Why would you record audio in the cloud?

By Thomas Gerbrands | Latest News

Jul 24
Reclouder Cloud-based Audio Recording

Why would you record audio in the cloud?

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By Thomas Gerbrands
on July 24, 2019 in
Latest News

Cloud Vision

Once upon a time people recorded and listened to music using tapes and vinyl. Until this day audiophiles still believe this delivers the best quality in recorded music. In the past 50 years a lot has changed, but these methods are still valid and widely used. 

New technology did arrive. The production process is changing. With a laptop and a variety of software, bedroom producers became a valuable source for audio production.

Meanwhile listeners followed a fascinating path along new forms and mediums. From vinyl we went to walkmans. From walkmans we arrived at iPods. With a disrupting decade of illegal downloads, finally, the streaming services arrived. The music industry is recovering and it is cloud-based. What will be next?

Today

Today the listening experience is focused on cloud services. It provides an easy-to-use, low-entry, sponsored or subscription form of music consumption. We see this in many shapes in the entertainment industry with a leading role for the gaming industry (Steam), closely followed by films and series (Netflix) and music (Spotify, Apple Music)

On the production side the immense development of technology has been a real game-changer. The fast evolution of hard- & software pushed the production process forward. New styles of music emerged along the way. It made music production easy accessible and today more and more people engage with the creation of music. 

At the same time we see that few techniques survive the ravages of time. That is evolution. Survival of the fittest. A cross-breed of the old and the new, delivering improved forms, carried out by creators and consumers. That is why we say: "Let’s go hybrid!"

We create the future. Change is happening all the time. Streaming as a consumer of audio and video is the new norm. The internet of things (IoT) and 5G mobile networks (5G) are just a next step. The cost of chipsets and cloud space are getting cheaper and cheaper rapidly. We believe that the future of recording audio is cloud-based, and it is already happening.

Your Daily Life In The Cloud

Currently there are already many cloud-based services that are part of your daily routine. For instance with Google Drive you can store files, share documents and collaborate online. Google Docs transformed the well-known Microsoft Office into a virtual office in the cloud. Today it has become a regular thing in any business or industry to collaborate in documents (Word), spreadsheets (Excel) and presentations (Powerpoint).

Dropbox is another company that is taking its cloud service to the next level. With dropbox you can save files online and synchronise those files on different devices. It is easy to share them or add them to your email and so on. With additional services as Dropbox Paper task management, creative briefing and time management are taken into an online environment in the cloud.

Last but not least we like to point out the versatile solution by Apple: iCloud. With iCloud you can synchronise contacts, calendars and documents. iCloud stores music, apps, photos, notes and even diaries to secure your data as a back-up system and synchronises them among your (Apple) devices. If something changes on one device, all other devices are updated automatically and wirelessly.

Of course there are many other cloud services available. We would like to investigate them specifically in the audio industry.

What about creative clouds?

For consumers of music and video there are already many cloud solutions available. Actually it delivered an extreme change in consumption of digital entertainment. Services like Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube need no further discussion. We have seen online collaboration initiatives like Bandlab, Soundtrap, Jamkazam, and many others using cloud-based software tools in many different forms. Also there are specific cloud services for audio processing and online documentation. Let us walk through a few of them to get a better understanding.  

Avid Cloud Solutions offers several cloud-based solutions for creative individuals and media teams attached to their hardware products. With their cloud services they improve the workflow for collaboration and simplify logistics, management, distribution and storage of media files such as audio and video.

Roland Cloud is a cloud-based suite of software synthesizers, drum machines, and sampled instruments. The idea is that any subscriber always has access to the latest updated versions of Roland’s software instruments. Besides being always up-to-date, Roland Cloud also aims to be a worldwide community of music enthusiasts, creators and producers developing and sharing new sounds and ideas. 

How does this fit Reclouder?

The basic idea behind Reclouder is to upgrade the quality of your creative work and benefit from the latest trends and technology. With the arrival of 5G and IoT, Reclouder takes you into the next decade of recording audio. Reclouder offers a future ready solution for recording audio with cloud-based services and solutions. 

