Editing With Razor Blades

“Digital has replaced analog, but what have we lost?'' asks Aleks Krotoski the host of BBC Radio 4’s The Digital Human. A series dedicated to exploring the digital world. 

In this episode, she explores the world before digital editing, where putting together a radio programme meant measuring out tape and using a razor blade to cut and slice together the recorded word; and where mistakes couldn’t be undone with Ctrl - Z. 

Aleks and producer Peter McManus explore this change from more linear to abstract creative process. With digital, each decision made has low stakes and can be reversed if it does not bring the desired effect. However, if your choice has a tangible aspect and needs to be placed, bit by bit, in order as you go, your finished product is final. So you need to be even more deliberate and confident in your editorial decisions. 

As I type this I'm aware that I'm fixing and adjusting the words and spellings as I go. The occasional typo here, the odd comma there. If I was using a typewriter I'd be going through a lot of paper. 

“Making radio documentaries used to mean several tape machines playing at once to combine interviews, music and narration. Editing was done with a razor blade and sticky tape.”

I had the pleasure of seeing and speaking to some of the people making this programme before it went out a few years back. Definitely worth a listen.

Listen to the progrmme on BBC Sounds