Sound Studio Construction on a Budget (Paperback)

~ (Author) "VOICE-OVER" RECORDING IS THAT PROCESS BY WHICH A narration is recorded to later be used alone, or mixed with background music and/or sound effects..." (more)
Key Phrases: arrival time gap, reverberation time graph, spot absorbers, Tube Traps, Diffusor Systems, Sound Transmission Class (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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.

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.

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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 x 7.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #153,003 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #10 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Special Topics > Acoustics
  #26 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Electrical & Electronics > Electronics > Stereo & Audio Equipment
  #26 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Electrical & Electronics > Stereo & Audio Equipment

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 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

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.

5 of 5 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 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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A poorly structured book, October 21, 2001

By	Pedro Amengual Gomila "Pere" (Palma de Mallorca, Illes Balears Spain) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The subject of the book looks promising, but the author might better have warned that the book is not conceived to be read from the beginning to the end, but directly jumping to the chapter that relates to the specific type of construction that you want to know more about. Otherwise, you find the same concepts explained again and again... and surprisingly, half way through the book it gets organized and the last chapters explain the basic concepts (again). In my opinion, a better structure would have reduced the lenght of the book to a half and provided a clearer understanding of the valuable information that it contains.