Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Stacking recorded parts let one player sound like a band. The figure is taken from Library of Congress, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a music fact?

Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Les Paul built one of the first multitrack machines

Stacking recorded parts let one player sound like a band He began with disc cutters and moved to tape, adding one part at a time and mixing them down. Ampex commercialised eight track tape in the late 1950s. Multitracking became the organising principle of studio recording. It sits in Mondo's music collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Library of Congress

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Technology trivia

More facts like this

Les Paul helped Ampex build an eight-track recorderSel-Sync let him overdub a new part while hearing the ones already recorded One valve microphone defined the studio soundThe Neumann U47 has been behind countless vocal recordings since 1947 Nashville built a recording system around session playersThe same small group of musicians played on hundreds of hits A handful of players ran Los Angeles popThe Wrecking Crew played on records across rock, pop and film Microphones are chosen for two different jobsCondensers are sensitive and detailed, dynamics are rugged and forgiving Most records are built in layersParts are recorded at different times and combined, rather than played together

Tags: multitrack, studios, history

Les Paul built one of the first multitrack machines: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Stacking recorded parts let one player sound like a band. The figure is taken from Library of Congress, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a music fact?: Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.