History of sound recording and analysis equipment

Abstract

Over the last 100 years, there has been an explosion of research in the field of animal bioacoustics. These changes have been facilitated by technological advances, decrease in size and cost of recording equipment, increased battery life and data storage capabilities, the transition from analog-to-digital recorders, and the development of sound analysis software. Acousticians can now study the airborne and underwater sounds from vocal species across the globe at temporal and spatial scales that were not previously feasible and often in the absence of human observers. Many advances in the field of bioacoustics were enabled by equipment initially developed for the military, professional musicians, and radio, TV, and film industries. This chapter reviews the history of the development of sound recorders, transducers (i.e., microphones and hydrophones), and signal processing hardware and software used in animal bioacoustics research. Microphones and hydrophones can be used as a single sensor or as an array of elements facilitating the localization of sound sources. Analog recorders, which relied on magnetic tape, have been replaced with digital recorders; acoustic data was initially stored on tapes, but is now stored on optical discs, hard drives, and/or solid-state memories. Recently, tablets and smartphones have become popular recording and analysis devices. With these advances, it has never been easier, or more cost-efficient, to study the sounds of the world.