Audio Mixing (recorded Music) - History

History

Before the introduction of multitrack recording, all the sounds and effects that were to be part of a recording were mixed together at one time during a live performance. If the recorded blend (or mix, as it is called) wasn't satisfactory, or if one musician made a mistake, the selection had to be performed over until the desired balance and performance was obtained. However, with the introduction of multitrack recording, the production phase of a modern recording has radically changed into one that generally involves three stages: recording, overdubbing, and mixdown.

Mixing as we know it today emerged with the introduction of commercial multitrack tape machines, most notably the 8-track recorders that were introduced during the 1960s. The ability to record sounds into a multitude of channels meant that treating these sounds can be postponed to a later stage – the mixing stage.

In the 1980s, home recording and mixing began to take market share from recording studios. The 4-track Portastudio was introduced in 1979. Using one, Bruce Springsteen released the album Nebraska in 1982. The Eurythmics topped the charts in 1983 with the song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", recorded by bandmember Dave Stewart on a makeshift 8-track recorder. In the mid-to-late 1990s, computers replaced tape-based recording for most home studios, with the Power Macintosh proving popular. At the same time, digital audio workstations (DAW), first used in the mid-1980s, began to replace tape in many professional recording studios.