Studio 101 – Audio Terminology: Yesterday's Tech

Perfectly timed to this 40th anniversary issue of RECORDING, this month’s installment takes a brief trip into the recent past to look at a collection of terms that recordists and audio engineers once knew well—for better or worse—but many of which have now fallen by the wayside.

This is the terminology of recording media and practices, from the heyday of analog tape through the early days of digital production. Old-timers will remember them well, while younger audio producers will undoubtedly be familiar with at least some of the technologies and techniques that once ruled the industry.