I was reading up a little bit on how technology has evolved in the last 20 years and it got me thinking about how we have changed. too. I first bought a computer in 1999, having only used the computers at the university before that. the Internet was growing at a fast rate with a promise of becoming the utopia of information: Free flow of information being shared by caring individuals who believed that education could finally be widespread without borders or logistical limitations. There was O.L.G.A. and Bass Lobster leading the front of music education for free. There was no Google business model or pop-up ads. Websites were clutter-free; in fact, most computers were had 8-bit video resolution with pixels as big as today's favicons. Piracy (at least in my country) was through C.D. ROMs purchased at the side of computer stores, under the table. I was unaware that music could be made on a computer. All of my demos had been made on 4-track cassette recorders, which were expensive and hard to get. Good chrome cassettes were also fairly expensive. In going back memory lane, I stumbled upon a Sweetwater report of Winter NAAM of 1998, 20 years ago. Here are the technological highlights of the era. All comments are quoted from the Sweetwater's Web master who put together this summary.

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AKAI DPS12 HD

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Good news for those of you looking for 12-tracks of uncompressed hard disk recording: the DPS12HD ($1849 list) should be starting to arrive in our warehouse by the time you read this. Several versions were on display including built-in hard drive systems and Jaz drive configurations. Need more than eight tracks? This might be just the thing.

Alesis ADAT-XT20 and ADAT-LX20

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Other Products from Alesis

Alesis made a strong showing with a fancy booth and "Scotty" from the original Star Trek helping them out with a video explaining their new 20-bit ADAT Type II recorders, the ADAT-XT20 ($2999 list) and the ADAT-LX20 ($2249 list). 20-bit A/D and D/A converters, fast tape transport, onboard digital editing, extensive front-panel auto-location capabilities, and numerous other exciting features will make the new Type II ADATs a sure winner in the race for better, higher quality digital tape-based recorders. As a computer addition to the ADAT scene, the PCR PCI Interface card ($499 list) allows any PCI Windows 95/NT machine or Mac to send or receive eight tracks of audio (up to 24-bit) with an ADAT recorder. The bundled software also allows your computer to function as a "Virtual ADAT," receiving or sending commands from an ADAT or other types of controllers. The Q20 Professional 20-bit Effects Processor ($999 list) is now the company's top-of-the-line effects processor. With features like ADAT and S/PDIF digital connections, XLR and 1/4" analog connections, 24-bit DSP chip, 20-bit digital convertors, and up to eight programmable effects at once, the Q20 is perfect for any no-compromise studio. For the MIDI users out there (and I'm guessing there's more than a few of you), Alesis unveiled their NanoTracker 16 Channel MIDI Recorder. If you happen to be interested in terrific drums sounds, you can feast your ears on the DM Pro Expandable 20-bit Drum Module ($899 list) with its 64 voices of polyphony, over 1,000 sounds, open expandability, 16 fast trigger inputs and six audio outputs. And finally, Alesis introduced the DG8 64-Voice Digital Grand Piano ($1999 list). The built-in speakers and amp provides 100 watts per channel and it sounded great!

In 1998, a home-studio produced album was inviable yet; consumer-grade computers weren't up to the task and dedicated computer-based equipment cost too much to put together. It was a time when CDs still mattered and piracy was distributed in CD ROMs.

Were you there? What were your thoughts of the future at that time?

Share a line or two.

 

Last edited: Feb 22, 2018

Vroom, vroom.

 

cool flashback, but i did home studio produced records with digidesign stuff and whatnot back even before that... God, and ADATS SUCKED!....

 

Yeah, nah. Summoning recorded and produced "Stronghold" on their home computer in 1999, and it's a relatively popular album in the Metal scene, as well as one of my favorite albums of all time. On close listening it has some digital artefacts and "cheap" sound, but I never cared about it while listening to the album because the music is just so fucking good.

Interesting thread, anyway. Do you remember which plugins people used back then, other than Waves stuff?

