Hello again,
Rather than bothering you guys and clogging your forum with basic questions, perhaps you guys can point me to a good basics book? I've seen a couple, but I don't know which are good, and which aren't worth the paper they are printed on... Or are books even the way to go? (If not, then how else can I learn the basics?) :confused:
Comments
Hi Vlad,
Modern Recording Techniques is quite OK. Good overview of everything. https://routledgete…
Cheers,
Matthias
Check out Sound On Sound online at https://www.soundon…
The editor Paul White has written many excellent recording books such "Recording and Production Techniques" and "MIDI for the Technophobe" which are both easy to read and very informative.
The site has a searchable index of past issues and SOS is going for a long time now......
Sean McC
There are a lot of good books on recording techniques out there. Craig Anderton has several books and articles that are really helpful. However, the best way to learn is to try. There is no substitute for practicing your craft and trying new things.
I learned a lot 25 years ago while trying to get a professional sounding recording with a cassette deck in my unfinished basement. Hey, my first PA system consisted of a Radio Shack battery powered four channel (volume only) mic mixer run into a Sears Silvertone guitar amp. We must have played fifty gigs with that setup.
My first recording was in 1965 with a Wollensack mono tape deck with a mic placed in the middle of the room. I still have that recording and it wasn't bad. Practice using what you got..
As a musician learning about engineering, I found the book by Peter McIan and Larry Wichman to be very useful, straightforward and practical. I don't remember the exact name, but I saw it today at Barnes and Noble, just reissued. To my knowledge it's the only book the two of them have written together. It's a large size paperback with a picture of Peter Gabriel on the cover (it looked like him, anyway).
I found it extremely helpful.
Good Luck,
TC
Not sure if this is what you mean but the book by McIan and Wichman that I'm familiar with is "The Musician's Guide to Home Recording". The cover of my paperback, a Fireside book published by Simon & Schuster in 1988, features some no-name wannabe at his mixer in his basement holding a guitar and pushing a fader.
I recommend the book as a good overview of the basics, but it is a little dated and therefore slanted toward analog. Nothing wrong with that unless you're not doing any tape work and never plan to work in a facility that does.
PS-McIan's biggest claim to fame I believe is recording Men At Work. You know, "Do you come from a land down-under? Ooooh, yeah!"
-kent
Cool, thanks Bear.
Vlad