The Mixing Engineer's Handbook, Second Edition by Bobby Owsinski
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Book Reviews of The Mixing Engineer's Handbook, Second Edition
Book Review: Practical and Professional Book to Enhance Recordings
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a physician and also a very serious semi-professional musician. I have a recording studio at home with Roland V-drums, 7 synthesizers, synthesizer modules, guitars, monitor amps, reference speakers, and about 12 effects boxes. I also have 2 Edirol MIDI patch bays since my studio runs off a Roland MC-50 sequencer which drives everything including my Roland VS-1824 digital recording work station. I also am gearing up for live gigs with a live Yamaha digital mixing board. I play keyboards, guitar, and a little drums and I write music.
This book tied everything together for me. With my newly assembled dream studio, I was a little confused with certain things. This book helped me decide things such as: 1) If using a keyboard's stereo outputs is better than using a mono output into an effects box and then using that stereo out for the final mix. 2) Should I pan keyboard or guitar effects stereo out 9:00 hard left and 9:00 hard right or at 10:00 and 2:00 3) What are the best techniques to produce 3D sound imaging to make a recorded sound emulate a live venue (i.e. chorus effects, slap delay, reverb, pan, dynamic volume and tempo adjustments throughout the song). 4) Helped me decide whether to EQ before or after compression. 5) How to EQ to make a sound stand out vs. how to EQ to blend a sound into the music as a whole. 6) The book also has techniques from reknown expert recording engineers/artists - for example I learned what the best listening volumes are for listening to my recordings to ensure they will sound good at dance clubs vs. in a small car speaker.
Overall, this books ties the entire recording studio process together in addition to giving basic introduction to all the major steps of recording. I reviewed dozens of books on recording studio techniques and this is the best one in my opinion.
Book Review: Overall, a Great Book to Own
Summary: 5 Stars
I have some similar books in this genre, and I am getting the most use out of this one. It not only contains the general "rules of thumb", but it gets much more specific about things you can try in terms of recording, mixing, effects, etc. This book drove home the point about how important it is to have proper EQ, so that each instrument has a place to "sit" in the frequency spectrum.
It covers compressors in a much more practical way than some other books, giving you some really nice tips on how to get a great vocal.
I love the chapter on effects, and especially the specific tips on layering reverbs.
And then there are the interviews which really show you how much work and technique the pros are using that the average home enthusiast is not. Those interviews woke me up and let me know that I'm going to have to get a lot better and work a lot harder to create the same quality as the pros.
The information on file formats is very good too. I had no idea that MP3 files had so many drawbacks and were so touchy.
Only the most minor annoyances keep this book from being a pillar of magnificent writing. I would like to see the names of the equipment being constantly mentioned get fully-worded, rather than just slinging out terms like "808". (That's some type of Roland drum-machine the best I can tell.) In other words, instead of saying "LA2A", give the brand-name, the model number, and what kind of gear it really is so that a beginning reader can follow along better.
The bottom line is that this book will make you better and give you a lot more knowledge than you probably had if you're trying to learn proper mixing.
Book Review: Lots of Detail, Easy to Understand
Summary: 5 Stars
I highly recommend this book for anyone, like me, who is working to coax a better sound out of their project studio. Yes, ideally all your music would get professionally mixed and mastered. But this book (and its companion, "Mastering", which I also bought) have been absolutely invaluable for three reasons:
1) These books answer questions you have, plain and simple. If you don't know what compression is, for example, it will tell you in plain English.
2) This knowledge makes it easier to make your own mixes much better.
3) If you do go out and have your stuff professionally mixed or mastered, then, you will go into the situation much better prepared.
I'm not sure how useful these books would be to someone who really knows what they're doing, but the "Interviews with Pros" section might be of more interest to them. In any event, the books are littered with tips and tricks and ideas, and I am very happy that I bought them.
Book Review: Insightful look into the methods and tricks of some of the best
Summary: 5 Stars
This book includes some basics but the core of the book in my opinion are the dedicated sections with the engineers. Reading what is written and what is not, looking between the lines you can pick up a lot of information.
This book is full of the kind of stuff that can help you improve your own technique and allow you to quickly apply the tidbits that are learned over years of combined experience of the top people in the field. I wish I had access to some of the really stellar equipment that is used by these people...but most of the information can be applied to whatever level of gear you use.
The book is well written, an easy read that you can come back to time and again. I am a note taker and have about 10 typed pages of notes and tips from this book. Far more than I ever get from a single book!
This book is a must have.
Book Review: AWESOME instructional book, a must for sound composers and engineers!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book for a class in sound and recording expecting a heavy-handed textbook that would wear me down with useless knowledge, impossible-to-remember charts of decibel levels, and very few actual mixing tips.
But I was pleasantly wrong! I've never before encountered a text that describes as succintly and clearly the steps to mixing and remixing sounds and music in such an approachable fashion! I would recommend this both for beginners who want to get into sound and music editing as well as hardcore remixers who think they're know what theyre doing but could use a refresher on the basics. A stable of a good mixing library!