Practical Recording Techniques, Third Edition

Rating:
Summary: Reevaluation
Review: After seeing what other people have given 4 and 5 stars to, I definitely have to give Practical Recording Techniques 5 stars! I thought I was supposed to leave some room for growth!

Rating:
Summary: really not so practical
Review: Don't get caught by the name of the book. The whole book just tells you the tip of the iceberg... a little of this a little of that and just few stuff is truly practical. If you are totally new in this field, go buy it. Also i have "Modern Recording Techniques" and i noted that they are very similar if not i dare to say they are the same.

Rating:
Summary: Practical Recording Techniques
Review: Here's a useful and comprehensive introduction to professional audio recording aimed primarily at the beginning and intermediate level recording engineer, but useful also for people like me doing home recording. It covers all aspects of equipment, sound, techniques and procedures. In addition to what you'd expect (it's recent enough to cover digital applications), there are sections on spoken word recordings, on-location recording, hum prevention (the electrical, not the oral, variety), how to judge sound quality, and a short but interesting chapter on how an engineer can learn to listen to the art, and not just the sound, of the music being recorded. The Bartletts offer sound advice for how to mic various instruments (well, how would *you* go about micing bagpipes or a hammered dulcimer?). It contains a very useful guide for analyzing and correcting bad sound. Additionally, there are appendices covering the technicalities of dB, SMPTE and a suggested reading list. The glossary is excellent. For someone like me, it filled in all sorts of gaps in my knowledge - now I'm familiar with the Fletcher-Munson effect, I know exactly what an ORTF mic placement is and how to go about clearing up muddy sound. There is little or no input about specific brands or models of gear, but at 458 pages, there's not much room for that, and it's not that kind of book anyway. Thumbs up.