analog recording

{{Short description|Category of techniques that allow later playback of analog signals}}

{{broader|Sound recording and reproduction}}

{{use American English|date=August 2016}}

{{use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}

File:Neumann_VMS-70_Cutting_Lathe.png

Analog recording is a category of techniques used for the recording of analog signals. This enables later playback of the recorded analog audio.

Analog audio recording began with mechanical systems such as the phonautograph and phonograph.{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89380697 |title=1860 'Phonautograph' Is Earliest Known Recording |last=Flatow |first=Ira |date=April 4, 2008 |website=NPR |publisher=npr |access-date=January 25, 2023}} Later, electronic techniques such as wire{{cite journal |last1=Morton |first1=David |date=April 1998 |title=Armour Research Foundation and the Wire Recorder: How Academic Entrepreneurs Fail |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3107045 |journal=Technology and Culture |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=213–244 |doi=10.2307/3107045 |jstor=3107045 |s2cid=112428198 |access-date=January 25, 2023|url-access=subscription }} and tape recording{{cite web |url=http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/recording/notes.html#tape |title=Recording Technology History |last=Schoenherr |first=Steven E. |date=July 6, 2005 |website=Recording Technology History |publisher=University of San Diego |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216131304/http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/recording/notes.html#tape |archive-date=February 16, 2019 |access-date=January 25, 2023}} were developed.

Analog recording methods store analog signals directly in or on the media. The signal may be stored as a physical texture on a phonograph record, or a fluctuation in the field strength of a magnetic recording. Analog transmission methods use analog signals to distribute audio content.{{cite web |url=http://artsites.ucsc.edu/EMS/music/tech_background/TE-19/teces_19.html |title=ANALOG RECORDING OF SOUND |last=Elsea |first=Peter |date=1996 |website=UCSC Electronic Media Studios |publisher=UC Santa Cruz |access-date=January 25, 2023}} These are in contrast to digital audio where an analog signal is sampled and quantized to produce a digital signal which is represented, stored and transmitted as discrete numbers.{{cite web |url=http://artsites.ucsc.edu/EMS/music/tech_background/TE-16/teces_16.html |title=Basics of Digital Recording |last=Elsea |first=Peter |date=1996 |website=UCSC Electronic Media Studios |publisher=UC Santa Cruz |access-date=January 25, 2023}}