Sound Engineering Books Pdf

[Vicki]

Inaudio production, real-world experience is the most valuable currency. However, nothing is more powerful than experience and theory combined. Whether you wish to improve your understanding of recording, mixing, acoustics, or anything in the professional audio industry, there is a book to help you.

This book is also written by Bobby Owsinski. He packages mixing theory in a framework consisting of six elements: Balance, Panorama, Frequency Range, Dimension, Dynamics, and Interest. He also discusses mastering and how to mix with mastering in mind. This book has had a profound effect on how I approach mixing.

The Sound Reinforcement Handbook by Gary Davis & Ralph Jones is one of the most classic resources in the audio production industry. I regularly pull this book off of the shelf for guidance when making a video.

The final book on this list, Handbook for Sound Engineers by Glen Ballou, is a tremendous resource for anyone wishing to gain a more technical understanding of audio production. I commonly refer to this book when creating content for Audio University that requires more thorough research.

This book will improve your understanding of the more complex concepts, such as acoustical and electrical engineering, in audio production. It is a wealth of knowledge gathered from over thirty industry-leading engineers.

While I prefer the hard copy of these books, perhaps you would like to save some money by purchasing the e-book version of the titles listed above. All of these books are available through Amazon Kindle.

Browse a selection of free resources from some our bestselling and newest books. Written by experts in audio engineering and music production, topics include; Mixing, Mastering, Production and Recording.

This book is a part of the greater Hal Leonard Recording Method of books, each book teaching a specific subject. Instrument & Vocal Recording goes into details of how to record the most common instruments, such as drums, vocals and guitars.

The coolest thing about this book is how it gives you different solutions for different possible scenarios, like how to record drums if you only have one microphone. Definitely a great read for a solid understanding of the various recording techniques.

Acoustics is definitely one of the more important things to get right in your studio. If you record in rooms with lousy acoustics, your sound will suffer. Similarly, if you mix in a control room with lackluster acoustics, you are more likely to EQ incorrectly, add too much(or too little) bass or generally create an unbalanced mix.

Audio Issues believes in a society where people strive to understand each other better through the power of great sounding music. We help home studio musicians and project studio producers make a greater musical impact in their lives by teaching them the skills needed to grow their hobbies and careers. We do this by offering simple and practical music production and success skills they can use right away to level themselves up to the next level - while rejecting negativity and gear-shaming from the industry. A high tide floats all boats and the ocean is big enough for all of us to explore.

Since Tape Op Magazine only comes out every other month, I assume that our typical reader has a little time left over in which to read and learn more about the art and science of recording. With that in mind, we compiled a list of books that our contributors recommended, along with short reviews. We tried to focus on the general art of recording, so you won't find great books like John Keane's A Musician's Guide to Pro Tools here, though somehow The Beatles became their own category (and we're waiting for Kevin and Brian's Recording The Beatles.) Plus, take a look at Steve Pogact's information on older and foreign recording magazines. While this isn't a complete list by any means, it should serve as a great starting point for a novice or established engineer who would like to get a little reading in. Remember, knowledge is power! -LC

Required reading for anyone who hasn't abandoned analog gear. I prefer the original 1959 edition as the technology of the day was a lot simpler and could be covered in greater detail than in later editions. Twelve hundred sixty-nine pages written in a strange "Question & Answer" style similar to the teacher's edition of grade school textbooks. The New Audio Cyclopedia is not the same book. -SP

An excellent book to own. While it lacks an inspiring prose style and may not be full of 2-bus compression tricks, it really makes a sincere attempt to cover what you need to know from the ground up. Explanations of acoustic theory, mic pairs, sound baffling and console design are just a few of the things you'll find covered in a coherent, understandable way. A good place to start. -PS

Woram focuses on the underlying principles of recording, fundamental facts that are easy to forget but crucial to remember. With thorough explanations of everything from Fletcher-Munson curves to the influence of relative phase on perception of distance, he doesn't just cater to beginners. (Elar Pub. Co.) -SS

Pretty much the bible for basic recording, as it was back in the late '70s when I got my start. It provides a reasonable depth of technical info, but you don't need an electrical engineering degree to get through it. -MB

The only microphone book I have found that completely ignores typical pop production close mic techniques. This is the book for anyone interested in learning how to mic a string ensemble, jazz combo, theatrical stage or TV production set. The drawings alone are worth whatever you have to pay for the book (circa 1959 "stick-man at cocktail hour"). (www.focalpress.com) -SP

