New Installments In The Musician's Guide To Home Recording
By HC News |
This book focuses on microphones, the essential link between the recording process and vocals, guitars, pianos, drums, and other acoustic sounds. Choosing the right mic can make or break a song. Authors Phil O'Keefe and Craig Anderton explain how to choose and apply mics with real-world examples and explanations. Topics include understanding different microphone types; essential miking accessories; mic preamps and connections; stereo miking techniques; and how to mic specific instruments. MICROPHONES FOR THE RECORDING MUSICIAN provides the practical knowledge necessary in making the best home studio recordings.
The best recordings are for nothing if the mix doesn't present those tracks in the best possible way—and this book is all about how to make mixes that pull the listener in. It's not just about the technology, but the art of mixing. Topics covered include: feel vs. perfection; the importance of the arrangement for mixing; tailoring material for your audience; monitoring and acoustics; software mixer architecture; unique aspects of mixing with digital audio; how to use plug-ins; integrating external hardware with computers, the “12-step program” for creating great mixes; panning techniques; equalization; dynamics processing; time-based effects; placing effects in the right order; how to use automation; hardware control surfaces; mixing with virtual instruments; adding expressiveness in the mix; using rewire beyond conventional mixing techniques; mixing and MIDI; and much more. Far from being a laundry list of mixing techniques, HOW TO CREATE COMPELLING MIXES is essential reading for all who wish to get the most out of mixing and mastering.
Life in the studio starts and ends with audio, both analog and digital, yet many musicians know more about the principles of music than those behind the sound. THE MUSICIAN'S GUIDE TO AUDIO discusses audio theory sound waves in the real world; bit resolution; sample rates; distortion; the different types of decibels; the meaning of audio specifications; frequency response; the different types of distortion; signal-to-noise ratio; dynamic range; how the human ear hears sound; and more. The book then segues into specifics regarding levels, connection standards (both analog and digital), and resolving potential incompatibilities among different pieces of gear. Other topics include information on more practical aspects of audio, such as the basics of room acoustics; why speaker placement matters; audio distribution methods (including data-compressed formats like MP3 and the unique constraints of vinyl); and more. Most importantly, THE MUSICIAN'S GUIDE TO AUDIO fills a unique need by avoiding overly-technical details, instead emphasizing the practical implications of working with audio in the studio.
Modern amp sim software has progressed to an amazing degree, yet many guitarists have difficulty obtaining the kind of responsive, organic sounds associated with physical amps. This book is loaded with tips on using amp sims to recreate the sound and feel of iconic amps and, in the process, create sounds that were either impractical or impossible during the vintage era. Topics include: simple ways to make guitars more “sim-friendly”; using processors to condition the audio prior to going through sims; hard disk editing techniques to optimize tracks for use with amp sims; multiband processing for exceptional dynamics and responsiveness; parallel processing and amp stacking; creating custom virtual cabinets; eliminating aliasing and other “digital” artifacts; combining amp sims and physical amps; and much more. The book also includes information on how to blend guitar perfectly with EDM and other modern musical forms through the use of software processing and techniques like modulating guitar with drums and other instruments to give highly rhythmic overlays. HOW TO GET THE BEST SOUNDS OUT OF AMP SIM SOFTWARE is essential reading for all guitarists, from traditional blues players who seek the ultimate tone to experimental musicians immersed in the world of electronics.
Often overused and sometimes misunderstood, dynamics processors can make or break mixing and mastering projects. This book goes beyond explaining how dynamics processors work by providing essential tips on how their proper application can help make better music. Topics include techniques for applying limiters, compressors, noise gates, expanders, maximizers, saturation, and multiband dynamics in both hardware or software form. Loaded with examples of real-world dynamics processors to explain their similarities and differences, HOW TO APPLY DYNAMICS PROCESSING ventures further than similar books by covering dynamics processing with MIDI data, as well as “manual” dynamics processing done with recording software (phrase-by-phrase normalization for narration, “micro-mastering” to allow greater apparent volume when mastering, parallel dynamics, and so on). There's also valuable information on how to achieve the most transparent effects possible, creative uses of sidechaining, and using creative “squashing” as an effect to obtain vintage compression sounds. All in all, HOW TO APPLY DYNAMICS PROCESSING shares everything today’s musicians need to know to get the most out of these versatile processors.
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