From Bell to the Brill Building to the Personal Computer: the Evolution of Musical Recording

In little over a century, recording has gone from novel, paradigm-breaking invention that was accessible to only a handful of people to a lucrative worldwide industry that, while available to many more, was still limited due its high costs, for both producers and artists. In the last decade, however, the features and tools that only years before had been concentrated, mostly in major cities, in a just a thousand or so studios have made the digital transition, making the transition from clunky novelty to high-powered technology in years as opposed to decades.

While recording studio software has been a boon for both hobbyists and aspiring artists and producers, even professionals and artists of all genres are successfully making the transition to software programs. Even artists signed to Major record labels with access to traditional studio tools are beginning to take notice and make use of recording studio software to record and edit tracks using traditional methods or creating and modifying sounds using synthesizers, sequencers and other tools. Even bands with long, successful careers like Oasis are turning to recording studio software programs like Garage Band for their features and tools.

Now, with improvements constantly being made to software programs and advancements to computer and other external hardware, professional sound quality is no longer possible for artists and producers with access to professional studios, but virtually everyone with the proper computer specifications and a love of creating and perfecting music.

Visit the TopTenREVIEWS Recording Studio software review site for reviews of the best Recording Studio and music software programs available, including top-rated programs Reason, Ableton Live and Pro Tools.