What do you think is the most important book for engineers/producers.

[old ghost]

I would also like to hear suggestions on good reading material. I got this mixing engineer's handbook from Sweetwater, and it's got some good material. I.e.... interviews with top dogs on how they approach a mix... etc....

It isn't play by play tips on how to ACTUALLY mix. Knowing whether or not so and so uses a lot of effects or starts with the vocal in or out doesn't help much when I'm trying to further my actual mixing skills at the ground level. I've been thinking a DVD might be of more use, providing it was properly done...

[karp47]

Originally Posted by old ghost

I would also like to hear suggestions on good reading material. I got this mixing engineer's handbook from Sweetwater, and it's got some good material. I.e.... interviews with top dogs on how they approach a mix... etc....

It isn't play by play tips on how to ACTUALLY mix. Knowing whether or not so and so uses a lot of effects or starts with the vocal in or out doesn't help much when I'm trying to further my actual mixing skills at the ground level. I've been thinking a DVD might be of more use, providing it was properly done...

I have the mixing engineers handbook sitting here but am yet to read it, I have had a bit of a skim over it though and it looks really good!

The 'Behind the Glass' books by Howard Massey are also pretty interesting. A lot of great interviews in there!

[Kenny Gioia]

Originally Posted by karp47

For me it's the book "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie. I picked it up at a convention center book sale a few years ago.

Even though this book has absolutely nothing to do with recording I feel that it has definitely helped me out the most.

It's basically all about interacting with people, influencing their decisions and how to react to different kinds of people. (It goes into a lot more depth than that though)

I would definitely suggest this to anyone working in the recording industry!

I agree. I think it should be required reading in every school every year.

Seriously.

There is not a more common factor in highly successful people than their ability to deal with people.

And it's rarely taught.

I can't tell you how many interviews I've done with interns where they tell me what they want and how much they want to be an engineer/producer etc.

That's great fella. But what do I get?

It's the one thing that drives me crazy when I watch American Idol. Every kid that's kicked off says the same thing. "They just don't understand how bad I want it".

Truth is. They don't care. Your job is to convince us of how bad we want you to stay. You're the entertainer.

[TheRealRoach]

"The Daily Adventures of Mixerman"

Seriously. There's a lot of truth in there.

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by TheRealRoach

"The Daily Adventures of Mixerman"

Seriously. There's a lot of truth in there.

and a lot of crap ... BUT his other book - the zen book (forget the title but I read it on a flight earlier this year) is brilliant. A real mind set book.

[Kenny Gioia]

Originally Posted by narcoman

and a lot of crap ... BUT his other book - the zen book (forget the title but I read it on a flight earlier this year) is brilliant. A real mind set book.

Just don't give it a bad review.

Or he'll post your music for ridicule on his forum.

[robertshaw]

I don't think there are any good books
some of the new PT videos are ok
but it's too much based on protools

[AlexDaCat]

May I suggest, there is no "THE MOST IMPORTANT" book (though there are many who have the talent to write and I dont do lists, so I will contribute quietly the ones I like), we all have something to add...maybe...

[RKrizman]

Originally Posted by Kenny Gioia

Just don't give it a bad review.

Or he'll post your music for ridicule on his forum.

I ordered the book online and read it on my iPhone. The introduction goes on and on, and then the book's over. WTF?

-R

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Kenny Gioia

Just don't give it a bad review.

Or he'll post your music for ridicule on his forum.

there is a dark side to me which would find that very funny!! Unfortunately his Zen book is very very good!!!

[AlexDaCat]

Originally Posted by narcoman

there is a dark side to me which would find that very funny!! Unfortunately his Zen book is very very good!!!

The choice...who do you chose...???

[Kenny Gioia]

Originally Posted by RKrizman

I ordered the book online and read it on my iPhone. The introduction goes on and on, and then the book's over. WTF?

-R

HIDE ALL LINKS TO YOUR MUSIC!!!!!!!!

[Kenny Gioia]

Originally Posted by narcoman

there is a dark side to me which would find that very funny!! Unfortunately his Zen book is very very good!!!

Not meant to be funny.

True story.

I'm sure the book is great.

The reviewer in question was looking for something a bit more hands on and lot less "envisioning".

So it had little to do with the quality of the book.

More to do with someone hoping for something different.

Although, I doubt anyone buys a book with the hopes that their music can be laughed at in a public forum.

[AlexDaCat]

Originally Posted by Kenny Gioia

HIDE ALL LINKS TO YOUR MUSIC!!!!!!!!

Why..we all shall learn...lol

[edvdr76]

Behind The Glass books are very good books. The interviews offer lots of insight on mixing techniques, gear used, etc. Definitely helped me.

Sent from my Droid using Gearslutz.com App

[RKrizman]

Originally Posted by Kenny Gioia

HIDE ALL LINKS TO YOUR MUSIC!!!!!!!!

