New analog recording book

[cjacek]

I just stumbled onto this while browsing the amazon.com site:

http://www.amazon.com/Analog-Recordi...4388293&sr=1-1

An "Analog Recording" book, published in 2006, currently on amazon.com .... now THATS freaky!

Hey, I may just brake down and order the thing, if anything, for curiosity sake. Who knows, may turn out to be a great little book.

[FALKEN]

totally weird!


that guy is living in the past!


1970 called and they want their book back!

[themaddog]

If this book has any diagrams or anything about tape machine maintenance, I'm sold.

-MD

[_DK]

I've just finished reading it actually. Not as good as I thought... this forum, IMHO, is of more value than the book.

[themaddog]

Thanks for the heads up.

If I could find a book with simple diagrams that can explain tape machine maintenance to an idiot ("Tape Machines for Dummies") then I'd be all set.

-MD

[cjacek]

Yeah, thanks for the heads up DK. Can you possibly shed a bit of light (like a mini review) on the book ? Thanks!

[cjacek]

Yeah, I agree, if someone made an all inclusive book, with picts gallore, on tape recorder maintenance, setup, calibration etc etc ... then I think it'd be a winner. So, anyone up for the task ?

[A Reel Person]

"The Mysteries of Analog Recording"...???
Heh.

[A Reel Person]

The Musician's Guide To Home Recording (Paperback)
by Peter McIan (Author), Larry Wichman (Author)
(Author)

(which is apparently the same as):...

The Musician's Guide to Home Recording (Hardcover)
by Peter McIan (Author), Larry Wichman (Author)

(which is probably the same book as below, only listed wrong, or maybe it's an older title. I dunno):...

Musician's Guide to Home Tape Recording (Paperback)
by Peter McIan (Author)

Using Your Portable Studio: A Complete Course to the Art of Using a Portable Studio (Paperback)
by Peter McIan (Author), Peter McIan (Author)


Making the Ultimate Demo, 2E (Paperback)
by Gino Robair (Author)

The Studio Business Book (Mix Pro Audio Series) (Paperback)
by Jim Mandell (Author)

Lemme know if those links work for'ya, okay guys? Thanx!

[_DK]

It's a pretty short book, which only covers some beginner stuff (what you need for a home studio & how much it might cost etc, etc.), I haven't found it very informative (not as informative as it is at HomeRecording), most interesting topic was the reverb chambers and how important those are for every studio to have. He shows how to build one (and how easy it is, if you've got room like he does ) on the example of his own. The guy who wrote it is using one of the machines The Beatles were using, on which he now records White Stripes.
It's a good read, but could be more in depth (and more thick!).
Makes you feel kinda proud when seeing the year 2006 on the back cover

[cjacek]

Thanks guys!

[cjacek]

Originally Posted by _DK

Makes you feel kinda proud when seeing the year 2006 on the back cover

Yeah, that right there is the selling point for me.

[Beck]

I looked through that at Border’s Books a few months ago. It’s ok, but has a couple of technical errors in it that I found in a quick skimming. More than that the overall problem is it’s at recording 101 level, and has a retro perspective (of course). Also less than 200 pages long.

The best books about analog don’t say “Analog” in the title because when they were written there was no other way.

Don’t worry, 1970 isn’t missing a book. If was written back then it would say “Handbook of Recording” or something like that, and you might see the word analog in it once or twice if you’re lucky, and the word digital not at all.

[Tim Gillett]

Couldnt agree more, Tim.

For me I'm afraid that's the situation analog tape seems largely to be in now: Two extremes.
It's either a Neil Young type of person recording his latest on a 2" Studer, cost no object, and I guess with the best analog tech support in the business, or newbies wanting to go a bit 'retro' or 'analog', sometimes just because a friend gave them an old 4 track for next to nothing.
The book is obviously aimed at this latter group.

It's like the middle ground has all but vanished, which I think is a shame. Analog audio tape technology reached great heights, whether it was a Fostex or Tascam or Studer. But not many seem to grasp that today.

Hope I'm wrong.

Tim G

[Good Friend]

I am 26. I use a tascam 38 reel to reel because my friends and i started making 4 track recordings on cassettes when we were about 17ish. When we started hearing other peoples digital recordings from studios around town, we always thought they sounded thin and impersonal, which was probably due more to the fact that it was a long time ago for digital, and also recording studios suck most times at giving you a unique sound. So for me there was really never a need or desire to get a digital setup. Firstly, i dont care what other people are doing, and secondly i was more impressed with the sound of my friends cassette portastudio recordings. Did they sound professional? No. But they had more character and to this day are less easily pegged as being any one obvious era of sound or production standards. For me neglecting to move to digital was a matter not of being "retro" or stuck in my ways, it was because i believed where i already was was more than enough, and still full of creative potential.

Whats strange is that the other day some 18 year old guy i met who is in some modern junk band was blown away that i used analog and started saying "yeah it just sounds better" and all this stuff, even though he never used even cassettes. Its a mindblow to realize that most young people start these days on a computer or a digital stand alone. Not that thats bad, im just saying its weird how these kids are hearing from somewhere that analog is "better", never having had used it themselves. It must be guitar player magazine articles and band interviews they are reading.

But anyways...