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Professional audio, abbreviated as pro audio, refers to both an activity and a category of high quality, studio-grade audio equipment. Typically it encompasses sound recording, sound reinforcement system setup, audio mixing, studio music production by trained sound engineers, audio engineers, record producers, and audio technicians who work in live event support and recording using mixing consoles, recording equipment and sound reinforcement systems. Professional audio is differentiated from consumer- or home-oriented audio, consumer oriented products are made specifically for the enjoyment of audio, not the creation or maintenance of it.
Jobs in professional audio can include, but are not limited to broadcast radio, audio mastering, audio engineering, DJ performance, audio recording, public address system set up, sound reinforcement, and live sound mixing. Professional audio equipment is sold at professional audio stores and music stores.
The history of professional audio is rooted in the history of the music industry. Alexander Graham Bell received his first patent for an audio recording device in 1876[1].
Definition
Due to the wide berth of professions relating to audio there is no precise definition for professional audio, although the term is widely used. Pro-Audio advertisements promote equipment used by audio professionals; Amplifiers, Mixing Consoles, Powered Speakers, Subwoofers, Microphones, etc.[2] In the modern era of music recording professional audio increasingly includes audio manipulation softwares, or digital audio workstations, as well as smaller softwares for use within digital audio workstations — audio plug-ins, which function as digital recreations of hardware equipment.
No exhaustive list could encapsulate every profession and context related to professional audio, but common applications of the term include:
- Operations carried out by trained audio engineers
- Operations carried out by trained record producers
- The capturing of sound with one or more microphones[3]
- Balancing, mixing and adjusting sound signals from multitrack recording devices using a mixing console or DAW
- The control of audio levels[4] using standardized types of metering
- The standardization of audio through mastering or the manipulation of specific frequencies
- Sound signals passing through lengthy signal chains involving processes at different times and places, involving a variety of skills
- Compliance with organizational, national and international practices and standards established by such bodies as the International Telecommunication Union, Audio Engineering Society and European Broadcasting Union
- Setting up or designing sound reinforcement systems or recording studios
- A description of equipment utilized to carry out any and all of these functions
History
The history of professional audio is rooted in the history of the music industry. Alexander Graham Bell received his first patent for a microphone in 1876[1], and professions in audio have been becoming more and more prevalent ever since. In 1890 the purported first use of recorded sound in a live setting occurred, the sound of a baby crying through a phonograph during a play.[5] In the same year, Thomas Edison had a showcase where he presented 33 of his inventions, including the Edison Microphone, Telephone Transmitters, and even Phonometers [6]. Just 20 years later in 1910, the first audio broadcast occurred from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1913 the first talking movie was demonstrated by Edison[7]. In 1917, E. C. Wente publishes a paper describing the Condenser Microphone as a "uniformly sensitive instrument for the absolute measurement of sound intensity"[8].
Many of these audio innovations were created with varying intent, namely for telecommunications. There was even slight debate about the approach of developing microphones, as it was originally assumed that a microphone should be a highly selective device that captured only specific sources of sound, although it was later argued that uniformly sensitive instruments were of more use [9].
By 1925, there is a consumer model phonograph that is able to play back and amplify electrically recorded music, the Bell Labs Victor Orthophonic Victrola, "Credenza". As consumers began to obtain the capability to listen to recorded music, the need for better methods and technology in professional audio became increasingly necessary. The development of tape recording exploded from 1926 to 1935, beginning with paper tape, then steel tape, then steel wire, and then magnetic tape. The first tape recording of a symphonic orchestra is taken in 1936, of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
These early innovations and many more have each developed into separate fields in the modern day, all underneath the umbrella of Professional Audio. The acknowledgement of audio professions can be seen as early as 1919, when a paper describes acoustical engineering as a profession that has arisen in "the last few years" [9]. Since then professional audio has become a much wider field, and thus much harder to define. Due to this, professional audio is best examined through the history of recorded audio, and the contexts in which the term is used.
Stores
A professional audio store is a retail establishment that sells, and in many cases rents, expensive, high-end sound recording equipment (microphones,[10] audio mixers, digital audio recorders, speakers and surround sound speakers,[11] monitor speakers) and sound reinforcement system gear (e.g., speaker enclosure cabinets, stage monitor speakers, power amplifiers, subwoofer cabinets) and accessories used in both settings, such as microphone stands. Pro audio stores often sell and/or rent DJ gear (record turntables, DJ mixers) and the stage lighting equipment used in rock concerts, dance clubs, raves and theater/musical theater shows. Some pro audio stores also sell video equipment, such as video projectors, as this equipment is commonly used in live audio settings (e.g., business presentations and conventions).
References
- ^ a b Rayburn, Ray (2012-11-12). "Eargle's The Microphone Book". doi:10.4324/9780240820781.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Philippine Daily Inquirer. Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- ^ Alten, S.R. (2013). Audio in Media. Cengage Learning. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-285-67529-9. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
- ^ Reinhardt, R.; Dowd, S. (2007). Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Bible. Bible. John Wiley & Sons. p. 1165. ISBN 978-0-470-11937-2. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
- ^ R., Booth, Michael (1991). Theatre in the Victorian age. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-34351-8. OCLC 470707009.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ White, James (1893). The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. J. T. White. p. 444.
- ^ "An Audio Timeline". www.aes.org. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
- ^ Wente, E. C. (1917-07-01). "A Condenser Transmitter as a Uniformly Sensitive Instrument for the Absolute Measurement of Sound Intensity". Physical Review. 10 (1): 39–63. doi:10.1103/physrev.10.39. ISSN 0031-899X.
- ^ a b Webster, Arthur Gordon (1919). "The Absolute Measurement of the Intensity of Sound". Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. XXXVIII (1): 701–723. doi:10.1109/T-AIEE.1919.4765616. ISSN 0096-3860.
- ^ Gardner, S.; Birley, S. (2012). Blogging For Dummies. For dummies. Wiley. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-118-23925-4. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
- ^ Hanes, W. (2010). The 30-30 Career: Making 30 Grand in 30 Seconds!: Becoming a Platinum Composer. AuthorHouse. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-4520-5097-3. Retrieved January 12, 2017.