|
|
|
Average Customer Review
Share your thoughts with other customers
|
|
|
The most helpful favorable review
The most helpful critical review
59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
Certain chapters becoming obsolete, but *very* well targeted
(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 There are several chapters about analog tape recording which are outdated.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...
Published on September 24, 2000 by Jon Sweet
|
› See more 5 star, 4 star reviews |
 |
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Out Of Date
The general content in the area of how-to was ok, but with so much reference to open reel tapes and minimal to digital recording made it disapointing. Copyright dated 1988, 1994, the changes not covered that have taken place in the last five years are amazing. The pointers on mic-ing are good, along with ideas on getting cleaner recorded tracks. I am getting a lot more...
Published on December 24, 2001 by Ray Sands
|
› See more 3 star, 2 star, 1 star reviews |
|
|
59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
Certain chapters becoming obsolete, but *very* well targeted, September 24, 2000
This review is from: Musician's Guide To Home Recording(mclan) (Music Sales America) (Paperback)
(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 Take my review accordingly.)There are several chapters about analog tape recording which are outdated.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
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
Totally awesome step by step, April 1, 2000
This review is from: Musician's Guide To Home Recording(mclan) (Music Sales America) (Paperback)
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.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Very helpful information!, April 13, 2000
This review is from: Musician's Guide To Home Recording(mclan) (Music Sales America) (Paperback)
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!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
wonderful resource for novice and intermediate recordists, July 6, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Musician's Guide To Home Recording(mclan) (Music Sales America) (Paperback)
this book is terrific. it is full of eq charts and sage advice on everything from drum micing to acoustic treatments. this book is by far the most turned to resource in my audio library. a must have.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Why didn't somebody tell me to read this before?, July 28, 2001
This review is from: Musician's Guide To Home Recording(mclan) (Music Sales America) (Paperback)
This book is nearly perfect. Yeah, it's a little dated, but so is my equipment, so it makes a great source of info for me. I've been in bands and around bands and managed bands for just about my whole life and have read lots of books relating to music technology, and I must say that this book offers the most insight to practical problems that I've ever encountered. I recently bought a used TASCAM 688 Midistudio and, even though I'm a former electrical engineer, this complex piece of equipment is a little daunting to me. This book explained how to use it and much more. Things I thought I knew were clarified. Things I didn't know were explained. Things I never even thought of were brought to my attention. I borrowed (ok, swiped) this book from a friend last week and now must return it. That's why I'm at Amazon now, to buy my own copy. I'm also getting a copy of 'Using Your Portable Studio' by the same author. If you've got a home studio, especially one with a multitrack tape deck, you've gotta read this book. Even if you're recording digitally, the discussions of EQ'ing instruments, miking, acoustics, and procedures would make it worth your while. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Outstanding..tricks of the trade galore, May 12, 2001
This review is from: Musician's Guide To Home Recording(mclan) (Music Sales America) (Paperback)
The closest I've read to being a Bible on home recording. Full of valuable secrets. Mine's an older edition, so there's not alot on digital, but as far as meat and potatoes-EQ, mic placement and tricks, panning, bouncing, and optimal sonic oomph and clarity, it's all here. Spirit and performance is what it comes down to, but the icing on the cake's all layed out in this outstanding book.Read it.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Soild, but outdated..., August 12, 2002
This review is from: Musician's Guide To Home Recording(mclan) (Music Sales America) (Paperback)
A very good starter book for sure. In other words, if ya know little about recording or sound mechanics, pick it up, but it is definetly outdated. Its amazing how far sound recording has come in the last 15 or so years. The digital machines mentioned in here are nothing like the ones out now. Even the portastudios in here are obsolete. Generally good advice for most instruments but hey, I'm a drummer and that section needs to be revamped big time. No serious mentions of the perks of edrums in the studio, and that is a major plus in todays recording studio. Like I said earlier, if McLan decides to upgrade this book, it will be the go-to guide for beginners, but as is, it is a solid, not spectacular book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Great! Quite thorough and simple., June 23, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Musician's Guide To Home Recording(mclan) (Music Sales America) (Paperback)
I really enjoyed the book. It enabled me to build upon my knowledge of music engineering. The only problem is that I sent off for the tapes that go along with the books and my money order was returned saying that the address was closed with no forwarding address. If anyone has any info. to help me obtain these tapes pleas e-mail.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Excelent BooK For The Beginer Or Experienced!, December 5, 2005
This review is from: Musician's Guide To Home Recording(mclan) (Music Sales America) (Paperback)
I agree with some of the other reviewers, it is outdated due to the advent of the digital realm but, this book is targeted at Musicians who are begining to record thier music (so, that is an
irrelevant comment) and I do wish the authors would write a part 2 with the same title taking off where the first ended, because they are simply so lucid in making it simple by speaking
"english" and not using technical studio terms. But, I doubt that will happen because (if you have read the book, as I have) it is obviously noticed that both authors are dedicated to
anologue. It does not matter that it does not go in depth into digital, because, lets get realistic here, most Home Recordists start out on anologue anyway! Being able to apply recording applications in anologue is a prerequisite to using the digital realm and being able to apply them there. A Musician does not have a spare 50K in their pocket to spend on a digital studio when starting out! My point is this, we have not changed the meathods in which we audiably make and sculpt our music (i.e., the Instruments and Effects), we have only changed how we have captured our music (i.e., the Computers, Digital Audio Recorders and Digital Audio Work Stations). No matter what meathod or device you use for the stages of recording, it only has 2 functions, to play and record. This book gives a solid know how on the tequniques and applications (EQing, FX, Panning, ect.) needed to make the music sound the way you want it before
commiting it to whatever recording meathod you may use and how to mix it into a master copy. It also has many other helpful chapters on how to record the individual Instruments (including
Vocals), the diference in Microphones and how to properly use them, how to buy used gear, how to sound proof and studio acoustics and much, much more! This book helped pioneer other books like this one because, at the time it originally came out, there were books you could buy on the subject but, only with technical verbage in it to where the reader (who was just starting) that did not know the terms used in the industry, would be even more confused than before and the simplicity of word usage in thib book is a unique characteristic of the book and makes it easy to understand. I have used this book as a Recording Bible Faithfully and would recomend it above all others reguardless if
you are a beginer or not, reguardless if you have anologue, digital or a combination (as I do). If you are not a beginner, it is still a excelent reference book to have in your Library on this subject.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Out Of Date, December 24, 2001
This review is from: Musician's Guide To Home Recording(mclan) (Music Sales America) (Paperback)
The general content in the area of how-to was ok, but with so much reference to open reel tapes and minimal to digital recording made it disapointing. Copyright dated 1988, 1994, the changes not covered that have taken place in the last five years are amazing. The pointers on mic-ing are good, along with ideas on getting cleaner recorded tracks. I am getting a lot more out of "Home Recording Power!" by Ben Milstead. It is slanted toward the CakeWalk Sonar software, but gets things moving fast! The sugestions are current as well.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
