Bit by bit (pun intended, you better believe it), computers are
replacing the old, clumsy ways we used to do things, supplanting them with
new, robust,
and streamlined methods. Until very recently, it used to require the
entire young male population of at least two countries to fight even the
most elementary war -- now it requires nothing more than a fairly
up-to-date processor and some cheaply available software.
Similarly, some of you older readers may remember the days when
libraries and banks were things you went to, during special hours that
were set aside for doing so, to extract enough idle reading matter or
cash to get you through the weekend. Now, through the miracle of the Web
and ATMs, these resources are literally at your fingertips -- provided
that your fingertips are at the appropriate terminal.
Back in the day, if you were, say, the Rolling Stones, you had to
schlep the whole band and all your gear to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, hire
a team of producers, engineers and splice girls, rent a studio full of
hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment, and stock up on booze and
drugs. Only then were you truly ready to rock. That was the analog era.
Those days are over. If you don't believe me, here's what the Times has to say on the subject (free registration required).
Today, all of those silly studio trappings can be replaced with a
single inexpensive and easy-to-use PC workstation. OK, OK, I take it
back. There's no substitute for the expertise of an experienced
producer, and a definite case can be made that analog recording has
a warmer sound. And progress in the development of digital intoxicants
continues to be maddeningly slow. So the PC can't do everything for you.
But certainly it can take the place of miles of expensive and volatile
2-inch reel-to-reel tape, and a king's ransom in mixing boards, tape
recorders, and standalone effects units, all the while automating a lot
of the trickier and/or more tedious aspects of the process.
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