Build Your Own PC Recording Studio [Paperback]

John Chappell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072229047 | ISBN-13: 978-0072229042 | Publication Date: April 30, 2003 | Edition: 1

Regardless of whether your taste is heavy metal, hip-hop, or classical, this book will show you how to set up, operate, and maintain a working home recording studio. Learn to choose the right equipment for your music, produce audio for the Internet or a CD, and even get construction tips for building an optimal recording environment.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Now you can make all the music you want from home using a single computer for multitrack recording, mixing, applying effects, mastering, and burning a CD. Learn to make the simple modifications necessary to convert your computer, speakers, and workspace into a home studio. Master the basics of recording audio and MIDI instruments, hardware, and software. No previous recording experience is necessary, and as long as you understand the basic workings of a computer, you'll benefit from this well-written resource. Build Your Own PC Recording Studio is a complete, illustrated step-by-step guide to the skills, tools, and peripherals you'll need to produce master-quality recordings at home.

• Record, edit, mix, process, master, and burn your own CDs
• Choose the right equipment for your music and audio projects
• Convert your existing workspace into an acoustically optimized environment
• Produce audio for the Internet
• Discover cost-effective upgrades that make the most of what you already have
• Get the latest coverage of music-specific hardware and software applications
• Design, package, and print your own CDs

About the Author

Jon Chappell (New York, NY) is a multi-style guitarist, composer, and arranger. He studied guitar under Carlos Barbosa-Lima at Carnegie Mellon University, and then earned his master's degree in music composition from DePaul University. He has served as editor-in-chief of Guitar Magazine, and was the founder and first editor-in-chief for Home Recording magazine. Chappell is the author of several books, including Guitar for Dummies (more than 400,000 copies sold) and Rock Guitar for Dummies, and the forthcoming Jim Marshall: The Father of Loud, the biography of the Marshall amp designer. He has written extensively for Keyboard, EQ, Guitar Player, Electronic Musician, Onstage, Drum!, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times, and has recorded with Pat Benatar, Judy Collins, Graham Nash, and Bruce Springsteen. Chappell composes and produces music in his home studio for film and TV, and has contributed to such shows as National Public Radio's All Things Considered, Walker, Texas Ranger, Northern Exposure, B. Smith with Style, and the feature film Bleeding Hearts, directed by actor/dancer Gregory Hines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 1 edition (April 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072229047
• ISBN-13: 978-0072229042
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,606,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jon Chappell is an author, editor, writer, and guitarist. He started professional life as multi-style guitarist, transcriber and arranger, attending Carnegie-Mellon University where he studied with guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima, and then earning his master's degree in composition from DePaul University.

Jon served as editor-in-chief of Guitar Magazine, and is founder and the first editor-in-chief of Home Recording Magazine. He has played guitar and recorded with Pat Benatar, Judy Collins, Graham Nash, and Robert Cray, and has contributed numerous musical pieces to film and TV. Some of these include "Northern Exposure," "Walker, Texas Ranger," "Guiding Light," and the feature film "Bleeding Hearts," directed by actor-dancer Gregory Hines. He is the author of six highly successful books in the Dummies series, including "Blues Guitar for Dummies," "Guitar for Dummies," and "Rock Guitar for Dummies." He has written several books on recording, including "The Recording Guitarist: A Guide for Home and Studio," published by Hal Leonard; "Build Your Own PC Recording Studio" (McGraw-Hill); and "Digital Home Recording" (BackBeat Books). For more info visit www.jonchappell.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best introductions to home recording, August 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Build Your Own PC Recording Studio (Paperback)

This is a great book for the absolute beginner to the world of music recording on a PC. The only prerequisite is a basic understanding of how to operate a computer. The style is clear and direct - and with an appreciated dose of humility and humour. The reader gains confidence in building/modifying a PC so that it can successfully satisfy the demands of music recording software. Then the reader is guided through the selection of the audio-specific hardware and software required. The recording, editing and mixing of a multitrack song are then very clearly and thoroughly taught. Finally, the reader is shown how to create their first CD and, if they wish, how to publish it to the internet in the form of mp3 files.

Criticism might be leveled at the author because he is using a particular combination of hardware and software throughout the text (Steingberg's Cubase SX, Tascam's US-428 and Edirol's PCR-50). In my view, however, this is a sensible approach because the beginner faces an overwhelming number of possible combinations of gear (many of which may not work together!). Afterall, the world of PC audio recording has two major obstacles: the software and the hardware. This book saves you much time by giving you a working hardware setup which allows you to move directly to mastering the software. By using a setup that is tried, tested and true, you get results quickly and painlessly. In this sense, the author is doing the reader a huge favour. Renting this gear from your local music store won't break the bank and will allow you to gain some well-guided experience. After a couple of months, you'll be ready to decide on what gear configurations you want to actually purchase and (perhaps more to the point) you will have gotten a complete overview of how things work. In fact, you may have recorded and produced your first CD!

Well written, up to date and sorely needed. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars out of date & helter skelter, August 27, 2009

By 

whomper "speedball" (virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Build Your Own PC Recording Studio (Paperback)

this book is way out of date now.
but there are not any current books, and there are no good books.

like most books on this subject it does not focus on one aspect and do it really well.

if you want a mishmash of a lot of stuff and none of it really good enough to use then buy almost any book on this topic.

if you use the specific setup the book does then this could be a really good book for you. but if you use other gear then you wont get that much out of it.

you can learn more by googling for tutorials on things you want to know and reading the various home recording pc music forums on the web.

i would suggest you go to the library and read all the books on the shelf instead of buying any books on this topic. then with some background you can google to fill in the holes.

warning - no site or book really explains the bullstuff midi terminology that gets thrown around in books on recording. not everybody uses midi. and if you do, you wont understand it from the books or websites that never explain what those terms really mean in the way of FUNCTIONS that get DONE as opposed to being abstract names tossed on software that are inherited from the old days of midi hardware but which are illogical and meaningless today.

midi and recordign should be kept separate. but too many books scramble them together and make things even more confusing to noobs.

controllers dont control - they enter notes to be seen on a score
patches dont patch - they are a codename for sounds to use in playback
trackers dont track - they might record - depending who used the word
loopers used to loop - who knows what that software really does now
DAW? catch all word for anything and everything
sequencers dont sequence - they record and playback midi stuff
you name it, the terminology is totally bogus and misleading and nobody explains what is really going on.