Required reading...

J

jochanan

New member
okay, i'll most likely get chastized for this one, I've done searches and i haven't come up with much.

I was wondering if you all could recommend some good books for the learning engineer. To be honest, I cringe when you all talk math, but i've gotta get over that if i want to do my musicians justice. I want to give everything that I can with what I've got.

So, I just ordered Modern Recording Techniques. I had seen that one mentioned a few times. Is that a decent one?

I also think that a list of good references could benefit quite a few of us noobs.

personally, the kind of things that I will be recording are accoustic musicians, leaning toward the irish traditions. They are all my friends, in fact we all live in a large neighborhood together, so they are very forgiving of me as I learn. But I want to do better for them. So I'll be recording fiddle, cello, whistles, flutes, hand drums, accordians, pipes, guitar, etc...

Anywhere that you all could direct me I would be greatly appreciative...

John
 
Glen - Do you think those books will be useful even if you're pretty familiar with all the stuff that gets talked about around here? (gain staging, mic placement, mixing, etc.)?

I want to order the 3 of them, but not sure if I would learn much of anything.
 
Here's another idea. Go to the Google groups archive of the newsgroup rec.audio.pro. Read every post written by Scott Dorsey from the last ten years. Yes really. Well worth it.

The books are good too.
 
danny.guitar said:
Glen - Do you think those books will be useful even if you're pretty familiar with all the stuff that gets talked about around here? (gain staging, mic placement, mixing, etc.)?
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Danny,

I guess that depends on your definition of "pretty familiar" :). I will say this;

There are things that can be picked out of several of those books that often seem to get looked over my many regulars in these forums, and there is reference material in some of them that it never hurts to have on hand when one's brain gets too full to remember all the details.

A good example of the former is the fact that Owsinski's mixing book talks a bit about the 3D/4D mixing concept* (though it's not the main thrust of the book) which except for a few of us, seems to be a pretty foreign or ignored concept around here.

For the latter, the "M.R.C." book by Huber and Runstein is a pretty good reference to keep around in the library for details on general miking techniques, basic electrical concepts, as stuff like that where some specifics can get rusty or cobwebed in some of our heads after a while ;) **

Your question is one of the big reasons why I suggest that one head up to their local bookstore or library to browse the books first before buying; to determine whether there is anough new or relevant reference stuff in them to make them worth the purchase. Sometimes the Internet just can't substitute for a good hands-on test drive ;).

*One book I didn't have in the list - because I forgot it's title - is a relatively new book on 3D mixing technique. The author is Bob Gibson; maybe a search on that name and mixing will turn up the title. While I personally have some issues with some of the specifics (or lack thereof) in that book, and his 3D style is a slightly different approach than what I cut my teeth on, it does use an innovative and easy to grasp graphic technique to illustrate his ideas, and it does do a failry good job of presenting the general concepts behind 3D mixing in general.

** This was one (of many) of my root reference sources for much of the base information I included in the interactive frequency chart on the fledgling IRN website.

EDIT: I in fact, just came back from my local Borders where I did my monthly quick scan of the lastest magazine offerings. I highly recommend checking out this month's Mix magazine for an excellent article on editing and mixing vocals. If that article were a post in thiese forums, it'd be stickied and given 5 stars for sure.

G.
 
Thanks, Glen. The 3D/4D mixing interests me because I don't really know much about that. I think I could benefit from the mixing/mastering books, not sure about the first one though, as I usually only record acoustic stuff and not many other instruments.

I'd really like to see a book/video on how to get great results from sub-par gear, like what the pros would do in situations with less-than-stellar gear. Like what kinds of tips/tricks they use. Although I don't think most pros are ever in that situation. But I mean what they used to do along time ago.

I'll definitely go to the bookstore and check out those books though.
 
On digital audio, mastering, compression and monitoring: "Mastering Audio" by Bob Katz
On acoustics, sound treatment, etc: "The Master Handbook of Acoustics" by F. Alton Everest
On stereophonic microphone technique: "The New Stereo Soundbook" by Ron Streicher
On audio interconnections: "Audio Systems Design and Installation" by Philip Giddings

Cheers,

Otto
 
danny.guitar said:
I'd really like to see a book/video on how to get great results from sub-par gear, like what the pros would do in situations with less-than-stellar gear.
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There is a book at Borders on "guerilla" recording techniques. I forget the author, but at both of the Borders near me, it's normally in stock on the bookshelves.

Also, check out Bruce Miller's website (www.brucemiller.us) for some free video audio lessons. He has an installment there on the same guerrila recording topic. I have not seen it yet myself, but it might be worth checking out.

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
There is a book at Borders on "guerilla" recording techniques. I forget the author, but at both of the Borders near me, it's normally in stock on the bookshelves.

Also, check out Bruce Miller's website (www.brucemiller.us) for some free video audio lessons. He has an installment there on the same guerrila recording topic. I have not seen it yet myself, but it might be worth checking out.

G.
Click to expand...

I found this one:

Guerrilla Home Recording
http://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Home-Recording-Studio-Matter/dp/0879308346

From the reviews and looking at the table of contents, it sounds like it will just be basic stuff everyone around here knows...:( I guess it's worth checking out though, when I go to the bookstore I'll see if they have it.

There's also this one:

Practical Recording Techniques
http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Recording-Techniques-Fourth-step/dp/0240806859
 
Just get a Multi-band compressor and har-bal and be done with it!!! :p :p :p


Here's a good one if you can persevere through some formulas and binary manipulations ;

http://www.cadenzarecording.com/



Don't forget to get the purposfully obtuse and misleading (high pass = low cut and so on!)nomenclature down!!! :confused: :p



:D
:D :D
:D :D :D
 
 
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