▪ I. recording, vbl. n.
(rɪˈkɔːdɪŋ)
[-ing1.]
The action of the vb. record in various senses.
† 1. Remembrance, recollection; meditation. Obs.
| 1340 Ayenb. 55 Þe blisse þet hi habbeþ ine þe recordinge. 1382 Wyclif 2 Tim. i. 5 Takinge recordinge [gloss or mynde] of that feith, that is in thee. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour N iv b, They whiche kepe them self fro recordynge of ony wordes. 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 277 Huntyng is a playn recordyng of warre. 1559 Homilies i. Exhort. Holy Script. B j, Continual readyng and recordyng of Gods worde. |
2. The practising or singing of birds.
| 1530 Palsgr. 261/1 Recordyng of byrdes, patois. 1611 Cotgr., Resonnance,..a recording, as of birds. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1053 The recording of birds, modulatio avium alterna. 1773 Barrington in Phil. Trans. LXIII. 250 The next stage in the notes of a bird is termed, by the bird-catchers, recording. 1852 Miss Pratt Nat. Songst. 49 This practising is by bird fanciers called recording. |
3. a. The action of setting down or putting on record. Also
attrib.| 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iv. i. §1 So certain a recording of them, as may be least liable to any suspicion of imposture or deceit. 1684 I. Mather (title) An Essay for the recording of Illustrious Providences. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 827 This recording is necessary, in order that the deed may have the benefit of the statute. |
b. The action or process of recording sound or television pictures.
| 1904 S. R. Bottone Talking Machines & Records 67 Male voices generally come out more true to the singer's timbre than ladies', the delicate overtones of these latter being more altered in recording. 1923 O. Mitchell Talking Machine Industry ii. 15 Mr. Fenby,..in 1863, took out a patent for the electrical recording and reproducing of sound. 1935 Discovery Oct. 309/1 The air plant has to be shut off for a few minutes during an actual recording, on account of the noise of the air being forced through the ventilators. 1976 I. R. Sinclair Master Stereo Cassette Recording i. 5 Magnetic recording..is almost as old in concept as disc recording, but has had to wait for modern technology to be developed to the stage at which it could be used successfully. |
4. A representation of sounds or pictures in a form from which the original can be reproduced by suitable apparatus.
| 1932 New Yorker 11 June 46/3 Accepting the recordings as accurate, I venture that Mme. Leider is a musicianly performer with a fine sense of text. 1949 Radio Times 15 July 13/1 Sandy Macpherson takes you to ‘The Chapel in the Valley’ (BBC recording). 1958 J. Moir High Quality Sound Reproduction vii. 130 The standards adopted for 78-r.p.m. recordings have proved unnecessarily robust for electrical reproducers. 1968 Listener 18 July 91/1 The Seekers, lugubriously watching a recording of themselves singing ‘The Carnival is Over’. 1977 Times 24 Aug. 14/4 The basis of the library will be its gradual acquisition of recordings by poets of their verse at the time of its publication. |
5. attrib. and
Comb., as (sense 3 a)
recording fee; (sense 3 b)
recording deck (
deck n.1 3 f),
recording right,
recording room,
recording session,
recording studio,
recording tape,
recording van;
recording amplifier, one provided to amplify the signals supplied to the cutter (in disc recording) or to the recording head (in tape recording);
recording channel, a circuit or set of equipment used for sound or video recording;
recording engineer, an engineer responsible for the technical aspects of recording when a sound or video recording is made;
recording head, a head (
head n. 11 g) for recording on to magnetic tape or wire;
recording level, a measure of the average strength of a recorded signal.
