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ELI5: How does analogue recording work? (by Sparky)
ELI5: How does analogue recording work?
I've recently started collecting vinyl and, so far, the way the sound is produced is just magic to me. Meaning I didn't fully understand it. I have a much better grasp now, but one thing I can't quite get my head around is how the grooves in the record create such intricate and varied frequencies all layer on top of one another.
I'll explain my question a little better. So I understand that a record is made up of groves which move both left and right and up and down, so when the needle runs through them you get both frequency and amplitude modulation. The needle converts this into an electric current and this then goes through an amplifier and drives your speakers. Now, I understand how this would work if music was just a single instrument playing at different frequencies and amplitudes, but how on earth does analogue recording record say, guitars, bass, drums, and a singer all singing at different amplitudes and frequencies, when there's only one needle reading the record at any one time? In my head, it seems like you'd need a needle for each instrument to actually replicate the sound!
So, if anyone could explain how on earth you go from a single grove and a single needle to an entire orchestra, it'd be much appreciated!
Source.
I've recently started collecting vinyl and, so far, the way the sound is produced is just magic to me. Meaning I didn't fully understand it. I have a much better grasp now, but one thing I can't quite get my head around is how the grooves in the record create such intricate and varied frequencies all layer on top of one another.
I'll explain my question a little better. So I understand that a record is made up of groves which move both left and right and up and down, so when the needle runs through them you get both frequency and amplitude modulation. The needle converts this into an electric current and this then goes through an amplifier and drives your speakers. Now, I understand how this would work if music was just a single instrument playing at different frequencies and amplitudes, but how on earth does analogue recording record say, guitars, bass, drums, and a singer all singing at different amplitudes and frequencies, when there's only one needle reading the record at any one time? In my head, it seems like you'd need a needle for each instrument to actually replicate the sound!
So, if anyone could explain how on earth you go from a single grove and a single needle to an entire orchestra, it'd be much appreciated!
Source.
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