In order to fully understand what a recording studio is today, and how it got to that point, it is necessary to look at the various stages of recording history. This article will look at how the recording studio has evolved over time, starting in the 1920s.

Way back in the 1920s, all recordings were made ‘directly to disc’, with the playback media being made from wax cylinders or discs made of shellac. The recording studio was basically a small room where all the musicians were arranged around a horn. This horn gathered the sound, and the disc rotated whilst the musicians played. The discs were then played on a phonograph.

The mid 1920s saw the invention of the condenser microphone and the vacuum tube amplifier which changed recording to an electrical process, as opposed to the original one which relied solely on acoustic recording. Multiple microphones started to get used, and this led to the advent of the recording console. What also occurred in this era was the beginning of the two room set-up, where the musicians and microphones stayed in one room, and the engineer stayed with the recording console, with this room becoming known as the control room.

After World War II, magnetic tape recording came into use. Tape was extremely useful because it could be rerecorded as well as being edited. This meant that the best parts of a musicians performance could be put together as a coherent recording. Even with modern day equipment, this method of recording has stood the test of time.

By the end of the 1950s, Les Paul came up with what is known as overdubbing. This is when you record new music for the specific purpose of adding to and improving existing tracks. This event is often said to have been the catalyst for the modern recording studio. 8 track recording replaced 4 track, and it was discovered that instead of using eight speakers, it was possible to reproduce any position using two speakers through what is known as phantom imaging.

So there we have it, a brief history of the recording studio. We may scoff at the primitively of past recording processes, but we must remember, that without various cases of trial and error, and brilliant innovators, the recording studio would not be at the level it is today. It is worth noting that some techniques used a generation ago are still important parts of studio recording today.