Basic Digital Recording (The Basic Series) (Paperback)

~ Paul White (Author) "Today the majority of recording systems are digital, but unlike in the era of analogue tape there's no longer a single accepted approach..." (more)
Key Phrases: external mixer, digital mixers, audio software, Local Off, Digital Sync (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Further titles in this exciting new pocket sized series, designed to make music technology simple.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Sanctuary Publishing (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860742696
• ISBN-13: 978-1860742699
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 3.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #818,604 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's good, but don't recommend it to a total newbie, October 3, 2000

By	"paulfer" (Singapore Singapore) - See all my reviews

Basic Digital Recording is essentially useful. I learned things I didn't know before, and it helped me solve a problem I was having, as well as another I hadn't recognized yet! It's important for me to establish this book's utility right from the start, because most of this review is going to focus on its shortcomings, the reasons for my having given it only a three-star rating. There are two general weaknesses: there are some gaps, and it's not graded. First, the gaps. The biggest omission occurs in the chapter on music software - there's lots about midi, but nary a mention of programs like Cakewalk, Cubase, Vegas, Cool Edit, etc - the software that anyone *not* using midi needs to know about. A beginner would get badly misled by this. When it comes to plug-ins, it talks about VST, but neglects to mention Direct-X, which are hugely useful and popular. Also, the book suffers from a lack of an index, and although there's a glossary, it is sometimes insufficient, not covering technical terms used in the book. Finally there's a less-than-useful British bias to it: it mentions sospubs.co, for instance, but none of the excellent US-based homerecording and professional recording websites. What's the internet for, if not easy access to international sites? As for it not being graded: it's not a course that takes you from zero knowledge to putting together your first demo in 100 graded steps and stages, making it a bit difficult to learn from sometimes. The first chapter, for instance, is very offputting, defining digital audio terms and equipment. If what you were trying to do was get a digital project studio started, you'd still be wondering where to start when you were on page 40 - it probably would have done better to start with the second chapter which covers different recording systems. And despite going to great lengths to define concepts and equipment, the book assumes some prior knowledge of audio recording. Sometimes it reminds me a bit of the all-too-common equipment manual which seems incomprehensible until you finally learn how to use the gear. I'm going to stop at this point, because I don't want to trash the book - that's why I gave it three stars, after all. It's useful, and I learned things from it, so I should sound more grateful perhaps. But I can't help thinking that as the 'basic' digital recording book which it claims to be, it could have been more user-friendly, especially with the beginner in mind.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Technical Information, April 26, 2000

By A Customer

This book provides a good starting point for learning about digital recording. It has a few general chapters on digital music and recording systems and then becomes more specific when discussing soundcard studios, music computers and software and how to create an album.

I was completely behind the trend of digital music, but this book caught me up quickly.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing., January 16, 2001

By	W. Hawes "Billy Hawes" (Petaluma, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a very quick read, and touches on the most general concepts of digital recording. It packs a lot of information for such a tiny volume (it's only slightly bigger than your wallet), but unfortunately this doesn't leave room for much detail. At best, this book would make a handy quick-reference to keep in your back pocket during recording sessions. But as others here have noted, this is not a book to recommend for newbies who really want to get their feet wet in the fast-moving world of digital recording.