Customer Reviews

The Audiopro Home Recording Course: A Comprehensive Multimedia Audio Recording Text (Mix Pro Audio Series)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best written, easy to understand book that I've read on audio recording. Bill Gibson has a tallent for writing and teaching, that few have, namely: what you read is written in such a way that you both understand and remember it. I've tested his equipment settings in my studio and they work. The accompaning CD's let you hear exactly what he is telling you. A great must-have book.

Wether you are just entering the world of pro audio recording, or are a seasond vet looking for some new ideas, this book is wonderful. Contained within is an up-to-date tour of consoles, effects and mic apps. It also has some very useful charts and graphs that will increase setup time before a session. i.e. delay conversion chart by delay time, quarter,eighth and triplet note settings. This book also comes with two (2) full length audio cd's that give hundreds of examples from eq sweeps to micing a guitar in the bathroom. Take it from a new studio owner (5000 square ft, four rooms) this book is a real treat to read. A must for all music professionals.

The best part of this book is the 2-cd set which contains a plethora of samples. The samples all describe various scenarios of compression, limiting, microphone strategy, enhancement, you name it. I was impressed with the authors articulation toward a brand new user.

However, I was expecting a "Comprehensive Guide." The book was quite basic and never got past the fundamentals of anything. Common sense topics such as reverb literally go on for pages and pages. For example, it takes 3 pages to explain the punch-in process on a 4-track.

Speaking of punch-in, this document is targeted at people using tape. PC users should investigate another document, there are however 12 pages dedicated to 4-track usage.

I'll warn you, most of the samples are things you could do with your own effects. "Here's a violin with no reverb. Here's the same violin with hall reverb," etc.

What really frustrated us was that there are endless references to sections in Volume I. It interrupts the flow of the book. I feel that the author misled me. I was tricked into buying half a book. I can't return the book because I opened the cd already.

This is a great book if you are new to the concept of recording your music and want to be eased into it.

A real course on recording and mixing techniques. The 2 supplied CDs are full of examples (each one explained in the book) which let you listen to what happens when you do so and so. Of course is better for you to re-apply what you learn on your own gear, but listening to the CD is like attending a course with a teacher explaining.
Be careful that this is the SECOND volume of a serie of three, so it is better to start from the first. In my opinion this is not clearly stated in Amazon site. In any way, I had no great problems starting from volume II.

P.S.: I have some experience, but I'm definitely not a professional engineer. The book is clear enough to be understood by anyone who has carefully read the manuals of your mixer, recorder and other gear you currently use.

First... take a close look at the cover. This is volume 2 of the series. I didn't notice and was a bit miffed when I opened my box. Still, it stands alone just fine (though I still wonder what I'm missing). It is not quite as advanced as I was hoping for, but is good for the beginner or intermediate studio operator. The sound samples of different effects and settings are really quite helpful -- but listen on good headphones or monitors for the best benefit.

The Audio Pro Home Recording Course (a comprehensive multimedia audio recording text) excelled in showing basics like mike placement augmented with audio clips that let you hear what the text wrote about. It started off too basic, then built to great interest, then faded fast with too much that was too basic and too little that was important. Like, lots of clips about where to place a mic over a drum set, but little to nothing on how to set various effects and processes. The cover picture shows an engineer at the console looking at artists performing, but not a piece of paper in sight to show who does what, what notes to take, how to keep records, how to create a decision making process and who to include it. This is only Vol. I. It apparently takes all three volumes to be be "comprehensive", so prepare to invest in all to get the gems found in each one. I learned a lot, there were reference gems to treasure, but "comperehensive", well, I'd need to spend another $[money] to know the rest of the plot.

I do home recording as a hobby. In the past I have taken recording classes and usually ended up getting bogged down in the science. But as a hobbist I always wanted something that would show me how to do things in the studio in a fun and practicle manner - something I would want to wrap my hands and head around. Finally Bill Gibson has produced it. I bought all three books. I love the CD's and the work examples. I have taken some of the concepts and reproduced them in my own project studio. What a diffence it makes! My musician friends are very pleased with the improved quality of our sessions and recordings. Let's face it: From a fundamental level quality recording is really a very hard thing to do. This series of books makes it easier and fun. Thanks Bill!