Digital

[Babysquid]

Sorry if this has already come up but do any of you know when Alice first ventured into the world of digital recording? I'm guessing it wasn't PFY!

[Steven Lee Cooper]

Wasn't "Raise your fist and yell" a recording of that kind ?

[A_MichaelUK]

From Babysquid:
"Sorry if this has already come up but do any of you know when Alice first ventured into the world of digital recording?"

I think it might have been "Brutal Planet" although some of the previous albums might have been mixed digitally. That information should be on the albums.

[Toronto Bob]

The use of a Fairlight on DaDa would be an earlier use of digital technology, although not specifically a digital recorder.

[While Heaven Wept]

Pro-tools didn't really take off properly in the main studios until the mid 90s, and even then it was painfully slow at times. So it's possible that some of Last Temptation could have been recorded digitally but having listened to it many times.... to me it sounds like an analog recording. My best guess would be Brutal Planet.

[A_MichaelUK]

From Toronto Bob:
"The use of a Fairlight on DaDa would be an earlier use of digital technology, although not specifically a digital recorder."

Exactly and that's why I didn't refer to it. I think there were also albums that were recorded onto tape but mixed digitally, but that wasn't what the question was asking.

[Babysquid]

That information should be on the albums.

Hmmmm.... I can't see any info on the albums. I've nothing beyond Last Temptation (sorry! I know BP and DT get a lot of love here but they're not for me)
Are you referring to the old AAD / ADD / DDD marking on CDs? Do they still do that? I'm afraid my collection's all vinyl and I haven't bought a CD for over 10 years now ( I look after them better, they're harder to lose and the old ones smell funky)
I'd imagine mixing to digital during the 80's and 90's was increasingly common after the advent of DAT, but certainly Ry Cooder had recorded fully digital sometime in the late '70s and Spirit did something in the early 80s so the techs been around longer than some people think.
Anyway I only ask as I'm genuinely interested in all that behind the scenes stuff. Would love to see Alice do a Classic Albums episode or something similar.

[A_MichaelUK]

From Babtsquid:
"Are you referring to the old AAD / ADD / DDD marking on CDs?"

Yes.

>Do they still do that?

I don't know.

[SickThings]

Raise Your Fist and Yell was the first DDD recording. It was, I think, also the last. It was certainly the only one that said it was. My copies of Constrictor and Trash (original releases) don't say what they were. I think specifying ADD/DDD was only en vogue for a short time around 1987....

Hunter

[Daggers & Contracts]

My copy of Trash has AAD on the insert but not on the CD.

[A_MichaelUK]

From SickThings:
"It was certainly the only one that said it was."

Yes, you're right. Somehow, I had either forgotten or had not been aware of that. However, I'm almost certain Brutal Planet was also recorded this way, as well. I can vaguely remember Alice talking about the audio being not on tape, but 'out there somewhere'.