After a conventional CD recording session comes the post-production session, in which the recorded sounds are analysed, mixed and edited. The mixing involves making precise adjustments to the relative loudness and tone quality of individual instruments and different parts of the music. This is achieved using a mixing desk – a large sloping console, often with dozens of sets of controls.

Editing is an aspect of post-production in classical music recording that receives little attention. This is the process in which the various ‘takes’ from the recording session are selected and assembled. Even a solo can be constructed in this way to form a seamless musical line from different versions of the same melody. In the days of analogue recording, it was the task of the recording engineer physically to cut and splice pieces of magnetic tape to string all the best bits together. Now the engineer carries out this task using digital editing software on a computer. The result is a second recording, the ‘master’, which is then used to press the CDs.

Inside the Music | Electronic Instruments | Contemporary | Classical