Reclouder is designed from a decentralized perspective. This is different then all the other recording devices on the market. They all offer a centralised solution operated by one single person. Think about live mixing consoles, multitrack recorders, audio interfaces and laptops. With Reclouder every creator can own a device and this provides digital data for ownership, split sheets and copyrights. We record audio with the end result in mind.

The first Reclouder

We have developed a versatile solution that connects with musicians, videographers, DJs and sound engineers. This is our first model. When we launch this model successfully we will deliver more dedicated models adjusted to the needs of specific cases. Think about drummers and guitar players. Also we are constantly improving our cloud service and firmware. The best is yet to come.

The essence of Reclouder

Reclouder is in essence an SD recorder. It functions as a lossless audio thru-box as well. This means that you can record the same signal that is injected into the live sound. For instance, while musicians play on stage, Reclouder records and the audience enjoys. Whenever Reclouder connects with Wi-Fi, it will automatically upload the recordings in the cloud. From the cloud you can select the best recordings for processing and forward this to your production engineer. Or download it to process in your favourite DAW. You can also link multiple Reclouders with bluetooth, control it with your smartphone and record in multiple sound sources at once. 

Reclouder and video production

Reclouder allows videographer to focus on shooting video and at the same time, with a quick setup, you can get premium audio recordings without complicated operations. As a videographer you connect any mic you already own, adjust the gain and start recording. The auto gain feature will make sure you always get the perfect audio file. In addition, especially for multi-camera recording, there is not any wireless solution in the market that allows you to synchronise multitrack audio recording that easily.

Reclouder Cloud Service

If you want to record audio for music or video it is common that you bring an engineer along or compromise on quality. With Reclouder you can easily set up your audio recording system and focus on your music or shooting video. What it essentially does is record audio together with your best microphones, equipment and instruments. It is an additional value to your current setup and workflow. 

More recordings, more work, more knowledge

Now every creator can record high quality audio without any expertise or technical knowledge. You record audio, store and sync your recordings in the cloud and document your audio files for post-production. This is important. With Reclouder the creator creates and the engineer processes. You no longer need to ask a live sound engineer to record your audio, you can share your recordings from the cloud and let your studio engineer take care of editing and processing in post-production. This can be done almost instantly. You can also chose to process your recordings yourself when you are ready to do so.

The cloud and beyond

One of the main advantages of using cloud services is that it evolves and develops without you having to update anything. With Reclouder we are looking to streamlining your workflow. We offer a fast and easy solution for recording and sharing audio files. Besides that we are developing dedicated audio processing tools integrated in our cloud service. 

If you are a public speaker, musician, videographer, DJ or recording engineer you can use our effective tools to take care of the job. You can think of services as mixing, mastering, equalisation, noise reduction and more. If you do not have any experience with audio processing, our cloud service offers many solutions to upgrade the quality of your audio and take care of a professional outcome. Our cloud service is focused on delivering high quality results that suit the needs of your project. 

A special message to sound engineers

Consider this, as an experienced engineer, why not outsource simple audio editing and processing to our cloud service? It might be cost-efficient and faster if our service can cut the entire live recording into separate songs, sync the files, take care of time consuming basics and deliver them back to you.

Consider the amount of extra work you can do and clients you can serve. Think differently. What if we offered an online marketplace, an online platform, where you can offer your skills and get more clients? Think ahead. How can this benefit your business and how can you integrate the skills you've improved over the years?

We consider that live sound and live music recording are two different things. We do not replace the console nor the sound engineer. While you focus on live sound and make sure the audience and the band have the best experience, Reclouder can be set up easily and operated by anyone to record audio. The production engineer, who prefers the studio over a live mixing console, can take care of post-production from the comfort of the studio.

The survey

We do not have the answer for everything. That is why we value your feedback and opinions highly. The more you share your ideas and experiences with us, the better we can improve our product. That is why we want your feedback to deliver and develop the best service you can imagine. Straight from the cloud. We have conducted a simple survey to get a better understanding of your needs. It will take you way less than 2 minutes to fill in the form and help building the future of audio recording. 

