I have a mid level Sonar 4 setup, with some mid level outboard gear. I have
been a musician for 30 years (I'm 38), and (said as modestly as possible,
but needing to be practical here) I'm VERY good. I play multiple
instruments, and have always had an inherent knack for arranging songs and
leading music teams and groups.

I have also been recording as an AMATEUR for a few years, but have decided
to get MUCH more serious about it, with NO delusions of becoming full time
PRO, unless that's where I end up after a LOT of hard work.

Having said all that : )

I'm looking for a complete and REPUTABLE book series and/or interactive
course/package that I can purchase which will cover in-depth areas such as:

1) Theory of sound, and recording practices
2) Music production - theory and practical
3) Digital music recording/sequencing
4) Studio design and acoustics
5) Understanding desktop studio design.

Anything I've missed above can be assumed by the reader. : )

I have to do this at my own location, on my own time, so going to a school
isn't an option.

I'm not looking to start a world class recording studio, or become a world
class producer. : ) I just REALLY want to know everything I can, build a
GOOD home studio in the basement, and make this a VERY SERIOUS part of my
life.

Are there any SERIOUS courses or series that will take me through this
process, or if not - can anyone recommend books on each area that are known
as the "Bibles" of the industry - again, hopefully providing both theory and
practical assignments.

Thanks SO much for your indulgence!

Gavin

Replies inline:


Theory? I don't know if that's applicable or not (maybe someone else in
the
group does). Knowing a good bit about different forms of music would be a
good

I mean the THEORY of reocirding, acoustics, production, etc. not of music
itself: )

I'm not looking to start a world class recording studio, or become a world
class producer. : ) I just REALLY want to know everything I can, build a
GOOD home studio in the basement, and make this a VERY SERIOUS part
I think that you don't understand how complicated professional recording
really
is, you can't just lock yourself in a room with a book and expect to turn
everything you record into gold.

Thats why I said "I'm NOT looking to start a workd class recording
studio...". I don't have delusions of grandeur here. I just want to sink my
teeth as deeply as possible into something that I love. We ALL have to start
somewhere.

Building a "home studio" is not acceptable to many posters in this group,
but
many of us have been down that road and found out the hard way that you
can
only get so much out of a $99.00 large diaphragm condenser microphone and
a 24
channel mixer that only cost $300.00.

Just becasue a studio is at HOME - does that mean it has to suck? I have a
VERY large completely unfinished basement which can be finished ANY way we
want, AFTER confering with professionals, and deciding on the level of
"acceptable" we want to reach.

EVERYONE had to start somewhere. Am I wrong in asking for the best way to
start?

"Gavin" wrote in message
...
EVERYONE had to start somewhere. Am I wrong in asking for the best way to
start?

Nope.

Neil Henderson

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 23:12:31 -0500, "Gavin"
wrote:


EVERYONE had to start somewhere. Am I wrong in asking for the best way to
start?

Absolutely not. May I suggest the advice of the Scott's?

Scott Fraser: "Sorry, pal, there is no such thing as too many guitars.
I wish that rumour would die."

Scott Dorsey: (sadly, paraphrased, correction requested) "Get a good
microphone and stick it in a good room at a good spot."

May not sound like much advice, but nobody'd get anywhere withoot.
Good fortune,

Chris Hornbeck

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 11:21:54 -0500, "Gavin"
wrote:

I have a mid level Sonar 4 setup, with some mid level outboard gear. I have
been a musician for 30 years (I'm 38), and (said as modestly as possible,
but needing to be practical here) I'm VERY good. I play multiple
instruments, and have always had an inherent knack for arranging songs and
leading music teams and groups.

I have also been recording as an AMATEUR for a few years, but have decided
to get MUCH more serious about it, with NO delusions of becoming full time
PRO, unless that's where I end up after a LOT of hard work.

Do you have day job that pays much more than your basic needs
and/or an interitance to pour into this? Just wondering... I kinda
wish I did.

Having said all that : )

I'm looking for a complete and REPUTABLE book series and/or interactive
course/package that I can purchase which will cover in-depth areas such as:

1) Theory of sound, and recording practices
2) Music production - theory and practical
3) Digital music recording/sequencing
4) Studio design and acoustics

There's "The Master Handbook of Acoustics" by F. Alton Everest.
It's cheap enough and valuable enough that if you're going to build a
room(s) you should probably buy it and study it first. He has other
studio design books, but they appear to be about making pre-designed
rooms of already determined sizes (which may well sound good, but
don't show you how the dimensions were arrived at).

5) Understanding desktop studio design.

You want to learn everything (technical), and I suspect most of the
"real pro's" here don't know as much as you're wanting to learn (but
they know non-technical things such as business).
Designing rooms for good acoustics and isolation would probably be
covered by the Everest book, and I've seen books discussed on mixing
and mastering, and there's Dave Moulton's ear course on CD's that gets
good marks here. There are mic, preamp and other equipment comparison
CD's at http://www.3daudioinc.com, and there is or was a pre CD at
mercenary.com. If I were (more) serious about all this (rather than
being a very part-time hobby recordist and participant here) and had
the money and time to spend, I'd get all of these.

Also, there are very valuable sources of online information, and
most of them are free (or have no incremental cost above the Internet
connection you now use):

http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search?hl=en
Put in rec.audio.pro for newsgroup, and appropriate keyword(s) for
what you want to know.
There are lots of audio-related webforums around, these are not
neccesarily endorsed or rated, just listing the sites that come to
mind:
http://www.prorec.com
http://www.recording.org
http://www.prosoundweb.com
http://www.3daudioinc.com
There are more that I can't remember offhand.


Anything I've missed above can be assumed by the reader. : )

I have to do this at my own location, on my own time, so going to a school
isn't an option.

I'm not looking to start a world class recording studio, or become a world
class producer. : ) I just REALLY want to know everything I can, build a
GOOD home studio in the basement, and make this a VERY SERIOUS part of my
life.

Are there any SERIOUS courses or series that will take me through this
process, or if not - can anyone recommend books on each area that are known
as the "Bibles" of the industry - again, hopefully providing both theory and
practical assignments.

Thanks SO much for your indulgence!

Gavin

-----
http://mindspring.com/~benbradley