A History of DIY Recording

Chapter 1 charts the evolution of DIY recording from Edison’s first successful recording in 1877 to the present era of digital audio workstation (DAW)-dependent recording. Examining a recording technology’s ease of access and ease of use during a given era—the prime determinants of self-sufficiency—the viability of DIY recording is assessed from decade to decade. DIY recording is as old as the phonograph, and has a long lineage in recording history, best exemplified by “sound-on-sound” pioneer and guitar namesake Les Paul. With key advancements in recording techniques such as overdubbing and multitracking being popularized by Les Paul and other DIY-ers during the early era of tape recording, conventions and conceptions of recording music were challenged and changed. Instead of performing for the recording, the recording process became the performance, and this recording consciousness, devised in DIY studios, has persevered to the present.