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(3) comments

Jonathan Sanborn July 26, 2019

Hello, thanks for your time. Writing music is tough enough, wading through all the technology entanglements simply hinders the process. Dorothy Parker said it best, “I hate writing, but I love having written.” How does this device simplify the operation? Be well in all ways.

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    Thomas Gerbrands July 31, 2019

    Hi Jonathan,

    Many thanks for taking the time to “write” a comment. As the English say: “Every cloud has a silver lining”. From my perspective this means that “all the technology entanglements” might hinder your personal situation, at the same time technology opens up an entire world of music and recording for a wide range of people. As for one person the smartphone me be a hinder in social interaction, for one other it is thé way to socially interact.

    That said I will try to answer your question. Please note that Reclouder is not a device to write music. It is a device to record audio. That is why I will focus my answer based on recording audio and not necessarily on writing music.

    1. Reclouder is easy to install – as it only needs one XLR or 3.5mm minijack connected with your preferred microphone or instrument (like a keybord or a dj mixer) to record.

    2. Reclouder functions everywhere – it is either battery or USB powered and highly portable. You can record with its integrated SD card anytime, anywhere.

    3. Reclouder integrates easily – as Reclouder is a recording device build to record, you can connect it with your professional equipment and use it as a lossless audio thru-box. This means you can integrate it in a live music setup and record the same signal as sent to the live sound (mixer/PA) and use it for instance with a video microphone and DSLR camera to record sublime audio with your video.

    4. Reclouder can be operated by anyone – as with live music or audio for video one needs to have technical know-how to record multiple sound sources simultaneously. With video, most of the time, sound is not priority and recorded with a high quality microphone but with a low quality pre-amp as integrated in the camera. Reclouder uses its own prograde preamp to ensure the highest quality. With Reclouder you record with one simple click on the hardware device or on your smartphone using our mobile app.

    5. Reclouder can be used the way you prefer – as said before you can connect your preferred microphone. You can also chose to record on the SD card and use Reclouder as a SD recorder. You can expand the usability as you desire. You can start using automatic storage when connected to Wi-Fi. You can link multiple Reclouders and create a multi source (multitrack) recording network which is installed and operated with the same simplicity as recording with a single Reclouder. The good thing is that this expansion is not mandatory. You can use it the way you desire. We call that a smart hybrid solution.

    6. Reclouder uses a cloud service to store, share & ease up the production process – with our cloud connection, if you desire, you will store your recordings automatically in the cloud. From there you can share it to your best producer to take your raw recordings to the next level in post-production. Or you can grab it yourself from anywhere with an internet connection to process it further in your DAW. As described in this blog, we are also working on expanding the features of our cloud service and provide you with a one-click scenario to upgrade your sound recordings by us in the cloud.

    7. You no longer need technical knowledge to record audio – with Reclouder you can easliy instal and operate to make a recording. Your live sound engineer can focus on live sound. Your production engineer can focus on post-production. If you never work with sound engineers, you now can record and focus on playing the best music. Reclouder and the cloud service will take care of making your recordings sound professional. You start the recording proces with one single click. The recording starts and will end up automatically in the cloud. From there – with another click – you can process the recording to make it sound professional and distribute it the way you desire. The only thing you have to do is connect your microphone or instrument and start recording.

    To close this reply, as I am taking too much of your time already, I would like to point out a specific benefit for writing music. When you write and record music with multiple musicians, every musician can own a Reclouder. As said, you can connect multiple Reclouders and create a cloud session. From the start of the recording, you make sure every recorded sound is secured in the cloud and all data is digitally saved. This will be useful data when you proceed with publication of your recording. You already have the exact data of contribution to the music recorded in sound and accompanied data in the cloud – ready for distribution.

    What you actually do when recording a cloud session is create a digitally verified split sheet and register the ownership of your written music instantly.

    I hope this helps. Enjoy your day!

    Reply
Rick Sadanstein October 30, 2020

Great!

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