Production Sound & Video

Winter 2019

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29 THE NINETIES While the 1980's saw some changes in mixer technologies, it would remain until the nineties, and the transition to digital recording, before any further development would take place. Despite the introduction of the Sony PCM-F1 format in 1981 (adopted by a few brave mixers for use in film production), it would be another six years until DAT was introduced as a medium for the consumer, and yet another five years for it to begin to be adapted for professional use. While DAT saw fairly ready acceptance in the music world (being a huge improvement over cassette tapes and cheaper than ΒΌ" tapes), it remained for the introduction of the Fostex PD-2 in 1992 before being taken seriously as a production recording format. However, being a two-channel format (with the exception of the Stelladat II, which boasted four channels), there was really no change in terms of how films were recorded and edited. Sound was still transferred to 35mm mag stock for cutting, and mixed in a traditional manner. It could be argued however, that it offered a better recording medium than typical 7.5 IPS non-Dolby analog recording, so that some issues relating to noise and other flaws in source material might be more readily apparent compared to analog. Still, there was no compelling reason to change mixing equipment. At the end of the day, it was still just two channels of audio. (Yes, there were 4-track, 8-track, 16- and 24-track analog recorders in regular use during the decade, but these were primarily employed on music projects, and not for typical production recording.) Changes were in the wind however. The first of these was the introduction of the Nagra D recorder in 1992 (the same year that Fostex debuted the PD-2). While pricey and rather large, it was the first machine to be able to record four channels of high-quality digital in the field. While this offered some advantages in certain production situations, it was never adopted to any significant degree due to the fact that it was a proprietary format, expensive technology, and required transfers to 4-track fullcoat mag to be able to take advantage of all four channels. It did, however, cause both sound mixers and equipment manufacturers to begin to rethink the approaches to production mixing boards. Although there were relatively small consoles available which could be configured for four (or even eight) busses, most of these were limited to studio production. The Way We Were: Mixers Past & Present (Part 3) 1. PSC M8 console. One of the first portable analog mixers to be introduced with four output busses. 2. Audio Developments AD146 18-input 4-buss console. 3. Allen & Heath WZD3 16:2 console, a basic AC-powered board sporting 16-input and two busses, in a 19"-wide frame. 1 2 3

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