fidelity.
There are flat preamps available without an RIAA or CCIR frequency response curve. Companies like Enhanced Audio (www.enhancedaudio.com) have very good flat preamps, and even the Griffin iMic (www.griffintechnology.com) allows flat transfer with software equalisation. After transferring flat, you can use software curves to recover the original audio more accurately; the curves are complex and inexpensive preamps with curves built-in are most often incorrectly implemented. Also, early recordings before the '60s did not all use these curves, and sometimes the curves were different between record companies and even between different releases from the same record company.
If you are going to remove the clicks, pops and noise from the transfers, the best results are achieved if you perform the processes in the following order: de-click, de-crackle, de-buzz, de-hiss and de-rumble. Performing the processes in the wrong order can mask information needed for the next process or create audible artifacts by not completing a required prior process.
There are hundreds of recordings lost every year because they were not transferred when it was still possible to save them. Take care of your music so others may enjoy it in the future. If you have questions search the Web, contact archival companies in your area, or write to Sound On Sound. ![]()
Gnarls Barkley & The Atlanta Sound
Ben Allen

Their combination of Southern soul and hip-hop gave Gnarls Barkley one of the biggest hits of the year, thanks in part to the mixing wizardry of Ben Allen.
Mixing R&B

After 17 years mixing almost everything that came out of Jam & Lewis's Flyte Tyme Studios, there's very little Steve Hodge doesn't know about making R&B records work.
Scissor Sisters: Recording Ta-Dah
Babydaddy • Dan Grech-Marguerat
The Scissor Sisters' first album, recorded in a Manhattan apartment, sold 3.5 million copies worldwide. The follow-up sees them expanding their horizons, while keeping their DIY ethos very much intact.
Artist/Producer

As a solo artist, producer and member of the Velvet Underground, John Cale has had a hand in some of the most influential records ever made.
Writing & Producing With Robbie Williams
Despite his best efforts, Stephen Duffy's solo work never quite made him a superstar — but it did get him one of the best co-writing gigs around.
Producing Kasabian & Arctic Monkeys

Jim Abbiss decided to go back to basics and make records the way he wanted to make them. The result? The fastest-selling debut album in history...
Uwe Schmidt: Recording Yellow Fever!
Yellow Magic Orchestra goes Latino
Yellow Magic Orchestra helped pioneer the use of electronic instruments and sampling. Now Uwe Schmidt, aka Señor Coconut, has used the same techniques to render their greatest hits as Latin dances, with contributions from all three original YMO members.
Recording Morph The Cat

Morph The Cat, Donald Fagen's third solo album in 24 years, sees Fagen and engineer Elliott Scheiner continue their quest for the best possible sound quality — which, it seems, comes only from analogue recording.
Folk Music For The 21st Century
The idea of bringing folk music up to date is not a new one, but few people have taken it quite as far as Jim Moray. His material may be traditional, but his approach to music technology is as modern as it gets.
Recording David Gilmour's On An Island
Andy Jackson
David Gilmour's chart-topping solo album was recorded on his own Astoria houseboat, a floating slice of studio heaven. Engineer Andy Jackson describes the making of the album.
Producing Eminem & Fiona Apple
Mike Elizondo

Mike Elizondo has gone from being Dr Dre's right-hand man, co-writing some of the biggest hip-hop hits of recent years, to being an innovative producer in his own right.
Roger Nichols: Across The Board
The Current State Of Affairs
What can we, as engineers or musicians, do to prevent our recorded legacy being lost?
Record Producer

When British traditional music got a dose of rock & roll excitement, it was an American who sat in the producer's chair. Oh, and Joe Boyd also discovered a little-known band called the Pink Floyd...
Richard Aitken of Nimrod Productions

In the past, tie-in video games have had to use samples to recreate real orchestral soundtracks from the original TV series or film. With 24: The Game, however, it was the other way around.
Writing & Producing in LA
The success of Avril Lavigne's debut album Let Go catapulted The Matrix to the front rank of songwriters and producers. Since then, they've moved in ever wider musical circles, culminating in their work with nu-metal pioneers Korn.
Producing Hip-Hop
Miami is now a hip-hop centre to rival New York and LA, and Cool & Dre are two of its most active beatmakers, songwriters and producers.
Craig Bauer
Craig Bauer has been part of Kanye West's career from the beginning, and as a mix engineer on the smash hit Late Registration album, he had to marry West's artistic perfectionism with his own technical standards.
Producing The Darkness's One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back
Roy Thomas Baker

