Mark's Pages

May 7, 2004:

"It's really simple. The tape is divided into some number of discrete lengthwise portions. Think of them like lanes on the freeway. Each of these portions is a 'track'. Each track has separate information.

"In recording studios the tape is two inches wide and divided into twenty-four or thirty-two tracks, each of which will be recorded with an individual instrument. So you'll have guitar on one track, bass on another, snare drum on a third, bass drum on a fourth, and so on. Separating the instruments like this allows more control over how you combine them in the end into the final 'mix'.

"The cassette tapes you use in your car are divided into four tracks. This is because stereo requires two, one for each speaker. On a cassette, there are four because there are two in each direction.

"Simple."

The blank look showed a couple of things. That you don't have to be Einstein to work at the State Department. Actually it really showed just that one thing.