# Sticky  Books and References



## DrGeoff

Here's a thread to talk about the various books and other references that are found to be informative and useful.

As a start, I'd recommed a really handy lateral-thinking guide to mixing (and recording).
"Mixing With Your Mind", Michael Stavrou, hardcover 300pp.

Stav covers a while range of topics from speaker positioning, mic positioning and 'chasing the flame' and processing during mixing (ever tried reverse-compression on a vocal track?). It makes for a great read and there will be something in there that you will probably want to try at the next recording session.

It now even has its own web site http://www.mixingwithyourmind.com/


----------



## DrGeoff

*Re: Books and references*

Another great reference (this time on video/DVD) from one of the recording greats, Alan Parsons.
He's done 18 episodes already and there's probably another 10 to go. Some really interesting stuff here with interviews and tips from the industry heavyweights.

http://www.artandscienceofsound.com/


----------



## jonathanm

*Re: Books and references*

The Mixing Engineer's Handbook - Second Edition - Bobby Owsinski

The Audio Mastering Handbook - The Mastering Engineer's Handbook, Second Edition - Bobby Owsinski

Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices and Tools - Roey Izhaki

Mastering Audio, Second Edition: The art and the science - Bob Katz

Home Recording Studio: Build It Like The Pros - Rod Gervais

Open Source Books:

Electrical Audio, Recording Techniques And Bad Jokes - Bébio Amaro

Basic Audio - Norm Crowhurst Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3


----------



## DrGeoff

*Re: Books and references*

Bill Gibson wrote a seies of books on many aspects of audio recording and production for the beginner:

The S.M.A.R.T. Guide to Mixers, Signal Processors, Microphones, and More

The S.M.A.R.T. Guide to Recording Great Audio Tracks in a Small Studio

The S.M.A.R.T. Guide to Digital Recording, Software, and Plug-Ins

The S.M.A.R.T. Guide to Producing Music with Samples, Loops, and MIDI


----------



## immortalgropher

*Re: Books and references*

The Art of Mixing: A Visual Guide to Recording, Engineering, and Production by David Gibson

... and The Art of Producing.

jon got everything else I was going to mention. Literally haha.


----------



## spacedout

*Re: Books and references*

I'd also add both volumes of Behind The Glass by Howard Massey - two books of interviews with big producers which are full of useful tips for all sorts of things - improving the sound of recordings and mixes, getting the best out of yourself and the people you work with, keeping your eye on the ball, etc etc 

Behind the Glass, Volume II: Top Producers Tell How They Craft the Hits

Behind the Glass - Top Record Producers Tell How They Craft the Hits


----------



## tjwheelinnj

*Re: Books and references*

These are the books in my studio:


Recording Engineers Handbook: Bob Owsinksi

Mixing Engineers Handbook: Bob Owsinski

Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practice, and Tools: Roey Izhaki
This has particularly useful audio samples that accompany the book

Mastering Engineers Handbook: Bob Owskinski


Greatly helped me eliminate 100's of headaches and hours of trial and error.


----------



## ejbragg

F. Alton Everest is another amazing author. His books get very deep in the details. If you like to skim through books quickly, get what you need, and put the book away, these books are probably not for you. However, if you are willing to dive deeply (no worries - no calculus or advanced physics formulas), these are some books I have to suggest:

---------------------------------------------------------------------
"*Master Handbook of Acoustics*", F. Alton Everest and Ken Pohlmann

This book covers acoustic principles and concepts for building your studio:

Fundamentals of Sound / The Decibel / The Ear & Perception of Sound
Sound Waves, Speech, Music, Noise
Analog & Digital Signal Processing
Reverberation
Control of Interfering Noise (Soundproofing)
Absorption of Sound
Reflection of Sound
Diffraction / Refraction
Diffusion of Sound
Types of Diffusers
Modal Resonance & Reflections (in rooms, boxes, etc.) / Comb Filtering
Quiet Air and Acoustics of the Listening Environment
Acoustics for the Small Studio
Acoustics for the Control Room
Acoustics for Multitrack Recording
Audio/Video Tech Room & Voice-Over Environments
Modular Acoustics
Acoustic Measurement Software, Room Optimizers, Desktop Auralization

---------------------------------------------------------------------
"*Sound Studio Construction on a Budget*", F. Alton Everest and Mike Shea

This book covers specific examples of converting basements, garages, bedrooms, etc. into small recording and mixing rooms. This book steps you through the process of calculating sabins and treating each room, as well as keeping you on your toes about air conditioning noise, plumbing noise, road noise, etc., and how to handle them:

Where to Begin
Elements Common in all Studios
Example 1: Studio built into small Residence
.
.
Example 12: Multiple Studio Layout
Equations List
Basic Materials List & Their Properties

