Audio Recording Basic Training from Alfred Publishing is a great text for anyone with an interest in home or professional recording. While many of the most cutting edge recording techniques have been forged from trial and error or experimentation. It is smart to have a solid foundation in the art and science or recording before starting any project.
Audio Recording Basic Training takes the reader through the process of choosing an optimal recording environment to the complexities of recording drum kits and acoustic instrument. The tagline for Bobby Owsinski’s book is “The Hands-on Survival Guide for Musicians.” A suitable title seeing this book is not just a reference for would be engineers. Any musician preparing for a recording project should pick up this text no matter which side of the glass they will be working.
As a guitarist, I found many tips and techniques that could have saved my time and money on multiple recording projects at home and in professional studios. Bobby Owsinski covers everything from microphone placement to the pros and cons of using guitar amplifiers vs. amp simulators and going direct to the board. Owsinski even guides us to the best placement of our amps in the room to get the best sound.
Where Audio Recording Basic Training – The Hands-on Survival Guide for Musicians really shines is Bobby Owsinski talks about recording for different environments and budgets. This gives the musician an understanding of what they can accomplish with the tools they have today and illuminates the path to take as your techniques mature and budget grows.
Audio Recording Basic Training – The Hands-on Survival Guide for Musicians has an accompanying DVD that is slick and well produced. The descriptions of the techniques have been illustrated with amazing real time graphics. As Owsinsk discusses microphone placement, sound fields and levels are graphically represented in real time giving you an thorough view of how the placement of the mics effect the sound of our recording.
This is necessary reading for any musician looking to capture their instrument digitally. There are comprehensive chapters on recording everything from single horns, horn sections, basses, electronic instruments, and vocals. After finishing this book, your only limitations in the studio will be your own imagination.
Next week I will be reviewing Bobby Owsinski’s Audio Mixing Boot Camp the second book in this series.
