The Art of Recording: Understanding and Crafting the Mix [Paperback]

William Moylan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 024080483X | ISBN-13: 978-0240804835 | Publication Date: April 15, 2002 | Edition: 1

The Art of Recording articulates and explores the ways recorded sound is different from live sound, and how those differences can enhance music, including surround sound. It presents a system for developing the critical and analytical listening skills necessary to recognize and understand these sound characteristics--the same skills necessary to create quality recordings-- and for talking about or describing sound.

The Art of Recording also considers audio recording as a creative process. The reader will learn to guide the artistry of music recording from its beginning as an idea, through its development during the many stages of the recording sequence, to its final form.

Take a new and detailed look at many of the greatest recordings of The Beatles, offering insights into how the recording process shaped their music, and how you can gain control over the craft of making great recordings.

* Recognize the unique qualities of recorded sound

* Realize the full potential of sound quality in the production of music recordings

* Discover your own creative voice in shaping music recordings

Editorial Reviews

Review

Dr Moylan's methods and techniques for training of the ear for artistic and technical evaluation of sound, and his development of parameters for a common "language" should be adopted by all professionals and aspiring professionals in the field.
Raul Valery, Valencia Community College

From the Publisher

The Art of Recording also considers audio recording as a creative process. The reader will learn to guide the artistry of music recording from its beginning as an idea, through its development during the many stages of the recording sequence, to its final form. The Art of Recording takes an inside look at works of The Beatles, Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel, and others, offering insights into making meaningful sound judgments during recording.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (April 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 024080483X
• ISBN-13: 978-0240804835
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #892,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I was looking for, February 21, 2003

By 

thrainn (Reykjavik Iceland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Recording: Understanding and Crafting the Mix (Paperback)

Recording is all about the art of listening and this book teaches you just that. So if you are serious about being able to produce something worthwhile this book is a good read. Some would categorized it as advanced, but for me I think it addresses the most essential part of the recording process. Building from the actual physical penomenon it moves to concepts/terms more frequently encountered; EQ, Compression etc.
My favorite is that it teaches you to be a better listener.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Textbookish reading, March 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Art of Recording: Understanding and Crafting the Mix (Paperback)

I can't say I learned too many new concepts reading this book. The later chapters are interesting but here's my problem: For one thing, the author goes into gross academic details of concepts he could've summed up in two paragraphs. Don't get me wrong, length is fine as long as there's something to be said or taught. This book is 320 pages and in my opinion should have been 150. It's wordy, too academic and too un-technical for my taste (especially chapters 1-5). I felt like I was reading about concepts I intuitively knew about anyway. But, not to be too cruel, there are few things that are interesting (chapters 6-15). For instance, you learn the techniques of critical listening, evaluating time, pitch, dynamics and overall sound quality. But, again these are concepts that are intuitive to me, these chapters just spell it out. Let's not forget that this is a text book and if you're impatient like me, and don't want every thing spelled out, you might get bored. But if you are taking the academic route to recording and are a beginner then...ahhh... you decide.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very thorough textbook, not a gentle introduction, November 26, 2002

By 

jg_music (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Recording: Understanding and Crafting the Mix (Paperback)

This is a very thorough mixing textbook. The author goes far beyond the usual mixing book by establishing techniques and vocabulary for describing all aspects of sound. I'd recommend it to college students, music or audio professionals, and serious amateurs.

Although the book has useful content, it is highly technical (thankfully, no math), so it may not be appropriate for some readers. Also, either the author's style was dense, or I'm dense (probably both).