Hi,

In message 8y5qd.355388$Pl.15905@pd7tw1no, Spiderant
writes

I know this is a very basic question (and I will be hitting the library
today to see if I can improve my basic knowledge),

Start with "The acoustical foundations of music" by Bachus, ISBN:
0393090965. It does a very good job of explaining how musical
instruments create sound, and it also explores how various transducers
(such as ears and microphones) react to the pressure variations in air
caused by sounds.

but could you tell me
exactly what or how much information is going from a microphone to a
recording device? I always just assumed that, at any given point in time,
there nothing more than a polarity difference between two wires. If
possible, could you tell me what is happening at each given point?

It's not electrical polarity as such that we're interested in. You need
to take a step back, to pressure changes in air caused by instruments
making sound (small ones, sometimes happening quite fast).
Oversimplifying, sounds are caused by air molecules moving. They have
collisions, which make them move back and fore, causing local regions of
high pressure and low pressure, which propagate outwards as a pressure
wave at the 'speed of sound'[1], like ripples on a lake. When the
pressure wave reaches a microphone, the pressure variations cause
changes in voltage at the output of the microphone. Assuming a perfect
pure-pressure transducer (say, a really good omnidirectional microphone)
you get out of the microphone a varying voltage over time which gives a
representation of how the pressure wave of the sound varied over time. A
transducer changes one form of energy to another - in this case,
acoustic energy (sound) is changed to electrical energy.

So now we have a continuously changing electrical signal on a pair[2] of
wires. Now amplify it, if necessary, so that it can be fed to your
recording device. You can now (e.g.) sample and quantise the voltage
levels frequently enough and with enough precision to capture all the
needed information (e.g. to store it digitally) or you could use the
signal to change the magnetic properties of a strip of magnetic tape (to
use two examples). What you have 'recorded' is a record of the changes
in voltage over time that occurred due to changes in air pressure at a
specific point in space (where the microphone was placed).

If you decide you really want to know about all this stuff and you have
free time, look up TA225 (The technology of music) on the open
University web site. It's a bargain, but it will be better next year
(when it's finished!).

[Side note to Jim Lesurf - if you looking for some interesting work, get
in touch with the OU - the TA225 course started this year, and they
could use some help - far too many mistakes, some of which I am still
disputing with them, even after the exam!]

HTH.

[1] Whatever that is where you are.
[2] Sometimes. It could be more...
--
Regards,
Glenn Booth
Caveat: I've been drinking. Well, it's Saturday night.