In some cases not clearly distinguishable from the
ppl. adj.| 1934 Wireless World 5 Jan. 9/3 The *recording amplifier is specially designed to amplify the currents delivered by the microphone or ‘A’ amplifier to a degree suitable for the electrical conditions as determined by the recording head. 1964 A. A. McWilliams Tape Recording & Reproduction ix. 185 The purpose of the recording amplifier is to deliver sufficient current to the record head to magnetize the tape correctly over the working frequency range. 1975 G. J. King Audio Handbk. vii. 160 The difference signals are finally mixed with the sum signals and pass with the latter through the RIAA equaliser and hence to the cutter head, via the recording amplifier. |
| 1938 Motion Pict. Sound Engin. (Acad. Motion Pict. Arts & Sci.) v. 69 A stage *recording channel uses one or more transmitters on the stage to initiate the electrical energy necessary for recording either on film or on disc. 1949 Frayne & Wolfe Elem. Sound Recording xi. 184 A complete recording system is known as a recording channel. 1975 G. J. King Audio Handbk. x. 237 The controlled amplifier in the recording channel is adjusted in gain by rectified signal from a control amplifier fed from the recording amplifier. |
| 1977 Times 24 Aug. 14/2 Three superior *recording decks would cost {pstlg}8,000. |
| 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 268 *Recording engineer (BBC), professional engineer whose job includes the technical recording of sound and the editing of tape, but not microphone balance and control. 1977 Gramophone Mar. 1453/1 It is indifferently balanced, with the recording engineer conspicuously experimenting with his levels. |
| 1898 Daily News 15 Aug. 7/1 *Recording fees are regulated solely by the miners themselves. |
| 1934 Wireless World 5 Jan. 9/2 The ‘*recording’ and ‘reproducing’ heads are each provided with a micrometer adjustment for controlling the separation of the pole pieces. 1971 Physics Bull. June 359/1 Magnetic tapes of the kind used in computers or as video⁓tapes in television vary in abrasiveness so that some tapes cause excessive wear of expensive recording heads. |
| 1934 Wireless World 5 Jan. 10/2 Provided that the maximum *recording level of 10 dbs. below 1 milliwatt is not seriously exceeded when recording, the distortion due to non-linear magnetic effects is hardly noticeable aurally. 1975 G. J. King Audio Handbk. vii. 157 Recording level may be given in terms of amplitude or velocity. |
| 1962 *Recording right [see gear v. 4 a]. |
| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 12 Dec. 9/4 Employees..assisted many of the frightened girls to cross from the blazing building to the Gramophone *recording-rooms. 1975 Language for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) xxv. 425 Almost a quarter of the schools had a projection room and 14 per cent a recording room. |
| 1927 Melody Maker Sept. 923/1 All their days..appear to be occupied with *recording sessions. 1962 Times 5 July 15/4 The raw product of a recording session is a magnetized length of tape. |
| 1928 Gramophone Apr. 451 (heading) Round the *recording studios. 1958 [see cut v. 23 d]. 1977 Times 18 Apr. (Gramophone Suppl.) p. iv/2 Contemporary popular music is to a large extent a child of the recording studio. |
| 1960 Guardian 9 Nov. 11/2 The biggest manufacturer of *recording tape in Europe. 1977 Times 24 Aug. 14/1 Imagine 10 shelves..holding 380 reels of 101/4 in polystyrene recording tape. |
| 1940 P. Fleming Flying Visit i. 17 Wires..poured into the streamlined flanks of a..lightly armoured *recording van. |
▪ II. recording, ppl. a. (
rɪˈkɔːdɪŋ)
[-ing2.] a. That records,
freq. in
phr. recording angel.
In some cases not clearly distinguishable from the
vbl. n. used
attrib. (see
prec., sense 5).
| 1761 Sterne Tr. Shandy V. viii, The recording angel, as he wrote it down, dropp'd a tear upon the word. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 551 Marble and recording brass decay. 1781 ― Table-t. 21 When recording History displays Feats of renown. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 30 Every believer is attended by two guardian and recording angels. 1870 Burton Hist. Scot lxv. (1873) VI. 2 Had the Romans been a recording people like the Normans [etc.]. 1892 W. Gilbert Phonograph iii. 82 Adjust the screw on the guide rod until the recording stylus makes a slight groove on the revolving wax cylinder. 1937 ‘M. Innes’ Hamlet, Revenge! iii. iii. 249 Phonetic nicety apart..the machine..combined recording and reproducing units in an unusually compact way. 1949 Radio Times 15 July 14 Richard Dimbleby, with the BBC Mobile Recording Unit. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 260 The Peak programme meter (PPM) is used by the BBC and most recording companies. |
b. Of measuring instruments: able to produce a record of readings obtained.
| 1873 F. Jenkin Electr. & Magn. xxii. §7 The electro-magnet of the recording instrument. 1904 R. M. Walmsley Electr. in Service of Man i. ix. 357 A recording wattmeter, which would record the number of watts at every instant, so that..the total energy could be measured up or calculated. 1930 C. J. Stewart Aircraft Instruments viii. 146 It is sometimes necessary to record the temperature of the air during flight, and for this purpose recording thermometers are used. 1961 R. Rawlinson in G. F. Tagg Pract. Electr. Engin. III. 363 Situations demanding the use of a recording ammeter are fortunately not common. |