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The Second Digital Revolution
I clearly remember spending a great deal of money at Record Plant in 1972 to build one of the first control rooms for Quadraphonic Sound. Tom Hidley, by this time having graduated from Record Plant to form Westlake Audio, designed all four speakers to operate equidistantly from the audio engineer's mixing position at the console. We also had four joysticks installed in our API console to properly take advantage of all of the unnatural effects that our gleeful clients could think of. Revolving the drums, constantly changing the position of the vocalist or the lead guitar, 360-degree applause—you name it, they tried it. Quad was very short-lived, and they said it was a flop “because no one has four ears!” A complete failure in a very short period of time. If you don't bet, you can't win—but damn, it's sometimes so very expensive to lose.
Way back in October of 1983, when everyone was wondering about the future of recording studios, the impact of digital recording and the emergence of the CD, I was asked to go to London to advise the APRS (Association of Professional Recording Services). They wanted to know what we “Yanks” thought was going on in the business. It was a rude awakening when I informed them of the realities we were confronting in America. After a wonderfully nonstressful period of great business grosses amid rock and roll fantasies, a few of us realized that as bookings were disappearing, studios had to start seriously focusing on cost cutting and profitability, or perish. They were appalled. One British gentleman reminded me: “If you cannot afford the petrol, don't buy the Rolls Royce.” I had to contradict him and prove to him that he had stated the problem incorrectly. We already owned the Rolls and no one wanted to pay the fair price to rent it, much less the cost of the gasoline to operate it. It's called business recession. In our case, it required major investment to convert our equipment to digital rather than analog recording, as requested by our clients.
Many of the challenges we faced in 1983 are repeating themselves today, although business recession is not one of them. This is what I call “The Second Digital Revolution.” We have entered the era of the DVD, which, I believe, will revitalize the industry much as the CD did. Along with considerations of new audio standards, the DVD provides a true marriage of audio and video. Like the new Digital TV standard, DVD will contribute to the projected future obsolescence of existing consumer audio and video hardware, which ultimately gives our industry renewed energy. The pro audio hardware and software manufacturers design new equipment to meet our projected needs, and we buy it to meet the requests of our clients. If we don't buy what they develop, they will stop developing it. If they stop, our industry stops its forward technological movement. Simple.
How quickly will the DVD take hold with the audio consumer? How will it affect our professional audio livelihoods? How will this second digital revolution affect our hourly rates? How do we prepare for it, and what are the new format services we must offer? What do we invest in now so that we aren't left behind? In the late seventies, some of us bet on a premature 32-track digital tape machine from a major manufacturer. Believe me, we suffered for it, and with a floundering format, we got into lots of trouble. The solution, now as then, is KISS—Keep It Simple, Stupid! Learn from the past, or as they say, you will repeat the mistakes of your predecessors. The pioneers invariably get arrows shot at them, and the heroes have scars. If you don't bet, you can't win.
In 1999, you could pick up just about any pro audio trade magazine and find one or more articles about the amazing DVD sound for film, with Dolby AC-3 as the format standard. We also were advised of the imminent arrival of the music-only digital surround sound format from the WG-4 (which was the major record label group set up to negotiate among themselves a copyprotected format /standard for the music industry that they could all agree on). And what about the separate Sony 96-hz/24-bit music-only format?—just to keep us in suspense. Political positioning in our industry is so much fun to watch, albeit frustrating because of differing formats with which our pro audio facilities have to contend.
The difference between 5.1 and the old Quad sound to a nontechnical simpleton like me is the addition of a center front monitor and a subwoofer placed appropriately in the listening area. In my opinion, the reason it will be successful this time around is that we have all grown to love the sophisticated surround sound from the three major players (Dolby, DTS, and SDDS), which we hear at the movies, particularly in large THX certified venues. Now, we can have it in our home theaters, with all the realism of the aforementioned theater venues. And, we also have WG-4 approved 5.1 music-only to play on the same system. Progress.
But, how soon should professional recording studios that specialize in music-only invest in the additional equipment necessary to take advantage of this new wave? Will television and film post houses already in the business of mixing 5.1 for picture take the music-only 5.1 business away from those studios? Will the new gaggle of Internet music downloading formats stick, or will we once again have to get involved in a Beta vs. VHS war, with the losers being those who chose the wrong format? Will the few CD-mastering operations that have had the nerve to build dedicated 5.1 mastering suites spend a few dollars more and provide a remixing environment as well? Or does the key to winning this battle for the new business of 5.1 lie in providing an environment where new music being recorded for CD can be mixed to stereo and 5.1 during the same group of sessions, with the availability of mixing to picture, as well? Sounds like the right plan to me.
It has been demonstrated that hardware and software are currently available to update almost any existing console to provide 5.1 capability. A reasonably priced set of 5.1 professional studio monitors is also currently available from many of the recognized manufacturers. With this supply of equipment available from your favorite pro audio dealer, it is clear that you have no excuse not to get started on what is, in my opinion, the biggest change in our industry since the LP became the CD.
Remember what your Mom used to say: “You've got to crawl before you can walk before you can run.” It is very important, in my opinion, to get started now, or you will get left in the dust. I think these new multichannel formats are going to be the sound of tomorrow, and I think automobile sound systems are going to make it so. How many people do you know who don't have at least four speakers in their car? At a recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, it was reported to me that there were over 40 locations where you could hear 5.1 music-only DVD, most of those locations being examples of the latest automotive transportation.
Your creativity as a studio is to guess right about where the industry is going. The professional audio studio or postproduction facility is the middleman between the creative force of the visual and/or audio artist and the commercial acceptance of any new technology. This knowledge of where we are going is the vehicle that justifies your increased costs and the necessarily higher charges to your clients. Today, that format of choice is DVD 5.1. You must be willing to take the leap to provide this capability for 5.1 at your facility, as with any new accepted industry development. However, you must always move ahead cautiously because your company's future success is at risk, depending upon the accuracy of your equipment and format decisions. Read the trades. Go to the seminars. Listen to everyone who thinks they know, and test every piece of hardware and every software format that shouts “I am the one.” This is the best way to increase your odds of winning.
Our industry has entered a very exciting time with the media vehicle of DVD, coupled with the ability to communicate and transfer digital sound and picture data quickly via large-capacity fiber-optic lines, the Internet, and satellite. Those who get it right will profit from this new technology. Those who don't will suffer. This familiar scenario continues to generate the ever-changing business opportunities of our industry. Grasp them quickly. The window of opportunity is usually small and soon filled by our more aggressive professional audio entrepreneurs.