---------------------------------------------------------------------
"*Critical Listening Skills for Audio Professionals*", F. Alton Everest

This book covers how to train your ears for mixing professionally:

Introduction to Critical Listening
Estimating the Frequency of Sound
Estimating Sound Level Changes
Estimating Frequency Band Limitations
Frequency Response Irregularities / Judgment of Quality
Detecting Distortion / Reverberation Effects / Signal vs. Noise
Voice Colorations
Auditory Perception:
-Loudness, Pitch, Timbre
-Masking of Sound
-How the Ear Analyzes Sound / Nonlinearities
-Perception of Delays
-Subjective vs. Objective Perception
-How we Locate Sounds
-True Binaural Listening


----------



## Guest

For the super techie who builds his own studios, although out-of-print, I highly recommend "Audio Systems Design and Installation" by Phillip Giddings. The chapters on AC power and grounding are worth it alone. Back in the 90s, it was my bible, and things are not "that" much different.


----------



## BentRabbit

*Re: Books and references*



gswan said:


> Another great reference (this time on video/DVD) from one of the recording greats, Alan Parsons.
> He's done 18 episodes already and there's probably another 10 to go. Some really interesting stuff here with interviews and tips from the industry heavyweights.
> 
> http://www.artandscienceofsound.com/


+1 on this series.

I'm still working through the first 18 and can already see where I will be revisiting these a LOT!


----------



## tonyvdb

Yamaha has several great reference books including 
The sound reinforcement handbook
Guide to sound systems for worship
Both are easy to read and understand. There is one other one that I have read but cant remember the name at the moment.


----------



## hendrikxix

Here's a couple of my favorite and most influential books about audio:

Sound FX by Alex Case
A wonderful book about effects processors with extremely detailed explanations of how they work and how to manipulate parameters to obtain the desired sound. The chapters on compression, reverb and distortion are the best I have ever seen. Case gives many examples of popular music that demonstrate the various topics. This is a text that I use both in the Audio Technology course and in my Recording I course. I haven't found anything better on these topics. As a pro, I still learned a lot from this book!

Understanding and Crafting the Mix: the Art of Record Production by William Moylan
Warning: This book is an incredibly detailed accounting of a method to objectively listen and understand fine details of mixing, critical listening and production techniques. It is not for the casual reader or the casual engineer. It investigates timbre, the sound stage, performance intensity, proximity and distance location, environment, psycho-acoustics and creates/defines a language for the engineer to use to think about and discuss recorded sound. After 15 years of mixing, this book completely changed the way I listen and approach the mix process. Don't read this book if you want to maintain the magic veil obscuring the techniques used in your favorite classic recordings. This book will provide you with the language to understand what you hear and a method of analysis for music and all audio.

I also agree with the recommendations of:
Handbook for Sound Engineers, Ballou
Master Handbook of Acoustics, Everest

Hurray for books!

Henny


----------



## 0bazooka_joe0

I just acquired a copy of Electronic Projects for Musicians. I'm very excited. It's got lots of DIYs for instrument stuff, audio gear and what not. Instructions, lists, PCB layouts... you name it.


----------



## Recordman

Ive read all of Bobby Owsinski's books and they're unreal the amount of information there is in them. They're definitely ones you have to read 2-3 times and the interviews in them are worth the read alone. There are some great stories and great techniques revealed in these books. In fact... I think I'm gonna go read recording engineer's hand book right now! :T


----------



## Syd26147

Here is my contribution
( I think I removed the dups)

Meyer Sound Design Reference Bob McCarthy

Sound System Design and Optimization Bob McCarthy

Sound reproduction: loudspeakers and rooms By Floyd E. Toole

Acoustic Absorbers and Diffusers By Trevor J. Cox, Peter D'Antonio

Loudspeaker handbook - John Eargle

Electroacoustical reference data - John Eargle

Audio engineering for sound reinforcement By John Eargle, Chris Foreman

Handbook of recording engineering‎ John Eargle

Music, sound, and technology‎ - John Eargle

The microphone book‎ - John Eargle

Loudspeaker and headphone handbook - John Borwick

Loudspeakers: for music recording and reproduction - Philip Newell, Keith Holland

Handbook for sound engineers - Glen Ballou

Sound system engineering By Don Davis, Carolyn Davis

Essentials of Audiology By Stanley A. Gelfand

The Ultimate Live Sound Operator's Handbook‎ Bill Gibson

The Ultimate Church Sound Operator's Handbook‎ Bill Gibson


----------



## Syd26147

Some material from JBL

http://www.jblpro.com/pub/manuals/pssdm_1.pdf
http://www.jblpro.com/pub/manuals/pssdm_2.pdf


