Sound Studio Construction on a Budget [Paperback]

F. Alton Everest (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0070213828 | ISBN-13: 978-0070213821 | Publication Date: September 1, 1996 | Edition: 1

From one of the world's leading acoustics experts, this nuts-and-bolts book offers complete instructions and guidance for building your own inexpensive sound studio. Anyone with a discerning ear and a modicum of electronics skills can follow the clear plans for 10 designs, which include a voice-over recording studio; recording studios for modern, classical, and rock music; a home theater; small announce booth; control room; and music listening room. All projects are fully illustrated and accompanied by complete part lists.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Build your own recording studio, home theater, and more--even if you're on a shoestring budget! Sophisticated sound studios are notoriously expensive to build and use. It's not unheard-of for bands to pay up to $1,000 a day for the use of a first-rate studio. If you have a discerning musical ear and high hopes--but not the budget to match--this book gives you the tools and expert guidance you need to create an audio studio far less expensively than you thought possible. Acoustics guru F. Alton Everest provides complete, easy-to-follow plans for 10 projects: voice-over recording studio; modern and classical music recording studio; rock music recording studio; personal project studio; small announce booth; control rooms; film/video/audio workroom; home theater; teleconference room; high-fidelty music listening room; plus eight chapters of technical background material applicable to each of the 10 projects. Each clearly illustrated design can be built from readily available materials and is accompanied by a parts list. Everest also supplies step-by-step instructions for installing your own sound-enhancing diffusing units for each of the projects to ensure topnotch acoustics and save you money.

About the Author

F. Alton Everest is a legend in the world of sound. The creator of numerous technical innovations, and the author of scores of books and scholarly papers, he has been a leader in television engineering, sound recording, motion pictures, radio, and multimedia. A co-founder and director of the Science Film Production division of the Moody Institute of Science, he was also a section chief of the Subsea Sound Research section of the University of California. An educator who has taught at several leading institutions, he has consulted on acoustics to numerous industries for nearly 30 years. Having touched many of the technical highlights of the 20th century, he celebrated his 90th birthday in 1999. He and his wife live in Santa Barbara, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics; 1 edition (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070213828
• ISBN-13: 978-0070213821
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #427,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The new edition is Greatly Improved, February 14, 2001

By 

A Flakey Geek (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sound Studio Construction on a Budget (Paperback)

The new edition is called "How to Build a Small Budget Recording Studio from Scratch ... , With 12 Tested Designs" is much more accessible. Both editions cover the same area with the same info, so I don't know why they are continuing to publish this old edition in parallel with the new.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too technical for and audio "engineer"?!? LOL, April 26, 2006

By 

Keith Keller (Gnarlins, Looosie-ana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sound Studio Construction on a Budget (Paperback)

This book is an update of Everest's classic "Acoustic Design for Home and Studio". It is great for what it is. For more capable types, Everest's "Master" book is more complete. This one has the basics. For those who thought this is too technical, I wonder how they expect to deal with the other aspects of audio engineering. Just knowing how to twist a knob is not a path to excellence.

In actuality this is a well written, very direct primer, starting with very basic physics, and leading to easy design engineering. It's not hard to calculate, design, finance or construct good acoustics, and the payoff is huge. It does require a modest amount of work, and calculations to get good data. Remember: "Garbage in, garbage out." Acoustics control your recording and playback. This book will give you a fighting chance.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great advice, but dont stop here, November 6, 2001

By 

W. Welch (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sound Studio Construction on a Budget (Paperback)

as another reviewer says, this appears to be the previous edition of what is currently titled "how to build a small budget recording studio....". also, as another reviewer has noted, you dont have to read it in order -- each example project its its own chapter with its own self-contained presentation. each example does stress diffferent design goals that translate to different acoustic treatments.

its a little annoying that every page seems to be an advertsemen for an rpg product. this is mitigated by the author's inclusion of journal and patent references that tell you everything you need to know to build these treatments yourself if you like. or if your budget doesnt allow for the beautiful wood forms from rpg, just take the keywords and run -- diffusor, absorber, abfussor -- and its easy to find someone besides rpg that makes the things using less expensive materials.

i enjoyed the book enough that i'm ordering the next edition. i also recommend his book on stereo theory if you want an overview of the psychoacoustics involved.