Musician's Guide To Home Recording(mclan) (Paperback)

by Peter McIan (Author), Larry Wichman (Author) "Every recording artist I know of began his or her career with a demo tape of one form or another, and because of the rapid..." (more)
Key Phrases: external bounce, desired buss, mixdown techniques, Courtesy of Laura Marenzi, Men At Work, Sound Recording (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Updated edition includes advice on creating great demos, secrets to using 4-track Portasound cassette decks, tips for assembly and best use of 16-track home studios, a buyer’s guide to new and used equipment, hints from studio musicians, and more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation (December 31, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825613787
• ISBN-13: 978-0825613784
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #485,576 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #95 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Electrical & Electronics > Stereo & Audio Equipment
  #95 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Electrical & Electronics > Electronics > Stereo & Audio Equipment

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Certain chapters becoming obsolete, but *very* well targeted, September 24, 2000

By	Jon Sweet "Jon Sweet" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

(Note: I'm a home recording studio beginner. Take my review accordingly.)

There are several chapters about analog tape recording which are outdated. It's not that the information is inaccurate -- my sense is that his overview on tape recording is very, very good --- but that the current cost/benefit of digital recording just overwhelms any need to know about tape.

That said, those 3-5 chapters (out of about 15-20) can simply be ignored and you'll still get a good run for your money on this book. The real value in this book is the (beginner level) guide as to how to really use a mixing board, and the individual chapters for each instrument family (guitar, acoustic piano, synths, drums, drum machines) on best-practices recording techniques. The entire book is very nicely technique oriented, with appropriate backgrounders for basic theory.

The "updated" chapters on digital recording and MIDI (another 2-3 chapters) are just tacked on, and not terribly valuable -- not his fault perhaps, as it was updated a couple years ago, and digital music (especially recording) technology is just changing so fast.

So despite almost half the contents of the book being out of date, what remains is quite timeless -- even in the face of digital mixers and self-contained recording units like the Korg D-16 and Roland VS series. If you want to learn about how to use a mixer (as something a lot more than just a patch bay) and especially EQ, I really recommend this book.

Summary of Favorites:

1) Mixing console as center of studio,

2) EQ (suggested ranges/levels for each instrument)

3) Mic placement and room acoustics (for each instrument)

4) How to design/improve your home studio room acoustics

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally awesome step by step, April 1, 2000

By	Barry N. Witt (Corona, Ca USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

These guys really know how to explain the art of making a great recording to the beginner. I especially like chapter 16 "Mixdown Techniques" as it really explains the basic steps of eq, delay and panning for positioning the parts of a song in the mix! I have 15 books on this subject and this one is the one that has given me the most ahaa!'s.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful information!, April 13, 2000

By	M. Smallridge (Ravenna, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A quality tech book with settings to try for your home recording. Hey, settings that work. Most writers in this arena are afraid or just don't write their personal preferences. This book gives you tons of preferences for recording the bass, guitar, drums, vocals, etc... A quality read!