----------



## Syd26147

Introduction to Sound Recording by Geoff Martin, B.Mus., M.Mus.,Ph.D.
Is available online:
http://www.tonmeister.ca/main/textbook/

Syd


----------



## fractile

Acquired as a doorprize at a recent AES afterparty: *Audio Production and Critical Listening: Technical Ear Training*, by Jason Corey (2010, Focal Press) http://www.focalpress.com/books/audio/audio_production_and_critical_listening.aspx
It's unique to my knowledge, with a CD of interactive software exercises.
Contents:
Introduction
1. Listening
2. Spectral Balance and Equalization
3. Spatial Attributes and Reverberation
4. Dynamic Range Control
5. Distortion and Noise
6. Audio Clip Edit Points
7.Analysis of Sound
Bibliography
Index


----------



## fractile

I was just now reading into Stavros' *Mixing With Your Mind* and I have to say it's chock full of audio voodoo juju that is a perfect mix of science and art; mixing the science of testing with the art of hearing. Thanks for the Ref.

I'd like to think I know enough to just 'do it', but being a late bloomer into serious engineering I find a lot of inspiration and learning in these writings from the old pros.

It's incredibly simple how he turns subjective decisions into laws of performance.


----------



## flatfinger

Another very good resource for mixing and one of the best insights as to compression I've read ...


http://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Audio-Second-Concepts-Practices/dp/0240522222/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1


----------



## rocksure

gswan said:


> Here's a thread to talk about the various books and other references that are found to be informative and useful.
> 
> As a start, I'd recommed a really handy lateral-thinking guide to mixing (and recording).
> "Mixing With Your Mind", Michael Stavrou, hardcover 300pp.
> 
> Stav covers a while range of topics from speaker positioning, mic positioning and 'chasing the flame' and processing during mixing (ever tried reverse-compression on a vocal track?). It makes for a great read and there will be something in there that you will probably want to try at the next recording session.
> 
> It now even has its own web site http://www.mixingwithyourmind.com/



I haven't read the book "mixing with your mind" but we used to get a magazine here in New Zealand called Audio Technology, which Michael Stavrou used to write articles for, and I have used many of these as references over the years. Excellent stuff.


----------



## Capt. Ahab

Another goodie for us small/home studio guys:

Mixing Secrets For The Small Studio-Mike Senior


----------



## fractile

The latest one I've read and highly recommend is: The Science of Sound Recording, By Jay Kadis.
http://www.focalpress.com/books/details/9780240821542/

This gives basic science used in the chain of sound engineering for recording.

Description

The Science of Sound Recording will provide you with more than just an introduction to sound and recording, it will allow you to dive right into some of the technical areas that often appear overwhelming to anyone without an electrical engineering or physics background.

The Science of Sound Recording helps you build a basic foundation of scientific principles, explaining how recording really works. Packed with valuable must know information, illustrations and examples of 'worked through' equations this book introduces the theory behind sound recording practices in a logical and practical way while placing an emphasis on the concepts of measurement as they relate to sound recording, physical principles of mechanics and acoustics, biophysics of hearing, introduction to electronics, analog and digital recording theory and how science determines mixing techniques.

Contents

Chapter 1: Metrology and physics

Chapter 2: Sound

Chapter 3: Hearing

Chapter 4: Electronics

Chapter 5: Microphones

Chapter 6: Amplifiers

Chapter 7: Analog recording

Chapter 8: Digital recording

Chapter 9: Mixing

Author Bio

As a Lecturer and Audio Engineer for the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, Stanford University, Jay Kadis has written and performed with several bands, including Urban Renewal and Offbeats. He has built home studios, recorded and produced dozens of albums, and designed electronic devices for neurological research and sound recording.


----------



## Starliner

A book that I am now enjoying which was recently released is "The Audio Expert" by Ethan Winer. It covers a lot of subject material, and encompasses Ethan's many years working in the audio field. 

The subjects covered are well-presented, but are not so complex that an engineering degree is required to understand the concepts.

I have a number of the excellent books recommended here by other members, and consider Ethan's book to be a valuable addition to my reference library.

Starliner


----------



## surprisetech

Is there much available in the way of Audiobooks or Podcasts on the subjects of Live Sound and Mixing, etc.? Couldn't see much in the iTunes store.
I spend a lot of time in the car and would like to use that time more constructively!
More than happy to purchase if the material is worthwhile.


----------



## fractile

surprisetech said:


> Is there much available in the way of Audiobooks or Podcasts on the subjects of Live Sound and Mixing, etc.?...


Offhand, I can suggest finding series on YouTube that have a good discussion and don't require much visual info.
v


----------

