Digital sound technology

Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) and digital technology helped to drive the rapid evolution of sound design during the 1980s and 1990s. Also, the Internet is a great resource for sound designers, allowing them to acquire source material quickly, easily, and cheaply. Advances in digital audio editing software have enabled sound designers to create and modify samples on their own.

Analog versus digital

Sound recording involves recording an original set of sound waves and reproducing those waves in a variety of ways. The two basic recording methods are called analog and digital. Both types of recordings require a sensor, such as a microphone or an electric guitar pick-up. With analog recording, a physical record is created by moving a phonograph stylus to imprint a pattern on a vinyl record or fluctuating a magnetic field via a magnetic tape recording head.

Digital recording bypasses the physical element and creates a record directly on a hard drive or other...