Recording

Epic in every sense of the word — unning to 21 songs, involving more than 120 musicians and taking almost two years to complete — Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key Of Life was in many ways the high-point of an already illustrious career. This is the story of how it was created.

Celebrities from around the world were keen to contribute to a fund-raising single for victims of the Asian tsunami, and converting all of this goodwill into a finished record required innovative use of broadband Internet to collect together their performances.

As with any recording system, the first goal of recording on a PC is to preserve as faithful a copy of the source sound as possible. Achieving this, however can be a complicated business. Martin Walker goes back to basics.

When is the professional signal level no longer standard? When you want to connect to digital equipment! Hugh Robjohns explains the mysteries of exchanging signals between analogue and digital domains.

Christina Aguilera's debut single was a worldwide smash hit last year, thanks in no small measure to the distinctive work of producer and co‑writer David Frank. Mike Senior finds out how he did it.

CD-R may be the fastest growing mastering format, but its complicated zip codes and impenetrable protocols have made it anything but user friendly. As prices tumble and software evolves, however, it's an increasingly accessible medium. Mike Collins explains how he's mastered mastering on his Mac...