Music Industry Debate: Digital vs Analog
The music industry, a popular and ever-growing business, has and will continue to push an ultimatum upon all who wish to enter it. Digital or Analog? Although both forms have benefits and consequences, using analog technology for an "original" sound is too much to pay for the drawbacks that follow. "Analog recordings can be more...natural sounding," says Charmain2010 in Analogue Vs Digital: Advantages Vs Disadvantages paragraph 2. However, according to Dave Mustaine in the video Analog or Digital? (1993) created by PastVid, "The reason people who use analog, try digital and say digital is no good...it's because they can't play." (2:29) . As a recording artist, hoping to pursue a career in which my music can flourish, I would like to record my music in a digital format.
Editing music in an analog format is a tedious task, both time consuming and frustrating. Digital editing techniques make it so "it is far easier to edit, you can chop, edit and manipulate audio within a matter of minutes. There is also an undo button with digital meaning if you accidentally delete something or misedit something that doesn’t work, you can undo without having to start again," stated Charmain2010 in Analogue Vs Digital: Advantages Vs Disadvantages paragraph 4. With digital technology, you can seamlessly edit bits of music and fix hissing, pitch, and nuisance background noises. Altogether, digital recording equipment allows for simple edits that don't require retakes, easy access to accidentally deleted material, and gives you the opportunity to change pitch through autotune.
Digital technology has eliminated the need for heavyweight and unprofessional equipment and space to reserve it for later. "Digital equipment is far easier to store as it doesn’t take up as much space as with analog equipment. Digital equipment is also far cheaper when buying outboard gear, software, and plugins needed to record achieve certain processing techniques," mentioned Charmain2010 in paragraph 4 of Analogue Vs Digital: Advantages Vs Disadvantages. Digital equipment is not only cheaper than analog but is easily portable making it so you can record a song from the comforts of your own home.
The convenience of digital technology doesn't stop at the recording artist; it branches al the way to the consumers who purchase their music. Digital technology has slowly taken over our lives and has left analog technology in the past. Almost everyone has a smartphone from ages eleven and up making it so that digital music is more widespread and accessible. A link to a music video can be shared almost instantaneously whereas analog technology can take days before reaching the public. As well as that, digital music is everlasting, which is why digital music has a higher appeal to the up and coming generation. Being an artist who wishes for a long career that will last for many years, going the digital route would share my music with more people and would give me the boost I need.
Even so, people still argue that the minor inaccuracies of digital technology show that analog has a higher quality. Analog recordings may be more natural sounding, but using digital equipment would give music a higher quality. Additionally, human ears are hardly able to differentiate the quality between digital and analog meaning the more convenient the better. "It takes a good stereo with a good turntable to hear the subtleties that CD's seem to miss," mentioned the video Analog or Digital? (1993) created by PastVid (2:16). Digital equipment allows for a computer to identify mistakes in audio rather than your ears. This prevents human error and allows for clear, high-quality music, contradicting the biggest claim made by pro analog musicians.
Digital or Analog? A daunting question that faces all musicians who hope to "make it" in the industry. Both have benefits and drawbacks, but in the case of digital recording, the positives outweigh the negatives, so much so that is the only way I am willing to publish my music. Digital equipment is not only cheap, but portable, compact, and includes additional features that enhance sound. Furthermore, undo buttons make it so re-recording is unnecessary and that my music can be sold globally through a simple app. It is undeniable that digital technology has revolutionized the music industry, which is why I aspire to be a musician whose music is produced digitally.
Editing music in an analog format is a tedious task, both time consuming and frustrating. Digital editing techniques make it so "it is far easier to edit, you can chop, edit and manipulate audio within a matter of minutes. There is also an undo button with digital meaning if you accidentally delete something or misedit something that doesn’t work, you can undo without having to start again," stated Charmain2010 in Analogue Vs Digital: Advantages Vs Disadvantages paragraph 4. With digital technology, you can seamlessly edit bits of music and fix hissing, pitch, and nuisance background noises. Altogether, digital recording equipment allows for simple edits that don't require retakes, easy access to accidentally deleted material, and gives you the opportunity to change pitch through autotune.
Digital technology has eliminated the need for heavyweight and unprofessional equipment and space to reserve it for later. "Digital equipment is far easier to store as it doesn’t take up as much space as with analog equipment. Digital equipment is also far cheaper when buying outboard gear, software, and plugins needed to record achieve certain processing techniques," mentioned Charmain2010 in paragraph 4 of Analogue Vs Digital: Advantages Vs Disadvantages. Digital equipment is not only cheaper than analog but is easily portable making it so you can record a song from the comforts of your own home.
The convenience of digital technology doesn't stop at the recording artist; it branches al the way to the consumers who purchase their music. Digital technology has slowly taken over our lives and has left analog technology in the past. Almost everyone has a smartphone from ages eleven and up making it so that digital music is more widespread and accessible. A link to a music video can be shared almost instantaneously whereas analog technology can take days before reaching the public. As well as that, digital music is everlasting, which is why digital music has a higher appeal to the up and coming generation. Being an artist who wishes for a long career that will last for many years, going the digital route would share my music with more people and would give me the boost I need.
Even so, people still argue that the minor inaccuracies of digital technology show that analog has a higher quality. Analog recordings may be more natural sounding, but using digital equipment would give music a higher quality. Additionally, human ears are hardly able to differentiate the quality between digital and analog meaning the more convenient the better. "It takes a good stereo with a good turntable to hear the subtleties that CD's seem to miss," mentioned the video Analog or Digital? (1993) created by PastVid (2:16). Digital equipment allows for a computer to identify mistakes in audio rather than your ears. This prevents human error and allows for clear, high-quality music, contradicting the biggest claim made by pro analog musicians.
Digital or Analog? A daunting question that faces all musicians who hope to "make it" in the industry. Both have benefits and drawbacks, but in the case of digital recording, the positives outweigh the negatives, so much so that is the only way I am willing to publish my music. Digital equipment is not only cheap, but portable, compact, and includes additional features that enhance sound. Furthermore, undo buttons make it so re-recording is unnecessary and that my music can be sold globally through a simple app. It is undeniable that digital technology has revolutionized the music industry, which is why I aspire to be a musician whose music is produced digitally.
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