Ha! I'm quite happy to have my music slammed/publicized in a public forum. First of all, I stand behind every song and have the royalty checks to back them up. Secondly, who even goes there?

-R

[AlexDaCat]

Originally Posted by RKrizman

Ha! I'm quite happy to have my music slammed/publicized in a public forum. First of all, I stand behind every song and have the royalty checks to back them up. Secondly, who even goes there?

-R

Innit..

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by karp47

For me it's the book "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie. I picked it up at a convention center book sale a few years ago.

Even though this book has absolutely nothing to do with recording I feel that it has definitely helped me out the most.

It's basically all about interacting with people, influencing their decisions and how to react to different kinds of people. (It goes into a lot more depth than that though)

I would definitely suggest this to anyone working in the recording industry!

OK... that threw me totally for a loop!

But... yeah, it's an oddly great little book.

After hearing my dad tell me how helpful it was and what a great book it was for years, I probably had it in my mind to prove him wrong when I bought a copy of it at a high school library benefit paperback sale. I figured it was good for a few laughs. And it kinda was...

But the damnedest thing... after I got past the salesman schtick I realized he was on to an approach to dealing with people that was pretty unique to me at the time. At first I figured, yeah, yeah, act interested in people, it flatters them, uh huh. I figured it was about playing people -- but he kept emphasizing, No, don't fake it, be genuinely interested.

Since I was enormously self-involved at the time (most 17 or 18 year old males probably lean that way but I was pretty close to terminally narcissistic), that whole be genuinely interested thing sounded like a huge stretch.

But I worked through the book and some of the ideas took hold. It was a huge stretch for me, no question. But it helped give me some (desperately needed) people skills and opened up my eyes about people, who had always just sort of been props in my little self-contained drama before. Empathy isn't something that comes easy for us borderline personality types... it took root almost more through intellect and my oft-challenged sense of personal ethics, but it took root nonetheless.

My life was already turning around when I stumbled onto HtWFaIP, I was making the rather peculiar transition from extremely uncool geeky nerd to long haired, trendy hipster (I was certainly not anywhere as hip as I thought I was but I did manage to convince -- or at least intimidate -- a lot of the rubes who'd been looking down on me for years)... but I was still utterly cynical and supremely self-involved.

But HtWFaIP planted a lot of ideas about empathy and compassion in my head and gave me an equitable framework to contextualize those qualities not just as saintly ideals -- but as real world approaches that could help inform and give value to my personal relationships in ways that I hadn't thought about before. It helped me extend the golden rule (the ancient one not the recording studio one ) into the realm of practical social interchanges and led me to important insights about my own desires and aspirations -- and how they might complement those of my fellow humans.


________________________


With regard to what How to Win Friends and Influence People can do for you in the studio...

Back when I was active in the services sector, I worked both as a freelance engineer as well as a producer. I got to see a lot of different types of engineers. The ones I went back to not just knew their stuff on a technical level (which was quickly obvious to me since I had a pretty good technical grasp), but knew how to deal with people, knew how to keep their cool in the studio, and were generally a pleasure to work with. (It was those latter qualities where I found my greatest challenges. And, in fact, it was my own, self-perceived failings on those fronts that eventually made me hang up my shingle and reserve my studio for my own artistically meager efforts. Ultimately, I just wasn't as interested in other people's music as I was in my own.)

[AlexDaCat]

Originally Posted by theblue1

OK... that threw me totally for a loop!

But... yeah, it's an oddly great little book.

After hearing my dad tell me how helpful it was and what a great book it was for years, I probably had it in my mind to prove him wrong when I bought a copy of it at a high school library benefit paperback sale. I figured it was good for a few laughs. And it kinda was...

But the damnedest thing... after I got past the salesman schtick I realized he was on to an approach to dealing with people that was pretty unique to me at the time. At first I figured, yeah, yeah, act interested in people, it flatters them, uh huh. I figured it was about playing people -- but he kept emphasizing, No, don't fake it, be genuinely interested.

Since I was enormously self-involved at the time (most 17 or 18 year old males probably lean that way but I was pretty close to terminally narcissistic), that whole be genuinely interested thing sounded like a huge stretch.

But I worked through the book and some of the ideas took hold. It was a huge stretch for me, no question. But it helped give me some (desperately needed) people skills and opened up my eyes about people, who had always just sort of been props in my little self-contained drama before. Empathy isn't something that comes easy for us borderline personality types... it took root almost more through intellect and my oft-challenged sense of personal ethics, but it took root nonetheless.

My life was already turning around when I stumbled onto HtWFaIP, I was making the rather peculiar transition from extremely uncool geeky nerd to long haired, trendy hipster (I was certainly not anywhere as hip as I thought I was but I did manage to convince -- or at least intimidate -- a lot of the rubes who'd been looking down on me for years)... but I was still utterly cynical and supremely self-involved.

