2. analog
  3. 184762-182908

Question about how analog audio recording works

Hello!

My wife and I are high and having a discussion about how sound is recorded on records. I have an, I think, more than average understand of how sound and recording/playback works so I was trying to explain how grooves on the record represent sound waves.

What we don't understand is how polyphony is physically represented. So I can see how a single sine can easily be represented on a record. But when you're talking several sounds at once, some on the same pitch some now, dozens of timbres happening all at once, how do we differentiate those sounds on a physical medium like vinyl, or how do we represent it digitally? Is it literally nothing more than 1s and 0s? That'd be sick

Anyway, I hope this makes sense. Thanks!

maynovent

Showing 2 responses by cleeds

Ag insider logo xs@2x
cleeds
5,651 posts
 

maynovent

... when you're talking several sounds at once, some on the same pitch some now, dozens of timbres happening all at once, how do we differentiate those sounds on a physical medium like vinyl, or how do we represent it digitally ...

It's the Fourier Theorem. The same math that makes the 1s and 0s work in digital also explains the squiggly grooves in an LP.

Ag insider logo xs@2x
cleeds
5,651 posts
 

dweller

I've wondered this same thing about speakers. How does a single driver replicate sounds of different freq. at the same time ...

Again, it's the math of the Fourier Transform, that a continuous function (such as an audio signal) can converted to a form that represents the sum of a series of terms.

More to discover