How is digital editing different from analog editing?
In the days of analog editing, one edited with a razor blade and a diagonal splicing block. Making a cut meant scrubbing the tape over the head, marking it with a grease pencil, cutting, and then taping the whole thing back together. Analog editing (particularly on music) was as much art as it was craft, and good music editors were worth their weight in gold. In many circles, analog editing has gone the way of the Edsel, replaced by digital workstation editing. For complex tasks, DAW-based editing offers remarkable speed, the ability to tweak an edit after you make it, a plethora of crossfade parameters that can be optimized for the edit being made, and most importantly, the ability to undo mistakes with a keystroke. Nearly all commercial releases are being edited digitally nowadays. Since satisfactory editing systems can be had for around $1,000, even home recordists are catching onto the advantages. More elaborate systems can cost tens of thousands of dollars. There are certain areas