But HtWFaIP planted a lot of ideas about empathy and compassion in my head and gave me an equitable framework to contextualize those qualities not just as saintly ideals -- but as real world approaches that could help inform and give value to my personal relationships in ways that I hadn't thought about before. It helped me extend the golden rule (the ancient one not the recording studio one ) into the realm of practical social interchanges and led me to important insights about my own desires and aspirations -- and how they might complement those of my fellow humans.

I am quite happy to listen to your ideas..unless you start F*****g with my mind...

[4damind]

"Mixing Engineers Handbook" and "Mastering Audio".

I don't like this Carnegie stuff. This is more for marketing and sales man (I got some of this books while working for a multilevel-marketing company).

[Wlouch]

Master Handbook of Acoustics

Acoustics and Psychoacoustics

Mixing Engineers Handbook

Recording Engineers Handbook

Mastering Audio

[Kenny Gioia]

Originally Posted by RKrizman

Ha! I'm quite happy to have my music slammed/publicized in a public forum. First of all, I stand behind every song and have the royalty checks to back them up. Secondly, who even goes there?

-R

It was enough to make the reviewer withdraw his review.

[Kenny Gioia]

Originally Posted by theblue1

OK... that threw me totally for a loop!

But... yeah, it's an oddly great little book.

After hearing my dad tell me how helpful it was and what a great book it was for years, I probably had it in my mind to prove him wrong when I bought a copy of it at a high school library benefit paperback sale. I figured it was good for a few laughs. And it kinda was...

But the damnedest thing... after I got past the salesman schtick I realized he was on to an approach to dealing with people that was pretty unique to me at the time. At first I figured, yeah, yeah, act interested in people, it flatters them, uh huh. I figured it was about playing people -- but he kept emphasizing, No, don't fake it, be genuinely interested.

Absolutely.

Check out the movie "Groundhog Day".

Notice how he was stuck in the loop until he genuinely changed. He couldn't fake it.

The book is not about tricking people into giving you what you want.

It's about understanding what they want. And how you win by giving it to them.

Years ago I had a mentor that used to tell me about the idea of "Selfish Giving". This can seem confusing at first, as some would think it means to give someone something in hopes of getting something in return.

But that's wrong. That will lead to unhappiness when the person doesn't give you what you expected. "Selfish Giving" is the concept of giving because it makes you feel good. Like caressing a women's leg. You might do that in hopes of getting sex. But you can also do that because it feels good to caress a woman's leg.

Petting a cat is another great example. You can pet a cat for hours and they can get up and scratch you and walk away. If your perception was that you enjoyed petting the cat, you won.

If you can find the joy in doing things for other people, and not feel resentment if they don't reciprocate, you will fill your life with joy and others will even help.

Sorry if I sound like a motivational speaker.

[RKrizman]

Well said Kenny.

[SRS]

Originally Posted by Kenny Gioia

Your job is to convince us of how bad we want you to stay. You're the entertainer.

Classic Kenny...

[PdotDdot]

There is a great book by John Woram - I think it's called "Sound Recording Handbook". Sadly, I believe it is now out of print. I think this used to be the Bible for professionals but I may be misinformed on that.

Another very interesting book is Mixing With Your Mind by Stav.

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Kenny Gioia

It was enough to make the reviewer withdraw his review.

Really? Wow. That doesn't look good for the author. Very bad.

[karp47]

Originally Posted by Kenny Gioia

I agree. I think it should be required reading in every school every year.

Seriously.

There is not a more common factor in highly successful people than their ability to deal with people.

And it's rarely taught.

I can't tell you how many interviews I've done with interns where they tell me what they want and how much they want to be an engineer/producer etc.

That's great fella. But what do I get?

It's the one thing that drives me crazy when I watch American Idol. Every kid that's kicked off says the same thing. "They just don't understand how bad I want it".

Truth is. They don't care. Your job is to convince us of how bad we want you to stay. You're the entertainer.

Great points Kenny, I actually really enjoyed your 'Mixing Rock' training videos by the way, quick and to the point.

I read a book a few years ago as well called 'the artists way' its not really aimed at musicians, its more about enhancing your creativity, anyway, it had this one technique that I found really useful and have used pretty much ever since.

Basically, just write, literally grab a piece of paper and write the first thing that comes into your head for about 15 minutes, don't think about it, just write. Doing this apparently allows more access to the creative part of your brain, it's definitely worked for me. Probably aimed more towards producers/song writers/bands but it's still very valid for anyone trying to find a bit more creativity!

[karp47]

Originally Posted by PdotDdot

Another very interesting book is Mixing With Your Mind by Stav.

Agreed, a really interesting read. A different perspective almost.