Sound Recording Techniques in Radio

Sound is a series of pressure waves created by vibration. Every living and non-living things makes sound. Sound travels through the substances in the form of waves. The vibration created by these waves in the eardrum helps a person to hear sound. Sound recording is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. There are two main classification of sound recording technology, namely analog recording and digital recording.

Analog Recording

Analog sound waves are also called acoustic sound waves. Analog recording is the oldest form of recording sound. Analog recording is done by a small microphone. The diaphragm inside the microphone can detect changes in atmospheric pressure, i.e., the movement of analog sound waves and record them on a medium such as a phonograph. Another type of analog recording is magnetic tape recording. A magnetic tape is a plastic tape with a magnetic coating on it. In this type of recording the sound waves vibrate the microphone diaphragm and are converted into a varying electric signal, which is then recorded or encrypted on a magnetic tape using an electromagnetic device. Electronically generated sound waves may also be recorded directly from devices such as an electric guitar pickup or a synthesizer, without the use of acoustics in the recording process.

Digital Recording

Digital recording is commonly used for audio recording these days. The digital recording process is simpler and easy to work with, comparing to analog. Digital recording converts the analog sound signal picked up by the microphone to a digital form by the process of digitisation. This lets the audio data be stored and transmitted by a wider variety of media. Digital recordings are considered higher quality than analog recordings. The digital format can prevent much loss of quality comparing to the analog recording, where noise interferences in microphone are common. Digital audio is recorded and saved in digital medium, so mechanical deterioration or damage to the storage medium is less. The common me-dium for saving digitally recorded sound is audio CD. A digital audio signal must be reconverted to analog form during playback.

Sound Reproduction

In analog sound reproduction, the recorded elect romagnetic waves are converted into acoustic waves using an amplifier and a loudspeaker diaphragm. A digital audio signal must be reconverted to analog form during playback before it is applied to a loudspeaker or earphones. Digitally recorded sound can also be played on the internet through digital audio transmission.