At some point, most musicians will wish to make a recording of their playing. This does not necessarily have to involve the use of a commercial studio, as the quality of affordable home multi-track recording equipment is now so high that great results can be readily achieved.

The multi-track recording process

In multi-track recording, a song can be built up from separate tracks, each one being used to record a different instrument or musical part. Tracks can be recorded individually, or several can be recorded simultaneously. Any track can be subsequently erased without affecting any of the others.

The number of tracks used in multi-track recording was originally based on the number of parallel strips of equal width that a tape recorder’s tape was subdivided into. A 4-track tape recorder with tape 2.5 cm (1 in) wide for example would have its tape subdivided into four parallel strips each 6 mm (1Ú4 in) wide, each one recordable and erasable independently of the other three. The concept was the same whether 8-, 16- or 24-track tape was being used. The majority of multi-track recorders used at home record on to a hard-disk drive rather than tape, but they still use the concept of tracks as a means of organising the audio.

A multi-track recorder is traditionally connected to a mixer (or mixing desk), which not only routes the audio in and out of the recorder but is also the nerve-centre connecting to the rest of the equipment in any studio. Signals can be recorded using microphones or, in the case of electric instruments, plugged directly into a mixer via a DI (direct injection) box or an amp/speaker simulator such as the Line 6 Pod. To build up a song, you can record each new track separately while listening through headphones or monitor speakers to the ones you have already recorded a process known as overdubbing.

Once all the audio has been recorded, it needs to be mixed to create the final finished product. Audio is routed back through the mixer, each audio track being assigned to its own mixer channel where the volume, stereo panning and tone (EQ) can be set for each track, and effects such as reverb can be added.

Once a song is mixed to your satisfaction, it can then be recorded in stereo form using a master recorder (CD, minidisk, DAT, cassette) connected to the mixer’s outputs.

Buying a home studio

There are several options available to the would-be home recordist. The first choice is whether to go for analogue or digital recording. Analogue recording is the traditional method that records audio in a linear fashion onto moving magnetic tape. In the world of home recording the reel-to-reel analogue tape recorder has been largely superseded by digital formats, but is still available in the form of the cassette multi-tracker, generically known as a portastudio after the original Tascam Portastudio. These multi-trackers with integral recorder and mixer can record four tracks of audio onto a compact cassette. They are inexpensive machines, ideal for someone on a tight budget who needs to use a multi-tracker as a musical sketchpad, but they cannot really compete with digital recorders in terms of sound quality and facilities.

Digital recording works by converting the analogue signal into a stream of numbers for storage. Its great advantage is the great many manipulations that can be applied to the audio in the digital domain, in particular non-linear editing in which sections of music can be recorded (something that could only be done with analogue recordings by taking a razor blade to the tape).

Digital hardware or digital software?

The choice of digital options is between hardware equipment or a computer-based system. Although you can pair a hardware digital multi-track recorder with a separate mixing desk to create a studio, many of the available hardware multi-trackers are in the convenient self-contained portastudio style with hard-disk recorder, mixer and effects all in one unit (in some instances this may also include an onboard drum machine and CD burner).

Computer recording involves the use of a computer, a software recording program (Cubase, Logic Audio, Pro Tools, etc.) and a soundcard which interfaces with the computer to convert the audio into digital form which is then stored on hard disk. Computer-based packages do not necessarily have to be used with a separate physical mixing desk. They usually feature a virtual mixing environment with automation and integral software effects, so that once all the audio is in the computer, it can be mixed internally.