Recording the One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back album, Roy Thomas Baker and the Darkness used 400 reels of tape, up to 1000 tracks per song and a year in the studio — not to mention custom-made panpipes. Find out more...
John Fryer

The likes of Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins and Nine Inch Nails all owe a sonic debt to engineer/producer John Fryer, who explains his approach to production.
Harry Gregson-Williams

Harry Gregson-Williams's drive to explore original ideas and sounds has made him one of Hollywood's leading composers, scoring everything from romantic comedies to spy thrillers and historical dramas.
Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Mike Poole | Angel Dance
Inside Track

Thirty years after Led Zeppelin ended, Robert Plant has reached a second career high. His latest hit album was tracked and mixed by Mike Poole, using a mouth-watering selection of vintage equipment.
Recording Today's Country Guitar Sounds

With country guitars, what you hear on the record is what was played in the studio. We asked Nashville's leading engineers how they capture those tones.
Mike Vernon: Producing British Blues
Interview | Producer

Mike Vernon produced some of the greatest blues records of all time. A full decade after retiring, he's back in the studio with some of the British blues scene's brightest lights.
Happy Birthday Sound On Sound!
Milestones
Some of the friends we've made over the years share their congratulations on our 25th birthday!
Labrinth | Producing Tinie Tempah
Interview | Music Production
The man behind the biggest UK single of the year — Pass Out by Tinie Tempah — is 21-year-old musical prodigy and maverick Labrinth.
Oval (aka Markus Popp): Recording Oh And O
Electronica Production
One of electronicas most adventurous spirits, Markus Popp has returned with an album that sounds surprisingly... musical. But is everything as it seems?
Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Mike Strange Jr
Inside Track | Eminem

Eminems Recovery has been one of the biggest hit albums of the year, spawning two number one singles — all recorded and mixed by Eminems long-term engineer, Mike Strange.
Jon Burton: Mixing & Recording The Prodigy Live

As the Prodigys chief live sound engineer, Jon Burton gets to unleash untold kilowatts of bass power on an unsuspecting world. He has also made multitrack recordings of every show on their 26-month world tour.
Early electronica !

Silver Apples jammed with Jimi Hendrix, counted John Lennon as a fan, and produced extraordinary electronic music — with nothing but a drum kit and a pile of electrical junk.
Four Decades Of De-evolution

Pioneers of everything from circuit-bending to multimedia art, Devo have always belonged to the future.
Andrew VanWyngarden & Ben Goldwasser: Recording Congratulations
MGMT could have followed up their smash hit debut album with more of the same. Instead, they headed straight into left field, with help from a legend of British psychedelia.
40 Years Of Krautrock

In 1969, Faust used their massive record company advance to build a unique studio and a collection of weird, custom-made effects units. The same experimental spirit lives on in their new album, Faust Is Last.
Producing The Defamation Of Strickland Banks
Plan B entered the public eye as a rapper, but its as a soul singer that he has conquered the charts. He and his production team revisit the tortuous story behind The Defamation Of Strickland Banks.
Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: David R Ferguson
Inside Track: Johnny Cash | American VI: Aint No Grave

Sometimes the simplest-sounding music takes the most work to get right, and so it was with Johnny Cashs posthumous hit album American VI: Aint No Grave. Engineer and mixer David R Ferguson was on hand at every stage of Rick Rubins production.
Steven Wilson: Recording & Marketing Porcupine Tree
Every new Porcupine Tree album sells over a quarter of a million copies. And with founder Steven Wilson in control of everything from songwriting to shrink-wrapping, theres no middle man to take a cut. Read his valuable advice for SOS readers wishing to do likewise...
From Rock Producer To Pop Songwriter

Phil Thornalley learned his trade as a rock engineer and producer in the 80s. Then he co-wrote a little-known song called Torn...
Five Decades In The Studio

Legendary songwriter and Kinks frontman Ray Davies got his first taste of recording in 1964, and hes never looked back.
The Stargate Writing & Production Team
Mikkel Eriksen
From humble beginnings in provincial Norway, the Stargate team have gone on to become one of Americas leading hit factories. Songwriter and producer Mikkel Eriksen explains how their hard work and talent brought success.
Dave Stewart: Creating A New Album From Archive Material
Time Trial: Bringing Multitracks and MIDI into the 21st Century
Dave Stewarts career has spanned several generations of music technology (from National Health band in the 1970s to hits with partner Barbara Gaskin. For his latest project, he faced the challenge of bringing his old multitracks and MIDI sequences into the computer age.