 

I bought this baby back in 1998, essentially my gateway into production. Loved everything about it but learned that zip discs would become the bane of my existence.

 

In the early 2ks, I remember using the NI, iZotope, PSP Audioware, Linplug, and Lexicon stuff as well as lesser known developers like rgc audio, digitalfishphones (used the fuck out of Blockfish), Kjaerhus, and Blue Line. I also loved the plugins that came with Cubase SX and some of the later stuff they released like Plex, Dcota and Xphrase.

 

Nice. Somewhere near during the year, I'm with Music 2000, a Playstation One based CD-ROM for making music. I have to use cassette/CD Hi-Fi player to route its output, and sing it over using karaoke mic. I use cassette tape to record it. Then I'll go back and forth to play it back on the car and back to room to adjust the sound. Memory lane hehe. +1

 

In the mid 90s I'd do songs on a Tascam Portastudio, a 4-track cassette recorder

I can't believe they are still selling them on eBay. I also had an Alesis SR-16

These machines are still in production. Compared to the short life span of plugins, the prices paid in those years was a steal.

In the early 90s I'd record songs using two cassette decks with 1/4 plug inputs for microphones. It's so bad none of those tracks has survived the passing of time. When I bought my first PC in 1999, all I could do was midi editing. It was a Pentium 75, even slower than a Pentium I. I'd use Cakewalk Pro Audio 6 up to 8. I had a midi player called Wingroove 0.9 and then a Sound Canvas standalone player. Life was simpler then. That's all I needed to lay out midi tracks, which then would be streamed to my Portastudio. The term "streaming" was not even in use. The good ol' times.

 

Last edited: Feb 22, 2018

Even I don't have a Jaz drive laying around!

And you know of course what their street name was...

Iomega didn't like it much.

 

Remembering all this crap makes me thankful for what we have today.

However, it is not all so black and white. Analogue processors and mixers can still help you a great deal to make your tracks sound more "pro". But plugins have progressed immensely since then. One of the reasons I consider Waves history now. I wonder if people realise Waves have been selling same old plugins for 20 years? Plus the newer ones, of course, but the new ones don't struck me as anything special, really. Times have changed. I have no Waves or IK plugins on my latest W7 installation. Got bored of them. Space wasters. Smaller 3rd party plugin makers are so much better these days than they used to be even in the 2000s. Combine it with some analogue outboard and you've got a winner.

ADAT converters still sound very good, though. And all these Akai and Roland HD recorders aren't that bad, either. One could buy them for peanuts these days and have a lot of fun making tracks without even starting the computer. Then you transfer the audio into your computer and have fun. It's easier to mix all these tracks when they pass through all the different processors and converters as they have been "naturally" saturated and they just sound better than ITB. At least to my ears...

Cheers!

 

At the end of 90's this was my audio interface:

At the end of the 80's this was my audio interface:




At the end of the 70's this was my audio interface:



at the end of the 60's this was my audio interface:

 

Last edited by a moderator: Feb 22, 2018

Well... this was my mixer in the 80s:


And this was my mixer in the 90s:


Audio interface? Who thought of audio interfaces then?

 

I recorded quite a few songs and demos with that beauty back in the 90's.
I still have it but unfortunately, the mechanics are screwed up.
I would love to playback my old original recordings.

 

C'mon Dudes, be honest, if you were there, you had one.

And the Voyetra freebie that came with it.

Oh yes you did. Confess.

 

I do, I do... That big ISA card... still have it !
So do I still have my 486 with Voyetra gold installed with a MQX 32 and that big old SB AWE64 Gold

And it wasn't cheep these days !

 

Last edited: Feb 22, 2018

Oh man didn't we all wanted all the stuff from the beginning of the digital age to be hot shit. In reality it was nothing but crap. Crap in terms of sound and usability. Glad those days are over.

 

I wish I'd had one. Instead I had this

and this

 

When 4Mb of RAM meant 4Mb of RAM.