PC Music: The Easy Guide [Paperback]

Robin Vincent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2002

Completely updated with new sections on Windows XP, PC specifications, software synthesis and internet music, this new edition of PC Music - the easy guide, will show you what can be done, what it all means, and what you will need to start creating your own music on your PC. It's an easy read, it's fully illustrated and it will help you understand how a computer can be used as a creative music tool.

* How do I make music on my PC?

* Can I record music onto my PC?

* What's a sequencer?

* How can I get my PC to print a music score?

* What sort of a soundcard do I need?

* What hardware and software do I need?

* How do I connect a keyboard to my PC?

* How can I get music onto and off the internet?

Just a few of the questions you've probably asked. Well you'll find the answers to all these questions, and many more, in this book.

The book covers soundcards, recording music with sequencers, hard disk digital audio recording and editing, plug-ins, printing scores with notation software, using your PC as a synthesiser or a sampler, getting music onto and off the internet, using Windows and it suggests sample PC music set-ups.

With special sections on PCs for guitarists and dance music fans, it's all rounded off with answers to some frequently asked questions (FAQs), a glossary, advice on the musical hardware and software that you'll need, and a list of invaluable industry contacts.

If you want to make music on your PC, this is the place to start.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Get started in PC music making with this simple basic intro. It ain't rocket science you know!

About the Author

Robin Vincent is technical director of Carillon Audio Systems, where he designs and builds computer music studios. He also manages the PC music side of London's famous Turnkey music store, and he fields questions from would-be PC musicians all day long so he's got all the answers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: PC Publishing; 2 edition (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1870775767
• ISBN-13: 978-1870775762
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,070,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Basic yet useful survey of PC music technology, December 27, 2006

By 

Roy Massie (Birmingham, AL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: PC Music - The Easy Guide (Paperback)

This is a short book providing a hands-on beginners introduction to the music features/industry standards and potential within your PC. The author has a broad knowledge of the subject. As of this writing (2006), the 3rd edition is extremely up to date with coverage of technologies like: creating your own MP3s, Podcasting, and the latest software packages to simulate the vintage sounds of the previous decades (the author also notes the irony of this situation).

One thing the author repeatedly encourages is that you decide (specifically) what you are trying to accomplish; define your project. Through numerous example setups and applications, he demonstrates that the same pieces of technology can be combined for rather different purposes. It all comes down to what you are trying to do. Even if you don't know what you are tying to do, but just want to have some fun with music on your PC, the author addresses you too, as best he can.

The book begins with a brief description of how digital music technology (especially MIDI) works. This leads to a helpful discussion about the importance of selecting a soundcard. From there many different topics such as recording music digitally, sampling, notational software, MIDI instrument voices, and many others are covered at a very high level. There is not enough meat here to make you functional at any one aspect, but you can get the bird's eye view of everything; this was valuable to me.

There is a quite a bit here for guitar players. However, keyboard enthusiasts can also learn about state of the art synthesizer, software and hardware combinations. The author names specific products and models to get you started down a productive path. The products appendix in the back is several pages and very helpful. Most of the products are also described in the pages of the book with tons of black and white illustrations/screen shots.

I think the book could have benefited from more careful editing at several points (probably an effect of getting such an up to the minute technology book out to market quickly). I also would like to have seen more coverage of auto-accompaniment software like Band-In-A-Box and similar since those address a segment of the PC musician/beginner audience. Deeper coverage on the capabilities of Band-In-A-Box or Sibelius and other rich software packages would have helped me personally.

Overall, this is a helpful book for those who are wondering what all they might be able to do with their PC in music making. Very up to date, at least for now....

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding guide., February 2, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PC Music - The Easy Guide (Paperback)

From how to connect a keyboard and record music onto a PC to plugging a guitar directly into a PC, this is no weighty tech pro's guide to PC music but a unique, satisfying musicians's tool requiring little computer knowledge to prove useful. Chapters survey all kinds of hardware and software options in a completely updated new edition which adds new sections on MP3 and the recording capabilities of a PC, making for an outstanding guide.