Recommend me a book!

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paw1

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I started home recording a few years ago with absolutely no previous experience at hand. I've become a lot better since I started, but I still suck pretty badly. I realize that I need to back up my knowledge with theory if I want to improve. Are there any books you can recommend on mixing and/or sound theory?

Best regards

paw1
 
Books are good, but there's nothing in a book that you can't get from just reading stuff on the internet.
 
we use this in my recording class as a base guide. Has a lot of great info from anything from microphone design, acoustics, analog recording, lots of en-depth stuff on a lot different subjects. I've read through it maybe 5 times, definitely some great info.

I think you can download the PDF files for it online for free, just do a google search.
 
Mixing Audio by Roey Izhaki


wasnt like "eureka" but explained a lot and gave a solid foundation on which to learn

i also read guerrilla home recording which was good as well but not focused on mixing
 
Two books I can recommend:

First, AUDIO MADE EASY (OR HOW TO BE A SOUND ENGINEER WITHOUT REALLY TRYING. It's not about mixing specifically, more a general introduction to the concepts and vocabularly of working with audio. It's written in a conversational, amusing style but I can vouch for the fact the all the engineering is accurate, if simplified. I've recommended this as a primer to several people before--and two of them have gone on to work professionally in the industry.

At the other end of the spectrum, there's the YAMAHA SOUND REINFORCEMENT HANDBOOK. Don't be put off by the "Sound Reinforcement" in the title; it's more a general reference guide to anything and everything about working with sound. Unless you're even more of a nerd than me, it's unlikely that you'll sit down and read it from cover to cover--but it contains everything from advice on interpreting gear specs, every sound-related formula you could ever need and lots you don't, definitions of everything from dB to pink noise and wiring specs for every connector you could ever wish to make. Every sound professional I know has a copy on the bookshelf to pull out as needed and many (including me) are on their second or third copy because they get thumbed so much.

Hope this helps.
 
Guerilla is great. So is "Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio"...chock-full of stuff!
 
Greg_L said:
Books are good, but there's nothing in a book that you can't get from just reading stuff on the internet.
Click to expand...

You are probably right, but some times I find it better to have a book because in a book there aren't a 100 things that can distract you. And you can read it in bed.

Thank you all for your recommendations. I'll check them out on amazon to see what people have to say about them. When I first buy something there I'll often throw in a bunch more stuff just to get the free delivery. Maybe I'll end up with all of the books you have recommended me :laughings:
 
I find that alot of times books can bypass all the nonsense, hearsay, and advertising that you get online... Online you must spend more hours balancing opinions back and forth before you arrive at the crux of the matter... Thats not to say that there isn't misleading information in books, but that its definitely been filtered quite a few times over... Online there are folks that spend all day in sarcasm mode (which doesnt work well online generally, and tends to only cater to others already in the know) and sometimes completely misleading beginners who spout random nonsense... I find it very helpful to read books in addition to my online studies! Some subjects don't actually have books dedicated to them, so good luck!
 
The internet {and here specifically} contains lots of stellar stuff. But as a person who loves reading, recommending just the internet slightly misses the point if I'm looking specifically for books. I'd say that in the last couple of years, far and away the most stuff I've read on recording and mixing has come from the net. But I still dig books and like to read on the loo, in the bath, on planes, in bed etc and I tend to highlight alot. Possibly it's an age thing. It'll be interesting to see whether or not kids in 20 years will still read books in any vast quantities.
 
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