One of my biggest personal failings as a musician is that I was never much interested in recording or production. I never cared too much about tweaking my guitar sound to get “my” tone; I was always a plug-and-play kind of guy.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with that approach, but as I get older and now have several music projects being worked on, I’ve come to the conclusion that ignorance isn’t necessarily bliss.
So during a recent trip to my favorite Barnes & Noble, I picked up this little gem of a book called Big Studio Secrets for Home Recording and Production by Joe Dochtermann.
My goal? To start my recording, engineering, and production education way too late in life. Here are my thoughts on the book and whether or not it is a good place to start.
The first thing that struck me was that I really like Dochtermann’s writing style. Very direct yet funny, and not overly-technical. You can actually learn about recording and production without being mired in hundreds of confusing terms and concepts.
The book is very well thought out, starting with a chapter on honoring those who came before us. Dochtermann gives us a quick history of a few engineering pioneers, including Les Paul, Phil Spector, and the Mowtown sound. The book then works its way through audio basics, the microphone and mic’ing techniques. Everything from studio setup to EQ, effects, and arranging information is also included.
My favorite part of the book – and I certainly haven’t absorbed (pun intended) everything the book has to offer – is the section on how to build different sound absorption traps in the “Setting Up Your Studio” chapter. Have you ever thought to use a metal trash can as a bass trap? I bet you haven’t; but Dochtermann shows you how!
Also of note, which I don’t see a lot of in the few recording books I’ve checked out, are chapters on music production and arrangement. Dochtermann covers them both, and they are welcome additions. The book also comes with a CD-Rom containing audio examples. I admit that I haven’t dug into this yet, so I can’t comment on what you get. But, the book in and of itself is well worth the price. There is a ton of well-written information that beginning audio production students can learn from.
If you want to get started down the road of recording and production and don’t know where to begin, I highly recommend this book.
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Josh, that’s awesome to hear you’re taking a dive into the arena of recording and production. One of the best things I’ve found is to simply do it. I like reading a lot, so I can sometimes get caught up in the learning and then forget the application. So as we read… start recording songs, even if they are dumb. Tweak, test, try different mics, pre’s, etc.
I think one of the most intimidating parts about recording is how pricey it can be. Oh well, such is the reality of a musician.
Brett McQueen recently posted: Hey- Soul Sister Chords by Train
The funny thing, Brett, is that I already own all of the equipment. I’ve just never been a tweaker. Mark has always taken care of the production side, as he’s always had a much better ear for it than I. But, as I’m now finding myself involved in several different music projects, each with their own requirements, I can’t really rely on someone else to get sounds I’m looking for.
I’m sure I’m going to find a lot of frustration along the way, but I’m also sure it will be worth it.
I first started mashing down songs (sequenced drums, playing rhythm guitar, bass and lead into multi-track software) about ten years ago. Putting aside the audio capture which is a gargantuan topic in itself – how do you mix a stereo song? Where do you place a track, pan-wise; after you’ve got the EQ and levels good enough? There was nothing I could find on the Internet at the time, and I didn’t even know where to start looking for books on the subject.
I used my ear, and experimented a lot. So a good book on recording and sound engineering would be good for someone who is where I was. And really, everyone who is serious about playing should be recording. It’s rubber hit the road stuff, it shows you where you are, it lets you be your own audience. It’s an eye opener.
(as for stereo, muck around all you want, but really, pan a track no more that 10-20% to one channel, keep the overall “power” in both channels similar, and put the “focus”, say singing or instrument solos direct in the middle. All you brain really needs is a very slight deviation from one channel to the other to create dimension in you brain. Putting focus essentially “mono” straight down the middle makes the sound stand out in the “middle” of your brain. Pushing a track more than say 20% to one channel, particularly if you are wearing headphones, kinda confuses your brain, like two different conversations in each ear. Of course, everything is subjective and those JAW’s Laws are meant to be broken, but I found it a great starting point.)
JAW
JAW’s Laws… I love it!
One of the big “secrets” I learned about early on was putting everything in its correct space, not shoving everything into the middle. Also, especially when playing with distortion, turn the gain DOWN! That was a biggie.
Sounds like a great book. I’m the same as you, never really bothered with much besides actually playing guitar. I’d love to learn about this kind of stuff though, so I’ve added the book to my Amazon wishlist. Thanks.
Neal recently posted: Dean – Left-Handed Electric Guitar Models 2010
You’re welcome, Neal, and thanks for stopping by. It’s definitely one of the best I’ve read on engineering and production.
Hi Josh,
Thanks for the props on the book! It was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you dig the audio examples, too. Nice of you to recommend it to others as well. To shamelessly plug my own self, check out my site – I have a recording eBook there that was the inspiration for this book (and actually got me the gig to write that one),
best regards
joe dochtermann
You’re quite welcome, Joe. I really like the book a lot and will be referencing it often. Thanks for stopping by!