It is the most accurate, concise and detailed book on audio mastering to date. This is the definitive book to answer any questions regarding the craft of mastering. Best of all, Bob wrote the book to be user friendly to all engineers, not just mastering engineers. I would go so far as to recommend that all engineers read this book because it will help them to understand the art of mixing even more, as well as things like room acoustics, monitoring, calibration, high bit rate audio, dithering, jitter, compression, equalization, etc... highly recommended! (www.focalpress.com) -LDV

This is where I found the swinging mic technique. This book is all over the map and just makes sense.-SC One of the best books I read as I began my recording career. Real world information about recording music. Sherman was one of the first people to teach recording classes, and Tchad Blake was a student of his! Need more be said? (www.shermankeene.com) -LC

A continuation of Practical Techniques.... for the more advanced engineer. Beyond just the practical, this book explores issues of sound quality in a straight-ahead way that can be applied to real recording scenarios. Anyone needing more education on phase, distortion, CMR, M/S, comb filtering and understanding how to get the best out of your gear would do well to buy this book. Chock full of real information, not just theory. (www.shermankeene.com) -LC

Meant for live sound, this book goes into great depth about everything from acoustics and delay times to cable shields and speakers. One of the first books I dove into when first starting out. Good for the tech fiends and others who want to understand what each piece of gear does and how it's put together. (www.halleonard.com) -DC

The bible of digital audio. Over the many years I've read many books on microphone techniques and recording techniques, but when I need to know how S/PDIF works and what makes it different than AES, there's only one place to go... Watkinson. (www.focalpress.com) -BK

When I began teaching recording workshops at my studio I ran across this book. It is really a fantastic text for entry-level to intermediate student recordists. Plain language analogies and technical explanations in a concise way that won't make your eyes glaze over. Nice pictures, too. (www.alfredpub.com) -MB

A great guide for starting out, including "Arrangement essentials for 4-track recording." Well written and easy to follow. Good, solid practical advice for making records on a smaller scale. (www.pc- publishing.com) -MC

An entire book dedicated to stereo recording. Plenty of background on the acoustics and human physiology of stereo hearing. And the best tutorial on the various methods of stereo recording, from the infamous dummy head to the more common X/Y and M/S techniques. This is the book I was reading when I decided to pursue "live to 2-track" recording whenever possible. (www.wesdooley.com) -SP

For those who don't know about this book or the authors, they are some of the original gurus of audio. The amount of research and work that went into this book is unbelievable and probably makes it the basis for which all other audio books are judged. Topics include lots of electronics, lots of acoustics, lots of theory and lots of equations. It's a reference book you will never outgrow, never master every subject, and will always refer to again and again if you work with any aspect of audio. (www.focalpress.com) -KH

I liked the fact that they spent quite a bit of time discussing possible EQ settings for different instruments, including a nice section on drum mic'ing. It also helped me set up my first patch bay, and I still pull it out to see about wiring speakers. (www.msc- catalog.com) -BD

Overall view of the recording process with suggestions on mic'ing and dealing with the actual acoustics of the given instrument. Easy to read for the musician, engineer or producer. (www.wadsworth.com) -DC

Interviews with producers and record makers from Sam Phillips and Bob Thiele to Trevor Horn and Butch Vig. Most are from, or read like, magazine interviews (although there are no questions, just answers, strangely enough) and frequently run too short for my taste. I could use more than four pages of Geoff Emerick, for instance! (www.spikebooks.com) -LC

Not exactly a book about recording, but an amazing journey along the linked histories of music and science. Running roughly from Pythagorus to the present day, it examines the various nudges that scientific inquiry gave to the development of (mostly Western) music and vice versa. Levenson dives pretty deeply into certain advancements, such as the development of well-tempered tuning and chaotic nature of physical instruments, that prevent attempts at recreating a Stradivarius. By taking a linear approach, he's able to dole out just the right amount of information at just the right time. This creates the illusion that the reader is having one eureka moment after the next, without getting bogged down in a textbook-y morass. It has informed and colored my decisions since the day I finished it a few years back. It sheds a brand new light on some of the heavy-duty questions about "what is really happening with this sound". Covering topics like acoustical architecture, harmonic mathematics, and the fundamental nature of vibrating bodies, this book is bound to illuminate some mysteries that you've encountered in the studio and possibly spark some new approaches. (Touchstone) -EM

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