
Of course, much of that can be attributed to the modern use of a comparable electromechanical disc recorder and microphones available during the 1920s, but in each case the musical balance was achieved by physically moving musicians and instruments around the microphone to accommodate a harmonious balance, or “mix” of instruments. Not only in terms of frequency response, but the performances share a similar balance between instruments.

If you listen to an early Jimmie Rodgers recording, such as “ Waiting for A Train,” then compare it to one of the modern artists recorded for the American Epic soundtrack, like “ Nobody’s Dirty Business” by Bettye LaVette, the sonic similarities are striking.
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I was listening to the soundtrack from the documentary series recently, and was marveling at how directly technology affects art, or in this case, music. Medieval in its simplicity, it allowed producers to go into the fields (literally) of the Deep South in search of new songs to capture. Western Electric pioneered the first electric transcription devices, featuring electrically amplified microphones driving a flywheel-propelled lacquer disc cutting lathe. Though acoustic recording technology was in use from the late 1800s, the technological advances in electrical sound recording in the mid-1920s ushered in the beginning of the real commercial market for music. You can see that the Bruno EQ curve (the narrow white line) falls neatly within suggested frequency/amplitude boundaries for Bass Heavy music. The screenshot below is a snapshot of the tonal balance from the song “24 Karat Magic” as compared with the Bass Heavy preset from the TBC plug-in.

For the purposes of this article, as we examine the tonal balance of seminal songs, we’ll use a modern reference for comparison: the 2018 GRAMMY® winner for Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording, Bruno Mars’ " 24 Karat Magic." This will be our benchmark for tonal balance. Given that recording technology and production techniques have changed markedly throughout the 20th century, the sound of recordings has changed just as dramatically. However, in this case we use it as an analysis tool to learn about what tonal balance looks like on multiple songs throughout the ages. Note that Tonal Balance Control is normally used to assist in measuring and adjusting the balance of your mix. Here’s what Tonal Balance Control does and how you use it. Many engineers have used an RTA (Real Time Analyzer) to check the frequency response curve of their mixes, but this is a new way to approach comparing source to destination. (My inner geek shouts with glee at the prospect.) The Tonal Balance Control plug-in is incorporated into Ozone 8 and Neutron 2, so now I can compare all kinds of music to better understand what I’m hearing, and adjust my mastering EQ to bring that frequency response curve into alignment with a target source.

Pick any era and any recording medium, technology has always helped shape the sound of the finished product. If I want a particular recording to sound like a Motown recording, I would need to recreate that environment down to the room and gear, not to mention having the ears of Bob Olhsson.

Read why iZotope created the Tonal Balance Control plug-in here. iZotope makes a plug-in called Tonal Balance control that puts a lot of this information into a single visualization, letting the user compare the tonal balance of a song (or songs) with each other or against an idealized shape this makes it possible to see some of what makes these very different recordings sound so different. We have meters and visualizations that help us look at spectra, the musical and technical dynamics short and long term, and average level and other qualities to help us describe the sounds. Audio technology has developed over the years to give us various methods of learning about the sounds we hear. There are a number of ways we can quantify the differences and/or similarities between recordings.
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Why do the Beatles recordings sound the way they do? What about the classic jazz recordings of Rudy van Gelder in the 1950s? What makes my car’s license plate vibrate like it’s going to fall off when I crank a Dr.
